Sidewalk Chalk Festival

Yesterday, our First Official Day of Summer Vacation was kind of a bummer. Kiera didn't feel very good, so we ended up spending most of the day just puttering and hanging out around the house. We were happy to have a visit from Granny, and Kiera began perking up. For dinner we went to Cafe Rio but then Kiera started not feeling good again. So...it was a rather quiet day.

But today made up for yesterday. Kiera woke up feeling back to normal, and we were ready to have some fun!

My endlessly creative neighbor and friend Kate (over at www.mykidseatoffthefloor.blogspot.com) invited some of the neighborhood kids to a Sidewalk Chalk Festival in her yard. Lots of friends, chalk, popsicles and lemonade. And perfect weather. Just what we needed!










Then this afternoon, Kiera and her friends set up a Teddy Bear Preschool and had a blast playing. Later, we headed over to the library for a puppet show. Then we worked a bit in the yard and went to a neighborhood wedding reception outside. Now THIS is the kind of summer day we've been looking forward to!

Sleepy Head

I know a few weeks ago I posted a picture of Kasidee sprawled out, asleep, on the couch. She really does have a bed, and she usually takes a nap every day. But now that she's getting older, her naps are a little more sporadic - I never know when she's going to be tired enough to zonk out...or where she'll zonk out. The other day we had a busy day and there wasn't a quiet moment for her to take a nap. I ended up taking her for a short ride and she promptly fell asleep. But it was almost 7:00 p.m. and she hadn't had dinner yet. So I woke her up when we got home and encouraged her to eat her dinner. I put her on the chair at the counter and she put her head down and fell asleep. Poor thing - but so cute!

Snow in June?

With the crazy weather we've been having, it's very likely that we'd get snow in June. But I have a picture of a different kind of "snow." Every year the cotton trees in our neighborhood make flurries all over. Sometimes it can be quite annoying (cotton flying in every time we open the door) but I think it's kind of pretty. I always feel like I'm living in a snowglobe as the cotton just swirls around. This shows some of the cotton flying around (see all the little dots on the black roofs?):


and this pic shows some of it that has piled up in my front yard. The girls like gathering it and making cotton balls. So pretty!

Funnies

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks what my kids say is funny. But nevertheless, I gotta write it down so I won't forget.

The other day I was quietly crying as a result of some sad news. Kasidee saw me, put her arms around me and held me tight. After awhile she pulled away, looked at my face and said, "When YOU cry, MY eyes get water in them."

Makenna: "There's a boy in my class with our same last name!"
Quentin: "Oh - is it Stephens with a 'PH'?"
Makenna: "No, it's with a VH."

Kasidee: "I want to be a ballerina when I grow up. No wait - I just want to be a children. Forever."

Kiera wasn't feeling good and asked for some water. Kasidee piped up and said, "I want to give it to her!" I said, "Oh, that would be nice - thank you!" Kasidee smiled and said, "I'm a BIG sister!"

Happy Summer!

Today was the last day of school. To help kick off summer, Kiera and Makenna had a little party - 15 little girls from school watching a movie in the theater room. I realized a few months ago that, even though we've had the theater room done for about a year now, our girls haven't had an "official" party with their friends watching a movie in that room. We've had family over and some of our grown-up friends with their kids over, but not a party with just the girls' friends. So we invited a few of their friends from school over and watched Gnomeo and Juliet. Popcorn, Tootsie Rolls, licorice and lots of laughs. And lots of smiles that summer is finally here! Wahoo!

Grape Smasher

The event I've been hearing all about this whole school year finally came today. Each third grader was required to create a grape smasher. They needed to include at least 2 simple machines (lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined planes, etc.) Kiera designed quite an elaborate system that included not only 2, but 10, simple machines. With a "little" help from Quentin, they got it done. The grape was hoisted from a pulley in a little "elevator" then rolled down 3 inclined planes into a holder next to a brick wedge. Then when Kiera pulled a pin, a lever with a rock glued onto the end would smash against the wedge thereby smashing the grape. How cool is that?! Today was the big day where all the third grade classes could show off how their grape smashers work. It was fun!

