May

Matthew had to have surgery on his hips to widen them so I drove out to Phoenix Children's with Tanner to take him a treat and visit. The poor guy cried the whole time we were there. Breaks my heart he has to go through such pain and not understand why or what is happening to him!! 

Sometimes Weston's teacher posts pictures of the kids on the class app. Science project with marshmallows!

Another stupid, crazy, all over the place day. We all finally sunk into our chairs for dinner and I glanced at the clock. 

9:30pm

When will this year be over?!!!

I guess our neighbors have a tradition of renting a blow up slide and hosting a neighborhood party every May. It was nice getting to meet and visit with so many neighbors but we called it quits after a few hours. They, however, partied all day. Maybe alcohol gives you energy.

That evening we went to a fundraising event at Cara Steel's house and got to meet her new boyfriend!! Ryan Ogden, who I went to Africa with, was there, heading it all up! I guess his sister and Cara are best friends! Small world! Camilla and Brandon had also signed up so we spent the night making pot stickers and laughing with them! A lot of people from our old ward were there too, which was fun!

Seriously, my kids are so cute!!!!!

Hosting another Lindblom, Sunday dinner. I just thought the 3 different tables with 3 different age groupings was funny.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Olive's note to her dance teacher was soooo darling.

"You are the

best teacher.

I'm glad you are

teaching my

class. I'm bringing

you chocolate."

What you do with a toddler when you need to kill 20 min. before a band concert.

His hands in his pockets!!

Dad had mutual, so Grandma Dog and Mom were his cheering squad!

My mom gave me a bunch of stuff she found while cleaning out her house. 

One of my dance corsages. I believe this was from Winter Formal with Todd. 

It went in the garbage, but it was sentimental for a second to see it!

Every Thursday when I have to drive to the school to pick up the kids, I make Olive use the bathroom since we have to go straight to dance and Tanner always commandeers her backpack. She gets so mad! I have no idea why, but he insists on walking all the way to the car with it on, barely balancing as he goes, and he gets at least 3 comments every time! Everyone loves a cute kid pretending to be big!

WE DID IT!!!!!!

Weston graduated from Let's Play Music!!

You have no idea the accomplishment this is.

Three years of classes. I had to attend every other class his first year. And once a month the last two years. No siblings allowed! So I had to find a babysitter every time. His teachers have always lived too far away for me to go home during the drop off classes so I have spent sooo many hours at parks, wrangling babies and kids. In the heat. In the cold. Waiting in my car. This last year was nothing short of horrible. TWO kids in LPM! So once a month, I was sitting through two hours of music classes with them. Trying to schedule with my mom or Travis to help with the other kids. Not to mention doing the homework and practicing all week! I am not musically inclined so Weston's last year was actually pretty hard for me to understand. And I am not a patient mother at the piano. I hate that about myself! I try so hard!! I remember my mom losing her temper with us at the piano growing up and not understanding why she was like that. Wellll, now I get it. You'd think it would help me be kinder but nope. Honestly, one of my biggest mom fails of the last 10 years happened right before the recital. Weston was practicing his recital piece (that he wrote himself) and I went over to watch him play to make sure he was doing it right. Of course, we've had weeks to practice this, but here we were, an hour before the recital and I'm finally checking him. Well, he was playing the wrong notes for the whole introduction and parts of the rest of it. I went completely unhinged. Even as I was yelling, I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't stop! It was AWFUL. Poor, sweet Weston!! I could feel all my exhaustion and anger and frustration from this entire year just pour out of me onto his innocent shoulders. It was brutal. I was so mean. He was crying, I was Dr. Jekyll and at least 3 years of therapy were in the making. I don't even know why I'm admitting all this because if I could pray to God that time could reverse or memories could be wiped clean, I would give anything for that moment to be erased. I've never felt so ashamed of myself. The best I could do was sincerely beg for Weston's forgiveness over and over. And, of course, being the most tender hearted, gracious soul that he is, he just hugged me and acted like all was forgotten. Talk about a slice of humble pie. I don't know if mastering chords or learning about symphonies was worth it.

He did great up there! His song was titled, Amazing Dogs, and if you know Weston, no explanation is needed!

Olive also did great playing her bells and being chosen as one of three kids in her class to play the auto-harp!

Mother's Day...

Just look at this scene! Everyone quietly and peacefully playing while I got ready for church.

Travis got me chocolate and flowers but this was the best gift.

I brought Jolly Ranchers to church for the kids in remembrance of Grandmother who always had these aplenty in her purse and her house.

