Did's and Didn'ts of last week

I did manage to keep our last week of school much less stressful than years past. We did:
-go to our last day of PE class (soccer)...

-go to the Redlands temple grounds to talk about the importance of family history work...

-have a last day of school celebration at the park with friends where we reviewed what we learned through the year with a game of Time Detective Jeopardy and an ancient coin dig.

We didn't get in our annual Open House for school this year, but we did show off our school room and some of our work to grandparents who stop by!

Pictures of our completed school room:

Creation Board

Time Detective Journals

"Mount Olympus" and Time Line

Ancient Culture Lap Books

I didn't manage to sleep well all week. (notice time that this was posted!!)

I did make it to my 36 week doctors appointment. Here we learned that the baby is small for her gestational age and she is breech. I didn't seem concerned about a breech baby, since I will have a c-section no matter what. But, my doctor did seem a bit concerned, apparently it can turn into an emergency if your water breaks with a breech baby. I have been having irregular contractions all week, so my doctor did recommend getting an off work order (we all know mom's don't really ever get out of "work"), staying off my feet, and drinking lots of water to keep baby in for a little longer.

Ladd and I didn't have any kids with us when we celebrated our ten year anniversary with a nice quiet dinner out. :)

We did celebrate my dad's birthday with a yummy dinner, cake, and ice cream. We didn't manage to get any pictures though because my eldest child, who knows he is not allowed to play with Mom's camera but thought he could handle it, did manage to break our brand new camera right before the celebration. :(

The boys didn't seem to mind that school is over for the summer, and neither did their mom. We are ready for a little break before our life gets flipped upside down with a baby!

Words of Wisdom, by Tanner

"I found out the key to happiness. Be nice to your brother and your mom will let you play the Wii longer. Oh, and it feels good to be nice."

"Now that I am 8, I need 'dude' food, like french fries and root beer."

Wii and junk food, we are off to healthy summer...

Nothing like...

A Man in Uniform!
He wanted pictures of the entire thing:

Tanner started Cub Scouts this month. He LOVES it. He is always bouncing off the walls when he gets home from his meetings-he is filled with excitement. Last night was his first Pack meeting, where he got to wear his uniform and get some awards! He earned his Bobcat and a few other physical fitness awards. I even got a pin because he earned his Bobcat! I am glad the Boy Scouts organization recognizes that mothers have a lot to do with their sons achievements! Any Boy Scout moms out there have a creative way to store those pins?
His pack leader gave a cute lesson about the importance of staying physically active over the summer and the boys did an obstacle course against the parents. Good thing Ladd was there to represent us, because I am really not all that fit right now!

Hooray for Cub Scouts!

Family History

Our final unit of our Time Detectives theme for school this year is Family History. We thought that after studying ancient history, it would be fun to study history that was a little closer to home.

We learned that the best way to learn about Family History is to talk to someone in your family who has lived for a long time. So, I took the boys to my Grandma's house today. Tanner had prepared an interview with her. He did a great job. And, it was fun for me to hear her stories too. I love my Grandma and am so grateful that my kids have such a wonderful great grandma in their lives. She has always been a great example to me. I am so glad we got the interview on video, as I know it is something we will cherish. Blogger couldn't seem to upload my video (maybe because it was too long?) so it's not on the blog. But, if anyone has advice on getting a longer video on the blog, please share!


I also taught a few genetics science classes to the kids where we learned about cells, chromosomes, and genes. It is fun learning about that with siblings who each show family traits, yet all have their individual look.

Making Model Chromosomes...

Getting Ready for Baby...

My wonderful sister in law, Chelsea, had a shower for me a few weeks ago. It was for family and friends from church. Charity got so spoiled with tons of adorable clothes, pink blankets, and HAIR ACCESSORIES! I am so excited for bows and headbands and cute little dresses. Having a girl will be fun-although I will certainly need some instruction on how to do hair. Anyways, I wanted to post the pictures I took of the decorations before the shower started. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the guests as my hands were too full with yummy food or gifts and couldn't get any pictures. Thanks for a great time Chelsea!

The baby pictures in these picture frames are of me! Maybe a little preview of what Charity will look like? A friend in my ward provided a lot of the decorations. She has a boutique with the CUTEST girls clothes that you can check out here.

And here are a few pics of the soon to be big brothers. Now, what will Charity look like?

Sparkling Big Baby Blue Eyes?

Or Melt Your Heart Brown with lashes that never end?

Good thing they are both as cute as can be!

Beethoven's Fifth

Preschool Graduation

Yesterday, Hunter's preschool did a little graduation program. It was super cute. The kids sang the songs they had learned throughout the year, wore graduation caps, and had cake. Sweet and simple, just the way a preschool graduation should be!




We have loved Miss Kristine and all that she has done to make this a great year for Hunter. She made cute little scrapbooks for all the kids, which I will treasure! Hunter was so proud to show me everything in it! Thanks Miss Kristine for all the patience and fun throughout the year!

Blah.