Bring It On

Okay, I'm ready for summer. Finally. After preschool graduation a couple of weeks ago, I cleaned out the preschool room - it looks like a theater room now! Anyway, after that I got motivated to clean the rest of my house. You know, things that I probably should do more often but usually only get around to doing maybe once a year, if I'm lucky. Like cleaning my fuzzy blinds. And fuzzy baseboards. And dusting inside my curio. Things that no one else may even notice - but it's amazing how even though the room may not look any different than before, to me it just feels good and seems to sparkle (in my eyes anyway.)

So I've been taking a couple of rooms every day and "heavy duty" cleaning everywhere - top to bottom, inside and out. It has felt good. There might be some people who think I like to clean. It's true that I love the result of a clean house. But cleaning is hard work, and it's pretty boring too. I can easily overlook dusty blinds and a sticky floor and delve into organizing a closet or drawer. For some weird reason, I get a "high" out of organizing and dejunking. But it's the actual cleaning part that I don't like. But having preschool end and having summer around the corner has motivated me to "get 'er done." That way, maybe I won't feel guilty when I'm playing and relaxing - after all, isn't that what summer is for?! Oh sure, there will still be things to clean and projects to do, and the girls will definitely have household things to do, but now that the big stuff is done and out of the way, I'll be more likely to sip lemonade and read a book! Ahhhhh.... Oh wait. I've still got to clean out the garage. Dang.

Memorial Day

It's almost the very last day of May and this is what we woke up to:


Crazy weather. It's been more rainy and cold these past couple of months than I remember it ever being. Not that I'm really complaining. Those of you who know me well know that I love rainy days - they're cozy, "comfort" days. But I think I'm ready for some nice weather now.

Yesterday we visited our 2 grandpa's graves and today we had planned on going on a nice, long bike ride and doing a geocache. Too cold. We'll have to figure something else out. Later Mom and Grandma will come over for a "pretend barbecue" (since we don't do meat) so that will be something to look forward to! Roasted veggies, baked beans, corn on the cob, rolls, watermelon, macaroni salad, potato salad, chips...Yum!

Happy Memorial Day!

Ward Campout

Friday night we went to our ward campout. The weather held out and the night wasn't too cold - thank goodness. I went camping a lot when I was a kid and it's something I'm glad our girls like to do too. We had a fun time but unfortunately my camera batteries died 2 pictures into it. Isn't that how it goes? But we were able to charge it by nighttime and got a couple of good pics. The bishop's son took over 400 pictures while there so maybe we can swipe some from him sometime!

THE KIDS LOVED FINDING A MOTH BY THE LANTERN...



KASIDEE AND HER FRIEND TIM

Field Trip

Today I got to go with Makenna on her class field trip. I love field trips - it's a fun activity that I didn't have to plan or make arrangements for. I don't even have to drive - I just show up and feel like I'm a kid playing hooky!

Today we went to Sweet's Candy Factory for a tour. It was really interesting to see how they make jelly beans (they swirl around in what looks like a cement mixer), chocolate, taffy and cinnamon bears. I never knew that the molds for cinnamon bears are actually made out of cornstarch - how weird is that? Anyway, we couldn't take cameras in the tour (they even made us wear hairnets and take off all jewelry.)

After that we went to Vertis Printing to see how they print newspaper inserts. The kids loved seeing the HUGE rolls of paper. And it was fun to see them print all red, then all blue, then all yellow, then all black (maybe not in that order) to get the colors they want.

Then we went to the park for lunch and to play, and I got a kick out of some of the kids who wore their hairnets (from the candy factory) and earplugs (from the printing place) the whole day!

Anyway, I wasn't able to get very many good pictures, but I thought this was cute. This was my group holding hands "just because we're friends."

Toothless

So Makenna's poor mouth has been a little unstable lately. She has about 5 or 6 loose teeth. Yesterday in church she wiggled one of her teeth and it popped right out! She thought that was pretty cool, and the Primary President gave her a tiny plastic bag to put it in. Later that night, Makenna showed me one of her other loose teeth. She said, "Wouldn't that be cool if this one came out too?" I said, "Well, keep wiggling it - you never know." About 2 minutes later she was yelping that it came out too! Wow - 2 lost teeth in one day! I'm sure the Tooth Fairy will be excited about that!


Now if we can just get rid of that yucky top tooth that's been hanging there for months....

Say What?

