Proof She's My Daughter After All

Emma is the little girl I never knew I wanted until she came. She's definitely a handful. She talks incessantly!!!! I'm the kind of person who loves silence. She's a whiner and that is the one thing a person can do that is sure to drive me straight up a wall and hope that it's high enough for me to jump and go splat!!! But through it all, I love my little girl. However, she is indeed a GIRL!! I don't ever remember really being all that girly. Sure, I played with barbies, but that was about the extent of it. I almost don't know what on earth to do with Emma. I try to be supportive and all that, but I just never really wanted to run around in dresses all day long--I still hate them!! But this year with Kindergarten under her belt, Emma has become a great little reader. I bought her some chapter books to really challenge herself this summer and she's plowed through one and almost done with the second (and I only bought them a couple of weeks ago!!) I'm immensely proud of her!! Of course, they are the Tinkerbell Fairy Series of books, and she just loves them. She spends most of the night reading now and this is an almost daily sight.
She usually falls asleep right in the middle of reading. Yup, my daughter indeed!!!

Vernal

Sunday we decided to go on out to Vernal so that we could go to the Dinosaur Museum and also so that Joe could visit with his Grandma before he heads down to Texas for the next several of months.
Dan was beyond excited to go to see the "Dinosaur Zoo!!" That's what he called it!! And when we went out into the garden, he wanted to ride on the stegosaurus. He was so cute. He didn't want to sit still for a second so to get him for pictures, I told him to stay standing on the turtle, which is exactly what he did.
Emma and Dan hamming it up, and Porter in the background, categorically refusing to be photographed.
This was the on the fly. He looked up at me and I took his picture because he didn't want his taken.
Emma is such a ham.
Hyrum poses with the big dinosaur.
Emma roaring like a dinosaur through the caves.
Dan running in circles.
Hyrum trying to sneak out.
Porter digging for the bones.
They wanted their picture with the "big elephant." That would be the mammoth behind them. And I tell you, this is the BEST picture I've ever taken of all four together!!!
Joe is officially fired after this shot. I look stoned and Porter's head is cut off.
They wanted a picture with the T-Rex. I'm shouting "look at me," in a high squeaky voice for their entertainment and to get them to look at the camera, and Dan is shouting "STOP!!" at me. Silly kids.
Then we went out to Flaming Gorge. Joe got his job back, because this picture didn't turn out so bad. But I tell you, it took every ounce of courage for me to pose for this picture, especially as the kids pushed me back into the fencing and I felt it push back. I am absolutely petrified of heights, especially heights over water, so I was beyond terrified sitting there.
Porter refused to be in the picture with Dad, but at least everyone else was willing.

Happy little trip!! Joe leaves in about two weeks and will be gone for about two and a half months. During that time, I get to bring the kids to Illinois to spend a couple of weeks at Oma and Opa's, then go out myself to get them back, visit my new nephew (who will hopefully be born on time), visit Mizzou and meet with my adviser, kids go back to school, I start my Graduate program (including three trips out to Omaha, before he gets back), and we go visit our niece (who will also be born before he gets back). All in all, a VERY busy next couple of months and that's just the beginning of a two year roller coaster ride!!

Splash Park

The park up at Hill Air Force Base is always a winner for my kids!! They have slides, playhouses, swings (both regular and tire!!) I mean, seriously, what more could a kid want!!!??? Oh, yeah, they've added a SPLASH PARK!!! It was so great to take them there.
Emma riding out the tire swing.
Porter and Dan aren't the biggest fans of water (especially Dan), so they quickly went from the splash park to hanging at the playground. They loved the little playhouse.
Emma kept getting cold and running over to me and getting me all wet.
Hyrum had fun splashing himself and everyone else.
Balance. . .
Porter ran through for a bit, and Dan stared at it. I ran Dan through the waterfall and that was all he was willing to do.

Porter is sporting his new swimsuit. I actually had to go buy him a 3T in hopes that it wouldn't fall down to his ankles while running about (I still have to fold it!!) The kid is way too thin!!

All in all a great day. . .

Park Time

So I have a group of four or five parks that I love to take the kids to, depending on what kind of day it is. This one Dan loves so much!! It's the only one that he will willingly go down all the slides on. Even Porter will go down them, and believe me that's saying something!!
Hyrum climbing one of the rock walls. He spent most of this day crying because he and Emma wouldn't stop fighting, and he ended up needing a time out. But I finally got him to calm down enough to play and get his picture taken.
Porter climbs all around and in everything.
Dan had a BLAST on the see saw with his sister. He was laughing and giggling the whole time.
Emma loves this thing!!
There they go. Oh, was he ever MAD when he had to get off and let someone else have a turn!!
So this is nothing to do with the park, but are just some cute pictures. Porter is really into hats lately (especially his Dad's hats!!) He's constantly stealing them, but at least with this one, Dad doesn't worry about it getting ruined.
Brother time. Dan loves to "help" Hyrum play the DS!! Gotta love Star Wars and all them "lifesavers."

Gateway Fountain

Since it was the first nice day in like a week (although it was still only 70 degrees out), the kids just had to go to Gateway and get to play in the fountain. I love this place!!! They just need one at the Junction so that I didn't have to drive all the way to Salt Lake just so the kids can run around in a big fountain!!
That's as close as Hyrum would come. He was so upset we had to leave, even though he was turning purple.
Emma loves the steam jets, and just running around all crazy like.
Porter runs through the whole fountain with it going off constantly, all the while holding his pants up (which is freaking hilarious by the way.) and somehow he doesn't get soaked to the bone like his brother and sister.
Dan is a bit scared of the fountain. He spent the time by mom and dad, checking out all the people's footprints.
Can you find the kids??
It was a good day, and I am so happy the sun has decided to join us for a little bit. I really hope it's here to stay for a while!!!

