First day of school

Everyone loves the first day of school....especially the Mom!  It's so nice to have a quiet house for a few hours.  I've been able to really focus on Dallin (he is doing online school), and also have been able to get things done around the house. 

These are our sweet children ready for their first day of school....

 I tried to talk Elsa into wearing the shirt that I made for her, but she really wanted to wear this one.  

Calvin loved his "Thor" shirt and look how nice he looks in his new jeans and shoes.  (We'll see how long the knees hold out....he is so hard on jeans.)

 Abby was smiling, but she said the sun was in her eyes.  (We were standing in the shade)

We got Elsa a new backpack this year because she had used her other one since Kindergarten and it was pretty worn out.  I found this at Very Jane for a REALLY good deal.  Best part about it.....Elsa loves it!

Last fling

This is what we did the Saturday before the first day of school.  We just hung out at home and played on the water slide.

Dallin wasn't there because he was on a camp out with the Scouts.  Elsa was out there earlier but when I got my camera she was done. 

Doesn't it look so fun and refreshing?!

Milestone for Abby

Abby lost her first tooth!  Can our baby really be starting to lose her teeth?  I mean didn't she just get them in?  O.k. o.k......I know it's been a few years since she got all her teeth in, but seriously can life just slow down a little.

She has been kind of wimpy about the whole tooth pulling thing.  She wouldn't let Clint or I even touch it, so after many times of trying to pin her down and pull it out, we let it come out on it's own.  Well, she was eating lunch one day last week and it came out in her sandwich and she swallowed it.  So she and Calvin wrote a note to the tooth fairy and she put under her pillow and the next day when she checked it she found her note still there....the tooth fairy must have been so busy that night collecting teeth that she(or he) didn't make it to our house.  At least that's what I told her.  So she put under her pillow the next night and the tooth fairy must've been REALLY busy because she/he didn't make it again, but while she was watching t.v. that morning the tooth fairy sneaked into her room and left a shiny quarter.  Abby was thrilled! 

Where has this month gone?

Do the months seem to be going by faster and faster for anyone else?  It seems to me that July just started, and now August is upon us.  Well, we've had quite the month.  With our family reunion, a piano recital, trying to stay cool yet not bored this summer, we've had some great times.
First was the Anderson family reunion.  It was quite the experience!  Let me just say that we ALL, the adults, learned valuable lessons with how to do our future reunions.  We still had a good time catching up on what we've all been up to, and seeing how much each others kids have grown since the last time we saw them.  Most of all, the cousins had a blast with each other and that is what made it ALL worth the effort.
Then, the next weekend, Calvin had his last piano recital.  The theme was "A night at the movies".  Calvin played two songs, "Trust in me" from Jungle Book and the theme from Inspector Gadget.  He did a great job and we are so proud of him.  His piano teacher announced that she was done teaching for the summer and if we wanted to continue with the lessons we'd have to call and put Calvin on the schedule for the fall.  Well, since the deal was that Calvin would only have to take for one year, he said he didn't want to take lessons anymore.  Hopefully he'll practice on his own, because he has a real talent for the piano.  Anyway, Elsa mentioned that she would like to take piano lessons, so we'll probably put her in his place.
The rest of the month, we have just hung out here in Vegas and tried staying cool by swimming every now and then.  Calvin is working on his Aquanaut pin for cub scouts.  I've been teaching him different strokes, floats and other techniques he needs to know.  So all he has to do is practice and perfect them.  Oh yeah, on Tuesday of this week Calvin received his Webelos badge, compass point badge and a few achievement pins.  He's been really working hard both at den meetings and at home.  We are so proud of him!
Also, Dallin left to go to scout camp for his first time.  He was so excited to go and it wasn't as hard to let him go as others said it would be.  I know he's in good hands and is having the time of his life!  Hopefully he's taking a lot of pictures.  He sent him with a camera, a water proof one, so if he is taking pictures their probably underwater. Hahaha!
Well, here is a bunch of pictures of our happenings in July...............

The LOVED the little "water park" that we set up for them!

They also enjoyed the pirate treasure hunt that Uncle Micah set up for them too (with the help of the Uncles).

Of course they LOVED setting off fireworks!

 Check out the cool spect's Abby got from the treasure box!

 ...ooooo!  They glow in the dark!

