Greatest Ever

Congratulations to Roger Federer for his championship win of the French Open today!

Jordan and I absolutely love Federer. He is amazing to watch and such a great sport. We've been rooting for him to win his 14th grand slam, and it couldn't have come at a better time than at the French Open. And it was so much less stressful to watch him play Robin Soderling today instead of Rafael Nadal.

My dream now is to actually see him play in person before he retires. Hopefully he still has a few good years left. I'll start saving my $$$$!

Spencer's 7th Birthday!

The day after we got back from St. Louis, May 26th to be exact, was Spencer's 7th birthday! We celebrated by having a birthday cake at Grandma and Grandpa's while we were all together.

One of the things Spencer bought with his birthday money was a slip-n-slide. The kids loved playing on it the very first day that was warm enough.

Happy Birthday, Spencer! We love having your fun, carefree spirit in our home! You're such an awesome brother and friend, and an excellent baseball player as well! We love you!

(Enjoy the background in honor of Spencer--his favorite color is orange! He insists he wants an orange Bug for a car when he turns 16. I keep telling him he may not fit in it, but he's not convinced!)

Memorial Weekend

Over Memorial Weekend we (my family, my parents, and Carley's family) went on a short trip to St. Louis. While we were there we visited the temple, the zoo, the art museum (very briefly since the kids weren't quite old enough to appreciate it), and the science center. The best part of all is that they were all FREE! Enjoy the following pictures of our fabulous weekend!

Fairy Tale Ball

During the last few weeks of school the entire first grade at Bellview Elementary has been studying Fairy Tales. When the unit was over they had a Fairy Tale Ball, for which they got to dress up as any fairy tale person/creature they wanted. Spencer decided he wanted to be Aladdin.

The kids got to parade around the school for all the other students to see and then meet in the cafeteria to perform some dances they'd been working on for the parents. They performed about four different dances, including the Macarena and some others I don't know the names of. Here's Spencer doing one of the dances. You'll notice he isn't smiling. He appeared to be focusing very hard on getting the dances right. He was all business!

After the dancing was over we went back to the classroom for a tea party. Dallin and Trista were with me, and since all the other kids were going to be dressed up I let them dress up too (my apologies for Trista's mouth full of food--she, of course, had to say "cheese" for the picture).

Here's Spencer with his teacher, Mrs. Fordyce.

And here he is enjoying his snacks with the rest of his class.

And here's one more picture just because Spencer's so darn cute (and to show off the sewing and glueing prowess of his mom in making such a fine vest and hat)!

Pre-School Graduation

All the kids are out of school now for the summer, including Dallin, who graduated from Preschool on May 16th. I've never been to a preschool graduation before, and I actually thought of opting out of it because I've always thought of it as a pretty silly thing. But in the end we decided to participate since Dallin had worked so hard to learn his songs and even memorize a Bible verse for the ceremony.

It ended up being so cute--we were so glad we went! The songs and the actions were lots of fun to see and Dallin was just grinning ear-to-ear the whole time. Here he is getting his "diploma" and shaking hands with his teacher, Ms. Diane. he attended His House Preschool, hence the little red house in the background.

Dallin did great. When it was his turn for his Bible verse he almost forgot it, but after he was helped with the first few words he remembered the rest on his own. Congratulations, Dallin! Now it's on to Kindergarten!

Bad Mom

Quick confession. Tonight as the kids and I were driving home from swim lessons Alexis and Spencer were in the back seat hitting each other, teasing, tattling on each other, etc. I got very irritated, because I feel like every time we're in the car it's the same old thing, either between Alexis and Spencer or Dallin and Trista. I finally lost it and said and in a very loud voice (okay, I'll admit it, I was yelling, quite loudly), "SHUT UP AND KNOCK IT OFF!!!!!!!!" I knew I shouldn't have said it. I don't allow the kids to say it. I have no excuse. But don't worry--I was very quickly put in my place when Trista said, "Mom, why did you say shut up? You're not supposed to say shut up." Alexis was more forgiving. I apologized and told the kids I shouldn't have said it, but Alexis assured me that it was okay, it was just because I was really mad and sometimes that happens. Looks like I could learn a few things from my kids about how to be a better mom:)
P.S. Memorial weekend and Spencer's Birthday pictures coming soon.

Gimp

So, I'm officially a gimp. My lower back has been sore lately, but I've been trying to work through it, still exercising and doing all my regular activities. Until yesterday when I was in my step aerobics class doing some extra end-of-class conditioning when I totally tweaked my back. I spent the rest of the day hobbling around, icing my back, and trying to find a comfortable position for sitting or lying down.

Today I'm feeling pretty much the same, but my agenda for the day was to do laundry, clean the entire house before the carpet cleaners come this afternoon, and sew a purple vest for Spencer's Aladdin costume he needs for tomorrow. I'm working at a snail's pace, picking up items with my toes when possible and getting up and down slowly while cleaning bathrooms.

But amid all my woes, Trista did allow me a bright spot. I've been telling her I can't pick her up, she can't jump on my back, I can't help her very much, etc. for the past two days. So this morning she and I were sitting by each other eating our eggs and toast when she decided she didn't want to eat anymore. She was starting to get off her stool when I told her she had to finish eating before she got down. She immediately leaned over, put her hands on her lower back and said, "Oh, my back hurts. I just can't eat anymore." It worked. She's watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse now while her eggs get cold and her toast dries out.