the rest of May

My kids have discovered the videos on the youth.lds.org page.  We try to read scriptures in the morning during breakfast but sometimes when Justin goes to work early we watch videos or listen to The Friend.  I've always had them do vidoes from The Friend's website but Stockton recently discovered one called "Sanctify Yourselves" from the youth site so we've been exploring more from there.  Not sure how much they actually get out of them, but they do like them anyway.

Ivy, May 16th, 2016: three days shy of 16 months.  Growing up way too fast!!

The girls and I occasionally stop in to say hi to Daddy at work.  They love to get suckers from him.

Also, this is about the time that Ivy learned to really smile when you point the camera in her direction.  She has gotten very good at it!  You will see a lot of these big, cheesy smiles in this post.

We were grocery shopping and in the produce section when Brynn exclaims, "Whoa, Mom, that is the biggest nut ever!"  It was a squash.  Haha.

Brynn finished up her year of tumbling with Ms. Karla.  She had a good time and was glad to have something that was just for her.

I'm not sure what we'll find for her to do next year.  I know she would love to take dance, so maybe we'll look in to that.  Or maybe she'll do tumbling again.

More cheesy grins from Ivy.

We made it to the temple on the 19th.  The drive down the canyon was so pretty and green.  Then the roses at the temple were amazing.  I'm not usually a fan of roses but there were rows and rows as you walked down from the entrance of the temple.  They were all the same shade of pink and they were gorgeous.

I even got Justin to take a selfie.

The backdrop of the Provo temple is one of my favorites.  The temple itself is nestled right up in the mountains and it is a beautiful sight, no matter what time of year you visit.

Out to eat with Grandma and Grandpa and Brynn is content with a big salad.  She went a little crazy with the salt on this particular one, though, so we didn't even finish it but she can put down some salad!

Molly finished up her season with the U9 Olympia team.  They learned so much this year and they played so well that last game.  Molly has loved playing for Coach Ron and Coach Sierra and has made lots of friends on her team.  She was sad that last game because the age requirements have changed so instead of playing with kids her grade-year, she is now playing with girls born in the same year (2006).  So I think she is only playing with one girl this coming year that was on her team last year.  A couple weeks after the last game, she tried out for the U11 team and ended up making the premier team.  So that was a super exciting day for her and she is excited to continue playing under a new coach and with new teammates.

Those last two games (a Friday night and a Saturday morning) were freezing.  I could have stayed home with the other kids but I wanted to watch her play her final games with the team.  She played awesome.  She has mostly played defense for the whole season but they threw her up in forward and she had some hard shots on goal.

Stockton is more of a reluctant cheerleader and gets bored easily.  Brynn does okay.  She goes with the flow a little more than her brother.  Ivy is as busy as ever and never sits still for too long.  I have to make sure I have enough snacks packed for her to make it through a game.

Caught Stockton and Brynn playing who-knows-what.  They do that a lot.  I like to see what their imaginations come up with.

Molly won some face paint at school and came home to paint Brynn's face.  Wish I could say that I washed it off before we went anywhere.  I didn't and, although it faded, it looked like this for a couple of days.

We got a bed set up in the basement for Molly so the kids had to have a sleep-over in Molly's room.  Isn't it funny that they've spent the past year sharing a room and the first chance they have to be in their own rooms, they decide to sleep together one last time?  I thought it was.  But I loved that they wanted to be together and were excited about it.

They have all done well with the transition to having their own rooms.  There is still a little bit of work that we want to get done in the basement but working outside has taken priority.  It is enough that they can sleep in their rooms and that they each have their own little "space" in the house.  

Justin teaching our crazy primary kids.  Ivy doesn't help.  We are counting down the weeks until we can send her to nursery because she is pretty hard during the last hour when we are trying to teach.

 Brynn wanted this cart so bad at Walmart one day so I obliged.  They were cute for a little bit, until Ivy started trying to wiggle her way out and stand up.  Probably won't do a cart like that for a while!

