Summer, here we come!

Wow, what a week! This week was so packed full of everything! Memorial Weekend was such a nice treat to have all the kids home and some fun activities. On Memorial Day we got to go out to Great Grandma and Grandpa Miner's house to help with the basketball hoop. Our stay was short but we still were able to go out in the horse pasture and play on the old tree. Great Grandma was so cute and helped the kids gather up helicopters from the walnut trees in the front yard and fly them off the deck. Very cute and fun for the kids!

For the rest of the Memorial Day we celebrated one of Jake's nieces birthday here at our park for a lunch picnic and then on to the pool. We are lucky to have family so close! The kids all had a good time together and the weather was pretty good, just a little windy at times. We were able to get some of the cousins for a picture, but not all of them because they didn't want to stop playing!

Suzanna had her first music program at school this last Wednesday! The kindergarten kids are so cute and they sang so good. My favorite song that made me smile was a cute twist on "Start spreading the news!" The first part went like this, "Start spreading the news, we're leaving next week. We want to be a part of it... first grade, first grade!" They did hand actions and everything! Very cute! They had learned so many songs and a lot of them had sign language. I didn't get a good picture during the program but after I spent recess with the kids and got one of my 3 school kids. I love that they all have recess together and they will find each other and say "hi" to each other.

Last week the first graders had "camp learn a lot." Travis thought it was the coolest thing! All of the first graders wore a white shirt. They decorated the front and then had everyone sign the back. Some of the activities included a game room, where they brought their favorite game, painting on paper and painting a rock. We even got to send in a care package for Travis with camping things - Travis loved the flashlight, compass and all of the goodies.

I am so grateful for all of the family that watches the little ones so I can help in the school. This whole school year my mom has been willing to watch Makenna and John every Wednesday morning. I know that it makes a difference to volunteer in the classroom and I know I couldn't have done it without her! After Suzanna and I got back on Wednesday to Grandma's house to pick up the kids, we found them eating popsicles in the backyard. I think John was the winner of having the most popsicles! He really knows how to beg!

Well, the rest of the week we had friends and family over to play in the water and have fun! The kids love to jump on the trampoline with water under it!

John and Makenna love to get on my back and pretend I'm a horse or some other animal. The other day I happened to have my camera close by to take a quick picture of those cute little monkeys! I have always wondered what they look like on my back being silly, now I know!

We are really enjoying having a pool in the subdivision! It's even better that the cousins come and play with us!

The kids thought it was really cool to pose for the camera in the air. Suzanna and Elaina were pretending to be the kids from High School Musical.

Seriously, I don't know what to do with him!!!

On Saturday, Suzanna decided to finally try to swim without floaties. She did so good!!! She can swim the entire length of the pool without help! Wow, she is so big!

After school on Friday some of the kids from Suzanna's kindergarten class and her teacher met at a park to play together. Suzanna has had such a good year and has made a lot of good friends!

Outside Fun!

We are loving the weather!

On Friday we enjoyed the evening in the backyard together. The kids have so much fun being silly!

Yesterday after spending the morning cleaning I decided to make a couple batches of strawberry jam. I have to say the kids were actually good helpers. It was really nice to give each a job which made it go faster! They thought it was great and lots of fun!


After cleaning up the kitchen, again, thanks to John! we went swimming. We are so excited that our neighborhood pool is open. The water was a little cold but that never stops the kids from having fun! They loved the pool and playing at the playground! The warm sun felt so good!

Travis' Author Party!

Well, Travis can now say that he is a published author!!! The past couple of months Travis' first grade class has been working on their very own book titled, "Someday." It is a book on dreams that they have about the future. The kids all put so much time and thought into each page! They even got to each think of a publishing company name and picture for it and vote on them, the winner was "Cool Kids Publishing Company Inc." They also got to vote on how much it would cost to buy it, $10.95!

On the inside back cover of the book was information on the author. Each child got to come up and Mrs. A read the information on them and then each kid read their favorite page to everyone. Travis picked "Someday I will star in the movie... Star Wars. I will play the part of Obe Won Kenobi and fight Darthmall." I loved how in the back cover Travis said that he wanted to be a "dish network worker" just like his dad. On the dedication page Travis dedicated his book to "my family and my cousin."

I just love Travis' teacher and appreciate how much she loves each one of the children! After everyone was done we got to watch a slide show movie that she put together of the children in her class, and she gave a copy to each child. Travis has had such a fun year!

Mother/Daughter Date

Elaina and I had our first Mother/Daughter date this last week. Elaina's non member friend, who loves activity days, came and so I got to have 2 daughters! The girls got to decorate the moms with all sorts of ribbon, tissue paper, bows, garbage bags, and stickers. Then the moms walked the cat walk to show off their cute outfits!

My outfit included a halter top, scarf, fancy shoes and a bouquet of flowers!

I have to say my outfit was the best one!!! We had a very fun time together!

Spring Field Trips 2009!

I am so lucky that I can go with the kids on their field trips! Thanks to my mom for watching the little ones, and for the kids letting me come and enjoy being with them.


Elaina's field trip was last week. It really was a fun trip. First we loaded the bus and headed to downtown Boise. Once we there we went into the Egyptian Theatre for a slide show, some popcorn and water. One of the owners told us a little about the history of the theatre. We then got to explore the theatre and fill out a fact sheet about the theatre.

We learned a lot and Elaina loved taking pictures of everything!

Next we got to go across the street to City Hall and have a picnic under some shade trees. As soon as we were finished eating we got to start our picture scavenger hunt. We had a list of 25 things that we had to find and then take a picture of with our group. The girls had fun walking around and were good at posing for all of the pictures! Luckily it was a beautiful day and we had a fun group of girls.

Once we were done with the scavenger hunt we meet up with the rest of our class and we got to go to the Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant in Boise that is in Boise's first fire station. It was a very cool place and everyone enjoyed dipping a marsh mellow, rice crispy treat and a brownie in chocolate. That was definitely Elaina's favorite part of the day! No surprise!!! It was a very busy trip with a lot of walking. It's funny, even when you think the kids will be so worn out and tired they just keep going! After school that day Elaina had her 3 good friends over and they played and played and played!!! I am so glad she has good friends she enjoys being around!

Suzanna's field trip was this last week. We went to the Botanicial Garden's in Boise. It was a really nice trip and very relaxing to walk through the garden and enjoy the beauty of everything. My favorite plant was the wisteria flower and learning that we eat flowers!!! (broccoli and cauliflower) The lady there was such a fun tour guide and the kids all listened and enjoyed it all.

Some of the highlights were throwing tiny tree seeds up in the air...

Feeling the bamboo that Panda Bear eat...

Riding on a bus for the FIRST time...

Looking, NOT touching a huge worm...

And having a snack.

One of Suzanna's favorite part was the hunt they got to go on with a magnifying glass.

I can't believe that May is busier than the month of December!!! Busy, but fun!