Where is Gerrit?

One Sunday in August after church we couldn't find Gerrit.  Now every Sunday I come home from church and put on pajama pants.  My poor kids have picked up my bad habit including my cute 3 year old.  Well, I started to panic because I had looked all over the house and didn't realize he had gone outside.  I called his name with no answer.  I began getting frantic and started on my walk around the block to see if he took off.  I found him asleep on the neighbor's RV pad in his pajamas as it is about 95 degrees outside.  He was out riding his trike and decided he was tired and laid down right their on their asphalt.  I couldn't stop laughing and had to snap a picture before we moved him.

Kaymin's New Haircut

We have another new next door neighbor and she cuts hair in her house.  It is heavenly.  Kaymin went to her to get a new "look" for 5th grade.  She came home with this haircut...minus the pink strip.  Don't pay attention to her "punk rock" look.  Her and the other neighbor girl were making up dances and this was their "look" for the day.  She sure looks cute with this haircut.

Kaymin has the Flu Again!

Poor Kaymin cannot catch a break from the stomach flu.  The poor girl throws up more than anyone I know.  This particular night during the first of August, she was throwing up about every 30 minutes.  She fell asleep on the bathroom floor.  I went and got her some blankets and put them in the tub.  There she slept until the morning when the other kids found her because they needed to go potty.  She was so warn out that she didn't even wake up with everyone using it.

She woke up because sleeping in the tub looked like too much fun for Gerrit.  He hoped right in with his blanket.

Girls Late Night

Deilen was having a late night with a friend so I told the girls that they could have a late night too.  We had some new neighbors move in right next door.  They have girls 7 and 9 years old.  Our girls love each other.  So Arrin and Alexis came over and the girls decided to do crazy Lady Gaga makeup and then pose for a picture.  Aren't they cute?

Gerrit Swimming

Gerrit is terrified of water.  He had NO desire to have swimming lessons, which was great for me since they don't do them alone until they are 4.  But I was bound and determined to get him in our pool.  So I finally psyched myself up (I knew I was going to deal with a whole lot of screaming) and put him in our pool.  He did freak out until he realized he could touch.  Pretty soon he stopped crying and actually walked around the perimeter of the pool by hanging on the edge.  He then began to beg everyday to get in the pool.  He never got super comfortable, but enough to where he actually enjoyed himself.  I just hope he will continue to get better and do swimming lessons next year.  I may have to wait another year before I put him in.

Deilen Lost His First Tooth

During swimming lessons Deilen lost his first tooth.  I see him and Kameni practically on their hands and knees over by the diving boards as their class continues to walk and get in the water. Pretty soon his instructor is over there and then Kaymin joins in.  I couldn't figure out what he had lost.  Then Kaymin came and brought me his tooth.  There was NO way he was losing it.  He could hardly wait to lose one.  Kameni has lost a million and he was sick of her getting treasures from the school's treasure box.  He wanted some too!  Finally one came out and you would know it...it was summer.  Oh well, he was just as excited to have the Tooth Fairy finally pay him a visit.

Swimming Lessons

Like every year, my kids can hardly wait to go to swimming lessons.  They put Deilen and Kameni in level 2.  They were by far the youngest kids in the class.  The head person sat and watched them for 2 days to make sure they would be okay in that level.  I was actually nervous for them because they sat and had to swim back and forth across the deep end and poor Kameni's asthma was so bad.  I ended up having to give her a breathing treatment each time before we left.  They did really well, but they didn't pass.  I wasn't surprised and I am glad that they don't just pass everyone.  They need some time working on their skills.

Kaymin was in level 4 this year for the 2nd time.  She didn't pass last year because she needed to work on one of her strokes.  She started to cry and the head lady said that 99% of the people have to take that level again because it is so hard and they learn so many strokes.  She did really well and I would say she was by far the best one in her class.  Her instructor would have her do the stroke and have the other kids watch her.  Her dives are looking great too!

Star Valley, Wyoming

Two weeks after Blake's family vacation, we went with mine to Star Valley, Wyoming to a ranch that some of my parent's friends own.  It was SO much fun.

 It had a private lake with a paddle boat and the kids (especially Kaymin) spent a ton of time out there. 

There was a big bunk house that slept all of us.  So we all stayed together, except for my parents.  They slept in a sheep camp.  It was a little camper that only had a bed.  I think they wanted a little peace and quiet.  Heavens know with about 30 of us in the bunk house, it wasn't quiet. 

