Mr. Mason is Two!

It's hard to believe that Mason is two years old! Given his recent obsession with all sorts of trains, it makes sense that we celebrated with a Thomas the Train birthday party. He was so excited about his cake--not necessarily to eat it, but to grab that cool Thomas toy off the top! His favorite toys this year were the fire truck that Grandma Kris and Grandpa Jon sent, and the school bus from Aunt Heidi and Uncle Kent. It's no wonder, really--they both have wheels, and they both make lots of noise. What more could a two-year old boy wish for in life?

Miss Photogenic

For our date today, Addy wanted to get dressed up and go on a "photo shoot" at the park. We had a fun time exploring the rose garden, then eating some yummy donuts afterward. And the fun part is, we have some really cute pictures to remember our fun time by! I love our Saturday morning date tradition!

First Day of Connections Academy

These are no ordinary back to school pictures. The kids are cute and excited, like usual. It's the mom behind the camera that's having a hard time. Not only am I shocked to find that my babies have grown up so quickly, and they are now in the second grade, kindergarten and preschool. But there's a whole other range of complicated emotions going on regarding this school year. With so much up in the air, we weren't sure where our kids would be attending school this year. I secretly hoped that something miraculous would work out so we could afford to send the kids back to ILC, but with no job, scraping tuition together for three kids is a bit impossible. For the third year in a row, we did not get drawn in any of the charter school lotteries. I tried really hard to keep an open mind about our local school district, but just never got a good feeling about it. And complicating matters worse, all of Brent's job prospects have been out of the state, making me feel like a move is inevitably in our near future.

Through a strange string of events, I was led to Connections Academy. When I first began researching it, I had no idea that it was a "virtual" school--I just thought it was a charter school. Believe me, I never would have gone looking for home school options, as I have always sworn that I would never home school my kids. The more I looked into Connections Academy, the more impressed I was. When I finally figured out that this was a virtual charter school, I cried for days. Mostly, I was crying because I knew it was the right thing to do for our family, and I really, really did not want to do it. How would I ever possibly home school three kids plus take care of two little babies? Throw some particular special needs and difficult personalities into the mix and it seems impossible. After several weeks had passed (with several more days of crying), I compared CA with all the other options I could find, and somehow just knew it was what we needed to do. Can't say that I'm overly excited about the prospect. But I can't deny that it feels right, either. That's the only reason I'm doing it. Lucky for me the kids are so excited. And lucky for me that I know Heavenly Father will help me do this thing that seems impossible. Because there's no way I could do it on my own. Thank goodness I don't have to.

Keaton, Kindergarten

Addison, Preschool

X

Delaney, 2nd Grade (M.I.A. for her turn!)

Mason, 23 1/2 months

Mason had to get in on the action, too. He thinks he's such a big boy now that he's almost two! He's the real wild card in this whole scenario. He's one busy kid--as all toddlers should be. It's their job to explore, climb, dump, scribble, and generally wreak havoc. He's at the top of his game!

Bear Lake Vacation

We just got back from our family vacation to Bear Lake. We realized on the way there that this was our first family vacation (since having kids) that was not a camping trip! Let me tell you, staying in a condo is the way to go at Bear Lake. Can you imagine all that sand in your tent? As it was, even with showers every night, we still had sand in all our crevices for days after. Not only was the condo cleaner, it was also more fun! The highlights of our condo experience are as follows:

*Sleeping in the "closet bed" (which is actually a murphy bed that comes down out of the wall.) Everyone fought over a turn sleeping in it.

*Playing in "Small-land" (which actually was a closet--a giant one under the stairs!), affectionately named after the kids' play area at Ikea, our favorite store. There were, of course, no grownups allowed in Small-land. The kids had fun playing, reading, hiding, and even sleeping there. Who knew a closet could be so much fun?

*Of course, the real highlight of any Bear Lake vacation is playing at the beach. The water was a beautiful crystal blue, and the sand was the softest, finest, squishy-between-your-toeiest sand ever. We can see why Bear Lake is called the Carribean of the Rockies, because it really does remind you of the ocean!

There were two beaches that we loved, for different reasons. North Beach (on the Idaho side of the lake) had the softest, cleanest sand and water that was ankle to knee deep forever--the perfect kids' beach. They could wade, dig, roam and wander without any worries.

The beach on the Utah side was completely different. It actually had little rolling waves that we had fun body surfing in. It was the perfect kids orientation to playing in the ocean--no yucky salt water, and waves that are rhythmic and fun, but yet won't slam you to the ground unmercifully.

Since the water at this beach was a bit rough for Mason, he got his kicks by chasing the seagulls around, trying to feed them his chips. Sometimes it wa hard to tell who was chasing who, though!

Despite the lack of photographic evidence, I was actually there on this vacation. (Gotta get better at that, or it will look like I never existed.) We all had a great time, and can't wait to go back to Bear Lake again.

The End :)

Scavenger Hunt

For Friday Fun Night this weekend we went on a photo scavenger hunt. The kids had a list of things that they had to find to have their picture taken with. Not sure what I was thinking, exactly, when I thought this one up, seeing as how my kids are not big fans of letting me take their pictures. It was fun, though--mostly! Here are a few highlights:

A fire truck

Someone holding a sign

(always a favorite diversion as we're driving around town--we especially love the ones that dance)

A really dirty car (ours didn't count)

(I love how Keaton is the only one smart enough to get out of the sun!)

A "racing" cart

A "big red box"

(obviously, our kids are no strangers to Redbox movies)

The best part of all, of course, was the prize at the end: snowcones from Tropical Snow. Yumm!

