Best Birthday Present Ever!

Ashlyn's birthday just happened to be a few days after the baby animal days in Kaysville this year.  Ever year that I hear it advertised I think how much Ashlyn would love it.  This year I decided to give a trip to the event to her for her present.  Unfortunately, Baylen and Tanner were gone at a Father's and Son's campout.  So, they couldn't go with us.  But, it was fun having a girls night out!!!  Kell, Hailey and I surprised Ashlyn.  We put the tickets in a gift bag and didn't give it to her until on the way there.  It's too bad I was driving, because a picture of her face when she realized what it was would have been priceless.  We had soooo much fun.  In fact, we stayed through close and then clear until they started kicking people out.  Even that was not enough time for Ashlyn to get her animal fix.  This girl LOVES animals!!!

We saw a fun show on baby reptiles and then were able to hold lots of baby animals.

Here are the baby chicks….

 I cannot say enough about how cute the ducklings were.  I was sooo close to buying one.  They would just snuggle up in our arms and fall asleep.  I actually fell in love with a little yellow one that I named Pineapple.  I spent every second I had with him cuddling him.  So, I have no pictures.  I still miss the little guy :)  But, here are a few pictures of his brothers and sisters.

 The girls all got to ride the horses.   There were horses and ponies there but they all chose to ride the bigger horses.

 Ashlyn has no fear when it comes to animals…. even snakes.

 Here she is with the baby tortoise.

 We spent a lot of time with the bunnies.

 She insisted on holding the bigger chicks, too.  Those guys were a lot to handle but she was a master at it.

I concluded, after this evening, that Ashlyn has an incredible talent with animals.  Hailey and Mickell would try to hold the different animals and they animals would kind of go crazy trying to get away.  However, as soon as Ashlyn took the animals from Hailey or Kell, they would immediately calm down.  She is my little animal whisperer.  

We were also able to pet baby cows, sheep, goats, pigs, llamas, etc.  As we were leaving that night, Ashlyn turned to me and said, "This is the best birthday present ever!"  I'm so glad that she had as much fun as I did seeing her so happy!

The Note

Today Ashlyn got her first love note.  It was from JoJo and said, "Ashlyn you are my mate." 

HEAVEN HELP ME!

FYI- Anyone reading this must NOT ask/tease Ashlyn about it.  I worry that she won't share these things with me if she knows I post them.  But, it's definitely something I want to include in my book!!!

Also… the other day Tanner and Mickell were talking about who different people in the 6th grade like.  Mickell was frustrated that Tanner wouldn't tell her who he likes since she told him.  His response was, "Mom will be the first one to know and Corey will be the last."  Totally made me laugh.  He knows that he will never live it down if Uncle Corey has the name :)

Worst End of School Year Mom Ever

So, I read this blog post yesterday and couldn't stop laughing.  Here is the link.  You should really read it.
http://jenhatmaker.com/blog.htm

I couldn't stop laughing… mostly because she is describing me!  Yes, I am the "worst end of the school year mom EVER."  But, I do take comfort in knowing that there are other moms out there who feel the same way.

In the blog this lady talks about how they are limping across the finish line.  She said that she tapped out somewhere in April and that it's a miracle her kids are still even going to school.  Anyways, her post really really made me laugh.  I can't figure out how to repost it on my blog so please go read it.

So, in reading her rant, I decided that I am also entitled to my own.  Some may judge me.  But, at this point, I don't care.  I've got to get it off my chest.

The emails really are endless… "Bring a bubble wand tomorrow, bring a pack of oreos on Monday.  Make a poodle skirt for Thursday.  Come up with a neon outfit, come run a 5K with your child tomorrow, come help us tie dye, send items for the auction, come help at the auction, bring a white t-shirt to school tomorrow (I have been asked to send white t shirts 3 different times (for 3 different things) in the last week- 3!!!)"  My all time favorite email from the teachers, "I need two volunteers to watch my class FOR me during field day on the last day of school."  Yup, that's exactly what I'm going to spend my last 5 free hours before summer doing- watching 35 students FOR you.  They wonder why they always have such a hard time finding parents :)

And homework… my poor children.  I could not bring myself to ask them if they had homework this week.  Not once.  Low and behold, Hailey pulled her weekly homework packet out of her backpack on Thursday night.  It was due Friday.  But, it's still sitting on my couch- totally undone.  I really think that if I have to do one more timed reading this year my head will explode.

