End of Preschool

Last Wednesday we had our friends Amielee and Sadie over to play.  The kids played in the sandbox, jumped on the trampoline, and played fetch with Porter.  It was such a beautiful morning.  Then we had a picnic in the backyard and played some more.  By the end the kids were pretty wired up.  It's good to have friends to be silly with.

Eating a picnic

On Thursday Kirsten had her last day of preschool.  They had a water party and ate pizza.  Kirsten had a great time.  I know she loved preschool, and I can tell she is a little nervous about starting kindergarten in the fall.  She has asked me a couple of times if she will like kindergarten.  Of course, I tell her that she will like it, but in my head, I think about how much I'll miss her.

I actually woke up sick on Thursday, which was a bummer because the night before I had purchased tickets to take the girls to see a play of Charlotte's Web at BYU.  So, instead of taking the girls to the play, Matt and I watch Last Man Standing on Netflix while my parents got the pleasure of taking the girls to see Charlotte's Web.  I was kind of jealous, but I was really happy that the girls got to see the play with their grandparents.  How neat that my parents live so close!  When the girls got home, I could tell that they had really enjoyed it.  They couldn't stop talking about Charlotte!

Kirsten with Teacher Lynda

Reagan wanted a picture, too.

 Friday morning I woke up feeling better, and Friday evening we walked over to my parents' house to tell them goodbye before they left for Fargo.  Then on our way home our neighbor stopped us to ask if we wanted to come to their house for a weenie roast.  We decided it would be fun and spent the evening at the Cope's house.  I pushed the girls on their tire swing and roasted them a couple of hot dogs.  They gorged themselves on chips and sugary drinks, and then they ran around playing with "those boys."  Kirsten and Reagan were by far the youngest kids there, and they were the only girls.  "Those boys" were so nice though and included them in all their games.  It was such a nice evening and everyone had such a good time that it was hard to pull ourselves away.  They girls didn't end up going to bed until ten o'clock!

On Saturday we went to the Rec Center for our usual exercise classes, and afterward we ate a picnic lunch at the park next to the Rec Center.  Then we went swimming for a couple of hours.  The pool felt great, and the kids loved the water slides.  It was fun taking them down on our laps.  They wanted to do it over and over again, which Matt and I didn't mind doing at all.

Memorial Day was pretty quiet.  Initially I wrote "relaxed," but I had to edit that because Memorial Day was not relaxed.  I used the day to get a lot done.  I properly cleaned both of our bathrooms, including mopping the floors, and I painted the trim on the back door.  I felt very accomplished.  In the evening we went to have dinner with Norma, William, and Sierra.  Apparently, Norma forgot to mention that Brian was out of town, which was kind of funny, but we were just fine without him.  The adults had a nice evening chatting while the kids played with make-believe Elves outside.

Unfortunately, this morning I woke up to a horrible surprise.  This is what Reagan's face looked like:

Her left eye was terribly swollen, droopy, and starting to bruise, and her cheeks were bright red like they'd been slapped.

I was horrified to see her face.  It looked like someone had hit her, but I knew that hadn't happened.

Fortunately, she was really happy and said it didn't hurt at all.  When I showed her her face in a mirror, she laughed really hard.  I'm glad she wasn't old enough to be concerned, though she did ask me when her face would look normal again.  She didn't have a fever or any other symptoms, but I set up a doctor's appointment the minute it turned 8:00 because I was horrified.  I mean horrified.

The doctor told us it looked like Fifth Disease, which I had never heard of before, but it is apparently quite "common."  It's also known as Slapped Cheek Disease for obvious reasons.  In the beginning it seems like a regular cold, and then a few days after a child seems better from the cold, they develop a rash, which may get worse for the next couple of days.  Apparently, the rash can last between one and three weeks, but on the bright side, by the time a child develops the rash, they are no longer contagious.

Honestly, I can't wait until my Reagan looks normal again.  I'm grateful that she's not uncomfortable, but it looks so uncomfortable I can't seem to get over it.

Kirsten's Birthday

We had such a fun time celebrating Kirsten's birthday.  On Thursday morning, Kirsten and I baked and frosted cupcakes for her to take with her to preschool that day.  She told me that everyone at preschool said the cupcakes were really yummy.  They were strawberry cupcakes with pink frosting per her request.

A few days before her birthday Kirsten got my old Babs Bunny.  She was obsessed, but now that she has all her new toys, Babs is at the bottom of the stuffed animal bin again.