Lauren & Danny's Wedding

My little sister got married! Lauren married a really cool guy named Danny, at a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Provo Canyon on July 17th. Here's a smattering of pictures from the night.

The flower girls and ring bearers,

a.k.a. the cute nieces and nephews.

The wedding party.

The ceremony: short, but very sweet!

Lauren and Danny's first dance (as man and wife, that is).

And here is my favorite shot:

Happy Father's Day!

We think we have the best Dad there is...

Mommy loves how selfless, hard-working, patient, and fun you are.

Delaney loves to go shopping for church clothes with you.

Keaton loves to go camping with you (especially for Father's and Sons).

Addy loves to play Hungry Hippos with you.

We love you, Daddy!

Lost...

...in her own little world. These pictures speak volumes to me and scream "classic Delaney." They capture the essence of her personality, all because she had no idea I was watching her.

Exhibit A: Intense concentration on items she finds fascinating. (ADHD never made sense to me with Delaney, because if that girl is interested, her attention span is incredibly long!)

Exhibit B: Did you notice that outfit? Hawaiian dress, topped with a fleece hoodie, a scarf and winter boots. (It's the middle of June, and over 85 degrees outside. Need I say more?)

Exhibit C: Supreme satisfaction. She is genuinely happy in this moment. No one is around to bug her (no pun intended), she got what she wanted, and she is utterly lost to the joy of catching her rolly-poly bug at long last. Gotta love her.

Makin' Mischief

Thank heaven for little boys, to keep us young at heart--and to keep us on our toes! Here is Mason in his top form:

"Helping" Daddy paint the house.

This kid never met a ladder he didn't like. I swear he could climb before he could walk.

Putting anything and everything into his mouth.

Showing me what he's eating that he knows he shouldn't be. At least he's honest!

Preschool Graduation

My little man graduated from preschool today. I can't say that he was excited about that, though. He loves school so much that he did not want it to end! He was bummed when he figured out that he would not have school during the summer. He's had fun with the friends that he made--especially Mikey, Carson, and Sierra (who he claims he's going to marry when he grows up!)

Not only has Keaton had a ton of fun in preschool, he's also learned loads of stuff. According to this end of the year progress report, his teacher, Mrs. Bradshaw reports that he recognizes and can write all of his upper and lowercase letters, recognizes and writes from 0-20, counts to 30, reads all the color words and recognizes all the shapes. What his progress report doesn't mention, however, is that he finished three whole series of phonics readers--in otherwise, he is reading as well as or better than most kindergarteners! For some reason, reading just really clicked for him, and he just took off last fall.

We are all so proud of Keaton's accomplishments. Addy, especially, was proud to cheer him on. She has been very supportive of him this whole year, and a very good sport, too. She could have felt really sad and left out that he got to go to school and she didn't, but for the most part she remained cheerful--reminding me frequently that it would be her turn next year and she can't wait!

Way to go, Keats!

I Love America

The kids' awesome school--that we love so much--just put on a patriotic program in honor of all our current and past military, police and fire service men and women. The kids worked so hard, rehearsing nearly every day for weeks. And there was quite a bit to rehearse, I tell you, with over an hour's worth of songs, narration, choreography. Those kids recited from memory the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and all 50 states in alphabetical order. It was quite impressive. Not only was it moving to hear the patriotic songs, it was also very touching to see Delaney and Keaton united in a common cause. They were both so excited for their special night!

Here is Delaney making her "grand" entrance. She's still just bursting with excitement--it was early in the program, after all!

One of the cutest parts of the program was "The March of the Wee Americans"--all of the preschoolers came marching in waving stars and flags singing the Freedom song ("Freedom, freedom, I am free. I'm American!"). Keaton looked so proud!

Not only were we proud of our American heritage that night, we were also proud of our little munchkins. It's hard to believe that Delaney is nearing the end of 1st grade, and Keaton is done with preschool. We won't be able to call them our "little" munchkins for much longer!

No such thing as a candid...

Without fail, every time I break out the camera to try to catch something cute that the kids are doing, Addy drops whatever she's doing to strike a pose. She's quite good at it, actually. She's got those deep brown eyes and a sweet little smile that makes her quite photogenic, if I do say so myself.

Her "standard" pose is as follows: head tilted slightly to the side (okay, usually it's way more than slightly), hands folded and tucked neatly under her chin, with a demure little smile. Don't ask me where she learned this. I swear I did not coach her.

She even attempts to do it one-handed while swinging. Is this girl talented, or what?

Her other favorite trick is to beg me to photograph her with her favorite "props." This could be anything that she's carrying around with her: a favorite toy she's latched onto that particular day, an outfit she thinks is especially cute, or anything else she considers "camera worthy."

It's gotten to the point that anytime she snuggles up to one of the babies, or does something equally cute, she instructs me, "You should take a picture of this, Mom."

This is one of my very favorite pictures of Addy, and I think it's because it's the real, unguarded, natural Addison--caught relaxing with her usual method of self-soothing (sucking her tongue, which she has done since she was a baby, but only when she's got her blanket up to her mouth). This picture probably isn't that remarkabl;e to anyone else, but to me it's a perfect likeness of a part of Addy that is not usually caught with the camera. Her cute little poses are great, but this one is just so real to me. Guess that's why I love it.

Spontaneous shots like this are rare, but that's okay. I guess it's obvious she is the product of a camera-crazy mama! I hope she never grows out of being a willing subject of my photos.