Last Day

School finally ended today. Megan had a really great year, and learned a lot. Yesterday was the awards assembly, followed by a program her teacher had prepared for her class. They signed the star-spangled banner and performed a play. Megan did a great job, and I was really proud of her for memorizing her part.


I was really excited for Megan to start second grade because she had a great teacher. However, half-way through the year her teacher got cancer, and had to leave. Sadly, she died a few weeks ago. I was really concerned how having this happen was going to affect Megan and the other kids. Megan had been very close to her and loved having her as a teacher. She was able to come and visit with the kids before she died which I think probably helped them. The day she came home from school and told me she had died, Megan said, "At least she is in a much better place now." It was a really sad event, but luckily Megan's school was able to find a replacement teacher (Mrs. Groome) very quickly, and she did a wonderful job.

* On a side note, after school Megan got in the car and dropped a note in the front seat. I reached over and read it and found out it was from a boy in her class professing his love for her. Megan was disgusted and immediately gave the note to Sadie to destroy. I told Megan that I would be excited to get a note like that. She then said, "Hello Mom. I am only in the second grade."

Ready, Set, GOAL!!

Jackson has been taking pee-wee soccer, which ended this week. Jackson loves to play all sports, and soccer was no exception. He loved it, and was really good at it. I was kind of surprised that he did so well, because he has never really played before. He definitely inherited Eric's athletic ability, not mine.


I truly had no idea he was such a fast runner. The first day when their coach told them to run across the gym, Jackson took off so fast it shocked me. That boy can run.


They played indoors in the gym, and spent most of the class learning about ball control. Jackson was great at kicking the ball straight into the goal. The only thing he really struggled with was stopping the ball with his feet. It was hard for him to learn not to use his hands.




He had a lot of fun, and I truly had a lot of fun watching him play. Sadie is still at the age where she will sit on my lap and watch. I know pretty soon I will be chasing her around the gym.

SPT

"Shade"

When we first moved into our home they had already planted one tree and a few plants in our front yard. This is what it looked like:

For a while I wasn't sure if our little tree would make it. We get a lot of wind here and a lot of the trees in the neighborhood had succumbed to it. But luckily, our little tree didn't, and 6 years later it has grown to provide SHADE for the entire front of our house. It keeps a lot of the direct sunshine out, so our kitchen is not so super hot all day. I am so thankful we have it.

Megan Said

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Weather: 95 degrees (slightly breezy)

Jackson said : "Megan do you want to go outside to play."
Megan said : "Jackson, your crazy. It is way too cold to play outside."

Piercing Scream

A couple of months ago Megan decided she wanted to get her ears pierced, so on Wednesday we finally did it. There was actually no screaming involved, just a little nervousness, anticipation, a little pain, and just a few tears at the end (probably due to relief that it was all over).

Before

During

After

Jackson Said

Jackson: "Mom, If Spike peed on Heavenly Father, that wouldn't be good, right?"

(Spike was our dog that died last year)

Megan's 8th Birthday

Megan decided not to have a party this year (which surprised me, but certainly did not bother me). She told us she wanted to go bowling as a family, so that is just what we did.
First we brought Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and drinks to Megan's class, where a very spirited and noisy version of Happy Birthday was sung to her.

Opening Presents

Bowling is always so much fun. Megan probably did the best she has ever done. I think she scored about 90 points.



Jackson's balls took soooo long to hit the pins. After he would throw his ball, he would stand just like this and wait for it to hit the pins.




We didn't get home from bowling until about 10:30 p.m. Jackson and Sadie both fell asleep on the way home, but we still hadn't sung to Megan or had cake. So we woke them up, sang, had a small piece of cake and went to bed. It was a great day!

