Beach Party!!!

For Kenyon's 7th birthday he wanted a beach party. I was very excited about that! He had a great party.

We had a seafood buffet with shrimp, fish n' chips, and "chicken of the sea."

There were Shark Attack cupcakes, octopus cakeballs, life preserver donuts, life savers, swedish fish, goldfish, and tropical fruit salad.

They played in the pool and sandbox. We had a volleyball net set up and we played volleyball with beachballs.

He had a great day, and his favorite gift was a giant "Wild Animals" book.

What a great day! Happy Birthday, Kenyon! I love you a ton!

Soccer

Cruz played soccer for the first time and absolutely fell in love with it. I think this season was just the first of many soccer seasons to come.

Mara's Dance Recital

Mara took a dance class and loved every minute of it. The day of her recital she was so excited and she looked so pretty. She is pretty shy, so I wasn't sure how the recital would go, but the shyness won out over the excitement. She did a few moves here and there, but mostly she just followed the other girls around with her head down. Poor thing, she was just so scared. But she still enjoyed her dance class and can't wait until she gets to start again next year.

She also loved the cupcakes she helped me make for the recital.

Red and White

We had a blast at the red and white game this year.

The family with Eric Weddle.

On the 50 yard line.

Mara was in heaven getting her picture with the cheerleaders.

Go Utes!!!

Jungle Diorama

Cruz made this awesome jungle diorama for school. He got a perfect grade on it. Of course, how could he not. The teacher especially loved the waterfall. I think he did a fantastic job painting the trees and plants in for the background. And thanks to Kenyon for loaning him all the animals!

Great job , Cruz!

Koen's Birthday Party

On April 2nd (yes I realize it's May) we had a party for Koen. A lot of family came, and it was really fun to all get together. I decided to do a kite flying party because that's something everyone can enjoy and because it was April. The perfect time of year.

It was a little chilly outside, but the wind was perfect. Everyone got in on the kite flying. Then we came inside for barbeque sandwiches.

Koen nibbled a bit of his cake while I was trying to get a picture.

We had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came!

Koen's Turns 1!

Koen turned 1 on March 31st. My little baby is now a big baby - even though he is little.


I tried to keep the day very low key so he didn't get too overstimulated and just planned a very little celebration for him in the evening. Thank goodness the boys were in school. The day was going quite nicely until they got home. They were so excited about it being his birthday that they were a bit (and by "a bit" I mean "a lot") overwhelming for him. They had him so keyed up in just a couple of hours that he was a complete wreck.

We had to take a break after opening his presents. I sent the kids downstairs and spent some very quiet time holding Koen and helping him relax. He was finally ready for the last half of the party.

He didn't know what to think of the cake at first. I don't think he like the feel of the frosting, but once he got through the frosting to the cake it was all over. He had a blast with it and I couldn't believe how much he actually ate.

Birthday cake from Shari Schempp on Vimeo.

This is how he looked by the time he was finished:

Koen was very aware that this day was all about him and he definately enjoyed it. I sure do love you, Fuzzy!

Basketball Season

Cruz's basketball season came to a close in March. He had a great season. Here are a couple of highlights:

Cruz - basketball rebound shot from Shari Schempp on Vimeo.

Cruz - basketball block from Shari Schempp on Vimeo.

Breaking My Silence and a Baby in the Snow

I know it has been very quiet on here for quite some time. I kept telling myself I wasn't blogging because I was just too busy, but that wasn't really the reason. Here's the real reason - I needed a break. I really needed to take a little break from blogging for a while. I guess 2 months qualifies as "a while" because I found myself waking up this morning thinking, "I want to blog today." It has been a very long time since I've thought that. So here I am, back, rejuvenated, and ready to blog.

Here's the first item I'm catching up on...

Koen went out to play in the snow for the first time in March.

He didn't like it.

Not one bit.

It took a half hour to get him dressed to go outside and he stayed out for about 2 minutes.

But I was determined to get my picture, no matter how much he hated it. That's the kind of mom I am. My children are going to need counseling one day.

Our Little Author

Mara worked hard writing a very long "story" to give to her Uncle Jake. Although she can write actual letters, it was line after line after line of little scribbles. He looked at it and said how great it was. Then he asked her what her favorite part of the story was. Her reply, "I didn't read it!"

Pinewood Derby

Cruz competed in his 1st Pinewood Derby on Thursday. He was so excited.

One of the highlights happened at school earlier that day. A few older kids in his pack saw him and asked if he was going to be racing in the derby. He thought that was very cool!

