May-One Of The Busiest Months of the Year!

I think I say this about every month of the year, but seriously, May is so busy! It started out with Taylor's birthday party, baseball for B, softball for Tay, I ran in the local Medical Center fun run (placing third in my age division-three miles in 29 minutes-not bad for a chunky old woman!) We went to my nephew's birthday party at the Jackson Hole Rec Center-swimming a couple of Saturdays ago. I'm in the middle of spring cleaning and dejunking-the garbage can is full and garbage day isn't until Friday-AAAhhh! I went with Taylor to her achievement day. They learned about family history. A tid bit of info here, Tay's fifth great grandpa is the Martin Harris-witness of the Book Of Mormon. Check out the wallet in the Church History Museum in SLC-Shane, his mom representing Shane's deceased dad, and his grandpa submitted it along with Dallin H. Oaks (quorum of the twelve) another relative of Martin Harris. May brought nice weather allowing us to play outside, have cousins come play, and our kids were able to go play at their cousin's house too. We have mowed the lawn twice now and have a ton of weeds growing in the flower gardens! May is also the month for field trips, end of the year tests, and grade time for Shane. Summer is on the horizon hooray! May is still not over yet; however, I love this time of year busy as it "MAY" be no pun intended!!!

Here's a bunch of pictures of our month so far!

Brennen's Field Trip to Tauphus Park Zoo and Playland

He always has to take goofy pictures of himself

On top of the ferris wheel-how did he talk me into going on it with him???

Fun on the Octopus

Medical Center Fun Run-I'm in the middle in a white shirt

Coming in to the finish-I'm the one in the front

Finishing

My cheering section! B is taking the picture-I think I'm ready to pass out here.

After the kids left for school today, Parker grabbed his backpack and said "by mom, I'm going to school!" He wants to be big poor kid, he still has three years before Kindergarten.

I helped him pretend he was going to school. He went outside and came in the "school" door. He took off his backpack and came into the table to do some "school work".

"School Work" Coloring Spiderman!

Parker wanted Tay's goggles on. I couldn't get him to take them off. This is what he looked like for most of the day.

Jumping on our tramp with cousins

Tay's family party-just so you all know, Taylor does have nice new jeans without holes in the knees. I don't know why she put these ones on for her party! Oh well, self expression I guess.

Tay's friend party-The balloon game-tie a balloon around everyone's ankle. Then try to stomp on eachother's. The person with the last balloon unpopped wins the prize. So much fun to do and watch!

Tay's party jumping

Pizza Hut pizza and cupcakes for food

Our Preemie is Ten Today!

Ten years ago today, Taylor Brooke was born at 10:03 am. She weighed TWO pounds, SIX ounces. I had extreme pre-eclamsia and was rushed in for an emergency c-section nearly losing my own life. In this picture, you can see Shane's wedding band by Taylor's hand. It could fit all the way up her arms and her legs as well to give you an idea of how small she was. Taylor was a miracle baby. She was only on the ventillator for about a day and a half. She breathed on her own at first but then needed that extra help. Tay stayed in the hospital for a month and a half and came home in the three pound range. Taylor has always had a sweet spirit. She is amazing to her dad and I. We call her our little mommy because she is so good to her little brothers. She has no effects of being a preemie and today is a bright, beautiful light in our lives. We love you Tay-Happy Tenth Birthday!!!!

We still have this big bird to remember how small she was!

We were able to start feeding her bottles in the hospital

Before we could feed her bottles, we gavage fed her breast milk. Can I just say that nursing is sooo much easier than pumping!!!

This is Taylor at her preschool graduation. She had an AWESOME teacher!!!!

Kindergarten

First Grade

Second Grade (Baptism dress)

Third Grade

Fourth Grade-Current

First of 5 New Posts! (I'm catching up!!)

BRENNEN'S FIRST PINEWOOD DERBY

This week was Brennen's first Cub Scout Pine Wood Derby races. All month long, Shane and Brennen have been in and out of the garage working on the car. I loved watching Shane teach Brennen how to use the power tools. Brennen was so excited to use them too, which made me a LITTLE nervous!!! He did a great job and almost all of it was done on his own with a little guidance. I was so proud of him! His won a few races and lost some too. It was really fun to watch. One down and two more to go. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next year!

