THE pool....

Jocelyn has been waiting for this baby for like a year. She saw it at the grocery store last summer and wanted it SO bad. I kept putting it off because wading pools can be such a pain. Finally when it was on clearance I caved but it was too cool outside to use....so Jocelyn really did have to wait like a year before we busted it out. She was so happy and all the kids/neighbors had a good time.

Hiking with my homies

Just after school got out the cousins came down and we had a super fun time hiking in a new park with them.  It has a cool waterfall feature and is supposed to teach about plants that grow well without too much water since we live in a desert. 

We also picnicked thanks to Jimmy Johns and played a fierce game of soccer at the park...It was super fun and even Grandma Rice played and spanked it...It was clear that Rebekah Ferguson still has great moves...All the kids were enlightened that their parents weren't totally unable to compete.

Mine all mine and excited for things to come...end of an era...

I know a lot of mom's dread summer but I really love having to kids all to myself...minus the inevitable fighting from hormones...We do like each other and it is just nice to be done with schedules and commitments and be free....even if it is only for a few months. Cami and Taryn are so helpful most of the time and Jocelyn and Creed love the added noise and attention and friends. 

This year was a little sad but exciting at the same time because it was Cami's final year of elementary school. She has loved and excelled at her school and been happy. But she feels grown up and ready for a new adventure. The unknown of a new school is also nerve racking  and scary and exciting at the same time. So Cami was feeling a lot of different conflicting feelings and it shows. 

Taryn was just happy for some freedom and was SO EXCITED to find out her dreams came true and she got the teacher she wanted for 4th grade next year. So even though she is overwhelmingly happy for summer she is also psyched for next year. She also found out she is going to be on the student leadership team (student council). She is excited and can't wait for that. And luckily she found out she has a good friend in her class with her so she is totally set!

Faye the hairdresser...or head dresser....

Jocelyn and Taryn LOVE a blog called cute girl hairstyles. It has videos of tons of hairdos-lots of buns and braids...Jocelyn and Taryn experiment on each other all the time...The other day Brent was nice enough to let Jocelyn experiment on his hair/head (because his hair is pretty shaved these days)....It turned out SO pretty...

Friday night date night...and life flight

A month or so ago we took the kids out to dinner for a family date night. They are getting old enough that they eat enough to make it worth it and they generally co operate rather than screaming or being crazy. 

Anyway after dinner Creed wanted to see the dumpster behind the restaurant (as he always does)...and then the dumpster behind Target...and the dumpster behind Lowes...and the dumpster behind the hospital because it is a compacting dumpster and especially cool...And because Brent loves his little man, and the girls think Creed's love of trash is funny, we drove around for a while checking out the dumpsters in the area.

Behind the hospital we saw the life flight helicopter so Brent pulled over by it to show the kids. The pilot was getting it ready and on stand by to pick someone up somewhere...He was so nice and let the kids come over (Brent included) and check everything out and ask a million questions. He was super duper nice and it was really cool....And hopefully that is the closest any of us will ever need to be to life flight. But if we do need it I have every confidence in that pilot.

Pretty ballarina that can count in french!

I love our dance studio. It is really professional-no hoochy mama costumes or music, especially for the littles. I love that Miss Sheila is an actual professional ballet lady. I love that she is so patient and nice with the girls and I love that Jocelyn loves it. She has good buddies in her class and is in her own princess land whenever she is there. She is getting good at following directions, listening and feeling music, and memorizing movements/routines. I love that dance gets her to think and feel using both sides of her brain.I love that she runs around the house counting to ten in French...BUT mostly I just love her. She is so stinking cute....

And PS...She is really stinking fast at doing big 100 piece puzzles...

We have a garbage man in the family

The secret is out. Creed is a garbage man through and through...We went and got snow cones the other day and Creed was not really into his treat because they had two garbage cans to play with....for the entire time we were there...And the other day I found about thirty pictures of the garbage can on my phone...Creed's version of a selfie...Not to mention the HOURS every day he spends playing with his garbage truck, begging to watch you tube garbage truck videos, and talking constantly about reduce reuse recycle....AND how he can tell you the color of all the garbage cans in our neighborhood and some of the extended families neighborhoods....and their trash days....and the color of their garbage trucks....and if it is a side loader, a rear loader, or a front loader...his favorite are side loaders....Good to know that when he is into something is goes all out. Love this boy!

Preschool graduation round three..

We go to the best preschool in the world. In fact sometimes I wish I was three or four and could go myself. The next best thing other than going myself is sending my favorite kids on the planet.

 Jocelyn has loved preschool and loved Miss Megan. Miss Megan is the most patient, compassionate, thoughtful person ever. She sets boundaries and enforces them but never once have I seen her raise her voice or respond in an irritated way. She truly loves her students and acts like it. She also happens to be a great teacher.

