World's Greatest Dad!!!

Happy Fathers Day to the "BEST DAD EVER" as my girls would say. After all, it is HE who turns the couches into forts, beds into indoor trampolines, and stairs into slides.

He spends countless hours on the trampoline with the girls. Here is the latest...

Teaching the girls how to jump off of the roof onto the tramp. Um, hello???

WE LOVE YOU DAD!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!

Troy and his Dad

So long 1st Grade!!!

Hallee had her 1st grade program last week. They did such a great job and sang lots of cute songs. It has been amazing to watch her learn and progress this year. We are so grateful to her wonderful teacher! Mrs. Miller
The girls in her class

Bargain Anyone???

So after talking about it for the past six months we finally broke down and had a garage sale on Saturday. We had been piling up "stuff" in our garage since last fall and we couldn't wait to clear it out. Troy was all about "making the deal" while I was all about "making a little money." This posed a bit of a challenge. There were numerous times I just had to go in the house. I mean, I wasn't trying to make a fortune but shouldn't memories count for SOMETHING :)

I about passed out when I heard Troy adding up the total to a pile of clothes, a glass entry table and a cute white wooden bench and it came to a whopping $9.00!!! WHAT!!!!!!! I was DYING!! I would have sold the bench for a minimum of $15.00 by itself. We had partnered up with our three neighbors who were all having garage sales at the same time and they about died when they heard what he sold the bench for. I don't think he will EVER live that one down. However, with that said, we sold almost ALL of our stuff and had very little to haul off to the DI when we were done. All thanks to the bargain man.

Hallee and Hope wanted to make a little money and after unsuccessfully trying to convince me to let them sale pretty much EVERYTHING in their room they settled for making cookies to sale instead.


With three other garage sales going on and TONS of neighborhood kids running around it was hard to stay focused. More often than not we found the chairs empty and this sign...

Hallee had a birthday party to go to that afternoon and then that evening we met up with my parents and my brother and his family in Salt Lake. They were staying at the Marriott so we had dinner and then went back to the hotel to swim.

As we were driving home the girls declared that this was one of the best days of their lives. Glad we could help you out with that.

Right Now...

Right now the girls are heavily engrossed in a movie.

Right now Troy has a smirk from ear to ear.

Troy told the girls he had a "great" movie for them to watch that he had recorded on the DVR. They were skeptical. So far...I think they like it. I mean how could you NOT like it??

"Adventures in Babysitting"... a classic.

TRACKS SMACKS

Most of the time I don't mind TRACK schooling. In fact, sometimes it is actually quite nice and I think I may even prefer it. But every once in a while, OK a better statement would be - "EVERY year at this time" I start to question it. Perhaps it's that I start looking at blogs full of LAST DAY OF SCHOOL celebrations, posts about 3 months of FREEDOM, and lots of pictures of blissful family vacations, pool outings, and barbecues that start to get to me. Perhaps its the fact that I look at my calendar and realize we still have FOUR weeks of school left. And then I get bummed out that our family reunion vacation starts before we are even out of school. And then I realize that by the time we get home from our "vaca" Hallee will only have TWO WEEKS before she starts 2nd grade.

I get even more depressed when I start to think about some of my favorite childhood memories of back to school shopping trips and remember that shopping for back to school clothes in JULY is pretty much POINTLESS.

Ya. Tracks stink sometimes. Like when you don't find out what track your are going to get until JUNE. And then you discover that not only did you NOT get your 1st choice of track but you also didn't get your 2nd or 3rd choice either.

And then I remember that it REALLY doesn't matter all that much. Life goes on. And those three week breaks in the middle of a long school year are absolutely FABULOUS. So we'll get over it. And we just might even manage to sneak in a little bit of SUMMER with a little WATERMELON, SPRINKLERS and even a few BARBECUES here and there EVEN though we are still in school.

Three Beauties

Introducing the third of my three neices to be born in the last five months....

Kenzie Ann Smith

(at least I think that is her name. Last time I checked they were not 100%)

And here are the three beauties together... Aren't they the cutest thing you have ever seen??

Becca (My sister Adree's baby born in January), Lila (My younger brothers baby born in February) and Kenzie (my older brothers baby born in May).

Wedding Bliss

I love weddings!! Nothing quite like being around newlyweds and add food, family, and dancing to the mix and your bound to have a good time. Such was the case with my cousin Krissy's wedding in Logan last weekend.

Brother Rob and Lila

Cousins Magen and Kelli

Miss Caymbree Rose

GETTING OUR GROOVE ON!

Just Dance!!!

