June 2018

Jadynne and Alana went to my parent's house for grammy camp.  They had to fly all by themselves.  Their flight left really early in the morning which meant we had to leave even earlier.  I was so stressed out.  I had never dropped someone off at the denver airport let alone children.  Of course I couldn't figure out where to park- with all 5 kids at 7am...so i found a valet service and didn't even care how much it cost because i just had to get the girls on the flight.  At the airport we had to go through security- with everyone...they had a dog sniffing things and of course the twins tried to pet it- which they cant.  one parent with five kids 10 and under isn't fair. After security you have to take a train to actually get to the terminals.  the kids loved the train but i was worried about them being loud. man i was stressed.  when you are dropping off kids to fly alone you have to be at the terminal an hour before take off and stay until the plane lands which means i had an hour drive to denver and then an hour at the airport waiting for the kids to board and then another 20 minutes waiting for the plane to take offf....with everyone. at first they were all pretty ok.  I spend a chunk of change on food that no one ate. And we brought some electronics but about half way through all the waiting the kids were stir crazy.  We played eye spy for a hwile.  then I got up and we did yoga poses for a while.  in the middle of the crowded terminal. finally finally finally the girls were able to board the plane.  It was quite the process getting them on the plane.  Once at my parents they had a great time.  They rode in the boat a lot.  camped by the lake.  They swam constantly.  Jadynne missed us more than alana did.  I"m not sure if alana missed us at all.  Jadynne also was more nervous about the scary stories her cousins told her.  We missed both girls terribly.  The boys constantly wanted to know where the girls were and when they were coming home. We were very happy when they flew back.  Cameron came with us to denver to pick them up which meant that i could stay in the car wtih all the kids while he got them from the terminal.  it was still a long wait but at least they were contained in the vehicle and not going through security. 

 

Jadynne is still practicing her magic for the family reunion.  its going to be great. 

 

 
For the summer solstice I made flower crows for everyone.  of course i had to work that night but when i got home i put on my crown and we danced around candles to celebrate the brightest day of the year.  of course i made crowns for the boys too- just with leaves instead of flowers.  the kids had a great time with the crowns.  We went out to the park that day and lay in the sunshine.  I took them to the YMCA swimming pool which was a total bust.  So we got kicked out because I was with too many children that hadn't passed a swimming test...i made me so mad- like common guys these are my children! they are all wearing life jackets. this is the problem with living in a place where people have more dogs then children.  we are definitely the anomoly here with this many kids.  The kids also couldn't go down the water slide or off the diving board. no matter how old they were.  We couldn't bring food in.  half the pool was in shade and cold. I had to be in the water with the kids but in the end none of those rules even mattered becuase not enough adults were with our kids.  So we went to the park on the outside of the pool and played.  I made leaf crowns for the kids with oak leaves that had fallen down.  We were in one of the older parks in CS so it was beautiful.  i think that is why utah parks are pretty- they are old and have mature trees.  This park even had a merry go round! i was shocked most of those have been taken out because of saftey concerns.   Even though i was frustrated about the lack of swimming we go to do the kids had a ton of fun at the park and with their crowns.

 
 
We went to the incredibles 2 with the kids. the movies are getting really expensive but the kids had a great time.  It was pretty funny

Cameron is now cutting my hair and
I think he is doing a great job.

 
When calvin is sad ive started to take pictures with him because it seems to cheer him up.

May- Alana's Month

We love puzzles

So i finally got my tattoo.  I love it!  It hurt a lot.  Really a lot.  It felt like a bunch of bee stings but I was able to sit for the whole thing with only one 5 minute break.  I only bruised on my hip bone which i think is pretty great.

Marla came over and read some books to the kids after school one day.  Which was great- the kids loved having her here to read to them.

Mother's day was great.  This card the kids made me and of course i cried.  Cameron got me a book I had told him I wanted months ago!  It is awesome.  Seriously this man knows me- getting me a huge book about folklore in iceland is the way to my heart.  I cant believe that I have 5 kids.  Mother's day I just kept thinking WHAT?? how do i have this many kids.  I had to serve on mothers day- for the lunch shift.  I was one of 5 mothers there that day and we got flowers which i thought was really nice.  It also meant that I got some good tips since I got to talk about being a mom and working on mothers day. I even had someone give me a $50 tip!!  i used it to get a pedicure the next day It was a great mother's day.
 
ALANA!! She turned 9! can you believe she is nine!  We got her a guitar for her birthday.  She sings constantly.  She makes up songs all the time.  then she will want to perform her songs and we have to tell her to finish them up or she would sing for an hour striaght.  She is the sweetest child- none sweeter.  She hugs and loves everyone.  every person she sees she tells them how handsome or beautiful they are.  We have had to tell her to tone it down because she literally says it TO EVERYONE- EVERY PERSON she sees.  Everyone loves alana.  She is sweet and fun.  She does like her own space and likes to be in control.  I love to see her grow up.  She is enjoying minecraft and other nintendo games.  Her favorite animal right now is owls.  She has a stuffed owl that she carries around constantly. She loves to snuggle and have books read to her. one day we are going to help her be able to read all those books by herself.
 
 
 
So I put in a bunch of applications for jobs.  I had an interview at a charter school and afterward had a phone interview (not even 5 minutes apart).  I then had a second interview with the charter school where I met with kids who asked questions (that was weird) and an in person interview with the middle school who interviewed me over the phone first.  Its heartening to have interviews after putting in applications at every job opening within a half hour drive from me.
 
Walker graduated kindergarten.  I'm not sure why we call it graduation but we do.  He looks so big. The boys loved seeing him walk across the stage.  They called everyone's name and all the kids sang a song.  It was funny to see other parents really make a fuss over this.  There were people who brought huge balloons and whole boquets of flowers.  It is really great to see our babies getting bigger.
 
 
 
After graduation we went to Bubba's and celebrated the end of school.  We also celebrated that...i got a job.  Actually i got two jobs!  I was offered the job at the charter school and the job at the middle school.  I chose to go with the middle school because the charter school sucks at dealing with kids that are IEP's (they have a k-12 program so all the kids would go to the same school with me) and the pay was crappier than the middle school.  I would rather teach juniors in high school for sure.  and it was in a better district...but...i cant take alana to a school that wont actually help her.  I am super super excited that i actually have a job.  We will see how I feel about middle schoolers.
 
JJ has been amazing in her magic shows.  She is practicing for when we go to utah for the family reunion.  AFter we spend time at some house we are going to have a birthday party for Rob and mom wants Jadynne to do the money trick my grandpa used to do.  So now JJ is putting on these elaborate shows.  She improvises when things mess up and is so entertaining.  everyone loves to watch her magic shows