Elise's Junior Prom

Elise went with Quinton who just happens to be the son of someone Jared met at Snoasis years back.  They've worked together too in doTERRA and Jared thinks he is a super cool guy.  So fun and so random how they met at school and went on a few dates before we realized that we knew his dad.

Quinton planned such a fun date.  They went to a cabin and went sledding for the daydate and Tsunami for dinner.  Elise loves Tsunami.  So that was fun.

We took pictures at a friends home.  Elise had some pretty crazy expressions in these photos.  I was laughing about it.  They had bubbles as a prop and they were wetting her hair and down her back and she looks pretty unhappy about that.

I found this dress the day before.  We had rented one, and between the time she tried it on (way back in January when she was looking for Preference) it had a zipper repaired and it was WAY tight when we picked it up just two days before the dance.  Ugh that's so stressful.  I went to the mall and brought home three dresses, and she liked this one.  So that was a relief.  It was a good deal too and super comfortable.  Hallelujah.

These photos probably reflect the obsession I have on taking dance pictures, and also her irritation with me at my overeagerness.  Can you blame me?  Ugh.  Its just I love this kind of thing.  She'll thank me someday.

Waiting to get picked up

gang signs, of course

How can I not laugh when I see this photo?  Hahaha!

She was not loving the bubbles prop.  :)

Spring and Updates

Has it really been since January when I last wrote?

Heres the deal.  Life is busy.  I have five kids in four schools.  I've got one foot in the preschool/playdates/park side and another in the busy evenings, driving everywhere, games everyday side.

Its chaotic, its busy.  I don't have the time for things I used to.  But I love it!  And the truth is there will be more time for me to reclaim some of those things I used to do, like blog.  But for now I am soaking in everyday that I get to watch my kids games, and I don't even mind the driving.  We eat breakfast together now, dinner is still a bit of a challenge.

Last week Elise was nearly out of gas and I told her I'd drive her to school.  Because 10 more minutes to have Elise all to myself!  Really though, I am really happy these days.  So many fun things going on.

So here is what is happening:

Elise:  Elise has always been an easy kid.  But lately she is amazing even me, who already thought she was unbelievable.   She reads her scriptures because she wants to, is seemingly always working on improving and being kinder or better.  She has been so unbelievably supportive of her siblings.  She picked up Monet a couple weeks ago and took her to a movie just for fun and because she knew Monet had a disappointing day.  She loves Miles and I love their humor and their interactions.  Elise had a rough term in school, but is back on track and doing great.  She is loving lacrosse and it was fun to watch her play rec basketball with some of her teammates from Timberline.  She got to go to Grand Cayman with her friend Skye and that was a total blast.  She's been thinking more about college and which direction to go in.

Monet:  Monet made the varsity Lacrosse team!  She was so excited about that.  She had a fantastic season in basketball.  Her Timberline team struggled with some injuries during the season, but finished strong by winning the championship in the playoffs.  We are currently looking at redoing her room and that has been fun.  She just got her 10th straight 4.0.  Which we think is exceptional because she is so stinking busy!  But she is great at time management and knows how to get it done.  She is also running track.  Although she hasn't raced in a meet yet.  Hopefully soon.  She's had such a fun friend group.  Its huge and I feel like it has just snowballed over the last year.  But a few good friends met some new boys and are not hanging out with the old friends anymore.  Thats been a little sad for her, but a good learning experience too.

Miles:  Miles has found a new passion.  He is really into making stuff with the 3D printer we got at Christmas.  Its been super fun for him to figure it all out on his own.  Any project for school, he just prints something.  Recently he started making these fidget spinners.  He is having so much fun selling them!  They are really popular right now and he has his friends in different schools selling too and they split the profits.  Its been so fun to watch Miles and Jared really getting into the business thing.  They've already built a website and everything.  Everyday it seems we are getting samples of ball bearings from China to make a better spinner.   Miles reminds me so much of Jared.  He's super funny.

Simone:  Simone's meet season is over!  She did so well.  She was put into the excel program with only 2 months of gym under her belt.  Then we took just about the whole summer off.  So with only a  9 months of gym she really had a great season.  Some of her teammates have been in gym for several years.  So she was pretty happy to earn several medals.  She's pretty sweet and fun.  She's always got friends over here and they are always doing fun, creative things together.  I love this age!

Soren:  Soren loves preschool and has been so happy to have lots of playdates lately.  He really loves his new friend Luke especially.  He gives so many hugs and is super affectionate.  He's really calm for the most part and doesn't get too uptight about things.  He still loves clothes and was really excited to get some new shoes yesterday.  He is really looking forward to our trips.  He still sleeps with Simone and just loves playing with her.