Peaceful Slumber

Dan put the kids in our bed while I was away at girl's camp.

Fred started wanting to sleep with his sisters this summer. Notice the plastic sheet. That is for Stella. Notice where Stella is. We need our carpets cleaned.
Stella and Ella.
Fred and Chloe.

Funny Fred

Fred has a talent for remembering lyrics.

The other day he said, "Mom, you are the music in me." (Highschool Musical)

And today he said, (in a high-pitched, sweet, pleading voice)

"Mom, please can I play playdo? Please, mom?

I said, "Sure, Fred."

He said, (in a high-pitched, excited voice) "I can? Yeah! Thanks mom. (singing) I love my mom. My mom is cool." (Sid the Science Kid)

Then he sat ON the kitchen table to play...and peed his pants. Oh, and he was wearing a dress-up skirt.

May Leftovers

Sometimes we make things. Like books specifically for dress designs.
Another piano recital. Painting garbage bags and the doll furniture Stella received for her birthday .

Playing with Annie and Kate . Swinging outside.

Snaggletooth.

One Day...

..we rode our bikes to Chloe's school. And stopped to touch the leaves.
We admired Chloe's project.

We stayed until Fred peed his pants.

On the way home, I convinced Fred to ride his bike down a hill.

He crashed and got a mouthful of grass.

We lost the garage opener and had to climb through a window to get in the house.

The End.


Have I mentioned that I love this neighborhood? The school is new and only two blocks away. There are walking paths and parks and swimming pools.

Suburbia at it's finest.

p.s. I think it looks like Stella is levitating in the fist picture. Can you see it or do I just have a good imagination? Maybe if you squint your eyes.

Five

Stella turned five. She has grown up a lot in the past year. She is a good girl. We love her.

Biggest Celebration of the Year

I guess the huge party we threw her in Santa Clara wasn't sufficient. We thought we should recognize her on her actual birthday. We also wanted to celebrate with her cousins (and best friends) here in Idaho.

In the morning she got to open her presents from her family.

Chloe made this for her Littlest Pet Shops.
We had cupcakes at preschool.

Then we went to Wahooz and she got more presents.

We ate pizza (and pickles).

Drove the bumper boats. This was a little nerve racking because spectators/parents couldn't be inside the gates. There was only one close call when Fred decided he wanted to switch boats. The kids loved it.

Stella's Party

Stella chose a soccer theme for her fifth birthday party. Since we were going to be in Santa Clara the week before her birthday, I planned this party with all her cousins. It turned out to be a really long party, and my whole family (minus Zach) was there, so really it was more like a family reunion.

The activities included:

Dribbling relays

Shooting a goal with your eyes closed. Pizza and sports drinks. Decorating inflatable soccer balls.

Soccer bowling. Swimming.Kicking a pinata.A soccer tournament. Lauren had a broken leg so she was the referee.Cake & presents. Hooray for Stella, birthdays, cousins and soccer!

Easter

I did this egg hunt every year when I was a kid. Now the next generation does it.

Fred got a prize egg but was more excited about the candy.

Stella was mad because she only got two prize eggs. See how many kids there are? And there were only about ten prize eggs. And she got two! (Which is against the rules.) And that was not good enough for her.
Chloe was crying because she didn't get a prize egg. I was not proud of my girls at this moment (except for Stella's ability to get two prize eggs--that was awesome).
Is anyone else ever ashamed of their kids? I'm ruining them.

Stella gave one of her prize eggs to Chloe. We were all satisfied at this point.

Other traditions:

Dying eggs.

Hiding and hunting for the dyed eggs.

A scavenger hunt to find Easter baskets.

Stella's loot.

Fred, Halle & Chloe

We also watched Ashton and Ethan do a triathlon. My kids wanted to do it but I missed the registration deadline.

And we went to the narrows on the Red Hill. Rachel's brace broke and her shoe fell off--that was epic. And Dan was very determined to get his barrel chest through after a chubby, busty lady made it ahead of him. When there's a will there's a way.

Spring Soccer

Stella really wanted to play soccer this year so we gave her another chance. She started out the season aggressively but kind of faded toward the end.

Chloe had another great season. She is on a team full of friends and has a great coach.

City of Rocks

The weekend after we returned from Florida we went camping at City of Rocks with Dan's parents, his brother Ben and his sister Valerie and her husband Stu.

It was windy and kind of cold but still beautiful.

Dan bought some dutch ovens and his mom made some really good meals. Including her birthday cake. The kids love their Pepe.

Kids get wimpy as they get older. Fred climbed all the way up to the tree multiple times. Stella climbed to the line where Fred is in the below picture and Chloe only climbed half-way to the line.

Florida

Dan had to go to Florida for work. I got to go with him.

His mom and dad came to our house to watch the kids.

I read on the beach while he worked. It was nice.

We went on a river trip. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

At first, it was a bit creepy because we were told that there were lots of alligators but we weren't seeing any.

Here we have Dan screaming like a little girl: