Mollie graduated Kindergarten!

Mollie learned SO much this year. She was in all day kindergarten and just took off learning everything she could and learning how to read. She is so smart and always had the highest test scores by a long ways and is 1 of 2 kids in the class reading on a first grade level. She loved every second of it. Her teachers did many fun things with them including bringing eggs that would hatch into chicks at the end of school! 

 At her graduation she memorized 3 speaking parts that were nursery rhymes and did them all perfectly. I only got movies and not pictures of that. They sang lots of songs too and even sang the alphabet backwards!

 Mrs Gibson and Mrs Grover and Mrs Readicker were her teachers. They are nice ladies, just 2 of them need to retire. They are not energetic enough to be all day kindergarten teachers. I wish she could have had a better experience with younger happier teachers, but she still loved them and enjoyed her days with them and for that I am grateful for them.

She is anxiously awaiting starting 1st grade in the DLI PORTUGUESE program! We are so proud of you Mollie and know that little brain of yours will take you so far. There is nothing you can't do! We love you!

Mother's Day

Being a mom.....well it's not at all what I expected. Not even close. No one tells you what it's really like. I was one of those people who said things like - my kids will NEVER do that--- and yet I'm now that mom who has screaming toddlers in the store, who poop in the swimming pool and sneeze on other people. It's messy. It's busy. It's hard keeping up with EVERYTHING. Not a day goes by that my clothes aren't smeared with peanut butter, snot, or mystery slime. My world revolves around feeding and changing them, clipping finger nails, and constantly cleaning up behind them. I always tell new moms its the hardest most rewarding thing you will ever do. And that's the truth. It's the best way I can describe it. 

I chatted with a friend the other day who said, "Candice, I don't know how you do it. How do you clean up mess after mess only to have all the work be undone the next day." I didn't know what to say so I simply responded, "Well its worth it." I keep thinking back to that every time I have to sweep the fruit loop covered floor for the 3rd time.....and clean syrup out of someones hair. And do 10

 loads of laundry in one day. IT'S WORTH IT! 

 For these little bodies right here there isn't ANYTHING I wouldn't do. They make me get up every day (sometimes unwillingly) and give constant service! I like to think that this is the LORDS plan for me right here, right now. To be busier than I ever have been raising these little spirits. Not every day do I feel like I'm winning. But its the simple things, like when I see someone make the right choice in a hard situation, or when then pray for me in their prayers, or all the snuggles and hugs I constantly get...even if they are covered in snot. I love it.

 The kids showered me in gifts as they always look forward to doing and gave me their homemade cards and gifts. But this card spoke volumes! Whoever created it is a GENIUS! It says thanks mom, for all those times you sat patiently next to me while I was potty training. POTTY TRAINING is my LEAST FAVORITE motherhood task. (only 1 more to go!) so this was perfect. It was from Brielle who was by far my hardest to train.

Thank you to my kids who made me a mom. Who stretch me every day and who have turned me into a better person than I would have been on my own. I owe tribute to many who have taught me how to be a good mom and am so thankful for my strong mommy friends who lift me up and make me better. To moms everywhere, THANK YOU! Your job is irreplaceable!

End of school festivities!

Because we were dealing with sickies at the end of school we really didn't do much, but we did get to attend some end of school festivities. Carter performed at the schools Art night. There's always one kid who has to fall off of the risers, right? Well this year it was mine. But luckily his friend behind him caught him. 

 they picked their best art work to display

 And got to take their pictures infront of the sterling eagle wings!

 Mollie's class got to have a water party. The teacher told me she does it so that she can squirt the ones who annoyed her all year (this was NOT a favorite teacher of mine!!! But I could relate because I sometimes throw water balloons at my kids for fun...it's very healing!) It ended up being a cold day so the teacher didn't get wet.

 It didn't slow down the kids at all though!

 And you can tell its the end of school because this is how I sent them to school one day! Ok...really it was mismatch day. But I'm not sure I would have fought it if they came up looking like this on a regular day. I've learned to pick my battles on school mornings.

Hooray for another ended school year! This year is especially exciting because we get a BRAND NEW SCHOOL next year!

Random May post

I do these "random posts" because they are things I want to remember but don't necessarily warrant a whole blog post! Welcome the the smart phone era when you can take a picture any time! 

Kids went to the dentist and had NO CAVITIES!!! WAHOO! Bri was as nervous as she looks but let them do everything they needed to do. Next time we go all FOUR will be seen!

 Rylee has discovered swinging on her tummy! I find her often in the back yard just swinging like this all by herself. Super cute.

 Ahh the outdoors! We have loved hiking this year and a friend wanted to head out one day for an adventure so we did! We took the little's hiking and they all did really good. Being outside is so refreshing but I've seemed to enjoy it and NEED it so much more this year.

