Wednesday, August 31, 2011

First Day for Kitty

Wednesday, July 26, 2011
This year they had the first graders start a day after the older grades. The day before they started the first graders went in to meet their teacher and to be assessed and find out where their classroom is and where to lineup in the mornings for school. Things will definitely be different at home with Kitty gone all day. She was excited to go full-day and be able to eat lunch at school and ride the bus both ways. I think some mornings may be rough though because some days she has a hard time staying on task and hurrying if she's short on time. Hopefully she will have a fun year and be able to make lots of friends!

First Day of School

Luke and Blondie started school on Tuesday, July 26, 2011. They are in 5th and 3rd grade this year. I can't believe the summer went by so quickly! It's crazy with kids in year-round school. (There is a rumor going around that our school might switch to traditional in the next year or two...)
Blondie's class is in a portable this year (trailer on the school blacktop).

Pizza on the grill!

Monday, July 25, 2011

I found a recipe and instructions for cooking pizza on the grill so I had to try it. It was nice because I made smaller pizzas and individualized them for our family's tastes. It was AWESOME!! Definitely a new family favorite! If you would like the recipe that I used, here is a link: How to Grill Pizza

The crust and sauce from this website were awesome too!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Swimming... finally!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

My oldest brother and his family came to Utah for a visit and we were able to get together to take the kids swimming. Yea!! The kids had a lot of fun and my sister-in-law was a great help with the kids, especially Kay. And my mom helped out with MJ.


Float Preview

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Later that same day DH met up with us at my parents' house for dinner and then we drove over to the South Towne Expo Center to see the floats that were going to be in the Days of '47 Parade the following Monday for Pioneer Day. My brother-in-law was in charge of building a float for their stake this year and apparently the parade organizers have been holding a float preview party for the last couple of years where all of the floats are on display for the public to come and look at. We were truly amazed at how intricate the detail was on these floats! They were so amazing to look at and you could definitely appreciate them more close-up than you could seeing them in the parade. Here are a few of our favorites:






My brother-in-law's float:

Monday, August 29, 2011

Change of plans

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I have been trying all summer to take the kids swimming at the pool near my parents' house and we just could not seem to get ourselves over there. Finally on a Thursday I managed to get the kids all packed up in the car in their swimsuits and we were planning on meeting up with my parents and then heading over to the pool. At this time my dad was still not 100% because of a kidney stone but he agreed to come with us anyways. Once we got to the pool we found out that they had just barely closed it because someone had thrown up in the pool and it would be closed for about an hour. Unfortunately that put a wrench in our plans because my mom was scheduled to work at the temple in a little over an hour and there was no way that my dad and I were going to be able to manage the six kids on our own (especially with my dad not feeling well). So we ended up setting up my parents' slip-n-slide and the kids played out back for a while. After the hour was up my dad took M&M and Luke to the pool while I hung out with the little ones at my parents' house. Blondie and Kitty were especially bummed that they weren't able to go to the pool. :(

Crawling through the slip-n-slide

MJ was not too crazy about the freezing cold water!

Much better approaching the water from the side!

Hey! This is actually kind of fun!

Notice the crossed ankles. She loves to cross her ankles, even when she's sleeping.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Kay talk

Last week I got out the hair clippers to cut Luke's hair. After I was finished with him all of the girls piped up that they each wanted their hair cut too. (This is for all of you that have watched the movie Tangled.)

Kay: "I need my hair cut so it can turn brown."

Me: "What color is your hair now?"

Kay: "Umm, it's brown."

Monday, August 15, 2011

Kay talk

July 20, 2011

I came downstairs and found Kay doing this:

Me: "What are you doing Kay?"

Kay: "I'm crowning."
I had to think about this for a few seconds to try and translate what this meant. I then realized that she meant crayoning.

Me: "Oh, you're coloring with crayons."

Kay: "Yeah, I'm coloring with crayons."

Guess who turned one!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

I can't believe that my baby is one already!!

So close to walking on her own!
At the time of her birthday she was taking a couple of steps here and there, but she didn't quite have the confidence and the balance to just take off on her own yet. She could say ma-ma, da-da, hi and uh-oh. She had learned a couple of baby signs for soft, more, and hi or bye (waving). She loves looking at herself in the mirror or seeing pictures of herself. Loves to pull hair and poke and scratch - hence trying to teach her to be nice (baby sign that DH taught her).MJ had absolutely no interest in opening any of her presents. She was interested in the bows on a couple of them for about 10 seconds. Her sisters were all ready and willing to jump in and help her though!!
Checking out her new sandals.

A new shape-sorting toy since M&M and Luke broke the old one beyond repair. Lucky for them I found this one in really good condition at a consignment store for only a couple of dollars (since they don't make this toy anymore for some reason).
Trying out a new hairbow. I'm not sure what was so funny - I think they may have been playing with Photo Booth on my ipad. The kids (even MJ) think it's hilarious.
Looking a little concerned about that candle...
Hmmm, this looks interesting...

Finger-licking good!

Total annihilation!

Mission accomplished!

Bath time!
Happy 1st Birthday MJ!