Rease turns 7!

I can't believe our Rease turned 7!  But it happened and we love her!  She requested a penguin cake this year - I couldn't find a cute penguin cake to make so I opted for penguin cupcakes instead.  She was really excited when she saw them all made up.  We had just a family party this year so everyone came over for cake and ice cream to celebrate our sweet girl!

 I love this picture of all the kids lined up eating their cake.

Rease got a lot of fun gifts but she was really excited about this watch.  She has been asking for a watch now that she knows how to tell time.   

 We snapped a quick family picture before the party ended.  I am getting pretty hugely pregnant so this is a rare photo of me with my big belly.  I love all these sweet kids of ours!

 And especially today we are so excited to celebrate Rease and her 7th birthday!

Some of my favorite things about Rease are:

1) She loves school and loves to learn.  Rease has done so great in 1st grade this year and has become a fantastic reader!  She loves to read at night before she goes to bed and her favorite series right now is the Junie B Jones series of books.  She is also in a group at school called School of Rock.  It's a group of kids chosen by the teachers to be in advanced learning group.  There is a group for reading and one for math and she was chosen for both.  She goes for an hour each day during the regular school class and has really done well with both.  She is starting to love doing math along with reading which is awesome!  We are so proud of the good student that she is!

2) Rease is a big help to me.  I always say that I got the perfect child to be my oldest because she is so helpful!  Especially right now with the new baby on the way, I have learned to rely on her a lot.  She is so helpful with the boys and plays great with Rhen.  She just takes charge of things when I need a break and I'm really grateful to have her!  She can't wait until the baby is born so she can help out with him too.  She will be a great mom someday!

3) Rease loves to have fun.  No matter what it is, as long as something fun is going on Rease is all for it.  Almost every night before she goes to bed she asks, "what's going on that's fun tomorrow?"  I guess we've raised her to always expect something to be going on - we do like to have fun!  She loves to snow ski, swim, ride her bike, play with friends and is really looking forward to learning to water ski this year. 

4) Rease is very sweet and has developed a wonderful testimony.  She is always eager to give the lesson in FHE, talk to her friends about the church or bear her testimony in sacrament meeting.  She is a great example to all of us about sharing the gospel and letting her light shine. 

We love you 7 year old!  Have a great year!

Stats from Dr. Erickson

Height: 51.69 inches - 95%

Weight: 65.26 lbs - 92%

BMI: 17.2 - 81%

The Yard

It's yard time at our house!  We have been so excited talking about the yard and what we want to do with it.  I know I'm just excited to have somewhere for the kids to go and play and have fun.  Josh is very ambitious and said he wanted to do the yard himself instead of hiring it out.  So we put our minds together to figure out what type of yard we wanted to have.  Ultimately we decided it's a place for the kids so we wanted to make it fun and kid friendly.  A trampoline is a must.  Josh really wants a sand box.  There's a garden plot in the plans.  And I think I've talked Josh into letting me plant some fruit trees!  The kids have also been super excited and Rease even mapped it all out for us.  According to her, this is how our back yard will turn out!

First things first, we had to take out the ugly, dead pine trees that were in the backyard.  We had someone pull them out for us and then we chopped up the limbs and trunks to keep for firewood.  The kids were very helpful.  This is how our yard looks without the trees.  I'm amazed how much bigger it looks!

We also did a little work on the front flower beds and planted some bushes.  

We got a load of dark mulch to put in the beds and it made such a big difference.  It turned out great with some help from Liev and Keen.

Josh and our neighbor McKay took a few days off work to get some of the major stuff done.  They worked so hard!  We rented a little skid loader and Josh got to work leveling out the yard.  He was in heaven driving the tractor around and the kids all wanted a turn with him.  

Next came sprinklers.  Josh and McKay rented a trencher (which I mistakingly called a trench maker and got made fun of for weeks after.)  Anyway, the trencher made perfect trenches for the sprinkler lines and made Josh's work much easier so he didn't have to dig them all by hand.  Grammie and Papa Beutler came and helped us with the sprinkler lines and the work went pretty fast.

