A week of MIRACLES

Let me sum up my week of miracles:

Miracle #1 Brent came to ALL 3 DAYS of my family reunion. No begging or prodding. I know.

Miracle #2 I got to go Sunday School & Relief Society for the first time in almost 3 years! Nursery wasn't far from my mind though, and when they asked me to say the closing prayer, my mind couldn't seem to function on an adult prayer level. I found myself praying "that we...can...all...choose the right?" Totally embarrassing.

Miracle #3 Gavin & Kesley can suddenly swim! No floaties! Lots of scary watching, but no floaties!

Miracle #4 Jenna is POTTY-TRAINED! One entire week of no accidents and she even stays dry all night! I am officially DONE with diapers FOREVER!...or until Brent needs them and I can't afford a nurse...

Cute moments...

Tonight we took the kids to see "Night At The Museum." Ten seconds into it Jenna fell asleep. I sat there thinking what a waste to pay all that money just to have her sleep through it and me kill my back holding her (she is 35 pounds!). I decided to leave with her and get our money back while Brent stayed with the other 2--I know, cheap, but that was $15!! Of course, as soon as I got out to the car she woke up and was now delirious and VERY mad. I decided to take her back in the mall and just walk around while we waited.

The first store we walked into was a Claires Boutique. Jenna saw the earrings, bracelets and necklaces and was in HEAVEN. This little lady is OBSESSED with jewelery--she always has been. Last Sunday I changed my earrings for the first time in....forever, and she noticed within 5 minutes. For weeks now she has been asking me if she could get her ears pierced--she's not even 3 yet! How can she have such a strong opinion for things like this so young? I kept telling her it hurt a like a shot, but she didn't care, she knew she wanted earrings. Well, I figured we had saved at least half the price of the earrings by not going to the movie...and we did have all this time to burn...so today was her day! She did SO GOOD and didn't even cry. She also got to pick out a bracelet for being so brave. Here she is with her sparkly earrings, a wrist of pearls and diamonds (they came in a 3 pack) and an ice cream cone to boot.
I found the cutest note from Gavin this week. I swear this kid has the biggest heart!...too bad I was snappin at him while he was writing it...he was supposed to be practicing writing sentences and he kept asking me how to spell words and I kept saying, "S-O-U-N-D S-P-E-L-L! I know you can do this ONE thing on your own!" I love this kid. Kesley's ballet company is doing "Cinderella" this Saturday. (if anyone wants to go let me know and I will get you tickets) Kesley's class is only in one dance. She is a jeweler--which I'm not sure exactly how it fits into the story, but she looks cute! Since I can't record the actual performance, I tried to record the rehearsal--the girls were so stage shocked that they spent most of their 2 minutes staring at the big girl ballerinas. I guess that is what the rehearsal is for! They also made them all go into a circle which disappointed me because then I couldn't see her face. Who cares if she doesn't actually dance--I want to see her stand on stage and smile! Here is a video of the dance--it's taken from my camera, so it's not the best quality.

Feeling old...

Today I am having one of those days. You know the days when you realize life is whizzing by at breakneck speed and there are some things you will actually NEVER be able to do...and then your dead?

We went up to the airshow and watched the Air Force Thunderbirds roaring by in their amazing formations at 1000 miles per hour. We all loved the way it made our belly's rumble. I turned to Brent and said, "I'm going to go up to the recruiting desk and tell them I will sign up if they can tell me I have a good shot at actually flying one of those things!" I was kidding, of course, but when he replied with a, "Ha! They wouldn't even LET you sign up--you're too old!", I sorta stopped laughing...

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't ever become a Neurosurgeon, a Lawyer, a Major in the AirForce who gets to fly those incredible machines...along with a ka-billion other things...it was very depressing. You really do only have one shot at some things.

On the way home, Gavin overheard my conversation about some lady having knee surgery. He says:

Gavin: "Mom, she had KNEE surgery?"
Me: "Yes."
Gavin: "Knee or foot?"
Me: "Knee."
Gavin: "....What's a knee?"

Life is good.

Summer is here and in full swing!

I LOVE SUMMER! We have already had so much fun and we are only one week in!

