Branch Party

I think there are 5 or 6 families moving out of our Branch this summer.   Last Saturday (May 24) there was a Branch BBQ as sort of a farewell affair for those of us who are leaving.   We went, we ate, we visited, we had a good time.

The kids did not have a  nutritious meal.  Mostly it was chips and desserts.

Well, Marian discovered the chicken.  Note the earbuds.  She is still obsessed with her audiobooks and listens as much as she can.

Rylee is showing me her Dorito fingers.  Chips and desserts, oh yes, that's all she had. 

Rylee discovered someone had brought a cooler of soda. 

Dan was social too! 

Callie ran rampant.   

Joshua actually tried out some baseball! 

So did Callie. 

Rylee made a new friend.  She's on the right leg! 

 Some lovely neighbor hung up this tire swing on the giant tree in front of the chapel.  The girls were delighted to try it out!

So much fun, Rylee fell asleep on the way home!

Callie's Birthday Party!

Callie has been obsessed with having her birthday party at the local animal shelter.  It took a while to finally get it together.  I have to say, BEST party idea ever!  The only time the shelter could do it was 1:30 on Friday afternoon.  Thankfully it was a half day for the kids.  The kids all brought donations for the shelter, which was great for them, and great for me.  I so do NOT need any more toys in this house!

The original plan was that the girls would get a brief "training" on how to be a volunteer, and then they would do some work- cleaning windows and whatever other minor tasks they were capable of.  They were to end the activity with "socializing" with the cats.  However, the shelter manager was out sick, and apparently the other volunteers are much more laid back.  So the kids spent 90 minutes playing with the cats.  The cats were divided into 3 rooms.  One room for the little bitties, one room for the teenagers, and the biggest room held the grown up cats.  The kids could hang out in any of the rooms and they had a blast!  They all thought it was just great and were sad when the time was up.  The best part was that I didn't have to do anything!

After the shelter, we went to our house for some delicious ice cream cake.  The girls played for a bit and then all returned to their own homes.  I was surprised how easy it was and how happy the kids were with it.  Although Callie later complained that she wasn't permitted to play with the dogs.  I guess there's no pleasing some people!

Callie's favorite kitten. 

Playing with the little kitties. 

Loving the snuggles. 

Callie's new best friend. 

Callie and Dorothy, enjoying the babies. 

I wanted a group shot at the end, but they saw a lizard. 

And then they were just silly! 

I made the cake in a spring form pan and Callie asked for Cookies-n-Cream ice cream.  It was delicious!  

My happy birthday girl!

Band Awards

Joshua had his Band Award Ceremony this week.  The band is new to the school.  Last year was its first year and the program is being run by a retired Navy (I think!) band guy.  He has done a remarkable job and is pretty ambitious.  The kids seem to rise to the occasion and Joshua has really enjoyed playing his trumpet and marching in the band.

There were a ton of awards to hand out, but they went quickly.  The director's vision was to give the kids medals similar to what the military wears on their dress uniforms, and the kids would pin their medals on like that.  Joshua got a Second Year medal and he received the Outstanding Musician award.  He was pleased.  I tried to get a photo of him, but the nutty boy dashed up to the front, grabbed his award and bolted back to his seat. Both times.  All I got was a vague blur.  

I asked him to pose with his medals/awards for me, and he was..... well, you can see below.  I asked if that was what he wanted preserved for posterity and he thought he was hysterically funny and said yes.

The band director. 

First photo with his medals.  I asked for another shot. 

Not any better. What a loon!  I love this boy, and I am proud of him!

End of Preschool

This Tuesday was Rylee's last day of her preschool.  They had a cute program where each class sang a song, the director said a few words and then they handed out certificates and goody bags to the kids.  It was simple and short- my favorite things!  Then they showed a video of a compilation of photos from the year and gave everyone a copy.  It was great.

Rylee walked in with her class and was distressed that she couldn't see me.  This was her, just as she spotted me.  

Now she is happy and hamming it up.  Check out the adorable handprint shirt! 

She dashed right over to me after her class song.  Love this cutie pie! 

Receiving her certificate from her teacher.  (We love her teacher!)

Posing with Ms. Melissa

Rylee cried all the way home because she was so sad preschool was over.  Then she watched her dvd and cried some more.  She cries whenever she remembers it is over, and she keeps watching the video and crying.  She is also very upset that she is done with school and the big kids still have a week to go! I'm just super sad that she misses the kindergarten cut off by 3 weeks and will be home with me again next year!

A Dream Come True!

Notice anything different about Delaney?!

  

Well, yes, she did finally lose that dangling eternally front tooth, but no, not that!

Check it out!  

Yep, I took Delaney in to get her ears pierced yesterday.

She'd been asking off and on for a bit, and chickening out about it.  Yesterday she asked and I said we could go right then. She had to think about it and then said yes.  She was adorable!  SO excited about it!  We went to the mall and she was very brave.  She had a moment, right before the first piercing when she got scared, but she went through with it and didn't even cry!  She said it wasn't even that bad, after the first one.  She said it was too tight, and I lied and told her I'd loosen it after the second one.  After the second one, I confessed that I couldn't loosen it because it wasn't too tight, it felt like that because we'd put a hole in her ear.

She has been awesome- no complaints at all.  She has told every single person about her new pierced ears, from the gal at the food court serving her a kids' meal, to the gate guard at the base, to every person in church today! I'm so happy that she's so happy.  I'm also glad that she was able to choose Hello Kitty earrings, which were a lot cheaper than the ones I probably would have gotten.

I love this kid!