We're outta here

Wish me luck. The kids and I are leaving on a month-long cross country road trip. Here's the approximate path we'll be taking:

Mapquest says

Total estimated time: 91 hours 29 minutes

Total est. distance: 5880.61 miles

This is a rough estimate because I actually have a couple more stop than this, but it was too many for Mapquest to handle. Let's hope it's not to many for me and the three munchkins. :)

Time flies

Look what can happen in a year:

June 2008

June 2009

These pictures make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And I can forget about all the
poopy diapers,
drama queen crying,
and big boy attitude.

And just remember how dang cute they are.
And how much I love them.
And how quickly they're growing up.

Baseball video

Here is the promised clip of Brandon's baseball highlights.



Now it's like you've watched his whole season. Wasn't that fun?

Props to B-train

Poor Brandon has not had a lot of face time on the blog lately.

So, this post is all for him.

Here's what my good lookin' boy has been up to.

1. Baseball. He has had a fun season. He has done well and learned some things, even though his team is something like 3-6. I love watching him play.

He can be very intense.
(Or is that look just cause he didn't wear his glasses?)

He takes the game seriously.
Check out his expression and his flexedhand.

He gets upset when his team loses.
(Where in the world did he get that competitive spirit?)

He plays hard and hustles.

He's had some good hits.

And his coach even gave him the
game ball after one of his best games.

But then I'll catch him out on the field shaking
his booty in the middle of an inning.
I love this kid.

2. End of the year party at school

His teacher, Ms. Klauck, gave him an award for being
the Accelerated Reader(AR) Guru for the year.
(AR is a program where you can read books and
then takes tests on the computer about them to
earn points. Again, that competitive streak kicks in.)

They played some fun games outside.

How low can he go?
Whitney, Caroline, and I were happy to be with
him during this fun day at school. He had some ups
and downs in 2nd grade, but he did great
academically and we are so proud of him.

3. Last day of school! Hooray and huzzah!

I wanted to do something special for him, so

we got all these balloons and made some little
posters and waited for him in the bonus room.

His initial reaction was priceless.

Then he proceeded to run around the room using
the balloons as punching bags. What did I expect?

We are SO ready for summer break and then on to third grade! His last baseball game is tomorrow and he and Andrew are working on a highlight video that we'll post when they're done. We love you, Brandon Trey!

Look who's walking

Caroline is a cautious little girl. She walks great if she's holding onto someone's finger or a toy, but has been very reluctant to take those first steps. Well, her daddy finally got her to do it earlier this week. Here's the proof:



I love those cute, shaky first steps. They remind me of Bambi. She still hasn't quite taken off, though. She'll take a step here and there, but very much prefers crawling or cruising.

On my 32nd birthday...

*I read blogs in my pj's in the morning for longer than usual and just relaxed.

*I shaved my legs. Most women view shaving as a pain (in the legs--ha ha), but I only shave about once a month and think of it as a good excuse to spend more time in the shower.

*I ate ice cream for lunch. And not just any ice cream. I'm talkin Cold Stone. Mmmmm...Peanut butter with brownies. AND it was free. For my birthday. Sweet.

*When the doorbell rang in the early afternoon, I found a cute little old man holding

this gorgeous (and delicious!) fruit arrangement

a friend had sent. I felt so sophisticated!
I ate some of it as an afternoon snack and
figured it made up for the ice cream lunch.
You're with me on this, right?

*I got to clean up fifty baby wipes that

Caroline pulled out one-by-one
as I was signing for my fruit
and reading the card. Grrrrr.

*I read Whitney a book about giant squids. We're both fascinated by them right now. They're so mysterious and creepy.

*I played "Pin-the-missing-front-teeth-on-Brandon."

Hilarious! Andrew is so creative. We had a blast playing this.

Andrew won and Brandon was an oh-so-close second.

*We got to break a High School Musical pinata and shove my kids out of the way to get more candy. Oh, wait....I mean....

I watched my kids frolic with joy as they collected the goodies.

*I got to eat out at Poblano's, my favorite local Mexican food.
Yes!


Watched Caroline make her sour face while chewing on a lemon.
(Yet she always goes back for more!)

And laughed while the kids danced to the live music.

Whit even talked her Daddy into dancing with her.

*Finished off the night with
cheesecake and watching SYTYCD.

I must say it was a good day.

(I didn't even have to use my AK.)

Oh, and I got a bonus date the next night. Andrew got a friend to babysit so that we could up to the Raleigh to the temple.

It was wonderful!

Whit's BIG day

Whit had two BIG events in the same day.

First up: Preschool graduation.

Good-bye, Preschool.
Hello, Kindergarten!

Caroline and I, of course, went to the little
grad program, but Andrew wasn't sure if he
could get off work. When he showed up,
it made Whitney's day!
She was so excited and happy that
her Daddy came from work.

They had a cute little program.

Preschool rocks!
Whitney's love for music
definitely shone through.

They learned a lot of Spanish
in class this year. I think W
speaks as much Espanol as I do now.

It was a GREAT year and Whit will
miss her teachers and classmates.
But she's excited to start at B's school
in the fall and keeps asking, "Is it fall yet?"

The next BIG deal for Whit:
Dance Recital.
I missed her very first recital last year.
I was in the hospital giving birth to Caroline.
So I couldn't wait to see her dance this year.

She was all giddy about wearing a little lip gloss.
It somehow threw off her smiling ability, though.

The Dads got to participate in the performance.
Including lifting their daughters up in the air.
We weren't sure if Andrew's back doctor would
approve of lifting this solid little girl, but he
felt too bad to let her down. So he got all dressed
up, including a tie to match W's leotard and was
ready for some ballet. (I bet he never thought he'd
be participating on stage in a ballet performance!)

And he was at least a foot taller than the rest
of the dads, so if he messed up, everyone would
be able to see. No pressure, babe.

He did great. Whit looked beautiful.
She loved being on stage.
Successful recital.

The only bad thing was, I left her flowers
in the fridge at home. (Rookie dance mom!)
Luckily, she was patient and understanding.

Love you Whit!

Party time

Guess who had a birthday?

Yep, we partied like it was Caroline's birthday this weekend.

Because it was.

Or at least pretty close.

Poor third child had to celebrate two days late
because of conflicts with big sis' dance recital.
(A post on that to follow!)

She didn't seem to mind.

We started off the shindig with gifts.
Her big one:
A little tikes car.
She LOVES it.
And our backyard was screaming
for a little vehicle like this.

Then we moved on to cake.
You gotta love First Birthday cake.
Let's see....Why don't we give her
more sugar than she's ever consumed?
And while we're at it, let's light
it on FIRE!

She was a bit hesitant at first.

Little nibbles.

Gradually her face got covered in frosting.

It was finger-lickin' good.

Heck--who needs fingers?

She went straight for the cake.

She was a royal mess by the end.
And demanded to be cleaned up
quickly because she wanted to ride
in her car. Hurry it up, Mom!

After her little party, we went to
B's baseball game and a ward cookout.

She took her first steps there at the park!
Two of them right into big brother's arms.
She's still not walking, though.
Just taking a step here and there.
Won't be long.

And just to give you a couple of glimpses into the life of Caroline:


Even though she's not walking on her own, she can nearly run behind push toys.



And she has entered the dreaded screeching phase. Whit went through this, too. I can't remember how long it lasted, but hope it goes by fast.