Piano, Soccer, Haircuts, etc

The end of summer and the beginning of school! The 3 big kids took piano lessons this summer from a neighbor of ours home for the summer. We have wanted to put them in lessons for a while, but haven't been able to figure out how to make it work. So when our neighbor offered to teach them for the summer we thought it would be a good trial run. The kids loved it and they did great! They even had a recital at the end. We will hopefully be starting with a new teacher in Mid-September.
Just as piano ended we started the 4 big kids in soccer. Unfortunately, none of them are in the same age bracket this time, so we have 4 different teams to keep up with. The nice thing is that we now live in a small town and everything is very close and convenient, oh, and reasonably priced!





If you have been around my girl in the past few months and you are a woman, she has probably asked your opinion on whether or not she should cut her bangs. She has been noticing others bangs recently and as much as I've tried to talk her out of them, she finally decided that she wanted them cut and she wanted me to do it. Against my better judgment I did it. We cut some off last Friday night (before the soccer picture) and then she came to me Saturday and said that she really wanted them to be thicker. She really loves them, and although they are not perfect, I think she looks cute. This was very hard for me to do. I grew my bangs out in the 8th grade and swore I would never again have them. (Can that have really been over 20 years ago? Maybe I should get bangs... what do you think?)

My Girl

Audrey has now turned 7! Although she is girly, she is heavily influenced by her brothers, and therefore, chose a Pokemon ball cake for her birthday. I wasn't too disappointed about this, because it was very easy. We celebrated in Colorado with cousins, and had a great time.

Big Week

We felt like this was going to be a great week because we have been planning on closing on our house this week, but today we got an interesting call from our Realtor. The good news is, that the family is still planning to buy the house and everything is in order for them to get their mortgage except one thing: Flood Insurance. Apparently, FEMA, has decided that they would like to take over the flood insurance industry. Congress needs to pass this and until they do, no insurance company can insure against floods. Our home is in a designated flood plain and can't be insured without flood insurance included.

So, without an Act of Congress, we will not be selling our house. Hopefully it will all be resolved quickly and we can finally move on with our lives. But until then, the family is already in our house and are paying us daily rent until close. I guess it could be worse. I love to be taught patience, it's good for me!

In other news, Brad was sustained yesterday as the new Branch President in our Branch. We were very surprised by this, but are happy to serve. Our Stake President feels that the branch will become a ward this year and we are excited to be a part of it. Of course, that means a lot of work, but it will be good. And, I'm guessing I will continue to receive many more lessons in patience!

Ben Ten

This was a great day... Ben turned ten on June tenth, of 2010. Magical!
You've gotta love it when kids ask for cheesecake for their birthday!

I can't think of a better first child to have! He is such a help and so good with the little ones! I am so happy to have a child in the double digits before I have number of children in double digits. (I was starting to worry for a while there!)
Happy Birthday, Benny!

Pictures...

Okay, here are some more random spring pictures


Big wolf dog that kept coming into our yard when we first moved in. He was always really nice to us, but got put down about a month after we got here because he killed another dog. Here he is trying to eat Samuel.

Trip to Denver for cousin C's baptism. Lucy inherited this outfit from her and they all looked adorable. Always good times in Denver!

Here's one of Brad and Lucy in bunkbeds in Denver. Just thought it was cute.

Jacob plays catcher. He thinks all the gear is pretty cool! Coming from a family of almost all girls, never anticipated having to buy protective underwear for my sons! There's always a first time for everything!

Ben's elementary school track meet. This was in the morning on a Friday at the high school football field and the stands were filled with spectators! (The school only has 3rd through 5th grade) This is what I love about small towns!


Lucy is finally sitting up! Well, it's been a while ago now. She is all over the place.

Cool Texas shaped cake pans! Thanks mom! That's what I love about Texas, we have Texas shaped everything!

Sam after eating Texas cake. He is by far my busiest, most messy kid. I love him!

Sam's first steak-- We are trying to train him up for the 72oz free steak at the Big Texan-- I bet by the time he's five he'll be able to do it! :)

Spring Pictures

Wow! Since we've moved we have taken a lot of pictures, but for some reason, I haven't posted them. So here's a recap of our spring:

We've had lots of "weather". Can't complain, the yard looks great, and it is so nice to have plenty of water for the garden, etc. The hail was as big as I've ever seen!



Kittens (yes, and they are all gone now!)


Baseball

Unfortunately, it is not letting me post more pictures right now. More to come...

To dispel your belief that if your child is vaccinated they won't get sick, Stephen, Samuel and Lucy all have chicken pox now. Pox party anyone? Luckily, it is mild, and hopefully it will be resolved in a few days!
In other good news we got an offer on our home in Amarillo yesterday. What a relief! Looks like it will be all wrapped up by the middle of June! It's always nice to see your prayers answered, and to find out that the Lord's time isn't too off from your own!

No pictures this week!

We have all been sick, mostly with colds, then I got mastitis on Saturday night and Eric broke out with shingles on Sunday afternoon. Not really things we want to post pictures of. It is always good to have your kids get sicker than you are to quickly stop feeling bad, and take care of them. Even though the last couple days have been tiring, I am so thankful for many things. For Eric, especially, for being such a trooper, even though he has been in a lot of pain. He is so cute, and has such a great attitude. He has also found a new love, Oatmeal Baths!
I'm thankful for the rain that we got on Monday causing all baseball games to be postponed until the end of the week. Eric can't even sit, let alone run around the field, but would have been very sad at not being able to go.
I'm thankful for the chicken pox vaccine that allows all my other kids to be safe from this virus. Lucy we have to be careful with, but everyone else is immune. Eric got the chicken pox when he was about 9 months old, and that is how he was able to get them this second time.
I'm thankful that we live just one mile from Brad's work and that he can easily do all the drop offs, and pick ups from school when I can't. Not to mention run to the pharmacy, and other errands that I couldn't do this week.
I'm thankful for my sisters and nephews for calling and entertaining Eric with songs about Calamine Lotion. He is still giggling about them!
Finally, I am thankful for our amazing bodies that we have been given that can go through so much and come out healthy and strong again. And the reminders of just how lucky we are to have our bodies and be here on this earth having this amazing experience! Life is good.