Pre-Vacation

The kids were fighting a bunch just we moved, so we initiated a new system.  One reward was going to dinner at the location of their choice with a parent.  The system worked perfectly and we had fun dates with our kids.  Kate chose the pool restaurant and Zachary chose Keokis.

His twistable creation, a skier, heading down the hula pie mountain.

Mother's Day 2017.  This was my favorite Mother's Day ever.  My kids made darling, thoughtful cards.  They decorated my gift (a laptop!) with fun pictures, and sent me video messages expressing reasons they loved me.  Brady made the entire dinner from start to finish.  I felt all kinds of love.  These pictures made us late to church but I'm still glad we got them.

Argh.  This rental is the pits.  Every time we turn around, a new issue pops up.  Or down, in this case.  A myna bird got trapped in our chimney after church.  It was a mess getting him out, although we were relieved it was a bird and not a giant rat.

OWEN GETS A TOOTH!  That's really the reason this post was created.  16 months and finally a tooth emerges.  WIthin a week, he had 4, including 2 molars.

Owen also gets his first haircut.  During my trip to Utah, he looked a little homeless.  His long, curly locks looked dreadful without the humidity.  I thought it was likely D.C. would make his hair straight, too (it did), so Heidi trimmed him up.  I wavered way more than I should have over whether it was time to chop.  Decisions for the last baby are definitely harder for me than decisions for my first baby.

I knew he'd look so much older!  He did, but I love it.

Kate's last day of kindergarten!  She had a fun year, and was a social butterfly.  I loved being in her classroom each week and watching her interact so well with her classmates.  Her loving, generous personality attracts many friends.

Layton summer party was the weekend before we left and Kate and Zachary both scored wins in the relays.  Kate won a balloon popping contest, and Zachary won the potato sack race, diving hard to the finish.

Zachary also scored a nasty infection.  It was bad enough that he needed antibiotics (this picture was after he was on the meds for a couple days).  The kids and Brady camped with many friends the weekend before our trip.  I stayed back with Owen because I threw my back out badly and the thought of driving on a bumpy road or laying on an air mattress was too much to handle.  Zachary had to stay completely out of water, keep the wound wrapped and wear a soccer sock for camping.

Owen and I went to the pool and out to eat.  This is the first time I have seen him attempt to color.

Packing for vacation.  Owen's favorite thing is drying to dress in other people's clothes and shoes.  He really does look older with that hair, huh?

Another not-so-small delight we encounter regularly in this house.  This cockroach was the size of my palm.

The kids memorized 10 pieces each for National Piano Guild.  They performed the night before we left.  I listened nervously through the door as they aced piece after piece.  So proud of their hard work!