4th of July- A Week of Fun

What a crazy week! I don't really like the holiday in the middle of the week. It basically led us to a full week of playing and getting nothing done. We started the week with a fire at Millville Canyon, we watched the Logan fireworks, we did some of our own fireworks at my parents, we slept on the tramp, played in the water to keep cool, and finished with the Cruise In. Klein's birthday also happened but that will be a separate post. This post is mostly pictures to show off the fun times.

 I love everyone's faces in this picture... 

Pool Time!

We have been spending a LOT of time at the pool. All three kids were in swim lessons during the first two weeks of summer. Max has been learning the swim strokes and Klein is brave enough to go the deep pool on her own. Preslee also gets around really well and want to follow the big kids. They also love getting snow cones at the pool. The only problem with the LAC is that the kid pool is not very refreshing, especially as it gets hotter. One other note... most girls do not look great in bikinis. Really, just because it comes in your size, does not mean you should buy it. 

Fun with the Roundy's

It has basically been a full week of partying around here. I am going to try to document most of it, starting with our fun adventure with Jamie and Roger. Roger's dad has a great pond with a big slide. We hung out there last Saturday night with our favorite friends that we don't see enough. Max and Jae spent most of the night on the slide. Max didn't love the fish in the water and invented a great way to avoid getting too far into it. On one of their first rides they got pretty far into the pond and ran into a dead Koi goldfish that was huge. Good thing Roger was brave enough to go out and rescue them. Preslee even went down the water slide with Roger but Klein wouldn't do it. They have fun playing by the water, eating hot dogs, and roasting marshmellows. I had fun chatting with Jamie. I am grateful for good friends that we don't see enough!

Max and Jaelyn

 Preslee and Roger

I am really missing my big camera :-(

The pond we where we hung out is famous. Check out this youtube video.... 

Max said he wants to try this next time. 

Baseball

Baseball has been keeping us really busy so far this summer. Max has been playing Super League with the Orangemen and city league with the Braves. He has organized baseball six nights a week and then spends hours with his dad playing and practicing. He is also taking pitching lessons on top of everything else. Max has had a great year and with all of his hard work, continues to improve. His best week was going 4 for 4, even after nearly getting his nose broken. He has really enjoyed playing on the Braves team and has had some amazing plays. He is playing "up"so the boys are 9-10 years old. He also had one night of playing in a Major League game with a team that was short players. There he was playing with boys who are 11-12. He looked so tiny out there but was not intimidated at all. He loves pitching on the Braves team and I have been really impressed with his focus and composure on the mound. I don't know if I like the stress of watching him pitch but he seems unfazed by the pressure. He has three more city games and then the Tournament of Champions with the Orangemen. At the end of August the fall league will start back up. We love baseball!

PS- I am desperately missing my "big" camera and need to make an investment soon in that department...

Baby Thoughts

The countdown is on! Only a few more weeks until we have a new baby boy in the house. I feel panicked and excited all at once. I am just not ready. I am so busy with my other three kids that I hardly have time to think about getting things done. I am extremely uncomfortable so it will be nice to be done with that feeling and it has been a pretty hot summer so far. 

I got to see him at an ultrasound last week. He kept his face tucked in pretty well so we didn't get to see much but the ultra sound tech did say that he had a lot of hair and is measuring about two weeks ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, the doctor won't move the due date up. 

I gave away all my boy clothes a few years ago and have had to start stocking up again. Of course, it seems like there is nothing cute for a boy but everything for girls is adorable. 

I have made the same mistake during my last three pregnancies... I did not really buy any maternity clothes. At this point, nothing fits and everything is uncomfortable. I always think that during the summer I don't need much to wear because I am not working but every time I regret not getting anything maternity. There is just so much regular clothes can cover. 

We are still not 100% sure on names. Max now likes the name Cash. Jason and I like that name but are still not completely sure. Klein comes up with some interesting choices like "College" for example. Preslee doesn't know what is going on but must have a sense that things are going to change. She constantly follows me around wanting to be held and crying. Things could get tricky for a while. 

Jason has been working in the basement every spare minute and I have had my sewing machine out trying to catch up on projects. We can't wait to meet this little guy!

I wonder who he will look like... 

Here are my three babes as newborns... 

Max

Klein 

 Preslee

School is OUT!

I am thrilled to be out of school for the summer! I love my job and I love teaching but I really love being at home with my kids for the summer. The summer after Max was born, I made a huge to do list and was really disappointed when I didn't get much accomplished. Since then I have thrown out any expectations and focused on having fun with my kids and relaxing. 

Pretty much this post is about random things that have been happening over the past month. Klein finished a great year of preschool. She can write her name and knows all of her letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. She is a great little student and loves school. Here is a picture of her on one of her last days. She is not really into just smiling for the camera but thinks up crazy poses every time. 

