Kindergarten Field Day

Haley had her first field day in Kindergarten. She was so excited about this field day and was constantly reminding me about it. I signed up to bring water balloons and volunteer for the two hours of the actual event, from 9-11. I don't know what got into me that made me sign up for the water balloons but boy was I sorry that I did. Brett was out of town for work so I was on my own to fill and tie up the balloons. It was pure and complete hell!! My fingers actually received blisters on them that opened up and hurt so bad. First note to self...do not under any circumstance sign up to bring water balloons to any function ever again!

A fun letter was sent home days before field day warning us parents that our children would get wet. Knowing that their were going to be water balloons there I assumed that was what the warning was for. With that assumption came the thought, "how wet are they really going to get, I'm sure not that wet." Second note to self...do not assume! Well, I know I have been told before not to assume, but I am not a quick study so I continue to assume...my assumption was way off!! The water balloons were the least amount of wetness Haley received that day!! Which leads me to my third and final note to self for future field days...do not put girls in white tee shirts when they are going to get wet!!

Enough said!!!

More fun field day experiences...

Memorial Day 2009

We had a nice Memorial day, today. We started off our day with a visit to a local convalescent home to dance for the residence there. I wasn't sure how the kids would take to it, how they would behave but surprisingly they were really good and friendly and after warming up a little to everyone they walked around and said Hi and talked to different people. Not everyone from the dance studio went, most of the dancers were from the younger classes, Mikayla's and Cara's. So Sydney and Haley were pretty much on their own. Haley performed here Mickey Mouse Dance with only Mrs. Brenda by her side. She was fantastic. She smiled allot and looked liked she was having allot of fun.

After we were done with the convalescent home we went over to the duck park in Boulder City. Everyone had their swimsuits for the splash pad and a picnic lunch for eating. It was very crowded, but I managed to find a scrap of shade to sit in so I was happy. I forgot a book so I spent most of the time taking pictures, I love doing that. Brayden even went in the water a little, which is unusual for him. He does not like the water spraying on him, but he does like swimming in a pool. After everyone was tired of the water and play park we went over to the lake part to feed the ducks. It was a fun and tiring day, Brayden and Mikayla both passed out on the way home and slept until 4:30 pm when I woke them up!!

Logandale Fair 2009

Haley and Mikayla danced again at the Longandale Fair this year. Last year I thought it was not so great because of all the dirt and dust. When we left, Brett and I both felt like we needed major showers to remove the several layers of dirt left on us. Well, this year we did not have the dirt and dust to contend with, we had the rain!!! It rained the entire day, right up to when they had to line up on stage. And needless to say I was not well prepared. No umbrellas, No heavy coats, Not even long sleeve shirts, luckily I had the girls light weight zip up hoodies in the car from the day before.

We made the best of the day and it really was not all that bad, we actually manage to smile and laugh at times! The girls got to go on some rides and eat all the good fair food, (yummy fried food). We even drank hot cocoa and ate kettle corn while sitting on a bench in the rain. The girls loved that, me not so much. And at five in the evening they were able to get on stage and perform their routines in front of a pretty good crowd.

Some Easter Fun!

Easter was fun, not too much going on this year for us. It was pretty quiet, well as quiet as it can be with three kiddos running off candy highs. Saturday morning before heading off to the fair we colored our Easter eggs. That went pretty quickly, Mikayla was not into it as much as Haley was, so Haley pretty much took over and got it all done in a snap. Saturday night, in the hopes that the Easter Bunny would visit us we left out our Easter baskets, decorated eggs, and carrots. We woke up to a whole bunch of chocolate treats in our baskets, High School Musical 3 DVD, a few new books, and we can't forget the new toothbrushes we found in our baskets surrounded by all the chocolate!! Brayden tried to clean up the mess the Easter Bunny made with the carrots, but quickly realized he does not like raw carrots!! The Easter Bunny left a trail of carrots on the floor around where he had hidden the eggs. Mikayla was just relieved that he did not go upstairs, she was worried about that. Next year, Bunny, could you be a little neater when eating the carrots we leave for you.

Hiking and Rock Climbing...What a Day!

Haley and I had a very nice day with each other at Red Rock Canyon. We began the day with a hike along the children's discovery trail. We found our way to a beautiful waterfall. After exploring the area and standing under the freezing cold water from the waterfall we decided it was time to refuel. We had a picnic lunch on the highest rock while we talked and watched others enjoy the waterfall. I have wanted to bring Haley here for a while now, ever since I went with Mikayla and Brayden and the playgroup. I knew Haley would love it, so I decided to plan a special day with her. I decided to bring our Book of Mormon Stories book, and while we were sitting on that pretty large rock, looking down onto the beautiful waterfall I read to her about Joseph Smith and how the Book of Mormon came to us. I was impressed with Haley's knowledge, she knew allot more then I had assumed, go primary!! We talked about prayer, receiving answers to prayers, and faith. I loved hearing her talk about what she knows, and hearing the faith she has in knowing that Heavenly Father will answer her prayers just like he answered Joseph Smith's. After we were done with all the eating and talking we had our "energy pills" aka Hershey Kisses, and headed back out on the trail. We got back to the car and Haley was ready for more, she wanted to go rock climbing on the big rocks that we passed on the way to the Discovery Trail. I have to admit I was a little hesitant, I wasn't sure either of us were up for that but she really wanted to so I gave in and we went over to the Calico Rocks. Here is just one of our views from on top of some pretty high rocks.



