Reading Olympics

Super proud of these two cuties.  In February they decided to participate in the reading Olympics at school.  It was a completely voluntary program and they both decided to go for the Gold.  Of course they could get the silver or the bronze but they decided to work super hard for the gold.  To receive the highest award they had to read a total of 700 minutes in just over a month, read several different genres of books, and to document all the books they read and their time.  They both did fabulous and went above and beyond the minimum requirements.  Only a handful of kids in the school received the

Gold award (Kadee and herself in her class and Connor and four others in his class) and both of them were super excited.  Today they received their Olympic gold reading award, bookmark, pencil, book of their choice, bowling pass, and root beer float party.  

 This past weekend we went out Cat Canyon for a weekend camping trip.  Derk, Debbie, and Zac came with us and we had lots of visitors for the day on Saturday.  It was such a perfect weekend for camping, the weather was fabulous and we found a perfect spot for our trailers.  We were able to ride four wheelers, have a fire, and enjoy each others company.  We also got a visit from the Easter bunny (can you believe he found us all the way out there?!)  The kids were so excited for their baskets of goodies and Matty and Kinlee had a blast flying their kites. 

 We loved relaxing and playing in the dirt.  There was a hill right next to the trailers that the plastic eggs were hidden on.  The kids loved looking for the eggs and really enjoyed opening them and eating the candy inside. :)

I seriously love our Bella dog so much.  She is so great with the kids and loves to cuddle.  She had so much fun playing fetch with Connor and Zac, As long as one of the boys had a bat in their hand she never stopped running.  Her and Matty were so exhausted from running and playing that they both sat in the dirt next to each other and watched everyone else play for awhile.

 One of my favorite parts of the trip was when Kinlee got mad at us and decided she was going to run away.  The only problem with this is Bella never lets the kids get too far on her watch.  Kinlee started walking down the hill and not long after Bella and Matty started following her.  She kept telling them to go away and head back to camp.  Neither of them would listen so she sat in the dirt to pout.  Both Bella and Matty sat right next to her, one on either side.  Finally she stood up and said, "Fine, if you won't leave me alone I won't run away!"  She headed back to camp with Bella and Matty close on her heels.

Blessings

I've been following a heart breaking story on Facebook.  It's about a 3 year old little girl from Price, who was diagnosed with a 100% fatal brain tumor.  I've followed her story for the past year and was devastated to read last night that she is in the final stage of her short life.  This story has really hit home for me.  I think it's because Kinlee is 3 years old and I can't imagine my life without her.  I am so blessed and looked after by the Lord.  I don't know what I did in the preexistence to experience this wonderful life, but I am truly grateful every day for my healthy family.

The kids have been busy, so that means I've been busy.  Kadence started off the month with her State Gymnastics meet.  It was in Fillmore so we decided to make it a girls weekend and Sandy Rauhala, Shalyce, and Kelli rode with us.  We stayed at a hotel and the girls swam for 4 hours straight!  They were so tired!  The next morning we were up early to grab breakfast and get ready for the meet.  We arrived and the meet and Kadee did great!  She took 1st on the Trampoline, 3rd on Double Mini, and 4th on her floor routine. She made the local paper along with the other competitors from her tumbling group.

That same weekend Connor had a baseball tournament in St. George.  Since Rory had to work and I was taking Kadee, grandma Debbie and Grandma Rhea took Connor and Zac for the weekend.  They had so much fun.  Connor's team won their first 2 games and lost the last 2 so they didn't go far in the tournament but they are a great bunch of kids with tons of heart.  They even made the local paper!
 

 Kinlee got to go on a field trip with her preschool to the Dinosaur Museum.  She was so relieved
to find out they were just bones and not actual dinosaurs!  She also told me that she learned that dinosaurs are extinct because the aliens came down and got them all.

Matthew was extremely sick last week.  He had the stomach flu and was completely miserable for about 4 days.  It was brutal.  Poor kid even had blisters on his bum from pooping so much (TMI, I know).  He is feeling much better and is back to his busy self.

Grandma Archie has been in the nursing home the last little bit trying to recover from a procedure she had to have kidney stones removed.  We've tried to go see her several times a week and this week I snapped a quick picture.  Love that lady!

Favorites

There are so many things I love about the ages of my kids.  They are all in such different places, but it is so fun to watch them learn and grow.

Connor is excelling in sports and at school.  He is so passionate about the things he enjoys and works hard in school.  I love that I can joke with him and have meaningful conversations with him, I think this is my favorite age so far.  This past week Connor had his Spring Music Concert and really enjoyed himself.  Below is a picture of him and his class performing their song.     

Kadee is my sweet girl that wants to try everything.  She plays piano, does gymnastics, and will be starting softball next week.  She is an extremely loyal friend, a huge worrier, and wears her heart on her sleeve.  I love the little conversations we get to have and I love how much she loves to read and excel in school.  

