Preschool Graduation and School Projects

Xander graduated from preschool the other day. I'm still deciding if preschool graduation is more for the child or the parent. I for one, love having an occasion where I can adore and celebrate my child.

This is Xander and Manny. Xander has talked about Manny all year. One thing I didn't know was that Manny could tackle Xander in a heartbeat. Are they really the same age?

Xander is very excited to go to Kindergarten next school year. He's all ready to go! He's had his Kindergarten shots, which he talks about and tells others often. And, we have already gone to his preassessment, which he aced. Smart kid!

CJ's has had a ton of projects at school. It seems like all year long there has been a project she has been working on. This one, is extra credit. I'm so happy she did it because, Ben was so thrilled to do it with her. She had to make an ancient egypt artifact.

Guess what she chose?

Equipped with little golden artifacts inside.

Mia had a project to create an animals from materials that she had at home. I loved watching her mind work. She knew exactly how she was going to create it and had it all planned out.

Summer break is only days away. I hope I don't break out with a bad case of KHAS (Kids Home All Summer) disfunction.

This is the Shed that Ben Built. . .

These are the pieces.

This is Ben, who bought the pieces.

These are the friends, who helped Ben, who bought the pieces.

This is the box the pieces came in and a kid of one of our friends, who helped Ben, who bought the pieces.

This is the wall that goes to the shed, that came in the box the pieces came in and a kid of one of our friends, who helped Ben, who bought the pieces.

These are all the walls, the wall that goes to the shed, that came in the box the pieces came in and a kid of one of our friends, who helped Ben, who bought the pieces.

This is the door. That attaches to the walls, the walls that go to the shed, that came in the box the pieces came in and a kid of one of our friends, who helped Ben, who bought the pieces.

This is the shed that Ben built, that has a door that attaches to walls, the walls that go to the shed that came in the box the pieces came in and a kid of one of our friends, who helped Ben who bought the pieces.

It was so nice to have friends come and help us put it together. The missionaries even showed up which was great! Thanks for everyone who helped!

Here are some other projects we have been working on.

ROCK LANDSCAPE

The girls, their friend and I tackled the side of the house while Ben was at work. We finished more than half. I told the girls they were so strong and bought them slurpees for payment.

PLANTER BOXES

Ben made the planter boxes and we filled them(this was after finishing the rock landscaping) with some yummy topsoil. We'll we hope the plants think it's yummy. Afterwards, Ben and I wanted to pass out.

This was the marathon day where I did fifty million things. I woke up early to grocery shop, ran a 5K, bought a bike, went to yard sales, finished putting the rocks in, conducted the music at a baptism, filled the planter boxes with topsoil, and went to a birthday party!

Many of our plants died from our old yucky soil and so we planted some new ones.

GRASS

I give all props to Ben being able to grow grass. This has been the longest project ever and it is still not done.

We began in October of last year. I dug most of the trenches by hand, because we wanted to use the pipes from the old system, that did not work. We also wanted to check to see if there were any leaks in the pipes.

Ben put the sprinkler system in and had the faith that grass would grow from seed.

I had my doubts. But you can see here, that yes indeed, grass can grow from seed.

It's not perfect and there are still holes everywhere that we are trying to patch. Also a big chunk by the kids play area, we had to kill with Roundup because they were all weeds. We are going to rototiller the area and start from scratch.

Yard work is hard work but making improvements in your yard also brings a sense of satisfaction and happiness. We still have a ton more to do, but we are proud of what we have done so far!

34 ain't that bad!

I've been 34 for a couple of days now. 34 feels like 33. 34 even feels like 25. I guess 34 feels like how I feel which isn't bad at all.

I've decided that age is just a number. Take my Mom for instance. For the longest time, every year on her birthday she would tell us that she was celebrating her 21st birthday. I would giggle adding, "Yeah for the 20th time!" or "Yeah for the 30th time!".

My Mom also taught me that you are only as old as you feel. If that is the case, I am easily still in my 20's!

My birthday was filled with cards. . .

A new bike. . .that I bought with the photography money I have been saving.

New running shoes. . .I told my Mom what I was buying with my birthday money and she remarked, "I knew you would buy something practical!" Practical or not, I still get excited! My MIL told me to buy cute shoes. Do these pass?

Red velvet cake. . .We invited friends over for birthday cake. I'm so blessed with such good friends!

Dancing time. . .Since it was my day, I decided that I could make everyone do what I wanted. The kids entertained me with a dance contest. Of course I had to jump in!

It was a great weekend! Ben took me to see the new and not yet released Pirates of the Carribbean at his work and dinner at the Can't Fail Cafe (which is owned by a member of Green Day). Very fun and delicious!

My rose bush even honored me with roses this weekend!

I guess 34 ain't that bad!

M&M's all for MEEEEE!

I remember when my MIL, had a giant glass container filled with M&M's. "Why did she have to live 12 hours away?" I whined. I was so hoping that when I visited her in June, that there would be still M&Ms. Luckily, her container was so enormous that they lasted for months and I was able to have some for myself.

