Lake Mead & Vegas Fun!

We had such a fun trip to Nevada! It's so nice that Tommy and Melonie live much closer now! We love to visit and the kids have a blast together. We went for a week, and enjoyed a few Lake Mead days and a few other relaxing days. Here the boys are on Grandpa's boat!

 I'm not sure what's up with this face, but it's Jackson's famous :)

 Me and little Lily

 Lily and Tyler are best friends! It's so nice that the boys have fun with their cousins on both sides! We are so lucky to have lots of nieces and nephews!

 Me (7+ months pregnant!) Jeff, Tommy, Mom and Baby Samantha

Tommy and Mel's family on the tube!

 Katie and Randy

And as much as I HATE this picture, I have to include it- it portrays so well how I felt! Hot, exhausted, huge... I was on the verge of heat exhastion/dehydration. It was 110+ degrees on the lake, so I jumped in any chance I had! I couldn't clip up the life jacket, never took my hat off, and stayed in the shade!! 

6 weeks to go!

One day, we stayed in Vegas and enjoyed watching BRAVE and going to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. It was a nice relaxing day, but still SOOOO hot outside, so it was nice to be inside!

 

Swimming Lessons!

The boys had a great time doing Swimming Lessons! Jackson was in level 1 and Tyler was in level 3. Jackson had a super hard time last year, but I knew he'd do better this year. He LOVES swimming at Grandma's house and took off his life jacket a couple weeks earlier. His confidence level has grown so much now, he never wears it and can swim really well! His teacher was really awesome, sang songs and did cute rhymes to keep them happy!

 He LOVED jumping in,

 Always had his tongue out or mouth open!

and even started floating on his back.

 Tyler learned his swim strokes and enjoyed his class, but not as much as Jack did. (Waving next to diving stand #3)

 Here he is swimming to his teacher, in the middle of the pool- deep end!

 Here are the boys with their certificates, and they got otter pops on their last day!

Tyler's Preschool Graduation

Tyler had such an amazing time this year at his Nursery School. He never complained about going and every morning asked if it was preschool day.

 This is Mrs. Davila, his fabulous preschool teacher. He talked about her like she was his long lost best friend. He is SOOOO sad to not have her as a teacher next year.

 Our biggest fans!

 Me and my boys!!

It was actually my birthday, and the best way to spend it! I get so much joy from celebrating my children and their special accomplishments. Here's to many more graduations!

Botanical Gardens

When my grandparents came down to visit us, we planned a trip to the Botanical Gardens. We did this with them last year, too, and also visited the butterfly pavilion. But this year they had a bunch of giant bug sculptures. They were all made out of different types of wood and super cool looking!

My cool sister and me

 Grandma and Grandpa Boucher on their 53rd wedding anniversary that day!

 Praying Mantis sculpture! SO cool!!

 Ha! I love this picture! I think Katie might have been sick of me taking pictures?

 The boys were having a BLAST identifying the bugs and finding them on their maps.

 Another one of my favorites of my grandparents!

 Tyler was dying to get a butterfly to land on him. He even wore a green shirt to look like a plant!

 Can you tell we were all scared of the giant spider?!!

And this picture is solely to remind me that I don't like being pregnant and really shouldn't do it again anytime soon.

Preschool Open House- Kenya!

Tyler's preschool does an "It's a Small World" theme, so each classroom gets to study a country. Tyler's class was Kenya, which was perfect since all his favorite animals are African safari animals!! But, like the Halloween program, Tyler was sick the day of the open house so we had to miss it (yes, I am still sad about missing both of those events!). They learned songs and had a program and walked through the classroom to see all their projects.
So, we had our own open house at home! We invited Grandma to come see his projects and hung them all in the playroom. Tyler greeted her at the door with his safari hat and said, "Welcome to Kenya!"

    

 

I'm so proud of Tyler and all the work and projects he has been doing. He absolutely LOVES his preschool and his teacher. He is so sad that he only has a couple weeks and has told me he doesn't want to go to kindergarten because he will miss Mrs. Davila. :( I've tried to tell him kindergarten will be just as fun, but he'll have to find that out for himself! It's been a wonderful year, and I'm so happy we found a preschool that was just perfect for him!

T-Ball and Soccer Class

In April the boys started a t-ball and soccer class through the city. It was actually quite comical for the adults to watch! The boys and girls would kick the ball in the wrong direction or go off and dribble it way out of bounds and just keep going. It was a great beginners class and I feel like I should pick a sport for the boys to do, but they really could care less, so I wonder if it is even worth the effort! But all in all it was a blast!

