Carter graduates from preschool

We have a preschool graduate!! My baby graduated from preschool today. It was pretty cool. He has been going to a preschool at Spalding Elementary where his older brother and sister both went to elementary school. It's been a really good program for him and definitely helped him with his speech delay. We've had some really great teachers. Miss Rainee, who missed the graduation today because she had a baby yesterday. Miss Amie, who is from the YMCA, Mr. Gene and Miss Wendy. We've been at the school for almost three years, so we've gotten pretty close to all of them and the kids in the class. The kids are all heading to different schools, and even if they go to Spalding with Carter, they won't be on the same track as he is (Spalding is year round). So here are some pictures to commemorate the big day.

 He insisted on a mohawk. It's been a common hairstyle for him the last few weeks. Thankfully it falls down pretty quick!

 

 

 

Spencer P. and his mom Jenae. We've been good friends since the boys started school about the same time and have been in the same class for all three years.

This is Amanda. She's in our ward. Just had to add this because she checks the blog (her links on the side). Her daughter Becca has been in Carter's class before. Sorry Amanda, I'm putting it on, you can get me later.

 

 

Playing catch with his friend Ryan before we got started.

 

 

 

Carter getting his award and little diploma from Miss Wendy.

I had to show both pictures. He was pouting in the first one because he wanted to go play at the playground after he got his diploma, but we made him take pictures and wait til everyone was done. The second one is his forced smile. He gets it from his Grandpa Pete and his dad. We call it their military smile.

Chris' mom Polly was able to come.

Chris was able to make it from work for a couple of hours and I got to steal the camera so I wasn't in any shots. Yeah.

Here is the group of boys that Carter hangs out with. Going around the spinny thing starting with the boy in the black. Zach, Kevin, Ryan, Jason G., Jordan and Carter. About the only ones missing are Gavin and Jason R.

Carter and Mr. Gene. He's a cool guy. Goes out with the boys and plays soccer and football. It kind of takes you aback when you realize that there is a man in the preschool, but he's been so awesome with the boys. Definitely going to miss Mr. Gene.

Carter with Miss Wendy. She's been a constant with Carter at the preschool. We are excited because her mares have had two babies in the last week and we are going to get to go to her ranch in Melba and check out them and her husband's plane. Yeah!!

what was I thinking

So yes, I promised some pictures from our Memorial weekend in McCall, but I messed up. When I posted the day we left, I had put the card from the camera in the computer to download the picture of Kennedy's pot that she made. Guess what I forgot to do?? Take the card out of the computer and put it back in the camera. We were down at the lake and Chris went to the Expedition to get the camera and lo and behold, no card in the camera. He did have a smaller card in the bag, but it doesn't hold many pictures, so there aren't alot. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy with me.

The weather wasn't too bad. It rained off and on, but not for long periods of time. My in-laws belong to a church that runs a camp in McCall called Pilgrim's Cove. They were up there with us, and it was the weekend that they do clean-up from the winter, so we went down there for awhile so the kids and Nick the pug could run around.

Here is a picture of the main lodge at the camp. There are a bunch of smaller cabins around and since it is by the lake, there is a boathouse. The other cabins, not so nice. If you've ever been to the girl's camp up Darby Canyon you know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm assuming they are still filled with spring beds and stuff, since I haven't been up there since I was probably 14 or 15.

Here are just a few pictures from the banks of Payette Lake in McCall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a few of Carter riding his scooter and throwing a Frisbee one of the times it wasn't raining.

And this is a picture of Chris. When we leave town, he always lets his facial hair grow. He's in the National Guard, so he is usually clean shaven all the time. I think it's his way of rebelling against the man.

And just to share, Carter's last day of preschool was today. He is convinced that he will be starting Kindergarten any day now. The concept of a summer vacation has completely gone over his head. It's so cute :)

Indiana Jones and I wish I was crafty

Who doesn't love Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones?!? Who just plain doesn't love Harrison Ford?? It's a running joke at our house that the only man I would ever leave my husband for is Harrison Ford (who cares about the 30 year age difference). We pulled the bad parent routine last night at took our kids to the 8:45 PM showing of the new Indiana Jones movie. ALL of our kids, including Carter (that's our 5-year-old). Can I just say that we all loved the movie, but here's a warning, if you expect everything to be completely believable, you will be disappointed. It was a typical Indie movie, lots of action, crazy stunts and bad guys. Kennedy hid her head through parts and Carter succumbed to sleep about half way though (once the candy was gone anyway). Definitely a buyer in our opinion.