I just about burst out laughing when I saw Kasidee come out of her Primary class yesterday. Isn't this just adorable? I love the sweet, simple lessons these kids are learning!

To Garden...?

This is our fifth summer in this house, and we've never had a real garden here even though there's a nice garden plot. Reasons:

2007 - We were trying to get settled in our new house, plus looking forward to our new baby Kasidee.

2008 - We planted tomatoes and carrots and watered them 3 times a DAY (Quentin's idea.) Needless to say, our little plants drowned and nothing survived.

2009 - Trimmed our apple trees right before we left for Disneyland. Trimmings from 10 apple trees can make quite a big pile, and we missed the city pick-up for green waste. So we piled the branches in our garden area, vowing to take them to the dump soon.

2010 - Added our new apple tree trimmings to last year's pile, making a massive pile. I mean, really - the pile was basically as big as our shed.

THIS YEAR - We've decided to take back the yard. Almost 2 months ago Quentin trimmed the apple trees and we began hauling the branches from this year and the last 2 years up to the curb for the city pick-up (Quentin had fun pulling the 5 trailer loads with the 4-wheeler!). Then we spent a couple of hours hand-picking the tiny branches out of the garden, then tilling the garden. And today we finally got to plant our garden!

We have no clue what we're doing, so we'll see what happens. We thought about not announcing our garden plans in case it doesn't work. But now I guess everyone knows, so hopefully it will work out. If not, maybe we'll educate ourselves before trying the garden thing again.

Anyway, we planted cantaloupe,carrots, onions, zucchini, corn, peas, peppers, and 4 kinds of tomato plants - early girl, cherry, grape and yellow pear. And I also have a little herb garden with rosemary, cilantro, basil, chives and parsley (I didn't want the parsley but bought it thinking it was cilantro. Dang.) And in the front, I planted a small pot of geraniums and snapdragons, plus a hosta and cactus my mom gave me. So it's been a planting day! Now we'll sip lemonade the rest of the summer and go out in August to gather our harvest. Wait - what's that? We have to weed and water the garden too? I thought all the hard work was done! : )

We Did It!

Today was preschool graduation! I was so very proud of sweet Kasidee (she was so excited!) and all of the preschool kids. And I have to admit that I was proud of Jill (my preschool partner) and me too! We started months ago to prepare for this event, and everything ended up going so smoothly. There had been sleepless nights thinking about the details and worrying that something would go wrong. There were lots of hours spent teaching songs, preparing the program, buying supplies, making caps and diplomas.... Whew. But once everything was done and we were in the moment, I kind of got teary-eyed. I have grown to love these kids - it's such a fun age - and have enjoyed seeing them learn and grow and develop. I feel honored that I was able to be one of their first teachers in a lifetime of learning!

So...now I'm ready for a little break during summer, but I'm looking forward to a new class in the fall!

CUTE KASIDEE


WAITING FOR ALL THE KIDS TO ARRIVE


KASIDEE'S PART


THE KIDS WATCHING THE SLIDESHOW THAT QUENTIN AND HIS BROTHER CORBIN FINISHED AT ABOUT 3:00 IN THE MORNING!!


QUENTIN SURPRISED ME WITH FLOWERS!

Makenna's Boot

Saturday evening, Makenna came inside from playing outside at her cousin's house, complaining that her foot hurt. We put her in a chair, and I half expected her to get up and run off soon after. But she stayed in the chair for quite awhile and kept saying her foot really hurt. We checked it out, put ice on it, and told her to just be still.

So the next day, Sunday, she hopped around on her good foot while she got ready for church. Quentin carried her into sacrament meeting, but Makenna hopped to her Primary class. And on Monday I carried her into school, but she hopped around in class - and her teacher even gave her a piggyback ride to lunch.

So...we guessed that Makenna wasn't just doing the hopping for the drama or for attention. There really was something wrong. Instacare told us that they could look at it but that we would ultimately have to see an orthopaedic specialist for treatment. So after phone calls to about 4 orthopaedic specialists, the earliest appointment we could get was Wednesday morning.

