LAST DAY OF SCHOOL 2009

I'm still in denial. Can it really be the LAST DAY of school??? Has it already been 9 months? I guess it has because whether we're ready or not, they're coming home & not going back until August!

I am excited that I don't have to do these again until August:
*pack 3 lunches (in August it will be 4 lunches)
*wake up early (Monday thru Friday)
*race to get kids ready
*throw on clothes or robe & run out the door to get kids to school on time (Barely on some days)
*nag about homework
*sign everyone's folder or agenda daily

Instead, here's what we will be doing this summer:
*NOT getting up super early every day (only if we WANT to)
*Reorganizing the kids' rooms
*earning points so the kids can "use" them to play video games & have sleepovers
*doing summer workbooks
*summer reading
*practicing violins (I'll be tutoring the kids)
*daily chores so the house doesn't look like several tornadoes hit
*squeezing in a little Webkinz time {gotta take care of my Olivia☺}
*Playing with Friends
*Summer Movie Fun
*Swimming, lots of swimming
*free school lunch (during June, Monday thru Thursday)
*going to Utah for Ben's family reunion
*Ben gets to go to ComiCon again
*hoping for NO fighting, hitting, screaming (is it possible or am I just dreaming? LOL)
*Having lots of FUN!!!

BUT, before all the summer FUN begins, I have a BIG day before the bell rings at 3pm & all the kids flee the school campus!

The kids have their Winners Assemblies shortly after school starts, so I will go to both of those (the younger grades & the older grades). Ashley will be receiving "Winning Attitude" award! YAY!! Felicia will be in the B.U.G. Club again (Bringing Up Grades or if you keep straight A's)! YAY!!! Nathaniel doesn't know yet if he's receiving any awards.

Then I get to meet my sister & cousins for our monthly Cousins Lunch! I'm so happy I get to see them more often now! Anson is looking forward to spending time with my cousin's son too! They're the same age & they have so much fun together!

I have a couple errands to run after lunch.

Pick up the kids from school & hear about all the exciting parties!

Let the kids swim for a little bit to cool off.

Then we'll all be off to Pack Meeting to see Nathaniel receive TONS of awards! We haven't had an official pack meeting for a few months because there have been other important meetings, like Blue & Gold Banquet, Pinewood Derby, etc. We are so proud to see Nathaniel accomplish so much! He has really been working hard and even achieving a few badges on his own {to surprise Ben - who is also their Webelos leader}! He will receive 9 pins, 1 belt loop, Webelos badge, Compass, 1 point on the Compass, and his Arrow of Light {which if you know anything about cub scouting, Arrow of Light is very Honorable}! He's so ecstatic to be receiving so many, especially right before his birthday! He'll be 11 on June 2nd, so he'll move up to Boy Scouts! He is growing UP way toooooooo fast for me!

Oh and Ben is also bringing the snow cone machine to make the treats for everyone at Pack Meeting! It's going to be yummy! And sticky. I'm glad I won't be in charge of that! LOL

Hope you all have a great day! And if your little ones have their last day of school today, hope your SUMMER is AWESOME!!!

Field Trip, Hike Layout, FREEBIE

Last week, I joined Nathaniel & Felicia's classes on their field trip to the Arizona State Capitol. I hadn't been there since I was their age. {it's funny because as soon as I said that to another parent, I heard my Mom's voice echo in my head - she said the same thing when she accompanied me on my field trip when I was in school. HAHAHA}
It was very interesting, some I remember seeing as a kid. I was surprised how fascinated all the kids were with the whole tour and learning about the different branches of government. I really LOVE that they re-did the copper dome and sealed it with a clear protectant. Now it will stay copper shiny for a long time!

Nathaniel & Felicia always being goofballs. Someone has to sneak in the 'bunny ears' in every shot! LOL

Felicia posing in front of the Liberty Bell.

And Nathaniel too...

Anson being a silly boy, as usual!

The kids thought it was soooo funny when we caught Ginger on the roof a couple days ago.

Silly kitty!

Ashley LOVES painting her nails, but she can't always get her 'other' hand.

So, I helped her finish painting, then we put cute decals on them too

{all this before we went to church}.

While we were watching The City of Ember on dvd a few nights ago, Ashley had been very sneaky and put an 'Ashley' princess sticker on Ben's cheek. He didn't notice until he went into the bathroom after the movie. heeee heee :)

{btw, the movie was really CUTE}

Look what's NEW in my store!!

Love Letters Quick Pages ONLY 99 cents each!

Quick Page 1

Quick Page 2

I also scrapped! Yep, we went hiking again!