Kennedy came home from Activity Day's at Jennifer P's house with this cute flower pot that they had modgepodged paper onto and planted sunflower seeds in. We are all pretty sad that Jennifer was released at Kennedy's primary teacher and activity day leader. But, on to bigger and better things she goes, if you can call teaching the 12-13 year olds Sunday School class bigger and better. Good luck with that. Should I admit that my biggest fear is being called to teach Sunday School for any age group?? That could be because I didn't go to my own Sunday School class when I was young, or pay much attention in Seminary. Wish I could change that now when my kids ask questions I don't know the answer to.

Back to the crafty stuff. I wish I could come up with crafty things for my kids to do. My sister Jenny scrapbooks, she does some pretty cool stuff with it. I just can't seem to come up with the ideas. And, I just can't seem to come up with the time (yet I can sit here and blog for an hour). Anyhow, as I am complaining about not being crafty and having time to be crafty, this is what Carter is doing ...

WATCHING THE BACKYARDIGANS AND OTHER CARTOONS!!! It's 10:30 am and he's still in his pajamas (he did get breakfast though). And so am I. I threw on a jacket to take Kennedy to school this morning.

Well, I'm off to pack for a short little trip out of the big city of Boise. Off to the cold and rainy town of McCall. Maybe I'll post some landscape pictures this time instead of just the kids swimming.

Field trip

Carter's preschool class at Spalding went on a field trip to Conyan Aviation on Wednesday morning. Miss Wendy's husband Howard is a pilot and flies jets and prop planes for them. We learned that you can rent a private jet from them for $2500 an hour. I think we'll be heading out for an extended vacation anytime now. It was fun for the kids. They got to get in the private jet, walk through the hangars and see people working on other airplanes.

 

   Carter definitely had a great time. We are counting down days til the end of school. Carter only has two more weeks, Ryan has about 2 1/2 weeks, but poor Kennedy will be going until the end of June :(

Mother's Day Weekend

We decided at the last minute on Friday to go to McCall for a couple of nights. My in-laws have a place near the public golf course, there is a fitness club in the area with an indoor pool and hot tub. During the summer there are outdoor pools and tennis courts to play on. I had decided that I needed to get out of Dodge for a couple of days, so this was the solution. I packed the clothes and food Friday afternoon and as soon as Chris got home from work we were on our way (into major traffic because of all the road work going on, which completely reinforced my need to escape). The kids, of course had a great time, they went swimming twice and we got to hang out and watch the three Indiana Jones movies, which is great preparation for the new one coming out. What kind of parents are we? Our kids had never seen Indiana Jones before this weekend. Sunday morning after breakfast we loaded up, cleaned a bit and headed home for church, which starts at 3 PM right now. We also had dinner with Chris' mom, dad and grandma after church. Happy Mother's Day everyone.

We play cards. Go Fish is a favorite!!

 

We go swimming and for walks!!

We go swimming again!! 

And Carter builds forts in the living room!!

And we have a dog that we take along on all our mini-vacations. I don't think that I've every posted a picture of Nick the pug. We've had him for almost 7 years. We joke that we are just waiting for him to die, but we'd all be pretty upset if something happened to him (at least we think we would :)).

Cinco de Mayo

We have friends that hold a Cinco de Mayo party every year when the weather is good. This year it was a toss-up as to whether or not it was going to happen. The Stacks have turned into really good friends of ours. They have a son, Skyler, that is a year younger than Ryan, and a daughter Samantha, that is about Kennedy's age. We've known the Stacks since before Carter was born and became pretty good friends about the time that I had Carter and they got Samantha from Haiti. LeeAnn loves babies, and I am more than willing to let her love mine. Anyway, we always have a great time. It was no different this year. Lots of good food and Tim always makes the best churros that he gets the kit from a Hispanic food store downtown. We always meet new people and this year it was no different.

So we have Ryan, then Tim cooking churros, Carter pouting (there weren't any kids his age to play with), Emmy, Kennedy and Samantha, Kennedy and Samantha by the stream, the girls posing, Kennedy in the stream, the party, and the food.

Baby update

Sorry, no update on Kaleb and Jen's baby til now. We spent the weekend in McCall being bums for Mother's Day. They finally named her on Friday and got to take her home. Her name is Lilian, no middle name, and they are going to call her Lily. She is healthy and both her and Jen are doing great. Here are a couple of pics.