Doing their beginning stretches- I think sometimes the biggest struggle for the boys is following directions!

Practicing throwing and catching. Tyler is in bright green on the end.

 Jackson's group practicing- Jackson is throwing the ball in this orange shirt.

 Seriously, how cute is this face?

 Tyler's first turn at batting.

Then running the bases!

My thoughts on motherhood...

It seems like it's always Sunday nights when, after I've enjoyed the day with my family, I am overwhelmed with the joy I feel as a mom. With Mother's Day being last week, I've been feeling so blessed to have the opportunity to be a Mommy.
5 years ago, I held my 3 month old baby on my first Mother's Day. I remember feeling so fulfilled and happy to be able to celebrate Mother's Day AS a Mom. 4 years ago, when Tyler was 1, I found out I was pregnant with Jackson. It was Mother's Day morning and I'm pretty sure I cried through church that day! (tears of happiness, of course!)
And this year, Mother's Day was May 13-- exactly 3 months from the day I will get to meet our baby girl.
I was just released from my calling in Young Women's as Laurel Advisor. I had been feeling like that calling had the perfect amount of responsibility for me, and a great opportunity to get away on Wednesday nights :) and be in a different part of the building on Sundays!
Jeff was in Primary so I always knew my boys would be happy in there. But recently he was called to Young Men's, and they especially needed him on Wednesday nights.
But lately I have been feeling like I wish I knew what the boys were learning about in Primary and feeling like they needed me there. I was called as Primary Chorister! A calling I had right after Jeff and I were married, before we had kids and before I had this much confidence working with children. I still feel like I am so not musical, but I am so happy to be involved in my boy's activities and learning again... I get to practice on them  throughout the week and teach my children at the same time- priceless!
Some of the things that as a MOM I've been grateful for lately:
-sponge bob and spiderman bandaids. How did moms convince their kids to wear bandaids when they were blank?
-calamine lotion and vaccines. Tyler had a mild case of chicken pox this week, and thanks to the vaccine and some calamine lotion, it never got very bad. I think the hardest thing for both of us was that we had to stay in the house. We are all looking forward to preschool, tiny tots and gymnastics this week!! (and we have our fingers crossed Jackson won't get it in 20 days)
-finger prints on the windows and dirt rings in the tub. Seriously! I saw a sign the other day that said, "Excuse the mess, my children are making memories." I want to be that kind of a mom. A mom that doesn't follow her kids around with clorox wipes. This makes me laugh (or squirm) a little because if you come over unannounced you will see that my house turns into a disaster rather quickly! Pretty sure no one in the world will peg me as a neat freak.
-having three pairs of toy story underwear in my purse. It always makes me smile as I am rummaging through the bag to find my keys, phone, sunglasses or library card.
-seeing Jackson's favorite toys lovingly placed there by his big brother while he naps. I wish I took a picture when I saw it, but imagine a sleeping 3 year old next to a pile of trios, legos, spiderman, and robin from his 5 year old hero.
-memorizing Are you My Mother so that we can still read it when it is lost under a bed and mommy is too fat to search for it. enough said :)
-tackling a child to give them a hug just because. This is even more fun when one of them is mid-sentence. Although I have learned it is best NOT to do it when Jackson is talking about Batman.
This week has been one of the most overwhelming, because due to the pox, we were home together all week without very many outings. In fact I called my mom a couple times and said, "we need to get out!" But I noticed most of my most joyous moments happen within the walls of my home! I am so blessed to be called mommy!

Boucher Family Time

After my Uncle Eric passed away, the boys and I drove with my parents to Sacramento for the funeral and to visit all my Mom's family up there. The funeral was hard, but also nice to see everyone and to remember the great qualities and memories of Eric.

After the funeral, Grandpa planted a special tree that will bloom in the Springtime to remember Eric.

 Shauna, David, Andrew, Denise, Grandpa, Grandpa with Carson and Cameron

 My Mom and her siblings (minus Eric, plus Cameron- Andrew's darling daughter)

 Me and my parents

 Mom and her cousins

 Grandpa Boucher, Honey and Cameron (she calls Grandma "Honey" because that's what she hears Gpa call her!) 

The boys had a blast playing in the backyard treehouse and swing. Good thing my cousin Carson was there, he was the perfect playmate for the boys- they loved him!