First Day...

First time getting a haircut with out crying!!! Yeah for Benji! That was last friday at Cookie Cutters. He usually screams in pain every time anyone touches his hair. What a relief we are past that stage!

First time Saying goodbye after a loooong summer break! The kids were sooo anxious to get back to school this morning.

First Day of Third grade. What Emma might be thinking, "Cute boy next to me? School might not be so bad after all!" OR "Quit taking pictures of me Mom! You are a big nerd!!"

First day of Fifth Grade!!! What!!?? Ethan has tons of friends in his class this year! And for the first time since first grade he is back with SETH! Yes, Ethan is a little on the short side, but Sam (on his right) is just a little on the tall side!

And Finallly....the first day I let baberzz cry it out at nap time! Not going so well....not to mention I look kind of scary myself!

TODAY IS YOUR DAY....

This has been such a great day for Emma (8 years old) today. And a really fun day for all of us.... Classic (was really) FUN Center! So excited my baby girl is no longer a baby and is moving up the ranks. 8 is so great!




On a down note though, I am into my third or fourth or fifth, I have lost track, day of letting Lauren cry it out. I HATE this part. Can't they just learn to sleep on their own naturally? Do I really have to "train" them to sleep? I can't think of anything worse than listening to your 6 month old scream and telling yourself it is for her own good and yours. If I weren't so determined to have normal naps and bedtime, there is no way I could endure this! PLEASE tell me this is not going to traumatize her into thinking her mother is unreliable and is not meeting her needs! Plus I am probably doing it wrong. I give up after an hour.

One of her cat naps....

LASt Night SO YOu think YOu can Dance...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKxoCxalyWw

I hope you get a chance to watch this... It really touched my heart!

Lauren's first date...

This is Asher Howe. (neighbor friend born 4 days earlier than La-La) Today was their first real time hanging out together. We hope it is love since we have already arranged the marriage:) Hopefully she has the same taste in men as her Mom, cause that boy is chubby! Sorry Dan.

A little word of explanation on the last post....

We went to Travis and Holly's in Enumclaw, WA for the Beaird reunion. We stayed about a week and had a blast. Their home and property are sooo nice. I just loved the scenery and the kids loved their cousin time! Daniel's favorite part was the 4 wheelin day of course.

Then, a week later, just as life was getting back to normal...Benji broke his leg. We were at the Carlson's (friends from Kathy's ward) swimming, and as we were leaving they all started jumping on the tramp. In-ground fully padded trampoline with too many kids. We think he just came down too hard after a big bounce because it is an impact fracture at the top of his tibia just below the knee. They said he can walk on it, but he prefers to crawl dragging the stump behind him.

I think August will have a better ending...aka kids back in school!

SO MUCH FOR A RELAXING JULY...

This month has been non-stop action. Here are some highlights...







Then there was this....

LAUREN's cute

Bring on the summer...

Catch you up on the second half of May, end of school activities, and our 4-wheelin weekend with baby La-La and Benji:

May bring flowers...

This has been a great week. Mother's Day was the best ever, my birthday pretty much rocked, and Kris made it to the finals! (no suprise to me, but I am still excited!) Today was also great at Ethan's 4th grade gradparents program. THe kids were so awesome. They knew every Beatles song word for word, ya-ya-ya! Ethan played recorder and did awesome and they all played harmonica like prodigies! THe best part though was Ethan, Rex and girls singing "Be True To your School" by the beach boys.

It's about time right?!

I swear this is the only time I have been able to sit in front of my computer for longer than 2 minutes in the last 3 weeks. And I don't have much time now. The baby is grownin...the kids are busy...and we are just trying to keep up with it all. Here are the Easter pics...

I can't believe...

I can't believe this kid is about to be ten?!



I can't believe how tired I am all the time after almost two months!



And I can't believe it has been almost 2 weeks since the boys went camping and I am still cleaning red sand out of everything!

OUr little Blessing...

Due to Aimee and James families being in town and my Dad's continuing health decline we decided to bless our little LA-LA at home last Sunday. It was Awesome. It was soooo great to have all our families around us and my Dad there. Daniel was so sweet and so inspired! I recorded the blessing on the camera, but I don't know if that is appropriate to post. Probably not. Here are a few photos instead.