My kids have had to come and get ME up at 8:00 each school morning this past week.  "Mom, we need to leave in 20 minutes."  I know.  It's not that I'm still sleeping.  I'm laying in bed because I dread having to get up and pack lunches.  I am soooo done packing lunches for this school year.  Back until a month ago, I would put a note in their lunch every day.  I think that ended on May 1st (the same day I checked out).  I'm not sure if my kids have missed them or not.  But, Mickell did inform me that her friend asked why I didn't send notes anymore.  So, I guess the friends are missing them!

Poor Tanner and Mickell.  I remember a few weeks ago reading something about a "faces and places" thing.  On Thursday, Mickell asked me if I would be there for it.  Um, sure.  I have no idea what it is, but I will be there.  So, I show up and find out that it's a project that they've been working hard on for 5 weeks.  How have I not known about it?  I really felt like mother of the year when I didn't even know what person my kids did their project on.

The other day, I had spent 2 1/2 hours grocery shopping at my very favorite place in the world- Walmart (I am definitely being sarcastic).  I wanted to get all $200 dollars worth of groceries put away before I had to start driving everyone to their lessons and activities- because I knew I wouldn't really be home again until 8:30 that night.  Just as I was finishing up, the kids came skipping into the house and informed me that they won a fun day tomorrow and that they need a soda pop with a screw on lid.  SHOOT ME NOW- I have to go back to the grocery store sometime tonight?!

Speaking of after school activites- I'm having issues.  I've forgotten Hailey's soccer practice twice in the last month and Mickell's dance three times (luckily Mickell remembered hers at the last minute).  How do you forget something that you've been doing every week for the last 8 months.  I think that little part of my brain that keeps track of my calendar is on strike.  It's been overworked and underpaid.  And swim practice… I couldn't figure out why I was so burnt out with driving Tanner there.  Really… it's only 1/2 hour out of my day.  What is my problem!  In thinking about it, though, I've done the math and figured out that I've driven to Surf and Swim approximately 195 times in the last eight months.  I'm justified in being burnt out, right?!  The only thing that keeps me going (other than his handsome face and his passion for being there, of course) is that someday, when his picture is on the front of a Wheaties box, he will use some of the money to send his chauffeur on a trip to Hawaii :)

Wow, I feel so much better now that I've gotten some of that off my chest.  Thank you to that blogger mom, whatever your name is, who helped me know that I'm not alone.

Disclaimer to my kids:  I promise that I've loved going on your field trips with you, volunteering in your classroom, helping you with your homework (well, except for math:), writing lunch notes, and driving you to your different activities.  My mind just decided that it was ready for our summer vacation together back on May 1st.  Thanks for putting up with me this past month!  Hopefully, someday when you are parents, you will read this and know that you aren't the only ones who have felt the "last month of school blues."

Spring Time

I love spring in Utah.  It is my absolute favorite season.  The warm days are so welcome after a cold winter.  I love spring showers.  I LOVE spring flowers.  There is just something about spring flowers that makes me so happy!  The flowers in my yard were gorgeous this year!

 Even when they were covered in snow...

 Yup!  We had a few of those crazy Utah spring snow storms :)  The nice thing about those is that we get the pretty snow and then it melts within a few hours.

 Baylen and I have been looking into getting a nice picture of the temple for our family room.  My visiting teacher suggested we take the picture ourself since the ones you buy are so expensive.  So, one Sunday after church we headed down to temple square.  It was a beautiful evening and the flowers were gorgeous.  Did I already say how happy spring flowers make me? :)

 Here are some of the pictures we got.  Baylen wouldn't be happy if he knew I posted them before he edited them.  But, oh well.  I think they look good even without photoshop.

 This is one of my favorites.  I asked Baylen to take a few from this angle.  He looked at my like I was crazy.  He said it definitely wasn't his cup of tea.  But, I love it!

