Pumpkin Farm Fieldtrip

Mckay's Preschool class went on a field-trip to Schnepf Farms and Brayden and I got to tag along. It was a long WARM day, but LOTS of fun!

Tyler's 11th Birthday!!

Tyler's 11th Birthday was October 1st! He's been riding his bike a lot recently and Kenny and I thought he had outgrown his old one. So he got a new bike for his birthday (and a key for the new bike lock).

Instead of a party, we let him choose where to go for dinner. I offered a few suggestions (of places I had seen online that offered .99/free kids meals... yeah I'm cheap!) He chose Old Country Buffet because it had a lot of options for everybody - and an ice cream/dessert bar. First off, the kids were no longer .99 - that was a special they ONLY ran over the summer, so full price -GREAT! Second, we were the YOUNGEST people there, by about 30+ years! Third, the food was TERRIBLE!!! I got a cup of homemade looking chicken noodle soup - It had NO taste!! NONE! How is that even possible??? I also made myself a fajita with some pico on top, it had HUGE chunks of jalapenos in it that BURNED my mouth and lips. I didn't expect the food to be fabulous, even bland - like hospital food, but this was WAY worse!!! GROSS!! We will NEVER go back. On a good note, the kids had a great time (what does that say about my cooking?). There was a guy in a bee costume walking around, but since we were pretty much the ONLY people with kids there, he kept circling our table. Brayden was fascinated and LOVED it! (Luckily he's not one of those kids that freak out, or we would have had issues!) They all ate pretty well, and especially LOVED the dessert bar. They even announced Tyler's birthday over the intercom and all the olds clapped for him. Also, Grandma and Grandad called during dinner to wish him a happy birthday, so it made his day complete!

Happy Birthday Tyler!! We love you so much!! You are such a help to me and an incredibly loving big brother! I don't know what we would do without you!!! XOXO


Tyler's Webelos Award, Arrow of Light Award,

and Cross-over !!

Before turning 11 Tyler also earned his Webelos and Arrow of Light Awards. The Arrow of Light is the highest award you can recieve in the Cub Scout program - like the Eagle for the boy scouts. We are so proud of all his hard work! He also crossed over to the 11-year-old Scouts - beginning the Boy Scout program. They signify this cross-over by changing from his blue boys scout shirt to his tan boy scout shirt. He has an awesome leader, Brother Drummond, that works really hard to teach the boys. We know he is super excited to be in Boy Scouts and start camping and hiking soon (hopefully Kenny will still be serving with the Deacons when he gets there next year).

Mckay's 5th Birthday!

I think having Mckay's 5th birthday on 09-09-09 is pretty special. I know his Aunt Monica would have some kind of special meaning (ie. extra gifts). Either way, I think he had a pretty great day.
We went to Krispy Kreme for breakfast with his free dozen birhtday donuts. (Breakfast of champions, I know! I'm a good Mom!)


Later he took Dibs Ice Cream bites to preschool for his birthday treat. (After a chaotic trip to Target since his Mom just couldn't get things together no matter HOW hard she tried!)

He got a birthday crown at school too (but his crazy mom didn't get any pictures)!

After dinner, he asked for ice cream sundae's (since we don't really like cake).


He got cards and money from both sides of grandparents as well as an Indiana Jones hat and whip and action figures (his latest obsession!).

He was one rich happy boy!

We had his friends birthday party at McDonald's on Higley and Brown the next weekend. It is my favorite way to have a party. We show up and it's all done for us: food, cake, ice cream, decorations, goody bags! The kids have a blast and my house is still clean afterward! We had the BEST service this time too! Thanks to Megan for the pics, since I still don't have a camera!




Happy 5th Birthay Mckay!

Brayden's 2nd Birthday!

I'm so SAD! My BABY is TWO years old today!! We celebrated with a simple family party at home with gifts, cupcakes and ice cream. Grandma Crockett also sent him an Elmo card in the mail. He had a great day!! It was a bitter-sweet day for me.

Mckay's First Day of Preschool

Mckay turns 5 on Sep 9th. The cutoff for Kindergarten is August 31st. Originally we signed him up for Young Learners Kindergarten, which would have be PERFECT!

Tyler went through the same program, that runs just like Kindergarten, everyday at the elementary school, but all the kids have later birthdays between Sep and December. At the end of the year, you can choose to move them up to First grade, or repeat Kindergarten. Tyler did wonderful in this program, and started reading etc, but I wanted him to be one of the older/bigger kids in his class instead of the younger/smaller - especially going into Jr High and High School. I didn't want him to wait a year beyond his other friends to begin dating, and driving, as well as waiting an entire year after graduation before leaving on his mission. I have been so happy with this choice because it has given him an advantage in school, putting him ahead of some of his other classmates as far as reading and writing etc.

I was so excited for Mckay to have the same opportunities, he was ready to start school. He loves to color and write and draw ALL day long, labeling all his pictures. He's learning to spell, and asks me how to spell things like 'Indiana Jones' and 'Disneyland.' Or he just copies it from the things around him. I really don't know how to teach him to read, and he was so excited to learn in 'big school'! Unfortunately, with all the budget cuts, they discontinued the Young Learner's Kindergarten program (well, they said we could pay a tuition of $250/month if we wanted - Sorry, ain't happening!). So, Mckay has to go to another year of preschool. We found one closer to our new house than Miss Kara's that he went to last year, and it is 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours! (About as close to kindergarten as we're gonna get for now.)

Today Mckay started preschool with Ms. Nicole at Busy Bees Preschool. He's super excited and it looks like a lot of fun. Nicole is in my brother Dave's ward, and his son Jake went there last year and loved it. (Mckay was a little disappointed to find out Jake was going to 'big school' and wouldn't be in his class.) But he's making new friends and said his first day was "WAY AWESOME!" They will be working on the Zoo phonics program, so maybe he can learn to read like he wanted to. I'm glad to spend some alone time with Brayden and be able to go shopping and run errands with only one kid in tow!

(Again, my pictures SUCK because my camera died and I have to send it in to be repaired, So these are from my dumb cell phone!)