This Mom...

Robyn and Ivory are my girls currently in Activity Days at church. They do so many fun activities. I usually just hear about them when they get home, but a few weeks ago, I got to go and play with them.

The girls had a Mother's Day party. Our first order of business was making fancy hats for the soiree. I never really thought of a box as a hat, but I have seen the light. Don't we all look fabulous?

Robyn decided that two hats were better than one.

We also put flowers into pots. What is it with Mother's Day and flowers? Couldn't we connect that day with chocolate instead? I can't kill chocolate. These are really cool flowers though. I don't know what they are called, but when Hannah came over she called them 'Indian Paintbrush.' (p.s. I haven't killed it yet.)

They played a really fun game at the end. All the girls were lined up and asked questions that began with "This Mom..." Each mom had submitted several clues about herself and the girls were supposed to identify which one went with their mother.

These were my three clues.

1. This mom sometimes sings songs at bedtime. She also sings when people are fighting.

(Ivory did not raise her hand for this clue because she thought the other clues before it were connected and she knew the other clues didn't apply to me. Robyn almost raised her hand, but she was confused about the singing when people fight. I do that though. It helps me to keep my voice calm.

2. This mom has crazy sneezes.

(Both their hands shot into the air. This is totally me. I used to sneeze like a normal person. Now it sounds more like a scream. It startles the kids all the time.)

3. This mom makes 'Summer Stations.'

(That was almost too easy. I can't think of any other moms who do that. Robyn and Ivory knew it right off.)

It was hard to choose clues that weren't totally obvious. If you had to give three clues about yourself, what would they be??

School's Out For Summer

Today was the last day. School is officially out for summer and the kids are all mine again. Yippee!

I really didn't mind sharing them this year. They all had fantastic teachers.

Mr. Mortensen was new this year. He had a wild class and learned a lot, I'm sure. But he made school interesting and Robyn seemed to enjoy every day.

Mrs. Peterson was perfect for Ivory. Just the right balance of fun and discipline.

Mrs. Woods was amazing for Daisy. She was so patient and thoughtful. She worked with Daisy's weaknesses and made her strengths stronger. Daisy grew in leaps and bounds this year. (Not to mention, Mrs. Woods is the one who made sure Daisy got glasses when she needed them.)

Mrs. Billings was the most organized, fun teacher I have ever seen. She kept those kids going full tilt the entire year. There was never a moment of down time, but they learned so much. It was the perfect end to June's elementary experience.

June's class used their last hour and a half for an epic auction. See if you can guess the two major themes of the auction?*

(To be clear, I have quite a few posts left from the school year including June's sixth grade graduation, but it seemed fitting to write about school getting out today. So there will be a bit of back-tracking for a while. Nothing you aren't used to.)

June had a party after school, but the rest of us were planning on a low-key day. It didn't quite turn out that way. Friends invited us over to the park for lunch, so we played there.

Seriously....if you can climb it, Ivory will try. On the plus side, I don't think she suffers from fear of heights.

After we were thoroughly exhausted from the park, Ivory remembered another friend who was having a party. As I dropped her off, I found out it was a water party. (Makes sense....it was the first gorgeous, hot day in weeks.) I took littles home to get in suits and we came back to play.

It looks like my kids are the only ones there, but everyone else is having a snack break.

Ivory had a great time. She loves her friends. She almost didn't get to go to the party since she lost her invitation in her messy room and we didn't bring her suit the first time. I hope she learned something about planning ahead and not misplacing things, but it is doubtful.

I didn't meet up with June until after 3pm. She seemed to have had a stupendous time playing water games herself with all her friends. Although she brought home the worst party favor.

To my credit, I did sunscreen the children I was in charge of today. I was not aware I needed to sunscreen June as she left the house at 7:45 this morning. I believe June also learned something today. She will probably be a little more careful the rest of the summer.

Way to start things off with a bang.

*It shouldn't have been too hard to see the Green Bay Packer Theme, but did you also see all the cheese?

Preschool Gratulation

Pearl has been talking about her 'Gratulation' for quite some time. I am fully aware that a graduation is not needed for preschool, or kindergarten or many grades in between, but it sure is cute to watch these little ones in caps and gowns. Plus, I had four other children graduate from the Itty Bitty Bruins, so this one was special as it was the last.

Pearl was cute as a button.

We brought the close-up lens again. It worked well from where we were sitting. We could get all her good expressions.

They had a short, but sweet program. They misspelled her name. Never fails.

One teacher---we'll call her the Nazi because she was quite the preschool dictator---was always telling the kids to catch a bubble in their mouths so they wouldn't talk. Of course that meant there were a lot of pictures of Pearl looking like this. (Thank you Nazi.)

