Preschool Graduation

For the past two years, Leah has been a superstar student in Ms. Heather's preschool. Last night was graduation. It was a great little program. The kids shared the things that they do in preschool each day. They sang songs, recited the pledge of allegiance, presented the calendar, and shared books that they had written. Heather is a magnificent teacher. Leah has learned so much with her. She read 33 books and learned 50 sight words during the past year. I can't believe that she is reading and she's not even in kindergarten yet. I learned to read in 1st grade and my teacher, Mrs. Reese, instilled a love of reading that is with me today. I hope that Leah will think of Ms. Heather as I think of Mrs. Reese. Heather shared some little memories about each student. She told of how when Leah was in her 3 year old class there was a day when she lost her star (the star is given each day for good behavior). Of course Leah was devastated at the loss of her star. She told Ms. Heather that she was never going to lose another star and she kept her promise. She received a star each day of preschool for the rest of last year and this entire year. We are going to miss Ms. Heather, but we are looking forward to kindergarten.

The processional

Perusing the books they wrote and illustrated
Showing off her skills
Leah with Ms. Heather

Free from Bondage

Annie had her cast taken off yesteday. She was not a fan of the saw and let the doctor know it. She screamed through the whole procedure. However, I am pleased to report that there were no stow-aways inside of her cast. She was a good girl and hadn't crammed anything down it. The doctor was impressed with that too. I asked her if she wanted to take her cast home and she told me no. Her leg is healed perfectly and she is getting along pretty good. She is still cautious, but she is walking and getting more confident as time goes by. We are now looking forward to our first trip to the pool!

One last shot with the plasterCast-free

Track Meet

A few weeks ago, our stake hosted a track meet. It was one of the best church activities that I have attended. Our young women made signs and splatter painted their shirts. Points were awarded for spirit, participation, and the winning of events. The meet started off with a 5K and then other races followed. There was something for everyone and I was impressed with some of the skills that I saw. Brian ran in the 100 yard dash and he finished second to last in his heat. He said, "I was lucky to still be upright at the end. I was seeing black dots and everything was fuzzy." He even stayed home from church the next day with heat exhaustion! I am already looking forward to next year and hopefully I will be better prepared. I also found out this morning at Ward Council meeting that our ward took first place for the meet, so that made it just that much better.

Walking the 5K (we inherited another kid along the way) Leah and Lizzie running a stretch of the 5K

Brian gearing up for his race

Leah getting ready to run her race

The fam
Annie taking a break from the sun with an Otter Pop

Seven months

Lucy turned seven months old on the 13th (Leah's birthday). She has starting sticking her tongue out a lot. I think she might be getting some teeth soon. She is still rolling all over the place and working on sitting up. She is a cutie and we love her lots!

The ever present tongue Cute girl!

Fancy Nancy

Leah decided she wanted to have a Fancy Nancy party for her birthday this year. She invited her friends (girls only!) and they all showed up dressed in their fanciest attire. The girls decorated little pink purses and made bracelets. Pizza and parfaits were served. Leah received some nice gifts and they even got to watch Brian do a little dancing. It was a fun party!

Lucy in her fancy outfit (a Build-a-Bear-costume)

Making bracelets
Eating yummy pizza
Enjoying delicious parfaits
Callie and Annie digging into their treat bags

Happy Birthday Leah!

Today is Leah's 5th birthday. She woke up and said, "I'm five now, so tomorrow I get to go to kindergarten?" She is a crack up. We are so glad to have her as part of our family. She provides the girly-girl drama that every family needs to experience. She loves to dance and play with her friends. She is doing so well at preschool and is learning how to read. She had a Fancy Nancy party this afternoon (it's late, I'm tired, so I will post pictures tomorrow). Leah, we love you lots! Happy Birthday.

Broken

As a mom, these things happen. I'm not surprised because I went through it more than once growing up. I just figured it would strike when my kids were a bit older, and doing more things that would warrant this result. You just never can predict when one of your kids ends up in a cast. Last week, Annie feel victim to the plaster confinment. On Monday, she was jumping on the neighbors trampoline and while jumping, she started complaining that her leg hurt. In fact, it was bothering her so bad that she was brought home in tears. I gave her some motrin and she went to bed. The next morning she couldn't walk on it, so I took her to Urgent Care to see what was going on. X-rays were taken and I was told that she had not broken anything. The doctor told me if she still wasn't able to bear weight on it the next morning to bring her back in. We went home, she got another dose of motrin and went to bed. The next morning she resorted to crawling, her bun leg dragging behind her, as her mode of getting around. Brian and I kept trying to get her to walk, but we were unsuccessful in our attempts. On Friday morning, she saw a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. He took more X-rays and informed me that she had broken her tibia (big bone) up by her knee (way to go Urgent Care!). She selected a lovely purple cast that is now a part of her life for the next three weeks. She is still crawling, but she is being brave and standing and showing us how she can take a few steps. It's like having a 35 pound infant because I usually end up carrying her where she needs to go. We aren't the first to endure a cast and we won't be the last. I'm just glad that it's not 110 degrees outside yet.Notice the purple nail polish on her toes. She had to match her cast.