Random summer pics

I have a bunch of random pictures and I don't want to do a separate post for each set so I'm regurgitating them here =)

 Playing at the pool

 Even my dog likes to play on the slides.  She would slide, go jump up the stairs, go through the tube and then slide again. Silly mutt!

 Me and my baby girl at the Terrace Days

 Me and my little man at Terrace Days.  We were going to stay and watch fireworks but Brenna had a meltdown and threw a fit so we went home.

My big helper!  He loves eating cookie dough!  Notice the big cocoa mess....that was him dumping out my cocoa in an attempt to help.. Notice the HUGE lollipop...he would take a bite of dough, lick the sucker, east some dough, lick the sucker.  Can we say sugar high?!

Love the mischievous look here!

Slip and slide! We used it twice before they broke it.....

 Ian loves to help "fix" things.  Whenever Jason (or me) gets the tools out, he has to grab a tool and help us.

This is a new game invented by Ian.  Not sure what to call it....It's kinda like baseball, only you hit the ball on the ground, but not golf because you use a baseball bat, but not baseball because you use a soccer ball......

This is the end result whenever we go to the dog park.  No, that is not dog poop!  He likesto play in the dog water dishes, which are usually in the dirt...so, you mix water and dirt and you get a whole lot of fun for Ian!  Not to mention he gets to chase around all the dogs and he LOVES it when they come give him kisses =)  Brenna likes to go take off into the trees or go make new friends so I can never get a picture of her.

Playing in the helicopter at Terrace Days.  There were lots of buttons to push =)

Stay tuned for more pictures!  Maybe next time I'll actually put them in the right order......

Last but not least, here is proof that I can actually grow flowers! True, the previous owners planted them, but I've watered them (ok, so the rain did that for me), but the amazing part, is that they are still alive!  Everytime I get one of those potted flowers for Mother's Day, it's dead within a few days.

Here is my gardening: get a bunch of wildflower seeds, throw them in the dirt, water them, and cross your fingers that they grow.  I thought the rain had washed them all out, but then they started popping out everywhere!  I love wildflowers (mostly because they are low maintenance).  I love seeing the mixture of all types of flowers.

Another milestone reached =)

My goal for this summer was to get Brenna riding a bike without training wheels.  I figured it would take most the summer to accomplish.  She is such a fraidy-cat at new things, but once she can get over that initial little bump, it becomes the coolest thing ever.  I thought it would take her a while to get over the "bump."  Then one day, she saw her friend, Olivia, who is younger than her, riding her bike all over without training wheels.  Brenna made up her mind that she was going to do it too. 

(this was one of her first attempts, no pedaling)

It started with her just sitting on the bike and pushing off with her feet to get her balance.  She did this for a couple days and then one day while we were outside practicing, she decided to put her feet on the petals as she was coasting and try to petal.. This was all on her own, I wasn't pushing her to try it yet.  She did a few turns before losing her balance.  Then, the next day she wanted to practice some more and I was in the middle of doing something so I couldn't help her so she went out on her own.  Then she comes running inside, all excited.  "Mom! I can ride all by myself now!"  I was thinking, okay, she made it past the neighbors while pedaling.  So I went out to watch her and she was riding up and down the street, turning around while pedaling and was even steering! (the day before she kept running into curbs because she couldn't steer).  Now she has spent her every moment outside riding her bike, up and down the street.  She loves it!  Especially since all the other kids in the neighborhood ride their bikes around and she was feeling left out before.  I knew once she got over her fear of falling over she would do just fine.  So from the time I started working with her until now, it has been maybe a week, but she didn't try every day.  I think it only took her about 3 or 4 days of trying to get it down, and on those days she only did it for about 15 minutes before she would get frustrated and stop.  Now I can't get her off the thing!!

Of course, Ian is not one to be left out.  Every time Brenna goes out, he gets his "motorcycle" out and rides up and down the street with the rest of the kids (of course I'm out with him).  He thinks he is sooooo studly riding around.

