Corey's Dance Recital - Dance Illusion

Corey's dance recital was last night and it was so fun to see Corey dancing and how much she is improving and getting braver on stage. It was a long 2 days with the 4 hour dress-rehearsal and a 4 hour show....by the time you have to save seats, get your dancer there on time and watch the actual 2 hour show. But it is worth it.

I left Casen with my sister-in-law Mandy because I was not going to try and sit there for that long with a 1.5 year old. But I did make Cade come to support his sister, but it was long for him and he was struggling to sit through it. Matt even left after Corey's 3 dances. He could not sit there any longer either. Men were so not cut out for dance recitals. Grandma Nanny came too for Corey's first dance. She had to leave to go and take care of Norm, plus she has already sat through her fair share of dance recitals with her daughter Mandy and her grandkids. They can get long.

Corey did so awesome. Her first dance was her "If you can Dream" ballet and she got to start out on the stage with another little girl for about 15 seconds and then the rest of the team joined her. It was special for her and for me. She is kinda hard to see because she is in the back row on all her performances, but I could still see her. Her 2nd dance was her Jazz dance called "Splish Splash." And she did cute on that one too. They her 3rd dance was her Tap Dance "Hot Hot Hot" and they wore these cute little hula outfits. And then the finale was cute too.

She starts to complain about dance practice about 1/2 way through the year... she just wants to play outside with the nieghbors and not have any organized activities/sports. But she loves the end of the year recital. She loves getting all dressed up with the costumes and make-up and curly hair. And I think she likes being backstage, with all the girls...feeling so grown up.

And this year I did make sure to get her some Flowers for after the show because last year it was a nightmare. I did not get her any flowers.... thought she was too young. Well everyone gets flowers and she only got candy. So this year.... I snuck and got her flowers before the show and Cade wanted to give them to her. She was so happy and it was worth it to me to see how happy she was when she got the flowers. She does want to try Hip Hop next year. So we will see. We loved this new dance company...Dance Illusion. The dances are cute, the costumes are great and affordable, and the teachers are so good with the kids. Loved it!

Coreys End of the year Program - 1st Grade

So I went and saw Corey's end of the year 1st grade program and I was so proud of her. They each had to get up and do a book report for the class and they did a couple of songs for us too.

I was really nervous for Corey when I heard she had to do a book report in front of her whole class and all the parents. They even had to use a microphone. She acted so confident and did not forget any of the words. She did awesome. Afterwards when I was asking her about it.... she said she did feel like she was going to throw up before she had to do her report. So I told her that I could not tell she was scared and she totally pulled it off and did awesome and looked confident. I was so proud of her. I have always been a little worried that it would slow her down her whole adult life.... always being nervous to get up in front of crowds. But this confirmed that she might always be nervous, but that she can still do it and do it good! So I was a proud mom.

She also had a part in one of her songs where she had to remember a few hard words.....measles and castor oil. She did good on that too and totally remembered her song. It was fun to see her actively engaged in school and succeeding. And she really did like her teacher Ms. Follett too. And Ms. Follett always had nice things to say about Corey too at the teacher/parent conferences. But I am also glad that school is coming to an end and that summer is near... if the weather would get warmer. Can't believe Corey is going to be in 2nd grade next year. Crazy, huh?

Cade's Preschool Graduation

So it was Cade's big graduation day yesterday and what do you know.... it was terrible weather again. This May spring weather has been awful. So it was 35 degrees outside and the graduation was at a park outside. The kids were suppose to do their program and then afterwards they were suppose to play on the playground...there was going to be a popcorn machine, a snow cone machine, and a cotton candy machine. So that was kind of a bummer!

We made a call that morning and the graduation was still going on.... so we had to dig out our winter coats and mittens. Ridiculous! The graduation was short and sweet. They marched in to the graduation song.... so cute. Then they sang us about 10 songs. And afterwards we took pics and they did bring the cotton candy machine. But it was too cold to stick around and too rainy to play on the playground. So we said our goodbyes to teachers and kids and got a few phone numbers for summer playgroups. But other than that... it was short and sweet and we went home.

