April in a nutshell

 I Love our home. I absolutely love it. Driving up to it every day I always smile....the rich green grass, the many colors and variety of roses and other flowers. It doesn't come without a lot of hard work. Todd spends hours practically every weekend keeping the yard and our home looking nice. I know that it is a labor of love for him. He has taken a lot of classes that are provided free at a lot of the local nurseries. He is Very educated and had developed an incredible knowledge and talent. I don't know if he knows just how much the kids and I also enjoy his hard work and the beauty he brings to our home. Being surrounded by such beauty makes a person that much happier. The kids (especially Makenna) always comment on what beautiful roses and plants Daddy grows. They are proud of our gardens and all the fruits and vegetables we grow. Carys Loves to walk through the front  yard smelling each flower she can reach. I'm grateful for all his hard work. I know he enjoys putting his knowledge to work, but I also know it is not easy and that its a lot of physically challenging work.  You do an incredible job Daddy!

 When Todd planted some new roses this year he let each of the big kids plant and name one of the rose bushes. This is the once Conner chose (which he calls "Conner Rose") and he LOVES to go over and look at it and be proud of how beautiful his plant is! I personally think this is one of my favorite roses in the entire yard. I LOVE it!!!

 I'm not sure who is more lucky to have this big sissy around....me or Carys? Carys started saying Makenna's name recently. We all just call her sissy all the time so Carys calls her "Isss" It is totally cute!!!

 Back To School Night. One of my favorite days of the school year. The kids are always sooooo proud taking their parents through their classrooms. It is something I always really look forward to in a dorky mom kind of way. Kellen was just as excited as I was about it though. Cutest thing: The night before back to school night Kellen and I were talking while I tucked him in bed. He looked at me with a big smile and said "Mom, I am just so excited! I hope I can fall asleep tonight. I probably won't be able to. Right mom?" This boy is just so sweet. He gets so excited about things like this. This boy LIVES for special events. And I just know that in his mind he has it played out perfectly, just how he envisions it will go. Luckily he almost always seems satisfied with the result, so I hope we are living up to his expectations.
Since Kellen was obviously Soooo excited, we went to his class first and he was so cute and grown up showing us around his class.

 Kellen's teacher, Mrs. Zarzan, is AMAZING! I have absolutely adored her. She is such, such, such a great teacher. So down to earth with the kids. I couldn't have asked for anyone better! She is seriously tied with Makenna's first grade teacher Mrs. Balough as my favorite teachers ever! Love her! And I am so excited that I have at least one more year with her when Carys is in TK some day! It's funny because she and Conner have actually really formed a bond too. Conner gives her a big hug every morning and every afternoon. He gets all dressed up for her and loves to show off for her. She has mentioned a few times what a good thing it is that Conner can't be in her class since she doesn't qualify for TK because otherwise it would be too obvious who her favorite student was. Awww...

 Next we went to Makenna's class. 2nd Grade has been a big "growing up" year for Makenna. In kinder and 1st they still treat you like a little kid and really watch over you. 2nd grade they expect a lot more independence and responsibility from the students. She has done a great job stepping up to the challenge and had a good teacher to guide her through the transition. I've been really proud of the way she has developed and the beautiful, strong girl she is becoming. 

 Don't even try to get in the way of Conner and his style. This boy does it like he wants. And I swear he can pull off anything and make it look cool....even socks with sandals.
Cute side story: One night after bath time and as we were getting in pajamas I saw Conner putting on his socks and sandals. To which I told him he didn't need socks and sandals because he was just going to sleep. He kept putting them on and said "But Mom, I am being Nephi. Nephi wears his sandals like this too and he wears them all the time!" Oh sweet boy. So guess who I let sleep in socks and sandals? Yep, by #3 you just go with the flow.

 My handsome boy....looking so cute in those adorable little pants. Getting better and better every practice and every game!

 A typical Sunday afternoon/night. The girls had fun putting EVERY clip and hair pretty they could find in moms hair. I think this must be something that every little girl does to their mom. I remember doing it to my mom and loving it. It still seems weird sometimes to be on the other end of these moments now. And then to Grammy's house where we made popcorn, at ice cream and made hats out of foil. We love our Sunday nights at Grammy and Pa's house. So grateful for traditions like this!

 We had our cute Uncle Ding here for a little break. I just love how much my kids adore him!

