Moving up a Grade Level

I get kinda sentimental when school starts. Maybe it's because I have to acknowledge that my babies are growing up. Lauren started 3rd grade. She seems so old.......and it seems official that she's now a "tween". (Lauren standing in line, waiting or the bell to ring on the first day of school. Two of her very best friends are in her school class.)

Micaela started first grade. The girls are so excited that they were on the same schedule.They get to go to school together and walk home together. And the first few days, Lauren thought it was fun to see Micaela in the lunchroom and at the recess. Now she wonders why Micaela and her friends "have to follow her around"? But, luckily all of Lauren's friends love Micaela, and all of Micaela's friends like Lauren. Micaela thinks it's cool to hang with the big 3rd graders.

AJ started a little pre-school in our neighborhood. It's just 6 children. It's 2 days a week. He's getting too big! (He did get a haircut right after this picture :)

Cute Micaela getting situated at her desk the first day of school. I can't believe she's a first grader. She's always been our tiny little girl, so it seems strange she's a "big first grader". She's adjusted so easily to first grade and staying all day. She's made lots of friends and her teacher is amazing.

Micaela in the mudroom at school with one of her best friends who's in her class.

Lauren loves the "bright colors" that all the stores have right now. I think those of us who experienced them in jr. high, it's a little strange to see our children wearing the 80's clothes. Lauren's our little fashion diva. She loves clothes, jewelry and shoes.

My children are growing up way too fast. But I love getting to stay home with them, having the flexibility to volunteer in their classroom, go eat lunch with them in the cafeteria (already done it once) and be there when they come home from school. I love the people they are becoming. They're kind, considerate, thoughtful, and becoming very responsible. Sometimes I wish I could freeze them, and make them quit growing, and keep them little forever. But then I can't do that, so I may as well enjoy the ride as they continue to mature and grow.

4th of July Celebrating!!!

I LOVE SUMMERTIME!!!! So, of course I love the 4th of July. We love to pack as much celebrating into the day as possible! (Much to Matt's chagrin.) This year was no exception. This is what we did THIS year! We started celebrating July 3rd with a neighborhood party. We made a trip to Partyland and bought all the red/white/blue decorations we could find and found a way to put all of it on their bikes.

Then they were in a bike parade that started at the park north of our house and ended at the park south of our house. Lauren with her friend, Hunter.

Anthon felt like a celebrity. He thought he was the coolest thing ever, riding in his decorated red car. He really cruises in that thing! I think he kept bumping into the back of everyone else. They weren't quite going fast enough for him!

When we got to the park there was yummy food......

And cool treats (Micaela posing with her good friend, Halle)

And giant inflatables. This is Micaela (left) getting ready to go down with Hunter.

Lauren had fun cooling off.

Anthon got to the top of the slide and got scared. He wouldn't go down the slide, but he wouldn't climb back down, either. We made a neighbor boy grab him and take him down the slide so he'd get out the of the way of the other kids trying to come down. This is Anthon pouting because he was mad at the neighbor boy.

Then bright and early on the 4th of July we went to the Provo Freedom Festival Parade. This parade is always gigantic and the kids love it (not Matt though, don't even ask him about this part of the day! He HATES parades!!!!)

Lauren and her BFF, Hunter, had fun using their digital cameras. I think Lauren got about 58 pictures of the firetrucks and police cars alone. 1/4 of the way through the parade her memory card was full.

Candid picture of Lauren being her cute self.

When Anthon saw all of the Mormon missionaries in the parade he jumped up out of his chair so he could give them a high five.

Sweet, cutie-pie Micaela.

Anthon waving at the floats. I had to get this on the camera. I figure by next year he'll be too cool to do this.

We went to the parade with my parents, Uncle Steve, cousin Haley, and the our friends. These are the girls good friends, Hunter and Halle. Cute Anthon is always surrounded by lots of girls.

Next we went to Nana and Papa's for breakfast (my parents). Anthon being goofy!

Micaela LOVES her Nana...........

