July 4 and Crafts

We had our traditional Westlake Ward breakfast in the morning of the 4th. Ben was up early with the young men to make all of the pancakes. It turned out great and the choir sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with a snare drum! I was on the piano. Loved the snare drum. 

That afternoon we went over to the Boyer's to swim and BBQ. Katelyn is a big fan of the diving board. I am a big fan of wading in the water and having a weightless belly.

That night we had our neighborhood fireworks that are spectacular. I am a big fan of our neighborhood. Ben has the pictures... again..

I also wanted to include these pictures from the last month. 

I set up a craft/school area in our "red room" recently and we have been having so much fun in there!

Ben, Troy and Liam went to a Father's and sons activity while Katelyn and I watched Cinderella. I had no idea how much Katelyn would like it. She decided to go get her costume on half way through and dance along. 

Thanks to reading bingo from Troy's school, he reads in a different way every day. This day was reading in a fort. 

Troy came up to me and said, "Mom! It's a sharp!" My musical heart burst.

These were Troy's art projects from 1st grade that he brought home. 

He said that the picture of our family doesn't have Katelyn because she was in my tummy. Haha. 

Father's Day and Galveston Trip

Happy Father's Day to Ben! He had been gone with the young men at high adventure, so we were extra excited to celebrate Ben on Father's Day. 

 We took a trip down to Galveston and used a Hilton hotel stay that we had. We walked into the hotel and they had face painting, balloons, and snacks for the kids. We will be coming back! Haha. 

We were going to go somewhere nicer for dinner, but decided that Ihop would be the best option with the kids. They were starving and tired. I wasn't ready to discipline much. They were in heaven, colored the whole time and we think our waiter was Russian. The view was great too!

I was impressed by Troy's face paint. He liked it so much that he hesitated going swimming at the hotel pool. Ben is the master at getting our kids to change their minds, so he got in the water and showed Troy how much fun they were going to have. Troy got in, and we did have a lot of fun.  It was perfect weather the whole time. I think we will make it a tradition.

June Part 2

Aunt Brittany came to visit!! I think Katelyn found her dream friend. She even got in a dress with Katelyn. 

We partied it up while she was here. Discovery green is downtown and is the best splash area.

Ben's phone has most of the other pictures with cute Brittany. We went out two nights in a row. We went to a movie the first night and went out to dinner and dessert the second night. I really lucked out with her as a sister-in-law. We have so much fun. Can't wait till she comes again! Katelyn assumes it will be soon and keeps asking if she can play certain things when she comes back. 

Katelyn's last swim lesson. She made huge progress! She can kick across the pool on her own and loves looking for toys. We are struggling on getting her to breathe. She won't open her mouth, but she will come up and breathe through her nose. I'm not sure if she is breathing though. We are working on it.

First Swim Meet. Great experience builder for both boys. We also realized how long swim meets are. I ended up leaving early with Liam and Katelyn, since Liam's age group only does the first half. We got there at 5:30 and Troy and Ben didn't get home till 11. YIKES. But we got better at it.

Liam is always there to make you smile!

This was the boys last swim meet. They had a great run! Troy is going to miss all of these friends and I'm sure we will get together again this summer. 

Stefan brought her nice camera and took a shot of the boys. I love that you can see the sharks in the goggles. We are professional here. 

The next Monday was their swim party and awards ceremony. 

June Part 1

We have been having fun with Troy home during the day. But I also LOVE when daddy comes home!! And the kids love it just as much. Ben can make them laugh like no one else. Not to mention, I am not as fun to play with. The kids are very aware of baby Miles and don't want to hurt him... or cause mommy heart burn. But daddy can throw them in the air, be a punching bag for Liam, and carry them around the house. Best dad.

I have been trying different products with Katelyn's hair. This was mouse. 

At playgroup, Katelyn was stung by several red ants on the ankle. About 30 minutes later she started to swell and turn red all over her body. It scared me and I kept asking if she was having any trouble breathing or swallowing. I gave her benadryl immediately. The doctor said that it was up to me to bring her in or not. We decided not to and kept watching her like a hawk and it went down eventually. She had several frozen go-gurts, so I could see she could swallow fine, and the socks were on her hands so that she wouldn't itch. Poor girl. 

This was me at a little over 25 weeks. I don't know what the picture tells you, but for me, I have felt bigger, much faster. Aside from looks, I got to feel this little boy much sooner. Which has brought a lot of peace of mind to me. We can not wait to meet our little boy in August!

Time Trials : The kids pre-meet to see how a real meet will go. Troy's turning point was here. He realized that he only had to swim across once for the actual race. The strokes need a lot of work, but as for speed, he caught up.

I don't really get pictures of the boys practicing, because I'm usually beside them, but I love being able to focus more on their piano skills in the summer! They are progressing great. Liam is in the level 1 books now, while Troy is half way through 2b. 

A big change happened to us when the Millett's moved. A family that we have gotten to know very well. Amy and I got along great and Ben and Wayne did too. We had a lot in common. I'm truly excited for them to be closer to family in Arizona though! Anyway, dAmy was the Primary president and I was her counselor. A new president was called, a woman I visit teach and I know will do wonderful! Yay! I stayed at 1st counselor and a friend of mine is 2nd counselor. We had our first primary meeting at her house. Both our husbands were with the young men, so we had all of the kids. They had so much fun, obviously!

Liam worked on getting as far across the pool as he could before grabbing the rope. Some days were better than others..

Michael has been a great play mate. This days theme was hot wheels. 

SO much rain! We also had hail... which means we are getting a new roof...

But these boys are adorable. 

Katelyn's first swim lesson! Brenna, the swim coach, is also giving Katelyn her lessons. She is very good at what she does. Morgan is learning from Brenna how to teach. 

End of School, Cousins, Friends

Troy had an awards ceremony for his accomplishments in 1st grade. It was fun to see pictures of him, listen to his talents in math and music, and see him with his friends. I know most of the class because of the volunteering I did at the beginning of the year. I'm grateful for Mrs. Garcia. Troy loves her and is sad she won't be his teacher any more. She is our neighbor, and I teach her daughter piano. We were pretty lucky to have her as Troy's teacher!

Troy and Mrs. Garcia : 1st Grade - Stephens Elementary 2015-2016

This was his last day of school. He was pretty excited to have more play time! (Not more sleep, yet. He had 7 am practices for swimming for another month.)

We spent memorial day with the Andersen clan at the Weston's home in Beaumont. It's a little more than 1 1/2 hours from us. A lot closer than Alaska! We are thrilled to have them closer!! 

We got to go to Kate Mansfield's birthday party. The kids loved all of the water games!

Play time with Lilly. She is one friend that all three kids say, "She's MY friend." Haha. 

I finished the book, Smart Money Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze. Ben and I decided it was time to start chore charts and allowances. I wondered if I should wait to start when school was out, but I felt good about starting in May. It's been a good thing, definitely. 

Party City has been a place where the kids spend their "spending money." Lots of little things for cheap. Mostly, they just save up for lego mixels. I feel like that would be a whole other post. Lego mixels have been the center of their lives.