The girls are looking at the fish at the Rec Center.  They love Nemo and Dory even though they've never even seen Finding Nemo.

On Saturday we had a birthday party for Kirsten at our house.  She invited a lot of her friends over.  They played, had blue cupcakes with white frosting, and opened presents.  Everyone had a great time--even Reagan who struggled a bit with watching Kirsten open a million zillion presents.  Kirsten got a Cinderella Barbie, a stuffed puppy, a Little Mermaid set, an Ariel magnetic doll, a bubble pond, Zootopia figurines, bath toys, a My Little Pony play-dough set, two more Barbies, and a Little Mermaid dress/nightgown.  She was in heaven!
 

Our friends Jennie and Sean came and brought their three kids--one of whom is the new baby on Sean's lap.

Kirsten blew out her candles with her eyes shut after she made her wish.  So, it took her a couple of tries.

Here are some of her friends, Reagan, and her cousin Sierra

Kirsten with her friend Kynslie

Kirsten with Reagan

Kirsten with Elayna

Kirsten with Brett and Amielee

Opening a present

More present opening

After the party, I cleaned up for awhile.  Reagan took a big long nap, and Kirsten and Sierra played together.  Sierra stayed with us for the weekend while my brother and sister-in-law were out of town for their anniversary.  It was fun to have her, but I think she felt a bit out of place at five-year-old's birthday party.  Later in the afternoon I went outside with them, and we played with the bubble pond that Elayna had given Kirsten.  It was a lot of fun.

Playing with the bubble pond

Saturday evening my parents watched the three girls while Matt and I went on a date.  We went to eat at a Thai restaurant here in Springville, and we each enjoyed a yummy curry.  We had intended to go shooting, but it turns out that the shooting range is closed Saturday evenings.  So, we decided to go bowling instead.  I did a pretty bad job bowling that evening, but Matt was great.  Of course, it was fun anyway.

The girls were so wound up it took them until after 10:30 to actually fall asleep Saturday night.  So, on Sunday, which was Kirsten's actual birthday, they were little monsters.  They both took really long naps Sunday afternoon, and after they woke up we went over to Nana and Grampa's house for another birthday celebration.  My mom made strawberry cake with strawberry frosting, and Kirsten said it was "disgusting."  Fortunately, my mom had five kids so she understands that they don't have manners.  Mostly, I think Kirsten had a case of "too much birthday."
 

My mom bringing out the cake

She kept blowing above the candles.

 Then we opened presents from family.  Mimzy gave her a set of princess figurines and a princess matching game.  Papa and Beth gave her a loom.  My parents gave her an Ariel nightgown and a book of princess stories.  Matt and I gave her The Peanuts Movies, the Little Mermaid dress she is wearing in most of the pictures, and the magnetic Ariel doll.  I think she made out like a bandit this birthday.

This gifts is definitely a favorite of Kirsten's, and you can tell from Sierra and Reagan's faces that it sparked some interest in them too.

Happy birthday, Kirsten!

Daddy reading Princess stories to his girls.

 Yesterday I dumped twelve 50 pound bags of sand into our sandbox, and the girls and I played for quite some time.  It's super fun, and I'm really excited to have it.

On Probation

Over the weekend my parents arrived in Springville.  On Saturday we helped them unpack and drop the moving truck off at the Home Depot.  It is so good to have them here.  They have made a lot of progress in getting their house set up.  I love seeing so much of the furniture that I grew up with here in Springville.  They seem really pleased with their home, and that makes me happy.  

Kirsten and Reagan seem really happy about having their grandparents down the street, too.  Reagan has said a couple of adorable prayers:  "Thank you that we have such a wonderful Nana" and "Please bless that we can stay at Nana's house forever."  To top it all off, the girls have received about a million new toys and books from my childhood that my parents brought out with them.  They especially like the Ariel dolls and the Babs and Buster Bunny.  It makes me happy to see them enjoy my old toys so much.

This morning was my court date for Porter.  When I arrived at the Police Court at City Hall, I was surprised to realize that it was actual court.  I know that sounds dumb, but I really wasn't imagining standing up in front of a judge and having to plead guilty or not guilty.  However, the worst part was that I had to wait about an hour for my turn while listening to all of the other cases.  One man even went to jail.  Of course, I knew I wasn't going to be going to jail over my dog getting loose, but my imagination started to go a little wild as I waited.  As a rule follower, I was a little out of place.  