Last Friday when I went to the doctor, she informed me that she would be out of town the week we had scheduled my c-section. So, she pushed it back a week. Now Charity is due to be born on June 22, the day before my actual due date. I really don't want to be pregnant an extra week, but I guess it's good to let the baby cook as long as possible. But, I have a feeling I will not make it that long. I'm pretty miserable and don't think I will be getting better in the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy. Not that there is anything wrong, I am just really uncomfortable with lots of swelling and my pinched nerve and pubic bone still hurt a lot when I do anything physical. I am not sleeping well and today had a miserable headache all afternoon. I've never gone into labor before, but I am really hoping this little girl decides on her own to come a little early!

Eight is Great!

Yesterday, my little 4 pound miracle baby turned 8! Tanner is no longer a four pound baby, he is an ever growing (and eating), eight year old bundle of energy and enthusiasm. He is constantly on the go and never stops moving. He is a very intense, passionate person who takes whatever he is doing seriously. He loves to learn new things, loves to talk, and can make friends wherever he goes. He thinks his purpose in life is to make people laugh, which can get him into trouble sometimes! I have grown so much as a person because Tanner is in my life. He really has taught me a lot and I know I have much more to learn from him. We love him and are so happy to have him in our family.
We believe that at 8 years old, children have reached the age of accountability and can grasp the meaning of Baptism. So, Tanner chose to get baptized yesterday on his birthday! We are so proud of him and know that entering the waters of baptism, and keeping the covenants made there, will bring him happiness throughout his life.
As a mother, there are so many things that only you can do for your child. I am so glad Heavenly Father has allowed a few things that only a father can do for his children, like the ordinance of Baptism and giving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was so neat for Ladd to be able to baptize Tanner and bless him with the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I loved watching the two of them participate in these sacred ordinances together. They both were so handsome in their white clothes.

Tanner with Grandpa Cook, Aunt Monica, and a red-faced Mom
I had intentions of getting a lot of other family pictures after the baptism, but as I mentioned earlier, Tanner is a face paced person and didn't have much time to hang around taking pictures!

Most of our family were in attendance, and I am so grateful for all of this support. We let Tanner choose who did what at the Baptism, and it was cute to see who he picked to participate. He wanted Grandpa Hoyal and Uncle Mike to be the witnesses of the baptism, his Aunt Jayme to give a talk, Aunt Lawni to say the opening prayer and Uncle Brett to say the closing prayer. All of the willing cousins sang a song. Willing cousins translated to girls that are old enough, and Tanner. They did a great job, thanks to the help of Maquel and Jayme. When we asked Tanner how he felt when he got baptized, he said he felt good and warm inside. A quote from his journal says his baptism was "spiritual, and fun, and awesome." Spoken like a true 8 year old boy. It was a wonderful day and I hope one that Tanner will always remember.

The "singers" practicing at our house prior to Baptism

We had a Birthday Luncheon for Tanner at our house right before the Baptism. It was nice to have lots of friends and family there. All the kids had fun running around the house and eating the cute Lego cake my mom made.

Yesterday was a great day and we are so happy to have a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in our family!
Happy Birthday Tanner!

Trip to Sacramento

Ladd is working all week in Sacramento, so we decided to go up for a few nights too! We all left early Sunday morning and the boys and I drove home all day today. I really felt horrible last week and was a little worried about going on vacation, but I thought not cooking, cleaning, or worrying about the BIG weekend I have coming up would be good for me. It was. I didn't even mind sitting in a car that much because it meant lots of time sitting! We had a nice, relaxing time.

On the drive up, we tried to be good and go to Church in Fresno, but it turns out they were having Stake Conference, so we couldn't find a ward to go to. But, we did get pictures in front of the Fresno temple and we did a little mini church service in the car. Tanner spoke about pioneers (because they traveled lots of miles and so were we) and Hunter spoke about the resurrection. Easter must have still been on his mind.

On Monday, while Ladd was working hard, I took the boys to Sutter's Fort and an Indian Museum. The boys each earned an arrowhead for completing a scavenger hunt at the Indian Museum. We saw this cute duck family in the pond outside of the Indian Museum:

Sutter's Fort:

I think these are a cool cowboy faces.

Tuesday we spent at the Capitol Building. We had driven by on Monday but the place was crawling with policemen on motorcycles, horses, on foot, millions of police cars, etc. Streets were blocked off. The boys were very impressed with all this police activity and played "Capitol Spies" the whole time we were in Sacramento. It turned out that there was a special program at the capitol honoring all fallen police officers. It was much easier to get to the building on Tuesday. It was fun seeing the assembly room and senate room. The boys were impressed with the two highway patrol stationed in front of the Governors office.

Protecting the Governor

Then, we headed over to Old Sacramento. We started at the Military Museum, as this was the boys first choice. They really got into taking pictures in front of the exhibits:

We also went to the Sacramento History Museum and the Old School House. The Old School was so cute. Tanner was appalled that boys would get lashing for playing with girls. We really liked spending the day in Old Sacramento!

After Ladd would get home from work, we would fit in time for swimming at the hotel's indoor pool, running threw the water at this cute little park near our hotel,

and of course enjoying a few meals out!

We hit two traveling milestones on the trip: boys shared a bed (we've never attempted this in fear they would never sleep, or kick each other so much in the middle of the night that they wouldn't get any sleep-but it worked out perfectly!) and only needing to stop once on an 8 hour trip. I usually try to break up long trips a bit more but with good books to listen to on CD, the boys did great! I guess they are getting easier to travel with. Good thing we are starting all over again with a baby!