Mason trys soccer

This year my kids are each trying a new sport/activity. Mason's is soccer. I was a bit curious to see if he could really get in there and be aggressive. And I was pleasantly surprised. He loves it! He and his friend Remi are like two peas in pod, and have had fun starting this soccer season together. I challenged both of them that if they could make a goal I would give them four quarters. (Remi's brother has some candy machines, so quarters are oh so wanted!) Well, after that challenge Remi got 2 goals and Mason got 1. I quickly realized maybe I should lower the reward to 1 quarter per goal. Because now Mason gets a least 1 goal per game. He's so fun to watch and I am so excited that he's found something he really enjoys.

Riley Turns 3-Yippee!

Never have I been so happy for one of my children to leave the terrible 2's! And I do mean terrible! Riley turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated with family and cousins. She wanted a pink butterfly cake, and a pink butterfly cake is what she got. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. The highlight of her birthday was this easel she got to do her painting and coloring on. It's been a great addition to the home and all the kids love it. Riley may be strong-willed and stubborn at times, but we love our little Rye-Pie and wouldn't trade her for the world. (I just love the middle picture of her standing by her new easel. It's become her trademark stance.)

Some Firsts for Riley

So Riley just recently had a couple new firsts for her. First, she had her first trip to the dentist. She loved it. Then again loves anything where all the attention is on her though. Even if she is being poked and prodded. She especially loved watching her movie on the ceiling with her headphones on. In fact the dentist was trying to be really cute and gentle with her, but she really didn't care at all what he was saying because she just wanted to be left alone to watch her movie.

Her next first, was she had her first day of dance class! Oh how she has been looking for to this. There is a lady in our neighborhood that has a studio in her basement and so it is so convenient. I love it. And her! She has lots of little friends in her class and loves to come home and show me what she has learned. I'm happy that she has something fun to look forward to every week.

Am I over-reacting??

Crystal Light...we all know it and love it. Only 5 calories per serving, no caffeine, low in sodium, it's great. And my kids can't tell the difference from the Fruit Punch flavor and Kool-Aid. Another plus. It's lately become a staple at many meals in our home. But Josh has taken our love of Crystal Light to another level. Seriously...I'm concerned and frankly a little embarrassed. It has become his personal mission to try all the different flavors. He comes home from work with those "On-the-Go" packs and can hardly wait to tell me the latest flavor that he's discovered. No joke. He appreciates the simple things like the "On-the-Go" packs for an "On-the-Go" guy like himself. I just recently discovered a stash of "On-the-Go" packs in his car. Seriously like 3-4 boxes of different flavors available at his disposal. He just mixes them up in a water bottle and he's a happy camper. Look, I'm happy he's drinking healthier,but I think it's a little "girly" that he carries those around. I've expressed my concerns about him carrying around his Crystal Light drinks everywhere he goes, but he says he is secure in his manhood and isn't at all worried about it. It's nice he's being health conscience, really, I think it's great, but my feelings are--let's keep it at the dinner table.

Tennis Lessons

It all started with the girls taking some free tennis lessons early this summer. They loved it so much I signed them up for some more. As I sat and watched I found myself thinking, that looks like fun. I consider myself fairly decent at ping pong and badminton, so tennis kinda seemed like the same thing, right? So I requested a racket for my birthday, then thought...who am I going to play with? So I went and got a racket for Josh. We quickly realized we had no idea what we were doing so Josh suggested I take some lessons. Well, I didn't want to go by myself, I mean, what happens if I get really good and he still doesn't know what he's doing. Hey, it could happen. So I convinced him that it would be a fun thing for us to do it together. So he agreed. He made sure I understood it was not because he was interested in tennis, but just to spend time with me. Whatever, as long as you come. Well, we had our first lesson on Monday and let's just say one of us is really, really good. So good that the instructor didn't believe it was their first lesson. Yes, Josh was awesome! So good that after class the instructor told him to move up 2 levels next week. I may not have been as impressive as Josh, but I had such a good time. We both did. Even though Josh has already left me in the dust, I'm glad we've found a common interest. And who knows, maybe someday I'll actually get to the point where I can beat him. Hey, it's possible....

Emma's baptism day

This past Saturday our little Emma Rose was baptized. It was a very special day. She got to share her day with 3 of her neighborhood friends. That made it extra special for her. Her Grandma Bradshaw also gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Which was wonderful. That morning we gave her some special gifts. We gave her her baptism towel. It's the same one that Katelyn used and that we will pass down to all of our kids. She also got her first set of scriptures. She was very excited. I also pulled out this special ribbon that Emma wore on her blessing day around her wrist. All of my girls have worn it. Then they wear it in their hair on their baptism day. Next to be worn around their garter on their wedding day. So it has a lot of special meaning for us. I'm so proud of Emma and her decision to be baptized. She is such a sweet little girl with such a sweet spirit and we love her very much.

Back to School

It's that time of year again. And this year it's bitter sweet. I'm sad to see our summer ending but am ready for fall and for the kids to get back into a routine. The kids have been so excited for school to start and so far are all happy with their teachers. Mason especially has been counting down to his first day of Kindergarten. He said before he left for school that "today is going to be the best day of my life!" Ahhhh. He literally had a perma-grin the whole day. It's also that time where we are gearing up for all their activities. The kids are trying some new things this year so we'll see how that goes. It's a good time of year, I'm always ready for the change.