New baby

No, not me, are you crazy. I just got a call from Kaleb in Logan. He and Jen had a baby girl just a bit ago. She weighed in at 5 lbs. 13 oz. and was about 18 inches long. No news on a name yet as this was a surprise, she wasn't supposed to be here for another 5 weeks. Jen's due date was June 9th. Her water broke earlier today and my mom called on her way to Logan with my dad. Kaleb says that both Jen and the baby are doing great and will give another update tomorrow. So, congratulations Kaleb and Jen. You guys will be great parents. I'm so proud of Jen (and you too Kaleb)!!

Apostle song

My friend Tresa told us about this Youtube video about the apostles. Her son's seminary teacher showed them it at school. It's pretty cool, I think anyway.

soccer, sometimes it never ends

We had three games this weekend. Kennedy played a double-header, which is frustrating because they only have seven girls on their team and are supposed to be playing 8 on 8. We always have to borrow players from the other teams. My biggest gripe, this is a recreation league, not competitive, and they can't give us enough girls for a full team (we have been playing against teams with 10-16 girls on their teams). So, I'm not real happy with Idaho Rush right now (there I mentioned their names, maybe they will see this and get it in gear). We are definitely switching soccer leagues next year. How it works here is that there are a lot of soccer groups that run programs at all levels. Within each soccer group, there is Rec, Select, and Premiere. So, basically you decide with group you want to play with depending on where you live and then you have to decide which level to have your kids play in. Kennedy hasn't been into the competitiveness of the whole thing until now, so in the fall she'll try out for a harder team. Carter is playing 3 on 3, with no goalies, so it's a free-for-all, which is just fine for him. He just wants to kick the ball. Anyway, here's some pictures from this weekend.

Grandma Ruth

Chris' grandmother, Ruth Hemingway turned 90 on April 11th. They don't have a lot of family around Boise, just Chris and I, the kids and his parents. Ruth grew up back east, they have lived in Vermont, as well as Indiana and Michigan. So, Polly, my mother-in-law decided to have a big blow-out and have a family barbeque on April 11th and then an open house on the 12th. She invited all the family that we've met over the years, and a lot that we've never met. Ruth only has one sisters left (Aunt Ida), who is a real character. If she doesn't like your point of view she pretends she can't hear you. It's interesting. Well, normally Chris is hear to entertain her, they argue like crazy. Guess what, not for this party (it was held while he was in Europe). So, there's nothing like helping to entertain many out of town family members, that you've either never met, or only met a couple of times. I just thought I would share some pictures.

This is Chris' cousin Valeria from Dallas, Texas with Ruth's sister Ida from Florida. Valeria is Polly's (my mother-in-law) only sister, Shirley's daughter.

This pictures of Carter and his cousin Valeria (it's a name that is common in the family, in fact there were 4 women with that name in town for the party). She is Ida's daughter Valeria's daughter. We all call her Ya-Ya.

This is my sister-in-law Kathy (she is married to Chris' brother Greg) and his cousin Andreas. He is Shirley's son. He and his sister were born in Greece and have a very long last name, which I can never remember.

From the left, Ida's daughter Valeria, Ruth, the birthday girl, a family friend from Indiana (I want to say Amy, but I'm not sure) and Ruth's great-niece Melanie.

I have to say that it was an interesting experience. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and meeting new people. Carter only had one meltdown during the party. He came into the house, while I was refilling all the food and screamed at the top of his lungs that he hated all these people and wanted them to go home RIGHT NOW!! I found out later that he is not a fan of one of the women that was there (she was trying to tell him what to do at his Grandpa Pete's house, and he wasn't going to put up with that).

Piano recital

Ryan and Kennedy had a piano recital on Thursday, May 1st. Their Aunt Rosalie has been teaching them for the past 6 years or so (at least Ryan that long). She always does a great job with it and the kids get to perform. They always do a great job as well. It was great this year because Chris was able to be home. I think he's only been to 2 recitals every and my Grandma Green was there. She will be 92 in July and we don't get to see her very often. It was a special night. Here's some pictures of her with the kids.

