Father's Day

This year Ron got to spend Father's Day with Gary (his step dad) and my Dad. It was fun having the three men together. I love each of them so much! Thanks for all you do for us Ron! We love you.



Gary opening his gifts....

Ron and his girls!

Victoria blocking a photo of my Dad and I. (Twerp!)

My Dad, Carol and Gary being goofy.

Summer Creativity

The girls found this slide in the neighbor's trash pile...yes I did just say that...and they made a slide for the pool. They entertained themselves for hours out there! I'm lovin' it!




Grandma and Grandpa Avery are here visiting! :) Having fun playing Don't Eat Pete!

Brianne looking sweet!

Look how well my flowers are doing this year! I will post more pics later of my gardens.

Last Day of School!

Today was the last day of school! Here are the girls pics as they left for their final day.




Victoria - last day of Junior High...off she goes to the High School! (GASP!)



Caitlin & Courtney - last day of Intermediate school....off they go to the Junior High.

Brianne - last day of 3rd grade.

Courtney & Caitlin 6th Grade Awards

This morning was Courtney and Caitlin's awards assembly for 6th grade (Step-up). We were so proud of them for all they accomplished this year. They both received all A's all year long, and All E's for good behavior, and the Presidential Award for high achievement. Way to go twinnies! We are so proud of you. Below are photos of what they wore to school today for "Step-up". I french braided their hair, so it would look wavy, and the dresses we found at Macy's (my new favorite place for modest dresses.) (I am posting several photos for the Grandparents to download.)

No, this isn't some "creeper" (as the kids call it) behind them. This is their Homeroom Teacher, Mr. Jeggle. This man is a UCLA Math whiz and they adored him! (Their class took 1st place in National Math competitions this year! Yeah!)

Courtney, Caitlin, and friends at Step-up.

Proudly showing off their awards.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend enjoying friends, family, BBQ and the pool! Thanks for sharing this fun time with us and making great memories!

Where Did the Month of May Go?

All I remember from this past month, is going and going and going. If we weren't at one school, then we were at another school. It seems like there were a lot of end of the school year projects, activities and parties. I am happy to report, so far, we have all survived. Only one more awards assembly, and then that's it for us...we will have successfully made it through another school year. I am really looking forward to having the girls home and just relaxing. I am looking forward to not having to be somewhere at a specific time, with everything plus the kitchen sink loaded into school backpacks.

Below, is a photo of Caitlin, Courtney and Brianne. They had just gotten home from their piano recital. Each did very well. Nice job ladies!



As I have posted before, Caitlin and Courtney took beginner Orchestra at school this year. Wow! I can't believe how much these kids have learned in one year! They are playing the violin so well. I have been quite impressed with the two district orchestra teachers. As the orchestra teachers said,"these kids are no longer beginners!" How exciting to learn a new talent. Nice job Caitlin and Courtney!

Caitlin


Courtney

Where's Waldo with the Lakewood YW

I attended young women's last night to play "Where's Waldo at Walmart". We had such a fun time. I sure miss those girls and I felt honored they invited me back to be a "Waldo".

I didn't tell Victoria, Caitlin or Courtney that I was going to be a Waldo. I wanted to surprise them... I believe I surprised the twins the most. They walked up behind me and said,"Excuse me, mam, are you a Waldo? ...MOM! (scream) what are you doing here?!" We laughed and laughed. I was laughing all evening actually. Sometimes I laughed so hard, I cried.
Thanks ladies, it was fun being with you again!

Here are a few photos of our fun evening in disguise....

A very pregnant lady (waldo). Yes....that is me! (heehee)


The whole group of Waldos and young women.

Mini-Society....GAG!

Alright...I will publicly state...I strongly dislike Mini-society! Some of you may be nodding your heads right now, saying,"AMEN Sister!" and some of you may be saying,"what the heck is that?"

At the end of the school year the teachers begin loading the kids up with lots of projects. I call it the "no teaching - teachers are burned out" time of the year. Last year I made a similar post and showed pictures of items my girls sold at their mini society. I will again post things that Brianne is selling this year. She made about $400 last week in class bucks. (that's pretty good!) It is my hope that this post helps some mother out there who is banging her head against the monitor looking for ideas for her child to sell at class. (That was me a few years ago. I searched all over the Internet and could not find anything.)

Plant people

I found these spirals on sale for $0.16 each at Target. She then cut out magazines, and glued the pics on to make a collage. We then used clear packing tape to laminate the covers.

Vaseline - Kool-aid lip gloss.

Recycled water bottle - lava lamps.

And....Mother's Day Continues!

So, am I lucky or what? I received another Mother's Day surprise! I got it yesterday and was so excited. I am so excited to have a new BBQ. My last BBQ literally rusted to a pile of nothingness in the Houston humidity! YEAH! Thanks honey!

Tiffany Rides Without Training Wheels!

Tiffany asked Ron to take her training wheels off of her bike. He decided that if she asked, we could try it and see how she does. We put her on the bike and Ron took about 5 steps holding the back seat and then... she just took off. We were all amazed! None of our other kids have ever learned to ride a bike that quickly. Watch the video below for her first solo flight....

Getting ready...

High fives! We were so proud of her!

Pure elation! Check out that smile on her face. She was so excited!

Mother's Day

How I enjoy Mother's Day! Life can't get any better than going to church, getting chocolate and brownies while at Sunday services, coming home to a nice dinner (that I got to enjoy with my Mom and Dad), not doing any dishes or cleaning the kitchen, opening presents, going to my Mom's for ice cream and doing some secret service for Mom while I was there. It was a fantastic day! Thanks Ron and my sweet girls for making my day so special, fun and enjoyable.


Ron and the girls cleaning the kitchen.


Some of my loot.



My awesome new patio furniture for lounging by the pool with my little women in training!

All Ready for Church!