June Part 1

 We love when cousins come to visit! Aunt Steph and two of her girls came at the beginning of June and Brooke and Porter were in heaven! They cheered Brooke on at her last soccer game and then went to the Dinosaur Quarry.

 The girls were even sworn in as Junior Rangers

 There was lots of hot-tub fun

 I got tired of taking Porter potty every five minutes and just told him to go outside

 We watched movies

 Brooke and cousin A. put on a play for us

We had such a great weekend!

Soccer & Superheroes

 We signed Brooke up for outdoor soccer and the season went from April-June. Brooke's team was amazing! Four of the girls really got in there and had some serious soccer skills at only six years old! They were serious about the game, which was good for Brooke because they didn't want to mess around when she wanted to. They were really good examples for her. At the beginning of the season, Brooke was pretty timid and hung back. She'd get distracted by and zone out while the game passed her by. Then she slowly got the hang of things. By the end of the season, she was much more confident and wasn't afraid to go after the ball or get in the middle of the action. It helped that her coach was amazing! I know Shanalee from teaching together at the middle school and she was so positive with the girls.

 Love her determined look as Brooke prepares for a corner kick:

 At the last game, Shanalee gave each girl a treat bag, a soccer medal, and a certificate where she wrote about each girl's strengths. Brooke's certificate said she was the most improved, and I couldn't agree more.

 Way to go Brooke!

Porter and Grant were great sports during soccer season. It's no wonder that after the games, Porter needed some attention:

And speaking of flying-- our library rocks! Every summer they provide an amazing summer reading program. This year's theme is "Every Hero has a Story" so the summer kick-off activity last week was making their own masks and shields.

 Porter's mask is upside down, but he insisted that wearing it how he is was better.

May Days

May started out strong with a warm day where the kids begged to have a water day--so we did! Dollar store squirters are a summer must have at our house and always provide the kids with tons of entertainment. Good thing we took advantage of the warm weather when we did, too. Since then, it's been pretty cold and rainy ever since!

 I feel very fortunate that, for the most part, my kids all get along great. Brooke is especially good and adaptable to be able to go from playing with baby Grant to running around with Porter.

Porter is learning to master his big boy bike this summer.

For mother's day, it's a tradition that instead of a bouquet of flowers, I get flowers for my planters in my yard. This year the kids went with Blake and picked out the flowers to surprise me. They remembered some of my favorites from previous years.

Brooke was so excited to give me her mother's day surprise. At school she planted a flower in a pot she had decorated. Brooke also colored and decorated a crown and a card for me.

Love my three munchkins that have made me a mom!

When Brooke was 3, we went through a stage where she was constantly changing her clothes. It drove me crazy and I was hoping that maybe it was just a girl thing. Apparently not! Porter has hit this stage as well. He is always changing his clothes, especially into costumes. It was super silly one day to have Porter emerge from his nap in his room wearing his Olaf costume.

 Porter came in to show me he had gotten dressed himself (shirt backwards, pants inside out...and then for his undies he's actually wearing another pair of PJ bottoms)

I think the kids have played in their sandbox once this spring. It's been drenched in rain.

Brooke completed her first year of school! She is growing up so fast and I am always so amazed at what she learns. She can read and write and loves math.

When I was in kindergarten my family and I went to the Toronto, Canada LDS temple open house. I have always remembered this experience and really wanted to give Brooke the same experience.

Grant, Brooke and I spent a couple days at my mom's house while Stephen and Bridgette were in town from Arizona. Porter spent that time at home with Blake.

Grant meeting Uncle Steve for the first time