To the Sunshine State We Go

Sean and I had a great trip to Florida. Sean went out for an interview, and they offered to fly me out as well. We flew Sean's mom in to town to watch the kiddos for three days and we headed across the country. Neither of us had been there before, so this was a new experience. We went to Pensacola (on the panhandle). Our hotel was RIGHT ON the beach. We literally walked out the back door of the hotel and onto the sand of the ocean. We went to the Naval Air Museum (one of the best in the world - and it really was awesome), we climbed to the top of a lighthouse, we toured an old army fort, Fort Pickens, we swam in the hotel pool, we walked along the beach, we swam in the ocean (and the water was PERFECTION - warm and not too salty), we ate lots of delicious food and we just hung out together...with no kids. It was a fantastic get-away (and even more great that is hardly cost us anything to go)
And even though it was beautiful and Sean really liked the plant and the guys he interviewed with, we both kind of left knowing that we wouldn't be coming here any time too soon. So, it was a pressure-less vacation. Love it.
We forgot out camera, so these are all phone camera shots.

Happy Birthday to the Perfect Mom (for me)

Who did all the "little" things that made a HUGE difference. I love You!

Father and Son Campout

This weekend was the Father and Sons camp out. Ben was counting down the days all week long. I told Nathan on Friday that he was going to go camping with Dad. I don't think he really knows what the word, "camping" means, although we've been several times before, but he was pretty excited about the idea. When Sean got home and we were packing up the truck, every single time I walked out there he waved at me and said, "Bye Mom." He was ready to go. The boys grabbed dinner at McDonalds and then headed to the campground. It was really close, so it didn't take long. They had fun setting up camp and playing around. There was a fireside that night. Sean let the kids have a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate (because they couldn't build fires to make proper smores). Eventually they headed off to bed. That night Ben woke up at around 12:30 and had thrown up all over his sleeping bag (poor guy). Sean got him cleaned up and the sleeping bag out of the tent. He let Ben use his bag, which meant he now didn't have one. He tried to go sleep in the car where it was warmer, but Nathan woke up and FREAKED out because Ben was sleeping right by him. Sean went back to the tent and calmed him down and tried to lay down by him, but soon realized he was going to freeze all night long like that. So he quietly packed up the boys and their stuff and headed home at about 2:00 AM. They were bummed they couldn't stay the whole time, but they did get some good playing time in on Friday night.

And Ben was totally fine for the rest of the day. It must have been something he ate.

A Little of This and A Little of That

I've been meaning to record a few little things, and now it seems that there are more than just a few, so here is a list of randomness:

*Caelan has become a serious fan of Taylor Swift. I hear "Love Story" and "Our Song" and "You Belong With Me" multiple times every day (plus others). And she really belts them out. The other day I took her and her friend, Tessa, to dance. I came in a couple of minutes after they did and noticed that their dance teacher and all the girls were sitting on a bench. I looked through the window and saw Caelan and Tessa in front of the class singing, "Love Story" a capella to their dance class.
*Sean went to an Elders Quorum activity last weekend to a shooting range. He had a blast shooting targets and clay pigeons. It made his itch for owning a gun grow.....but I'm not sold. HE HE HE.
*Caelan got her first hit at her baseball game a week ago. She made it safely to first base and her hit brought in a runner (their team's first score of the season). I was a screaming, crazy parent. It was so fun!
*One of my favorite things is watching Ben get up to bat (he is playing tee-ball). He looks out to find me and smiles, and half the time he gives me a thumbs up before he gets to the plate. I love it!
*Caelan bore her testimony in church two Sundays ago. It was her first time ever. She likes to share her testimony during Family Home Evening, and it was sweet to see her desire to get up and share it with everyone. I love those moments - when you know the stuff that you've been teaching is really making a difference.
*Nathan has recently adopted all "tooting" noises as his own. Whenever anyone (anywhere) toots, he immediately says, "That's me," and smiles. Where do they get this stuff?
*I got released from serving in the Nursery at church and got called to be in the Primary Presidency. Nursery and then this have been my first experiences in Primary...and I am loving it. It's so fun to spend time with the young kids every Sunday and listen to them sing and hear their sweet comments.
*I am feeling like an official "soccer mom" these days (just without the soccer). I have kid activities going on almost every day. I've been pretty careful about trying not to over-schedule us (I'm not a fan of running crazy all the time), but with this baseball season there have been practices and games (on different days and times every week), plus the one class of dance that Caelan is in, plus the one class of gymnastics that Megan is in, plus mutual and scout activities that Sean is involved with, plus piano lessons (I teach Caelan and Ben myself). It's fun to see them learn and have fun with their activities, but I'm kind of looking forward to a little break in the summer. I'm thinking this is kind of what my life will be like for the next......lots of years. I feel so lucky that I get to be involved (that I'm home with the kids and have a chance to run them here and there on some days and work with them on homework in the afternoon and spend other days just hanging out at home and go to their games and school events). It's a great job!
*This is one of the kids' favorite Family Home Evening activities (or anytime activities for that matter).

Mother's Day Picnic

On Friday I got to go to a Mother's Day picnic that Ben's Kindergarten class was putting on. Aunt Carolyn graciously took Megan and Nathan for the hour, so that I could just hang out one-on-one with Ben. When we got there Mrs. White had all the Mom's get their food (bagels and cream cheese and fruit) and then take a seat. The kids all came in, stood in a line and sang, "Skidamarink" while doing sign language hand motions. It was very cute. Ben was so excited to see me - his smile was awesome! Then they got to sit with us and eat too. He had made a card and a bookmark (with a flower made from their fingerprint) that he gave to me. It was special - I loved it (and what I loved even more was how much Ben loved that I was there - makes a Mom's heart happy).

Preschool Graduation

Megan had her preschool graduation program (which is pretty funny considering she still has another year before she starts Kindergarten). Most of the kids in her class are going to school in the Fall though. They wore caps and gowns and everything. Megan was completely enthralled with her tassel - she could hardly focus on the songs they were performing. She kept rubbing it against her face or around her fingers. The major of Tiejeras was there and proclaimed that day, May 6, 2011, their day (the kids of Parky's Pals). After the short ceremony there was a potluck and even a jumper for the kids to play on. This has been a great preschool. I'm pretty sure I'm going to send Megan again next year. It's SUPER cheap, they go on fun field trips, the directors are great. They don't learn as much as some of the others, but they have a ton of social interaction...and anything I feel she needs work on we can do at home. She loves it.


(She is sitting right next to her best friend, Presley. These two make the cutest little pair.)

And the Boys Take the Lead

Hello Baby Boy Dick. Yes, I am pregnant. We are expecting baby #5 at the end of September. The due date is Sept 28th (right in between Nathan and Sean's birthdays - we're getting a little crowded right there). We had our ultrasound on Tuesday. None of the kids knew that we were having another baby. We took them all with us. The room we were in had an extra screen on the wall, so the kids all took a seat and looked at the images on the TV screen on the wall. We told them to tell us when they thought they knew what they were looking at. Megan said, "It's a volcano. Is it Mom?" Ben said, "Space." So then we specified that what they were looking at was inside of Mom's tummy. Caelan guessed a baby. When we confirmed it Megan got so excited, "It's a baby? You're having a baby?" It was cute. They were all excited. The machine the technician used even showed some 3-D images, which we have never seen before on an ultrasound, so that was fun. They were much easier for the kids to distinguish than the other images. They loved the tiny picture of the foot and of course the face views. We're really excited to have another little kiddo to add to the bunch.