 I think this one is my favorite!  I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's edited.

We had such a fun night.  It's funny, the other day we were playing a game for family home evening.  The question was, "If you could go anywhere with your family, where would it be."  Most people were saying things like Hawaii, a cruise, etc.  But, when it came to Hailey's turn, she responded, "I'd want to go back to temple square to see the flowers again."  She must have loved the evening as much as I did!

Picture Time

We did these Whipple family pictures at Barnes Park here in Kaysville.  Baylen was our photographer (which got tricky at times… since he was in the pictures, too).  After the pictures, we went back to our house for a dinner.

Leslie and Seth

 Corey, Cherice, Raylee, Jackson, and Ellie

 Dave, Emily and Bailey

 Jared and Kirsti

 And of course, us

This picture was entertaining to take.  Baylen had to hit the camera button and then hop a fence and run over to the bridge.  We got a few pictures of him in the process of getting there.

2nd Swim Meet

Tanner had quite the cheering section at his second swim meet.  Grandma and Grandpa Sillito came.  As well as Seth, Leslie, and Grandma Whipple.

It was a super long meet.  Tanner and I got there at 4:00 and he didn't finish his last race until 9:15.  It was a lot of sitting around.  But, he did AWESOME!  

In the 100 IM Tanner came in 1st in his heat with a time of 1:40:98.

In the 50 butterfly he came in 4th with a time of 47.36.

In the 50 freestyle he came in 2nd with a time of 39.27.

In the 50 breaststroke he came in 1st with a time of 52.92.

He got ribbons for being in the top overall in two of the events!

He sure loves swimming and he LOVES swim meets!

After the meet, I took him up to Ogden for a scout camp.  It was POURING rain.  When we got there we found all of the boys sleeping underneath tarps (not even in a tent).  It looked cold and miserable.  I was tempted to just take Tanner home with me.  But, he stayed.  He said it was fun other than waking up at 2:00 in the morning to get warm by the fire.

A Special Guest

Leslie and Seth came down from Rexburg for their spring break.  Seth had to go to one of his Military trainings for a few nights.  So, Leslie came up to spend a few days with us.  The kids were so excited to have a sleepover with Tweety!  She is so good to them.  They spent almost all evening outside playing ball, tag, and other games.  It was funny to see how many neighborhood kids came out of the woodwork to play with her :)

The next day we decided to do a few of the free things we could do with the kids' report cards.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese and then went to Krispie Kreme for donuts.  After that we met up with grandma for Hailey's soccer game.

Spring Break- Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

On Wednesday, we spent most of the day playing at grandma and grandpa's house.  Ashlyn made a special April fool's mystery dinner for all of the kids.  She did a great job!  Here are all of the kids eating their "dirt."

 That afternoon we went swimming at the South Jordan pool.  It is a really fun pool.  I love that even Ashlyn can touch everywhere in the pool!  She was even able to go down the big waterside by herself.

 Here are the girls relaxing after a tiring day of fun!

 On Thursday we headed down to Lehi.  First, we went to Trafalga.  We did mini bowling, arcade games, the rock wall, laser tag, rides, and the play place.  Have I  said how much I love the pass of all passes? 

 After Trafalga, we went on a picnic to Neptune park.  It was kind of cold and pretty crowded, but we still had fun.

That night we headed home to hang out with Baylen.  On Friday, we went to Golden Corral.  The kids sure love that place!  We sure had a great spring break.  It was a lot of fun spending so much time with the cousins and grandma!

Saturday and Sunday were General Conference.  We all look forward to General Conference at our house.  The kids love our traditions like sticky buns, bingo, and lots of candy and prizes.  We also did a few new things.  Grandma was sweet to provide us with these fun pictures that the kids punched out.

 We also played tick tac toe when the different general authorities spoke.

The kids did amazing at listening to the speakers.  I love that they always wonder why their friends would want to play outside during conference.  I'm glad that they love it so much!  I keep thinking that one of these days they will announce a temple in West Kaysville.  However, it didn't happen at this conference :)