Pineview

Sunday we were going to go up to Bear Lake and enjoy the day, but as we are heading up Logan Canyon, Emma starts screaming, "MOM! MOM! . . .I'M GONNA PUKE!!!" We race over to the side of the road and she does indeed puke all over the side of the road. So, home we went. Which was good because she spent the rest of that day screaming and vomiting. Also, I was starting to not feel so great.
So with Bear Lake in the backseat, we opted to go to Pineview on Monday. It was very cold water but it was a great day to just have fun. I was feeling pretty miserable then, but I didn't want to take the fun day away from the kids and laying in the sun does wonders for major body aches (of course, that night I had to run over to InstaCare and found out I have Strep Throat again--that's twice in the past couple of months!!!)
Emma had fun splashing in the water and digging in the sand.
Hyrum would jump in the water and get really wet and then come out and roll around until he was coated in mud. He also found this big stick (I think it was a shovel handle) and played with that. Joe said he looked like a little bushman.
Porter refused to go in the water and just dug in the sand, not that I blamed him--I tried a couple of times but just couldn't bare how cold it was.
Dan got dunked by his dad, but he was just not into that. He spent most of the time digging in the dirt.

Besides being really sick and scoring a good burn on my back, it was an absolutely perfect day!!! I can't wait for it to warm up a bit more so we can make this a regular summer pastime for us.

Cousins Are the Bestest!!

Today was Reid's birthday party (my first nephew is 3!!!! and that means my BABY is almost 3!!!!)
And because it was a party, it meant playing with the cousins!!! Okay, so my kids outnumber 2 to 1 but that's okay because we still all have a blast and this summer we add a Merkley cousin and a Lindner (Taylor) cousin, so they won't be so outnumbered anymore.
I thought all in all we did good with the pictures considering there are 6 small kids we tried to rope into this!!

They are all so adorable!!!

***And on another note--RUTH GOT INTO HER GRADUATE PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI (ONLINE)--Library Science Masters Program for those of you who didn't know.

Kindergarten Graduation/Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school this year!! Emma was VERY excited for her Kindergarten graduation!! Now my big boy is in 3rd grade!!! And my little girl is a 1st grader!!! Holy crap!!
Before we left, we got all dressed up and Emma and Momma got a picture together. I'm so proud of her--she got a 100% on her Kindergarten exit exam. Such smart kids I have!!!
Emma and her Kindergarten teacher-Miss Greenwell. She was the bestest teacher in the world, and Emma just loved her to pieces.

Emma all graduated.


They performed a bunch of songs and I totally screwed up and missed the beginning but this is the song they specifically learned for graduation. They learned the signs and signed and sang it for us all. "What a Wonderful World," by Louis Armstrong.

On another note, it was also Hyrum's last day, he deserves some hard earned praise too. He did wonderfully this year. He got great grades and is so excited to be heading to 3rd grade.

The first pictures were taken the first day of school. The second on the last day. Check out Hyrum's shorts and you can see how much he grew this year!!! By next year, he'll be taller than his momma.

May Reading 2010

This month was another great month for reading. Though I have to say this month went by really slowly because I swear it was like forever ago that I finished the first book.

Thirst No. 2 581

Christopher Pike. I really liked the last of this series, or at least I think it's the last. . . Not sure how he would continue it if he did, but it was a good series and I had fun reading it.

Burned 323

Last installment if The House of Night series. P.C Cast and Kristine Cast. These books are so good and an emotional roller coaster for me. I can't wait until the next one comes out. They really know how to leave you hanging.

The Last Apprentice: A Coven of Witches 196

Joseph Delany. So I thought this was the next book in the series and I was wrong. They were a collection of short tales on various witches that come into the series. It was nice to get that background on characters that are seen as evil or second compared to the main characters. It was a very fast read but fun.

Septimus Heap: Queste 596
Septimus Heap: Syren 628

Angie Sage. I really enjoyed this series. I don't know if she will continue or not; I sure hope she does, there's a lot of story left to tell.

The Hunger Games 374
Catching Fire 391

So, I've been told for months that these are the books to read. Suzanne Collins. They definitely are GREAT books, but if you want to read them, wait until the end of August for the third book (it's a trilogy, and it will only annoy you not to have the conclusion). These books are a great emotional roller coaster ride, and that's why I can't wait for number three--the second book leaves you hanging at the edge and you don't know if you want to scream or cry!!! Can't wait for the conclusion.

Gregor the Overlander 309
Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane 309
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods 358
Gregor and the Marks of Secret 343
Gregor and the Code of Claw 412

Well, I enjoyed the Hunger Games books so much, I decided to check out some more of Suzanne Collins. These books are for a little younger audience then the Hunger Games, but they are also compelling. I was sad how they ended but they are definitely great books. This author really has a talent for bonding you to the main character.

His Dark Materials 933

Philip Pullman. Okay, so this trilogy has been sitting on my shelf for like forever and it just kept getting overlooked. I was told--C.S. Lewis Narnia = Christianity. Pullman Dark Materials = Atheist. All I have to say is, if that's how you break it down, then you didn't pay attention at all to what you read. Pullman may offend some Christians but I would hope it would be the bad ones it offends. These books condemn all the cruelty, judgments, and evil done in the name of God, which are definitely vast. I really enjoyed them.

The Ranger's Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel 358

John Flanagan. I really love The Ranger's Apprentice series, and the newest one definitely didn't disappoint. It will be fun to see where it continues later this year.


Total for May: 6,111
Total for 2010: 24,323

**As always, any questions, let me know!!