The famous Carolyn has a sister named Kim who teaches swim lessons at her house right around the corner from me. I was so excited for Tanner to take swim from her! I showed up the first day and the most incompetent nincompoop was his teacher instead. (Excuse my French) I was soooo irritated! I emailed Kim and she agreed with me and she would get in the pool with her to try and help, but I was over it. I start researching other options and found ISR. I think it all happened for a reason because I loved ISR lessons!! They focus on survival skills first. So, learning to roll onto your back to breathe. Then after they master that, they learn to roll back and swim until they need another breath. It's how Travis used to teach swim at SwimKids. They are private lessons, 5 days a week for 10 min each day. It cost $96 a week, but he only needed 6 weeks and he was pool safe! I'm a big fan or ISR!  

A picture that Olive's Kindergarten teacher took one day!

Still going on bike rides!! How lucky are we for this unusually cool weather!

Collin's baseball team gave everyone a nickname and that what they use when they cheer for you during a game. I love that Collin's is Mr. Happy. He really is such a happy guy. He said he struck out once and while walking back to the dugout, the 3rd base player from the other team sort of taunted him, saying, "Are you happy now?!" and he just shrugged and said, "Ya!" 

Crumbl cookies from an ortho office. I have very mixed feelings when he comes home with stuff like this!

Cruising Tanner with the flamingo leg! At the beginning of the season, he had no idea how to use a scooter. By the end of it, he was cruising so fast down the breezeway, he probably should have had a helmet. I got comments EVERY TIME by people absolutely amazed at how fast he could go!

One of the coaches on Collin's team has a voice that can be heard a mile away. He was the designated cheerleader or hype guy. I don't know how he did it. I wouldn't be able to talk the next day, but he did this all throughout the games. 

Go Weston! 

Last game of the season! 

Olive got to talk into the microphone at this competition! Good job, Tiny Company!!

In between performances, I snuck outside to get some dinner from a food truck and the girl who took my order recognized me from Franklin! She wasn't my student, but was in the class next door. I was floored. Good reminder to always be your best self. You never know who might know you!

I can't remember why, but we had a Sunday evening to ourselves, so we went on a family bike ride and delivered some treats! I LOVED it. We don't often get time like this to ourselves. Then just look at the sky that sent us to bed. Magical.

I was invited to a parent assembly during school, honoring kids who exemplified good character this year! Weston got the character award for respect. I believe it! So proud of him!! 

Collin got a squishy ball for his birthday and was pushing it to its limits on the way to band one morning in Travis's car. Sigh. Sorry, Ol' Dirtay.

I was so happy he still wanted to sleep with stuffed animals. He loves his "Fluffy". 

Although, as I'm writing this in August, he since gave this habit up!! So sad!! He says he's too old to be sleeping with stuffed animals. I have no idea why he came to that conclusion. He won't tell me. 

Collin's team lost their first playoff game but it was double elimination and they held on! Winning the next 4 or 5 games! They finally lost the game before the championships, landing them in 3rd place. Rusty's team got 2nd! He pitched several times this season and did pretty good! Otherwise, he played center field. He really loves the game! 

The last week of school, Weston got super sick. Like, no rallying, flat on his back, had to miss the last two days of school AND his baseball team's championship game. They won too!!! I was heartbroken that he missed out on such an exciting moment!! We've trudged through an entire season, not missing so much as a practice and then he had to miss the very last game. Poor guy cried so much that week. Life just isn't fair!! I also feel terrible that I never got a solo picture of him in his uniform! I kept forgetting my camera, and then with him getting sick, that was it. Big mom fail. :(

Last day of Kindergarten with Mrs. Jensen!! She has come a long way! From crying every morning of 1/2 day at Ben Franklin, to happily hopping out and loving full day at Neely. Olive learned she can do hard things!

Last day of 4th grade with Mrs. Eggen!! Collin shines in school. He is always on top of his assignments and homework. And he has gotten so much better at controlling how much he talks in class too. 

A family in our ward invited everyone to the neighborhood park for an end of the year party! They bought at least 30 pizzas, rented a blow up slide, had a snow cone machine and put down a HUGE tarp in the retention basin for kids to slide down. Lots of people brought water balloons and everyone had a blast! Such generous people we live by!

Craigers graduated from high school!! 

What?!!!

How is this happening?!!

