New cat

Here's a funny story. I was visiting a member family recently who had just got a new kitten. We had got a new kitten last year, and I had forgotten how small they were when they were brand new. I went home and just wanted to tell Candice how cute the kittens were and I got a "NO! We are not getting a new kitten!"
Fast forward one week to the ward picnic, where the said family brings the kitten to the picnic. Candice sees it and says "it's sooooo cute" and hears the sad story of how they have a few more they are giving away. Next stop after the picnic = getting a new kitten. Daddy got to name it this time, and I picked Licorice.

Memorial day ward picnic

Here is this years memorial day family picture.

The kids always like to go fishing at the park where we hold it, and this is how it usually works...

1 - By the time Daddy gets everyone's hooks all ready with bait and in the water someone has already caught a fish.

2- Only Daddy's seems to be able to take the fish off of the hooks, which is what I spend most of the time doing.

3- Everyone always wants to see the fish, until they actuall see it, then we get the "I don't want to touch it" face

Megan actually touched a fish for the first time this year which was surprising...

And here she is actually throwing it back into the lake. Way to go Megan! She didn't want to do it again though

Father son campout

May is always the father son campout. This year was exceptionally cold. It had a chance of rain, which actually poured rain for about 10 minutes right after we set up the tents. It was hard to get a fire going as it was also windy and fairly cold. The best part was the wind blowing against the tent all night. The rain cover makes this awesomely loud ruffling noise as it blows against the tent all night, which does a great job of waking you up about every 20 minutes. Plus it was a balmy 38 degrees during the night, which is actually quite cold to camp outside in. Michael had a soccer game at 9am the next morning also, so needless to say I had a nice nap the next day.

Michael science field trip

I went with Michaels class on his end of school science field trip. They spent time learning about the different chemical types and how they react when mixed. It was fun to hear the "ooohs" and "aaaahs" when things bubbled.

The faces of concentration where the best part...

Listening to their excitment when a bubbles formed. A class full of screaming 2nd graders is pretty loud at times.

I tried to say things like "careful Michael or you'll blow us all up" to help him out.

Michael's finished product was blue slim, kind of like wet playdoh. He couldn't wait to get home and play with it, which he did once and then put it away because it made his hands "slimey". He can't stand dirt on his hands.

The other rooms had things they could play and build with. I tried getting some funky pictures of Michael in the mirrors. This is him in "mid teleportation" mode.

This is what happens when he learns lots and lots. His head gets really big and almost explodes.

This is Daddy trying to look scary. I call it my "floating head trying to eat you" face

Megans Kindergarden Concert

Megans kindergarden concert happened May 14th this year. We were really excited about this because the only time we really get to hear Megan singing is when she is playing in her room by herself and usually makes up a song or sings the theme song from a cartoon. Earlier this year we heard her singing some of her concert songs in her room and everytime we asked her to sing them she refused. We even have a hard time getting her to sing during family home evening, so we were really looking forward to this.

I was standing at the side of the gym filming Megan. It is quite a bit different than when I was a kid, because we didn't have video cameras back in "the old days", but now days all the Mom's and kids sit in the seats, and almost all the Dad's are standing around the side of the gym with video cameras filming. I looked over and saw Rachel with her new "cool" sunglasses on and took this picture. I told her she looks WAAAY too old when she wears them like that.

When the classes first come out all the kids are looking all over for their parents. For them it must be kind of confusing as the entire audience is standing up and waving at the same time. This was Megan (bottom right) right before she found us.

Once of Megan's faces during the concert. I imagine she is telling the boy to stay away from her.

Here is the kiddo's after the concert. Megan did a great job!!

Megan at the bus stop

It is always hard to try and capture "everyday events" around the house, but I was able to try and catch Megan at the bus stop for kindergarden. The bus picks her up at the end of our driveway so it's not too far to go... But it comes down the street from the right side, turns down another street, and then comes to our house from the left. So Megan always makes one of us look to the left, while she looks to the right to see the bus coming. For the most part getting on the bus is easy, but a few times there was lots of hugs needed before getting on the bus. There were only a few stories of being poked, etc, but one time a boy tried to kiss her! Once Megan gets on the bus, she sits at the front, waves, blows a kiss, then hugs herself and blows a hug while the bus is driving away.

 

 

 

Spring Soccer

Well, spring soccer is almost done so I am catching up by trying to post pictures from all season long. Highlights from this year were:
1) Megans first year in soccer. We weren't sure how this would go as when we took her to soccer tots two years ago she was completely scared of being around all these kids and didn't have any fun. She liked the idea of getting a trophy this year so she wanted to sign up. She has done great and had alot of fun. It's mostly a heard of kids chasing the ball around but she stays in the mob and kicks the ball when its infront of her.
2) Michael has loved the goalie position this year (except when the grass is wet and muddy). He always wants to practice goalie and does really well. I can tell he has a real "thinking" mind because he is always watching everything on the field and trying to point out where team mates should go. I was the coach again this year, and only coached his team, because more than one team was too hard, and girls were too hard to coach.
3) Rachel's age (11-12 year olds) shows a real size difference now. Some girls are a foot taller than the smaller ones, some run really fast, some play multiple sports, etc. It looks like this is the last year Rachel will play unless she really starts practicing lots on her own at home. She had fun again this year and had one of her friends on her team which made it more fun.