Boy, was I surprised with just how well Haley did. I learned a little more about my beautiful almost 6 year old, like how determine she can be when she has set her mind to something. She does not give up, she was able to put her fear aside and concentrate on the task at hand. She is a very determine little girl. At times my fear was a little overwhelming, I wanted to turn around and find another way or another rock to climb, but Haley just kept persevering. I overheard her saying to herself "I can do this, I can do this" and "don't be scared, I can do this" words can not describe how proud I was of her and her determination.




We had a blast and both of us agreed that this is something we will definitely do again. More then once Haley told me how much fun she had and how grateful she was that we took the time to do this. It sure makes scripture study more fun!!

My Coupon Adventure

Okay, so I started the whole coupon thing this week with very high expectations. A friend has shown me the ins and outs of CVS and coupons. She showed me an example of her savings, she had a total purchase price of 30+ dollars and her actual out of pocket expense was 1 dollar and change. Now I'm thinking, I can do that!

I don't think I'm a crazy spender. On the contrary, I think I'm more of a tight spender, so coupon cutting should be right up my ally. I love the whole organizing and filing thing and I love, love, love saving money, it makes me feel so good about my purchases (kinda like my own little "high")! Their are two things that detract from the positive image I have of coupon cutting; one, how time consuming it can be and two, having my kids with me when I go to the store. If I can control my time obsessing about the coupons and the websites and try to go to the store when Brett's home this will work!

I began yesterday by going through all the coupons I already have. I cut, separated and filed all of them. I'm still trying to find a system that works for me, I'm not quite their yet. I guess it will be trial and error. Their are a few web sites that were recommended; they are, coupons.com, moneysavingmom.com and iheartcvs.com. After visiting those sites I printed, cut and organized the coupons I was going to use today at CVS. I have to admit that being on the computer and putting together a money saving plan was great, I loved that part.

This morning I woke up ready for the task at hand, saving money! Coupons and children in hand I headed to CVS. We arrived, and as I was unloading the kids I realized I did not grab my wallet, NICE!! So, back in the car we all went and I drove back home to get my forgotten wallet. I am pretty sure I did not look like the pro I wanted to look like. I had coupons falling out of the envelope I had put them in, Brayden and Mikayla fighting over who was going to drive the car portion of the cart we choose (you know the carts that have the car attached to the front, love them)! Oh, and did I mention Brayden was barefoot. Yes, in all my excitement I ran out the door without putting shoes on him. I did manage to make it through the shopping experience without too many bruises. Even with the little frustrations I felt it was a positive experience. I will continue my coupon adventures, hopefully with even greater savings then I had today!

So here it is my big savings, I spent 33 dollars and saved 22 dollars. Not bad for my first time. Now that I have some CVS "bucks" it can only get better, go me!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's day to everyone!

We were visited by leprechauns this year! The morning started out normal, well as normal as possible I should say. Mikayla had preschool to get ready for and was quite excited because the class was going to go on a leprechaun hunt. After we were dressed in our green, I headed down stairs to start on breakfast. The girls and Brayden stayed up stairs to finish getting ready and clean up. When breakfast was ready they came down stairs and started telling me about something trivial that had happen while they were up stairs. When we turned our attention to the breakfast that had been prepared, the food was green!!

We were all shocked, Haley was full of questions and finally just decided that the leprechauns, being as quick as they are, had made it past us while we were talking, and zapped our food green. She opened the refrigerator to get the milk out and discovered 2 cups of green milk waiting for her. She was so excited, she could not stop talking about it. All day that was her conversation of choice.

Mikayla got scared and just wanted to leave. It took her a while to warm up to the idea, but she eventually did and ate the green food and drank the green milk! She liked the milk the best because it had leprechaun "poop" at the bottom, this is her story and she is stickin to it!!

Throughout the day Mikayla was leery of our home and would not go into a room by herself. She did not want to run into any leprechauns! She did get to go on her leprechaun hunt at school. They didn't find any leprechauns; however, upon their return to the classroom they discovered a mess, paper shamrocks covered the floor and chairs were on top of tables!

We know that leprechauns only come out and wander around on St. Patrick's day, so the next day Mikayla was good, except for the jokes I played on her!!

Brayden will eat anything and was just happy to be eating breakfast!

The Henderson St. Patrick's Day Festival

We went to Henderson's annual St. Patrick's day festival for a fun family day. If it weren't for the length of the lines it would have been a perfect day. Even with all the waiting it was fun. The girls and I went on the scrambler and laughed so much my side hurt.









Here is what daddy and Brayden did while the girls and I had fun riding crazy rides and laughing our sides off! They had some father/son bonding time, sharing the kettle corn. Brayden loves his dad very much and is so excited when he is home. He loves riding in "daddy's truck" and laying on the couch with daddy. So, it was no surprise to me that he just sat in his stroller without even squirming once and listened to daddy's every word! He can't get out of the stroller fast enough when he is with me, he won't even sit still for a second!!


Haley and Mikayla went on the bumpy slide. Haley gave herself a big shove and enjoyed the ride. Mikayla on the other hand had to really concentrate on this one! It was like, after watching all the other riders the entire time we were in line, she still was not sure what was going to happen to her at the next bump!

We even let the kids pick one "carnival game" to play. They chose the duck game, each of them had to pick a duck out of the pond to see what prize they would win! They all won the same thing, obviously every duck was a winner, good thing for our family!!

And of course a festival is not a festival without good food and good music to listen and dance to! Boy did we find the good food, we had kettle corn, chocolate covered strawberries and bananas, and really good strawberry lemonade! Their was a band that played danceable (is that even a word!?!) music, just ask Brayden, he just about danced his pants off!!


This was a fun and tiring day. We love our little city of Henderson and all the fun events it puts on. We can't wait for the Art Fair now, Haley and Mikayla will be dancing at that one, on the main stage, yea!!!