When it was my turn, I plead guilty and explained that we forgot that our fence was under repair when we let the dog out in the morning.  The prosecutor suggested lowering the fine to $100 instead of $299, which was about what I expected.  While I was waiting for my paperwork, the prosecutor asked me if all the geese were okay at the farm.  Apparently he lives quite close to the Hall's farm.  So, he knew what Porter had done when he was "at large."  In a small-ish town there is no hiding even the worst of our criminal offenses from the city prosecutor.  Fortunately, all of the geese were okay.  More importantly, my court case is done.  Oh, Porter and I are now on probation for six months.  We won't be wearing GPS trackers, but if he gets out again, the consequences could be pretty expensive.

  

The girls with my mom on Sunday

The girls stayed with my mom while I went to court.  They had a tea party, and afterward, they did "tricks" for "treats" with Mason.

They are sitting for a piece of ham.

Here, Reagan is laying.

Crazy Animals

Last Monday morning around 8:30 I realized that Porter was missing.  The night before Matt and I had knocked down the woodpile that we use as an ersatz fence, so that we could put the chicken coop on top of the run.  We knew this meant that we would not be able to put Porter in the backyard until we had piled the wood back up the next evening, but apparently it was such a habit for me to let Porter out in the morning that I had completely forgotten.  I couldn't even remember letting him out, but I knew he wasn't in the house or in the backyard.  So, I figured that I must have.

I immediately got my shoes on, and even though I was still in my pajamas, I went walking around the neighborhood calling for Porter.  Then I decided that the girls and I would drive around looking for him.  We rolled down the windows and called his name at the top of our lungs while I drove about 15 miles an hour.  I'm pretty sure everyone in the neighborhood knew that he was missing just by the sheer amount of noise we were making.

After about an hour, I decided that I needed a shower because I felt absolutely disgusting and couldn't think of anywhere else to look.  I called Matt to tell him Porter was missing, and Matt told me that he had let Porter outside before he left for work, which at least made me feel less absentminded, since I couldn't even remember seeing the dog at all that morning.  Then I quickly showered, and after I got dressed, I headed outside to call his name again.  As soon as I stepped outside, Officer Barker (the perfect name for a dog catcher) pulled up in his Animal Control truck.  Apparently, Dutch Hall had found Porter in his pond chasing the swans even before I realized Porter was missing.  Porter had scared the Hall's chickens into a tree and had chased the peacocks into a corner.  So, great . . . yeah, we got a ticket.  I supposed worse things could have happened, but I am not pleased that I have to appear in court next week.

A few days later I even received this offer in the mail.
I certainly hope I won't be needing representation.

  On Tuesday I apologized to the Hall's for our stupid dog when I picked Kirsten up from farm preschool.  They didn't realize he was our dog and said that they wouldn't have taken him to Animal Control if they had known, but honestly, I can hardly blame them.  After all, he was chasing their animals.

Thursday evening Kirsten and I walked over to the farm, and we got to see the peacock spread his feathers.  We thought he was so beautiful and watched him for quite some time.

Male peacock showing off

On Friday we stayed home since we had been running around like crazy all week, and the girls asked me to swaddle them, so that I could pretend they were my newborn babies.  They were so funny and sweet.

My newborn babies

Saturday morning we went to the Rec Center.  I did yoga with Matt.  Reagan went to the Kids' Club, and Kirsten went to Zumba Kids.  Afterward we went to the mall to eat lunch and watch Zootopia, which we loved.  I'm pretty sure Matt and I laughed louder than anyone else in the theater.

That evening the girls had a babysitter, and Matt and I went to see Jane Eyre the musical at the Orem Hale Center Theater.  It was an enjoyable production, but honestly, Jane Eyre makes a much better book than musical.  I highly recommend the book to anyone and everyone.

On Mother's Day I woke up to Kirsten knocking on the door to let me know that Reagan had had an accident.  At least the accident was in the bathroom.  So, it wasn't that hard to clean up.  Then we realized that Reagan was sick.  She had a cold, which meant that she wouldn't be able to go to Nursery at Church.  We all went to Sacrament Meeting, but then I went home with her afterward because Matt had to teach the Elders' Quorum lesson.  I was bummed to have to go home from Church early, especially on Mother's Day.  However, despite having a sick kid, which is never fun, the day was quite nice.  Matt made me eggs for breakfast, and he grilled up some delicious filet mignon for dinner.

