An athlete and a ballerina

So obviously I have a few things I've been meaning to post but haven't yet! I'll make this one quick. Tristan just finished coach pitch t-ball a few weeks ago. He did really good. The only problem was he knows too much and wanted to play by the rules but the parents don't care yet. At this point it's all about just having fun! However, I would like to find somewhere that is a little more competitive that does teach the kids to follow the rules. And have fun of course.

Stella has been working really hard the past 6 months working on all of her dances for her 2 dance classes. Her first recital was with Miss Natalie & my dance class. Our theme was Let's Go to the Movies. Her dance class did their ballet dance to a song from Harry Potter. Plus she did tumbling. The program went on without a hitch and I was beaming with pride for both of my dance classes! The other dancers did such a beautiful job as well. I loved it! I'm so sad it's over. Especially with Miss Natalie moving this is the end of our dance group. 

Stella's other dances were with Jen's classes. She had 2 with her class and 1 with everyone that they always do at the end. I love watching her perform! She is so graceful and lovely. Brings tears to my eyes! Literally.

A fun class outing in a limo! 

My other dance class.

The whole group!

Stella at Jen's dance class recital

End of Year

Another school year is come and gone. Sigh. Just another sign that the kiddos are getting older. They have both had a great year though! In my opinion 3rd grade was Stella's best year yet academically. When she'd get home from school she'd ask if she could do her homework. Huh? Who asks to do homework? I never did! I hardly ever had to ask her to do it. It was nice that so much of it was online. She LOVED math (which is crazy I think!), got 100% on all but one spelling tests, and didn't seem to struggle with learning things. The only problems she had were getting to where she needed to be on time (which is such a Stella thing. She has always gone at her own pace) and turning in assignments on time. Which drove me crazy! She had a group of good friends and a wonderful teacher, Mrs. R. Olson. She is looking forward to a long summer and 4th grade with Mr. Gallagher! We are so proud of her.

Stella and Me on the bus going to the Water Conservation Plant for her field trip.

Tristan had his first year in the big elementary school. Every. Single. Morning. Was a struggle. He just was not happy to be up and have to go to school. Makes me dread next year when he has to go all day long! He's not a morning person. At least not while he's in school I've come to find out. He's funny because although he complained about having to go to school he ALWAYS came home happy! He liked his friends, teachers and most subjects. He did really well academically also. He fights me on reading always, but is on a 1st grade level. I think Mrs. Morris was the perfect teacher for him this year! I will miss my little guy when he goes to school all day in the fall! I don't know what I'll do with myself! I miss him already. (tear) My youngest - my baby. It's a hard thing to see how quickly time goes and how fast they are growing up. However, I have tried really hard to enjoy each stage. With the exception of potty training! And so far I really have enjoyed them all. I just wish it would all last a little longer.

Nine is Divine

Our lovely, sweet Miss Stella has turned 9! I remember a year ago being completely STRESSED OUT trying to make sure all the little details of her friends party and baptism were perfect! This year I was like, what? You're having a birthday? When??? Oh, that's right.

This year we just had family parties. No fuss. She felt a little spoiled and completely loved. The way every birthday girl should feel! I can't express how much I love this girl! She is pure sunshine. She is the most thoughtful, kind-hearted person I know. She is more than I could have ever asked or imagined for in a daughter! I feel so blessed to have her in our family. I hope she always keeps her sensitive, empathetic(ness) as she grows older.

Stella's Baptism

Unbelievable. My little Stella Bella is officially 8! When did that happen?! I think I complained about my kids getting older a few posts ago so I'll spare you my feelings of desperation to keep them little. Again. She got to be baptized and confirmed on her actual birthday! How cool is that? She thought it was pretty awesome.

I was pretty emotional the whole week before as I was going thru pictures and making a slideshow for her party. So luckily for me (and everyone around me) I had some control over my emotions at the actual baptism. However, as we were singing I Am A Child Of God in the chapel I almost lost it. She just looked so sweet and happy as she was concentrating on her hymn book, belting out each word. That song hit home on that day. She is a child of God and she as a small piece of heaven I get to have in my life/home. I love that. Bill did a fabulous job following thru with his priesthoodly duties. (He did get a little emotional too. Good.)

