JUNE

LAST DAY SCHOOL - June 3rd was Ava & Kasen's last day of school.  I have to admit the last few weeks of school were really hard for me.  I wasn't ready to get dressed and go out and there were so many last minute things at school and for school that it was frustrating to me.  I had to miss a lot and still felt like I was at 500 things.  I was really looking forward to having the kids done with school!  On the last day they had an assembly and then lunch on the lawn.  Ava and Kasen were excited.  They have both worked really hard this year.  Ms. Witty was a challenge for Ava, but Ava made it through!  Kasen wanted to stay in 1st grade another year because he loved Ms. Hobson so much.

I didn't make it to field day this year but a friend sent me these pictures of Kasen there.  As I said earlier, on the last day there was an awards ceremony.  Both the kids had received notices that they were receiving awards so Kinsley, Dallin, and I went.  I think it was Dallin's first big outing.  At the awards ceremony both Kasen and Ava received a certificate for the Creek Cruisers club.  Ava reached 75 miles and Kasen was one of 3 kids in the whole school who reached 100 miles.  They did a drawing for a free pair of shoes among the top runners and Kasen's name was drawn!  He was so excited!!!  (He later went with his dad and picked out the shoes - bright green ones!) He has had a fun time this year running with his best friends Drake & Eliana.  Kasen also received an award for music and Ava received another award for library.  Ms. PJ said that Ava was probably the most knowledgeable student she ever met when it came to books which Ava thought was a great compliment.  Ava also received the Homework award in her class for never missing an assignment or turning it in late.  Kasen got the Best Artist award in his class.  They both are amazing kids with so many talents!  I was so proud of them and all they accomplished this school year.

BAPTISM/BLESSING - The very next day, June 4th, was a very special day for our family.  Kasen was baptized and Dallin was blessed.  It was an event worthy of its own post (which came before this one), but here is a sweet picture of the boys in white.  We had relatives from both sides which meant all the new babies were back together again.  Abby sent me this picture of the Foster baby cousins.

The day after the baptism Kasen was recognized in sacrament meeting.  I wasn't ready to go back to church yet, but Kasen didn't want me or Dallin to miss it so it was our first time back to church.  Kasen wanted to bear his testimony so bad.  He decided to go up with his dad.  For his birthday Kasen got a new suit and he was so proud to wear it to church.  Kasen walked up to the pulpit and opened his mouth to speak and then just broke down in tears again.  Jed was sitting up on the stand in the choir section.  He just sat there waiting.  I was so mad at him.  I have no idea why, knowing how terrified Kasen is of speaking in front of people and with what happened at the primary program, that he wouldn't go up with him and just stand by his side.  I was literally so mad at Jed for throwing Kasen to the wolves like that I couldn't even talk to him for a few hours afterwards.  Anyway, Kasen stood up at the pulpit for a couple of minutes and then without saying one word and tears running down his cheeks, he just turned away and walked back down the aisle to where we were sitting.  The bishop caught him as he walked by and said something to him as he walked by.  Kasen was so disappointed in himself.  He just looked so deflated it totally broke my heart.  At the end of sacrament meeting the Bishop asked for a few minutes and he thanked everyone for their testimonies and said, "And I especially want to say thanks for the testimony that was borne today without any words by Kasen." He went on to explain how as a boy he was incredibly shy and after his baptism he decided he would share his testimony and the exact same thing happened to him.  He said it was the first time he felt the Holy Ghost testify that the gospel was true and it made him cry and he couldn't speak.  When Kasen heard his name and then heard the bishop praising him for his courage you could see the light come back in his eyes.  It was such a nice gesture on the bishops part and I appreciated it so much as a mother.  We asked Kasen to write a nice note to the bishop and this is what he wrote: Thank you for sharing your testimony about when you were a boy.  It made me feel good.  It cheered me up.  You're very nice.  Maybe I will be brave like you and talk in front of lots of people one day.  Your friend, Kasen Erickson

SUMMER ACTIVITIES - I was wrong to think that just because school was over my days would be less busy.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I signed the kids up for swimming lessons the first two weeks of June.  Well I know what I was thinking: that I wanted them to get a swimming refresher before summer got too far underway.  But it was a pain to haul Dallin over to the pool everyday for two weeks.  Up until this point I had been pumping and feeding breastmilk, but I could tell it wouldn't last too much longer because it had been so hard to keep a regular schedule.  It really isn't fair that I didn't get any time to settle into this new baby.  :( The swimming lessons was my own fault, but I will probably always feel jipped of those first few weeks with all the visitors/activities that made my life more chaotic than I needed or wanted.  The other three kids were super excited to start swimming though so it made it more worth it.  Dallin did pretty good just hanging out with me while the kids were in lessons.  He started giving little smiles during this time (wk 4/5) which was so fun and cute.

The 2nd week of summer Ava also went to art camp and Kasen went to his 1st of 4 sports camps.  Luckily those were both in the neighborhood!  Ava's art was absolutely incredible this year.  I was blown away at her talent!  

 Ava did this duck at art camp and then later on her own added the background pond & lily pads.

Kasen loved hanging out with other boys at sports camp and Kinsley had fun working on her own art at home and helping me with Dallin.