We kicked things off last week with the zoo. I met an old friend from work there and we had a great time. As always, I didn't get many pictures--why do I even take a camera? Here is the ONE I did get....and yes, I am aware that Kesley's shirt is too small...and her shorts are too tight. Time for a new summer wardrobe! Last night was a big night. Gavin had his first T-Ball game and he did so good! It was such a riot to watch him dive onto the pile of his own teammates and try to steal the ball away from them! T-ball is pretty relaxed and SO FUN for all the kids. They do not play for points and everyone gets to hit every inning--I really liked that. Kesley had her first practice with her kick ball team and her first game is tomorrow night. She's such a smiley lady out there. It's going to be really fun to watch her!Jenna was in HEAVEN. Her nursery friend, Trace, was there. His dad coaches the team, so he will be there every game. Every Sunday, Jenna is excited to see Trace. She says, "I lub Trace. He's my guy." I'm pretty sure she has picked up on a few tricks from Gavin's *how to stock and smother* handbook. She played kickball with him and even shared her candy necklace. It's going to be fun to watch her this season too! This week our cousins, Bronx, Belle and Eva are visiting. We have been swimming up at Grandma and Grandpa Smiths a bunch and today we hit the Dinosaur Museum and petting zoo. My camera went dead--so here are a couple of the pics I did get. Can't wait to see Aunt Ambers pictures! Here is the clan, with Aunt Tiffy (Yay Tiffy is here this week too!!!) in front of a gigantic shark! They say it would have been 45-70 feet long! SCARY! Here are the kids digging for treasure--one of their favorite parts of the museum.I'm sad these are the only pictures I have. They are all pretty crappy--but I have to document for the scrapbook! This blog has been so good for me because I have NO short term memory. I had to sit here for 5 minutes and try to remember what we did on Monday...and what day was it today...I think I should be worried...

Potty training...in reverse?

So Jenna is almost 3 and still not potty trained. I tried to tell myself that it has been a sub-conscious thing, you know, her being my last baby and all that. But the reality has everything to do with me and how uninterested I am in following through on anything lately. Anytime I have made an attempt, she has been completely uninterested, so why try? Right?

We have made a little progress lately. She has been successful a few times, but very inconsistent. She will usually run up to me in hysterics saying, "I need to go potty! I need to go potty!" It is always right after she has "gone" potty in her pull-up.

Last night at 3:30 a.m., Jenna starts screaming, "Mom, I need to pee! I need to PEE!" I am totally groggy and really not wanting to jump up and entertain her or start a "just for fun" middle of the night potty run, so I said, "No, I think you are ok (AND WEARING A DIAPER), just go back to sleep and you can try in the morning." But Jenna was not having any of that. She insisted she needed to go, so I reluctantly got up and walked her to the bathroom, took off her diaper, and set her down. I have to say, I was VERY surprised to hear her actually start going! She had the biggest grin on her face and said, "I AM A BIG GIRL!" My heart melted--I love this lady!

I wish I could say that was the magic moment and today we are on the other side of potty training, but today has been very much the same as yesterday and we have already gone through 3 pull-ups...still love this lady.

What day is it?

I don't know exactly WHY, but this week I haven't really felt like myself. I think it is a combination of Gavin graduating from Kindergarten a week before all the other kids, which broke my routine, and Memorial Day weekend that seemed to make it Sunday all over again on Tuesday. That and I realized it has been 1 YEAR since I started my blogging--which also kicked off my exercise and eating right campaign because I could not bring myself to post a picture of me on the blog. Here I am, one year later, totally confused and STILL PRETTY MUCH THE SAME SIZE!!! So all that combined has thrown me into a feeding frenzy that may or may not end this week. Someone please come save me...or bring me something with nuts and caramel.

Gavin did graduate from Kindergarten! He was so excited for his graduation program and had been talking about it for weeks. He was soooo excited because he and Shari sat right next to each other and shared the same speaking part---BIG DEAL TO AN OBSESSED 6 YEAR OLD! The day of his program he had a total melt down. Remember the picture of the melt down on the first day of school? Well, he is a little older now and WOW! is all I can say. I can thank Brents genes for this social anxiety ridden episode.

This is a picture of Gavin in his Sunday best, which was the dress code for the program. I pretty much had hold him down in between sobs to get them on him. Sad, I know.Once he got to the school he was ok. That gym was PACKED, but the program was SO CUTE and Gavin did a great job with his part. Isn't Shari a cutie!He had a great cheering section with our family, Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Grandpa VanCott and Liz with James and Ashton. Gavin sure loves his grandparents, but he can't get enough of his "best bud", James. Pretty sure that has something to do with the way James will do anything Gavin says and thinks Gavin is the coolest thing in the world! Don't we all need a bud like that?Congratulations Mr. G!

Dreams really do come true!

Last week Gavin's ultimate dream came true. He walked out of his kindergarten class and guess what was waiting...Grandpa Smith and a 57 Chevy!!! You haven't ever seen a kid that awkwardly excited! They went and picked up Brent from work and the self proclaimed, "Three Dudes" had a day out on the town. Gavin has never felt so cool and has not stopped talking about it! I'm not sure there will ever be anything that will top this!

Here is Grandpa, parked and waiting for school to let out.Here is Gavin--he was to the car and already in the backseat in 3 seconds!
Aunt Amber helped arrange the whole thing and even had these cool 57 chevy t-shirts. Unfortunatley, I don't do laundry fast enough for him to wear it EVERYDAY!Thanks Grandpa and Amber! You really made his day!