Here she is hanging out at the park during baseball. Her hair is down to her waist and she loves it long but hates having it combed or styled. I am not sure what to do with it.

Preslee at the park pulling a cheesy grin. She is growing up... notice her little pony tail.

Max has two more weeks of Super League. They have only lost two games in league play this season. He was thrilled when his cousin Jake came to watch him play.

Klein at gymnastics... she loves it and will keep doing it through the summer.

The Orangemen played in the Memorial Day tournament. They won just enough to make it to play on Monday but lost to the eventual champions. I was lucky to leave the girls with their grandmas. It was nice not to have to chase them around the park and the weather wasn't too good which would have made it worse. I am also having some pretty serious contractions and keep thinking this boy is determined to arrive early. I have 8 weeks to go and am feeling pretty anxious... there is a lot to do still!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Orem and Max had his dad throw the football to him as he dived in. He loves the water. I no longer have a big camera... mine died due to a misplaced super powered magnet and I need to get a new one. I hate not having a good camera to take pictures with. I have taken most of these pictures with my new iPhone... yes, now I am cool. I do love Apple products and love everything that they can do. I love that also have my Kindle on my phone so I can always have my book with me. It was nice to retire my $30 Walmart phone.

Max had six baseball games in six days last week, along with team practices and practices with Dad. Every night Max begs his dad to work with him... sometimes even after hours of playing a game or practicing. Max is a hard worker and wants to improve.

Thanks Shauna for this great picture of Max! 

Max is playing Minor League this year for city ball. He plays on the Braves team and has been able to try many new positions. He pitched two innings and had four strike outs at this game. He has played 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base. One of the games went extra innings and Max caught a line drive at third base which he was pretty proud of. In this league he is playing against boys who are as old at 10. 

Most days we spend hours outside. I am glad school is out because now it won't be so important to try to get the kids into bed at a specific time.

Preslee loves the sandbox and the trampoline. She has also learned how to drive the Jeep. Yesterday we spent three hours at InstaCare because something was wrong with her leg. She would collapse into tears when she was trying to walk. It started on Friday night and continued Saturday morning so I took her in. The wait was forever and she was still in pain and crawling around. After two and a half hours of sitting and X-rays, she started walking just fine. It was really strange and I am sure it will prove to be really expensive... 

I love this picture of the kids. Notice they are holding Zeppe's cups... our newest addiction. Some weeks we have been there three times. It has definitely been my pregnancy craving. Some of my students work there and brought some for me on the last day of school. Something about icy sugar water that I just can't get enough of.

It has been a great school year and I usually start planning for the next year right after the AP test. I had about 130 kids take the AP English test this year. I hope to have at least a 60% pass rate. The crazy thing is that next year 190 kids signed up to take AP English which means I can't be the only one teaching the class. It makes me a bit anxious but I know things will be okay. I started teaching AP in 2005 and had a class of 20 students and still can't believe how much the class has grown.

Okay, enough rambling...

Big News, Easter, and Lately

Most of the few remaining readers of my blog are probably also my Facebook friends or family and already know the news. We are expecting baby number 4 on August 16. We are having a boy which will nicely even out the numbers around here. This baby has spurred us to finish the basement, although he may be the only one sleeping down there. Max is determined to name this baby "Bo" and Klein really wants "Boston" (after her favorite boy at preschool). I have no ideas at this point so maybe Max will get his way (Klein will not because of the anti- Boston Red Sox vibe around this house). I am feeling quite anxious about having four kids but also very excited. I tease Jason that this boy will be turning 8 when Max is 16 so Jason will be able to start fresh with Super League at that time.

Here are a few Easter pictures. We had a great weekend and a wonderful spring break. It was really hard to go back to school.

Max participated in his first Pinewood Derby last week. He took second place overall. He and Jason and Uncle Jeff worked really hard on his "General Lee." It was a fun night. Max has been so busy with baseball and scouts and school. It is hard to get everything done in a night. The Orangemen played in a tournament at Bear River and took first. Max had some monster hits. He also participated in a "spring training" camp at Mountain Crest. They officially start Super League this Saturday. Max practices twice a week with the Orangemen and will start practicing for city league this week. We have lots of baseball on the schedule!.

I love the nice spring weather but we spend nearly every minute after school playing outside. It is hard to get the kids inside to go to bed or even eat dinner. The kids roam between the trampoline, the sandbox, and the driveway on their bikes. Preslee fell of the tramp the other day which is why she looks so rough. She landed on the cement. Not good... but it didn't scare her enough to keep her off. She is so full of energy but at an age where I can't let her just play outside on her own which means I also get to spend hours outside after school. Not much housework is getting done and very little cooking has been happening around here. Oh well...