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.

Six?!

I'm a little behind on my blogging. I just realized I haven't even written about Tristan's birthday! T-Boy turned 6 years old on Feb. 27th. Blows my mind. Time really does go faster the older my kids get. Maybe it's because we get busier with sports, dance, school, church, etc...Whatever it is I don't like it!

This was his year to have a friends party so we decided on a sports theme since he is a tad obsessed! We had about 10 kids total and just went over to the church. We played indoor baseball, shot a few hoops, a relay race, and of course presents, cake and ice cream. Apparently not all boys love sports because a few lost interest, but Tristan had a blast so that's what matters. Right?

We had family parties as well so he got pretty dang spoiled. He loved all of his presents - especially his batman belt from Grandma & Grandpa Duffin. That was the only thing he asked for. When we were driving home from their house he said, "I still can't believe it! Is this real? It's too good to be true!" So dramatic. So funny. So T.

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing kid to call mine! He is all boy. So much fun! Incredibly smart and hard-working. Determined. Passionate. Busy. And one of the best things that ever happened to me! Happy 6th Birthday Tristan!

A fairy princess & an athlete

Tristan and Stella have been very busy these past few months playing t-ball and dancing. Stella has been in 2 dance classes. One mine & Miss Natalie's. One with my good friend Jen, who she has been with for the past couple of years. It has been fun to see her progress the past 5 months even compared to last fall! She has improved and even Jennifer would notice and tell me almost every week. Stella has been really enjoying it and she is naturally so graceful so I adore watching her. She did so great with both dances! I'm not gonna lie, I was a little worried about my class because our dress rehearsal didn't go so great. But come time for our performance they did beautifully! I was pretty proud of my little class!

The mom's that created out background did a fantastic job! I thought it was pretty awesome!! They did a dance to a song from Sleeping beauty and were the fairies.

My class minus 2 girls.

Patiently waiting for the performance to start. How cute are these girls!!! Then we had her performance the next week in the canyon's where we usually do in the summer. I love it up there. It is beautiful. It was a little cold this time. Of course it didn't help that I left our jackets. Grrrrrrr. Or should I say Burrrrrr. They had 2 dances and each girl had a solo. Stella was beaming with pride as I yelled and cheered for her! She should be proud too because she freaking rocked!

Tristan played t-ball again this spring. He loves t-ball, but his first love is basketball. Every other day he asks me if it's fall yet because he can't wait to play Junior Jazz! Bill plays with him every week at the gym and he won't let anyone lower the baskets. He wants it as high as they will go. (Even though they lower it for the youngsters in Junior Jazz. He doesn't care.) He is very determined and extremely competitive. It is something I love about him and something that I worry about. He hates to lose. At anything! I hope being in sports will help him learn that sometimes everyone loses at one point. I love to watch him play t-ball. He loves to chase the ball and wants to hit last because then he gets a "homerun". Which just means he gets to run all the bases at once even if the ball only goes 5 ft. in front of him.

Graduation!

T-Boy is officially graduated from Pre-School! He is super excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. He had so much fun this year in Ms. Amy's class. I just love her! Both of my kids have had her and I am so glad Tristan was able to be in her class this year. I have seen a lot of progress and every day he was happy to go to class and more happy when I'd pick him up because he'd had so much fun! So great. They did so many fun art projects and learned so many new things. It was a lot of fun to hear him talk about things I had no idea he knew about and he could only learn from school. I enjoyed helping in his class once a month and seeing him in that environment. I think he'll do great in Kindergarten!

The graduation was at our library and I wish I knew how to load up video's on my blog because there was one song the kids sang and Tristan was so excited to shake his booty that it had me laughing and the look of anticipation cracks me up every time I watch it. Ah well. One more year down 13 to go!

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.

Damn Coffee (Diet Coke) Table!

