It's all good . . .

Misc. May Fun

We have had a beautiful month of May.  It was full of all sorts of activities, recitals, end of school adventures, birthdays, and our anniversary.  In the middle of all the other things, there were lots of great little moments as well.  For example, with the warmer weather, Derek and his cousin, Luke, have been out riding their bikes around the neighborhood.

Lily had an end of the school year carnival where she got to have her face painted.  She got a lightning bolt for Michael Vey, a character from one of her favorite book series.

One of the best activities, was the daddy/daughter Young Women's activity.  They had a great time, and when the dads were supposed to put make-up on their daughters, Kevin gave Lily a superhero mask, and she painted one on him too :). Awesome!

One day, I went out to Shoshone Falls and took pictures.  I had been waiting for almost a year for the falls to be ready with enough water to get good pictures :).

Arthur and Kevin came with me, and we had a fantastic time hiking around while I took pictures.  I had to get a couple with them as well :).

It has been a great month, and I can't believe we are already to June!!  Before I know it, we will be on the road and leaving Idaho for our new life in Pennsylvania.

School's Out!

I truly can't believe the school year is over.  It really has flown by, and has been full of so many fun and wonderful experiences for both Lily and Derek.  The last week of school was full of a lot of fun activities.  

Derek's school had a picnic to go along with field day, and I got to come.  Unfortunately, the weather was cold and rainy that day, and so they had to move all the fun inside, but we still had a great time.  He has had such a fun year, and really loved his teacher, Miss Stanley.

Lily's school year went out with a bang.  First, she won a Kindle Fire in a special drawing for all the kids that went over and above their reading goals each semester.  The librarian loved Lily, who was in the library checking out books 2, 3, or 4 times a day.  She emailed me this picture of Lily getting her Kindle, as well as telling me how glad she was that Lily won, as she felt like she truly deserved it :).

And at the end of the year assembly, Lily was awarded the Lamp Award medal for getting a 4.0 for the school year.  She also got a special reading award, and a science award for getting perfect scores on the yearly science assessments.  What an amazing girl we have!

Their last day of school was bitter-sweet for both Lily and Derek, as they knew that next year they would be at yet another new school, but they both had fantastic days.  I sent off a fourth grader and seventh grader, and when they came home, I had a fifth grader and an eighth grader.  

I sure love these kids, and am so proud of how well they have done with this crazy year of "transition" and inbetweeness while we have waited to get to move on to our next adventure.  They took something hard and turned it into a year of something wonderful, and even though they had a few bumps in the road, they came out on top :).

Adventures with Arthur

Oh, Arthur, what a funny character he is.  We love him dearly, in spite of his three year old tantrums and stubbornness.  He is always surpassing us with the adorable and silly things he says.  He is constantly quoting the different Charlie Brown movies, and my favorite thing is when someone kisses him, and he quotes Lucy, "I've been kissed by a dog!"

He loves to spend time outside, and one day, we were going to take a walk, but it was raining.  He thought it was the best thing ever, and he spent about twenty minutes playing in the rain.

 Arthur loves getting to go to the library.  He normally loves to play with puzzles, but one day when we arrived, they had a special program going on, and so they had all sorts of crafts and fun things to do.

One of Arthur's favorite places to go, is his Grandma Valerie's house.  He loves to dress up like a pirate and search for the treasure chest (a fun red box that she filled with loose change and a giant fake ruby in the shape of a heart).  Sometimes, if we time the visit right, Grandpa Dennis is even there.  Arthur loves playing blocks with his grandpa, and one day they built a super giant tower.  Always a good time :).

Ever since Kevin and I went to Pennsylvania in April, Arthur has been in love with McKayla, who watched him while we were gone.  He kept asking when he was going to get to see her, and was so excited when she came for a quick visit.  He followed her around everywhere.  So cute!

Arthur is really growing up, and he loves to help out with things.  He follows me around, helping in the yard, with cleaning, and even with cooking.  He was so excited to help me stir the tortellini the other night, and it was adorable.  It is so fun as he is transitioning from toddler stage to preschooler stage.

One of the trickiest parts of this past year of living with my parents, is that all three kids have been sharing one small room.  We learned early on that Arthur has to be asleep before the other kids could go into bed, or he wouldn't go to sleep.  Arthur has been sleeping on a toddler sized air mattress in between the two twin beds, and we have gone through two of them so far.  (It is actually amazing that they lasted as long as they did.)  

After getting to the point where we were pumping up his bed every night, we ended up searching through our storage unit and finding our old crib mattress to use instead.  It is smaller and not quite as comfy, but he will survive :).  Just a few more months, and he will have his bed back in his very own room. 

Arthur loves to sing us songs, and he really loves to video himself.  It awesome, and he is so funny.  Here's a little video of some of the silliness.  

