Happy Birthday Derek!

 Derek has been working an insane amount.  We love him and how hard he works, but we miss him.  He even worked two shifts on his birthday.  But we were lucky enough to have him home for dinner.

He doesn't like cake...so here are his favorite cookies with some candles.  I couldn't fit 35, so I went for one for each decade.  

Love this pic.  He managed to blow out all 3.  Didn't even need the help that the wind offered by blowing out the candles after I lit them the first time.

 He bought himself a new shotgun and we got a new computer this week, so from us he got 2 giant Charleston Chew bars.  What a fun birthday (not)...but, since he doesn't like to celebrate his birthday, it worked out.

Skating for Grandpa Kay

We had an insane day yesterday.  Bodystep, Dance Pictures, quick lunch, Dance class, and then on to a roller skating birthday party for one of Libby's friends.  I didn't know if I could do it all.  (That may not sound crazy, but consider the 4 wardrobe changes required there...)  (Plus, I am potty training Ben...yikes.)
But I have been wanting to skate so badly!  So we went.  Just smelling the skates and the atmosphere reminded me so much of Logan and my amazing grandparents.  Turns out my kids are more Norton than Randall when it comes to skating.  I have made a resolve to go at least once a week this summer.  I did skate on the "adult fast skate"  I was the only non-employee and the only female.  I didn't go as fast as they did.
Anyway, taking 3 who can't skate skating was a circus that seemed to have more than 3 rings.  But we made it home in one piece.

Sarah did the most independent skating.  She got out there on the floor and made a couple of small circles--somewhat against the flow of traffic, but she did it!  Then she started freaking out about wanting some jewelry from one of the change machines.

I put Ben's skates on first, figuring he wouldn't go anywhere.  I then stood him against a wall and told him he could walk along the wall.  When I looked up from putting my skates on, he was already all the way along the wall and heading out onto the skating floor.  Yikes!  I caught him just before he fell.  After that he wanted to hold my hand the whole time.  And pretty much started freaking out.  He was a tired young man.  

Pretty fabulous outfit, right?  He wet his pants at the gym and I didn't have a spare pair of shorts.  These are loaners from the gym.  He managed to wet his pants at the skating rink too...right onto the seat of one of the car video games.  Ugh.  Not doing a very good job of watching him.  

Libby with Mia and Isabelle.  Mia (the tall blonde) is Libby's best school friend.  This picture gives you a sense of how big most of her classmates are...All of Libby's friends were pretty good skaters.  This did not help Libby's attitude or willingness to try.  She made me take her skates off.  Then What did the Fox Say came on and she wanted to get out there again so I put them back on.  She made it all the way around a couple of times with hands on the wall.  Trying new things is not something she enjoys right now.    

Paige...

One of my loyal blog readers read last week's post and texted me...Who is Paige?  and I realized, I dropped her into the last post without proper introduction.  Paige is my oldest niece, the oldest daughter of Derek's oldest sister Alayne.  She grew up in Everett.  My introduction to Derek's family actually happened at Paige's baptism.  So I have known her for a long time.  She went off to BYU-I in January.  During the semester, she started thinking about serving a mission (again--she had thought about it before).  As she was thinking about going on a mission, I spent a lot of time on the phone helping her weigh her options.  One thing I suggested was that if she came home to work before her mission, she could live with us.
So, she got her mission call in April and came home to our house instead of Everett with her parents.  This way she could work in Seattle (Everett to Seattle is a terrible commute, but our house to Seattle isn't so bad) to make more money for her mission.
Can I just say I LOVE having her here?  She is an excellent babysitter, but I just love having a friend around!  We do crazy things like the squat challenge and making cake batter ice cream at night after the kids go to bed.  We go on frozen yogurt runs.  It is making me feel young again!
I adore her, and it is going to be hard to see her go.  Chicago Spanish speakers don't know how lucky they are to get our Paige!

Derek and Paige both love Parks and Recreation...so Paige got him this special shirt for his birthday.  

 

Can A Chick Speak?

Libby's school does an art festival every year.  She and one of her classmates recited a poem called Chicks. I made her memorize it and she did a fabulous job.  Can I just say I am so glad that school is winding down here.  I feel pretty done.  Too bad the last day of school is JUNE 20!

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.

The Numbers

This week I thought it would be fun to post by the numbers, so here goes.
Our week included:
Libby having 4 days of school.
Sarah had 2 days of school.
Mom had 10 personal training appointments.
Mom taught 5 classes.
Mom attended 1 yoga class and got 1 massage.
Ben went potty about 30 times!
Derek worked 1 Mariners game & 2 Folklife shifts
Derek had 1 day of shotgun qualifications.
He worked 4 regular shifts.
Mom gave 1 talk in sacrament meeting.
Mom had 1 YW class presidency meeting & 1 adult presidency meeting.
We hosted our last Rhinos board meeting (at least until Ben is old enough to wrestle).
We attended 3 dance classes (one for each girl including me)
We had our 2nd home appraisal in as many weeks (the first one the woman couldn't write the report because apparently I was "pressuring" her....another story)
When the appraisal came through we saw that the $30,000 we have spent on our house is worth $50,000 in equity!
We ate 0 restaurant meals (it is an EAT AT HOME month).
We had 1 home teacher visit (with his son).  Our first home teachers in our new house, and they are moving.
Derek had 1 unexpected cavity filled.
Paige had 1 unexpected cavity filled.
Derek spent $1000 to fix some issues with his truck.
Paige got hit by 1 uninsured driver while she was parked at Fred Meyer.  He did leave a note.  He was shocked to hear the $3000+ total for the repairs.
We went on 1 trip to the outlets in Marysville.
Paige got 2 awesome pairs of shoes for her mission.
Paige and Mom bought the same skirt at the Eddie Bauer outlet.
Libby rejected 1 awesome pair of shoes I wanted to buy her.
Paige worked a double shift.
Mom got 4 stars on a Just Dance song (it was an EASY song--I admit it).
During swimming lessons, Mom and Ben played in lane 4.  Mom dove down and picked up Hulk and Iron Man at least 100 times.
Our gardener has worked 17 hours to help clean up the weeds and stuff in our yard (still more to go).  She found 1 plastic chicken missing its legs and 1 aged Easter Egg.
Ben spent at least an hour chatting her up while she worked.
We went to 1 awesome construction birthday party--Happy Birthday Jed!
Mom has finished 21 chapters of study toward her personal training cert.  Only 1 3/4 chapters of reading left.  (Then hours of review of course).

Mom went on 2 runs with Aunt Maren.

The kids spent all of Paige's quarters

Ben picked out 1 pair of shoes for "Jamesy Wamesy" as he called him.  

Ben got 1 awesome new pair of PJs!  I got trapped in about 1000 spiderwebs this guys was slinging at me.

Libby's First Soccer Practice

She can kick up onto the bar and hang upside down--then get herself back down. I think she is going to be a bar twirler like her Auntie Ray!

I walked up to pick up Libby from her first soccer practice.  It is a fun free soccer practice afterschool, so there were about 80 kids on the field.  I wondered if I would be able to spot Libby.  Before I even got to the field, I spotted some green leggings doing cartwheels.  Yep.  Libby.  She complained to me later that she never got to touch the ball.  I suggested maybe a few less cartwheels?

Ready for dance class!  The recital is only a month away!