Happy Birthday, Daddy and Happy Father's Day!

This guy is always so lucky!  (Not if you ask him though!)  He get's to celebrate father's day and his birthday every now and then.  This was the year for that.  So after church we got to open lots of presents.

 Look how excited he is to read a card.

 A mug from Liv.  She decorated it with all things Red Sox.

 A frame from the girls.  It says Daddy Rocks with rocks glued on and painted as the head of a body.

Thank you Pinterest.

 The Grandinetti's (the best neighbors in the world) told me about this great book called Stong Father's Strong Daughters.  Hope Tim will enjoy reading it.

 And then the grand finale gift.  A new 9 mm gun.  I'm so glad we were able to capture this face.  Look at the surprise and excitement.  He just kept saying, "Shut up, no way.  Seriously!?'  Every once in a blue moon I can surprise this guy pretty good. 

And now for the Father's day pics with his darling girls that think the world of him.

Oh, What do you do in the summmer time? (2012)

Make targets for shooting practice, of course.  Our friend Bret Webster brought over bb guns for the girls to practice shooting.  They LOVED it.  Check out the targets - they painted animals on paper plates.  Then they graduated to empty plastic bottles and soda cans.

 Maya

 Liv

 McKenna and Alexa

 McKenna

 Find craft ideas on Pinterest!

Here's one idea we did:  toothpicks and marshmallows.  Who knew this would entertain for a few hours.  I did have to let them know that we were throwing away the marshmallows when they were done and NOT eat them. 

 Working Hard

 Look at the focus on this girl!

 Why not?  A photo shoot with your stuffed animals.  Love these girls!

 Alexa got her jobs done real quick this day so she could get out and practice some more.

 Have a tea party!

And what's a tea party without a tiara and fancy hair.

 Oh, and a fancy party dress.

 Join the high school summer league.

Alexa wanted to try out for the high school basketball team and found out they were having a summer league the month of June.  She was a nervous wreck that first game but she finally got comfortable and did a great job.  She had to prove herself to those girls since they had been a team through the school year and this was her first time playing with them.  I was a proud Mommy watching her step out of her comfort zone.

 Go to Grandma and Grandpa's for the Prescott Rodeo.

Here's Livie and McKenna after we had gone to the library for a puppet show and look through their book sale they were having.  Grandma offered to buy the girls all a book from the sale but then we found a whole set of Trixie Belden books and we couldn't pass them up so she decided to buy those for them instead.  Thanks grandma!

 At the RODEO!  We love it!

 Check out all these smiles!

 

 

Last but not least, go to the dollar store and find a GIANT fly swatter.

What can be more fun than that for the summer?

Oh yeah, one other thing we did:  MOVE!!!

WOW! Almost one full year behind!

I know, I know.  It's been almost a year since I have posted anything on this blog.  Where have I been you might ask?  Well, we did move 2 summers in a row.  But that's not the only thing that has kept me away.  I have learned a lot in this past year of how to stay away from my blog.  I thought I'd share in case any of you need some excuses to get away from blogging:

1.  Moving within the same ward is harder than moving across the country to a new ward.  We were moving throughout the month.  Any chance I got I was taking boxes up to the house (since we only moved a mile away.)  But when the BIG move day came on a Saturday (and we were so blessed to have so much help.) the following Sunday I still had to be prepared to do my callings.  When you move to a new ward you have at least a week or two where no one knows you and you get that time just to focus on unpacking. 

2.  When you move into a house don't assume that the inspector found every problem with the house.  The night before our BIG move day, we were at the house and we found a leak dripping from the second floor right next to the laundry room.  That was one of many problems that we found.  We spent a lot of TIME, energy and money taking care of these items.

3.  Try to plan your moves aaround any travel that your husband has to do for work.  Our BIG move day was a Saturday and Tim left to go out of town on Monday. So I got to spend the week alone unpacking.  The best part was I got a lot of sympathy from him and a lot of work out of him before he left and when he returned.

4.  This is a BIGGY!  When you are having babies, try to plan it that you have a daughter going into high school and a new Kindergartener going half day.  Especially if your high school is out in the middle of no where and you choose to have your children go to a charter school that doesn't have buses on the complete opposite side of town.  One day I was in the car so long that I decided to calculate just how long I had been in the car that day.  5 HOURS!  Just driving kids back and forth.  But I'm sure I'm not the only one with these joys.

5.  Again, when you are having babies, try to plan their births a week before major holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That helps make the holidays even busier.

6.  When your daughter is in the school play, let the director know that you know how to sew and would love to help with sewing the costumes.  You may get voluntold more than you bargained for. 

7.  If you love to paint and you love to serve make sure to let people know and you may find the opportunity of helping someone paint the inside of their house.  It may take time but well worth the time to help others.

8.  When you find out that your schools are changing their standards throughout the whole country be prepared to spend a lot of time researching what exactly is going to happen to your childs education.  You can spend HOURS and HOURS reading and learning. 

9.  When you decide to finally sit down and post on your blog, make sure to stop and play a game with your sweet little one that keeps running in wanting you to play a game with you. 

But, what have I learned that just brought me back today?  My girls have spent the past few days looking at past posts, laughing and reading and enjoying the history that is on this very blog.  Now, I have to put away the excuses and continue so they don't miss out on any memories.

So, be ready.  There will be posts coming - hopefully soon.