Primary Talent Show

Our ward had a little talent show for all of the primary kids. They could get up on stage to do a talent or they could display artwork etc. on tables around the room. Timmy decided he wanted to build a really cool lego airplane. He worked really hard on it for about 2.5 days. It was a hit when we got there. All of the little boys thought it was awesome. I was proud of him.

Maura and Jada decided they wanted to sing a song for their talent. I was worried they might get stage fright and not want to do it, but they did great and they were so cute. They weren't very close to the microphone so it might be a little hard to hear, but they did great!

First Day of School!

The first day of school finally came on Sept. 8th! I was so excited for it to start but so were they. Timmy started 2nd grade and Maura started all day Kindergarten. Maura was so excited about riding the bus with Timmy and Jada and about taking her lunch to school to eat in the cafeteria. It was a big day for her. Timmy wasn't quite as excited to started 2nd grade because he thought there wouldn't be anymore fun in school anymore. When he got off the bus though, he said "2nd grade wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be!" I had to laugh. Maura said her day was "perfect!" Then the next day she said that "it was more perfect than the day before!" Needless to say, she loves it.

Topher was just as excited to get ready for school as they were. Too bad he had to stay home with mom.

Timmy

Maura

The three amigos

Happily waiting for the bus.

On their way!

Topher was heart broken that he didn't get to go. He told me (with big tears rolling down his face), "they yeeve (leave) me!" He was one sad boy.

All about T.J.

T.J. celebrated his 32nd birthday this year. We were able to go out for dinner and a movie and then per T.J.'s request, I tried to make my first three tiered carrot cake. Surprisingly it turned out pretty good. I hope it was a good day for T.J. We love him very much.

This fabulous picture is of T.J. on his last first day of school! Doesn't he look so happy? Well at least I was excited that this was the last semester of school. He finishes in December and I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has done to finish his degree in Nurse Anesthesia.

Summer Time

I am WAY behind on blogging. I'm blaming it on feeling terrible all summer long. We kept busy though. The kids took tennis (I didn't take a pic) and swimming lessons. They really loved both and were sad when they were over. Timmy was also very proud that he moved up from level 2 to level 3. We also took a few bike rides with the whole crew. I'm sure we got some interesting looks from people passing by, but we had fun.

Timmy jumping in and Maura (right corner) swimming

The kids getting ready to to their pre-swimming stretch.

We were able to go see the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra again this year. It was fun to take Drew and Cass with us. We sat on a hill in the grass and the kids were able to run and play. Since they were in such bright colors we were able to spot them a mile away. The pageant was great and we really enjoyed it. After the pageant we drove to Rochester and checked into our hotel. The next morning we took the kids to the Strong National Museum of Play. It was unbelievable! The kids could have played there 8 hours straight if we would have let them. It was really a cool place. It was a great and super busy weekend.

Timmy posing

Topher and Ranan crawling in the grass

Jada and Maura mothering Taya

Eating breakfast in our hotel room

In the play kitchen cooking and cleaning

Topher yelling at the fridge door becuase it kept slamming on him.

On stage giving a performance.

The Fruits of Our Labors

Well our garden started producing. If you remember from an earlier post, we planted a very small garden with the hopes that we would get some veggies from it and we did! We have cucumbers and jalapenos coming out of our ears. The yellow squash is just about ready to pick and the strawberries are almost there too. The kids have been so excited to go look everyday and have become quite fond of cucumber salad. Hopefully someday we'll have the space to have a bigger garden.

Who's has brown eyes, brown hair, and red spots all over?

Its Topher!! He started out looking like this Saturday afternoon....

Then he looked like this by the next day. Red blisters all over his body. (sorry about the sideways pics...my computer won't turn them)

Somehow my kids contracted hand, foot, mouth disease and we had a terrible weekend.

All three kids ran fevers for 2 days. The older kids got blisters in the back of their throats and Topher got them everywhere. Normally the blisters show up in the mouth, on the palms of the hands, and soles of the feet, but Topher had a severe case and blisters covered all of his arms, legs, and around his mouth. The poor little guy was miserable. He still looks really bad but is recovering quickly. I just hope all those spots don't scar my cute little guy. (don't you just love that cheesy grin?)