Filling His Shoes.....

Have I ever mentioned how much my Baby makes me laugh? I probably have.

Conference weekend (notice the TV in the back round) is a weekend I love. This was during the Sunday morning session. Mike had left his shoes and socks by the couch from when he went to the Priesthood session the night before. Yeah, I should have known she would try this.

I love her cheesy grin. :)

So this is what a men's size 13 looks like on a preschooler size 8.

She knew she would get a laugh so that's why she did it. Plus I think she adores her Daddy so much she wants to be just like him. Which includes doing things like this just to get a laugh. Like father, like daughter. And it makes me happy. :)

Brace Yourself....

Yet another sign that I am getting older. My oldest has gotten braces at the beginning of October. Seriously?! Yep. I am now facing the realization that I am going to be in the orthodontist's office a lot for the next 10 or so years. That's five girls at 2 years per girl. Yep, that's a lot of money (with no orthodontic insurance). The orthodontist has a permanent place in my online bill pay file. I'm just counting on braces and glasses for all. They are my girls.

My Meggie does look cute though. :) She will get them off right before she starts 9th grade. I think that she looks older with them. But maybe that's just because I feel older. :/

Chicago is My Kind of Town......

Long time no write I know. Since the kids have started school (Elementary on July 20th and Jr. High on August 23rd), life has just been moving along.

Then Mike texted me at the end of August telling me that he needed to go to Chicago at the end of September for a business conference. I jokingly asked if spouses could come too. He responded that I could come. I got so excited!!! I have never been east of Denver and I really want to see other cities in this beautiful country that we live in. Then reality set in. Who in their right mind want to watch 5 girls for 3 days while their parents are 1400 miles away? I called my parents of course! :) And they agreed to come up to Utah just to watch my kids so I could take a trip with my hubby. I know! I am still amazed they agreed to. Then again they are wonderful people and they did raise 6 kids (5 girls and 1 boy).

So the plan was in motion. The only snag was that my Mom could not make the trip. She re- injured her knee and she has been having major back pain for the last few months. The girls were disappointed that Grandma wasn't coming but they still got Grandpa!

So Dad made it to our house on Monday. And Mike and I left Tuesday morning for the Windy City.

Mike in downtown with the Chicago sign in the back round.

We did see one celebrity. That's right Jesse Jackson. We were driving by and saw him on the sidewalk. I got a picture.

Mike on the Chicago River with part of the Chicago skyline in the back. We took a 90 minute boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. It was awesome!

Here I am with the skyline in the back.

Mike and I together. :)

The skyline was beautiful.

Mike. :)

The Sears Tower with the 2 white spires on top.

Yes. I know. Nothing like this in Utah.

The John Hancock Building.

One of the view from the 94th floor of the John Hancock. The elevator took us up in 40 seconds. It went 20 miles an hour.

Lake Shore Drive with Lake Michigan.

The original American Girl store. We took a picture just for the girls to see. We did not go in. Do you know how expensive that would have been?

Where we had some amazing deep dish pizza. I loved the neighborhood atmosphere of it.

The White Sox-Red Sox game. The White Sox had just scored a home run. So there were some fireworks.

Mike in front of Wrigley Field. I would have loved to do the tour but we didn't have enough time. We would have missed our flight. :(

What really got me were the stadium seat on top of the apartment buildings behind the outfield. I guess if you can't be in the stadium you can still watch the game.

We got on a plane Thursday around lunchtime and came home to Utah. My first thought is that Salt Lake is a really tiny downtown area. But we have mountains here and it is home and I love it.

It was an amazing trip. I am really grateful to our friends and family who helped take care of our kids while we were out of town. Thank you all! Love you guys!

Just Had To Post This....

My friend's wife posted this on her blog. She got it off someone else's. I just thought it was hilarious!! So I had to post it too! Hope you enjoy it. :)

10 Reasons Toddlers Are Like A Frat Party

10. There are half-full, brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room. Three are in the bathtub.

9. There's always that one girl, bawling her eyes out in a corner.

8. It's best not to assume that the person closest to you has any control over their digestive function.

7. You sneak off to the bathroom knowing that as soon as you sit down, someone's going to start banging on the door.

6. Probably 80% of the stains on the furniture contain DNA.

5. You've got someone in your face at 3 a.m. looking for a drink.

4. There's definitely going to be a fight.

3. You're not sure whether anything you're doing is right, you just hope it won't get you arrested.

2. There are crumpled-up underpants everywhere.

1. You wake up wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there.

I've never been to a frat party but now I know I haven't missed anything :)

To Know Her Is To Love Her....

