Squire is 8! Finally!

Squire turns 8!

He got baptized on August 1. He has been waiting so patiently for so long to get baptized. My sweet boy is such a good kid and close to the spirit, that it made for such a perfect day. We had all of our wonderful family, minus Aunt Hilary, Uncle Colby, and Kamri, there.

8 things I love about Squire!

1. His spontaneous hugs (which are almost like a tackle!)

2. His willingness to help out at home.

3. He is such a great friend and example to others.

4. What a handsome boy!

5. He always has a football in his hands.

6. He is a great student and always tries to do his best.

7. Always close to the spirit and trying to do what is right.

8. Cuddling and reading with mom at bedtime.

On his birthday we went to see the new Harry Potter and had buffalo wings and homemade pizza for dinner. We also went to an OWLZ baseball game. Squire and Jason tried real hard to come home with a ball, but were unsuccessful. When our kids turn 8, they get to take one friend to go do something fun. So Squire chose to take his cousin, Coleman, to an OWLZ game and then have a sleepover. This time they were successful in bringing home a ball! These were the perfect activities for our sports fanatic!

We've made it through another school year!

So now that we are 3 weeks into summer, I thought I should finally post some pictures of our end of the school year activities.

We had so much fun this year at Kids Village! It was so fun to be there with Kassidy. She made such great friends in her class. Despite the fact that she starts public school kindergarten this next year, she did so well in the Kindergarten class at Kids Village, way beyond my expectations! Miss Cheri, her morning teacher really helped her reach her potential and appreciated her hard work and social personality. She had so much fun with Miss Alycesun, her afternoon teacher, and felt so loved and always felt like it was a party with her.

The last week of school Kassidy had her dance recital. She is definitely my beautiful ballerina. She did a cute little tap number and the highlight of the night was being a mermaid for the production of Peter Pan. She loved the three hour long practices and said they were "Awesome mom!" She had such a great year this year, the studio has asked her to be on the performing team next year.

Kira had a great 4th grade year. Her teacher, Miss Bybee, was so much fun but still was able to lay down the law and have structure in her class when needed. Kira had some great friends in her class. She performed with the choir at the final music assembly. It was so fun for her to be in the choir. She is definitly my musical performer. For the dance festival, she taped into her inner zombie to dance to "Thriller". She loved tearing up and destroying an old dressup for her costume. The highlights of her year were definitly being in the school choir, the pioneer field trip to the park for fun pioneer activities, RADS class, writing the best fantasy story in the whole class that everyone wanted a copy of, and the end of the year class play where she played the professional matchmaker.

Squire loved finally being in first grade. He made alot of new friends and was even admired by many of the girls. His teacher, Mrs Warnick, was great and really acknowledged his abilities and helped him succeed this year. He was our little athlete this year, always having a football in his hands and being very serious for the mile race at field day. For the dance festival he performed to a great song with a wonderful message "Take a stand!" You could tell he loved the song but would reather have been listening to it on his IPOD, rather than dancing to it, but he did great anyway!

The last week of school is always so busy! This year seemed especially crazy because in the past I have had the week off of work because I ended preschool early. This year I still had to work because Kids Village ends the same time as public school. I felt totally out of control and my kitchen showed it. But we had a lot of fun, some great memories, and the kids did great and really excelled, ALL STRAIGHT A's on the final reprt cards. Now let the summer begin!

Kira's 10!

10 things I love about Kira!

1. Her beautiful freckles!
2. What an imagination! She is such a creative writer.
3. She still likes to cuddle and read with mom at bedtime.
4. She has become my responsible babysitter.
5. Always making good choices.
6. A great soccer player!
7. Works hard at school to get great grades.
8. What a kind friend.
9. Always knows what she wants.
10. Watching her sing at choir. She is quite the performer!

I LOVE YOU KIRA!

Kira had a fun 10th birthday. She had a crazy late night with 11 of her friends. She planned many games and was very organized and ran the show. They played sleepover ball, sleeping beauty, candy bar game, drama bag game and screamed and ran around outside until 10:00 that night. On her birthday we went as a family to Jumping Jacks and one of her favorite dinners, simple stroganoff.

easter excitement

The kids woke up Easter morning as excited as they do on Christmas, only maybe not quite as early! After much searching, the baskets and the 18 eggs were found. Kira wondered why hers was so hard to find. She knew it was because she is getting older. We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Downey"s house having an easter egg hunt with lots of fun prizes at the end!

Goodbye Oreo!

So after much family discussion and tears (mostly from me and Kira) we decided it was time to sell our dog. We came to the conclusion that she would do well in a home where people are home more and she won't spend so much time cooped up in her kennel. So she now belongs to an older lady who is home during the day and is happy to let Oreo run around freely while she is gone. Although we will miss her barking at the door, chasing the kids and their friends in the loft, cuddling on the couch and trying to snatch our popcorn on movie night, we know she will be happy and loved in her new home. She was a good dog and it was fun for the last 2 1/2 years. The kids learned some responsibility and are no longer afraid of dogs (and neither am I).
We love you Oreo!

This year will be better, I promise!

So one of my new years resolutions was to be a better blogger. I know it's a great way to keep track of your life and others you care about. But it's hard for me to make it a priority. I must admit, I have been a little distracted with "The Bachelor" drama. So now that that is all over I can move on with life. So although we are two and a half months into the new year, its better late than never right!

STAY BACK!

So I was thrilled when I found out that our school offers RADS (self defense courses) for the kids. Three times a week for a month Kira went to classes to learn self defense. We heard many "STAY BACKS" and "YOU"RE NOT MY MOM!" when she came home from school. She did AWESOME at her graduation and enjoyed every minute of it! Watch for Squire's RADS pictures next!