Happy Really Late Birthday Mel.....

My beautiful friend Mel had a birthday last month when we were in Utah. So on Friday we were FINALLY able to take her out. We went to Mike's Roadhouse. YUM! It was me, Tami Tam, Misty, Mel and Alyssa. Mel wore the fabulous "flashing" crown and was beautiful in it. Happy Birthday friend.

Smartie Pants......

On Thursday Van Allen had their second Blue and Gold Assembly. Caleb was awarded
Academic Excellence in English and Mathematics again. Way to go bud. We are so proud of him and his hard work in school and everything he does. He is a really great kid.

My beautiful Ashlee

Once again Misty amazes me. She took Ashlee to take pictures for her 7th birthday, here are just a few. Thank you thank you!!! Misty we love you, your the BEST!!

Ashlee just lost that front tooth this week. It was a pretty big deal around our house.

Park fun

My good friend Misty ( photographer extraordinaire) came over to take pictures of Ashlee bug. She will be turning 7 next month. I will post those later. I also had the kids friends Samuel, Nicholas, Elijah, Riley and Fury. Misty left D and Max here to play with all the kids while her and Ash went to the orchard at the end of my street. The kids had a blast, Max was in heaven with all the boys around for him to play with and the 3 little girls had a tea party on the family room floor. It was a lot of fun but I know why I am NOT the mother of 10. After Misty and Ash got home from taking beautiful pictures we all walked to the little park in my neighborhood. We had a lot of fun and wore the kiddos out.

We lost Max for a few minutes and had everyone looking around the house for him. This is how and where we found him. Keep in mind the pantry door was shut and the light was off and he was just in there enjoying some Captain Crunch (can't say I blame him). His face looks a little guilty though.


The Tea Party

He lands on his feet, this kid is seriously fearless.

Clever Kiddos

The kids brought home FANTASTIC report cards today. Caleb made the HIGH HONOR roll and got an 8.7 reading level (for those that don't know what that means, he reads at 8th grade 7 months into the year level. I had to ask too.) Yep, they certainly did not get their academic skills from me. I had an allergy to school. I am really proud of both of them. Love you guys!!!

EARTHQUAKE

So I bet I got you attention with the title, but in fact it was just an earthquake drill at the kids school this morning while I was there working in the library. I don't have any pictures but I will try my best to describe to you the utter chaos that went down. A little bit of a side note for you....my kids go to an awesome, little country school, only about 150 kids. The buildings are about that old as well and our little library is pretty small. There are 2 tables in it, a small round one and a rectangle one. Here's the scenario, 19 first graders + 1 Sydney crammed under 2 pretty small tables for 5 minutes while they wait for the evac announcement. 5 minutes doesn't seem that long but to a 6 year old it is FOREVER. I have never wished for my camera more. It was hysterical from an adult point of view watching these kids, but not so funny to them. Afterwards Ashlee says," I sure hope that when we have the earthquake I'm not in the library." Well sister, I hope so too.

Hmmmmmm

Sometimes when you have been blessed with a strong, independent child it is better to just walk away. It is easier said than done especially if that same beautiful, strong willed child starts a full on brawl in the hall outside of the primary room at church today. The fight actually started in the primary room where Sydney took her friend Dylen's sticker because she thought it was hers. I tried to give her an identical sticker but to no avail. After wrestling the sticker from her hands and giving it to Dylen I thought the incident was over. I turn my back for 1 minute to load up my 50lb primary bag and I hear screaming in the hall Sydney had chased poor D down to try and recover the sticker. Please keep in mind I had an identical sticker for Syd but apparently kids have super human abilities to know if you are trying to make a switch. Anyway, I had to drag a kicking a screaming Sydney back to the Primary room so Dylen could make her escape. Misty told me that Dylen said" let's hurry mom." So here is our official apology to our little friend Dylen and Sydney will be making you an "I'm Sorry" card. We love you guys.

This is a picture of better days. Sydney really does love Dylen.
BTW I took this pic, if you couldn't tell, I obviously don't pay attention to see that Misty is in the shot.