Next piece of equipment we rented was a backhoe to dig our trampoline hole.  We had equipment coming and going like crazy from our place.  Anyway, Josh really had fun digging this hole and the kids were dying over how big the hole ended up being.  Some fine tuning with the shovel and the trampoline hole was ready for a trampoline!

Josh was pretty insistent that we do the trampoline right from the beginning and get quality products.  So we got our trampoline from Regal and the ring from Rocky Mountain Trampoline Rings.  Josh was happy with both of them and I'm just happy that he's happy!  He and McKay got to work putting it all together and made it look super easy. 

Next we bought a couple loads of topsoil before the grass could be laid down.  This big dump truck came and dumped it for us (and caused a little grief with our backyard neighbor) and Josh and McKay set to work leveling it all out.

The day our grass came was a happy day for all of us!  I'm stoked to have grass and the kids had a blast playing on the stacked up sod.  Hooray we are almost there!

We had a bunch of people come help us lay down the sod and it went so fast!  Before I knew it, the job was done.  I sat this part out since I'm hugely pregnant and can't bend over very easily.  Everyone did a great job and it looks so great!

We made the kids wait 3 weeks before we put the trampoline top on.  Josh really wanted the grass to be solid before everyone walked on it.  I'm glad he did, because it all looks and feels great now!  I also talked Josh into buying a playset and we spent 12 hours (yes 12!) putting it together.  The kids LOVE it!  So after lots of hard work and planning, this is how our front and back yards turned out.

I'm so glad Josh decided he could do this on his own.  He saved us so much money!  I admit, I doubted him at first.  But he came through and the yards turned out awesome and so fun for the kids!  

Shaving

Liev has seen Josh shave many times in the shower.  Today he decided to give it a try himself.  When he got out of the shower he told me that his lip hurt and said he had an owie on it.  The funny thing is, the cut is teeny but it would not stop bleeding.  It just kept welling up like this.  He looked so funny with this little red spot perfectly centered on his lip.  I guess that'll teach him!

Reader's Theatre

Rease was selected as one of the six students from her class to be in the Reader's Theatre.  The parents were invited to come watch.  It was really cute and fun to see her up there reading her parts.  Such a great reader and student Rease is!

Candid Shots

Don't you love it when your kids get ahold of your phone and take a millions pictures?  Love it.

Family Home Evening Lesson

Rease was in charge of the lesson for FHE this week.  She wanted to do it on families.  So she set to work writing it all down and getting prepared.  She did a great job.  I love that she has questions there to ask us as part of the lesson.  So cute!  Love your sweet testimony Rease!

Sleeping out

We just bought a fire pit and Josh has really been wanting to use it.  So we bought some hot dogs and marshmallows and decided to cook out for dinner.  We had such a fun time and the weather was perfect to be outside.  

 Josh and the kids planned to sleep on the trampoline.  They got all snuggled in and I went and snuggled into my bed inside.  

 At 3:00 am this is what I found in the front room.  They got rained out.  So everything came inside and landed on the living room floor for the rest of the night.  

I'm sure there will be plenty more nights to sleep out on the trampoline.  Such a fun summertime thing to do!

Liev's surgery

Liev has had tubes in his ears for the past 2 years.  We have been taking him in every 3-4 months to have them checked and make sure everything is all ok.  Finally Dr. Katz said it's time to get them taken out since they didn't fall out on their own.  He said if we left them in too much longer then there's a possibility that the holes wouldn't close on their own.  So we got the surgery scheduled and early that morning Mr. Liev and I headed to the hospital.  He was pretty nervous but still in good spirits as we got him all prepped.  They told him to bring a favorite toy so he brought his green motorcycle with him to keep him company.  He loved his little gown and the red socks they gave him to wear.  When the anesthesiologist came to take him away, he got pretty scared and cried but his nurse was so sweet and helped calm him down as they were wheeling him away.  The surgery itself was only 15 or 20 minutes and Dr. Katz said things went great.  Liev was pretty groggy and cranky after he woke up but on the way home we stopped at McDonalds and had pancakes together and that seemed to cheer him up a little bit.  He was a trooper and we're so glad those tubes are out!  Swimming pool here we come!