.........and her Papa!!!! Papa playing a game with Micaela. He's always good to play with the kids. You'd never know he was 72!!!

Lauren enjoying her watermelon. Any type of fruit is her favorite type of food. We're still working on her table manners:)

Anthon and his best bud---Uncle Steve (my brother). He loves to be teased.......and Steve is good at that!

Next we went to see Uncle Nate (Matt's younger brother) who plays in a band (Bearproof) perform at a local city celebration. Nate plays the electric guitar.

Uncle Nate the Rockstar!!! Anthon wanted to wear his "Rock Band" shirt with the electric guitar because it made him think of Uncle Nate.

Next we went swimming and for a BBQ at Aunt Christie's (Matt's sister) backyard pool. Basically it rained all of the month of June. The kids would pray every night "Please make it stop raining so we can swim in Aunt Christie's pool". I guess their prayers were answered:)

Next we changed into our PJ's, and headed to Uncle Ben's (Matt's brother) house to watch the fireworks.

I think Lauren took even more pictures of the fireworks in the sky, than she did of the firetrucks and police cars in the parade.

Uncle Ben had the best seats in the valley for fireworks. We sat on his rooftop. You could see all the fireworks in the valley. And the kids loved being with their cousins.

Anthon was very nervous that he was going to fall off the roof. Once he figured out his Dad had a good grip on him, he fell asleep before the fireworks even started. Goes to show, we did pack as much as we possibly could into one day!

Of course, the girls weren't ready to quit yet. They were wondering what we were going to do next! Lauren, Micaela, Eve, Emma, Aunt Tiffany hanging out on Aunt Tiffany's bed after a long and fun day.

I feel very blessed to be able to live here, and raise my family here. After Matt's parents lived in the Congo of Africa for 18 months serving a LDS mission, I have gained an even deeper appreciation for the luxuries we have........such as clean water, traffic lights, garbage pick up, medical care. I'm glad to be an American!!! :)

LaME, LAmE, LaMe!!!

I have been the lamest blogger lately. Probably by this point nobody is even checking out my blog any more. But if any of you are.........I will be making a post soon........hopefully tomorrow actually!!!
I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since I posted anything. Lame! Tomorrow....maybe....if anyone is even reading this..........I'll probably post something tomorrow. I'm sure you can hardly wait!!! :)

A Day in my Life!

So every morning it seems ritual for my husband to ask me, "So what you got going today"? I usually ask, "Why are you wondering?" Even though I know he's not judging how I use my time, I often wonder, 'does he really know what I do?' So here's a glimpse..........a day in the life of Shirlene.

* Got up at 6 a.m. Went for a 2 1/2 mile run (I'm training with Anna to do a 5k in July.) It's beautiful at 6 a.m. this time of year. You hear the birds chirping. The sun is starting to come up so you get to see all the vibrant spring colors. And a deer even ran across the road right in front of us. It was pretty cool!
* Made my 2nd grader breakfast, did her hair, made her lunch (she REFUSES to eat school lunch. Has never eaten it once. Not even the sack lunches they make for field trips. She's scared of it and the lunch ladies, I think). Got her off to 8 a.m. school.
* Got my younger 2 children up, fed, dressed, and hair done.
*Took my Kindergartner and the carpool to 9:15 Kindergarten.
*Came home, showered, got myself ready for the day.
*Headed to Walmart. Picked up supplies for Teacher Appreciation project. 2 things of craft paint and metallic markers, and bought a gift card for a teacher. (I'm a homeroom mother. )
* Went to the elementary school. Hand stamped 28 sets of hands as a border on a black tablecloth. Helped wash 28 sets of hands. Helped 28 kindergartners sign a card for their teacher.
* Picked up my 6 year old from 1/2 day kindergarten.
* Fed us all lunch
* Micaela had two friends over to play. Oversaw their play, along with my 3 year old, who thinks he's suppose to box, kick and wrestle everyone. Thus I was also a referee. Oh, yeah, and cleaned up some 'potty training accidents'.
* Made a oriental pork salad, bread, and cookies. Some to take to our neighbor since their daughter had surgery. Some for our dinner.
* 2nd grader came home from school. She had a friend over. They wanted to 'make something'. They thought since it was cinco de mayo they should make a pinata (wasn't fond of that idea). Instead, I gave them this idea.........
* Helped 5 children make snow cones for 4 different school teachers for Teacher Appreciation (a snow cone machine is the best investment ever!!).
* Delivered 5 children/4 snow cones to the school, before the teachers left for the day.
* Finished my monthly visiting teaching report
* Worked on my RS lesson for Sunday
* Finished the tablecloth for the teacher by having Micaela stamp her hands in the empty spots to fill up the border. Wrote every students name as a border around the outside....with a fabric pen.
* Took my daughter and carpool to dance, and picked them up again.
* Delivered dinner to my neighbors and fed my family.
* Did some laundry
* Got the children in the bath and ready for bed.