I cannot believe my little boy will be starting kindergarten. I can tell he is excited and ready!

Corey's Fun Day @ School - 1st Graders @ the Drive-in Movie

Corey has been bugging me all week to get started on this project with her. The 1st graders were all suppose to make a drive-in car because they were having a drive-in movie today at school... as a fun last week activity. So of course we procrastinated till Saturday. I went and bought all the supplies on Friday and we started it Saturday morning and finished it Saturday night.

Daddy cut it out Saturday morning and attempted to spray paint it. We ended up getting in an argument over a 1st graders project. Men have to do everything so perfect. My thought was... they are using it for an hour of their day... the spray paint does not have to be perfect! Who cares if there are drips? So annoying! So I took the project over myself and it turned out just fine! Yeah there are some drips and some paint mess ups, but who cares?

So we had fun Saturday night... thinking of things we could add to it... windows, rims, license plate, sterring wheel that moves, rear view mirror, side mirror, windshield wipers, inside controls... like radio, tvs, speakers, A/C, a remote control. We made a pillow, a gas and break pedal, etc. It was fun getting creative and Corey kept telling me thank you. I think she was impressed with all our ideas and how it turned out. And Cade kept saying...." Mom I think you are obsessed with this project." What else were we going to do on a Saturday night? It took us about 2 hours that night. It was fun! I think Cade was secretly jealous and he wants one of his own. So I told him this week, we would make him a car too. And maybe we will just save it for 2 years until his 1st grade drive-in movie day.

It is funny because projects like this.... you just want to junk after they use it, but this one I kinda want to keep around so I do not have to do another one. But it is the actual time spent with that child making the project that is special and it is fun to see how creative they can get! So hopefully she has a fun day. She could not sleep last night because she was so excited for today!

My 31st Birthday

So I had a really good birthday. I first had my sister Becca remember my bday when I saw her on Wednesday and she surprised me with a cupcake and a gift certificate to Old Navy. What a sweetheart. She really did not need to do that..... I do not expect gifts from a "Starving Student." Isn't that what they are called? No I love her and it really meant alot.

Then Thursday night, I had some friends take me out for dessert to Chillis and it was so much fun. It is always fun to get out for a night with the girls and have some fun conversation. I really did appreciate them for setting that up. The gifts were fun and my brownie ice cream dessert was so freakin good. WOW! I am going to go back for that dessert another time. While I was gone, Matt took the kids to go and buy me a gift. (I told him I already did him a favor and bought my Mothers Day gifts from the kids to me.... and that I was not going to buy my own birthday gifts. Which then scares me...sending Matt and the kids out to buy me a gift.) But they did awesome. Apparently Corey was paying attention at Lowe's, which we had been to earlier that day buying some garden stuff. I had walked by the patio furniture which I always love to look at and had said a few things that I had liked. Who knew my kids were paying attention? They were all over the patio furniture and up and down the isles....I cannot believe she knew which ones I liked. So they next morning the kids surprised me with a cute little table and 4 chairs for our deck (to eat summer dinners on). (Corey even knew that I wanted the round table and not the square one. She is so observant, which she gets from her dad... NOT ME. I am so not observant. Well only with things that I want to be observant about.... Peoples Outfits.... Clothes... etc.)

So it was sweet. They surprised me with the table and chairs in the morning and then I had to send them off to school. The day consisted of errands and phone calls. I think I was on the phone all day from people calling to wish me a happy bday and then we would talk for awhile. It was fun to catch up with everyone. And then the kids wanted to make me a cake on their own. So I let them... with a little help. Then Nanny came over to babysit and they fininshed the cake and had 1/3 of it eaten before I got home. I GAVE THEM PERMISSION!

Matt and I got to go to dinner at Cafe Sabor. My favorite.... Mexican food. The secretary of our apartments works there and she told us to come in and she would spoil us. She sure did. She stuffed us.... with her favorite appetizer, chips, her favorite meal, and even a bday dessert. You could have rolled me out of there.... I think I gained 5 lbs. that night. But I was feeling OK about it because it was my bday. Then afterwards... I wanted to go and see that movie Juliets Letters, but it was sold out... so we ended up seeing Iron Man... which I am sure Matt was so stoked about. But it was actually really good and I enjoyed it.