This time it was for Ben to take his Webelo scouts. Felicia & I joined them, plus a couple parents and another daughter & friend. When we planned it last week, the weather was beautiful & perfect! Suddenly, the temp had to go up & up & up each day until it reached at least 100 degrees during our hike! Yikes! I don't remember the hike being soooo UPHILL! HAHA

I felt bad because I kept telling the kids & the other parents that it's not a bad hike because it's kind of gradual uphill not so steep for most of the way. Geesh! I thought I was going to die! LOL I got soooo hot that I actually had to rest in the little bit of shade I could find a couple times. It only took us an hour to get up to the wind cave. I think we hung out for almost half hour, then it took us only half hour to get back down. Everyone had a great time! The boys were such troopers!

I used the darling QP that Bunny made

using my kit Pocketful of Sunshine.
AND.....

She said I could give it to y'all FREE!!!!

**Personal Use Only**

Isn't she the sweetest?!!!

Thanks Bunny!!!

Go HERE to download it!

Don't forget to leave her some love too!

Update, Challenges, Layout & FREEBIE

I am so bad at keeping up with laundry. I have the front-loading washer & dryer, so I can't seem to do small loads when I know that I can fit so much more in there. tee hee :)

I spent most of yesterday catching up on all the piles of laundry (boy the kids wear a LOT of clothes, not to mention socks & undies). I finished a load this morning and look who decided they like the pretty pink pile of clothes! {yep I do a separate load of just pinks because that's how many pink clothes the girls have! LOL}

She definitely likes her bed to be fluffy & soft! hahaha

We finally got Nathaniel his Webelos neckerchief and a ribbon on his shoulder to hold all his pins. So, I took these pictures this week because I think he looks so handsome (ok he's the CUTEST little scout isn't he? I guess he isn't so little anymore).

In case you didn't already know, when Nathaniel gets his homework done, he LOVES to hog play the XBOX360. The girls have to beg just to get their own time. They finally got a few minutes to play before bed last night and they chose Rock Band2 of course. Felicia's rockin' out on the drums and Ashley was singing! Oh yah, they have Eye of the Tiger memorized {or at least it sounds that way}! haha

Geesh, I just noticed they are both wearing their ROCKER (torn knees) jeans! LOL

I am still having a hard time grasping the fact that Anson will start school (Kindergarten) in August. Then 2 weeks later he will turn 5, just before the Sept 1st cut-off date. He will be a young one. But he is SO EXCITED to go to school like the big kids! Everytime I try to work with him or help learn how to write, he has no interest. {All my other kids were like that too, then suddenly one day they just got it all on their own} It's so frustrating. Anyway, we were playing with his magna-doodle this week and look what he was able to do:

WOOOHOOOO!!!! I showed him how and talked about the letters in his name and POOF, he wrote his own name!! GOOD JOB Anson!!! Look at his proud smile :)

I'm hosting 2 challenges at DSO this month again!

Here's the posting bonus if you join the FONT Challenge:

Just use the font on a layout anyway you want, then post it in the gallery and I'll send you a link to download this kit FREE!

And here's the posting bonus for the Quote Challenge:

All you have to do is use the selected quote on your layout & post it in the gallery, then I'll send you a link to download this kit FREE!

Look, I had a little time this afternoon to scrap!

The quote is from this month's Quote Challenge and I used my Valentine kit LOVE LETTERS.

{SAVE 25% off until Saturday at midnight}

I also made my layout into a Quick Page.

YOU can get it FREE! *Personal Use Only*

~ Sorry Link has Expired ~

Please leave a comment if you grab it. Thanks!

Tonight is Bunko!! Yippeeee!

So, I'm off to pick up the kiddos from school & get ready for tonight!

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!

Saturday is a Special Day

{can't help but sing the Primary song when I think of that}

Nathaniel is SO EXCITED for Cub Scout Day Camp today!!! A sweet family in our ward picked him up bright and early this morning to take him! THANK YOU! It's from 8-2. He wishes it was longer! He is such a cute Cub Scout! {Reminder to self - need to add his Bear patch & arrows on scout shirt}

Today one of my oldest {not OLD but known her since I was born} & dearest friends, Patsy, is celebrating her son's baptism today! He turned 8 in June but has been very scared to put his head under water as long as they can remember, so they spent the summer trying to help him get past his fear. Now he feels ready! So, we're going to celebrate with him! YAY! And she's having lunch at her house afterwards! FUN! Haven't gotten to hang out with her in a while.

Since General Conference is coming up next weekend, tonight is the wonderful General Relief Society Broadcast. I love going to listen to the awesome speakers! I always come away feeling totally uplifted and renewed! I also feel very blessed to be a woman, daughter, sister, wife & mother! Our stake is also having a big salad buffet after. I signed up to bring a salad. Can't wait to socialize and munch too. {FYI - my Mom told me that the RS Broadcast should be on the BYU channel tonight at the same time for those who cannot attend in person. Check your listings to see what time & channel.}

Oh and my sister-in-law, Merrianne, just tagged me! So, I'll be thinking of 7 things you don't know about me! Hopefully I'll have time to post later today (if I can think of that many things)! LOL

HAVE A GREAT SATURDAY!!!