Obstacle Course

 This girl loves to climb in between the chairs.  It entertains her for quite a while. 

 

Every once in a while she gets stuck and calls for me to come rescue her.  But most of the time she is quite careful.  She goes through the whole row of chairs, then out the end so proud of her self.  Look at this happy face!

 

Soccer

Another season of soccer has come and gone.  Blake is the only one doing soccer now.  He really loves it and is very coachable.  He gets right in there and gives it all he's got.  Here he is during his last game (he has the gray jacket on):

 He made a few goals this year, so that was awesome to watch.  He learned a lot since his coach this year highly emphasized positions.  He loves it all but prefers offense. 
Of course, treats are super fun too :) 

Hair

One way having a little girl is different from having boys is the hair.  She doesn't have much yet, but it is already requiring a little bit more work than the boys. 

 

She has been using her hair to wipe her hands during dinner.  What a mess!  :)  She gets a couple baths a day lately. 

 

Grocery Shopping

I went to the store a couple days ago and of course had the younger kiddos with me.  Dallin loves pringles chips, so I bought him some.  He said, "Next time we have pictures, I'm going to say 'pringles!' "

When we went to check out, the girl who rang up our groceries recognized Dallin from previous trips.  She said, "Oh, is he the one who was telling me about his trampoline?"  I nodded, remembering the way Dallin embarrassingly talks to strangers and tells unending stories.  He beamed, said "my name is Dallin!" and launched into another spiel.  I kept sushing him, even trying to put my hand on his mouth.  But he was having none of that.  He kept chatting away, loudly.  Dallin now knows her by name.  And she knows him.

I have more people randomly come up and tell me how sweet Dallin is.  He is always talking to people.  I am with him all the time so I feel the need to get him to stop talking.  I find it annoying!  But being outgoing is a gift.  Dallin sees everyone as a great friend that he needs to get to know.  I am learning to appreciate this skill of his.  I need to be more like him and get out of my little world more. 

I wonder how he is going to do in school.  I worry that it will be hard for him to sit and listen rather than talk all day.  Most of the time I think he will love it.  I hope to help be encouraging to him rather than stifling.  That is hard to do sometimes as a mom.  Anyway, Dallin is a chatter.  And it is a gift. 

Naughty

Julia is a climber!  Look what I found: 

 

I happened to have my camera with me, so I snapped her picture.  She is into everything :)

Piano recital

Kyle and Dallin both had their recital on Saturday.  It was so fun to watch them both perform.
Kyle nailed it!  Perfect, sounded so good.  He did awesome.  Especially only having played now for about 8 months. 

 

And Dallin, well.  He made everyone laugh.  He went up, and someone started to help him set the bench in the right spot.  He said, "I can do it myself!"  Then he began to play.

After playing a couple notes, he realized he was on the wrong page in his book.  He stopped and said, "Oh, not 'Rockin' Pony Ride.' "  Then he turned the page a few times, and with a sly look at the audience, said, "Ah ha!"  Then he played his song.  He did good.  He is not nervous at all in front of a crowd.  I think he really likes performing in front of people.  Silly kid. 

Baptized

Blake got baptized in March.  It was a special day. 

 

 

This video makes me cry!  I love my Blakers:

Metal Detecting

 The boys are still going strong on their metal detecting enthusiasm.  So we took them to a park the other day. 

 

 

With 3 detectors, the hits were coming quickly.  The digging is the part that takes a while. 

 

Dallin found a key! 

 

 Julia came and had fun.  I put her in one of these baby swings, and she was less than impressed. 

 

It is more fun to be free to walk around!

 



 

 I am glad to have hobbies that keep the kids occupied outside and away from the eternally tempting video games!!

One year old!

Julia is one!  It has gone so fast.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am such a lucky momma.   

Birthdays!

Blake, Kyle and Dallin all had birthdays, in that order. 
Here are some highlights:
Dallin-
He got a new bike.  He picked it out, loving "The red one!"

His other favorite present?  A remote controlled Bugatti Veyron.  Thanks Aunt Dixie!!

 I made him an M&M cake, that is what he asked for.  :)

 

 Blake went to the fun park with some friends.  It was awesome! 

He got a minecraft cake! 

And Kyle also went to the fun park...

and he wanted this kit kat cake:

Three more fun birthdays down!  :)