SPT

"WATER"

Truth be told, I am somewhat afraid of water. More particularly drowning. I have no desire to ever board a cruise ship, and am even more leery of boating on a lake. My husband and children love it, so I do partake of a ride now and then but I am usually a bit nervous the entire time. I don't have a strong desire to ever live near the ocean. I think I would be slightly paranoid of a Tsunami. From this post I sound a bit irrational, but in reality most of our summer outdoor activities are centered around water. Either in the pool (higher risk of drowning), or playing on the trampoline with the sprinklers (relatively little risk). Here are some pictures I snapped this week in the pool.

At 8

• She refuses to wear dresses or skirts any day but Sunday. They interfere with playing.
• She insists on wearing short socks. If more than an 1/8 of an inch of sock is sticking out of her tennis shoes, they are too long.
• She still loves to play with Jackson.
• She takes great care of Sadie and loves to dress her up.
• She enjoys telling jokes, often followed by "Do you get it."

• She continues to be a messy eater.
• She still plays with toys, but is starting to enjoy more grown up things also. She told me that this year she is really way too old for princess stuff.
• She dives right into new situations. When it comes to getting up in front of people she has no fear.
• She is becoming a great swimmer.
• She is quite athletic, and really enjoys P.E.
• She is doing great in school, bringing home all A's this year.

• She dislikes cleaning her room, and will often spend hours doing it. Truthfully, she does a lot more playing than cleaning.
• She is not very interested in boys, yet. They call her, and give her things at school, but she could care less. Apparently she has already mastered playing hard to get.
• She makes friends wherever she goes. If there is someone close to her age, she will befriend them within minutes.
• She is definitely an oldest child and likes to be the boss. Luckily Jackson is pretty easy going.
• Homework is the first thing she does everyday when coming home from school.
• She eats Apple Jacks every single day for breakfast.

• She is a picky eater. She would be happy eating pizza, chicken nuggets, or spaghetti (without sauce), everyday.
• She helps me out with whatever I need, with relatively little complaining.
• She loves to draw and is really great at it.
• She puts everything in her mouth. And I mean everything. She is definitely orally fixated.
  

Megan is such a wonderful daughter that is impossible not to love.
Happy Birthday Megan!! We love you!!

4th Of July

Yesterday we headed up to St. George to celebrate the 4th of July.

Megan's birthday is on Monday so we were able to celebrate it a little early with my mom. She received new flip-flops, sunglasses, a purse, and a new swimming suit from her grandma and grandpa. She couldn't have been happier. By the way, this is now Jackson's favorite pose in any picture we are taking.

Eric, Sadie (who would not look at the camera), my Mom, Ken, Megan & Jackson.

Later on we went downtown to watch the fireworks. There were booths, games, and some great water features that the kids could play in while we were waiting.

Sadie could not keep her little eyes open a minute longer. It was a very big day for her. It was also her half year birthday so you know she was exhausted from partying so much. It was her first time watching fireworks so I had no idea how she was going to react. To my pleasure, she did great. The noise wasn't too bad and she seemed mesmerized by all of the colors.

While we were watching we were suddenly sprayed with water. It turns out the sprinklers were never turned off, so all of us sitting on the field got a nice cool down about half way into the show. Luckily they were turned off pretty quickly. Truth be told, it was quite funny watching everyone (myself included) gather up all their belongings and run. We had a great time.

Wordless Wednesday

SPT

This month's SPT challenges:
July 1st: Sun
July 8th: Water
July 15th: Shade
July 22nd: Grass
July 29th: Ice Cream

So our first installment is SUN. Here in Las Vegas we have over 320 days of sunshine. If you ever watch the weather you will see days and days of little suns. In fact, I hardly ever watch the weather because I know that in the summer it will be sunny and hot, the winter will be sunny and cool, and the spring and fall will be sunny and perfect. Unless we are doing some sort of water activity, we probably spend more time indoors during the summer than any other season because it is so HOT. I bet I gain more weight during the summer months than any other time, since I am less active. I love almost everything about the summer and the sun. My only drawbacks are, having to put massive amounts of sunscreen on the kids daily, and finding an attractive summer wardrobe that I am comfortable in!!