May happenings

 The end of the year wrap up is in FULL swing.  When the kids walk in each day after school we have so many things going on it is non-stop till they are in bed.  Last week Natalie put on a magic show.  She advertised the show for about four days before the show and used about a ream of paper doing it.  It turned out very cute.  Mitch was also able to dazzle the kids with a few of his own card tricks he knows.

 I got a terrible cold at the beginning of the month and found THE GREATEST PRODUCT ON THE MARKET EVER!! I kid you not.  If you have never tried Puffs Plus Lotion with VICKS you need to.  Seriously, it is the best.  Where has this been all my life?

We found a lost dog and while we were waiting for the owner to come and get it we tried to be brave and not be terrified of the dog.  If you were curious, that is the look that Natalie has on her face....love/terrified.  Shocking I know, I do have a soul.  I helped an animal and I even touched it!

 These signs are hanging in my home.  So if you have some good poems, send them to Julia!

Julia--- Doing some reading....

 The kids have found some independence from the house and have taken to playing in the closed golf course parking lot.  There is a huge dirt pit where the club house has been torn down.  They literally roll around in the dirt and come home.  I have never seen such dirty kids, ever!  These pictures don't even come close to show the extent of filth I am talking about.  Glad they are having fun, but wow.

Last but not least, Lucy shaking her thing at Julia's track meet.

I lost my mind....no just a library book

For the past two weeks I have TORN my house apart looking for a lost library book.  I absolutely hate when this happens.  I am pretty meticulous crazy about keeping track of books we check out.  This is bound to happen when I have 40 books checked out at the moment, but I still try my best.  After two weeks of searching I went to the library and spoke to the librarian about how I lost a book and asked how much it would cost to replace.  I renewed the lost book so that I would have a few more weeks to look but knew deep down that it was a lost cause.  I could not find it.  Literally less than five minutes after I got home from the library Lucy was in her room and came down with the missing book.  GLORY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH!  Not only did she find the lost book she restored my sanity.

4th Grade Track Meet

Julia has been participating in her school's zero hour track team.  On Friday, they had the end of the year jamboree with all the other elementary schools in our school district.  She was so excited about it.  She ran the 200m, 400m, 800m, and the 4x200m relay.  She was one tired girl that night.  Mitch wasn't able to attend the meet because of Kingco Finals that day so I took video of her races for him.  The 800 was combined with the 5th grade girls and Julia is "positive" that the two girls that beat her were 5th graders. :)

200m -32.8 seconds

 

400m- 1:12

800m- 3:07

1st grade music concert

Last Thursday, Natalie had her 1st grade music concert.  I know I'm a little bias but what a cute girl!  Lucy was almost more excited to go and watch Natalie sing than Natalie.  That is saying something since Natalie talked of nothing else for a whole week leading up to her concert!

 

                                         

...and this from another 1st grader that I once knew! Oh--I want to give that little guy a hug.

My Julia Renae

Last night I found this note on my bed:

 Might be one of the cutest things I have received.

On an another note:  In the last week Julia has lost 3 top teeth for a total of 4 missing top teeth.  This is a very good thing as the orthodontist keeps telling us they need to come out. Eating has just gotten to be a little tricky.  She is literally missing three teeth in a row in the back of her mouth. She definitely won't be eating steak for awhile!

Dale's Graduation

Over Spring Break, Laura and I took a very fast trip to Rexburg to see our baby brother graduate from College.  I haven't been to Rexburg in a long time. The place doesn't even remotely look the same as when I was there but it was fun to walk down memory lane for a bit.  Thanks for letting us come and be a part of your day.

Congratulations Dale!  So excited for your new chapter in life...
 THE JOB!

The worst recording ever but you get the point!

Cousins

 Cute picture of the Stuard cousins together.  There always has to be that one kid crying, right?

Ode to Mom

Mom with all her babies!

Couldn't pass up pictures of my own sweethearts!

Habits of Mind

A couple of weeks ago Cameron received an award at his school's assembly.  I was lucky enough to be able to attend and watch him get his award.   The school district has "Habits of Mind" that they want all students to gain.  There are at least a dozen different Habits of Mind.  Cameron received his award for: "Remains Open to Continuous Learning."  I have no idea what that even really means but none the less, I was proud that Cameron is a good boy at school!

The elementary also has Habit of Mind assemblies and both Julia and Natalie got an award this month for being "Self Directed Learners."  I have to say, I do LOVE self directed learners!  Thank heavens some of us  can learn by ourselves without a lot of supervision!

This sweet note came in the mail for Julia the other day.  We have been so lucky to have such great teachers this year.  Julia's teacher also sent this letter home with the kids last week because state testing started this week:

 I know so many people have different ideas about common core and state testing but I love that the teachers love their students and want them to feel loved!

Getting it done!

Sometimes a girl has to do, what a girls gotta do...

Working hard and hardly working

 We have had such beautiful weather the past few weeks.  It is hard for us to say on task with everything that we need to do for school when all we want to do is play outside.  With the year wrapping up quickly the amount of school work is piling on.  Natalie informed me that there is only 28 days of school left.  HOLY COW! Where did the school year go?

This last week, I put Cam to work mowing the backyard.  I think this is a job he is going to like.  :)