A School Year Completed

With the lovely, cool spring weather, there was no meteorological warning that summer was approaching and the school year was coming to an end. It all kind of snuck up on us amidst all the end of year activities. And just like that, it was over!

At Brevin's school, huge crowds of students and parents gathered to surprise the principal, Mr. Rowe, to express love and support for him. The district recently reassigned him to be the principal at another school which was struggling and in need of his style of leadership. When he came out and waved to the crowd, he was immediately pressed by students old and young wanting to give him a hug and receive his autograph. I cried, because he really is that good of a principal and he will be missed!

At the end of every morning announcement, Mr. Rowe would encourage the children to "make yourself a great day!" Brevin wanted to put that sentiment along with "I love you, Mr. Rowe!" on a poster to show his support, so we did that. After Brevin got his hug from Mr. Rowe, we found his teacher, Ms. Chatterley, for a final goodbye hug and photo. She has been wonderful and Brevin loves her.

That evening, it was Spencer's preschool graduation. We went to his school for a darling program including a few poetry recitations, a slide show, and a presentation of diplomas.

He had a great time at preschool because his teacher was his Aunt Heather.

It's official--he's ready for Kindergarten!

This post authored by Amber

Reason To Celebrate

Don't ask me how I was able to raise this fearless, adventurous, little boy to the ripe old age of two, nor how we managed to come out of those years relatively unscathed. (Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the walls in my home. He has a great propensity for coloring on them and throwing objects down the stairs, thus chipping the paint.)

Quite an accomplishment deserves a party, don't you think?

Garret loves to play with his GeoTrax trains, so that was the theme we used for our family party. We sent out these invitations that were made to look like old railroad tickets:


We took Garrett up Provo canyon to take some photos to include in his birthday video. Even though it was pretty windy and a little on the chilly side, he cooperated enough to get a few decent shots:

On the night of his party, Garrett was fun to watch as he opened gifts and took time to enjoy each one before moving to open the next:

The concept for the birthday cake kept evolving, as Jason and I talked about possibilities of incorporating the toy trains. The final product ended up being a full table display of tracks, trains, and confections. The actual birthday cake was formed into a tunnel and frosted with marshmallow fondant. Anticipating that not everyone (especially Jason) would enjoy eating the fondant cake, I made a large assortment of miniature cupcakes. As it turned out, nobody ate the tunnel cake, but everyone enjoyed their fair share of cupcakes. The tunnel merely served as a decoration that held the two candles (and later provided entertainment for little boys who wanted something to poke with their fingers) before it was tossed into the garbage some days later:

Garrett knew the drill, and as soon as everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" he was poised to blow out the candles:

Everything for the party went off so nicely, even amid a very busy couple of weeks. Of course, one of my favorite accomplishments for the evening was the birthday video Jason and I put together to commemorate the past year of Garrett's life:

Happy Birthday, Little Gare-Bear!

This post authored by Amber

Job Perks

I love being a mother! 

I'll be honest, though.  There are some moments when that sentiment is pushed back into the recess of my mind (like when we are trying to get a decent picture of me and my three boys on Mother's day before we end up being late for church. Yeah, the picture up top is totally Photoshopped). 

There are days when I wish the mundane task of changing a diaper was just that--mundane.  "Insane" is a more accurate description of what takes place when I change a two year-old who hates being laid on his back.  Weeping,wailing, and gnashing of teeth occurs (and sometimes it's the both of us)!

There are days when I get so tired of telling Brevin to finish the task at hand and stop getting side-tracked, or I loose my patience with Spencer who won't answer a question if he thinks he'll get in trouble but will run and hide under his covers instead.

Yeah, there are days...

...and then there are Mother's days where I get to watch my excited children clamour to be seen while singing at the top of their lungs, "Mother, dear, I love you so!" during sacrament meeting.  There are Mother's days where Spencer repeatedly announces, "Happy Mother's day, Mom!" all throughout the day.  And it is a happy Mother's day, because I get handmade gifts and handwritten notes, like this:

That's when I am reminded that, yeah, I really do love being a mother!  Now I know why my mother was always so happy!

This post authored by Amber