Hope and Hallee had their spring dance concert once again. They did a fabulous job as always and had lots of fun in the process. Thanks to everyone who came. They LOVED having you all there and they have not stopped talking about it.

Check out Hope's dance here. (Remember to pause my music on the playlist first)

To see more pictures and a video of Hallee's dance check out her blog here.

Memorial Day

So if you would have asked me on Friday morning what our plans for Memorial Day Weekend were I would have said "A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING!" How quickly all that changed. About 10am Friday morning we got a phone call from my mom saying that they were headed to Provo to watch my cousin play in the State 4A baseball championship game. Quite a few of my cousins and grandpa and grandma were all going to be there so we thought we would join in on the fun. Over 20 family members were there to watch my cousin hit a home run and win the State Championship. While at the game we decided to have cousin Olivia come stay with us for the weekend. The girls were so cute and had SOOOO much fun sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags.

Also on Friday around 3pm we got a phone call from the Bishop saying that the couple who were going to speak on Sunday had just called and cancelled so he was wondering if Troy and I could fill in. Luckily, public speaking does not bother either one of us it was just finding the time to write our talks with 48 hours notice :).

On Sunday we gave our talks in church and then I ran home to meet Rob and Rachel to get baby Lila. We were lucky enough to get to babysit her for the day and we LOVED every second of it. Olivia's family came down after church to hang out and have dinner with us. The kids were outside playing when a thunder cloud burst and it was like a someone poured a bucket of water right out of the clouds on top of them. By the time the kids got to back door of the house they were DRENCHED!!!

On Monday we had some friends call and invite us to the pool and a barbecue later that evening. By Monday night I laughed at our "Not a dang thing" original weekend plan.

School Days

So I have been doing a lot of substitute teaching lately. Interesting Job. And in the process I have discovered a magnificent way to improve our school systems. I think every parent should legally be required to be a sub at least once a year. I'm not joking. Parents need to see first hand what teachers do and more importantly what they put up with each and every day. It would give parents a whole new appreciation for teachers.

I have also noticed that in every classroom regardless of age there seems to be the same array of personalities. I often think about my own children and sometimes smile, sometimes grimace as I realize what category THEY would fall in to. Then I think about myself in school and which one I fell into to. (Again sometimes smiling, other times grimacing). So here is my breakdown. Anyone brave enough to disclose which one YOU were in school??

Brown-noser: Does anything to please, always right in your space asking for attention
Brat Face: Typically girls, constantly rolling their eyes at each and everything you say.
Tattle-tale: Oh, yes happens at all ages. Constantly surveying the room for anyone to tell on.
Whiner: Whines about everything!!!
Jokester: Wants to be the center of attention. Does not know when it's appropriate and when it's not.
Needy: Regardless of task they need your attention, approval, and recognition.
Cop: The one who is constantly on everyone's case
Recluse: Never makes eye contact. Keeps to themself. Does not want to engage in anything or with anyone.

And then there are those precious few:
Everybody's Friend: Say's hello to everyone who walks in the door. Constantly pays compliments to others.
On task: They come in , they do their work and they do it well. No fanfare. Just gets it done.
Trustworthy: You know you can ask them a question about how things are done and they will give you the honest answer.

There are always a few of them in every classroom. The problem is sometimes it gets too crazy to even notice them. I try to find them. I really do. And when I do I always pull them aside after class and let them know what a great kid I think they are. My favorite is in the middle schools and high schools. Truly class acts. Especially when they are boys. I was about brought to tears last week when I watched a cute, "popular" BOY readily give out sincere compliments to each and everyone he interacted with. It was amazing!

I come home everyday drilling Hallee about what kind of a student she is. Do you whine? Do you tattle-tale? Are you a good friend? And then the lecture begins as I "teach" her and Hope about what kind of student I want them to be. I hope they have a good attitude and take care of themselves. I hope they stay on task and are honest and responsible. And I pray that they are the type of person who builds up everyone around them. Probably a lot to ask considering that I was not always that kind of student myself. I guess I can only hope.

PS. Send a teacher a thank you note and treat today. They deserve it!!!

Happy Mothers Day to Me!

So Hallee helped Troy pull it off. The best Mother's Day ever! It started with a gourmet breakfast in bed with pancakes, eggs and toast followed by a plethora of handmade gifts from the girls.
The girls have been whispering secrets all week and working frantically behind closed doors on their craft projects just for me. You can't really see it from the picture above but there were A LOT of pictures and projects. Hope made me an entire book but my favorite is the one below. When I asked her what it was she said, "It's you mom. You're golfing." Ahhhh. Makes perfects sense. (Since I have never picked up a golf club in my life.)