 

We sure are in love with this sweet boy of ours!

Our Amazing Guitarist

For his birthday, Derek received a guitar - something he had been asking for for years.  So in January, Derek started guitar lessons, and it has been so much fun.  Hi teacher, Mark Tatro, is so awesome, and Derek progressed so quickly, Mark invited him to play in the recital.

To start off the recital, Mark played a couple songs.  He is such a fantastic guitarist, and it was really fun to hear him play.

When Derek's turn came, he put on a show like it was his personal concert.  He was the only one of two kids who had their music memorized, and was the only one to sing while he played, but my favorite part was the commentary he said before each song.  He introced himself, and then introduced each song, talking about why he chose each one.  It was so cute, and he was grinning the whole time he played.  It made me so happy to watch him :).

Here is a video of his performance.  I wish the mic had been louder, but if you listen closely, you can hear him singing.  And yes, you can hear Arthur cheering and singing along the whole time - he loved watching his brother.

 

Kevin's parents were out of town for the recital, and so Derek performed everything for them a few days later, and it was so fun.  They loved it :).

We are so proud of our Derek, and we love watching him as he grows with his new talent.  I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

Arthur the Swimmer

Since January, Arthur has been in swimming lessons off and on.  He has absolutely loved them, even though I am not sure how much swimming he really learned.  Yesterday was his last day of lessons, and so they added some fun extra things onto their normal routine.

One of the special things they did, was putting all the kids in life jackets, so they could go in the deep end.  Arthur was in heaven, floating and swimming around.

After having fun in the life jackets, they went to the really deep end, where the diving boards are.

Of Arthur's class, he was the only one brave enough to go off the diving board, so he joined the kids from the older class.

He was so cute walking out on the diving board, but once he reached the end of the railing, he was a little too afraid to go further.  He still wanted to jump, and so his teacher helped him.  He had so much fun, he did it a second time :).

Here's a little video of all the fun :).

 

Celebrating 13 Years with Our Lily!

With Lily turning thirteen, I wanted to make her birthday extra special, and so I borrowed an idea from my sister-in-law, Shannon, and did a thirteen day countdown to her birthday.  Every morning, I put a little present on the piano for her to find.  She loved it so much, and she told me, "Mom, I love what you are doing.  It shows me every day how much you love me." 

My parents were out of town for Lily's birthday, and so my mom gave her her gift early.  She gave her a fun pottery bowl, and a pretty Willow Tree statue.

Lily also got her present early from her Grandma Valerie, a sewing machine.  She had sewing lessons with her grandma for a few months, and they had such a great time together.  I wish I had taken pictures of the two of them at the sewing machine in Valerie's sewing room.  It was such a fabulous experience, and I am so glad Lily had that special time with her grandma.

On Lily's birthday, she had school, piano lessons, and swim lessons, but we managed to celebrate anyway :).  For dinner, I made her favorite meal - ribs.  And Kevin bought the fries at Five Guys and brought them home, since I didn't have time to make them.

After dinner, it was time for presents.  She got so many fun little presents during her countdown, that she only got three presents - one each from her brothers, and a big present from Kevin and me.

She loved her gifts - some puzzle games from her brothers, and a beautiful new duvet for her bed for our new house.

And then for dessert, Dulce de Leche cake from Costco.  And cheesecake too, because she really wanted cheesecake too :).

She had a fabulous birthday, and I am so glad.  And now we have a teenager in our house.  Craziness!

13 Years with Our Lily

Thirteen years ago today, I became a mother when my sweet little baby girl, Lily, was born.  She has been a blessing in our lives ever since, and I can't imagine what I would do without my sweet, talented, spunky girl.  I was looking through her portraits over the years, starting with seven weeks old, to four months, nine months, a year, a year and a half, two, and three years old.

And then there she was at four, four and a half, five, six, and seven years old.  Oh, she was so adorable and so beautiful.

And then there was Lily at eight - when she was baptized.  I remember thinking she was so grown up.  Then she turned nine, ten, eleven, and twelve, and I really thought she looked grown up.

And now I have this gorgeous teenage girl on my hands, that is five foot two and a half and wears women's size shoes.  What happened? 

Lily is truly amazing.  She is brave and so very smart.  Every time I think I understand how smart she is, she goes and blows me aways again.

Lily is accepting of everyone.  She is friendly and sweet, and she loves being around people.  That said, at times she can be shy, and sometimes she gets lost in herself and her very vivid imagination.

 Lily loves music - she loves to sing, dance, and play the piano.  This past school year, she participated in her school talent show where she sang and played the piano, and she won.  She is amazing :).

 

Lily is an amazing big sister.  She is fantastic about babysitting her little brothers, but not just that, she actually loves spending time with them.  In fact, she and her brother, Derek, are best friends.  