 I don't know who this guy is...just some homeless fella who kept comin' around.
Love ya Uncle Ceddy!

I love this picture!

 Elsa and her buddy!

 Grandpa playing with Massey and Rebeca

 This is what we, girls did on the 4th while Grandpa, Uncle Clint and Uncle Jeff went to get and set up the flag pole.

 This is what the boys did!

Here's the Men putting up the flag pole.

This little movie is of the kids opening their loot.

Abby is so happy

Why is she happy?  Because summer school is over!  For the month of June, Abby had been taking a summer reading class at Brookman Elementary.  She loved it except for the part when she had to be there at 8:00 in the morning.  (I didn't like that either).  I'm just glad we don't live too far from the school and Calvin is old enough to stay home with Elsa for a few minutes while I took Abby to school and picked her up.  At the end of the course they had a little presentation to let us, parents, know what they did in school for the month.  Abby's group theme was "Animal tracks" and they sang a couple of songs about  transportation, BUT they were dressed up like animals.  It was too cute, and I can't believe she is our last kindergartener, or should I say, 1st grader.  She did really well then AND in summer school.  She likes to read a little more now, not totally but she's getting there.  With a little practice she'll be reading independently in no time!  Her teacher said she is ready for 1st grade WOO HOO!  Here are some pictures and videos....

A song for Dallin

The girls love to tease!  They especially love to tease Dallin!  But, Dallin does his share of teasing too.  For the past month he has been at Grandma's and Papa's helping them around their home and earning money for scout camp.  He has really enjoyed himself.  Let me just say that it has kind of been nice to have his and the girls teasing gone for a while, but after a month I'm starting to miss it a little.  Anyway, for some reason Dallin really does not like this song.  The girls and I like it and the girls LOVE to sing it for Dallin all the time.  Every time we call him, they always sing it over the phone.  All I can say is.....Sisters!  You can't live with them, you can't live without them.  Enjoy! Oh, and Abby's got a good little voice.  I think!

Our happenings in June

Man!  I don't know what's wrong with me lately.  I have not been too good with updating our blog.  Well, I'll do my best remembering things that we did.
Well, first of all, it was Fathers day.  Clint had a nice day.  The kids and I made him breakfast, which was his favorite, Biscuits and Gravy.  Then, we went to church, then we came home and the kids gave him his gifts that they made in church and the gift we all bought for him.  Now he can listen to "his" music anytime he wants to without torturing us.  (Just kidding, we like his music). 

 What else did we do this month....oh yeah,  Abby and I made "pinkalicious" and "bluealicious" cupcakes.  Abby's choice, of course!  They were delicious!

Then one Monday for F.H.E., Calvin did the lesson.  He talked about making good and bad choices.

The kids had fun with this one.

Here's Elsa reading "Rapunzel". 

Smarty pants!

Yes!  School's out!  I'm sure the excitement of it all will wear off momentarily (for me), but for now I'm enjoying them being home.  Although Abby's taking a summer school class to help her with her reading.  She loves it even though she tells me every morning so far that she feels too sick to go.  She ends up going and when I pick her up she always tells me how much fun she had.
The other two got some awards in the last awards ceremony.  Elsa got the AB honor roll, the Library Reading award, 100% attendance award, Star Student and the Field day award.  They got some of these through out the year on little dog tags and on the award ceremony days they got to wear their dog tags all day, then when school ended for the year they finally got to take their necklaces home.  Calvin got AB Honor roll, A Honor roll, Star Student and Field Day.  He didn't get the A honor roll dog tag because he said his teacher was out of them. I can attest that he did achieve the A honor roll (it's a shame he never got that one).  They both could've gotten the Star Reader award because they both read all the time, they just don't do their homework regularly like they should and write down what they read.  Next year we're going to try much harder to get that done, so they can get credit for their reading hours.
Abby was promoted to 1st grade (pictures and video to come later) and she is super excited to go to school all day and eat lunch in the cafeteria.  We are very proud of all our kids.

This was a report on Canada.  He was proud of it.

The only picture I got before my battery died.  I was so mad at myself for not making sure the battery was charged and ready to go.  Good thing for good friends who let me use their camera and are making me a DVD of the program.  When I get those I'll do a whole post about it!  It was so cute and I was so sad that I could not take my own photos and video.  Especially because this was our last one!  But, like I said, good thing for good friends who understand!