He picked out the car shape. Then Karl cut it out and they sanded it together. Cruz did all the painting. Karl was very adamant that this car was Cruz's car, not Karl's car. Cruz was in charge of everything. Here's the finished product:

Just so you know, the red paint is flames and the yellowish paint is lightning. Why he chose to have the numbers "909" is anyone's guess. I suppose he just thought they looked cool.

He did such a good job on it, but we couldn't convince him that it needed weights added. I think he just really liked how it turned out and didn't want to do anything to change it.

Karl Giving Cruz a pep talk while they are waiting for their turn to weigh-in. FYI, his weight was slightly less than half the allowed weight. So you are probably wondering how that went with such a light car.

I bet you can't guess which one is Cruz's car. I'll give you a hint... it's in the position you would expect the lightest car to be in.

This is pretty much how the night went. He actually came in 5th on 2 of his 6 runs, so he wasn't dead last. And on an unofficial run he came in 4th. I think he was pretty excited about that one.

So even though he didn't win, he had a ton of fun and was so excited to be a part of it all.

On the way home he decided that next year he wanted to add some weights to his car. What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?

Growing Up

I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that my kids are growing up.

On the one hand I love that they are getting more independent. I see the joy when they master something new and I get so excited for them. I love that I don't have to do quite so much for them. I love seeing them make good decisions.

On the other hand I hate that they don't need me quite as much as they used to. I hate that they can do things for themselves and don't have to ask for help. I hate seeing them make bad decisions. (The latter is not usually the case. I have very good kids.)

Practically from the day my kids are born I sing to them at bedtime. Every night. That is the one thing that is never missed. They get to pick the song and it is usually a silly song that makes us laugh.

The other night when I asked Cruz what song he wanted he said he didn't want one. This has NEVER happened. Not once. A little shocked by his answer I asked if he was sure. He said he was. I asked why he didn't want a song and he just shrugged his shoulders. I was a little confused for a moment and then understanding dawned. He was too old. I asked if he was too old for a bedtime song. He gave a proud little smile and nodded his head. Two things happened at once; I felt such joy seeing him feel a little more grown-up and a little more indepenent, and my heart broke just a little. How many other things that we do all the time, that I take for granted, will he soon be too old to do?

My kids are growing up and I hate love am dealing with it.

Keyon's Idea of Fun

In case you are wondering what this is, it is actually a little peak into my six year old son's brain. This is what he does for fun. While other boys are out playing ball, watching TV, or playing video games my son is drawing venn diagrams on his magnadoodle showing the relationship between himself and his brother. One circle is Kenyon, the other is Koen, and the overlapping section represents how they looked alike as babies.

Get ready for a bragging moment. I have to point out that not only is he using a venn diagram properly, but he is able to apply it directly to himself. What six year old does this? Is this normal six year old behavior? And how many magnadoodles in this world have a venn diagram drawn on them?

Cruz's Baptism

This past week has been all about Cruz. His birthday on Tuesday, his first day at cub scouts on Wednesday, and he was baptized after his basketball game on Saturday. Whew! My boy is growing up way too fast.

Cruz was baptized and confirmed by his dad. He had lots of support from family. So many members of our family were able to come and that just made it so special. The Spirit was so strong and it was such a wonderful experience to know that he was understanding just how important this day was. He is such a good boy, and I am so very proud of him.

Cub Scout

Since Cruz turned 8, he is now a Wolf Cub Scout. So many milestones! He got to go to his first den meeting the day after his birthday. He was very excited about that! His grandparents gave him all his cub scout stuff for his birthday, so he was ready to go. He loved it, and the best part... the Pinewood Derby is in 2 weeks. More on that later.

Cruz is 8!

On the 2nd Cruz turned 8. He wanted to have a pirate birthday party. The best parts of the party were this amazing cake (thank you , Mom!)


and my dad, who played the part of a pirate and kept all the little pirates in line. He was hillarious, and the kids all loved it. He had my mom and brother, Karl, and me laughing so hard. He REALLY got into his role.


Most important of all, Cruz had a great time.


Happy Birthday, Capt'n Cruz!


* I'll be putting up more party details on my craft blog sometime tomorrow if anyone is interested.

A Dancer is Born

Mara started dance today.

I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled she is.

Already?

I have great footage of this event, but I haven't loaded it yet and probably won't get too it for a few more days, so I just wanted to put this out there sans pictures for the time being.


My baby is walking.


Yes he is only nine months old, yes he is only in the 3rd percentile on his height, and yes he is way to little (both in height and age) to be walking. It just looks wrong. But does that stop him?


And yes, he is extremely proud of himself. (And so am I even though I am extremely sad at the same time.)

Sledding

Cruisin' down the hill.

Sometimes with a sled...

sometimes without.

Mara wasn't too into the sledding, but she can make great snow angels.

Christmas!

Here are some highlights: