Fun in the sun!

Yesterday was my kids last day of school and boy, I could not be happier! It was a crazy last week. I spent most of my time at the school and we had programs and awards ceremonies and parties. It was nuts!! Plus, Rob was sick two days which really worked in well. But we made it through. Zach's last day of school was last Thursday. He had a really fun year and as their end of the year party the whole class went to the water park here in Palmdale. It was great and I pulled the boys out of school and we all went. My mom was suppose to come, but her class schedule is so hectic she couldn't get away. Rob was my backup, but when he went to ask for time off he realized he was already in the negative (whoops!) so it was just me and the five kids. What an adventure! The day worked out really great though and Rob picked up the girls after work (about 2:30) so it was not too bad.

Fun in the sun! Savannah is such a ham!

Just loving the day playing all together!

Today we went to a birthday party for one of our good friends son. They had it at their brother's house and this is the slide he has into his pool. It is 16 feet high and 34 feet long! It was crazy FUN!! It looks so much higher from the top! I definitely would LOVE to have something like this when we buy a house! We had a great time. We were the last to leave and we could have stayed all day. It was a really fun time!

Here is Dylan giving the slide a go!Griffin's turn!
Zach was scared of the slide. He went down once at the beginning and then refused to go again. Then about 30 minutes before we left he climbed up the steps to the top and asked me to catch him at the bottom. After that he was hooked and I could not get him off the slide. It was great fun! Such a fun day! Thanks Kim and Don!

Things I love about kids . . .

Griffin decided today that he wanted to make brownies by himself - without me doing it and he did do most of it too. I will admit that I did pour the saucepan of hot cocoa and butter into the batter (for obvious reasons, I think) and that I did pour the bowl full of batter into the pan (the thought of him dropping that and it splattering all over my kitchen made me sick), but beside that he did do it all himself. He was really cute and determined. Here he is while it is mixing (he told me that it already smelled liked brownies - so CUTE!)


Here the kids are enjoying Griffin's brownies. I will admit that I have not eaten any as I am cutting such food out of my diet (mainly because once I take a small bite I can rationalize eating half a pan), but the kids all asked for seconds and loved them!

Once Savannah saw Griffin cooking she decided she would help with dinner. See how happy she is as she puts sauce on the pizzas. Yes she found the most efficient way was with her hands . . . mmm yummy!

This weekend Dylan watched a cowboy movie with Grandpa. So, Dylan said yesterday as we had some IBC rootbeer with dinner, this is what the cowboys were drinking in the movie yesterday when they were drinking at that counter and then throwing and breaking the bottles. I am going to let him believe that as long as I possibly can. So cute!

Finally my sweet Zach. Everytime I start getting really frustrated and I may raise my voice a bit or close my eyes for a second he comes up to me and gives me a great big hug and says, "You are the best mommy ever!" I just love that and EVERY time it melts my heart and makes me feel instantly better. I just LOVE kids!

FHE ideas

This last week for family home evening we decided to use the article in the Friend that is about the first presidency. We read the article and while we read the kids were supposed to draw pictures of the new first presidency. It worked so well. After we judged the pictures and everyone got a prize and a treat. They loved it. Try it - I'm sure you will have as much fun as we did. Here are their pictures.