Divide and Conquer

While I was busy with Ryder's soccer craziness.  Dave was with Reganne at the soccer academy.  She forgot her water so a quick stop at Maverick was needed since it was at least 75 degrees.  

She plays good defense

and quickly tried to make a goal when a window opened up.

What a good kid helping the coaches pick up the fields.

She was excited to see everyone waiting for her.  Shawn & Christiana came for a quick visit while their foster parents where in town.  It was great to see them and to make sure they are all right.  

Time for lunch and get out of the sun for awhile.

Soccer Spring Season Opener

And what an opener it was.  No coach, no uniform, and three little boys all sitting there patiently waiting for their game to start.  After waiting about 10 minutes it was time to step in or rather up and get the show on the road.  I quickly asked the parents if they were the coach and nope not them.  The other team was ready to start and had three players so we played 3 on 3.  I was the only one willing to step in as the coach and offer some direction.  The whistle blew and off they went.

The soccer dummy was coaching...

They were all smiles, hot sweaty, and really tired.

The game was over and luckily I brought treats for everyone.  Now was the time to figure out what was up.  The coach quit half was through the fall season and there were 3 different colors of blue. I quickly became the coach with an assistant that knows what he is doing.    Phone calls to make, uniforms to organize, and treat schedule to plan.

Time to search the internet and find soccer for dummies.  I learned the basics in about 5 minutes and learned the most important part is to have fun.  Maybe I can do this.

Happy Birthday....Family Dinner

The last day to celebrate in what seems like a really long week.  Grandma & Grandpa Christiansen came down for the weekend so we celebrated their birthdays as well.  Rylee picked Chuck-A-Rama where everyone got to pick their favorites. Do we ask for them to sing or not?

Birthday Girl

How embarrassing....but I am glad that you didn't forget.

The best part of celebrating so long is more presents.

This red dress from Grandma & Grandpa really makes her look grown up.

Her favorite Brownies with M&M's

Making a wish, but needed more air to get them all out.

Time to relax, visit, and go to bed.  362 days until her 12th Birthday and all that comes with it.  Let's slow down the clock A LOT!!!!

Happy Birthday Presents

What birthday would be complete without opening presents.  After a quick stop at the store and then fast wrapping at 9:00 it was time to open them.   Each one was excited to have theirs opened to make sure it was just what she wanted..

A new American Girl Doll....Kristen

A sewing kit, craft project, and American Girl Magazine.

It was a perfect birthday with much more to come.  She was all smiles didn't want to go to bed.  Surprise Surprise I woke her up early to buy doughnuts for her class.  We were so early that we bought all the glazed, chocolate ones they had ready.  Sorry to everyone who had to wait for the next batch.

Tuachan Spring Concert + Birthday

What a better way to celebrate your birthday than with 1/2 the elementary school choirs in the district at Tuachan all day plus missing school.  Oops one minor problem the concert starts at 6:30 instead of 7:00 so we are on the run to eat dinner and get across town in an hour.  Just in time with minutes to spare with the only open seats were up top in the nose bleed section.

Opening number...

Muppets Melody.....

Uncle Larry's favorite....Rainbow Connection

They sounded wonderful 

Ryder & Reganne were really good sitting still for the whole program.

The Birthday Girl.

It was a perfect night with no rain.

The only downside was the 45 minute wait in the parking lot to get home.  Everyone was tired and ready for bed.  However, one small detail was brought to my attention that we hadn't bought her presents from Ryder & Reganne.  A side trip was next on the agenda with wrapping following quickly behind.  Bedtime will be later tonight.

Happy Birthday Week.....Rylee

How many kids get to celebrate for a whole week?  Rylee maybe the only one.  Each year it gets harder to fit in all the celebrating between school activities, Easter, and General Conference.  Rylee begs each year to have a friend party and it never seems to work out with everyone out of town.  School was out on Monday April 1st so a perfect day for a party.  Happy April Fool's Day!!!!

Game & Activity Table Cloth

Those aren't regular gum but sour balls instead.  Weird Easter Leftovers from Walmart.

This kept them entertained for about 10 minutes.

Let's wrap the birthday girl.

They did a great job but who is going to unwrap her?

After a couple of Hulk Smash moves and a little help from her friends she was soon back to normal.

Presents

No cake but cupcakes instead.

The main event....Climbing the rock wall.