All done and ready to go race!

Brennen and his best friend, Logan

Brennen with his cub scout buddies

The Wolf Pack and their cars

Brennen nervously looking on as his car is ready to be dropped down the track

Daddy Daughter Date 50's Theme

For Activity days, Taylor had a Daddy Daughter 50's date. They were supposed to dress up in the 50's, but who has 50's clothes laying around? I couldn't find anyone with a poodle skirt! Oh well, Tay and Shane rolled up their pants, put on some black shoes and away they went. Janice, Taylor's friend went with them. Her dad was taking a class and couldn't make it back in time. (They found a poodle skirt!) Shane teaches sixth grade with Janice's mom. They all had a blast! I'm so glad they were able to go!

Playdoh Queen

After teaching seven years of preschool, I am the self named Playdoh Queen! Shane needed me to make his class a ton of playdoh for a buoyancy/sinking lesson. I made a ton too much so when the neighbor boy came over to play with Parker, I sent them outside with the playdoh and the playdoh toy box. They had a lot of fun playing in it. Here’s my recipe for anyone who needs some!
2 ½ Cups of flour
½ Cup Salt
3 TBS Wesson Oil (any brand will work!)
1 TBS Alum Powder
2 Cups Boiling Water
Food Coloring (I like to use the color paste instead for more vibrant colors!)
Mix it all together adding enough flour until not sticky anymore. I always triple the recipe for big crowds.

Valley Voices Spring Concert

Taylor has been in a fun singing group called Valley Voices. Tami Nielsen is her director and does an awesome job with all of the kids. Taylor really enjoys singing and dancing. With Valley Voices, she gets the "best of both worlds"! This year's theme was about Disney. Taylor had a speaking part as well as a couple of group numbers. The lighting in the old school gym is not great so I did not get very many pictures. Here's a few of them.

Family Home Evening-ARMOR UP!

Brennen was in charge of family home evening and we decided his lesson would be on the "armor". We found the idea on Sugardoodle.net in the file box under A. There is an Armor of God title that had a couple of fhe ideas on it. Here is a list of the armor from the sight. First importance is the "loins girt about with truth". The loins are the area between the ribs and the hips. The most vulnerable area, and the area of "reproduction" given importance by God (be fruitful and multiply). Being girt with truth means to know right from wrong. To love truth. Knowing the truth will help us make righteous decisions. The breastplate of righteousness protects the heart. Many of the decisions we make are guided by the feeling and emotions of our heart. The Holy Ghost also speaks to our heart. If we protect our heart with the breastplate of righteousness, then our actions will be pleasing to Heavenly Father. Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Learning and understanding all parts of the gospel, (faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, prayer, fasting, etc.) and putting them into action in our lives. This will help us to walk the strait and narrow path of the gospel and keep us on the "right foot". The helmet of salvation. The way we choose to live our earthly life will determine what our eternal life will be like. "A helmet of salvation will guide our thinking all through our days..." (Paul said). The helmet which protects our head, represents salvation and within our head is the knowledge of the gospel plan which we must follow to inherit the Celestial Kingdom. We must always keep this knowledge safe in our minds if we with to return to our Heavenly Father. He didn't just give us things to protect us, he also gave us things to fight back against our enemies. He gave us: 1) the shield of faith- having faith in Jesus Christ and believing that he loves us and watches over us gives us peace and protection. 2) the sword of my spirit -- a sword cannot only defend us but can be used as a weapon against tout enemies. The Holy Ghost acts the same way. He is there in our time of need to help us make correct decisions. He also warns us against dangers. We then had a huge sword fight and had several extra "swords"! It was a fun night to remember to be armored up in the things we need to survive spiritually!

We had to be very creative in making quick armor from scraps at home! To get the feet shields on, I used elastic bands

No fair!!! Let me out of here!