Easter 2012

The kids got up nice and early to find the Easter Bunny had left a whole bunch of chocolate. I was most proud on Sunday because I did get all the kids up and dressed, fed them sausage biscuit sandwiches for breakfast and we all made it out the door to get to my parent's ward on time for 9 o'clock church. That is a serious accomplishment for me. After church we went back to my parent's house and took some pictures. Every year getting a decent picture seems to get more and more tricky. I did my best though. 

 Cousins (left to right). Noah, Sophie, Aiden, Kylie, Zoey, Olivia, Julee, and Daphne

 The kids and Grandma and Grandpa Doll.

 Marilyn's kids. Sophie, Kylie, and Daphne. Those babies sure were not cooperating! :)

 The McKinlay family. Jay, Olivia, Noah, Zoey, Alison, and Aiden. One day we will have a really good family photo but for now I will take what I can get.

 This one wasn't posed but I just thought it was a sweet moment with my folks and their youngest grand baby.

My Good, Little Smarties

Yesterday I went to the kids' awards assembly at school. I am so proud of my little people and their accomplishments in school. They are both so well behaved for their teachers and great examples to the other students. During parent conferences we always hear how wonderful they are and how helpful and kind they are to the other kids in class. Zoey and Noah also excel academically. They catch on quick to their work and always do things to their best ability. They may be complete terrors at home a lot but their dad and I continue to be grateful for the way they are in public. We are very proud of both of them and expect nothing less from them.

 I told Noah I wanted to take his picture and he insisted on having one with his teacher. I am pretty sure he has a crush on her. :)

 Zoey received 5 awards. Honor roll for always having good grades, a math award for making it onto the math wall of fame (Zoey was the first of all the 1st graders to complete all her addition math tests with 100% in the time allotted), a spelling award for scoring 100% on every spelling test, a homework award for turning in all homework completed and on time, and an Eagle behavior award for always being respectful, kind, and responsible.

 Noah got an Honor roll award (Kinder doesn't offer all the awards the rest of the grades do). He is doing absolutely wonderful with his learning.

I Touch a Bug Mommy

The kids got all intrigued by this teeny tiny beetle they found on the front drive. They were outside following it for probably a good 20-30 minutes. Each one of them even took a turn touching it which if you know my kids is quite a big deal. Olivia came to me and said "I touch a bug Mommy". The fun all ended when an ant apparently killed it and carried it away. That's what the two big kids told me happened. It's good perspective of how tiny this beetle was. I'm glad my kids could have so much fun watching the tiny bug.

 Oh no! It went under the van.

 Around to the other side to catch up with it.

A Style All Her Own

It all starts with just a t-shirt and diaper. Who needs pants anyway?

Pair that with white socks and sandals. If anyone could make it look cute it's this girl.

 Finishing up the look is the extreme bed head. She really believes in the "get up and go" hairstyle.

Please Take My Picture

Noah begged me to take his picture with the laundry basket on his head. You can always tell when it is laundry day around our house because you will see at least one of the children playing with the basket. It's been a car, train, ship, airplane, turtle shell, jail, and who knows what else. They also love to push each other around in it. I just like that they find such fun in such a simple thing.

We Love This Boy

 We love him even when he makes these ugly faces because he doesn't want to play our way. Apparently he isn't a fan of the bling. :)

 We especially love him when he is sound asleep like this!

Zebra Report

Zoey just did her first research report and presentation. I won't even go into how ridiculous I think it is that a 1st grader is required to do this, let alone the requirement now that the Kindergartners write a research paper too. I could go on about it but I won't. It had to be done and I actually did have a good time helping Zoey with her project. Her animal of choice was the zebra and if you ask her she picked it "because I thought it would be the easiest". She is totally her mother's daughter. We did a little research on them and Aunt Jenn and I helped her write her report. Our scanner doesn't work so I just typed it up real quick to share. 

I chose the Plains Zebra. They live in southern and eastern parts of Africa in treeless grasslands. They eat mainly grass but also eat leaves and herbs. It is really important for them to drink water. Plain Zebras have black and white stripes and a black muzzle. They are 4-5 ft. tall and weigh up to 450-600 lbs. They live in herds. When they stand side by side they are either grooming each other or watching for danger. Plain Zebras are usually the ones you see at the zoo.

