Kindergarden Graduation

Larke finished Kindergarden at the end of May.  She did a great job in school this year and is quite a good reader.  She is very ready for 1st grade and we look forward to seeing her learn more and more.

 At her graduation each of the kids got to say what their favorite part of school was and what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Larke said her favorite thing was recess and that she wanted to be a surfer when she grows up.  It will be fun to see how her life turns out.

 Larke and I when all was said and done. 

 Mrs. Gurule!  Larke sure did love her, most of the time.

 Larke and her good friend Charlotte.

Eden with her teacher, Mrs. Woytek on the last day of school.

Double Digits

This year for Gideon's 10th Birthday I made him a light-saber cake.  I used twix around the handle because that is his favorite candy.  I think his favorite gift may have been when I gave him all the left over twix that didn't get used on the cake.  It was pretty fun and easy to put together and that is my kind of cake.  He loved it.  I did home make some caramel frosting, because I thought it would go well with the twix, but that was as fancy as it got. 

 Matt bought almost all, it may have even been all of Gideon's presents this year.  He really loves gift giving and he is also very good at it.  Gideon got 3 new pairs of cuff-links  which he has enjoyed sporting since Christmas.  2 of the pairs were picture cuff-links where you can change the picture so Matt printed off Mario, Harry Potter, Bill and Ted, Back to the Future, Lego, ext.. and cut them out so now it seems like Gideon has like 25 pair of cuff-links instead of 5.

 This kid loves legos.  He got the Avengers Helicarrier set as well and loved putting that together.

 On the evening of Gideon's Birthday we had pack meeting and Gideon became a Webelows scout.  He got really embarrassed when I got to paint his face, but he ended up being a good sport about it.

 On Saturday we had the cake with cousins and went bowling.

 Then we ate out at Gunther Toody's where they made Gideon do the twist.  This picture is of him right after they sang to him.  Our poor ten year old was really embarrassed that time, but I was proud that he was able to do the twist in spite of that.  This kid sure does look up to his older cousin Spencer.  They have been pals for a long time, it has been so fun to have them grow up together.  Gideon has told me before that Spencer is his hero.  I hope they will always be great friends.

I love you Gideon.  I wonder what the next 10 years will bring for you.

Learning to Ride

So this Spring we have been working with Larke a lot to learn how to ride her bike.  What does this picture have to do with riding a bike?  Let me tell you.

We tried many different tactics to help Larke feel courageous enough to ride.  This was one of them.  Gideon and Rushmore were tied to the tree and Larke was to save them from the evil Daddy by riding her bike.  The boys didn't last long enough to help Larke find her courage, but just long enough to take a picture of it.  They were so funny.  Gideon totally wanted his mouth taped and everything.  Crazy kids.  For all of those disturbed by this image, no animals or kids were harmed in the taking of this picture.
What finally got Larke riding her bike like a mad woman?  Well, it was earrings.  I promised her a pair of earrings that were up in my room that she has been drooling over, if she could just make it to the mailbox and back again without taking her feet off the pedals.  Well that did it.  She got another pair for making it around the block without having to stop.  She got a third for participating in a long family bike ride which she did just a week or two ago.  We biked 5 miles round trip and we had a great time doing it.  She didn't even complain.  Man I wish they would trust me more.  I told her a hundred times that she would love it once she learned.  I'm just glad I guess that she really does love it and gets better at it everyday.

Princesses and Dragons

Eden had a picture in the District art show again this year.  It was about a Knight fighting a dragon and a princess kidnapped by the Dragon, locked up in a tower.  The lightning is around the castle because it was a very frightening tower.  The knight she said was Gideon, Eden was of course the Princess and Larke was the horse, and apparently I am the Dragon.  I think she did an awesome job!

Easter Traditions

I love coloring eggs for Easter.  We discovered that our friends, the Olstens, have never colored eggs with their kids.  So after threatening to not be friends anymore if they didn't color eggs this year, instead we just had them over to color eggs with us.  Matt always tries to make eggs that are interesting to him, like a joker egg, or alien egg, or a Halo mask egg.  I always make a He is Risen egg because my Dad made one every year while I was growing up and as an adult I enjoy carrying on the tradition and taking some time to remember why we celebrate the day.  It was so fun to enjoy this tradition with some great friends this year.

 The kids found their Easter baskets in various locations around the house.  This year we let them hide the baskets for each other and I think they enjoyed doing that.

 I didn't get a picture of me with Eden on her baptism day so we took a couple on Easter Sunday.  Eden had a giggle fit about I don't remember what.  I love seeing her laugh, except when she purposely adds a pig snort into it.  She may regret that someday.

What a Girl Wants

For a couple of years I have been thinking about doing this for Eden's 8th Birthday Party.  My sister LeAnn came and spent the night and helped me get ready for the big day.  She was so invaluable and I could not have done it without her.  Eden had nine or ten girls over and we had pizza and fruit and cake (of course) and ice cream.  

 This was my foot apparel for the day.

 These are some of the before pictures of the girls before they got all glammed up for the fashion show.

 Tatiana helped do nails

 LeAnn did hair

 Ellie did make-up and I did crafts which I apparently did not take any pictures of.  We decorated make-up bags and tied ribbons to decorate bracelets and bejeweled some funky glasses.  The girls also watched Barbie's Fashion Fairy Tale so that they could learn how to strut their stuff on their stuff on their own pink carpet.

 These are some of the after pictures.  It was fun to see the girls be so excited to come show us how pretty they looked.  Such a fun day.

 Even Daisy and Tatiana got in on the action.