Reagan was still sick on Monday, but we mostly had a nice day.  She took a long nap in the morning since she hadn't slept well Sunday night, and Kirsten and I played/worked outside.

Kirsten took a picture of our chickens wandering the yard.

This is me digging out a garden box to replace the dirt with sand for a sandbox.

Later after Kirsten and I went inside, I heard one of the chickens in distress.  I ran outside to find that Porter had her in his mouth.  Yelling at Porter to drop her, I ran outside to make sure she was okay.  Thankfully she wasn't hurt, but she was not happy.  When I carried her back to the coop, I realized that I could only see three chickens in the yard.  At that point, the girls and I started looking for the other three.

Apparently, Porter had scared them out of the yard.  I quickly found one in the front yard, but I couldn't find the other two.  Once again the girls and I looked everywhere, and once again it seemed to be to no avail.  We asked the neighbors.  I called Animal Control.  When Matt got home, he looked too.  Finally, when there was a torrential downpour with lightning and thunder, I gave up.  I resigned myself to the fact that we were never going to find those chickens again.  Then, after the rain let up, Matt went outside to look again, and he found them on our driveway trying to get back in the backyard.  It seems that the perils of the rain made them ready to face the perils of our dog once again.  I felt so relieved to have those chickens back.

Tulip Festival Half Marathon

The last week has been filled with fun adventures again!

The girls painted their own fingernails and toenails.  I particularly like Reagan's method for painting her toenails.

Kirsten brought home a jellyfish from preschool.  So cute!

Kirsten and I made a bumblebee on Friday morning.

 Around 11:30 on Friday my friend Melanie came over with her kids for our weekly play date.  Kirsten didn't eat lunch, and when I touched her, I could tell that she was burning up.  After I checked her temperature and found she had a fever of 103, Melanie packed up her kids and went home.  Can you believe it?  We had to cut our play date with them short two weeks in a row because my kids started showing symptoms of being sick in the middle of the play date.  I was a little embarrassed, but honestly, Kirsten hadn't seemed sick at all while we were making the bumblebee earlier that morning.

That afternoon was the first time Kirsten has taken a nap in years.  She even napped the next day.  Fortunately she got better by Monday without needing to go to the doctor.  I was glad about that.

Speaking of naps, Reagan has been having a hard time falling asleep at night.  So, I thought I'd start weaning her off her naps.  I told her that she could stay awake during quiet time if she wanted, but the adorable little girl fell asleep anyway.  What a snuggly sight to walk in on after quiet time!

Exhausted little girl.

 Saturday morning I woke up early to run my second half marathon at Thanksgiving Point.  This time I ran it in 2 hours 14 minutes and 46 seconds, which was an average of 10:17 per mile.  I improved my time by 2 minutes 11 seconds!  The first seven miles of the course were relatively flat and easy.  I even passed the 2:10 pacer.  I was cruising and felt great!  However, the last six miles were in the golf course, and there were a lot of hills.  The hills were steep.  At some point, the 2:10 pacer cruised past me, but I was pleased that I never even saw the 2:20 pacer.

It was a beautiful morning to be out running, and the food at the finish line was very yummy.  I quickly drank a water bottle and a chocolate milk followed by eating a glazed donut, part of a bagel, a bag of Sun Chips, and a banana.  Then I laid down in the grass to stretch.  I was filled with a feeling of satisfaction and contentment as I felt the gentle Spring sun shine on me.

This is the finisher's medal I earned.

If you want to watch me cross the finish line, you can watch the video.  Start at 1:13.  I felt much more impressive when I crossed the finish line than I looked.  Honestly, when I crossed the finish line, I felt like I was going so fast because I gave it everything I had right there at the end.  I look exhausted, which is how I felt.  So, at least looks don't deceive in this case, right?

On Monday we went to my friend Jennie's house.  She had her third baby a month ago, and it was so good to see them again.  Kirsten and Reagan enjoyed holding baby Lizzie.

Later that day Kirsten told me that she'd better not hold babies anymore or else she might start wanting one.

Reagan loved the baby too.

 On Tuesday Kirsten had a Pirate Party at preschool.  I put her hair in pigtails and put a bandana around her head.  She wore some costume jewelry and her snow boots.  Kirsten was very pleased with her costume, and she had a great time at the party.  They practiced their letters with lots of fun pirate-themed games.