So yesterday morning the doc felt her foot and took x-rays. There was a big bump on her hurt foot but he said that could be normal in a developing child. So he took an x-ray of her good foot - it had the same bump. So he didn't think it was broken but that most likely her bone had gotten bruised (this wouldn't show as a bruise on the skin however.) So he gave her a "boot" to wear. The doc said a bruise should heal within a couple of weeks and she'll be back to normal - if not, I'll have to take her in again.

Yesterday she said it still "stinged" when she tried to walk on the boot, so she hopped around all day. But this afternoon we noticed she tried walking on it gently - and now she's walking on it most of the time. I just have to say that she has been such a trooper. How frustrating it would be to have to hop everywhere you go - even while everyone at school and church are staring at you! Makenna said her good leg gets really tired hopping around all day. But she has done it with a smile (and a little cane that Quentin found at the D.I.!) - and it looks like her foot will heal just fine soon!

Sleepy Head

This is how I found Kasidee yesterday afternoon. Guess she was T.I.R.E.D!

Sprinkle

Friday night our little family began getting our garden plot ready - not an easy task, since the area hasn't been used as a garden for a couple of years and had lots of weeds and branches to get rid of. Anyway, we all worked hard and we decided to reward the girls by letting them run through the sprinklers. Check out these cute pics of Kasidee having fun!

Mother's Day

Quentin had meetings early Sunday morning. While his 4 girls slept in, he quietly got up and got ready. I didn't know until I walked into the kitchen what else he had been up to....



The girls were thrilled, and we gobbled up the pancakes before we met him at church!

Park

Last Friday, since the weather began - FINALLY - to feel like spring, the 3 of us took a leisurely walk to "our park." Kasidee drove her Barbie car and the girls had fun playing in the cold stream. Love it!

Ha ha ha

I know, I know. I post often about funny things my girls say. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks they are funny, but I want to be sure to post them so I can remember!

One night before bed Kiera was in a particularly inquisitive mood. She asked Quentin, "Daddy, where did dinosaurs come from?" Kasidee piped up and said, "The zoo!

That same night, Kiera asked when time began and when it will end. Tough question. As we tried to answer, she said, "Well, maybe there never was a beginning or an end. But, you know, even supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has an ending."

On Mother's Day, Kasidee came running out of her Sunbeam class, gave me a hug and said, "Thank you to take care of me!" Awww....

Opera!

Makenna's first grade class put on an opera today! They've been working on it all year - the whole class came up with the storyline and the words (which were put to music.) They all helped create the scenery and the costumes. It was so fun to see - Makenna was a mermaid, and it was fun to see how expressive she was. She just comes alive when the spotlight is on her! This was such a fun opportunity - Makenna's class was the only class in the school that was chosen by the Utah Festival Opera to do this. Fun!






After the opera, the class sang a few "Mother's Day" songs and then the kids presented their moms with a special package!

Kiera #9

Where has the time gone? My little Kiera turned 9 yesterday - in 9 more years she'll be 18!! She is just a joy - she's so tenderhearted and thoughtful and genuinely kind; so responsible and conscientious and dependable; so happy and smart and curious. She loves drawing and sewing and reading. She is just so fun to be around. We're so proud of her and love her sooooo much!!

Kiera had planned on having a few of her girl friends over for a "Teddy Bear Picnic" to help celebrate her birthday. She was so disappointed that it was snowy and cold - here's a picture of her by our popcorn trees with snow coming down. But we moved the picnic tables inside and had a grand ol' time anyway!


Kiera had 10 of her friends - and 10 of their bears - over for a picnic of mini pb&j sandwiches, strawberries, potato chips, Teddy Grahams, gummy bears and lemonade. Even the bears had tiny plates and cups for their picnic.



After the picnic, we played a game where all of the bears were put in a big bag and each girl was blindfolded and had 30 seconds to feel for their bear. They all did a good job! Then we played "Bear Musical Chairs," opened presents had and cake and ice cream. Kiera requested a green frosted cake with a little piece of fabric and a tiny bear on it. Very simple, but it turned out cute - and just the way she wanted.





Check out these cute "Teddy Bear Tea Party" badges I got online from the Girl Scouts.... The girls had fun pinning them on their shirts or their bears.


After the friend party, we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory with the grandmas - Granny, Nana, Grandma Stephens - and Aunt Shlenae.

Then - if that wasn't enough fun - we had some more cake and ice cream with family in the evening! It was a busy and fun day!