R.I.P.

Kristen's hamster Maizey (however she spells it) died yesterday. Every time I go into her room, I always check and see where the hamster is and what it's doing. Yesterday, it was laying on it's side with its legs spread out. I called her and told her. She didn't believe it. Jarren put on a glove and picked it up--stiff and cold--totally dead. Kristen ran off crying and crying, so upset. We put it in a box and buried it. Shh...don't tell the kids, but early this morning, before they were awake, I dug it up and threw it away. I don't think you're supposed to bury animals in your garden. I call it an "it" because Kristen just knew it was a girl, but in the last few weeks, she suspected it was really a boy. Therefore, it.

I took her today to get a new one. This one is MUCH more active and totally cute--dark grayish with a black stripe down its back and a white ring around the neck and white paws. She's pretty sure this one is a boy and named him Jasper. Pictures to come....

All of this drama makes me completely dread the day our dog dies. If a hamster that she had for 9 months caused the family this much sadness, what will a dog who is like one of the kids do to them??? I just hope we have some warning before that day happens--like old, sick, etc.

Flashback Friday

Yes, I know it's not Friday. I'm really not that blonde. :) But...I do have a good excuse for being late. We don't have a computer, but have a laptop and our cord shorted out. Therefore, it wouldn't charge the battery and we weren't able to use it for a few days. We got the new cord on Friday afternoon, but...the mail came right as we were leaving for a Watkins family reunion. We got back really late and then had a super busy day yesterday as well. Better late than never, right?This summer, we are taking the kids to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. The last time we went up there as a family was 6 years ago--Jarren was 2 and Jenna wasn't born yet. That got me thinking back to the first time that I remember going. It was the summer before 5th grade for me, so I would have been 10 years old. Jen was 9. Our great-grandma grew up in Alberta, Canada and they had a big reunion up there every summer. One day, my mom mentioned that my grandma and grandpa were going to go and they were going to take the two of us with them. We were sooo excited!! We drove up through Montana and stayed at The Brownie Motel, where my grandma and Jen were sick, sick, sick from eating too many cherries. The next morning, we had breakfast at the motel and I ordered two blueberry pancakes--my favorite. My grandma was concerned that they weren't going to fill me up, but they were both the size of a HUGE platter!! We drove through Glacier Nat'l Park and Waterton. Beautiful, beautiful areas. I remember thinking that Canada was so flat and prairie-like. The sun would set behind the ground, instead of the mountains. We had a fun time meeting many extended family members. I met a kindred cousin who was just my age. Her grandma was my great-grandma's baby sister. On the way home, we stayed in West Yellowstone. The room had 3 queen beds, so Jen and I each got our own bed. I remember her having a dream about a cat and picking her Cabbage Patch Kid up by the pigtail, talking to the "cat." We looked around Yellowstone a bit. My grandparents loved Yellowstone!! I remember I got two little fuzzy tiger-striped cat souvenirs with big blue eyes--I named them Bunny and Bambi. Old Faithful was amazing!! My grandma took our picture in front of it. Notice--I have the worst haircut I've ever had and I'm actually taller than Jen!! I'm on the left, by the way. Anyway....those are some very fun and precious memories and I hope that my kids will remember some fun things from our trip this summer.

Recital 2011

Kristen was in 4 dances this year: ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and production. The pictures are a little dark. Sorry...

Jazz. They danced to "Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner. It was a cute dance. They kept changing the dance on the girls and we (parents) thought they'd never keep it straight, but they won 1st place every competition.Kristen is on the far left kneeling down lifting the girl.

She's on the far left in the back, jumping.

Far left, in the back.

Hip-Hop. They danced to "It's Tricky" by Run DMC. They got 1st and 2nd at the all the competitions with this one and won overall high point at one.

Far left, back. That must be their favorite position for her. :)

Ballet. They did the dance to a song called "Fly Me Away" by Little & Ashley. It was very cute and almost whimsical. I LOVED the costumes!!Kristen is on the far left edge.

Kristen is in the front with her elbow up.
She's in the front--second in from the left.
She in on the far left end. They do something about secrets and she puts her hands over her mouth like she's surprised.

Production. They did Toy Story for their production number this year. Kristen was an army man. Good luck picking her out!! We had to paint their faces green and all the parents had a very hard time finding their daughter at each and every performance. They won a lot of 1st places with this one, and a 2nd.

.

It was a great year!! Way to go Kristen!!!

Bittersweet

Why are so many things in life bittersweet? It was a bittersweet feeling to have Jenna graduate from preschool--glad she's growing up, but sad that the toddler/preschooler stage of life is over for our family. It was bittersweet to have the school-year end. We've never had a big, long "traditional" summer before. But not only that, I now have a son who is finished with his first year of middle school and a daughter who will be starting her last year of elementary school this fall. I'm happy they're doing so well and growing up, but sad that time is flying by way too fast. Kendall is 1/3 of the way done with middle school. That means that high school will probably fly by just as fast--or faster.

