Long lost post: Bug's Birthday Party

I have recently realized as I have gone through my posts that I never posted about Bug's birthday. Since my girls only get friend birthday parties on their even years I will never live it down if I don't post about it. After all this blog is my substitute for a scrapbook.

Not only does my Chadley love insects and had such big eyes when she was a baby, but she is also my social butterfly. This is why I call her bug. Her friendliness was also the cause of a dilemma for me as this was her year for a friend party. There is quite a large group of kids her age in the neighborhood that she plays with, not to mention her friends from daycare and her friends from school. I felt guilty about limiting her guest list to 10 plus her sisters. But a girl has to draw a line somewhere, or else she might as well go crazy. And NO ONE wants that. Lucky for me one of my friends introduced me to a perfect solution for my dilemma.

We went to a local gymnastics place. The kids loved it. They had relay races, bouncing competitions, and parachute activities. It was perfect for a bunch of energetic 5-6 year olds. I didn't have to clean my house, be in charge of activities or stress about carpools. The party host was so cute with the kids. It was fantastic. I'm going to have to remember this place when Boo gets older.
Here are the pictures.

 Some of the cute kids at the party. They were all so sweet, talented and so well behaved. Bug has some great friends.

The Gymnasium.

 Playing with the Parachute. They had a great time.

My princess, the birthday girl.

Blowing out her candle.

We had a great turnout. I was so glad so many could come. I am so grateful for our neighborhood and the great friends my girls have.

I love my Bug so much and the energy she brings to our home. I can't imagine life without her.

Count my many blessings. Name them one by one.

Today was a bit stressful so I'm going to follow some good advice and start listing things I am grateful for today....
I am grateful for our second car that we just got today. My sister-in-law sold it to us. This car is going to make it possible for me to get to work in the fall and I will be the master of my time. :)

I am grateful for businesses like Barnes & Noble who recognize that teachers use a lot of their own money to buy supplies for their classrooms and so they offer a discount for us. With my gift-card I was able to buy a few new books for my classroom!
I am grateful for a wonderful daughter who loves to help out around the house. She is going to be a wonderful mommy someday.

Monkey's Native American project

 I am grateful for this guy who is willing to take time out of his long day to register the car, let me go for a long walk and scrub my floor. I'm so lucky he is mine.

Us at the Cheesecake factory at City Creek

 I am grateful for that spunky, artistic 6 year old who marches to the beat of her own drum. Sometimes her quiet stubbornness drives me crazy, but I love that she is her own individual.

Girls at the zoo

I am also grateful for my sweet, silly, tender 3 year old. I love that she loves to cuddle and give me kisses. She is learning so much so quickly. I am grateful that she is doing really well with her potty training. Just in time for daycare to start. Hooray!
I am also grateful for a good job as much as I am stressing out about it right now and a good support system.
I am grateful for family that is close by and the opportunity I have to spend time with them.

Bryan as the evil Chauvelin and Kelsey as the beautiful Marguerite in the Scarlet Pimpernel

I really am blessed.

Summary of our summer

An overview of our summer so far.

Monkey got her PhD at the end of her 3rd grade year!

Bug did a great job and looked beautiful at her Kindergarten Program. We loved her teacher!

Monkey made a fire for their indoor campout.

Sleeping in their "tent".

Selling Lemonade!

Wishing Andrea Farewell for 18 months.

Meeting up with far-away friends.

Free concerts in the park.

Celebrated our Nation's holiday with a children's parade, good food, movies and fireworks

At the zoo we found a monkey...

And a Boo!

We had a Thacker Reunion where we went to Welfare Square....

And a local splash pad. We love being with cousins.

We went camping with my family.

And we hiked to Donut Falls. My girls are still talking about the trip!

We have had a great summer! It's so nice to have a long break to spend with my family.

The Lost Year

This year will forever be known as my lost year. I was so focused with teaching and Michelangelo kept the camera at his studio so I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I would have liked during the year. So some pictures are borrowed and some events are not recorded with pictures. I think I got most of the important ones though. Here is my attempt at a quick catch up.

In the spring Monkey turns 8 and Bug turns 5!

 For my Dad's Birthday we went on a Penguin Excursion at The Living Planet Aquarium

. This penguin laid beneath Bug's feet for most of the visit and kept all the other penguins at bay. It was pretty funny.

 I took the girls to our Friend's campout this summer all by myself. Michelangelo had to work and I was pretty proud of myself for pulling it off. It was also nice to know there were plenty of friends around to help if I needed it. We had a lot of fun.

 For my side of the family's extend family reunion we went to Cove Fort and Bryce Canyon. It was beautiful! I love being with my family.

 All the girls started school. I started teaching for my first full year. Monkey started 3rd grade in the Spectrum program. Bug started Kindergarten. Boo started Daycare at the High School. They take great care of her and she gets to be with her sister for part of the day.

I began the school year with my own class of 2nd graders. They are the cutest people in the world. I love being their teacher!

 Monkey and Michelangelo entered the State Fair. This was Monkey's first time.

 Michelangelo won the Grand Prize award and First place in the Professional Sculpture category! In other art related news; Michelangelo made a strippling warrior sculpture to go along with the 2000 young men that marched in the Bountiful Handcart Days Parade. It was so popular Deseret Book has started selling them in their store. He also continues to receive orders from all over the country for his Native American Lacrosse pieces. Things are going really well for him.

 We spent alot of time on the Soccer Fields this year with both Monkey and Bug playing Soccer. Monkey is getting pretty good! Bug is starting to get the hang of it and loves making new friends each game. Boo loves to play games on the sidelines.

Boo and I had our Birthdays. Boo turned 3. I am 10 times that plus a year. Boo loved blowing out the candles but got a little confused when everyone sang Happy Birthday to Mommy as well.

Thanks giving was wonderful. Monkey was in the school musical, "Annie", and she and Bug were also in a singing group called the Gingerbread Kids. Monkey had 5 or 6 solos depending on which night it was and Bug kept us laughing withe her antics. She finally figured out that if she wants a solo next year she has to sing all the time this year. Needles to say the last two performances were much improved. Lets just hope she gets a solo next year.

Christmas was wonderful! The girls were so cute together and we had a grand time with family. I may post more about this later.

I got a camera for Christmas so hopefully I will be better at posting. My goal is once a month.

Photo taken by Amy Carlston at http://serve-sunshine.blogspot.com

 Despite being a lost year 2012 was a great year. I am so excited for 2013!

Yeah for Utah!

 On the 22nd and the 23rd we celebrated this great state we live in. The actual day was Monday, but we did most of our celebrating the weekend leading up to Monday.
I love my hometown parade. It's the biggest one in the area next to Salt Lake but it still has that hometown feel to it. My parents stake created a float for the parades so we went with my inlaws to see it in the pre-parade show. My mother in law helped with the flowers and my father in law helped with the penguins.

Every year we go to the cemetery to watch the fireworks. This year they did not dissappoint.

 The next day we went to the park for the fair. We met up with both sides of the family and had a lot of fun. Monkey was too big to go on the swings so Bug had to go by herself. It was kind of a sad moment for me. My girls are growing up. They did go on the inflatable obstacle course together. We tried to no avail to get Boo to go on the swings with her cousin G. My niece was sure cute on the swings. Luigi and Tyler attempted the rock wall and there was yummy fair food for all. Afterwards we crashed.  It was a great weekend!

My cute Dad always serving

Happy Birthday Utah!