My parents and Justin took their 4-wheelers so we went 4-wheeling, roasted marsh mellows, played at the lake, and just hung out.  It was very relaxing and a ton of fun.  The only problem was our hay fever.  We had so many problems with our allergies and poor Kameni and Blake had asthma so bad.  Gerrit didn't have any problems, so maybe his is only in the winter.  But Kameni got to try her inhaler for the first time.  All of the kids gathered around and thought it was so cool.  It took her a few times to get it right, but the mist kept coming out her nose.  The kids thought she looked like a dragon and thought it was the coolest thing they have ever seen. 

Justin brought up his expensive karaoke machine.  It was so much fun.  It was kind of like a blast from the past with songs from the Ramones and Vanilla Ice.  We had a lot of fun and got the kids all wound up before we went to bed.

Swimming at Browning

We are lucky in that my brother works for Browning and every year invites us to go swimming with them.  My kids love going, but it is usually just us there and their diving board is really small so all of my kids (except Gerrit) jump off of the diving board.  Kaymin actually does back dives and Kameni and Deilen are trying to dive off of it.  I am so proud of them.  So whenver we are invited to go, we go because we have so much fun!

Swimming Lessons

It is that time again for swimming lessons.  My kids look forward to this every year.  They did so well,  Kameni and Deilen were by far the youngest kids in their class.  I guess that is what they get for being such great swimmers.  Poor Kameni, her asthma was really acting up and we had to make sure to give her a puff of her inhaler before she started each day.  Gerrit was really happy he wasn't out there in the water.  For some reason he is really scared of the water this year.  He has no desire to swim.  But hopefully that will change this year with our pool.  Kaymin passed her class, but Deilen and Kameni will have to take their level again.  Way to go kids!

Lava Hot Springs

The first part of July we went to Lava Hot Springs with Blake's family.  They love Lava and we have been there lots of times with them.  This time we stayed in a really nice place.  It was right in the middle of town and very roomy for all of us.  Everyone went and we had a great time.  We swam in the pool and my favorite part...the hot pots.  I think the kids just enjoyed being together and playing Oakley's DSi.  It was fun just getting away and having fun together.

Gerrit's Stitches

I'm so far behind, but I have really high hopes of getting caught up one day.  Near the end of June, Blake and I were going on a date and our "big" girl Kaymin was going to babysit for us.  My parents were going to take out us out eat for our birthdays that are in September and October.  As we were leaving kissing the kids good-bye, Gerrit ran up our wood stairs and slipped and fell right on his chin.  Now he has done this a million times, but as luck should have it, he split it open and needed stitches.  Our doctor's office is right up the street, thank heavens, so I ran him in there.  They stitched him up and he fell asleep as I held him.  He was such a good boy.  He needed 6 stitches.  After the doctor stitched him up he said he should have done a layer of stitches inside.  He just needed to make sure that Gerrit kept the tape on until it fell off on it's own.  Well, the next morning he woke up and riped all of the tape off.  The doctor, being wise, sent me home with extra tape that I used and as you can see he ripped off the tape again this time ripping out one stitch and making others very loose.  By the time the stitches were ready to come out, he had ripped out three of them.  I'm sure this will not be the last time he gets stitches.

The Pool is Finally Up

The weather finally got warm enough to swim at the end of June.  It has been the craziest spring/summer.  It never really got hot.  Usually it stayed in the 80's and it was heavenly.  I wish it would always stay like this.  The kids wished it were warmer and begged constantly to have the pool up.  The neighbor kids couldn't wait either.  Erin and Alexis were the first neighbor kids to enjoy our pool with our kids.

The Kids LOVE the Chickens

The kids have loved the chickens.  They have had so much fun with them.  Gerrit isn't afraid at all and loves to try to chase and catch them.  They are really getting big and I'm grateful. We had them in a box in our garage.  Our new neighbors have a cat.  One day, while I left the garage open (just a habit), the cat got in the box and ate Kaymin's chick.  She cried and cried.  So I took her back to Dallas Greens where she picked out another chick.  However, this chick just always looked "different" to us.  We used to say that it looked very masculine.  Well, Kaymin sure knows how to pick them.  It turned out, that her new "chick" turned into a rooster.  At the end of August, Retard, the rooster began to crow.  Since they are illegal where we live we had to get rid of it.  We told our kids right from the beginning that if we got a rooster we were going to kill and eat it.  So last Saturday (the first of September), Blake got up really early one morning and took care of Retard, the rooster.  Now we only have three hens left.  They should be starting to lay eggs at the end of October, first of November.

