Early Father's Day

We called a tree man to haul away our big tree that blew over. It was so nice to talk to someone that had a vast knowledge about trees because I know nothing. Apparently our tree blew over because it had a disease which means probably the other 3 trees that are the same kind out there also have that disease. Sad news. We've had a dead tree in our front yard for a couple of years now so I started asking him what kind of tree would look good there and how much would it cost? Jon thought about it and said, "I think I would like to get a tree for Father's day." That made me quite happy because it's a practical gift and I'm a practical girl. There's something exciting about planting a tree. Maybe because you know it's going to grow up with you in the house (Hopefully). The kids were very excited too. Happy Father's Day Jon!

The beach without the water

Last weekend we went to Idaho to be with lots of family. While there, Calli, my 10-year-old niece convinced us we needed to go to the sand dunes. I didn't even know they existed. The kids had so much fun. They had sand all over (their pockets, ears, car) to prove what a great time they had.

Thanks, Aunt Bethany for burying Max.

Tanner and Uncle Joe had a contest to see who could get to the bottom of the dunes in the fewest leaps. Blogger isn't letting me load a video again.

Mayed out!

The month of May is crazy at school. Everything has to be put off until the end of May which means life gets very busy. Yesterday I helped with Max's "times table ice cream party" which was really cute. For passing off 2's you get a bowl, passing off 5's you get a scoop of ice cream and so on. As I was elbow deep in ice cream the room mom asked if I could help with field day all day on Friday. I said I had something that day which I thought I did, but when I got home and looked at my calendar, I didn't. But I still don't think I'll get back with her because other moms need the great opportunity to help in the school. Maddie has a major State project and test on all the states and capitols in the U.S. Luckily she is very self-motivated so that's not too bad. She needed a snack for her "poetry cafe" today which meant I needed to go to the grocery store because the cupboards were quite bare. Max is walking to a park and needs to take a lunch tomorrow and Seth goes to kindergarten from 9-12 on Friday instead of 11-2. There's a lot to keep track of. Tanner has a big band concert tomorrow night and needs to stay after school to practice for it so I need to go get him when he's ready. Max is also getting an award at an assembly on Thursday that parents are invited to and he told me this morning, "btw, mom I need to bring a birthday treat for the class on Tuesday since I have a July birthday." IS MAY ALMOST OVER???

Tanner's soccer game

I've been trying to take a picture of Tanner playing soccer this season but it seems to always be snowing or raining for his games...or I forget my camera. Tanner likes the cold weather because they're working up a sweat, but us on the sidelines like the spring-like weather. Today it was finally a beautiful day. Both teams actually had to forfeit because they didn't have enough players. Usually his team has tons of players but maybe because it was a make-up game, or because it's May and there's a million things to go to, or because it was too spring-like for the players. Tanner is a great soccer player and likes getting in shape. He did mention at the beginning of the season this might be his last season of soccer but now that he's almost done he's rethinking that. He really enjoys his team.

kindergarten graduation

So, Seth is now a kindergarten graduate. He had a great year. It started off teary and is ending a little teary because he has "Kindergartenitis." He may have a hard time next year going to school ALL day. Something about that first year of school with their sweet little baby faces. This is Seth's friend Sabrina "Beanie". So cute! Their hats are made out of paper bowls and paper, pretty creative.

Book signing

Last Saturday, Maddie and I stood in line for an hour to meet Brandon Mull. He was signing books at Costco and I needed to buy his fourth book of Fablehaven and The Candy Shop War. I just finished the Fablehaven book and really enjoyed it. I think I like that series more than the kids even though it's a "Children's" book. What can I say? It was neat for Maddie and me to meet an author. The other family members ate lots of samples, shopped then had a greasy pizza, fun times at Costco. The picture's pretty blurry because I used the phone and felt a little pressure to hurry.

Max gets his blue belt

Max is doing an amazing job in karate. He's actually more than half way to getting his black belt.

Seth is 6!

Seth has been asking how many days until his birthday for over 100 days. So when he woke up on his birthday Jon was sure to say, "Guess how many more days until your birthday?? 0!" His party was so fun and actually pretty calm. He invited his whole class of boys and two girls. So we had about 12 boys. Three adult stayed and helped me so that's why it went so smoothly. Yay, for friends. I forgot to ask Jon his schedule for Spring term at BYU because he just started back this week so he missed half the party which he was okay with.

We let Seth open his presents from the family during breakfast. Max gave him his pinewood derby car which I thought was sweet.

For his party he had a Monsters vs Aliens cake. We played pin the eye on the monster and throw a ball into B.O.B.'s mouth. Then we did the pinata, opened presents and were done!
Two sisters that are Maddie's friends also helped run the games. They got to have some pinata candy for all their hard work.:)