Stealing a tag from Morgan

I though this looked fun on Morgan's blog, so I stole borrowed it from her :)

One Word
Answer in one word
1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? FoodNetwork (this is besides Chris)
3. Your hair? short
4. Your mother? working
5. Your father? driving
6. Your favorite thing? cookiedough
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? Pepsi (but haven't had any in a week)
9. Your dream/goal? retired
10. The room you're in? family
11. Your ex? Brent
12. Your fear? sick
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? skinny
14. Where were you last night? soccer
15. What you're not? crafty
16. Muffins? poppyseed
17. One of your wish list items? house(bigger)
18. Where you grew up? Cedron
19. The last thing you did? drove
20. What are you wearing? clothes
21. Your TV? HD
22. Your pet? Nick
23. Your computer? new
24. Your life? crazy
25. Your mood? up
26. Missing someone? Terri
27. Your car? SUV
28. Something you're not wearing? socks
29. Favorite store? Target (Costco, cheating I know)
30. Your summer? travelling
31. Like someone? Sure
32. Your favorite color? blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? Sunday

Come on people, participate if you are reading this. Also hop on over to Jennifer Peterson's blog and see how you do on the candy bar and pasta quizzes. I completely flunked both, so that means I don't eat either, or am just stuck on my favorites.

what's been happening?!?

OK, so I know I've been bad, as I've been told, about the whole blogging thing. I updated the layout a few days ago and then didn't do a new post (and yes, I know it's an old family picture, about 2.5 years ago when Kennedy was baptized). What can I tell you, I've been busy. With what, you may ask? I have been perfecting my skills as a blog-stalker. What is that you may ask? I am sure you can figure it out. Amanda, you know exactly what that is. I had to explain it to my sister, Jenny. So, the other day, I pulled out my ward list and just started plugging in names on Google with the word blog. I scored with one name (Kim, you and Todd are so cute). So, from there I moved on to my old high school yearbooks. Go Teton Redskins (I'm sure that is completely non PC anymore). I found the Nead family (Kaleb you need to tell Kelly to update more often). I then noticed on Serena's blog (what a cute prego belly) that someone named Jessica posted a message about knowing Matt in high school (again go Redskins). So what do I do then, I click on her name, find her blog, realize she still lives in Teton Valley (where I grew up) and start clicking on her links. I found a few people that I recognized. But, really, come on Teton Valley, Idaho, start blogging. Those of us that have moved away, would really like to know what's happening in the wonderful place. So, in reality, while I am now a stalker of people I knew years ago, Jenny was very impressed with me, she didn't realize that there were so many people she knew that had blogs.

We've been crazy with soccer and Young Men's still. Only a few more weeks of soccer for Kennedy and Carter, but YM's will still go on forever (and the scout stuff that goes along with it). I have also solidified my place as the meanest mom on earth because I made Chris take Carter's training wheels off his bike and made him learn to ride it on Saturday. Chris gave in after about five minutes and let him quick, but I marched him right back out to the street and made him try a few more times. (Although Chris has been home from Iraq since November 2005, he is still FUN DAD, and I am still MEAN MOM). So here's a few pictures from the last few soccer games and the bike-riding.

  

Ryan has news as well. He was asked to be the Deacon's Quorum president in our ward. He is really excited, but a little nervous. I think he'll be great. He is just a really good kid, with a good heart. So, congrats Ryan.

This is Ryan on the ground with Kennedy, Carter and his cousin Sydney of his back during a birthday party for their great-grandmother Ruth, who turned 90 on April 11th.

Not much new stuff with me, I was just released from my calling at church. I had been the Relief Society secretary for the last 26 months for Franklin Ward here in Boise. I had served with 2 presidents and 4 different counselors. Who knows what's in store for me, but I am excited to maybe have just a few weeks to myself before being called to something else.

Chris and I have also been doing a few home improvement projects in order to get the house on the market. We'll see how that goes. We aren't leaving Boise, just need more room for our growing family. We aren't growing in numbers, just in age and seem to all need our own space.

The kids have their piano recital tonight. Maybe we'll get some video up, but who knows if I can figure that out or not. I'll probably get some pictures posted later. Thanks Aunt Rosalie. You've been teaching my kids piano for the last five years. And we are excited because Grandma Green (my mom's mom) will be here for the recital.

Chris has been traveling a bit lately. He spent about 10 days in London and Kassel, Germany in April. He's got a blog that he posted all the pictures on. I might try to steal some to post here. His blog is private, maybe if you all bother him enough he'll unlock it for the world to see (although maybe he's just embarrassed by us, JK).