She had to have some sort of visual for her presentation. I had the thought for this diorama at like 3 in the morning the night before when I couldn't get back to sleep. We painted the shoe box "desert" yellow and glued some dirt and grass in the bottom. Zoey drew and colored the 2 adorable zebras standing in the foreground and then we found a picture online to stick at the back of the box for the background. I think it turned out really cute.

I think she did a fantastic job for being only in 1st grade. Her teacher did too because she scored a 4 out of 4 on all 5 categories she was being scored on. Zoey is a hard worker and always does such a wonderful job with school work. We never have to worry about less from her. Here's to the start of many projects in the futures of my children. Yay! (That yay is incredibly full of sarcasm.)

Simple Yet Sweet

A couple Saturdays ago my hubby came home with these pretty purple flowers for me. When you have a budget like ours one can't be buying roses. I really appreciated the surprise and I think they are a beautiful, deep purple. Something about them just seemed more special to me than something like roses anyway. Thank you my love for thinking of me. I love you!

Kylie Lylie is 11

My niece turned 11 this past Sunday. We all got together at the apartment clubhouse on Saturday to eat, swim and celebrate. We had delicious sandwich fixings, chips and salsa and dip, and some delicious fruit dips my sister made. The kids had a fun time swimming and hanging out with each other. It seemed that everyone had an enjoyable time and it was sweet to hear Kylie tell her mom and her dad that it was her best party yet. It was nice to get together and celebrate.

 The birthday girl getting some sun.

 My girls.

 Kylie looking at the pop up cards my kids made for her.

 This is how Aiden parties.

 I must say I think it is cool that a blended family like this can all be together and get along and actually enjoy chatting and hanging out. So all our family in town were there and then Kylie's dad and all his family were there too. Everyone had a good time.

 Kylie was so instantly mortified when she opened up this gift. She tried to wad this Jacob shirt up and hide it so no one saw. Her cheeks were so red, it was too funny.

 Cute little baldy baby Daphne.

 Kylie may have been embarrassed earlier but she is admittedly team Jacob. I am totally right there with her on that one. 

 It is crazy that my nieces and nephews are getting so big but it is so much fun to see them getting older. I enjoy seeing their personalities and how they are developing as they get older. I am glad to get to live close to Mar's kids and see them grow. I sure wish I could see my other nieces and my nephews more often. I'm glad we could help Kylie celebrate. Happy birthday Kylie!

Grandma & Grandpa Kinney Visit

We were so excited to have G & G McKinlay here to visit for a few days during spring break. It was great for everyone but honestly I think I was the luckiest one because my kids were occupied during the break. The kids were so thrilled to have them around. Zoey made a list of things to do while they were here and if I recall correctly they marked all of them off but one. Grandma spent most of her time doing things with the big kids and Olivia. Grandpa spent most of his time holding and feeding Aiden. It was so nice to have them visit and we sure hope it won't be long before they can come back again.

They love riding in the truck. Olivia even got to go along this time. 

 Much Wii was played.

 Grandpa was a great baby sitter. 

 Silly monkeys.

 Grandma was constantly entertained by this little lady.

 The girls.

 The boys. (Silly Aiden)

 I hate that this picture is blurry. It's the only one I ended up with that was a serious one. Grandma and Grandpa with their only grandchildren. I'd say four isn't too shabby considering Jay is an only child. Thinking about more kind of makes me tired. :)

 The silly one.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for making the quick, last minute decision to come visit. It was sure great having you here. We all miss and love you!

Sweet Sleeper

This is a rare occasion in the afternoon but when he does sleep he sure is precious.

Homemade Crowns

Zoey is always coming up with the most clever little ideas. I thought these crowns she made for everyone turned out really cute. Even Aiden had one but we couldn't get it to stay on his head because he moved too much.

Love This

Zoey made me this awesome sign. I had a blah day after having my wisdom teeth out. I told my family I was going to take a bath and that no one was allowed to come in while I was in there. When I got out I saw this sign on the door. Thanks Zoey for looking out for Mom!