And the award goes to.....

On May 21, Emma's class had their award ceremony at school. She was really excited about it! This has been a great year for her. She's made more friends and become much more independent. She had the third highest amount of AR (Accelerated Reading) points for her grade.
Emma and her teacher, Mrs. Simms.

My happy learner!

Miss Attitude

This little girl is bundle of energy and attitude...which is sometimes hilarious. But sometimes she crosses the line from 'sassy' to 'smart alec.' For those who know her, I'm sure you know what I mean.

We love our Miss Attitude!

The wanderers

Jacob follows Abby around everywhere and she usually doesn't mind. This afternoon Abby kept dragging their chairs all over the yard and Jacob would just say 'Time to move again?' They're so sweet together.

Do I want to play ball or try to climb that tree?

He loves riding his bike with the 'big' kids...although he is a bit slower. :)

PLAY BALL!!!

Josh bought Aaron a baseball glove the other day so they could toss the ball. And every boy should have a glove. ;) Well they finally took it outside yesterday afternoon. The whole family went out side to watch. It was a lot of fun!

I kept watching Aaron for a tongue shot and I finally got one. Aaron (like his dad) always sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating. That's one of those traits so endearing about my boys.

Did you see that mom?

He was so excited throwing a ball. Simple pleasures! Now he's asked Josh if he can get a bat. Watch out windows!

Running ragged

Dance practice has been crazy lately. With recital on the 28th, Emma's dance teacher has been adding tons of extra practices. A couple nights a week Emma will end up eating dinner after everyone else is in bed. Fortunately she loves dancing and I kind of enjoy our late night chats. :)

School days

I've been trying to do better about having more organized school time with Abby. She loves to work in her workbooks but she still needs LOTS of help--directions, guidance, encouragment. It's a very hands-on activity for me. We had a lot of fun today because we decided to take school outside. It was beautiful and provided a great change of pace.

Fat Albert?

The other day Jacob kept pulling the hat down over his face. It made me think of that guy from Fat Albert--although I can't remember his name. He thought he was so funny!

He's such a happy fellow! Now he's off to get into mischief.

Sayonara soccer....

...at least for the summer. Aaron's team is still together from last year and it's been fun to see them grow and improve. Aaron has gotten faster and is now more focused on the game. His shining moment of the season was this game where he made 4 goals (not sure where that came from). He was so proud of himself and he has tons of fun.
Aaron taking the ball down the field.

My attempt at a soccer cake. It was so cute in my mind but the execution was pitiful. The green 'grass' frosting just wouldn't get green enough and my handwriting is not meant for cakes. :) Aaron picked 6 lego men out for the six boys on his team and we decorated a Hungry, hungry hippo ball for the soccer ball.

Four boys came to the soccer party: Aiden, Dominic, Carter, and Aaron. Look at their muscles. ;)

The boys with their trophies and Coach. What a great season! The Dragons went undefeated!

The best laid plans....

The father-son campout for our ward is next Friday (which just happens to be the same night as the recital) so Josh decided to take Aaron a week early instead. To make it special he planned to go to Palo Duro Canyon in Texas. Friday we pulled eveything out and got the boys ready to go. Before they left I asked my husband if they had a campsite. He was sure there would be something but decided to call just to make sure. As luck would have it, there were no campsites available. There were some backpacking sites that took 30 minutes to hike into but didn't sound like a good option.
So their camping gear stayed downstairs unused. After a few moments of disappointment, the boys made new 'plans' for the night.

They spent quality time playing Lego Indiana Jones and eating pizza instead. Apparently in two weeks we're all going camping as a family too. It should be fun!

Bundles of Joy!

We're pregnant! I'm so excited and what's even better...the kids are thrilled. They keep talking about the baby. They're taking bets on whether the baby will be a boy or a girl. Emma is sure it will be a girl because 'if you look at the pattern in our family it goes girl, boy, girl, boy...so this one has to be a girl.' She's my logical one. All of them are talking about what they're going to do to help and they're already rearranging their rooms (mentally) so the baby can stay in their room.

This morning I started thinking about how quickly time passes. Almost 8 years ago Emma was born. Where has the time gone? I found pictures of each of the children from their first few days on earth when they first became our bundles of joy! Each one is so different, yet truly a blessing.
Emma Grace (with my sisters Nicole and Alexis) She doesn't have many pictures on the computer because we didn't have a digital camera then.

Joshua "Aaron"

Abigail Rose

Jacob Levi