 

1 MONTH OLD - Dallin started changing a lot right around his 1 month mark.  He lost all his hair on the front part of his head and I swear his forehead grew 5 sizes overnight.  We jokingly wondered if we were raising Megamind. :)  From all the in and outs of his carseat for swimming lessons, his umbilical cord finally fell off his belly button and we were able to give Dallin his 1st bath.  He didn't cry at all.  He looked pretty nervous, but I think it was pretty comfy for him too.

Since I went to sacrament mtg the week before to see Kasen I felt guilty about not going after that.  I'll admit I wanted another 3 weeks to stay home and rest!  This is Dallin on his 1st full Sunday of church.  He slept the entire time.  I kinda' wanted to be him that first week!

After church we realized Kasen had a loose tooth - like I mean loose like hanging on by a thread loose.  I'm not really sure how it escalated to this point, but Jed talked Kasen into tying floss to his tooth and attaching the floss to an arrow.  He hooked the arrow into his Nerf crossbow.  Then on the count of three Kasen shot the arrow.  It took two tries, but on the 2nd try his tooth popped out.  Ava videoed it in slo-mo and it was so hilarious!  Kasen didn't think it was cool until much later that night.  In fact right after his tooth popped out the 2nd time he just dropped the crossbow and bee-lined it towards Jed with his fists swinging.  He was so mad his dad made him do that.  Kasen had set his tooth in a cup of water on the kitchen counter.  A few hours later as I was cleaning up from dinner, I must have dumped his tooth down the drain as I was loading the dishwasher.  So then Kasen was so mad at me!  Ava helped him write a note to the tooth fairy explaining everything.  Luckily she understood and left him a surprise. :)

  On Sundays, everybody wants to have Dallin time - especially Ava.

FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND - We had a lazy weekend.  It was nice not to have too much to do!  Saturday evening we went down to the school and rode bikes.  I walked with Dallin - he is so tiny in this big stroller!  The kids did bike races and also shot some baskets and played tether ball.  Kasen and Jed had been watching a lot of basketball and so Kasen wanted to see if his dad could do an alley-oop as good as Lebron James. So Jed had to prove he was just as awesome.  It only took him 4 tries to get it just right.  I love how in the picture Kasen is jumping as well - he was so excited.  He thinks his dad can do anything. Then Ava wanted to try.  She did pretty good too (although she couldn't dunk obviously).  And last but not least another sleeping pic of Bubbster.

 

On Father's Day we did our normal Sunday activities.  Then relaxing at home.  Dallin decided to be extra cute on Father's Day for his present to his dad.

The kids had fun reading their cards to Jed.  They had filled some out at church.  Kasen's paper had a bunch of favorites i.e. favorite activity, favorite food.  Kasen thought he was supposed to write all his favorite stuff.  It was pretty funny.  Below are Kasen & Kinsley's drawings of their dad.  Apparently his beard makes him look like a hobo!  Ava and I found the perfect candy bar for her dad.  Ava also wrote another really great card.  It said: Dad, you're as fun as a day in the sun, the hearth in winter that keeps me warm; you're  like the umbrella that gives me shelter from the storm, the fuzzy cloak that keeps me far from cold; but most of all you're the rainbow that leads us to the pot of gold!  Jed is such an amazing father, husband, and friend.  He definitely brings some fun and laughter into our family.  He is never too tired to wrestle the kids or play catch.  He helps with anything I ask him to.  We are all so lucky and blessed to have him in our lives.  Jed is definitely our rock and balance.  He keeps us all grounded and calm in the craziness of life (especially me!)  It was fun celebrating him on Father's Day.  I said something to the kids on Sunday about how we needed to do this for dad or that and make his favorite treat so he could relax and so on.  Ava turned to me and said, "So how is that different from every other day?  Father's Day is basically every Sunday."  It was pretty funny... and true.

6 WEEKS OLD - Ava and Dallin were the only ones home one night with me and so we decided to go down to the school and go for a walk around the track.  Ava rode her bike.  It was so cute to watch Dallin as he heard all the sounds during the walk.  Water (waterfall, sprinklers) were really interesting to him.  His pretty blue eyes would get so big and he would be so still listening.  When we got back home I realized he was exactly 6 weeks old that day.  So I took a picture of my oldest child (10 yrs 9 mos 1wk old) and my youngest child (6 wks.) There was a little bit of a size difference. :)

Just a couple more pictures of our little Angel Baby.  He is smiling a lot now, still just randomly not usually in response to interactions with anyone.  He is still a mover and is waving and kicking all the time.  His little belly button is starting to flatten out and I think it looks just like a little cinnamon roll.  I've started using a special blanket called the Miracle Blanket to put him in to sleep.  It has four flaps - two that wrap the arms and then two that wrap around his body.  He is definitely a little mummy in it.  I'm hoping it helps him know when he is supposed to sleep.  Jed thinks it makes him too hot, so one day during a nap he unwrapped him.  He immediately started making sad faces in his sleep!  I told Jed, "See mother's always know best!"  Dallin also rolls to his right side a lot.  He isn't close to rolling over, but he definitely favors that side and is getting started.

The last week of June we went to Eastern Idaho for Camp Foster (will be in it's own post).  June started out crazy and busy and ended with things calming down a bit.  But just for a bit... :)  Things never stay mellow with four kids for too long I'm finding out!