With Weston still so sick, Travis stayed home with the kids and I went solo to graduation. My parents got to sit on the field to be honored since they had 7 kids all graduate from Mesa High! They sat with Dana Groscost and the Shumways and Kings. So happy for them. I can't imagine their feelings!

What a deranged bunny looks like after 2 hours of speeches.

I had another personal appointment with Melanie that was so wonderful!! I was alone in her office for a minute and snapped a picture of some of her books. Goals. And this is only a fraction of what she owns.

Olive had an end of the year pool party with her dance team. 

It seemed unreal that this year was finally ending. Like the finish line after running a 365 day marathon.

Us, adults, met at Boca Taqueria for a little graduation dinner for Craig! We walked to Dairy Queen afterward which became the night destined to be remembered as "the time Stephanie dumped a blizzard on the counter and walked away."

It's a whole story.

Here we go. These kids were making soup blizzards. Not just melty. MEL-TED. Like they tried to make them out of milk instead of ice cream. I politely asked for another one which gave my Dad the courage to return his as well. While they were remaking ours, they set two more milk cups on the counter for Marcie and Austin who were sitting at a table. My mom looked at them and said, "Um, they aren't liking these made like this." I walked over to look at them and then I don't know what came over me, but before my brain could catch up with my hand, I picked up one of the cups and flipped it over, slopping ice cream all over the counter. As quickly as I flipped it upside down, I turned it back and set it down. The look on the guy's face was incredulous. I kind of get the giggles thinking about it. I said, "Well, that's what you were going to have to do anyway!" (Because they have to tip it upside down to prove it's thick before they hand it to you or supposedly it's free) Then, realizing exactly what I just did, I turned on my heels and stifled my laughter as I booked it to our table! I really have no explanations for my behavior except that I take my Dairy Queen blizzards very seriously. Just ask me about the time I drove back to one in an actual blizzard because they made it wrong, and rapped on the locked door until a worker came out to see what was going on. 

Memorial Day morning at the Phoenix Cemetery. Trav and I haven't been to this in ten years. Since before we had kids! But I remember doing this all growing up and it is notoriously HOT. Not this year! It was beautiful. Actually, a little chilly. Thank you, weather gods!

Swim party at Grandma's house later! 

This filter makes you into the opposite gender. Um, hello, David!!! It was so similar it was creepy. 

We had Rigdon for several days while Leah was at girls camp and Shaun was out of town for work. Amelia came for a couple days too. 

I was asked to choreograph and teach the Young Women in our ward a dance for girls camp, so the kids came with me one morning for a practice. I did it to the song, "Feel Better When I'm Dancing" by Meghan Trainor and it was a lot of fun! Coming up with choreography is scary to me, but I got some ideas online and figured out the rest and it worked! 

I picked up Rusty and Lindi one day and we went to Pioneer Park and melted. It's finally hot! Ugh. They all stripped down and played in the splash pad for a while, then we got Ned's Crazy Sub. I felt like a crazy lady having that many kids!

Olive's very last day of dance at The Dance Loft and her ballet clothes were in the washing machine, wet. What's a mom to do?! It worked like a CHARM, I tell ya! And I had no shame with those tights flapping in the wind. Booya!

They got Bahama Bucks for a treat which made for a really classy picture! Olive got the "Look What I Can Do" award since she was constantly asking you to watch her while she performed her latest trick!

Dive began the second to last week of school and I completely forgot. Oh well, we wouldn't have been able to go anyway with baseball finishing up. Tanner's main source of entertainment at dive meets is tearing apart my purse. Lip gloss is his bread and butter.

The only safe place to hide the purse contents.

I met Shelley at Superstition Springs theater for the cheap, summer movie one morning, with plans to go to the big, Queen Creek park afterward. 

Tanner and Della made it through half the movie before they were done. It was a hot 45 min. chasing them around the halls of the theater, then outside. 

Then, as we were driving away, I got a flat tire. It had a slash in it like I ran over something super sharp, but I have no idea what it could be! I quickly called Shelley and she drove back to rescue me! We managed to squeeze allll the kids AND scooters into her car and she took them all to the park by herself for a couple hours before I could meet her. This is what sisters are for!! I was SO GRATEFUL!!! 

Who needs AAA, when you have a handy husband?! We actually do have AAA, but Travis just so happened to be done with work and had an hour before his next meeting. Man, it was BLAZING. And the spare tire was flat too and wouldn't take air, so I had to ask the Big O Tire to help me. It was a whole ordeal. 

Finally, I got back out to Shelley and spent another couple hours with these crazies at Mansel Carter park. It was a DAY!