Cooper's 3 Year Old Preschool Graduation

Watching my kids learn, grow and watch their personalities develop is one of my favorite parts of being a mom! Cooper is so different than all my other kids, and he has the best mind and heart. I am so anxious to watch him learn and grow!

Cooper finished up his first year at preschool with Ms. Carma! We love Ms. Carma, and she has been so good for Cooper. He LOVED going to preschool. He went twice a week. He got lucky and his class was made up entirely of 3 year old boys. There were 9 other boys in the class. Cooper got to leave our girl filled house and go do and play with things little boys play with.

THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THIS YEAR:

-Cooper left my van, and he went straight to the flowers in Ms. Carma's yard. He couldn't go inside without smelling them.
-Toward the end of the school year, he would pick a dandelion from her yard, hold it behind his back, and then surprise her with it at the door!
-Most days, when he left the van, he would take off running. He would stop half up the sidewalk, turn around, and throw me a kiss.
-There was a boy in his preschool class that always brought an extra backpack of things. Cooper volunteered to take the bag upstairs and out to his car every day. Most times, this meant coming up the stairs last, but Cooper just wanted to help Ms. Carma out.
-Cooper remembers most of the letters of the alphabet, how to write them, and what sounds some make.
-Coop knows all his colors, shapes, and knows how to mostly write his name.
-Cooper is quite intense, when it comes to learning. He compartmentalizes his life, and when it's time to learn, he easily focuses.
-He LOVES songs. He totally thrived off the songs they sang during circle time, and he still sings them around the house.

Cooper's graduation was a week before school got out. Macey, Jemma, Quinn and I went to cheer him on! He did so well--was so focused on all the songs--couldn't have been more proud!

Family Temple Day!

A few months ago, I was thinking about a stack of papers my grandma had left in her family history things. I have had this stack of papers for years. They ended up together, because I could not figure out where they fit into my family tree. I was driving down the road, and I realized with the new family search website, there was a search menu.

I hurried home, pulled down those papers, and I went to the computer. I immediately found out how those family members fit into my family tree, and I discovered about 120 people that needed temple work done. I worked until about 1:30 in the morning. I just couldn't stop!

Scott and I are slowly working through those family members' temple work. We have so much work to do, that we decided to up our "temple work game".

A few weeks ago, decided to do initiatories and bring the kids with us to the temple. While Scott went in and did intitatories, I took the kids to Wal-Mart to buy doughnuts for a treat. We came back to the temple, and Scott and I switched off. I went in and did work, and Scott brought the kids to the Manti Temple park--across the street from the temple. They ate doughnuts and took pictures!

May Random!

I sure love this boy!

Some days are long and hard for this momma. When those days are long and hard, Dad comes home and rescues her! This day, he loaded all the kids in the car, and we headed up Monrovian Canyon. It was beautiful up there, and the kids love the hills and windy roads!

Jemma gets woken up before she is ready about every morning. She crawls in to bed to snuggle. When Scott doesn't have work to worry about, they get to sleep in together!

Cute, Jemma Caroline!

The last book order of the year. The kids all sat and looked through all the pages!

These worksheets have been my favorite of the school year! Macey brought home this picture. I was told this was Macey saying "YAY!" (And "yay" begins with the letter "y".)

Poor Quinn. We got these stickers from the Wal-Mart greeter, and one of the kids pulled this sticker on and off so many times that it didn't stick any more. Quinn got restless, so I started a game with him. I would ball up this sticker, stick it down his shirt and he would giggle and pull it out again. I TOTALLY forgot we were playing the game until after we got home, ate dinner, and then started to dress him in some pajamas. That's when we found the sticker--stuck to his tummy--poor kid!

Our garden is planted!! We had so much help this year on our yard. We tilled, watered, put down some nutrimulch, tilled again, picked up lots of rocks, used our neighbor's higher powered tiller, picked up more rocks and then dug rows. Seeds are planted, and they have already started to come up! It warms my gardening heart! Last year, we weren't able to have a garden with the move, so I was grateful for some dirt to work in this year.

We have SUCH a rocky yard! I have picked up 2 wheelbarrow loads of just rocks from our garden area. I am sure we will pick up more in years to come!

Quinn's buddy of choice!

...but sometimes he likes his mom, too!

Our flower child!

Cooper painted this Sunflower for me at preschool. He also planted a flower seed and they watched it grow. He brought it home--SO excited! I asked him if we should plant it in our yard. He said, "Nope. It's got to pop out some petals first." Haha--okay, Coop!

Jemma is my shadow. She follows me around all day asking me questions and wanting to play. It's a rare occasion that I get to use the bathroom by myself. One day, while making dinner, she was constantly right under my feet. I had had enough and needed my space. I told her that I needed some space and asked her to play somewhere else. Her solution? Bring a chair into the kitchen and sit on it.

We have been able to go up to Moroni quite a bit this month, and Jemma hasn't minded one bit! She knows her cousin Spencer is there, and they are best buds! Uncle Dave was really nice to bring them both on the big tractor and give them a ride!

This is Macey's preferred selfie pose, these days. If she finds your phone, chances are you'll find a couple of these pictures on it, when you get it back!

Sundays have been the hardest on Jemma. We have 11:00-2:00 church. She doesn't fine during church, but as soon as we get home, she has an emotional meltdown. (Jemma still needs her nap time!) We usually try to keep her awake, so she will sleep at night. On this particular Sunday, she stripped off all her clothes, refused to put any back on, and then collapsed in the chair, asleep!

More T-ball pictures!

It was a cold, windy day for T-ball, so all the kids snuggled with mom, the blanket, and some popcorn!

Quinn. I have been treasuring my time with him not being a big walker/adventure seeker. Well, those times are changing! This last week, I went to use the bathroom, was gone 3 minutes, and came back to find Quinn gone. I noticed the back door was open, as Quinn did (thanks to older brother and sisters), he crawled down the stairs, and he was sitting at the edge of the grass with a ball when I found him. Oh boy!

Corn on the Cob!! This is probably the kids' favorite summer food (besides watermelon!). They all helped shuck the corn in the car port!

Quinn LOVES basketball! Whenever he hears one bounce, his whole world stops while he looks for that ball! He grabs it for a while, and then he searches for an adult that can help him put it in the basket. Too cute!

Macey Plays T-ball!

Macey had her dance recital on a Saturday evening, and T-ball started on Monday! She had her first game that evening, and it has been so fun to go watch and cheer her on. This is the first sport that Macey has tried, and she has loved every minute. We have progressed from playing in the dirt the first week--to watching her run for every ball!