 In other news....we got a  toilet in our master bath finally! It is a big deal since its been missing for almost a year. And of course the  best part for the kids was the box. :)

 Rylee's language really exploded this month. She is talking so much and will try to copy just about anything she hears. Her little face has so much expression and I just love when she is happy and talkative.

 We cherish the happy times because they dont always last long. Rylee was the first one to catch a nasty cold and become very croupy so I took her to the doc one evening and they recommended we get her up to Primary Childrens ER to be treated. Not really thinking that that is where we needed to go, I loaded her up and drover her there by myself about 8PM. She could hardly breathe but you wouldnt know it once we walked into the ER and there were toys to play with! If there is one thing I HATE about Tooele is there is ZERO emergency care for kids. None. Even the hospitals ER isn't equipped to treat kids. Very frusterating....everyone just sends you to Primary Childrens., Luckily, rather than the RSV the first doc thought she had , it was just a bad case of croup and upper respiratory infection,  And about 12:30 AM we were back on the road to home.

Poor Bri caught the same thing so I got smart and borrowed a nebulizer and spent many nights holding it to her face until she got better. Being a mom is hard sometimes. You just feel so helpless when your kids are sick!

 When we were all on the mend, I took some mom time to go visit a dear friend. She was my first friend here in Tooele and needed a friend to talk to. I absolutely love her and her kids! Me and Jonas snuck away to get lunch and had fun taking selfies.

 And these twins crack me up. They are a bundle of joy and business! And it was so great to catch up with my friend who I miss everyday! She is a gem!

 Brielle woke up one morning with some awesome bed head so we of course had to document it. And little sis was right there wanting a picture of her hair too which was also very crazy! Love my little wild ones!

Field Trips

In early May I was invited to go on both Carter & Mollies field trips. C's was to the aquarium and M's was to the zoo! Its always an adventure!!

 He had a pretty fun group of boys and they were all so excited!

 Mollie's was much more exhausting. I had less kids but they were harder to keep track of!

 We were the LION group. Mol's teacher made each group corresponding hats, super cute!

 It was bug month at the zoo so large bugs were everywhere! We took this one for Gpa Reed.

 Everywhere we went and everything we saw they all had to touch and feel everything. It was a fun day over all though! The weather was perfect so I won't complain too much! Love getting to spend time with my kiddos!

Random April things

This girl is a CEREAL monster! Oh my heavens. She is constantly into it and always pulls the bag out! Ugh. My floors are always covered with cereal. She just recently discovered cereal and milk and loves it! It's so cute to hear her wake and and say "REAL AN NILK!"

 Me and Carter got to take a little hike for scouts. We prayed it wouldnt rain on us and it cleared up just in time for the hike and stayed clear and started raining again as soon as we were done!

 Brielle and Zayne are quite cute buddies. Zayne is a good sport and will play anything Brielle wants to do.

 Chad and I escaped one night to FINALLY go to the temple and our recommends were expired! I couldn't believe it and was kinda bummed because I was just called as the new primary president and I needed to feel some peace! So Chad and I sat on Temple square for a few minutes until we got kicked off by security for closing. Then we had a delish dinner at R&R BBQ! It was still a much needed night away!

 Little miss Mollie is rocking her soccer team again! This was a picture of her last day of soccer. She's growing so much! She averages 3-4 goals per game and is loving playing this year!

 This was one of my not so good days! I had just finished making a nice yummy of fresh salsa for dinner! Well my 2 youngest got into the fridge one day looking for some food and BAM! Pulled down the bowl. It took FOR EV ER to clean up. I still find bits of cilantro sometimes in my fridge. It was in every nook and cranny of the fridge!

 And because we are going on trek in a few weeks we got a few of our kids together to hit the hills for a hike! It was a beautiful day despite still having a few snow piles around us. We are looking forward to trek!!

Stay tuned for last days of school!!!

Temple Square

Once Chad got home the kids were so antsy that we had to get out of the house! We headed to temple square because it's my FAVORITE time to go. It's usually very quite, peaceful and WARM (that is the kicker that makes it better than Christmastime). 

 So many beautiful flowers! Brielle wanted pictures in front of ALL the flowers everywhere we went!

 Oh the tulips!! AND this beautiful girl. She is growing so much and getting prettier every day!

 Rylee and Brielle just wanted to pick them so we had to keep an eye on them!

 Yeah this was a posed picture...no they wouldn't normally do this. But I have a picture of Carter and Mollie doing this when they were younger and it was so cute and I wanted to recreate it! Love it!

So glad we have these beautiful temple grounds to visit on springtime Sundays. If you haven't done it, GO!