Troy took over the duties for the day and let me indulge myself in laziness. He cooked all the meals, cleaned up afterwards, kept the kids busy and happy and anything else I chose not to do today.

Hallee is now the official party planner and kept Troy on his toes all day making sure they did any and everything to pamper me. In fact, Hallee even fixed me a diet Coke and had it sitting by the computer when I went upstairs to blog. Love it!

I am truly one lucky mom to have such an amazing husband and children who went above and beyond to make sure I had a wonderful mothers day. And wonderful it truly was! The only thing that would have made it any better would be to have been to share it with our own mothers who are both amazing women! We love you both and wish we could have seen you today. Happy Mother's day!

Lagoon!!

Hallee had her dance competition at LAGOON yesterday and as far as the competition went...not so hot. Lagoon however was a big hit as usual.
We had to have Hallee AT Lagoon ready to perform by 7am Saturday morning. This meant we had to get all the kiddos up at 5:30am! It was freezing and total chaos. To make a long story short the girls were rushed on stage and looked like they were in a state of confusion. Not their best performance but they still had fun.
Our friends little girl woke up in the middle of the night with a raging fever so Troy got to live out his dreams with two wives and five daughters for the day :)

Caymbree is completely terrified of rides (including the swings at the park) so anytime we got her even close to a ride she would start to come unglued. Finally after watching her sisters do the bumper cars she got brave enough to go on one with Hope. Then she got a little braver and decided to try it by herself. What a mistake. Every time the ride stopped and we tried to get her out of the car she would kick and scream through the entire line until it was her turn again. Luckily, the lines were short.

Most of the time she would just turn in a circle over and over and over again. But she never got bored with it. I think we ended up going on this ride at least five times.

Towards the end of the day I tricked Caymbree onto this ride. As soon as we sat down she started screaming. I think she held her breath the entire ride! Once we got off I asked her if she had fun and she said, "Yeah." But when I asked her if she wanted to do it again it was a definite "NO!"

It ended up being the perfect temperature and the kids loved it! And I quite enjoyed the toe touch contest that Troy and Tara decided to have in the middle of the park. For more pictures you can check out Hallee's blog here.

Hello Sun...we've missed you!

Ever since the sun has made its debut my girls have been BEGGING to turn on the sprinklers. Let me remind you...sun does not necessarily mean heat! For the past month I have had daily conversations with the girls about how 60 degree weather is not conducive to water fun! Finally, yesterday I had heard enough and let them have at it.

What posers!!!
I was convinced that they would be complaining about it being too cold within a matter of minutes but they proved me wrong. They loved ever second of it!

In Loving Memory

Bunny Stinker passed away on Sunday, May 3rd due to unknown complications. He lived a short but adventurous life full of trips down the slide, walks to the park, jumps on the trampoline and rides in the bucket of Caymbree's car/stroller. He is survived by his loyal friend and companion Diamond Lesha as well as his three greatest fans; Hallee, Hope and Caymbree. Burial services took place later that evening at the Hodges residence.

Ok. So really - it didn't go down quite so peacefully. The girls and I were in Logan all weekend while I was judging a dance competition. We pulled into the garage Sunday morning and the girls were eager to see the bunnies. I got to them first and saw Diamond Lesha resting her chin and paws on Stinker and of course I say "Oh, that is so sweet!" Then I realize that Stinker is not moving and my heart sinks and I have to start fighting off the tears. And then the girls realized what was going on and the flood gates opened. Hope didn't believe it and kept asking Troy to hold it. We took the girls inside and then watched in anguish as they fell apart. Hope took it the hardest and it was hard to get her over it. She just kept saying , "I didn't want Stinker to live with President Hinkley." Funny that was her first thought.

We finally got them composed and I sent them to church with Troy so I could finish getting ready. I was worried about Hope getting to primary and falling apart but Troy knew she was fine when she walked into church, saw one of my friends and announced "Stinker died. My dad put him in a box. Do you want to come see him?"

I felt like my emotions were right at the surface partly due to an insane weekend of a 14 hour judging day on Friday, five hours of sleep, and then a 13 hour judging day on Saturday with another extremely late night. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that when I walked into Relief Society saw all my friends who started apologizing for the loss of Stinker that I easily caved and had an emotional meltdown right there in the middle of RS. Lovely. And on top of that, most people probably think I was in pretty extreme mourning over the loss of a BUNNY! (Although I will miss the cute little thing :).

Now I hold my breath each morning as we walk out to where the cage is. I have tried prepping the girls that it might happen to Diamond Lesha as well. Oh, can't wait for that day.