We finally planted a garden!  The basement project kept us inside so as soon as it was finished enough, we started on the long list of projects outside.  We already had raspberry plants from my dad but we planted peas, beans, carrots, potatoes, and onions.  We had a much longer list that we would have like to plant but it will probably happen next year.  We did it for FHE one night and enlisted the kids to help.

Brynn helped the longest (no surprise there).  They spent the rest of their time outside playing in the dirt.

Some basketball in the kitchen.  Made it a little more chaotic trying to make dinner that night but I love it.

this is Stockton and Easton Anderson

Brynn and Ivy hanging out in Molly's closet.

The kids love to listen to a website called storylineonline.net.  Molly's second grade teacher told us about it.  One of their favorite stories to listen to is called I Need My Monster so one day they planned a whole skit to the story.  They made parts and when they were ready, they invited Justin and I down to Molly's room to watch the play.  There were signs.

They had treats and chairs set up for Justin and I.

Stockton was the different monsters.  Molly and Brynn had to share the part of the little boy.  Brynn giggled through the whole thing.  Stockton used his best deep monster voice.  That red thing is his monster tongue.  I have the whole thing on video and I think that we will enjoy going back to watch it when the kids are a little older.

I feel like we are practically the only people on our street without horses.  I'm okay with that.  Brynn likes to take carrots and feed some of the horses.  It is cute to watch because, half the time, she drops the carrot before the horse can get it because she's afraid it will get her fingers.

Sitting at Jiffy Lube getting a rock chip repaired.  I guess Ivy had some work to take care of.  Isn't she the cutest?!  That cheesy smile cracks me up!

Brynn replaced the hooded towel from earlier in the month for these Harry Potter glasses and wore them around everywhere for about a week.

Ivy likes to stand up at the table to eat these days.  She thinks she should be able to do anything the older kids do.  (I do usually make her sit in her high chair still.)

I was trying to take a picture of the way the back of her hair naturally flips up.  I think it's adorable.  Justin thinks she needs a haircut.

Molly needed to do a presentation at school with a PowerPoint so I gave her the idea to make slime.  Grandpa brought all the stuff needed and she did great on her presentation.  My dad used to come to my classes growing up and show us how to make slime so it made me happy to see the tradition carried on.

Justin and I went to watch her...I think we were the only parents who did that. :)

Ivy loves having the tramp to herself.

The trampoline literally gets used everyday.  Ivy doesn't actually get it to herself that often because the older kids are always on and off of it.  She also loves it when they get on and bounce her but it makes me nervous because they forget to be soft.

Three kids just drinking their milk.  I can't get Ivy to drink milk in any sort of cup other than her bottle.  This is funny since she was breastfed mostly.

We decided to get away from home and all the work that needs to be done here.  We went to the cabin after church on Sunday and were able to spend Memorial Day there.  It ended up being a beautiful day in Bear Lake.  The kids played a lot of baseball out on the grass.

Ivy was the cutest cheerleader and had to try out all the different chairs that were outside.

Molly made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to take for everyone to enjoy.  They were yummy!

Chloe, Molly, Spencer, Abby, Tessa

Stockton and Grant playing Legos.  I rarely even see Stockton when we go to the cabin when Grant is there.  They just entertain themselves and come out when it's time to eat.

Brynn's cousin-buddy is Grace.  They are two years apart in age but lately they have been inseparable when we are all together.  I love to see these relationships develop between cousins and hope they always stay close.

We had taken the truck and Molly gets to sit in the front.  I don't think it's a very comfy seat but she can lean on Justin or I.  She is sleeping on Justin in this picture.  All the kids were worn out after one late night and a fun day with cousins.

I put on Stockton's old soccer jersey on Ivy one night because I was too lazy to walk all the way upstairs for some pajamas.

Justin is coaching Stockton's baseball team this season so I picked up the packet with the roster and the shirts and hats.  Stocky was excited to be on the Orioles (the Orilos, as he says it) and he spent the rest of the day deciding what number he was going to be and trying on shirts and hats.  Then he ran outside and got his bat (because it matches the shirt) and posed for pictures.  He chose the poses and everything.