Mother's Day

My little family always spoils me rotten on Mother's Day, and I would be lying if I said I didn't love it. I came home a day early from a trip to Cedar City for my yearly day of pampering. No kidding. He got started early and had the whole house clean when I got home on Saturday night. Best. Present. Ever. Damon did some research online and ordered a bunch of popular/most effective beauty products for me. It was such a thoughtful and awesome gift. I will get many months of use out of that gift. This is the only picture taken that day which makes me laugh because this man knows how to celebrate Mother's Day. Really, this was just a few minutes that he actually sat down.

I will use it for blackmail for many moons to come.

Lagoon

We got Lagoon season passes this year and made our first trip of many.

I love having fun with my family. They are growing up so fast!

Lookin' purdy at the ripe old age of 40!

Damon's 40th birthday is one that he won't soon forget. I reached out to friends and family in the weeks before his birthday and had them send me memories and kind words about Damon which I printed up and tied to black balloons and put them in our room for him to wake up to. I also made a fantastic sign for his car, got him a tshirt proclaiming his age and a box full of candy that used to be manufactured back in the year he was born.
He threw himself a big party at a reception hall that has game rooms, tv rooms and a volleyball court. So many friends and family showed up. It was a blast to see him so happy.

What is it about this kid?

Just today I was joking around with Cooper telling him that I am not going to let him go to first grade. That I was going to call the school and tell them Cooper can't move on to first grade. He needs to stay in Kindergarten forever. He was having none of that. He is so ready to go to school all day and be a big kid. I've been saying this since the day he was born- I want to keep him little. He can't grow up on me. First grade?! Nuh-uh. He can't be that big. But, alas, he is. I'm going to find a way to just accept it one of these days.

Maybe.

A Whale of a Tale

Oh, the things we do as parents. We love our kids and encourage them to do the things that excite them most. Kaydance loves, loves, loves to perform. Landen, not so much. He does, however, not love to be left out and after years of hearing his sister go on and on about how much fun she has had with this play group finally talked his mom into letting him join too. He always acted really excited to go and seemed to enjoy it, but he doesn't glow in the spotlight like his sister. That is totally fine. As long as he had fun. My kids both had minimal parts this year. Landen was Gru in one little scene while Kaydance played a minion. Then later they both had parts as trolls. This was one looooong play.

 We all survived it. The kids were happy to perform and get their little trophies.

I'm pretty sure I had a headache by the time it was all said and done, but you wouldn't find me anywhere other than parked in that seat watching my kiddos and supporting them in something they wanted to do.

Because it's good for me.

I am going to give this blogging thing another go. I am really sad that I have let so many things pass that I don't have on here and therefore cannot put in a book to keep on the shelf. Also writing posts for this page keeps my writing skills sharp, and I need all the practice I can get. Have I ever mentioned that I want to write a novel? Well, I do. I am also in the middle (ahem, beginning) of writing it. I haven't made it very far. I've found that when I do sit down to write, I feel like I am pulling the words of the story out from the bottom of my toes. My mind goes blank, and I simply have no words to write in my (and my husband's) fabulous book. The idea of the book is his, and it's a good one. So, anyway, I am going to try to get my groove back. Here. Sorry if this distresses you. I simply cannot go back and try to do any sort of catch up. This makes me sad, but unless I suddenly get, oh, 300 more hours in a day, it's not going to happen. Too much to say. Too much water under the bridge. I won't even remember any of the good stuff from our daily lives to even make it worth it. It would simply be: Hey, here's a picture. I think this is what we were doing in it. Which pretty much equals up to: boring. So, I'm going to start with this past week. Which was a good one. And busy.
On a side note; I don't like busy. I can't quite figure out if I'm getting old and becoming "set in my ways" or what, but busy-ness kind of freaks me out. I always feel like I am forgetting something. So far I haven't, but I am almost positive that I am going to forget something huge like a recital or something. Hm. Maybe I am developing a new fear. Note to self: do some self introspection on this. Wow. I'm a bit erratic tonight.
This week was cram full of stuff! Tuesday evening had the kids in their piano recital. I put them in piano a little over a year ago and it has been so fun to have music filling up our home. That, and the nagging to practice. And the whining that I'm ruining a certain someones life by making him take piano. Nearly every night people. It's awesome. The piano recital: it was a small group. Their teacher split her students up into 3 different groups, so it was rather quick. Which was nice. Because the 3 and 6 year old wouldn't have lasted much longer. They both did fantastic. Kaydance was a little bit embarrassed because she messed up on her song, but I am still so proud of her. This is why: she signed up for both Federation of Music and AIM testing this year. In Federation of Music, the students go and play 2 songs in front of judges and they score them on how well they played. I did this when I was a kid and it always terrified me. Kaydance did so well! She got a superior on her songs which is the best score you can get.

