Happy 5th Birthday Rease!

Our Reaser girl turned 5 this year! She was super excited and mostly because I told her that she could have a friend party this year. Preschool ended right before her birthday this year so we gave out invitations to all her friends right before they were done for the summer and she anxiously waited for the party day.

I opted to make it easy on us and we did the party at the park. It was pretty chill (and not much set up or take down for mom) but the kids had a blast together. We colored pictures as everyone was arriving.
Then played a mean game of "pin the crown on the princess."

Rease was very kind to Rhen and let her join in all the festivities. So glad these 2 sisters have each other!

We also played a mean game of "Red Rover." I remember loving this game as a kid and realized why as I was playing with these kids. Nothing beats waiting for your name to be called to "come on over!" We had a fun time!

Then it was cake and ice cream time.

Then on to the best part of all - Presents!

One of her favorite things she got was this book Pinkalicious. Super cute book.

We had time to play at all the playgrounds as we waited for parents to come. These girls had such a fun time together! Rease has made some really good friends this year and had a great time with all of them.

After the party we went home and did gifts from mom and dad. This was her big gift from us - a bike. She has been asking for a big bike for a while and we found this cute bike at a garage sale (shhh - don't tell her) and got it for her birthday. She was very excited!

We also gave her a box of art supplies because she loves to draw/create pictures. This was also a big hit with her and she couldn't wait to draw her first picture.

Rhen wanted in on the pictures so as Rease was opening gifts, Josh snapped a few of Rease's sidekick.

And a cute one of the little bro.

The birthday girl. My favorite things about Rease:

1) She is passionate about whatever she is doing whether it's drawing (she says she wants to be an illustrator when she grows up), learning, fighting with Rhen (yes it happens every so often), arguing her point of view, singing her favorite song or just being sweet - she is very emotional and passionate about all things in her life and I love that about her.
2) Rease is very easy to be around. She makes friends easily and can associate with adults like she is one. She loves hanging out with her friend Lacee down the street or staying overnight with Grammie and Papa. She plays really well with Rhen and Liev and also loves her date nights with daddy. She is a great girl to have around!

3) I can see a lot of me in Rease and that is both frustrating and awesome. Awesome because I love the miracle that this person is mine and came from me and I am able to teach and love her. Frustrating because she is as stubborn as I am and I have to catch myself before I clash too much with her. I do love her little soul though and am grateful for the wonderful daughter she is.

Happy Birthday sweet Rease!

Storytime

A few weeks ago at a consignment sale I bought these Great Illustrated Classics books for us to start reading with the kids. They are old books and the illustrations are all black and white, but they are a great read. The kids have loved storytime at night now and especially love it when Daddy reads to them. Last night they all gathered on our bed and Josh finished reading Huckleberry Finn to them. They love the quality time they get to spend with dad and the books are so fun (and simply written) for them to understand.

Best time of the day for all of us to sit and listen to a great story with dad!

Tubes

Liev has had ear infections for the past 6 months. I think we have had 5 different prescriptions for antibiotics and the fever and soreness keeps coming back. Finally Dr. Erickson said it was time to visit the ENT and check into tubes. I was more than happy to do that. We went to see Dr. Katz and he said that it is definitely time for tubes. So we got on the schedule for the next week and were excited to have Liev finally healthy. We were scheduled first thing in the morning since he was the youngest patient of the day so we had to be at the hospital at 6:00 am.

Liev was the happiest little guy even that early in the morning and also looked so cute in this tiniest hospital gown and socks.

Love the diaper hanging out the back - better than a bare bum I guess!

Waiting for the anesthesiologist to come in and take him away. Luckily there was plenty for him to play with!
They gave him the little bear and he was cuddling with it all morning.

When the anesthesiologist came in she gave him some oral medication first that pretty much put him out. He was soooo sleepy when she carried him away. She said that often times with little ones they don't have to give them anything else to put them to sleep for the quick ear tubes surgery. That was the case with Liev - he was out before they were out the door. The surgery itself only took about 15 minutes. The nurse was carrying Liev back into the room before I knew it. He was not too happy waking up.

We stayed in the recovery room for about an hour until he was fully awake. The nurses were all so nice and Dr. Katz said the surgery went well and he doesn't expect any issues. We are very hopeful that this takes care of our sweet Liev's ear infections!

No swimming for this little guy this summer but we are willing to do whatever it takes for him to get better. Good job in the surgery buddy!

BYU Soccer

My brother Garrett plays on the BYU soccer team and we are always so excited when the season starts up again so we can watch him play. Their season starts in the late spring and goes all summer so it is a fun summer night activity for us as a family. My grandma Losee usually makes it to one or two games a year and is one of his biggest fans. Isn't she darling?

All of us with Garrett and his good buddies from the team - they are a great group of guys.

Good luck this year BYU!

Preschool Graduation

Rease has been working so hard this year in school and especially the past few weeks. They have been practicing for their graduation program and she has been so excited. The day for the program finally came and Rease was ready!
Rease with her teacher Miss Kris.
Rease has been very secretive about the songs they have been practicing and about what the program was all about. She wanted everything to be a surprise for us.

When it all got started, we were all amazed at how great these kids were and how much they had learned throughout the year. The songs they sang were darling and so fun and Rease knew every word. My favorite song was one called, "I'm a miracle" and it was all about how bodies work and how every person is a "Miracle." It made me cry and realize how big my girl is getting. She made me so proud!