We had our family and closest friends there showing Stella their love and support on her very special day. We had a yummy lunch and got to spend a good portion of the day with our loved ones. (Good portion because she was one of 12 - yes 12 - kids getting baptized. And we were the last ward. Sheesh.) Thank you so much to my AMAZING BFF/neighbors who helped me stay sane, set-up, iron, take-down, watch kids, figure out the slideshow, etc., etc. Couldn't have done it without the Eichelbergers! And thanks to all else who helped with food, cleaning, gifts, traveled to get there, and just being there to share our love for Stella.

 We are so proud of Stella and her choice to be baptized. She was very excited and had been looking to this day for months! We can see her little testimony building and it's so fun to hear her pray and try to read her scriptures. She has such a love for the gospel and Jesus Christ that makes a Mama proud! We love you Stella! Happy 8th! Now stop growing up! Please.

(Pre) Baptism Photos

I took Stella to Gardner Village to take her Pre-Baptism pictures. I have had such a hard time with her turning 8 for some reason! I am in denial that she (and I) are getting older. I keep thinking if these past 8 years have gone this fast then the next 8 are going to fly! I don't like my babies getting older. This is such a big milestone for her and I am so proud of her for choosing to be baptized. I got a little emotional taking her pictures. She looked so mature and pretty. Only one more week! She is so excited.

School Daze

School is rapidly coming to an end! I am so excited for summer, but not excited for my kids to be finishing yet another school year! It goes by way too fast. I have enjoyed helping in their classes and love their teachers! Stella had her first science fair project this year. We chose to do the Mento's in Diet Coke. When we went to her class it was obvious how some parents have done this before. There were some pretty cool posters and everyone had a different experiment. It was fun to see.





Tristan has done really well this year. He has learned so much and created some fun art projects. It's hard to believe he will be starting Kindergarten soon.

7th Heaven

Our beautiful little girl turned 7! I still can't believe it! She is such a joy. Since she had school I wanted to do something special to make it feel more like her day. I surprised her at school with a mini cake decorated like Belle. She was so excited! Her friends crying because they didn't have a little cake too was a tad dramatic and put a bit of a damper on the moment. However, I tried to serve as many people on the table as I could.





After dance I picked Stella up and we were going meet Bill, Ron & Becky at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner to celebrate. As she got in the car she looked at her presents on the front seat and asked "Mom, is that all my presents?" "Yes," I said. "Oh. I just thought there were going to be more." Seriously! 7 going on 17. There were quite a few things packed into those packages thank you very much!





Stella got so spoiled. So many cute pink clothes and fun art stuff. She must be use to getting her picture taken so much because after each gift was opened she knew to wait and pose with it for me! Happy Birthday baby girl! You'll always be my little princess and I am so blessed to be your mom. Love you!

What the...

Two days ago Bill and I had quite the experiences as far as parenting goes! I swear the kids woke up that day and decided to gang up on us. At dinner time Stella asked what was for dinner and when I told her Hootenanny Pancakes her temper tantrum began. She wanted me to make her something else, but I told her no because every other time I've made pancakes she loves them and will have seconds! I will usually make something different for her if I know it's something she won't even try, but that day I wanted to stand my ground since I knew she was just being a diva.

As she was pouting in her room and yelling profanities at us (not really profanities, but still yelling at us non the less) Bill being the kind, softie that he is gave her another chance. More like a dozen chances. We had promised to take the kids out for ice cream if they finished their dinner. Stella decided to calm down and eat her dinner. She actually loved it until Tristan started gaging on the bigger pieces. (He has really bad gag refluxes)When he started talking about how he didn't like the big pieces Stella decided she couldn't even swallow the rest of her food and started spitting her food out.

When we told her she couldn't go get ice cream, Oh, here go hell come!(my favorite line from the Soup) The tantrum continued. She went on, and on, and on, and on. And on. It got to a point where I stared video taping because it was so dramatic and entertaining! It went on for at least 10 minutes! All she had to do was eat 3 more bites and she just couldn't do it. Bill having compassion fork-fed her the last 3 tiny bites and she was able to go for ice cream with us. I don't see this side of Stella very often at all, but it's quite the show when I do!

Continuing on, later that night when Bill was putting Tristan to bed Tristan was in an unusual rush to go to bed. Bill saw him playing with something under his blanket. (Get your mind out of the gutter people) Bill asked what he had and he confessed it was candy. Bill asked where he got it from and Tristan wouldn't tell him. Neither one of us bought it for him so Tristan laughingly confessed he took it from Auto Zone. When Tristan saw how mad Bill and I were he started bawling and apologizing. We explained to him what he did was wrong. The whole rest of the night Bill and I couldn't stop laughing at the events from that evening. What the! Why all at once?