There ya go, honey. A day in my life.
I'm tired ............I think I'll go to bed.
Oh, yeah, one more thing I did today. I created a new blog post.

HAPPY EASTER (a week late!)

AJ leaving pre-school after a fun Easter party!

One day on our way home from dance, we saw a sign on the side of the road that read 'Baby Chicks For Sale'. The kids screamed and I hurried and turned the van to get to where the chicks were. They must have had at least 100 baby ducks and chicks for sale. They were very cute. The kids almost talked me into bringing a couple of home. But after spending less than 10 minutes, the smell was unbearable. And then after I drove away, I began to think"baby chicks turn into big chickens, what would we do with chickens roaming our yard". I'm glad I didn't buy on impulse:)

Dying Easter eggs (we had a couple of friends over, too)

Easter Sunday. This may be the last time I get them to wear matching clothes, but don't they look so cute. They girls aren't really into the princess style dresses anymore, which is a little sad, so we had to settle for Justice outfits. But they're still girly and cute.


Easter egg hunt at our house. Afterwards we went to our friends house for a yummy breakfast!

We hosted Easter dinner. Matt's parents, my parents, and two uncles came for dinner. AJ thought he was in heaven sitting between his two uncles. All day he kept asking, "When's Uncle Steve going to be here!"

Easter is my most favorite season/holiday. I love that the flowers begin to bloom, everything begins to come alive again outside. I love the weather turning warm, new spring clothes, but most of all, I love the spiritual message of Easter. I love our Savior, and I'm grateful that he lives and that he knows and loves me!

TODAY I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark.Today I will make a difference.
I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving.Today I will make a difference.
I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It's OK to stumble...I will get up. It's OK to fail...I will rise again.Today I will make a difference.
I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. A man can own the world but be poor for the lack of love. A man can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Five undiluted minutes with my mate, children, and friends.

CRAZY DAYZ!

About once a month our elementary school has a spirit Friday. Recently it was crazy day (not to be confused with crazy hair day). Basically anything went. When I dropped the kids off for school it was fun to see everyone's creativity. The girls chose their clothes and how crazy they wanted to be. They both chose old dance costumes, nonmatching socks and shoes, nonmatching hair flowers and crazy big earrings. They thought it was kind of fun to have an anything goes day, and wear whatever their little hearts desired that day. (Apparently I don't foster independence because I always choose what their going to wear to school, and set it out the night before. That way they don't wake up and choose some crazy nonmatching outfit, like these, to wear to school. I have issues with my kids looking like little orphans.:)
AJ was very disappointed he didn't get to go to school looking crazy. He wanted a mo hawk.

Silly Boy!

The other morning I came downstairs to check on AJ after I'd taken my shower. The girls were already at school. This is what I saw.................................

What a little turkey! Apparently I never explained to him that the produce drawers weren't designed to be step stools. I asked what in the world he was doing........."just trying to get some yogurt." (it's kept on the very top shelf). I couldn't get mad at him because it was such a funny sight..... him just standing there, staring into the fridge...... and with his crazy green footie PJ's on. I guess boys will be boys.........I don't think my girls EVER would have thought of this!