Hayden is Now Twelve

   Hayden turned 12 on the 29th of June this year.  Twelve is kind of a big deal.  I mean, he advanced from Primary to Young Mens and he was ordained a deacon and received the Aaronic Priesthood.  These milestones seem like they will never arrive, but it is humbling when they do.  All of us were together to celebrate his actual birthday on the 29th.

A few days before his birthday, he had a party with his friends.  We sent out cool invitations that were shaped like a BBQ.  All Hayden wanted to do was have a huge water party in our backyard and have his dad grill steaks.  So that is what we did.  We bought each of the boys a water gun, had a lot of water balloons, put the slip and slide out and the beach ball sprinkler. We served steak, hot dogs, watermelon and chips.  We played the candy bar game where you have to roll doubles to pick one up or steal one from another player.

 Hayden wanted to mix it up a little, so the boys also had the option to put on oven mitts and attempt to unwrap a huge candy bar that was wrapped in several layers of aluminum foil.  Here is Adam giving it a try.

For dessert Hayden had picked out an ice cream cake from Anderson's. It was delicious!

His awesome friends gave him several gift cards, a huge Nerf gun and the Wii Ski game.  All in all, he had an excellent birthday.  Happy Birthday Son!

Maura Turns Five!

  Maura was so very excited about her birthday this year. Turning five years old meant that she could have her first birthday party with friends. She decided to invite all of the children in her preschool class and a few from church as well. We held her party at a local children's museum and they had this cake made for her party which was themed around butterflies and flowers.

 Maura and Lilian found these butterfly costumes and had a lot of fun "flying" around the museum together.  It was great creative play.  The children also played in the store area, on the farm, climbed the rock wall and loved the arts and crafts room.

 All of the children were able to do some arts and crafts in the party room.  They were working on a butterfly project here.  It was so funny to listen to their conversations because they had been together so much this year, that they banter back and forth like siblings.  We heard one of the kids say to a classmate, "We know, you've told us like a million times!"  The museum employees thought they were hilarious.  We were just glad that they came because it made Maura's day.

 
  Her is our birthday girl, so excited to be five and to blow out the candles!

  Maura opened some cute presents from her friends at the museum party, but on her birthday she opened presents at home that were sent by her grandparents and from our family.  She was thrilled to finally get a Zhu-Zhu pet or two!

  Happy Birthday Maura!! I cannot believe that you are already five years old, it is making daddy and I feel a little old.  Our baby girl is growing up and soon you will be off to kindergarten!

Final Soccer Games

  Both Hayden and Sydney played soccer through our town's soccer league this year. They played in the fall and again in the spring, but they are two different seasons here, and you generally have different players and coaches for each season. To celebrate the last game of spring soccer, each team had a pizza party and the kids received their medals.

Michael Turns 39!

  Michael's birthday was just ridiculous this year.  The children were still in school because school did not end until the 23rd of June in New York and we had the craziness of all that going on.  His work schedule was ridiculous, he had not been home to eat dinner or see any of us in days.  In fact, he worked until after midnight on his birthday and did not even bother to tell anyone at work that it was his birthday!

  Meanwhile, I kept asking him what he wanted to do for his birthday celebration to which I got no response. So the 8th of June rolled around, and he had no cake, no presents, no plans, and he came home after midnight.  Finally he told me, "All I want is a coconut cream pie."  Pie!!? Seriously, that is what you want for your birthday? Done.  Of course, there are no Marie Callendar's in New York, so I made a pie from scratch- the crust, the whipped cream, all of it.  I made it the day after his birthday, and he was kind enough to pull away from work, come home for about 25 minutes, eat a piece and go back to the office.

 
  I am just glad he had the energy to blow out the candles, maybe that is why there are only three? Why would we only have three candles on there, one for each 13 years?! Were there only three left in the cupboard? Could we not be bothered to put any more than that on? Of course, 39 candles probably would have lit my masterpiece on fire.  But the downside to this whole thing is that after 17 years, Michael found out that I can make really good homemade pie- he wasn't suppose to know that.  How I miss Marie C's pies and stacking up all the tins in my cupboard until I would finally take them back in to get a refund on the tin deposits and have more than enough for a free pie!  I love Razzleberry and German chocolate and French silk, not to mention banana cream... on second thought, it is probably better on our budget and our waistline that we have moved away from Marie's!  But it was so great at Thanksgiving to just go and pick them up.

Maura's Preschool Moments

Earlier in the year, Maura had been sick and was not able to ride the bus to the pumpkin patch field trip. This was a major disappointment to her and I heard about it all year long. So when the opportunity came to ride the bus to the zoo, she was so excited. This is a picture of Maura and her cute friend, Keeley, they were told to wear red so that we could identify the kids in her class easier.

This is some of Maura's class piled into a wagon at the farm area of the zoo. Miss Anna was one of her teachers and is in blue.

Zachary, Maura and Keeley were buddies all day long. They had a great time finding all of the animals in their exhibits and we even ate a picnic lunch while we were there. Maura rode the bus both ways, but I caught a ride with some of the other moms.

Maura has a summer birthday and was excited to celebrate her birthday before the school year ended. So even though it was not really her birthday, we made pink cupcakes for her "unbirthday" celebration at preschool.

Well, eventually the fun had to come to an end. The year was over and Maura was graduating from preschool. She had gone the entire year from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and now she was ready to advance to kindergarten. Our baby is growing up, and I am going to miss the art projects and those silly preschool songs!

Dance Festival & Recital

Our Little Red Riding Hoods did a great job. Sydney loved being on stage with her friends Anna and Morgan.

Little sister, Maura, was mesmerized by Sydney's performance.

Another shot of the ballet performance. Miss Katie hand painted bobbie pins red to hold their hoods in place!

The actual dance recital was in June at St. Francis High School. The whole family sat in the audience and watched the Saturday show, but during Maura's show I was downstairs with her class when she was not on stage. It was nice to enjoy the shows two different ways. Maura had a wonderful class and I liked all of the other dance moms as well as their darling daughters.

I loved the pink tutus, the girls were all so beautiful in their outfits!

Maura was introduced to the world of Zhu-Zhu pets by her friend Claire.

Choir Concert, Art Splash & More

To fulfill his music requirement for sixth grade, Hayden joined the chorus. They performed a Christmas and a spring concert. This one was in the auditorium of the middle school and they did a great job.

Well, I had to threaten him with his life, but I finally took a photo of him dressed up for the concert. Maura refers to this shot as "Handsome Hayden." She even had me print a copy on our printer so that she could tape it to her closet door.

Both Hayden and Sydney had some of their artwork chosen to be showcased at the district wide art show called, "Art Splash." Michael and Sydney were in North Carolina that weekend, but Hayden, Maura and I went and enjoyed the exhibits and the harp music. It was held at a local bank. Sydney's entry was scratch art and she had drawn a butterfly.

Hayden blew me away with his entry. It was a detailed oil pastel of a poinsettia and it was titled, "Mexican Christmas Gift." I met his art teacher, and she was thrilled with his piece. It was centered right at the entrance of the exhibit and even printed in the program. She joked with us that Hayden was now a published artist! My junior high art class was disastrous for me, but Hayden has amazing raw talent that is already being noticed.

Sydney was asked to make a musical instrument. She was determined to make it out of recycle items or objects around our house and she succeeded. Michael and Sydney designed this drum set and she was awarded "most creative instrument."