As part of the graduation program, the teachers called up each student and talked briefly about each of them. It was a really nice tribute to all the kids. What they said about Rease was so cute and so right-on: She is very smart, a good learner and always make sure that everything is done right. They mentioned that Rease corrects them if something is not right or if they have forgotten to do something but is always very helpful. That sounds like my girl!

The Super Start Preschool Class of 2012!

Miss Kris and Miss Darci.

The proud parents!

Grammie, Uncle Garrett and Aunt Hayley were there too.

And Rhen was so happy for Rease - these 2 sisters are so sweet!

Happy Graduation Rease - we are so proud of you and all you've learned this year! Kindergarten here we come!

Sissy the Snake

Every Tuesday night Josh plays softball and the kids and I love to go watch. This week the girls found a new friend to play with - Sissy the Snake. Don't ask me where they found it, but they were sure not scared to hold it and play with it all night. They assured me it was a very nice snake and not one to be scared of. Rhen said, "It's a gardner snake."

Josh was so proud that his girls were not scared to play with a snake - he says it makes them tough! Well, tough or not, they were both sad when I told them that Sissy could not come home with us. They found a special place in the grass for Sissy to stay and told me that they were going to find her next week and play with her. Whatever keeps them busy and happy - in this case it's Sissy.

Mother's Day

I had a fabulous Mother's Day this year. My family always make me feel special and every year that goes by I am more and more grateful to be a mom. I woke up to breakfast in bed this year and both my girls saying over and over "Happy Mother's Day" or as Rhen says it "Happy Mudders Day." There's nothing better than to hear my kids tell me they love me and my husband making me feel like a queen for a day. Thanks to them for making my day great!

I got this gift from Rease this year - something they made in school. This is a picture she drew of me - I have to say, she did a mighty fine job!

And this is what Rease remembers about her mom. I love it! (Especially the fact that I have lost weight and now weigh only 32 pounds!)Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

Rease celebrates her birthday at Preschool

Rease got a note sent home with her in her school bag - her class wanted to celebrate her birthday early since hers falls in the summer. She was so excited that she actually got a day for her at school and talked about it for days before the actual day arrived. The kids all gathered around and sang Happy Birthday to her (and Miss Kris even let Rhen join her up front. She was very proud.)
Rease helped me make the nametags for each of the kids in her class and tied them to these delicious cookies (which I bought - no way I could've made something this cute and delicious!)

Happy early Birthday sweet Rease!

15 months

I love this boy of mine. He is the quitest, sweetest thing - and oh so cute! Liev has not started talking yet. Dr. Erickson said that he should be saying a few words by now but not to worry too much unless he gets to 18 months and still isn't saying anything. But Liev has his own way of communicating with us. He has a very loud, high pitched squeal that seems to get him what he wants - mostly because we can't ignore it. He also has his own grunts and groans - those along with pointing with his chubby fingers, we can usually figure out what he is trying to tell us. Liev has had some chronic ear infections and is actually going in for tubes in a couple weeks to relieve the fluid and pressure in his ears. Dr. Erickson did say that he thinks that may be a big contributing factor to him not speaking yet. He thinks once his ear infections are cleared up, he will start talking soon after. I guess we'll see. For now he is my sweet, silent little guy and I love him so much!

15 month stats:

Weight: 22.8 lbs - 25%

Height: 32.48 inches - 86%

Head: 19.2 inches - 88%

Soccer Team 2012

Rease and Rhen played on a soccer team this spring. Luckily it was a 3-4 year old team and as Rhen just turned 3 and Rease isn't quite 5 we were lucky enough to have them on the same team (which means only one set of games, treats, pictures and everything else that comes with soccer - lucky for mom and dad!) They both had a fun season - and I have to say they look very cute all dressed up in their uniforms!

Josh volunteered to be the coach. I think he figured since 2 of the 8 players belonged to him that he should be the one to volunteer for the job. He was great and did a good job keeping the kids focused on the game. Our team had 6 girls and 2 boys. After the 2nd game one of the boys dropped out and the other boy made it to only about half of the games, so basically we were a team of girls playing against teams of mostly boys. Needless to say, we didn't win any games or even score very many goals. But we had fun! Highlights of Rease. She surprised me and was actually pretty aggressive going after the ball. She didn't too often control where she was kicking it, but she was very focused on getting to the ball and staying with the pack. One game Josh told the team to protect the goal (since we have no official goalie) and the girls all stood right in front of the goal. From that game on, Rease's signature move was to run straight to the goal and stand in front of it so that the ball wouldn't get past her. I have to say, she did stop a few goals that way.

Rhen was not quite as into it as Rease was. Most of the time Rhen was doing her own thing and didn't often care about what was going on with the game. She also came and went from the game as she pleased - if she wanted to play, she ran in. Then after a few minutes, she was back on the sideline saying she needed a break. She did kick the ball a few times in all the games she played and actually the last game of the season she was very aggressive and played mostly the whole game. She is my crazy girl who just does what she wants - on the soccer field and in life in general.

The team doing their cheer.

Rease and Rhen and their friend Stella.

The cutest part about soccer are the pictures. I love these bright red cheeks!

Our team of girls. And my girls with the coach.

What a fun season of soccer we had!