So all in all my bday was good and special. But now I need another day to call my bday and just to sit on the couch all day and do nothing, but read magazines, books and watch my favorite TV shows. Can't believe I am 31... 9 more years till 40. AHHHHH!

Oh and the pics are a few of the presents I received. I love hats if you cannot tell and I got 2 new ones for my birthday... one from my sister-in-law Lynley and her family and the other one from my neighbor and awesome friend Kelley. Thanks again everyone for making my bday so special!

Show Off Days- Cade's Preschool

Here was another one of Cade's show off days. He loved tumbling too. This gym is a kids dream place. He really liked tumbling and his teacher was so cute. She told me how jealous she was of Cade's eyelashes.

So they went through a few courses..... floor, trampoline, the beam, the rings, etc. He has pretty good balance and athleticism. Casen was loving the gym too. It was hard to keep him close to me and contained.

Cade got a medal at the end and an award. I tell myself, that at least if he is not that great at school, I hope he will be athletic and fun with sports. But maybe he will have both and I will get lucky. You just always want the best for your kids and you hate to see them struggle at things!

I am glad we chose this preschool for Cade. It was really good for him. The sporting activities really helped him to enjoy preschool this year!

Show Off Days- Cade's Preschool

Cade's preschool has finally come to and end. I cannot believe my little buddy is going to Kindergarten next year. All my kids are growing up. It is crazy.

So this last week, Cade has had show off days, where the parents get to come and watch what they have learned all year in that particular sport. So this blog I posted all of his tennis pics, his swimming pics, and his Movement Pics. I have a few cute stories about each sport.

So the day we went to view tennis, he had just gotten a new pair of shoes from his cousin Jaice. (Hand- me down shoes). He was so excited because they were sketchers. So he was telling all the kids, telling all his teachers, and I could tell that he was so excited about his new shoes. He even told me later how fast his new shoes made him. I could tell when he was out there that he thought his shoes made him faster. So funny!

Then with swimming, they had to do this drill where they jump in the water, turn over to their backs and yell for help..... Cade was yelling help so loud that everyone turned their head to look.... interrupted conversations and everything. I was laughing.... like.... "Yeah that is my kid." At least I know he won't ever drown with a yell like that.

Then in Movement..... it is a class that they let them free dance to different songs and stories, etc. So A few times they have played a game called Freeze Dance and Cade won one time. He came home and told me and he was so proud and we were really pumping him up all week about winning Freeze Dance. So the following week he came home from Movement and told me he won Freeze Dance again. I knew he was either lying or he was the Master at Freeze Dance. So I got out of him that he was lying. I think he enjoyed the attention we had given him before. So anyway, we were here watching his Movement class and they got to play Freeze Dance. I knew he wanted to show me he could win, so when he did not win, HE WAS SO BUMMED! I will tell you... he is quite the MOVER in our family. If I can figure out how to post a video of it, I will.

So we enjoyed going to all of his show off days. But we are also glad that school is over and we get a different schedule. Corey still has a week left. So excited for summer!

Day in SLC- with Auntie Becca

That same day as Corey's field trip, I picked her up a little early from school to meet Becca in SLC. We met at the Gateway Mall and then found our way over to Sugarhouse Park. (Becca was in town for the day, taking a friend to the airport and visiting her boyfriend JR) The park was awesome and we got so lucky with great weather. It was the most pretty park and it was huge. There was a massive pond with ducks. I made sure to bring some bread. The park had a couple playgrounds for kids. There was also a 1.5 mile trail around the whole park. There were tons of people running, walking, biking, rollar blading and all sorts around this trail. And there was so much grass. I kept feeling bad for the person who has to mow all that. I wish we had a park like this by our house. We were actually there a couple of hours. Becca and I got to catch up too and got to talk. JR joined us later too at the park. We did alot of people watching too while the kids played on the playground. There was this group that was all dressed up in medieval clothes and they were having a sword battle. It was crazy. I did not know people really did that kind of stuff. Is that considered a hobby? I love people watching.
After the park, we went back over to the gateway and had dinner at CPK. It was nice enough weather we got to eat outside and my kids actually ate their dinners. It was amazing. That park must have really wore them out and got them hungry. Even Casen ate. Then we said our goodbyes. Oh, Becca gave me a really nice card and gift certificate for my bday and she brought me and Corey some really good cupcakes too. So after our goodbyes, I got the kids all tucked in their seats, and they all crashed on the way home. That is the best ending to a day for a mom, is complete silence in the car! Great ending to a spectacular day!