We had another bittersweet experience yesterday. Kristen has decided to quit dancing. In a way, it breaks my heart. But in another way, it's kind of a relief. She wants to try some other adventures and who knows? She could discover new talents and passions.

Kristen has loved to dance--ever since she could walk. She has enjoyed every minute of it--until this year. We decided, since it was her passion and she was begging, to let her dance 4 dances this year. That meant at least 4-5 hours of dance a week and many more than that during the competition season (the last few months). I think it's also been an adjustment, going from year-round school with breaks all the time to going 9 months straight. She is totally and completely burned out. Last night was her last dance event. It was a super long day! They always do it at an outdoor amphitheater and practice things that morning. We left home at 8:45 am and didn't get home until about 2:15 pm. Then an hour later, we had to start getting her hair and makeup done for the show. They decided to do two recitals this year, so that things wouldn't be as crowded, but the competition teams had to perform in both shows. We left home again at 4 pm and didn't get home until 10:15 pm. Almost a 10 hour day!! She did a really good job and I'm proud of her for sticking through her tiredness and burn out to the very end.

Jarren's Baptism

Jarren decided to be baptized a member of our church today. There were 11 kids being baptized, including a friend from our neighborhood. I think he was a little nervous beforehand. He got into the font and was a little giggly. He was kind of giddy and silly afterward. All went well and it was a nice day. Thanks to all the family members and friends who were there to support him!!! I'm very proud of him for making this big decision and in becoming one of the newest members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We love you, Jarren!!!

Flashback Friday....A Day Late.....

I've been super busy with end 0f the year school stuff, so my blog has suffered. I'm going to get back on track now--hopefully. So here's the next installment of Flashback Friday--a day late.
Okay, siblings, help me out. I believe this was 1995. That's me with my two younger sisters. We all decided to put our hair in pig tails to be the Three Little Piggies. Pretty silly, I know, but it was fun. My sister next to me is 14 months younger than me and the little one is 17 years younger than me. We love to laugh together and do crazy things.This picture was taken earlier this week. It sure looks like we've all grown up--well, except for me. I used to be the tallest and now I'm the shortest. :) I love my sisters!!!

Okay...back to the Three Little Pigs. My brothers didn't want to be outdone, so they joined in the fun. The picture's not the best and I have NO idea where my other brother was. Probably hiding, so he didn't have to have his hair done. Haha.I love my brothers too! I hope that someday, my kids will actually want to spend time together and will be the best of friends. They do pretty well now, but have their moments.

Happy 8th Birthday, Jarren!!!

(Jarren in an Aragorn costume he's been wanting)

Jarren turned 8 yesterday and we had quite the busy day. First of all, he had to do his least favorite thing--go to school. I'm a "mean" mom and don't let my kids miss school for their birthday. He had a walking field trip and it was early out day, so it wasn't too bad, right??

I am also a "mean" mom and don't do birthday parties every year for my kids--or even every other year. I think every 4 years is good. We do family things and other fun things on the "off" years. Sometimes they get to invite one good friend over for the family fun. Luckily for me (yes, I'm kinda being sarcastic), it was a party year for both Jarren and Jenna, which meant two parties in a month. Jarren has a tricky birthday--for 4 years, it will be during Memorial weekend. Then he'll have 3 years off. Well...yesterday was kind of the beginning of the long weekend. And he wanted his birthday party right on his actual birthday. We had it in the late afternoon. Jon has been reading him Lord of the Rings at bedtime for months now, so he wanted a Lord of the Rings party. It was a fun, fun party. We played Squirt while we waited for everyone to come. You pick a topic (like farm animals) and go around the circle. Each person has to say a farm animal and if they can't name one or name one that's already been said, they get a little squirt in the face. Then we played parcel pass. I wrapped a present about 10 times with different wrapping paper. Then I played a Lord of the Rings song while they passed the parcel around the circle. When the music stopped, the person holding it had to unwrap a layer and there was a note telling them something to do (10 jumping jacks, sing Happy Birthday in opera, etc). The last one had a note saying to open the box and he got a small gift. Jon took the day off and made a fun obstacle course for them to do. At the end, they each got a bow and arrow set. We practiced shooting those and then some Orcs came out!!! Two of the boys were pretty scared. They had a battle and won! The Orcs were Kendall and two of his buddies. After that, we dug in the sandbox to find the ring. I had one for each of them, but apparently hid them too well. After 10 minutes of digging, we only found 4. Then it was pinata time!! After that, gifts, cake and ice cream. I try to be very accommodating to make a fun cake for my kids, but Jarren informed me a few days ago, "I just want a plain rectangle one. I'm getting too old to have something fancy." Huh?? I almost hurt my feelings... He also wasn't too excited for his birthday, telling me that "birthdays just aren't as much fun when you get older." Huh, again??? Since when is 8 old? Jon, Kendall, Jarren, and three of Kendall's friends were going to go camping, so we had to hurry and do our traditional balloon present hunt and get them loaded up and gone. Jarren got some fun things. I hope he'll enjoy them for a long time! Happy Birthday!!!