Guess what I got for Mother's Day????

M&Ms all for MEEEEEE!

Ben brought home this really cool glass bowl that I have quite figured out what I was going to do with. He filled it with regular M&Ms, peanut butter filled ones, pretzel filled ones, and my favorite, ALMOND JOY ONES!

He even made a heart for me on the side.

Heaven!

I also got 2 dozen flowers which I love! Too bad they don't stick around as long so I can enjoy them longer.

Yesterday, CJ brought me home chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered pretzels that Ben bought from the Young Women for their camp fundraiser.

Then. . .

Today the kids and Ben made me breakfast in bed with blueberry waffles topped with whipped topping and fresh blueberries, bacon and eggs. The kids showered me with homemade cards and gifts.

Mia asked me a long time ago to print pictures off of me. Little did I know she was making me a very cool box with her treasures in it. Treasures like, shells, glittery stones and tattoos.

I had to immediately put on my My Little Pony and flower tattoos and wear them to church!

At church, the kids showered me with these precious tile necklesses.

Mia was bummed because I got to see what they were because I am in the Primary Presidency and helped put them together. She loves surprising me and felt jipped that I already knew. A friend of mine, who is also in the presidency told her on the way out that I never saw them that she put mine together!

And if this all wasn't enough, my friend invited us over for dinner and I didn't have to cook! Yay!

Best day ever!

Year of the Beaches

We had a wonderful Spring Break and a wonderful way to kick off our "Year of the Beaches". We have had the "Year of Discoveries" and the "Year of the Hike". Both, very good and adventurous years.

This year we are hitting the beaches. We went to Point Reyes on one of the days Ben had off during Spring Break. He had taken some days off to go with the Priest on a High Adventure and had an extra day. We snagged that one up in a heartbeat!

Here is a beautiful view. You can check my other blog out for more pictures.

We hiked to the lighthouse, which happened to be closed on the day we went, but enjoyed the scenery nonetheless. We also hit Drakes beach.



Zoey was afraid of the waves which worked for us. She played in the sand and stayed next to me. Usually, Zoey is drawn to the water. I think she maybe part mermaid.


The bigger kids had a blast playing in the sand and chasing the waves.


We all wrote our names in the sand and CJ had to write her and the boy she has a crush on in a heart in the sand. Ben wrote "gross" underneath!


I love the shacks that people build out of wood. It became the kids' playhouse. I also asked Ben to take a picture of me. I'm beginning to think I need to document that I was there too.


If that wasn't enough, the next day, I took the kids to Capitola Beach. We went with some friends which always makes an outing more fun!



This time,the waves didn't scare Zoey away. There was this stream of water that flowed out to the main body of water. I was had to constantly stay by her. Even though the water wasn't deep, there was a little current that would knock her over. I would try to get her to play in the sand and she would fight me so hard. Finally, I just gave in and let her play in the water and stood by her to make sure she didn't fall in.



My friends helped me out and gave me a break which was relieving. This age is so exhausting for me! We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the beautiful California weather!



Later that week, we went with a friend and her kids and hiked around Lafayette Reservoir. We only had one casualty. Mia feel down and got a pretty good gash on her knee. She was a trooper and made it through the rest of the hike.



Can't wait to hit some more beaches this summer!

Easter

Each time I blog, I think to myself, "Hmmm what creative title can I give this entry?"

And each time, my brain is mushy from all the resizing of the pictures that it just ends up being something simple like this. . .Easter.

We decided that we would try a community Easter Egg Hunt. In the past, Ben and I try to avoid these. From experience, the kids end up with one egg or one piece of candy. But, since we have moved to California, we have had nothing but pleasant experiences. I told Ben maybe it is because most families only have one kid here versus Utah where, well, they have a little more. We went down to Heather Farms and even arrived early!

Being early wasn't fun for Zoey especially since all the candy was in hands reach. In the last picture above, Ben decided to give her plane rides because she was getting too hard to contain.

This was CJ's first time where she was too old to participate. You can see her happy face on the first picture and then after, check out her face! She wants to be grown up most of the time, but sometimes, I think she misses being a little kid. Don't we all?

They had little minature ponies for the kids to pet. Zoey was excited because it looked like a giant dog to her and she loves dogs.

Easter day, Zoey woke up like this.

A reaction from the antibiotic she was taking for Strep. I guess Zoey is allergic to Amoxicillin.

The kids had fun finding their baskets and the hidden eggs.

Goggles were the biggest hit!

The kids in their Easter clothes. . .

CJ

Xander

Mia

I didn't get any of Zoey. I was lucky to get some of her with the rest of the kids. She is constantly on the go, go, go!

Many times when Ben and I are giving Family Home Evening lessons, we are doing it while there is screaming, fighting, and constant chaos all around us. That was exactly how our Easter lesson went. There was screaming and constant running after Zoey. Even though, life is chaotic, I still think that something sinks in and that the kids do learn something.