A Day at Willow Park

Corey's class had a fun field trip at Willow Park. They got to visit the Visitors Center, tour the zoo, eat lunch and play on the playground there. Me and the boys decided to meet her there towards the end of her field trip. I did get some cute pictures, but it was kind of a madhouse. Too many kids on the playground and Casen would've gotten trampled. So we did not stay long. Just said Hi, played for a few minutes, and then I took Cade and Casen on a 30 minute tour of the Logan Zoo.

Casen loved it. He is at the fun age where animals are becoming real to him. He was impressed. He would really love the San Diego Zoo. Can't wait to take him there. I could tell Casen was most impressed by the coyotes. I think he thought they were dogs. And Cade said he like the coyotes, the eagle, and the McCaw birds the best. Corey said her favorites were the monkeys.

It was nice to get out and enjoy the spring weather for a day. Now we are just waiting for a little warmer summer weather. Can't wait!

Trying to be a Photographer.....

These are the pics of Corey's bday party that we were setting up. I was so proud of myself because I was a little crafty and tried to make some cute matching cups with ribbon. I loved Corey's colors for her party and was so bummed when the dollar store did not have turquoise or brown balloons to match and Sam's Club screwed up on the blue color frosting and gave us green frosting. It so did not match, so we had to make due with the brown and white frosting cupcakes and we had to just get a bunch of random colored balloons. Come on stores....get with it....trying to color coordinate a party here. J/K.

I loved Corey's colors and just went with it when things did not all turn out as expected or planned. But...trying to get to the point of this blog..... I love Photography and so I was just messing around taking pics of the displays we were setting up. That is one of the classes I want to take when my kids get a little older..... is a photography class. I just love looking at photography.

COREY'S LATE NIGHT FRIEND PARTY

Corey had her friend/cousin bday party on Friday. It was called a LATE NIGHT PARTY because it was from 6:30-9:30. I was not going to do a Slumber Party, plus alot of people in the neighborhood do not let their kids do sleepovers, which I think is actually a good idea. It was a little stressful all day because it was raining for part of the day and we were planning on using the rented bounce house and using the hot tub. Parties are always alot of work planning and cleaning up, but the kids always love it and it is so worth it.

All the girls said they had so much fun! We first let the kids play on the bounce house and in the backyard. Then we had them eat a light dinner I prepared.....sandwhiches, fruit, veggies and dip, chips, cookies, etc. It seems like kids never eat at parties because they are so excited and distracted. At least my kids do not eat. But the kids ate pretty good. Then we had them go in the garage and make these CARNIVAL SAND CRAFTS that I found at Hobby Lobby. And we also played a few games....BALLOON POP and SOCCER GOAL KICK. Then after that, we had the kids come in and watch Corey open her gifts.....which never takes very long. (Have you ever noticed how kid birthday parties move from one activity to the next so fast? U really have to be on your toes the whole party.) After presents we let the kids get dressed in their swimsuits and use the hot tub. That was a little scary. Our hot tub is huge, but with 12 kids in there, I was watching each kid go under and come up. (I was just realizing how stressful a lifeguarding job would be). I had to make a few rules, NO JUMPING IN or RUNNING AROUND THE HOT TUB, to prevent injury. All the kids made it out safe, which was a relief. After hot tub time, the kids had cupcakes and ice cream. And then we finished up with the girls getting in their PJS and watching 1/2 of a movie. They picked out the TOOTHFAIRY with THE ROCK actor (Dwayne Johnson). Really cute show! By the end of the night I was pooped and in no mood to clean up. During the party it did rain a little on and off, so we had to play all the games in the garage and the bounce house was wet for a bit and we had to towel dry it off, but the weather was not too cold and when we used the hot tub, the rain had stopped. So it sucked that the weather was not perfect, but it did not ruin the party.

