Filling in the blogging gaps...

Scouts

Brayden earned the rank of Star Scout in March-- on his way to Life, and then Eagle!

Road Show
So fun that our Temecula Stake does Road Shows 
(a unique LDS production showcasing the youth and they compete against other youth in the area)
.... I only wish I'd taken more pictures of their gazillion practices and captured the *fun* of the show.... oh well.  Brayden had a great time, even though he had a lame part.  The experience really bonds the youth.  Our ward put together a production of, "Beauty IS the Beast" ... great script.  Bray was a 'bro'... whatever that is.  On another note, he tried out, and made it into the advanced drama class at school for 8th grade.

Preschool Fun-

We participated in a preschool co-op... the girls had a great time hopping around for playdates and hands-on learning here and at their friend's houses!
I wish we had taken more pictures of our adventures through the weeks.
We made homemade ice cream, real erupting sand volcanoes, beaches-in-a-jar, ceramic handprints, melted crayon stained glass, these cutest abc books made out of sewn-together brown paper bags... and so many more exciting fun projects!
Sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to dig in and make learning fun.

What better way to practice letters... and clean the table at the same time!  Shaving cream letter fest...

they think it's their very own drinking fountain

Spring School Pics

for reals.... the photographer didn't think to have her at least remove her eye patch???  Love the glare in the glasses too.  No, I didn't buy it, I just scanned it.  Stupid photographer.  And no, I didn't remember it was pic day if you couldn't tell.

Bray's spring baseball photo

End of School

Alexandra's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Starr

Last day of school.  She just doesn't listen.  I told her not to grow up.

Alexandra at her kindergarten garden.  Maybe she can show us how to make a garden-- I've never even attempted one...shame on me.

Monson showing off his silhouette 

No pics of Kenz...  she went to Utah two weeks before school ended.  Pics of her adventure later.

Girlfriend Time

I love my San Marcos Girlfriends... and I love it that they make the effort to come up and see me.  We had a lovely brunch at Vallee d'Brume...  with a name like that, & with friends like them, how could it not be the best!

Mwah, Karyn, Malisa, Lisa, Erin, Nicole

Lego Crazy
New favorite pastime... lego building.  I found these pics in my camera courtesy of the boys:

Long or Short?
Silly Monson flips between growing his hair out and buzzing it off... (and kissing the air)

and I didn't take 'after' photos... but he's a cutie pie either way.

Miss Teen San Marcos

 We adore Mackynzie Parry.... and we were there in February to see her compete for and win the title of Miss Teen San Marcos.  She's a true beauty inside and out!  She was our neighbor in San Marcos, and the kids all regard her as an older sis... Even though she's six years older than Monson, she always made the time to play hoops with him & play with ALL the kids.  Monson used to go over to their house and sit and wait for her to finish her chores so she could 'play.'  Then he'd just get sick of waiting, so he'd help her do her chores.  She was soooo patient with them and never once told them to take a hike even though I'm sure she wanted to at times.  Oh, how our kids miss bugging the Parry family everyday!

Silly Kids

My kids get a kick out of the classic Menzie human pyramid my brothers and I would always make...

it's one of those things you do when you're feeling silly, and with six kids it just works...so why not

 

and they all come tumbling down

Take me out to the ball game...

I stumbled upon $5 nosebleed tickets, so why not Dodger Baseball?

I have fond memories going to Dodger Stadium as a kid (we had season tickets year after year after year)... I especially loved going when the Braves were in town because that meant that we could go down to the field and talk to Dale Murphy (a family friend)... AND I could watch my crush at 2nd base, Steve Sax.

... and now that we live close, we thought we'd reward the kids with a random May outing.  No, it wasn't vs. The Braves, and no, Steve Sax wasn't there either:)  It was vs the San Diego Padres, and they kicked The Dodger's trash.  But half the fun is the food and the overall experience, right?

Pops was in the area, so we invited him to meet us there.

Playing Primary

When I was little I remember 'playing Primary.'  I loved directing my little brothers and teaching them, doing singing time while crazily waving my pencil through the air (baton).   I vividly remember feeling so grown-up and super organized with my little notes and agendas on my clipboard.  But the absolute BEST was singing time.  Our best friends' nanny was the chorister... and not just any chorister... it was during the time when Mary Poppins was all the rage, and Sally Cunningham, our chorister, was from England and had a yummy, flowing, and lovely accent... we all wanted to be just like her, so we'd imitate her as we sang and played 'Primary.' (because what little girl doesn't love that accent)?  My mom says that at Christmastime we used to ask her if we could sing 'the birdie song'...."Hawk the Herald Angels Sing."

On Sunday I overheard my girls playing Primary, sans the accent.  I had just been set apart for my new calling in the Stake Primary Presidency, so I'm sure that's why Primary was on their minds.  It made me laugh inside and I thought how very impressionable they are-- they want to be like us big ogre adults!  They just soak up everything they observe and hear, and then repeat it and practice as they're feeling so grown-up.  Their favorite thing about Primary besides singing time is actually the 'spotlight.'

So there stands Alexie, with her fake notes in hand... with Izzie & Monson as her audience calling out little factoids about the 'spotlight.'  And they did it over, and over, and over again.  Here's what I caught:

Alexie:  "I'm the Primary President!!!!"  


Izzie:  "I'm the singer"


Alexie:  "It's time to do spotlight... okay, everyone stand up"


"This person likes eating peanuts for dinner" (for reals????  that IS indeedy what we feed our kids for dinner...peanuts)


"This person also likes to eat cake for dinner" (now that might be true)

"This person likes to go in the pool"


"This person wants to go to Russia on a mission"


Monson pipes in: "guys, trust me, you do NOT want to go to Russia"


Izzie: "I don't like that"


Alexie:  "Okay, then.. it's not gonna be you, Monson.  This person is crazy at home"


 "And the spotlight is.... anybody guess?  It's Isabella Daisy!!!!"

They begin to jump up and down and dance and twirl around...because I'm quite certain that's what they'd do in Primary too... if they were the spotlight.