A new blog =)

A group of my neighbors and friends have decided to start a new blog. We are going to list recipes, crafts, tips, treats, you name it, we'll tyr it. There are about 8 of us contributing and we each have different things that we're love to do. I'm so excited for this new blog so for awhile, I may be doing some double posting =) Feel free to follow us! There are some amazingly talented ladies and I can't wait to see all that they come up with.




http://talentedterracegirls.blogspot.com/

Brenna's Pirate Party =)

When I asked Brenna what kind of party she wanted, she said a pirate bbq.  Sure, why not?  but do you know how hard it is to find girl pirate decorations?  I found 1.  The rest I had to improvise, and i wish I would have taken pictures but I forgot.  But I think her cake came out not too shabby.

Have I mentioned before that I am not a cake decorator?  (one of the teeth is bigger and looks funky.....) But It tasted really good!

These were the cupcakes to share. It was supposed to be a heart on them....some turned out. But the coolest thing about these....

I loved how fun these were on the inside!  Tie-dye =)



 

This is my cute girl the day of her party. 

We played "pin the eye patch on the pirate."

Earlier in the week I ran into a pirate and he told me he had some treasure he would hide and he left some clues. The kids had a lot of fun figuring out the clues and running place to place for them. The treasure was a box I had made for Brenna, and it was filled with candy and play money for them all to share.

This was them running to find another clue.

Such a great group of kids!!  They were all so much fun and were all so good!  I think we had at least 15 there =)

Brenna trying to blow out the candles.  It was kinda breezy so she didn't get to really blow them out because as soon as we lit them, the blew out.  Oh well, she still loved her pirate cake!

 She was excited to open presents.  She got some pretty good stuff this year.

Here is one of the only shots of Ian.  He decided to take a nap right before the party started and missed most of the fun.  There were still a few kids around when he woke up so he got to have fun too. 

*Sniff* My Little girl is growing up!

Brenna graduated from kindergarten on Friday, which happened to be her birthday too!

This was a bittersweet day for me.  She turned 6 years old, and she's ready for 1st grade.  Where has the time gone!!  I can't believe she is already 6!  Where is the pause button, or at least a slowdown button so she'll stop growing so fast. 

 I love this girl to death!  She is a smarty pants and a sweetheart.  She has learned so much at school this past year.  She comes home and tells me all about the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Mona Lisa, etc.  When did they start teaching kindergartners this stuff?!  She is also reading very well now.  She reads anything she can get her hands on and is loving Junie B. Jones.  she reads a page or two at a time and is working her way through it.  I know I wasn't reading stuff like that at her age.  I hope she inherited my love of reading and keeps it up.  She is also doing good at writing, but unfortunately she inherited my sloppy handwriting.  Poor girl!

She is such a great big sister to Ian.  As soon as she gets home from school, they take off together and go play.  She loves to play school with him and she has helped me teach him to count.  Sometimes he gets up to 17, but for some reason he skips 3 every time he counts.  What a nerd.  Brenna is such a big helper too.  She is responsible for cleaning her own room, helping with the downstairs bathroom, and the downstairs playroom/family room.  She never complains about cleaning....as long as it's not her room.  She would rather clean the bathroom than clean her room.  Crazy girl!  she loves to be outside, especially when it involves the trampoline, otter pops, and friends. 

She can be such a drama queen though!  She is stubborn, sassy, spirited, and a stinker!  She has an attitude, and definitely knows how to use it.  She lets us know when we do something wrong, or if we forget to do something we had promised to do.  her and her dad are constantly butting heads because she is so sassy.  She is definitely a mommy's girl. 

I love my sweet girl!  I wouldn't have her any other way.  I have been so blessed to be able to have this special girl as my daughter.  I guess I must have done something right to deserve her.  We hear in church that people living today were reserved for this time and I think the reason I am here is so that I could be the mom to this valiant girl (and of course her brother =)  )  She already has such a strong testimony  of the gospel and  loves to share it.  She stands up for what she knows is right and tries to teach others about Jesus, both through her actions and by telling them.  I know she is going to a great missionary in this gospel and pray that she never wavers.  She provides such a great example to me of what it truly means to "become like a little child."  I hope that as she grows up we can stay close and become more than just mother and daughter.  She knows how to cheer me up.  She gives the best hugs and kisses around! I love you Brenna Kay Hansen!!! 