Dance Recital

The girls have been in dance all year long.  It has been a super long year and I'm so tired of being the chauffeur.  It has been exhausting.  The last several weeks Kameni was having 3-4 practices a week.  Of course they couldn't be on the same day as Kaymin's.  However, when June came and they did their dances, they did such a wonderful job.  Kameni had Rylee in her class and Kaymin had Taylor. 

The theme of the dance recital was Dances Around the World.  There were classes that were chosen to be in the opening act dancing a dance of a country.  Kameni's class was one of those groups.  They represented Holland and did a dance to "Little Wooden Shoes".  Oh boy, was Blake proud.  Don't you just love how Kameni has to "pose" and try to look sexy? Their costumes were darling.  Each one performed two tap dances.  Kaymin really wanted to take Jazz, but she starts out with Tap/Tumbling.  She wasn't really excited about it, but she did great.  Kaymin lit up the stage and just loved being up there and dancing.  She also got to go up on stage afterwards and give Mrs. Peek and her helpers a gift.  The girls loved it and so did I.  However, I can't wait for a break!

This is the Place Heritage Park

Summer came way to fast and I can't believe it is here.  One of the first day's of summer vacation, This is the Place Heritage Park in SLC was having a free day.  So we decided to go.  It was crazy busy, but we still have a great time.  It has been years since I went.  Kaymin went last year for Activity Day camp and loved it.  My mom and Jen came.  We had a great time.

Field Day

Wow...I am really behind and have a bunch to catch up on.  I volunteered at the Kindergarten Field Day.  I love to go and help out in my kid's classrooms.  I love to get to know their teachers and the kids in their in the classes.  This year the temperature was so cold.  I swear we didn't start to warm up until July.  But it was freezing at the end of May.  We had it outside and I snapped these pictures and one of the girls got paint on her clothes so I bent down to grab a paper towel after taking these pictures and dropped it right on the lens and broke it.  Now this is the same camera I just got for Christmas.  So I was out a camera for a while until I could break down again and buy one. However, we sure had a lot of fun.  Kameni had fun posing with Tiggany, her friend.  I never did get a picture of Deilen.   Kaymin's 4th grade class didn't have one.

Chickens

I swore I would never live on a farm again.  However, I am finding out that deep down it is hard to kill your roots.  I have been wanting chickens for some time now.  Where we live chickens are not permitted.  But when I was at the country store buying our rabbit food, my neighbor who is a cop, was buying chicken feed.  He has 8 chickens.  So I think that if Matt, the cop, can have chickens, then so can I.  So Blake and I took the kids back to the country store on May 21st and let each of the kids pick out a chicken.  There were many...maybe 20 or more chicks in the pen.  Gerrit reached right in and grabbed one and was so pleased with himself.  Baby chicks are so cute.  We put them in a box in our garage.  However, our next door neighbor's cat thinks our yard, especially my flower bed for it's potty, is it's home.  One day I had left the garage door open and the cat ate one of our chicks.  It happened to be Kaymin's.  She was so upset poor thing.  I let her pick out another chick, but this time she picked out a rooster.  All along we told our kids that if ended up with a rooster we were going to eat it. 

The grow quickly and were starting to get their feathers within a few days.  Everyday their down left and their feathers grew in.  After the cat incident I had to put them in our basement.  After a couple of weeks, they were trying to fly out and began stinking.  I borrowed a pet porter from my parents and put all four chicks in that outside.  That was heaven.  Blake was going to build us a coop and then our neighbor's rabbits died and they gave us their rabbit hutch.  So right now our chickens are in that.  We let them out about every day and let them roam the yard.  Our kids love them and they have been a lot of fun.  Researched said that roosters begin crowing around 4 months old so in about 2 more months we will be having rooster dinner.  I just can't wait to get those yummy fresh eggs.  Unfortunately I have to wait until November.

Kindergarten Opera

For the whole school year, Deilen and Kameni's kindergarten class with their teacher, Mrs. Argyle, worked on their opera.  They even painted the back drop.  It was darling.  They had to pick a jungle animal to be.  Deilen immediately wanted to be the lion to wear the costume.  The poor thing was so small on him.  He didn't care.  He even told me that it choked him and gave him wedgies.  Kameni wanted to be a zebra.  I know I could have made a costume and it would have been cute, but see that takes time, which I can't seem to find any of.  So I begged her to be the giraffe and she finally caved.  They both looked so cute. 

So on May 17th, they performed it for the school and that night for the parents. My mom came up and watched.  They did such a good job.  Kameni loved it on stage.  Deilen you could tell that operas are not up his alley.  But he was a good sport and did what he had to do to get it over with.  I was so proud of them.