30 Days Hath September...

...and I didn't blog on a single one of them. But it's a new month, and the blogging vacation is officially over.

Here's the run-down on what we've been up to the last month or so:

Dallin started 2nd grade. If you ask him how he likes school, he'll probably shrug and then tell you, "It's too easy."

Gracie started Kindergarten. I didn't cry when I dropped her off the first day...or the next day...or the next. You get the picture. But I reserve the right to cry and have a pity party a year from now when my "baby" leaves me all day for 1st grade.

Here she is with her BFF, Sophie.

Gracie turned and looked at me as her class was going inside on the first day. That's more than Dallin did on his first day of K, so I guess she might like me after all. But then again, when I go to pick her up after school, she begs to stay with Mrs. W. just a little bit longer. She's completely in love with her teacher and even says that Mrs. W. looks just like Snow White. If you ask me, Mrs. W. must be a little bit magical to have not just 7, but 27 little dwarfs hanging on her every word. She's amazing!

In other news, Dallin just finished his first season of flag football.

And Gracie hit the soccer field again. She had been on an 18-month hiatus after she realized that she could get the same snacks at home - and without all that running around. Her final game was rained out, so now we can cross soccer off our list - at least until next Spring.

Gracie also hung up her leotard and ballet shoes this Fall in exchange for group singing classes. We found a lady who is teaching lessons in her basement. She has a cute stage down there complete with lighting and musical instruments. Gracie is in her element there for sure. Her big dream is to be on American Idol one day - that or a High School Musical movie. She really wanted to do dance, AND singing, AND soccer, AND tumbling, AND a cheer clinic. But I was a mean mom and made her choose what she wanted to do most.

As for me, I was released as the ward Relief Society President. I've been in the RS presidency since Gracie was a baby. She'll be 6 in just a couple weeks, and she can't remember life any other way. She literally jumped up and down and did the happy dance when I told her I was getting released. "YAY, no more food orders!" she cheered. While it's been nice to have the weight lifted off my shoulders, it's also been harder than I thought it would be to sit back and let it all go. I still lay awake at night worrying about the sisters I've grown to love so much.

Adam has been spending every spare moment on his mountain bike trying to get in as many "final" rides as he can before the snow flies - which could be any day now considering where we live. His mountain bike had a near-death experience when it flew off the back of his bike rack on I-15 a couple of weeks ago. Luckily the airborne bike didn't kill or maim anyone, and Adam wasn't hit by a semi while darting onto the freeway waving his arms trying to rescue his "baby." He claimed he was swearing off mountain biking for good after that little mishap, but he didn't fool me. The bike was in critical condition for a few days, but after some TLC and a big chunk of change, it's back in working order. Adam was out enjoying the "maiden voyage" on his new and improved bike less than a week after the accident.

I'm glad he's happy, but do you know what would make me happy? Packing up the bike, the helmet, and the smokin' hot spandex pants for the winter. I'm really looking forward to reclaiming my husband, my evenings, and my weekends for a while...well for a few days at least. You know - until the Jazz season starts again. LOL! A girl can dream, right?

Catching Up - May

Here are some of the highlights from our past month:


A DAY AT THE ZOO

I told the kids there was NO way the white alligator was still going to be there. I guess I lied.


Excuse me, but you're in my personal space.


Hanging out with the cousins.




The cutest little critter we saw all day.




DALLIN'S FIELD TRIP - RIDING THE TRAIN

I volunteer at the school, so I thought I knew who the "rowdy" kids were. It turns out that even the calmest children get a little wild when they go on a field trip.

Mrs. Bell's class.


Dallin with the conductor.


"Hey look, we're wearing the same shirt!"




GRACIE'S DANCE RECITAL

Gracie was so excited to be "Tiger Lily" in the Peter Pan show. She had a really bad sunburn, but she still danced like a star. She really knew her dance this year. She let me know that she was NOT happy that I didn't bring her any flowers this year. (Do you think she's a little spoiled?) Grandma and Grandpa 'Drickson came to watch her perform. After the show, we all went out for ice cream on Main Street in Park City.

Here's Gracie and Sophie at the dress rehearsal.




PRESCHOOL GRADUATION

I can't believe it...my baby's going to Kindergarten.


"When I grow up, I want to be an artist."





PAINTING DAY WITH LUKE & LIZ

We went to visit Luke and Liz to help them paint their kitchen/great room area. (Adam will work for meat.) I have a feeling Luke will never live down the green wall of shame. LOL! I thought it looked good after the 2nd coat - and Liz didn't even cry.

The kids had fun spending time with Halle & Caden.





MEMORIAL DAY BBQ

We went to a BBQ at Foed and Kelly's. I'm pretty sure I heard the meat mooing at the dinner table. Dallin finished every last bite. Gracie may have converted to vegetarianism. Fortunately no one got mad cow disease...at least not that we know of. LOL!

After dinner we walked over to a little farm to see the kangaroo, emus, turkeys, goats, etc. Gracie fell in love with Lilly. I'm not sure the feelings were mutual.



Can you spot the a** in the picture? He He! This just might be my all-time favorite picture. OK, not really, but it does make me laugh every time I see it.




WHEW! That's it for now....

The Circus is in Town!

This is what our family bike ride looked like on Saturday.

Adam thought it was a good-looking rig. I told him it reminded me of a circus act.

When we started out on the bike ride, I was a good 100 yards behind the "rig" - partly because I was laughing so hard that I could barely pedal, and partly because I didn't want to be seen with the "rig." LOL! I know Adam doesn't mind, but personally I really don't enjoy calling attention to myself. And let's be honest, a "rig" like this isn't exactly subtle. I mean how could you NOT notice something like this cruising down the street?