I could tell the kids had fun, but I had to take a few girls home..... clean up a little bit and take down the Bounce House and return it that night. (The owner needed it for a rental in the morning on Saturday.) So we cleaned up as good as we could and put the kids to bed and crashed!

I was excited that everything went as planned (well almost everything) and that all the kids got along, but by the middle of May I am so pooped out by birthdays that I don't even get excited for my bday a week later. All I want to do is go out on a date....something easy... no planned parties (Unless I am not the planner). Still can't believe my little girl is 7. I feel so old!

Soccer Season Coming to an END

So Saturday was the kids last day of soccer and they were both so bummed. I think they both felt the pressure of the last game.....last chance to score....last chance to do awesome and kick butt! They both did super good. First of all the weather was so nice. It was not raining, it was not cloudy and it was not windy. It was actually hot. I had to take my sweater off and my feet were hot in my shoes and we all got a little sunburned. So it was the nicest game to watch.
Cade did awesome. He did not score any goals, but he told us he "almost scored" 4 goals. And he also plays defense pretty good. He thinks it is his responsibility to block the goal and be the "kinda goalie." (Cade's league does not have actual goalies.) So he did block a few awesome "almost goals" from the other team. And he doesn't know or maybe he just doesn't care (which I love about him), is that in trying to block a goal from the other team, he made a point for the other team. It is so awesome that he doesn't care. Corey would be bawling and so embarrassed. I think the other team won by 1 point. All the parents lost track. So I am sad the season is over, but so excited that Cade ended up loving soccer because he was scared in the beginning. And he is excited for next year.
Corey also did awesome, although she will tell you that it was her worst game or that she did the worst on the team. They played a team that was very evenly matched, so the ball was back and forth the whole game. The first period, Corey did get a cleat to the knee and her shoe came off, so she was tramatized for awhile. But the rest of the game she did pretty good. Not her best game, but still she did awesome. But of course, because she is so hard on herself and hates to lose (2-1), she was sad at the end of the game and in tears. I told her to quit being a baby and go enjoy the last celebration with her team. She is sad the season is over and can't wait till next year. She just cannot get enough of soccer.
The kids both scored 1 goal this season, which is good enough for Cade, but not good enough for Corey. She thinks that if she does not score, it was a crappy game for her. So competitive! I think being that competitive can be a little dangerous sometimes. Sad the season is over, but my kids are going to try t-ball and coach pitch for the first time next month. Excited to see that. Cade is a little nervous and Corey just has her competitive game face on and she's ready!

Corey's 7th Birthday- Family Party

I can't believe I actually have a 7 year old daughter. It makes me feel so old. Anyway, I wanted to make Corey's day special, even though we were awaiting the news of Norms test results... which luckily turned out to be good news. So first of all Sunday night, she was so anxious for her birthday, that I knew she would not sleep, so I let her open up one of her smaller presents. Then Monday morning, the 10th, she wanted crepes for breakfast with the special Birthday plate. So we did make crepes and I did let her open up one more present, but we ended up being late for school. I could not fit it all in.

Then while she was at school, me and Cade made her some cupcakes, bought some balloons and decorated the house. Then when she came home from school she was so excited and asked me a million times if she could open her presents. But of course, being the mean mom I am, I made her wait till after dinner. We met the whole family for dinner... even Brit and Toph were in town awaiting Norms news. So we all went to dinner which was nice. We went to Texas Roadhouse and Corey even sat on the saddle. I really did not think she would do it, but she did. I was so proud of her. (On the way to dinner, she told me she felt sick... thinking she was going to have to sit on the saddle. I told her to quit being a wuss. She takes after Matt and gets anxious over silly things.) Then after dinner, we had to say bye to Toph and Brit and Halle and then we went up to our house for a quick 15 minutes to open gifts and eat cupcakes and ice cream.