 Now about the AIM testing. I was a little bit more unsure about this one because I had no idea what it was. The students also play 2 songs in front of judges and they are scored on the accuracy of how well they played. Kaydance got 100%! According to the program that her teacher handed out at the recital, she was the only one of her students to get 100%.

So she got a medal (for getting over 80%), a composer statue for getting over 95%, and a trophy for getting over 98%.

 This is a close up of her little trophy. She is so proud of it, and rightly so. Good job girl!

 Landen also played in the recital, but this kid is still seriously so hard to get to slow down for pictures. He did fantastic with his song. When they were picking out their songs, his teacher mentioned that his song would really bug his mom because of some of the repetitiveness of it. He apparently jumped on that number very enthusiastically. The song was not too bad, and he played it very well at the recital. He got 97% on his AIM testing. Which is also phenomenal. So he got a medal and a composer statue. He didn't want to do both the Federation and AIM (no surprise here), so I let him choose one.
I do have to add that my kids accomplished this with very little assistance from me. I actually know how to play the piano, and even tried teaching them for awhile. It didn't go over well and that was totally my fault. I'm really, REALLY good at putting things off and piano quickly became one of those things on that list. The time between lessons became further and further apart. So, I signed them up with our neighbor and she is fantastic. I'm pretty sure that sometimes Landen isn't even practicing what he should be, and I still don't bother to intervene. Laziness alert! Even without my constant help, they are still learning and doing very well. Obviously. This has totally been a mom brag post and I am totally okay with that! Also long. Which is why I just decided to do the rest of the week in a different post.

The crocodile

Yes, Yes. I know it has been forever since I posted. I have thought about getting caught up several times over the past few months and every time I conveniently find something more pressing that needs to be done. Apparently, I have a lot of pressing things to do around here lately.
My kids are growing up so fast, and I feel like I am missing writing down some of the better stuff that goes on because let's be real: The best stuff happens when I don't have a camera ready, and are often quiet little moments that make up my blustery, busy days. So, rather than dig out all the pictures of the rather fantastic year we have had so far, I will share this rather cute moment.
Gabby came to me yesterday and said all teasing and sweet-like: Mommy, there's something in my tummy.
My thoughts immediately jumped to the conclusion that she must have swallowed something she wasn't supposed to so I asked: What is in your tummy?
Gabby: A crocodile.
I am wracking my brain over whether or not we have something in our house that Gabs would think is a crocodile, and why in the world she would swallow it.
Me: Gabby, did you swallow a crocodile?
Gabby most innocently nods her head yes.
Me: Do we even have any toy crocodiles or anything like that?
Cooper: Yeah, we have that one... It's green... and it's... kinda... small.
The only thing I can think of at this point is a little plastic Go Diego Go toy that was actually a caiman (sp) and then my brain jumps to whether or not I need to call the doctor because those toys are just plastic covered in paint (it's totally small enough that she could pass it)- oh no! Paint! The stomach acid can dissolve this and she could be poisoned (You know everything is manufactured in China and they use lead paint there. Keep up people!) Yep, definitely calling the doctor. So one more time just to be sure:
Me: Gabby, did you swallow something? A toy? Something you were playing with?
She looks at me a little funny and shakes her head no.
Me: Gabby, please use your words. Did you swallow something? Momma needs to know so you don't get hurt or sick.
Gabby: No. (Also shaking her head again.) Then her stomach grumbles quite loudly and she says: Shh! Did you hear it? Did you hear the crocodile in my tummy?
Me: Oh! You are saying there is a crocodile in  you tummy because of the noise that it's making!
Gabby (looking at me like I'm an idiot at this point): Yep.
Yes, my three year old is old enough to give me a look that indicates she thinks I'm a little crazy. She is my daughter after all. I've raised her well. So far.