All the girls loved giving a try and continued to try.

She had a great pre-birthday party.  She also has the makings of a wonderful party planner everything went as planned.  Who knows what will happen next.

Spring Pictures

I love spring school pictures it shows how much they have changed this school year.  They have both grown up so much from the beginning of school.  Rylee doesn't like her's and yelled at my why didn't I tell her before hand so she could really be ready.  Reganne just smiled and handed them to me.

There are only 6 weeks of school left and they jam as much as possible into them so we are ready for a break.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday started way to early.  The kids were wide awake poking me in the side to wake up at 5:00.  I rolled over and ordered them back to bed until after 6:00.  The came back yelling this time that the Easter Bunny had come.  We couldn't scare them back into bed so lets go find those baskets.  Oops that darn bunny hid them.  Were could they be?? 1, 2, 3 they were all accounted for but the bunny screwed up again and mixed up the girls baskets.  Crisis quickly averted he brought too much candy and fun surprises.

Weird pens

Bottle caps

Avengers game

Nothing says Easter better than new Sunday clothes.  

Well maybe chocolate does it better.

Everyone hold still and hold pose for a second.

Whose the monkey in the tree?

Such a pretty smile and I love that dress.

My turn by myself.

She is growing up way to fast.

It was a wonderful weekend spending time outdoors and with family.  Time for some rest.

Popcorn Popping.....

On the Cherry Tree all around town you can see all the wonderfully colorful blossoms.  We have been teaching our nursery kids the song and showing them out the window one small tree since were are not brave enough to take 10 kids outside to get up and close.  Instead I promised them the real thing for treat next week.  But what happens when the flowers start to fall......

Look really close and you will see......

Pink rocks

Or should I say what a mess as they blow around and cover everything with pink and white petals.

Spring has sprung at our house.

Easter Traditions.....

There was still time to fit in a few Easter Traditions with new twists.  I tried new ways of cooking the eggs.  One dozen baked in the oven and one dozen steam in my new Saladmaster Pans.  Both turned out much better than the traditional way, but the house still smelled awful.  Time to color them.  I refused to pay over $4 for the traditional Paas color kits that smell awful and are very messy.  Instead I found on facebook making them with Koolaid.  They smelled much better and colored them really well.  The kids loved trying different combinations to come up with cool colors.  Oops too many colors makes brown.

Let me try that one.

Such concentration.

S mores????

I also read a Diann Thomas camping cookbook and found a neat way to make this treat.  Stuff chocolate chips between two marshmallows and roast.  Very yummy and a must for our next camping trip.

Three new recipes and three new favorites that are becoming traditions.

Arts Festival

Dave took the kids to the Easter Car Show and lucky me I cleaned the house, finished the laundry, and finally took a shower.  They made it home with shouts for lunch and the arts festival.

Hey what are we supposed to do with these holes?

Put your head thru and smile.

Kids Art Festival

This was the best part of the whole show.  The kids area they were able to make a variety of crafts.

Fun with stamps & stickers.

Crazy Hair w/ French Braids

Face Painting

My cute little bunny rabbit.

Who's this little monkey climbing the light pole?

So cute, but so many tears.  She has a really tender head.

Let's make music or noise whichever you prefer.

Dad found a chair. 

Time to show off their projects and time to head home.

Easter Weekend and Camping

Easter was fast approaching and trying to decide what activities should we do since there were too many and not enough time to do everything.  I asked the kids do you want to go camping or the Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt & Breakfast.  They all yelled CAMPING!!!!!

Friday night we headed out to Cedar Pocket Camp Ground.  Would we be able to find a spot leaving so late?  Sure enough and a good one at that.

A good site.

Dave's surprise...Daisy BeBe Gun.

Don't shoot your eye out.

A quick lesson or let me go first because I am the Dad.

Ryder loved the idea of shooting Red Solo Cups.

No front shots I valued my eyes.

Each one got multiple turns.  Some were better than other, but they didn't want to put it away even with the bribe of watching a movie.

Note to Dave this must be hide away where they can't shoot each other.

Bribery worked, time for Brave and hopefully we can watch the whole thing.

But not without Ryder giving a play by play.

Time for bed.

Good Morning!!!!

Ryder woke bright and early asking Dave to take him on a hike.

Lucky for me they let me sleep awhile longer.  Then it was time to pack up, breakfast at McDonald's, and more fun stuff.