 So one of Todd's gardening experiments this year was growing potatoes. It was really interesting watching how they grow and seeing the whole process. When it was time to harvest we got all the kids in on it, looking through the dirt and finding all the potatoes they could. Even though most of our kids don't like to eat potatoes, they were certainly excited about growing them. It wasn't As big of a harvest as we would have hoped, but it was a fun experience and interesting eating home grown potatoes. They are certainly NOT the same as what you buy in the store. 

 Probably one of my favorite pictures of the Con this year. This kid seriously is one of a kind. I have never known a boy to make me laugh so much. LOVE him, his adorable smile and his goofiness.

While Ding was here we took a fun trip to get some really yummy mexican food, to the park to play and then to the bay. At the park the kids and I had fun taking pictures of them jumping off the swings.  They all have their own style and technique which was cute to watch.

Our trip to the bay turned out to be interesting. We got there to find jellyfish ALL over the beach! It was crazy. Apparently this was happening along the coast all over San Diego. A huge group of jellyfish stumbled our way. I also found out later that these jellyfish would not sting. But I didn't know this so I was a total nervous wreck watching the kids try to walk around, avoiding jellyfish. Especially with a 1 tear old. So we pretty much looked at the jellyfish, touched the water a little, took a few pictures and then left. 

I have been a nail biter since I can remember. It is something I have had a real struggle breaking. But I am making progress. I still have my slip ups here and there, but I figure if I keep at it and keep trying then someday I'll have it beat. See honey, I'm not totally perfect, even if you think I am ;)

I LOVE that my kids do this. I used to do this as a kid all the time. Lay out your clothes for school the next day before you go to bed that night. And lay them out to make it look like a person was vaporized and all that was left was their clothes. Ha ha! And yes, Kellen intentionally wears 2 different shoes. He does it all the time, and I will be honest, I love it. I love that he can have confidence and think he is cool pulling off something like this. I'm all about letting my kids pick their own clothes. Their are only a few years in your life where you can get away with not matching and look cute doing it!

These two....they could be twins separated by a couple of years....they are just too cute! I really love that they have their time together while the big kids are at school. I love that they get to have a friend with them wherever we go. And Conner just LOVES his little sister to pieces. 

Mama's newest baby. Her new couch. Yes, it deserved a spot in the blog!

Annual school jog-a-thon. Both kids did awesome! I think they both ran 9 laps? And Con worked it too! Makenna and Kellen both ran at different times, so Conner ended up running with Makenna and then running again with Kellen. He was awesome. I know he likes feeling big like his big brother and sister. And Makenna was super sweet about encouraging him to keep up with them.

Best Buddies

This girl looking way too grown up. I LOVE this dress. And I love what a little lady she is turning into. She even wanted heels. Yikes! The other day Makenna was telling me that we were BFF's (best friends forever). She was being all sweet and mushy before bed time and I was soaking it all up. I said back to her "Will you even be my best friend when you are a stinky teenager and think I am rotten?" To which she replied "Yes. I am sure I will think you are rotten, but yeah, we will still be best friends." Gotta give her credit for an honest answer. Ha Ha!

My Dad was a really big fan of my cousin Ian's artwork. He would post pictures of his drawings on Facebook all the time and my dad would always comment on them, asking him questions, giving him tips and compliments. Ian really appreciated all his attention and feedback. So when he passed away Ian told Sarah and I that he was going to do a drawing for our Dad. He kept his word and less than a year later gave me this. I Love It! It is such a great tribute to my Dad from Ian and I know that he would love it! I can't express to Ian how touched I was by this. I hope he knows how much I love it!

This girl can go from sweetheart to monster in 2.3 seconds! LOVE her and her animal side. Aaaahhhh!!!!
Awesome Mom Moment: This little maniac was at the counter one night eating a snack and being way to wiggly on her stool. I was standing behind her on the tile, talking to Daddy who was in the kitchen. Suddenly (I am not quite sure how) she is falling off her stool backwards and is about to land head first on the tile. But with my ninja like reflexes I reach out, not even thinking about it, and catch her by the ankle, her heard literally Inches from the ground. My immediate reaction was to raise her in the air (upside down by the ankle still) for Todd to see and marvel at my amazing ninja skills. And then the poor scared girl started crying so I had to go into "comforting mama" mode. But man, I amazed myself! I am still proud!

Because who doesn't love some garden fresh, home grown berries with breakfast?!