This is Brenna and her teacher, Mrs. Mikkelson.  She is such a great teacher!!  I was worried about Brenna adjusting when we moved in the middle of the school year, but since she had such a wonderful teacher, there were very few issues.  She is always telling me how bright Brenna is and how glad she is to have her in her class.   At Brenna's old school, I felt like they weren't challenging her and that she wasn't really learning anything new.  Once we moved and she got into her new class, I was amazed at how fast she was learning and how much.  Mrs. Mikkelson said Brenna was in her top reading group and already doing stuff at a 1st grade level.  she also reassured me that just because Brenna had already accomplished the stuff they need to learn in kindergarten that she wasn't going to let her stop, she would keep finding things for her to do.  She loves school and learning.  I hope she keeps that love because it will take her far and she will be able to accomplish so much in her life.  I just asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said she wanted to be a mom and a teacher at school. 

All-in-all, I'm a pretty lucky mom to have such a great daughter.  so I have to rub it in your faces.....My daughter is better than yours =)  (I'm  her mom so of course I have bragging rights)

Easter Fun

(you might need to grab a snack, and sit back and relax, there's alot of pictures =)

We took a vacation this and it so happened it was Easter weekend that we were gone.  Luckily, we got to spend it with Jason's parents and some of our bestest friends, the Wilson.  The kids got to wake up Saturday morning and see what the Easter Bunny brought.  Kanani and I hid around 150 eggs (holy cow!) the night before.  But in our defense it was for 5 kids.  Early in the morning, I hear giggling and feet scampering.  I opened the door and Brenna, Jamison, and Tyson were already getting the good.  I told them they had to wait for Kanani to wake up before getting all the eggs.  It was an excruciating 15 minutes and finally Jamison gave up and went and woke his mom up.  Then the kids were able to go crazy and find the eggs.  Now the hard part began.....keeping Ian out of the candy so that he would eat breakfast, which was at McDonald's (I know, so healthy).  Then it was off to another Easter Egg hunt.  Jason's parent's neighbor was doing one.

Ian was so excited to find the eggs.  They limited all the kids to 12 eggs, which I think is a fabulous idea so that all the kids got some.  I think Ian would have been one of the egg hogs. 

I love the look on her face.  She was ready to go!!  She was so excited that I think she ran right past a bunch of eggs so I had to go help her.

She was searching =)  I think she would have been one of the ones with too little eggs if they hadn't regulated it.  she spends so much time running around, dancing, being excited, and jumping around that most the eggs are already found by the time she starts.  Funny girl!

Yes, that is bacon hanging out of his mouth.  He was running out like that and now he has become obsessed with bacon.

She is such a little poser!  Love that girl to death!!!

This is Tyson, Brenna, Jamison, and the little one is Kona.  The boys argue over who is going to grow up and marry her.  Either way, I will be happy since I love those kids to death and I know she'll have some great in-laws (Alan and Kanani).

He was having fun playing on the rock =)

Later that afternoon, we went over to Jason's parents and played and dyed some Easter eggs.  I think I ended up doing most of it and having more fun then the kids.  Peggy, Jason's mom, got these cool rub on tattoos for the eggs that I hogged.

I think this was the only picture I got with her the whole trip.

Forgive the goofy picture, but once again, one of the only pictures with me in it with one of the kids.

Sunday morning we went over to Jason's parents before church and discovered that the Easter Bunny had forgotten to leave some stuff Saturday so it asked if it could leave some at grandma and grandpas house =)  That sneaky rabbit also hid all the eggs that we(I) dyed the day before.  So the kids got have yet another hunt.  They had 3 egg hunts!!

Ian was so proud of himself when he found the eggs.

Brenna was excited too =)

He was showing me the shovel he got...that's the green blur.

Showing off her gloves =)

The kids got these cute little gardening bags that had shovels, rakes,  and gloves.  Plus lots of candy and a few little toys.  They were so excited to be able to "garden" now.  Where they got the idea that we are going to, is beyond me.  My version of gardening was I pulled the grass out of the patch in front of our house, sprinkled some wildflower seeds and then hoped they would grow (which a few are, yay!)

After church we had a special FHE that talked about the true meaning of Easter.

So, all in all, the kids had a good Easter.  We had fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa =)  It was also so nice to hang out with Alan and Kanani and their boys.  They are some of our best friends and our kids are all the same age.  Kona and Ian were actually due on the same day.  They live in St. George, which is where Jason wants to move eventually so in a few years we'll be able to hang out with them lots more!!!

The next round of vacation pics will come soon =)