I'm afraid our poor neighbors had no idea that they were moving in next to the 3-ring circus. I'm sure all the responsible adults just cringed when they saw us ride by. Some of them probably even started making plans to put their homes up for sale. Ha Ha!

But by Monday evening every kid in the neighborhood was waiting in line and begging for a turn on the circus bike. Another dad on the street even helped Adam attach a 2nd trailer to the rig so that it could accomodate a couple more passengers.

They went round and round, over jumps, through fields, and even through the sprinklers. The kids were raising their hands and screaming like they were riding a roller coaster.

Who needs Disneyland when Adam's around?

Food Critic

The kids love to play restaurant. I think the object of the game is to get the other person laughing as hard as possible. This is how it usually goes:

The "customer" sits at the kitchen table and places an order for some outrageous food.

The "servant" (aka waiter or waitress) rounds up some random household item and delivers it on a plate to the customer.

The customer pretends to eat the food.

They both giggle...and laugh...and laugh...and laugh...

Then the game starts over and the silliness escalates.


But last night the restaurant game took a new turn. Gracie, the "servant" decided to make and serve real chocolate milk. Dallin took a big gulp and called out, "I'll rate this a 9.6!" Next he wanted me to cut up some strawberries for a snack, which also earned a 9.6 rating. He announced that Gracie and I will be having a "cook-off" tomorrow to break the tie.

He had me laughing pretty hard, but I'm thinking it won't be so funny at the dinner table. I can just imagine him saying, "I'll rate this meal a 2.3!"

She Cracks Me Up!

This is Rose.

This was Rose a couple of weeks ago.


Gracie had her in a wooden box. She frequently puts toys in purses, buckets, bowls, baskets, etc. so I really wasn't alarmed...until this conversation...


Gracie: "Mom, look at Rose."

Me: "Oh that's cute honey." (I was a little distracted at the moment.)

Gracie: "You better get cooking - LOTS of food!"

Me: "Why's that?"

Gracie: "Because Rose died, and we're having a funeral!"


Um. OK! (I seriously laughed so hard.) There's probably another child out there somewhere who loves playing "funeral" with his or her stuffed animals. That child's parent is probably a mortician or something. Ha Ha Ha!

Can you tell that she has been a front row spectator at Relief Society events for most of her life?

Goodbye Spring Break - Hello Spring

It's back to school today after a week of Spring Break. It was cold and snowy all week last week, so it didn't really feel like much of a Spring Break. But wouldn't you know it - it's nice and sunny today, now that the kids are back in school. Go figure! Ha Ha!

We had a sleepover at Grandma's house last week. The kids got to visit Grandma and Grandpa and play with cousin Kylee. I got to escape the ringing phone and housework, which was nice. And I even read a novel while I was there. Ahhhh!

We had talked about going to the zoo over Spring Break, but the weather wasn't really cooperating. So, I took the kids to do a couple of indoor activities instead. We went to Kangaroo Zoo - a place with inflatable slides, trampolines, and bounce houses. The kids had a blast slipping, sliding, jumping, and acting like wild animals.







At one point I was worried when I couldn't see Gracie anywhere. Dallin finally found her inside the inflatable castle. She was lying on the middle divider between two slides "taking a rest." Crazy girl!



We spent about 5 hours there, but the kids still weren't ready to leave. I bought a 10-punch card, so we'll probably go again soon.

We also managed a trip to the indoor pool. Adam joined us for that one and took us to dinner afterwards.



Snow and sickness aside, it was still nice to take a break from our normal routine for a few days.

Rockin' and Rollin'

The kids went yesterday to record a couple of songs in a recording studio for their Grandma 'Gumry. She's a Kindergarten teacher and she's written songs for each of the letters and sounds in the alphabet. She called Sunday and asked the kids to come and sing the "nnnnn" song and the "ch-ch-ch-choo" song for her. They are both big American Idol fans, so they were so excited to go record some songs - like Carrie Underwood. LOL!

Then on Monday, Gracie got sick. She's been sniffling and coughing like crazy. I gave her some cough medicine before we left yesterday. Then on the way down the canyon she was getting cranky with Dallin. She told him she needed some "peace and quiet" for a minute. (And I thought I was the only one who ever felt that way. He He!) It turned out she was saying a prayer that her cough would go away and that she would be able to sing her best. Awwww.

The poor thing was trying so hard, but she just couldn't control that pesky hacking cough. She squeaked out one verse of the "nnnnn" song, but she sounded miserable. Hopefully the music man can work his magic and get a decent song out of what he had to work with. I took Gracie out of the room while Dallin and Grandma recorded the other song. Dallin came out of there on cloud nine. He said it "felt so good to do 2 songs in a row!" He also commented that he realized that he is actually a pretty good singer. Ha Ha. Gotta love it!

I left my camera in the car, but luckily grandma took a couple pics for us. (I didn't have time to scrap them yet, but Dani's pop rock tag album was perfect for now.)





We had a nice Conference weekend. The kids were relatively well-behaved and I actually heard a lot more of the talks than I normally get to. I loved so many, but if I had to pick my favorite, it would have to be Elder Ballard's talk on mothers. I can't wait to get that one in print!

Sickness and snow aside, we've been enjoying our Spring Break so far. It's been so nice to not have to run a million directions every day! We have plans to do some fun things the rest of the week. I guess I'd better get moving and making some more memories with the kids.