Jocelyn has taken off with reading. She has a lot of sight words and can sound out words...she does it silently, it is so funny then she just blurts out the word... She also got an award for being able to count to 100 without help and she can skip count by tens. 

She loves her friends from preschool and will be sad when kindergarten starts and they aren't in her class again. The had a whole program made of songs and games to present to the parents and miraculously it didn't rain even though it looked like it would the whole time.

Anyway I think it is safe to say that Jocelyn is ready for kindergarten and that Busy Beehive preschool was the perfect place for her to learn and grow and prepare. I am happy that Creed will get to start here next fall or we would seriously miss Miss Megan.

                                           

  

    

Cami's end of year and give me some liberty program

So we kind of got a two for one with end of year programs because Cami's program was right after Taryn's. It was convenient until Jocelyn and Creed had had enough watching for one day and we ended up going a little WWF by the end. 

Anyway, Cami somehow got to play the xylophone (because she takes piano and knows notes and rhythms), moonwalk, and swing dance (with a "special" boy but don't ask her about it or she won't talk to you again for the rest of your life....).

She also earned the radiant roadrunner award by a landslide, not just completing the number of requirements she had to but completing all the requirements available....So great job Cam!

Also Cami earned the national give me liberty award. She had to memorize all the presidents of the United States and the Declaration of Independence and a state/capital map and several other things...She worked hard on it and was the first fifth grader to pass off all the requirements. It was a really challenging endeavor and I am not sure I would even be able to do it....She had it done by January....Anyway she basically spanked it all year so here's the proof...

Second row, third from end on left...

Getting her radiant roadrunner award...

And give me liberty....

and her and her teacher....

And doing crazy swing dance maneuvers....

Taryn's end of year program-think win win...

At our school they are really using the seven habits of highly effective kids...The whole third grade program was based around these habits. Taryn's favorite habit to quote at me all year was "first seek to understand then be understood [mom]!" Generally she spouted this to me as I was dishing out a punishment without finding out WHY she was being naughty...The phrase kind of became a bad word to me....

But other than that her favorite habit was "think win win"...And I actually do like this one because who doesn't like winning? So her program was a win win-the kids did great showcasing their learning and we did great watching...

Taryn was also able to receive her year long radiant roadrunner award for doing all she was supposed to and more (science fair, awesome attendance, extra projects, good behavior, etc)...Anyway she is motivated by rewards so I am thankful they offer this one and she really did work like a crazy lady all year and learned a lot. 

The third grade with Taryn in the front row.

Taryn and her medall and certificate for radiant roadrunner...That makes 4 for 4 years....

Taryn and Miss Allan who was a rock star for being a first year teacher! Taryn had such a great time and Miss Allan was so organized. It was a great year!

SUPER FAST!!!

One of Creed and Jocelyn's favorite past times is riding bikes around the neighborhood. I couldn't resist capturing this memory because Creed is SO stinking fast. He just got this two wheeler for Christmas and he totally has taken the neighborhood by storm...So just fair warning if you feel a breeze it is probably just Creed and Jocelyn's dust blowing on you....

Camping without actually camping....in may

So tyring to find a spare weekend for camping during soccer season is rough. Finally the second weekend in May everyone was available and we decided to go camping with some friends at the spot in the virgin river gorge that we go to every year. The day we were to leave it was raining and FREEZING! (very unlike the normal May weather where it is too hot to go outside) Anyway after looking at the weather and not being super willing to freeze all night we decided to go to our friends cabin in the mountains instead. We had a great time and in the morning we woke up to snow....We were super glad we weren't outside camping....

Spring 2015 Soccer X3

I love spring soccer. First it is not as hot or as long a season. Second it is soccer...I coached Jocelyn's and Taryn's teams and Cami played on her competitive team. Jocelyn and Taryn somehow end up the same color as each other every season and this year they even had the same number...Both teams started off a little slow but by the end of the season they were really getting the game better. 

Taryn proved to be a great mid fielder since she is aggressive enough to not get knocked off the ball...and if she does it fuels her fire to knock someone else around. Her natural aggression suits her well on the field. Her team had three girls on it that had never played soccer before so by the end of the season when they were getting passes in and crossing the ball across the goal I considered it a great success even though they only won like two games. 

Jocelyn's team finally started scoring goals by the end of the season and it is always my favorite to watch this age of kid try to figure out which way to dribble and who is on their own team....Good times.

Cami worked really hard this season as forward. She continued to develop and stick with it and at the end of the season she finished with an awesome goal in her last game. Her whole team is really starting to pass well and look like a real team. They are getting the strategy and can execute hard plays. They are also at the age where they have random growth spurts that make them clumsy for a game when they are normally very coordinated...never a dull moment. I love watching them play and progress. 

Jocelyn's "green mermaid" team

Taryn's "grease lightening" team....after our team party...somehow taking pictures didn't seem important as I was trying to coach during a game....

Cami's team "united"