Happy Birthday to Jordan!

It was Jordan's 9th birthday today and what a great day we had. We started off the festivities with cake and ice cream at the park. Here is our birthday crew.

This is how they opened gifts so it was pretty hard to see what was happening but as you can see I think they all had a fun time.

Then we went to the pool and let the boys run wild. They all had so much fun and were so well behaved at the pool. I thought it would be an absolute zoo but it all worked out perfectly. They all had fun and I didn't have to plan any games, clean up after anyone or referee anything. I would definitely do this again!

After the party was done it was time for birthday dinner. Jordan chose french bread sandwiches. They were nice, easy and delicious.

Then it was time for family gifts. He got 2 Ratchet and Clank PS2 games, a bumblebee transformer, some balsa wood planes, water rockets, a fun sprinkler, and a model car.

Ben took the kids out to play with the water rockets and we quickly had a crowd of neighborhood kids wanting to join in. They all had fun launching and catching the rockets.

It was finally time for cake and ice cream! Jordan asked to have a cookies and cream cheese cake so I took the easy was out and make the jello in the box variety but hey, he was happy. We also had cookies and cream ice cream. Abby played Happy Birthday on the piano for him.

It was such a great day. Happy Birthday Jordan, we love you!

AAAAHHHHH!!!

We have had black widows in the basement and garage since we moved in.  But they have left us alone so I have left them alone.  But this is what I found in the window well today and I couldn't just let it stay.  (I say I, but Ben is currently outside fighting the spider!)  I don't know if you can tell how big it is but it has at least a 3" leg span!

Happy Friday.

School's out for Summer!

The kids had their last day of school this week.  I am so excited to not have to get everybody up and ready!  Jordan's class was the only one to have an end of school program and I forgot my camera!!  They sang a few songs and did an end of school dance to a HSM song.  Jordan was front and center and did a great job!  All the kids had a great school year.  None of them wanted to leave school, in fact Megan said today, "I can't wait for winter when we're back in school."  

Abby was given the Superintendent's academic achievement award.  She got straight A's all year and also got another perfect attendance award!  She also did student council this year and enjoyed planning and helping with some of the school activities.  She is doing 4H for sewing and cooking this summer along with her soccer competitions.  We are so proud of her and are looking forward to seeing her excel in the things she does in the future!  

Jordan got an award for his national test score in social studies.  He is also excelling in Math.  He got A's in math all year!  He has passed off his times tables through the 8's.  I still get chills when I hear him read sometimes.  It has been amazing to watch him grow, learn and progress!  This summer he will be working on finishing up his wolf badge and start working towards getting his bear badge for scouts.  

Megan had a great year too.  In 1st grade they use number grades instead of letters.  She went from 1's in reading and writing to 4's.  Her biggest problem has been her shyness.  I think she just needed time to warm up to the teacher before she would talk to her!  She also enjoys math and flips through anatomy books for fun.  She loves to ask about how stuff like the heart and the lungs work.  She says she is going to be a nurse so she can come and work with me.  

I am so lucky to have such great kids.  I hope everyone has a great summer!

Some one needs to buy that kid some flip flops!

These are Jordan's legs right now! We have this thing about not letting them ride bikes or scooters with sandals or flip flops on and I don't let them wear them to school. I just want all of their toes to stay attached and I want them to be able to run and play at school without twisting an ankle! (I worry too much I know) But I bought him a new pair of sandals and will be buying flip flops next week.  Hopefully his feet won't see socks for 3 months!  

Happy Birthday Abby!

I forgot that I didn't post about Abby's birthday!  I had to work the actual night of her birthday so we opened presents before I went in.  She got a scooter, a watch, a soccer bag, some leggings, flip flops and more minutes for her cell phone.  

The next night we had cake and ice cream.  I sold out again and took her to the store to pick her favorite.  This is what she picked:  

Then Friday night she had a sleepover with 6 friends.  It was a little crazy but she had fun!  

Happy Birthday Abby! We love you!

MMMM . . . MMMM . . . . MMMM

I tried this syrup recipe over french toast for the breakfast after Abby's sleepover and it was SO good!  Not lowfat or healthy but very yummy!

We have had three days of birthday festivities for which I will post pics later today after I've had a nap.  

Camping

We ran up the canyon to go camping this past weekend. Here are all the kids:

The kids had fun climbing through the trees on the mountainside. 

Then as we were getting dinner together 5 deer wandered through the same spot the kids had been playing in! Here are a few shots of them peering down at us:  

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.  

Its so nice to have a fun camping place 5 mins from home!!

Yummy!

I don't get a whole lot of time to eat for the straight week that I work so I spend it thinking of yummy things to make to eat for the week I am home.  This week I made this:  

German chocolate cake . . . from scratch. It was kinda a lot of effort but worth it.  It was all beautiful and perfect in the oven until Abby came up and jumped in front of the oven and it collapsed! Still yummy though.

Real Salt Lake

We got to go to another Real Salt Lake soccer game! It was against the LA Galaxy but Beckham wasn't there! :( We had a lot of fun. The game was good, we were up 1 until the last 7 mins of the game and ended up tying 2 to 2.

The Mascot

A picture Megan took

The action

And Abby's favorite: Beckerman
(she asked for this pic to be blown up poster sized for her bedroom!)

Show & Tell

Megan got to bring Yogi to show and tell to her class today. She has been waiting well over a month for my weekend off to coincide with her show and tell day. She had fun showing off her cute dog!  (I must have my camera dates wrong because it really was today!)