Rhen graduates

Rhen officially graduated from preschool!  They had a little program and gave out their "diplomas" this week.  Unfortunately Rhen woke up the morning of and was throwing up so we did not make it to the program.  She felt bad she wasn't there but was so sick that she just wanted to go back to bed.  Anyway, we have loved her preschool experience at the Kinder Cottage this year.  Miss Melanie is so patient and kind and taught them so much.  One week during the year they had a music week and had different people come in all week to show them different instruments and the music they each make.  They had a violin, cello, bass, drums, piano and a few others.  It was really great.  Another week was animal week and they learned all about different animals and then took a field trip to a horse farm.  Rhen had so much fun!  Overall is has been such a great year for her and I'm so glad we were able to find this awesome preschool.  She is ready for Kindergarten!

Putting shelves together

I bought some shelves from KSL one day and Rhen and Liev helped me put them together.  We weren't sure how many shelves we would end up with because the lady selling them just had a big pile of supplies and hardware and didn't know anything else about the shelves.  We did know that they came from IKEA so once I got the stuff home I looked online and found out which type of shelves they were and what they would become.  So the kids and I set to work.  In the end, we ended up with 7 book shelves!  I paid $50 for everything and ended up with many more shelves than I expected!  But we are happy to have them and have a lot of ideas on how and where to use them.  Thanks kids for your help!

Taping the diaper on

We have been having some real issues with Keen keeping his diaper on at night.  After we put the boys to bed, we lock their door so they don't get out a million times.  They usually end up playing a little bit before they go to sleep - which is fine.  What is not fine is that lately Keen has been taking off his pjs and diaper and peeing on the floor.  It is so annoying!  We were putting on multiple diapers a night when Josh finally came up with the idea of just taping the diaper on.  It may look weird but so far it has done the trick.  Little monster!

Thanksgiving Point

We have been spending a lot of time at Thanksgiving Point lately.  We bought a season pass which has been really fun because there is so much to do.  With the weather turning so nice we have loved spending the time outdoors.  

We went to the tulip festival for the first time ever.  I've always wanted to, but until this year haven't made it down there.  We had a great time strolling around, letting the kids run and play and seeing the beautiful tulips.  Seriously such a beautiful spot!

 Melissa and I took the kids to the petting zoo one day while they were off track.  We packed a lunch and spent most of the afternoon there.  It was fun seeing the little baby animals and the kids loved riding the horses.  We usually stop for ice cream at the deli on our way home (kids ice cream cones are 50 cents - can't beat that!)

 And the new children's museum just opened.  Since we are season pass holders we got to go to a sneak peak night.  I'm glad we did because I'm sure in the weeks to come it will be super crowded.  But we really enjoyed our time there and didn't feel like it was overly crowded the night we went.  There is so much to do there and we could have spent many more hours exploring all the different things.  We will for sure be going back to this fun place!  

Rhen's preschool ducks

Rhen's preschool class has been incubating duck eggs for the past little while.  Miss Melanie was hoping they would all hatch before the kids finish school on the 21st.  I happened to be in the class volunteering the day that the first little duckling hatched.  The kids were so excited and interested in watching this little creature emerge from the egg.  It was really neat!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day and got so many nice notes and pictures from my kids.  I always love the homemade things because they come straight from their hearts - and their messy hands =)

I love these kids and my sweet husband so much!

Liev and Keen made these cute handprint pictures in nursery.  

Rhen made these in primary and some in her preschool class.

And Rease made these in her 1st grade class for me.

Thanks for letting me be your mom!

Liev and Keen

These 2 boys of mine are the best.  They couldn't be more different from each other.  Liev is tall and skinny and Keen is just a tank.  Plus with Keen's blonde, curly hair they barely look like brothers.  But they LOVE playing together and are best little buds.  We can't wait for our next little brother to join the pack!

Rease's Testimony

Rease is such a special girl and a good example to all of us.  She has a few friends at school that are not members of the church and she is constantly talking about things she can do to teach them about the church.  One night she was working on something for a couple of hours.  I asked what she was writing down and she said she wanted to write down what she could say to her friends to tell them about the church - basically her sweet testimony.  I was so proud of her and the willingness she has to share the gospel at such a young age.  Her testimony is so sweet and strong.  

Keep it up Rease.  That testimony will be so important to you as you continue to grow!