Preschool Graduation

Honestly can it get any cuter than this? I seriously doubt it! Every parent just gasped with the "AHHHH...so cute!" phrase when the kids walked out. They were literally, "adorable!" Here is Miss Alayna proud as can be that she passed preschool and received her award or diploma.

Just smiling and happy!

Here's to the graduating class of 2010...from preschool that is! The best part of the program was when the kids all sang, "I'm Proud to be an American" it was so moving and let's just say I was filled with tears. Every time she has sang it with me at home I tell her I love that song. But when all the kids were together singing it was wonderful. It sure does make us proud to have these kids instill some American pride. It was darling from start to finish! Alayna had a little poem to recite with a friend. And don't you worry she wanted her fair share at the microphone so she grabbed it and forced it closer to her mouth and spoke up extra loudly...all the parents let out a laugh because it was so funny. That's my girl wanting to be the star of the show! Miss Karie does a wonderful job as a teacher and Alayna kept saying the morning before the graduation..."I can't wait to get there to give her a great big hug!" Now that preschool is officially over Alayna is sad because she wants to see Miss Karie again.

Mr. Handsome

"Look it's me...I turned three!!!"

Of course I took Alayna in to get her pictures taken not more than two weeks ago and they didn't email you all of the pictures. So I had to scan them in...but now with Jake they emailed them all to me! So it was great...I just download them and then upload! SO EASY!!! Now going forward I don't think I will order nearly as many. I just like to have a few to remember how cute they are.

Let's just say this kid couldn't be happier to have had a birthday! He LOVES anything that has to do with his birthday...so seriously getting his pictures taken was SO easy because I told him they were his birthday pictures. I'm not sure if he thought there was a cake waiting for him or what! But either way he was adorable!!!

Life with SEVEN Children

Here's to the mothers of SEVEN out there. Let's just say that I am still living after having watched my own THREE children and Shan's FOUR children. Oh, we had them from Friday to Friday. If it's possible to look past the reality of having that many kids we had a great time. Shandra doesn't believe me when I tell her we had a really fun time. I made sure my schedule was clear of anything and we simply did FUN things. Shan was cute to leave fun prizes or presents for the kids each day to look forward too. So that helped create fun things to do each day. We had pizza, movies, classic skating, the mayan, artic circle, cookies, new books, etc.

The kids are showing off their excitement for pizza and a movie!

Due to the RAINY weather all week I had to think of something fun for us all to do. So we headed off to Wal-Mart to pick out fabric for new pillowcases. It was fun to have all the kids pick out their own. This allowed for one day to be spent indoors and snuggle and watch a movie with their new pillowcases. It was SO fun to watch their excitement and love towards their new pillowcases.

Here we are with our six monkies at the mayan. Thanks to my neighbor I left Caleb home to sleep...not sure that I could do all seven out of the house at one time! This was Jake's birthday so it made for a fun day for him too!

Here are my cute kids. I must say that yes I did get teary eyed because they had to leave. Shan and Todd have done a wonderful job raising such cute kids. Not to mention Alayna adores the older cousins and Jake and Isaac live to hang out together. Really the week flew by and now we just get to keep hanging out with them because they are still off track!

Here are to the lessons I learned as a mother of SEVEN:
1. Wake up early and exercise...I mean like 6:30am (This is VERY early for me!)
2. After you exercise, shower and be done with that activity. Because if you don't it won't happen until night time! Really, I learned this first hand!
3. No matter what read your scriptures and kneel in prayer, everyday! Because this is truly the only thing that will prepare you for battle all day long!
4. Enjoy them. Because really kids are adorable. Enjoy talking to them and tucking them in. Kids are so sweet and I just love them!
5. Don't be alarmed if two little boys run around naked 80% of your day...really what is the deal with potty trained three year olds and their difficulty of getting all their clothes on?
6. Make easy dinner meals...or really all meals must be thought ahead in advance...because once it's rush time you better be prepared!
7. Always use paper plates. Because after each meal your kitchen still seems clean!

So for the next time I watch their kids I am ready for anything! Bring them on!!!!

So good.