So all in all it was a good day and a good night and I think Corey was pleased. I let her and Cade stay up until 10 or so to play with a few of her new presents. I might pay for that tomorrow, but it is her birthday and you can break the rules on birthdays. She is also super excited for her friend party on Friday. Hope the weather turns out NICE!

A Different Mothers Day

So I always have high expectations for Mothers Day thinking it is going to be the best day ever and that my kids are going to behave so perfect and my husband is going to treat me like a Queen and then I realize that I am living in a Fantasy World and I need to come down to the Real World ... or Reality. So I did have a pretty good mothers day. I got to sleep in until 9:30..... I woke up to my kids saying "Mom can you help us wrap your present?" So funny! Waking up at 9:30 did not give us alot of time to celebrate and get ready for church. So we had a quick breakfast of Danish Rolls and Watermelon and the kids gave me a few presents (that I picked out because Matt had a crazy weekend...details later). So of course I loved my presents because I picked them out, but they did make me some very sweet cards... ALL ON THEIR OWN. So the morning got hectic when my kids started fighting and we were in a rush to get ready for church. I finally took some deep breaths and told myself that THIS DAY WAS NOT ALL ABOUT ME. And the reason I say that is because......

The Friday before, Matt's dad had gone into surgery to remove a tumor in his appendix and we found out that he has cancer. Even though it was in his appendix... it is still considered colon cancer. His colonoscopy looked great, and they removed the tumor... but they were still doing further testing to see if the cancer had spread to his lymphodes, which then in turn could spread all throughout his body. So Matt had had a really bad weekend. He was so busy with Student Housing and Carpet Cleaning and then this news with his dad. Things were just crazy. We were visiting Norm at the hospital, visiting with family, and Matt was researching on the Internet trying to find out more about it. So he apologized for not doing anything for me for Mothers Day. But I was understanding and just told him he could make it up on my birthday in a couple weeks. The kids wanted presents to give to me.... so I didn't want to dissapoint them.
So I decided to take the older 2 kids to church while Matt stayed home with the baby and that was actually a great gift. I got to sit and listen in church and my other 2 kids behaved great! So that was an awesome present in itself. Matt was so worn out.... he needed some time alone. He gets really anxious and always thinks the worst. So his body was worn out physically and emotionally. Friday night at the hospital was really emotional for Matt... seeing his dad laying in a bed and just thinking what might happen. But they did give Norm a blessing... Matt and his brothers and I think that helped Matt to relax. But this news did kinda stir up things with our family. Matt is starting to accept it and letting things sink in. But the weekend was a little stressful waiting for the rest of the results. So after alot of praying and fasting.... we got the news on Monday that it has not spread to his lymphnodes or anywhere else they can see, but they are still probably going to do a few rounds of chemo.
So my dad all of a sudden was not about me, but about our family being together and praying for Norm.
I did decide to have a Mothers Day dinner at our house for Nan, so we could all get together and she could get a little break from the hospital, but around 6:00 PM Norm starting having heart issues. His heart rate was too high and they ended up having to transfer him to the ICU and give him morphine to settle him down. He is doing alot better now, but it was a little scary, so Nan was not able to make the Mothers Day dinner. So we just celebrated the rest of the moms.... me, Lynley, Brit, and Mandyand our families. It was still fun to get together and eat and hang out. I love family get togethers. So we talked about Norm all night and I think it helped Matt to talk about it.
So all in all, I had a great day, even though it was not what I imagined my Mothers Days to be like.... sleeping in till 10, a gourmet breakfast made, laying out by the pool, another nap around 3 and then a massage to put me to bed. WAKE UP JEN. THAT IS NOT REAL LIFE.
I love my kids and am so great to be a Mother, even though our lives are always GO GO GO! Motherhood and being a wife are my greatest joys!



Grandpa Norm, 5 years ago with Bozo,the family dog.

Me and Corey (7 yrs. old)

Me and Cade (5 yrs. old)

Me and Casen (almost 18 months old)

Me and the kids
Me , Corey and Cade