Last Monday I found a steal of a deal on a coffee table. I bought it. Brought it home. Painted it. Loved it! 4 days later Tristan (while throwing a tantrum might I add) racked his noggin on the edge and ended up with a nasty, deep cut. We ended up spending the morning at the InstaCare. 2 internal stitches and 5 external stitches and this is what it looks like. I was freaking out inside! I don't do well in emergencies. Especially when it involves my kids. I nearly lost it when he was pleading for us to leave because he didn't want to get any more shots. Broke my heart!! I wanted to pick him up and run out of there. Alas, I could not. I had to be a responsible parent. By the way, what is it about being a mom that automatically brings on such an insane amount of guilt when kids get hurt even if it's NOT our fault!? Honestly. Bill and I were a bit surprised we lasted until he was 5 without stitches and/or broken bones. And so it begins...

4 No More

My baby turned 5 last week. Hard to believe. This year we just did family parties. It was pretty low key. It was nice. Friday we surprised him by taking him to the Monster Truck show. As we got closer to the Energy Solutions Arena we asked if he had any idea what we were doing and he said both the Monster Truck show and the Jazz game. He didn't know for sure until Bill pulled the ear muffs out of the trunk. Bill said the look on his face was totally worth it! He was so excited! Even Stella was cheering and screaming.



Saturday we had a party with the Duffin's and then Sunday we partied with the Robbins'. Lots of food. Lots of noise. Lots of presents. Lots of love for T-Boy.




Time really does go by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was feeding him his first bottle in the hospital. And now in only a few months he will be off to Kindergarten. Unreal. I absolutely love this little man and I'm so glad to have him as my son. I am so blessed to have the life and family that I do. Tristan brings so much joy, laughter and fun into our home. Happy Birthday Bubba!

Spring T-Ball

Tristan loved playing t-ball last fall. He couldn't wait to play again so we signed him up for the spring. He has his last game this coming Thursday, but he got his trophy and pictures yesterday. I thought they were pretty cute! He had a lot of fun and I love his complete focus when he's in the outfield waiting to chase after the ball. That's his favorite part. He did a great job and we love watching him play sports!

Soccer & Smiths

A few weeks ago Tristan completed his first season of soccer. Probably not a moment too soon too. He started out excited and wanting to get the ball so he could score. By the end of the season he was asking if it was over yet. It was a lot of fun to watch him play with the neighbor boys. I loved their strategy of kicking the ball into a corner then try to get it out and then make their way to the goal. He was pretty proud of the sweet soccer medal he received. My favorite part was cheering him on and seeing pride beaming from his face when he'd get a goal. Each parent would cheer as if their kids were rock stars any time one of them would get a goal or even get close. Too fun.


This month he also had a field trip to Smiths Marketplace with Ms. Shannon's class. Tristan was completely mesmerized by everything! We go to go into just about every section of the store. He got to see the forklift (which was his favorite-of course), the bakery, see where the garbage is compressed, even the security cameras. Before we left they each got to decorate a cookie in fun, bright colors and plant sunflower seeds to take back to their class. The kids loved it and Tristan had about 5 questions for every post we went to. He is such a curious kid and I love to watch him trying to figure out what's going on inside his little brain! It has been a busy couple of weeks and now we get to look forward to another season of t-ball just around the corner. Ah, the good life!

Officially Four

Last week my baby boy turned 4! It's amazing how quickly time goes by. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing that adorable little boy home. The older he gets the funnier he gets. I love his little personality. He brings such fun and laughter into our home. I just love my little guy!

For his 4th birthday he decided he wanted a CARS themed party. I didn't think I would have so much fun throwing a boys party! I made box cars for the kids to look like Lightening McQueen. When the kids got there they colored pictures of Lightening McQueen. Then once everyone got there we made licence plates for their cars. Bill was working in Guido and Luigi's Tire Shop. We had a relay race and they had to make a few rounds, get gas and their tires put on, afterwards everyone got medals. After that we played musical cars. From there we opened presents and went downstairs to Flo's Diner for lunch and cake. The kids seemed like they enjoyed the party! It was a lot of work, but so worth it!

Right after we had a little birthday party for Tristan with my family. Then on Monday we had a party for Tristan as well as Calder - who is now officially a teenager. It's been fun to celebrate with everyone!