Flashback to April

I realized that I didn't post about some fun things that happened in April. Things got a bit hectic there for a while. Sorry! :)
We went to lunch and play at the local gardens here which was tons of fun for the kids. You take your own sack lunch and there is a children's show put on while you eat.

Before the show.

They even had painting for the kids before the show started. :)

Meet the narrator whom my kids thought was hilarious, especially when he couldn't find the audience. :)

See, Ronni loved 'im.

The Frog Prince

Collin getting comfortable to watch the show.

Three Billy Goats Gruff

He thought that one was a little bit scary.

The Three Little Pigs


And then of course, we had our annual March of Dimes. However, this year I won a prize. I got second place for most money earned individually. YAY!! Thank you everyone who donated. Here are the kids holding our plaque.

And.... again with their painted faces.

Collin had balloons and Ronni had a butterfly.

The 3rd of July

Yeah, we celebrated on the third instead of the fourth b/c the third was a Saturday. So much easier. It was tons of fun too and I forgot a camera for the whole thing! I am hoping that some of my friends who had cameras will send me some pictures. :)
First, we went geocaching again. I don't know if you remember a few posts back when we went geocaching in the rain and couldn't complete it b/c of the rain. Well, we went to that one again this morning b/c it was a BEAUTIFUL day and perfect for geocaching. Well, we still couldn't find it. So, we went on a hike instead and found a beautiful pond w/ lily pads that even had flowers blooming on them and frogs and water bugs jumping around. There was a little stream flowing from and underground well that the kids and I played in. Then we left for lunch.
Later, we went to a friends house where the kids played, we ate smoked meat and veggies and yummy peanut butter and chocolate dessert. The guys went off to buy fireworks, the kids played and the moms played a board game (not sure what it was called but it was fun!). Then, when it was dark the guys shot off fireworks and had way too much fun doing it. :) Someone got a blackmail picture of me hehe. Ronni decided that fireworks are very pretty but they are loud. She sat on my lap with her hands pressed to her ears the ENTIRE time. It was funny but she kept asking for more. Collin was the oldest kid there and he got to play with the sparklers and both the kids played with the poppers. They had so much fun.

Catch-up

I am sorry for not updating. We have really had nothing too exciting happening here so I haven't felt the need to update but, I know my mom. She'll start fussing at me soon. hehe! Luv ya, Mom!! =D

Since Paul has graduated his schedule has been different from day to day. This has been nice some days... difficult b/c we never know what he's working but nice b/c we get him in the evenings sometimes and it's nice to have him home for dinner. Paul also got our pool set up last month so the kids and I have been spending a lot of time outside. All three of us have fabulous, natural looking tans now. :) Okay, so if you looked at me you wouldn't be able to tell b/c I still look pretty pale to most people but, trust me, it's a tan.

I finished my last semester w/ flying colors... woo-hooo! And I am now signed up for my new classes.

1. Quantitative Literacy: Statistics, Probability and Problem Solving
2. Quantitative Literacy: Quantitative Problem Solving and Literacy
3. Survey of Literature
4. Survey of Literature: Analysis and Interpretation
5. United States Consititution

I am really excited about the lit classes. I know -- weird, but I am. Look, my last term was nothing but maths and sciences so I'm grateful for a little bit of creative thinking here. :)

Collin has been spending a lot of time playing physics games -- found here  http://www.physicsgames.net/ He's a goofball b/c he'll ask me to help him so I try to figure it out and can't get it so he'll go back to it, figure it out and then tell me that he's smarter than me. Bleh! I will admit though, I think he may be in some things.

Ronni cracks me up in the pool. She can just barely touch the bottom so she'll walk around, holding her hands up in the air and say, "I a dolphin! I a dolphin!" LOL!! It's so funny. My little dolphin hasn't figured out how to close her "blow hole" when she goes under water though. Hopefully by the end of the summer she'll get that part down.

Well, I can't really think of anything else going on with our family. Paul is still job hunting though so if anyone knows of a job who wants someone w/ a B.S. in Business Management, let us know. =D

My fabulous hubby!

So, this morning I took Collin to a free summer movie and Paul took Ronni shopping. When I got home, sitting on the counter were two bouquets of flowers, a card, and....

Doctor Who sonic screwdriver and Tardis car air-freshener. Yeah, so, I may be a bit of a Doctor Who fan. I was super ecstatic about this one!! :) Woo-hoo!! Don't I have a fabulous hubby?

What? There was a sewing machine under there?

That's right folks! I pulled out the sewing machine today that my mom left while she's on a mission. I made a skirt! I went through some clothes and found some of my old khaki scrubs that I don't wear anymore. I ripped out the seams and turned it into a skirt. Here are pics.... but, before you judge, remember that I haven't sewn anything since I was 14 (except for sock monkeys a few Christmases ago).

First pic is the front with a small slit in the middle. 

The middle pic is the back with the panel and the bottom pic is me wearing the skirt. :) Ignore the mess! =D

Geocaching in the rain

was totally fun! haha!! It started off as a beautiful day. It was a little humid but it was sunny and only 78*F. We could totally handle that. We decided to go to the state park and do a 5 part, 3 mile cache hunt. We were excited and ready for the adventure. We also invited some friends from the ward, the Monsons, which was totally exciting! Ronni was very excited that one of her friends from nursery was coming with us. The kids talked about it all weekend and on Memorial Day we were finally able to go.

A little ways into our hike, it started to rain but we were deep in the woods and had a bit of cover. It only felt like a light trickle to us. It didn't stay that way for long though. When we were searching for the third part of the cache the rain started and gradually got harder and harder. It was pouring... I mean, monsoon pouring. We hid under a tree for a while (which really wasn't protecting us that much) discussing what we would do. We were about a mile from the van whether we ran through the woods or on the road that ran around the park. Either way.... a mail from the warmth and shelter of the van. We decided to run through the woods b/c it would be a better view than the road and may provide a little bit of protection from the wind and rain. It was tons of fun. The puddles were deep enough that the water ran in through the top of my shoes. The water was coming in through all the seams as well so it really didn't matter. The kids loved it, especially when the dads started running with the smaller kids in the backpacks on the back. Collin was excited that he was able to run through the puddles without getting in trouble. It was tons of fun! I didn't get many pictures though. Here's an after picture.... we we returned to the van there were covered picnic shelters there so we got pics (and of course that's when the rain slowed down too).

This was our exciting Memorial Day event. hehe! The Monsons have more pics on their blog if you'd like to check it out. =o) I hope everyone else had a great Memorial Day weekend. Paul's phone no longer works and the Monsons camera died but other than that.... it was great fun!! =D

Now and Then

I was just looking at how much my children have grown. It's amazing!!! Were they really that small??

Here is my firstborn... David.

Here is Collin:

Here is Ronni: (remember, she was adopted so she didn't come to us until she was 7.5 mos.