And she is the sweetest daughter ever.  She is helpful and loving.  When she makes mistakes, she always tries to make up for it and make things better.  

Lily has a wonderful testimony of the gospel, and has truly loved being in Young Women's this past year.  And she loves getting to go to the temple and do baptisms.  She has been able to go almost every week since we have come to Twin Falls, and often even brings family names that she researched and found herself.

Lily has an amazing sense of fun.  She is quirky and silly, and completely unique.  I don't know what we would do without her.

Here are her favorite things - some are the same as usual, and some are new (like her favorite color changing after all these years):

Color: Turquoise

Season: Spring

Food: German Pancakes and Ribs

Dessert: Caramel Cheesecake

Song: Lips Are Movin' by Megan Trainer

TV Show: Pokemon

Movie: The Peanuts Movie

Subject: All of them, but especially Choir (Chantere)

Scripture(s): 2 Nephi 2:25

Thing to Wear: sweatshirt and sweats

Favorite Job: babysitting

Thing to Do in Free time: Play with Derek

Video Game: Pokemon

Book: Michael Vey series

Game: Garnet and Topaz (a made-up game with Derek)

Sport: Swimming

Place to Vacation: Idaho

Place to Visit: Abi Taylor's house

Place to Be: With my Family

Thing to do with Dad: Read 

Thing to do with Mom: Read

Thing to do with Derek: play pretend

Thing to do with Arthur: Read stories to him

Thing most Looking Forward to in the Future: Going to college

Most excited about for this next year: Our month long trip while we move

We sure love this amazing girl of ours, and we are so lucky to have her in our family.
 

Derek and His Arrow of Light

In December, Derek turned 10 and moved on to the Webelos in Cub Scouts.  Because we knew we would be moving this summer, he had a goal to not only earn his Webelos award before we moved, but his Arrow of Light as well.  His cousin Luke was also working toward the same goals, since he turns 11 in May, and so the two of them got to work together.  It made it extra fun for both of them, and so much easier for my sister and I, as we worked together with our boys.  

Well, at the May pack meeting, it all came together and they achieved their goal and earned their Arrow of Light.  The very last thing they had to do to earn it, was to plan and help put on a campfire presentation with all the dens.  And so for the pack meeting, they put on a super fun campfire at the Cubmaster's house.

Derek was in charge of the skits, and the one he picked for his den to do was called "Bear Droppings."  The boys did a great job and they all thought it was hilarious :).

Arthur loved watching all songs and skits - the only problem was that he didn't want to sit in his seat - he wanted to participate.

The music was put on by the Bear den, and it was fabulous.  But really, anything that Penny and Gary Stuart do is fabulous.  I am so glad that Derek got to have them as his leaders for six months.

And after all the fun, were the awards.  Derek was awarded his Camper - the last pin he needed, and his Arrow of Light.  

He was so excited!  They even made him a cool plaque with an arrow on it, that he can put all his cub scout awards on.

After the awards, they had s'mores and the kids got to play in the Hardcastle's awesome back yard.  It was such a fun night, and the perfect way to celebrate Derek's achievement.

We are so proud of Derek and all his hard work.  He really is amazing :).

A Fantastic Spring Piano Recital

When we moved last summer, one thing we were really missing were Lily and Derek's piano lessons.  I tried to find a teacher in Twin Falls, but didn't have any luck until Christmas, when we found Karen Edwards, their fantastic teacher.  It has been so wonderful having them back in lessons for the past five months, and yesterday was their spring piano recital.

They both did an amazing job.  Derek played a piece by Mozart, which was wonderful.

And Lily played Sonatina in C by Diabelli, which was beautiful.

Here is a video of both of their performances.  We were so proud of them.

 

It was a wonderful recital, and we are really going to miss their wonderful teacher.  We are both moving, her to Washington, and us to Pennsylvania.  It has been a wonderful five months.

A Field Trip to Boise

Yesterday, Derek got to go on an awesome field trip with the rest of the fourth grade.  They have been studying Idaho history all year, and so they went to Boise to visit the Idaho state capitol.  They started off at the Capitol building, where they got a special tour.  He thought the elevator was especially cool.

His class even got to see the governor's office and get a picture there :).

Derek loved getting to see the Capitol building - it really is beautiful.

Next, they went to the State Penitentiary and had a tour.  I wasn't there, so I don't know, but I'm sure it was an older uninhabited section ;).

After the Penitentiary, they had lunch at a park in Boise by the zoo.

And after lunch, they got to visit the zoo, which was awesome.  Derek had a fantastic time!

After he got home from the field trip, he told me that this field trip was the highlight of his school year :).  I am so glad he loved it, and I think it is really fun that the year he had in Idaho was the year he learned state history.