Oh, my Baby Girl. She is a trouble maker. But she is so dang cute and she knows it.
She has a way of smiling at you when she is in trouble. And this is it. The shoulders go up and she tilts her head and smiles. She is trying to charm you.

She is trying to charm us here because she is the one who damaged the cake. It is Karly's birthday cake. I thought I put it high enough but I guess not. She got a couple good handfuls out of it.

I did get her dressed that day. I really did. But she thought it needed some improvement. Hence, the Dorothy dress, the Sleeping Beauty top, the beads, and two different boots. At least she's happy. Quite a creative look.

Baby decided that her feet were cold. A little odd considering it was June. So she decided that she needed to put on some socks. And not just one pair. That is just too boring. She had 5 pairs of socks on. I am amazed that she could move her ankles.

I just had to get a picture of the back of her head. Gotta show off the wonderful morning style that she was sporting.

I just didn't know that her deepest desire was to be in the play "The Phantom of the Opera" as the Phantom. I promise that she was able to complete this look in the time that it took me to brush my teeth and finish getting ready for the day. So what did I do after the shock of what she did wore off? Of course I took pictures. One on my cell phone so I could send it to Mike and a couple with our regular camera. Mike was afraid to ask what it was. It is only diaper rash cream. Mike said that she got the wrong end covered. Her poor eye was starting to tear and water. Luckily, most of it wiped off with a towel. and then I got her in the bath to wash the rest out of her hair. And was she mad about it coming off! Strange child.

I love my Baby girl and think she is the best finale that our family could have asked for. :)

Amazing Teachers.....

I have to give all of my kids teachers for this past school a lot of credit. My children came to love each one of them and I know that they will miss them.

Katelyn with her preschool teachers, Miss Connie and Miss Launa. All of my children have had Miss Connie for their preschool teacher. She has gotten help from Miss Launa just this year. Miss Connie has the patience of a saint. So we'll see how it goes when Baby starts 3-year old preschool with her in September. :)

Monica had Mrs. Oglivie. Monka had a rough start to the year. She has always been my one to sleep-in so 1st grade and all day school was quite the adjustment. But Mrs. Oglivie worked with us and by the end of the year My Monka was a very good student. Monica just loved her and cried when she left 1st grade. And the best thing is that Mrs. O came to love Monka too. She said that Monka has a huge heart and was a friend to everyone, especially to new students.

Karly had Ms. Jensen. Megan has Ms. Jensen for 2nd and 4th grade. So I already knew her and Karly was not nervous about 4th grade because she already knew her teacher. Ms. Jensen really loves her students and it shows. Karly did very well in her class. Ms. Jensen told me that Karly is friends with everyone and no one in the class had a bad thing to say about her.


Megan got to have the teacher that she requested to have, Mrs. Kutterer (like scooter but with a K). Most of the kids in the school want to have her for 6th grade and Megan was thrilled when she found out that she got her. She was exactly the teacher that Megan needed to have. Megan thrived in her class. She called it the best year she has had in school so far. And that is because of Mrs. Kutterer. Megan would leave class everyday and tell her "Thank you for teaching us today." Mrs. Kutterer loved that. She told me that Megan would be one of the students that she would truly miss.

All in all, my children were truly blessed to have the teachers that they did. They loved and cared about my children and my children loved them in return.

Last Week of School....

I know I am just now getting to write about the kids last week of school. It was a month ago. But it was CrAzY!!

We had Karly's 4th grade program. They did a great job. I know Karly is short but I forget HOW short. I remembered that night. She is obviously in the front row. And she is a good head shorter than the rest of the kids in her grade. Short but fun-sized right? ;)

Monica had her 1st grade class plays. This was the Spring Fling dance that they performed for us before. And she is tall for her grade. Huh. Anyhoo, she did a great job. She is quite the little performer.

Monka for her part in her class play. She was one of the "3 Little Pigs." Cute!!

Katelyn already to graduate from preschool. She loved going to preschool! She was my 4th to go to this preschool. So the program they did was familiar but we still loved watching her.

Karly had her 4th grade field day on the same day as Katelyn's program. It is called the "Mountain Man Rendezvous." This was the fun day they had after studying about what like was like on the frontier. Karly is doing the "Fry Pan Throw" here.

And we had Megan's 6th grade graduation and award ceremony. She got four awards. And one of them only 9 kids in the whole grade got. It is the one on her far right. The one with a blue top. It is the Kiwanis Club "Future of America" Award. We are quite proud of her for that one. And that is the one that she is most proud of also! :)

So all in all, it was a busy but rewarding week. I got to see my kids grow more and get ready for the next stage of their lives.