Kinlee has the BEST imagination.  She is always playing make believe and for being the 3rd child, plays great by herself.  I love listening to her use her imagination.  She always pretends to be someone different, and constantly calls me Sarah instead of Mom because she is pretending to be someone else.  My very favorite is when she pretends to be Dr Feller (our dentist) and proceeds to give imaginary shots and check our teeth.   

Matthew is a busy little bee.  He is so funny.  He is full of energy, but loves to watch "toons" with his brother and sisters.  He is starting to talk like crazy and my favorite things he says right now are "canon ball!" and "scuse me mom."  I never realized what a blessing in disguise this little guy has been.  

Happy 32nd Birthday Rory!

Last Tuesday we celebrated Rory's 32nd Birthday!  I can't believe it!  It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating his 22nd birthday together, and now 10 years and 4 kids later here we are!  It was a pretty low key day.  I made him a pineapple upside down cake and the kids and I bought him a few presents and that was it.  I guess as we get older birthdays aren't as big of a deal.

Saturday we walked in the Southeastern Utah Health Departments Don't Be a Butthead Fun Run.  It is a tobacco awareness run and this is the second year we have participated.  It was a great turnout and the kids loved it.  Kinlee came home and pretended to be running in a 5k all day.

After the run Kinlee got to dance with her class at a benefit concert at the Price Civic Auditorium.  I was worried she wouldn't dance when she got on stage, but she did great!  She did the whole dance and loved every minute of it.  I was such a proud mama and am crossing my fingers that I'll end up with at least one daughter who dances.

Kadee participated in Reflections again this year.  It was months ago, but the PTA (namely me) has been having a hard time getting an assembly scheduled.  We finally just handed out the trophies and took pictures for the yearbook because we ran out of time.  Kadee took 3rd at the school but didn't place at Regions this year.  I think she did a great job and am so proud of her!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had such a fun weekend!  Saturday morning we all froze our fanny's off and walked in the St. Patrick's Day parade.  It was so windy and cold!  After the parade Rory and I went to the Surprise for Jace.  He's a little boy with a really rare disorder that makes him age extremely fast.  He's 17 but has the body of a 90 year old.  His dream has always been to become a cop, so he was made an honorary deputy.  There were deputies from all over the state there to support him and it was a very special day for him.  After that Rory and I went to the  Home and Garden Show to sit at the Jeff Wood for Sheriff booth and the kids went to play with friends and cousins.  Sunday we went to Debbie's for our annual St. Patrick's Day dinner, everything was green and delicious!  Then today I went to the school and Jamie Cripps and I put on a scavenger hunt for the 3rd grade. We had them go all over the playground and end up in the gym where we had popcorn, green water and a leprechaun waiting to read them a story.  The leprechaun just happened to be one of my very favorite people, Uncle Roger Branch.  The kids loved the story and he was so great to teach them everything he knew about the legend of St. Patrick's Day.

  

School Projects

The kids have been super busy in school preparing for core testing.  They have learned so much this year and I am so so so grateful that they have the opportunity to get a good education.  Kadee participated in Reflections again this year.  She took 3rd place at Wellington but didn't place at state.  She has learned so much this year and has brought home some awesome projects.  Some of my favorites have been the life cycle of a plant and one about frogs.   Connor has been super busy in school also.  He has learned so much typing and has started writing 5 paragraph essays.  He just brought home a paper he wrote about Bengal Tigers and I was so impressed.  They are both participating in the reading Olympics and are hoping to get Gold (they have to read books from several categories and 700 minutes in just over a month). To kick it off Rory took the kids to Dads and Doughnuts at the school one morning.  I've always taken them to Mom's and Muffins, an early morning day where you have a treat and read with your kids, but Rory has never been able to take them before so they were super excited to go with him. Kinlee has learned so much this year and loves her teachers and Matty has started Early Intervention for his speech and has already made tons of progress.  Like I said, we are so blessed to be able to go to school and get an education.

Kadee's drawing of Abe Lincoln

Kadee's Frog Diagram

Connor's One Gallon Man

So proud- Matty at Grandma's with a spatula and bottle hat

C

Kinlee's Seat Pal is not doing it's job!

Rory and the kids before Dad's & Donuts

Kinlee showing off her Valentine bag she made at school

Princess Tea

One of our New Year Resolutions was to take each kid on a date each month.  So in January we took Connor out for ice cream, in February we took Kadee and her best friend to the movie (it was for her birthday too), and in March I took Kinlee to the Princess Tea at the high school with Brittnee and Kaydree.  It was last Tuesday and the girls were so excited!  It's all Kinlee could talk about and she wasn't disappointed.  The lines were long and slow moving, but Kinlee and Kaydree really enjoyed themselves.  They got to meet several Princesses and get their autographs, had their faces painted, got Princess tattoos, were sprinkled with Pixie dust from Tinker Bell, and had cupcakes and pink lemonade.  It was a great night and Kinlee said for her next date she wants to go to the Junior High, lol!