Hanging at Canyon Glen

Today the kids and I drove up Provo Canyon to Canyon Glen Park to ride scooters and enjoy the outdoors. The boys weren't particularly impressed with the amenities. I'm sure there use to be some sort of a playground but evidently that has long since disappeared. Because I refused to leave immediately we eventually migrated to the amphitheater where the stage was used to showcase scooter tricks.

Cade's Birthday-Party #2 and Party #3

Happy 7th Birthday, Cade! I know it sounds cliche, but I can't believe that you are 7 years old already. Besides those first few months of colic you have been a true joy and pleasure to have around.

Cade opened his presents first thing in the morning. We had gone shopping together a few days before for some new clothes and he was excited to finally get to wear them that day.

We spent the day visiting Grandma and Grandpa Ballif and attending the Pitt family reunion (Nana Streuling's family) where we visited with extended family that I haven't seen in a long time and probably whom my kids have never met save a few. It was good to visit together.

I bought another small birthday cake on the way back to Grandpa Streuling's house so that we could celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma Streuling and Aunt Krista. We ended up having it for dessert the next day which means that technically you could say Cade had 3 parties this year since we did sing to him again. (Unfortunately no pictures.)

Cade's Birthday-Party #1

This year we celebrated Cade's birthday a couple of days early since we were not all going to be together on his birthday. We all enjoyed dinner together at Red Robin and Cade enjoyed his complementary birthday dessert before we headed home for more treats of birthday cake and ice cream. He did, however, have to wait for his birthday to get his presents. You need SOMETHING on your birthday day don't you?

Paige especially loved the chocolate cake.

We sure love our Cade. He is a very gentle and tender-hearted boy and a peacemaker in our home. We enjoy his sense of humor and his great imagination. He is a blessing in our family.

Developing Our Talents

What talented kids! Two spoons even. I've only been able to master one in my lifetime...but then again it has been a while (like 1995) since I tried even that.




Paige's talent is being really, really cute (even with a dirty face).

Hiking Tubbs Hill

All ready to go.


Not a great shot, but the boys were running about 20 feet in front of us the entire way.

The elastic in Caleb's shorts broke so he was running with his hands in his pockets to keep his shorts on.



The last time we did this hike was on Caleb's 1st birthday. He was the one in the backpack that time. Look how big he is now. This a great little hike if you're ever in the area!

Father's Day 2008

Happy Father's Day to our Super Dad!

Opening gifts before enjoying the fabulous breakfast that was prepared in honor of our great dad.

New owner of a 'DAD you rock" shirt. Wearing it with pride!

I'm blessed to be married to a wonderful man who is also a great dad.

Around here everyone knows that "Daddy is the Best!"

Worn Out

Refusing to do your chores is hard work. It can really wear a kid out.

Cameron Sleeps

This NEVER happens during the day. Really. I'm not exaggerating.

The Ice Cream Man

A kid's dream. This mother's nightmare.

So the boys heard the ice cream truck miles away and started asking for money so they could get ice cream. Being the cheap mother that I am of course I said no. (Never mind that they literally had just finished eating popsicles). Apparently after they went back outside Kacen decided to share the $5 he had in his pocket among the 5 of them. So several minutes later I noticed that they were out front in the driveway waiting for the ice cream truck which was just a few houses down. I went out to talk with them and found out about the money Kacen was sharing. Even though it pained me greatly, I figured it was his money and he could spend it how he wanted. I was impressed that he was willing to be so generous. So thanks to Kacen they all had $1 each to spend. Surely the ice cream man would have SOMETHING for $1. Wrong. Obviously it's been a long time since I've perused the prices of ice cream treats from the ice cream man. Of course he was out of the cheapest treat at $1.50 and the next cheapest thing was $2.25!!! I couldn't believe it. The boys weren't quite getting it when I told them that they didn't have enough money even if they buddied up like they were trying to do. At this point I felt myself caving (which really drives me crazy) and ran inside to grab my wallet. The guy finally takes pity on us and gives us a "deal" (yah, right!) by lowering the price to only $2 each and I throw my $5 in to cover the cost. That's right people, $10 for 5 Sponge Bob Squarepants ice cream treats. I'm not sure if I'm more bugged about the money or the fact that I caved in and handed over some money. I think it's mostly that I caved in.

Oh, but they look so happy!

I won't tell you then that after eating maybe half of the treat they all threw them away because they didn't like them.

Don't worry though. When we went to Albertson's the next day I made sure we went down the ice cream isle to look at prices and learn just how much money we had wasted.

Yes, I know I have issues, but I am trying to work on them!

Our Little Graduate

This past school year I have been doing a preschool co-op with six other moms in the area. It's been a fun experience for both Caleb and me as we both have been able to make some new friends. We had preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. each week. The moms would teach for one week in rotation. Caleb is so excited to start Kindergarten next year and he is going to do great. It will be extra fun if some of his preschool friends end up being in his class too.

We had preschool graduation on June 11th, 2008. It was held at the Zephyr Lodge which one of the preschool moms manages. It was a fun celebration and the kids all did such a cute job with their program for their families. Unfortunately Blake was on his way home from New Orleans and was not able to come, but we took lots of pictures and a few videos for him.

Here is the proud graduate.

Here is the graduating class minus Brayden who was too shy to come up front.
L to R: Jack, Eden, Andrew, Naleah, Caleb and Kaylee.


Here is Caleb introducing himself at the beginning of the program.
He stood up and said, "My name is Caleb. My favorite color is black. My favorite food is pizza. My favorite thing about school is snack."


As part of the program the kids performed several songs. Here they are singing about the little monkeys in the tree teasing Mr. Crocodile (Caleb) who is snapping one out of that tree.


Here is a video clip of the kids singing "Old MacDonald"

"School's Out, Let's Play"

This was the theme for the piano recital this year since it was held the day after school got out. Of course this year we had both Cameron and Cade performing a couple of songs each. They both worked hard and did a fantastic job. The hardest part is getting up and performing in front of a bunch of people. We're proud of them for doing it!

Cameron playing "The Caravan"

Cameron playing "The Greatest Show on Earth"

Cade playing "Race Car Rally"

My camera only does 1 minute clips and stopped before Cade did. Here is the last 14 seconds of his song.

The second song that Cade played was "Morning Prayer". I don't have a clip of it because it was a duet that we played together. Blake was in the foyer with Paige peeking in and wasn't able to take over camera duty. It was great too though.

Life is Good--Just Really Busy Sometimes

Between four kids, laundry that multiplies like bunnies, trying to keep the house clean just in case somebody actually decides to come and look at it, teaching piano lessons, teaching preschool, preschool graduation, accompanying people for performances, teaching YW, YW activities, training for a 10K in July, paying bills, making lunches, visiting teaching, making dinner, cleaning again just in case, Scout activities, soccer practices and games, birthday celebrations, grocery shopping with the crew, the piano recital, the YW garage sale.....you get my drift.... Life has seemed even busier than normal the last few weeks.

Now that school is out, maybe I'll have some extra time to catch up on my blogging and give the boys those haircuts that they desperately need. Stay Tuned.