The kids sang a couple of their favorite songs for the program. Does anyone remember Toota-Tatta? Where I came from it was called Chichi-chacha. (Maybe it was a WA thing?) Thumbs up, elbows in, knees together, tongue out, eyes closed...

Each buddy spoke about their preschooler a little. Miss Tasia had nice things to say about Pearl.

Pearl stood to receive her diploma. I think she is doing the shy stance.

The student teachers got certificates of their own. Each received a special award. I believe Miss Tasia's was the 'Joyful Persistance' award. She was very patient with the children and was always there to help with her winning smile when kids were feeling sad.

She was a great buddy for Pearl. She made an awesome scrapbook for Pearl and saved many sweet memories that Pearl will treasure later when she can't remember anything from preschool. Here are these two peas in a pod.

And so ends a chapter in Cazier history. Pearl will be closing the book on a lot of chapters. She should get used to it.

She Sings Like a Robyn

Robyn has really enjoyed choir this year. I have been super impressed with the teacher and her empowering of the kids. The Christmas concert was fantastic, so I was excited for the end of the year concert.

They did sing at one other venue...sort of. They were scheduled to sing at a BYU baseball game. They were singing the national anthem. Pretty cool. I tagged along because I wanted to watch. It happened to be a very rainy, cold Saturday. (We have had quite a few of those this season. Utah has not been a desert recently.) Robyn was chilled to say the least.

They came early to do a sound check on the field. Here they are singing to see how it would sound later. Robyn told me the tarp would gather water and wherever she stood, the water would come rushing to her feet. This wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been wearing flip flops.

Daisy came with me because she was supposed to attend a birthday party later and the times conflicted. She was helpful carrying around the umbrella.

The game was delayed for rain, so while all the kids waited in the cold, I took Daisy to her party and came back. Upon returning, Mrs. T was ushering all the kids into the girls bathroom. ALL the kids, even the boys, because the bathroom was large and warmer than outside. I took a picture of everyone crowded inside.

I switched shoes with Robyn at this point. I took her flip flops and she got my socks and shoes. I felt bad that I hadn't thought of it earlier. The kids were getting a little bored. I know that I should have been a good scolding parent, but it was funny to see all the kids lined up hanging on the stall doors.

The game was delayed another half hour and Mrs. T was through with that. All the kids were cold, so she sent everyone home. It was fun to hear the kids sing even if it wasn't done officially for the game.

The end of year concert was a delight as well. The kids shirts finally came in and they wore cowboy accessories. Many of the songs focused on that genre. We could easily have been sitting around the campfire singing.

Mrs. T finds fun songs I have never heard of as well as classics that haven't been used in a while. The kids sang I Can Do Anything Better Than You. It was super cute. This picture is from a song called Whisper....go figure.

Robyn had her heart set on a solo that she didn't get, but she did sing a fun extra part with a few other girls.

Part of the costume that night was bare feet. Fun.

Tyler was sitting closer so he was taking pictures and with the telephoto lens, he got some great ones. But when people are singing, you sure get some funny faces. I am being nice to put the pretty ones on here. (You are welcome Robyn.)

Mrs. T and Mrs. S sang together again. Mrs. T is quite the performer, but I'm pretty sure Mrs. S would stay behind the piano if she could. They did a great job.

Robyn is completely obscured in this photo, but I wanted you to see how great the choir looks. And I like all the fun decorations for the evening.

There were even decorations on the side tables. We threw Robyn in jail at the end. I guess you could call her our 'Jail bird.' (Too cheesy?)

This was Mrs. T's last performance since she is moving next year. We are so glad that she took this year to teach the kids amazing things. And how to sing as well.

Robyn's 11 Year Gallery

So much has changed for this girl in the last year. When I took her pictures a year ago I was debating about whether she would need glasses.

She did.

I hadn't thought too much about braces, but after all her baby teeth made their way out (i.e. they were pulled) it was time for a set.

Dad talked her into growing out her bangs.

It is almost like she is a different person. But don't be fooled. She is the same beautiful, lovable, fantastic Robyn that she has always been.

One thing is clear though...she is growing up whether I like it or not. (I mostly like it.)

Enjoy Robyn at eleven. (And marvel that I managed to hold her still long enough to do her hair. I get to brush/braid/curl it maybe twice a year. Stinker.)

She is such a joy to me and an integral part of our family.


*Apparently she isn't the only one changing. I think I have been favoring taking pictures in portrait style. Her last photo shoot was predominantly landscape style, but this time it is all portrait. Fine with me...easier to choose a photo for the wall.