6th Grade Awards

I helped in Abby's class for the last time today I had to brush all of the glitter off of me when I left.  We were helping to put together their kindergarten memory books.  After that, I headed to the gym for the 6th grade awards.  Olivia received an award for the Principal's List for the quarter and also was given an Outstanding Writing Award.  Olivia loves to write so she was so happy to receive this award.  It really is one of her passions.  She loves to create characters and write little stories and draw pictures of them.  It is fun to see her express her creativity. 

Gymnastics Party!

Abby really, really, wanted her birthday party at the gymnastics gym.  She and Sammie have been in the recreational class once a week for the past couple of months.  Since they have started back up in gymnastics, they think that they can flip over and climb up everything.  I often find them using my bed, the couch, and several different floor spaces for doing "tricks."  I like that gymnastics has gotten them to think about different ways they can move their bodies and they are starting to build up some strength because they do it all the time when they are not in class.
I liked the idea of a party not at my house.  I didn't have to do much to get ready and all I had to do was watch while the coaches gave the kids pretty much free reign of the gym.  They all had a great time.  No clean up for me.  Perfect.

Happy 6th Birthday Abby!

 Happy Birthday to Abby!!  Things Abby loves at age 6 are:

Roller Skating

Going to Gymnastics

Climbing

Playing on the jungle gym

Monkey Bars

Playing with Little Critters

Reading with Mom before Bed

Eating Cereal

Playing School with her dolls and friends

Riding her Bike

 

Abby is just all-around fun!  She is always busy with something and having fun.  We love this little girl.  I really can't believe that she is 6.

The Year of the Theater

This has been quite the entertaining school year with Olivia doing so many plays.  I'm glad that we found this little theater group.  It is small enough that Olivia feels comfortable there and she is really starting to shine as an actor.  This last play was just perfect for her.  There was no singing and dancing and the director wanted each child to have an experience with saying lines.  Olivia played her part as a Fairy Godmother so well. She was funny and charismatic.  I was so proud of her.  It was so much fun to watch.  I didn't get any good pictures of the performance, but we ordered the video so she can see herself in action.  I really was so impressed.  All of the kids were so cute, I wanted to watch the whole thing again.

 The whole cast of the "Princess Without a Name."

 Olivia giving her bow.  She's all lit up in the center.

 

Open House

 Open House is a big event at my girls' school.  The teachers have lots of the work and projects from the year out and on display.  We took Sammie and Abby over to the school after dropping Olivia off at her dress rehearsal for her play.  We always have such great teachers and every year seems like a fantastic school year.  It is a big blessing that my girls all do well in school. 

Abby's Classroom:

 Sammie's Classroom:

 Olivia's Classroom:

 

Mother's Day

 Being a mom has got to be one of the most challenging and fulfilling aspects of my life.  Right now I can't imagine life any other way.  Motherhood has caused me to stretch and accomplish things that I never thought I could do.  I have been so frustrated and felt absolute joy.  I have been in tears over it and have never felt more proud of myself.  I have had to make challenging decisions and think beyond myself for answers.  Raising these three girls is truly an adventure.  It is amazing to bring up these little human beings who are starting to not feel so little any more.  How is it possible that we are already done with diapers and babies and the constant needs of little tiny ones?  In those moments it felt like things would never change.  I thought those were the best days and hardest days and then we move onto the next stage and it is just as wonderful as the last.  Sometimes I feel like I myself was just a little girl days ago and doing the things my children are doing.  When did I even get here?! 
I love my life and the changes that happen and watching my children grow into themselves.  It is an incredible experience getting to know them in each stage of their own lives.
Mother's Day was great.  I found myself thinking of my own mother and my grand-mothers and my mother-in-law and many of the mothers and women who have influenced my life.  Women are amazing and the care we give to one another is so divine and sacred.  I have been so blessed by the influence of faithful, strong, loving, and encouraging women. I look at my girls and hope that they are growing into those types of people.  Being a mother can be so discouraging at times, but I am grateful for those moments when I just stop and observe.  I realize that we are all doing ok and most of the time we are better than ok, we are doing great.  A day and a moment at a time, right?

Kindergarten Fun

Kindergarten has to be one of the best years in school.  The end of the year always brings lots of projects.  Abby's class was making a city out of paper bags and she was assigned to make the hospital.  At first I was groaning at this little project.  I just was not in the mood to help Abby with this.  Sometimes I think these projects are so silly because of course there is no way she can do this on her own.  But once we got started we had a lot of fun.  It was nice to work alongside Abby.  It turned out being a much better experience than I had thought it would be. 

 Here is Abby all ready for her agriculture field trip to the high school.  On this fieldtrip, the kids just walk down the street so Abby was all set with hat, glasses, good shoes, water, and sunscreen.  They spend most of the day out on the football field going in tractors and seeing different booths.  When I picked her up from the bus stop, she was carrying a goldfish in a plastic bag.  "Oh, great," was my thinking.  Well, Bubbles the Goldfish didn't even make it through the weekend.  She was sad but not really because she said she has Calvin.  I'm sad about Kindergarten being over soon but Abby is happy to move on.  She loves to go on to the next thing.

Oranges, and Grapefruit and Grapefruit and Grapefruit

Last Saturday Joey got a call from a member of our ward who was trimming the citrus trees at his mother's home.  He invited us to come and take whatever we wanted and to call other families too.  We called around, and he was not kidding when he said we should bring a truck.  There were truckloads of oranges and grapefruits.  And we weren't just picking a bag of fruit like I thought we were.  The kids were up in the trees, helping load the cut branches into the truck, and sort through the bad fruit.  It was a serious clean up effort. 

Some of the fruit was bad, but oh, there were plenty of grapefruits.  We piled bags and bags into the truck and then they just started dumping them in.  Anyone like grapefruit?  When we got home we threw out what was bad and then bagged up the rest.  Joey was able to get rid of all of it at church the next day.  I ended up coming home with more little girls than I arrived with.  It's always fun when we are carrying a few extras in the car.