The next day I took Tristan back to Auto Zone to apologize and pay for the candy with his own money. I'm sure the guy behind the counter thought it was pretty funny, and was very understanding. Hopefully we get all of this drama out as young kids where we have some control of the situation as opposed to when they are older, taller, and stronger than us! Hopefully this is not a glimpse of what is to come!

Stella's Dance Recital

Stella had her Christmas dance recital today. I have to admit I was a little nervous about how it was going to be after seeing her at her dress rehearsal 2 days ago. She looked bored, tired and pretty serious. Granted we had had a long day, but still. Today I was amazed by her gracefulness and how she remembered all the dance moves! She was so beautiful up there I can't help but feel a little emotional and extremely proud of her!

 

The sweet taste of success!

It's Summer Time

That's right people, it's officially summer time. Stella has graduated Kindergarten and is out for the summer. Well, for 3 weeks of summer until she starts the first grade. We've had our first camping trip and went swimming with everyone else in Salt Lake at the Kearns Rec Center. Ahhhhh, good times.

Stella's Dance Recital. The most beautiful ballerina EVER!


Last day of Kindergarten. (sigh)

Yes, this is my 3 year old holding a gun! Following is his father's footsteps.



Just a few Fish Lake photos


A few more pictures of Tristan's t-ball team. He's too cute in uniform to not post this!

Call me Toothless

Today our little Stella lost her very first tooth! Of all places she lost it during sacrament meeting. She said to me, "Mom, my tooth is cold." I knew it was because it was completely dead and it was obviously holding on by a thread. I grabbed a tissue from my lesson bag, gave a short tug, and BAM! It was out. She didn't feel a thing. I had warned her about my dad and not to let him see it because I have vivid memories of him trying to pull out my loose teeth with pliers. I can still taste the metal. So instead of trying brutal tactic's such as those I just let it become loose enough it would just come right out, and it worked. We are now on our way to the wonderful big teethed gawky period. Hopefully Stella's won't last as long as mine did! Although, she is much prettier than I ever was at that age. So now I have re-named her Toothless.

May Mania

May has been a very busy month for us! Lots of good things going on here. I already posted our Disneyland trip, which was an amazing family getaway! We also celebrated Stella's 6th birthday! She turned six while we were in California so she was able to spend it with the princesses, which is fitting. Before that we had a party with both the Robbins and Duffin sides. Since Bill, Stella and I all have birthday's that are less than 2 weeks apart we usually combine all of our birthday's together and celebrate. Stella got lots of fun gifts and was definetly spoiled! When we got home from our trip we did our birthday/Mother's Day celebration with the Carroll's. It has been since Christmas since we got together and it was great to hang out for a few hours!



Another exciting event at our house would be potty training. Yes, potty training. Not usually too exciting, but seeing how it only took one week and minimal accidents I am thrilled with no more diapers! Tristan has done better than I imagined he would do. Especially since he is one that HATES any kind of change. Even if it is for the better. He starts pre-school in August so that was the final push for us to get him on the potty. We wanted to wait until after Disneyland to potty train so afterwards we had no more excuses. I am really proud of Tristan! He has done so well! He is officially big!




Stella's class does something called 'fairy tale friday' at school. At the beginning of the year the parents sign up for a specific fairy tale and one day they are assigned to come in and read the story and have an activity for the kids to do. I of course had Cinderella! Stella's favorite. This was more stressful and more work than I anticipated! Of course I did make it harder on myself than was necessary.




I decided to make sugar cookies and decorate them for the kids. I did blue for the boys and pink for the girls. I tried to make the whole thing not such a chick story so the boys would have some fun. We played a memory-matching game and the kids really enjoyed that. It was fun to see Stella in her school enviornment and spend some time with her class. Stella was a good helper as usual with getting all the cookies ready the night before! That alone is worth all the extra work.



Stella is finishing up with dance until next fall and will have her ballet recital the end of June. I am really looking forward to that. Her dance instructor says that she has improved so much since the beginning of the year and is really impressed with her! She has also started swim lessons. It seems to be more like lounging in the pool time for her. She doesn't seem to want to do some of the techniques they are learning so we will have to practice extra with her. And Tristan will be starting t-ball soon. I am very excited for that. I'm sure it's not too exciting to watch yet, but it's the beginning of sports activites for him so it will be fun to see what he is good at!