Go! Fight! Winnnnnn!

Reilly participated in a Mini Cheer Clinic at Timpanogos High this week. Reilly had a blast with her friends learning some cheers to perform at the football game on Friday. We've really been struggling lately with what to do with her. She wants to do something, but has hated everything we've tried. Soccer was disastrous - by far the worst program for her! But she's been bored with ballet lately, too. She used to love it. It's super hard trying to get her there every week. :( So, we took a break from that to try cheering. She loved it, but it was only three days, so who knows if that would last either.

In the picture are two of the young women in my ward, Britney and Alicia (I teach Alicia piano/violin). Also, Rachel (Brit's sis), Brooklyn (also a student of mine) and Elleah (our neighbor).

Here's a video I put together of her pics and videos from the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az8K6U-z1G0

Two months already?!?

I know it's been forever, but I've had a lot on my plate. After four classes and numerous papers, I have finished out my summer semester with ALL A's!! Hoorah! Things suffered - like the state of my house. It's never been as messy as it has been and that's saying a lot. I kept on top of dishes and trash, so it wasn't disgusting, but laundry and the basement got away from me. I don't think that this semester will be different, but we'll be on a better routine because everyone's in school. I hope that makes a difference. ... we shall soon see because SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!!

It's crazy that the summer's already over. I'm excited that we won't have kids around all the time, though. It's quite wearing to have kids screaming, laughing and crying ALL DAY. So, my neighbors both go to this school (North Ridge) that's supposed to be the best school in the district. Plus, it has an orchestra... but they suck! I mentioned that school is tomorrow, right? Well, we tried to transfer Reilly to that school so that she could participate in the orchestra and I could carpool with the other moms next door, but they won't let her in! They have pushed me off all summer and yesterday told me that I should call back on Thursday (the first day of school) to see if they had a spot for her. Well, screw that! I need to know ahead of time where she's going. I hate them.

Okay, one last thing - the backyard is DONE! We have grass and landscaping and a patio and FREEDOM FROM TRAFFIC! Finally! Here are the pics from before and after.

OXYMORON!!!

I do have some pictures and stories to blog about, but I haven't been prioritizing it lately. We moved a family into the duplex next door and she had next to NOTHING! It made me jealous because her house looks so polished, so I decided to tackle decluttering my house a little at a time. It's a lot harder than I anticipated it, though. So, it's taking a while to get through the junk. So far, I've done the hall closets, kid's room, basement and living room. I need to finish getting rid of crap in the basement (toys, shoes and camping stuff), but am having a hard time deciding what to keep and what to chuck... ANYHOO! While I'm up to my ears in homework, kids and chores, I still want something else to do in my down time... maybe something to help me fall asleep at night... I need a book! Preferably one that I can purchase on a CD or audiobook file, but I want it to be GOOD! So, if you have suggestions, please let me know soon. Thanx!

More Family Pics!

In March, our Young Women took a trip to the Draper Temple tour and while we were traveling, I noticed a bridge that was so cute! I thought it'd be a great place to take pictures; and, since we go up to Riverton (just west of Draper) every other week, it'd be an easy stop along the way. So, yesterday, we had planned to do it, but when we got out for church, it was raining. It rained all morning and into the early afternoon. I just about gave up when I noticed some blue peeking through the gray clouds. We got all dressed up, grabbed the camera and some allergy medicine, and left for Great Grandma's house. It was GREAT weather up there. Utah's crazy for weather changes! Not quite like Michigan-crazy, but just going up over a mountain, or through a canyon and you've got totally different weather. Just over the point of the mountain going into Salt Lake County, it was beautiful! We took some pictures in front of the bridge, but it wasn't as pretty up close. I thought it was brick, but it was stucco... yuck! We took a few pictures around it and then followed the path up and over the bridge to find an old railroad track. It was perfect! I didn't bring the tripod (I didn't plan on taking posed pictures of the whole family), so the ones of all of us aren't the best, but the pics of the kids wandering on the tracks were GREAT!!

Bad weather pool party

Last week Sean's preschool class was supposed to celebrate the end of the school year by having an outdoor water day, but the weather was bad, so it was postponed for today. The weather was better, but still not ideal. It was 75, overcast and windy! His teacher said he spent most of the time wrapped in his towel, but he did make out once or twice for a picture. :) He will be attending his first preschool graduation this week (Thursday).

Reilly's class has cramed in three month's worth of activities into the last two weeks of school. Today, she was supposed to bring a board/card game that could help the students work on math skills. Mrs. C. called it a Math-A-Thon. Reilly wanted to bring Monopoly, but I said no because it has too many pieces. After the longest and most pointless freak-out of her life, she agreed to bring Connect Four instead. I volunteer on Tuesdays so I got to see how it turned out. She plopped her game on the table and suddenly became the most popular kid in the class. All the other kids wanted to play her game. She turned bipolar and went from raging mad to deliriously happy in less than 10 seconds! She said it was so fun to play with all the kids she didn't know very well and was glad she brought that game afterall. Smart girl!

It's DONE!!!

Last night we finished working on the duplex - FINALLY! We went into the project thinking that it'd take a month to do it, but between school, work and kids, it took three times that! We have someone moving in in two weeks and I'm so relieved it's over. :) Check out all of our hard work.

Okay, so the kitchen one doesn't look like anything's changed, but I did spend two days cleaning, so it counts! :)

Newest Pictures

When I got the camera back, I decided to try to get some pics of the kids. They're so cute! And doesn't Sean look like a little man with hands in pockets? Actually, I swore he was going to catch up to Reilly by now and she's still a good head taller than him. Hmmm...