Beginning of June and Oops Some Forgotten May

When I posted about Netta's birthday party, I forgot about 2 picture gems that were on John's cell phone. Here is one of King and EZ at the carousal during Netta's party. The best part was John's description of it on Facebook: "Chief Sullen Monkey & Brave Cocaine Wolf about to ride the Silver Beach Carousel" 

He also captured this great one of Netta while we were making her cupcakes: "Netta found the Michelangelo's David apron you (Lexi) gave me years ago and she couldn't stop laughing about it showing his "nips and nuts". I didn't even remember I had it. Father of the Year right here." Now all the kids keep asking me why I am posting this gross picture online.

Now on to June. After we got back from Virginia Beach we had no food so Netta and I went on a little mommy-daughter date for lunch. She is now obsessed with this Salted Caramel Rootbeer. It was actually awesome, but at $2.50 a pop it is definitely a special treat.

Netta is always my little model and was very excited to have her picture taken with this lighthouse art. Downtown St. Joe is covered by lighthouses by various artist as part of campaign to save the real lighthouse in town. We love all these different art themes they have running throughout the year downtown.

The kids had their last day of school on June 5th. As always I was beyond ready to not have to be rushing out the door every morning. Both kids did a great job adjusting this year, although we did have a little incident with Netta towards the end of the year. I am still not sure why it started, but she began telling lies at school, especially lies about little boys to get them in trouble. She got in a bit of trouble and her teacher was nice but firm and I think it caused a weird reaction out of Netta. After we came home from the beach she started crying all the time and confessing all her past sins no matter how small they were. We were worried something bad had happened to her, but we spoke to her about it and her teacher and we couldn't find anything. So, all I can do is guess that getting in a lot of trouble for lying made her feel bad for everything she ever did wrong. It was an intense 2 weeks of crying, and I was starting to think she might need therapy, but then she started getting over it. We are now trying to help her find the balance of when she has to confess and when she can get away with things ;)

Kings life with a cast came to an end and just in time because the stupid boot they gave us started falling apart and we had to keep taping it together. When I complained to the nurse she said "Well they aren't meant to last forever." and I said "For $40 it should at least last 3 weeks." Needless to say I was annoyed with the boot and her.

EZ got to have his friend party after school got out. We are all obsessed with the Lego movie at our house, so his theme was an easy choice. The only hard thing was trying to find a pinata to go with it. I was actually pretty proud that I came up with this Cloud Cuckoo Land idea all on my own. The boys loved destroying it.

EZ wanted Lego men cupcakes. We found the molds online and even though we had a scare where our microwave starting smoking like crazy while melting the chocolate, we were able to finish all the men and some extra lego bricks to boot. Luckily, the sparks in the microwave were just from some stuck on food, but we did go without using it for like 2 weeks before I worked up the nerve to try again. Also we were lucky that I was too scatter-brained to call someone to come and fix it, since it wasn't actually broken.

EZ has had some weird spellings of his name in the past, but this card from his party is hands down the winner. I can honestly say we did not anticipate how hard the name Ezekiel would be for people.

EZ had a lot of fun with all his friends, but it was an interesting mix of personalities and things were getting a little out of hand at times. It will definitely be worth the money to not have the party at the house next year. This many 8 year old boys in my house is a few too many.

Netta had her dance recital on. June 15th. We were lucky we were able to find a studio that would let her in since we weren't here at the beginning of the year. Even though she started learning the dancing 2 months after everyone else, she still owned it on the stage. She lives for the costumes and the makeup and the bright lights. 

As excited as I was for school to end and the crazy mornings to be over, I knew that having all 4 kids at home all day would get to be a bit overwhelming. So, I signed the older 3 up for camps at the YMCA. Kingston when to a preschool camp. He cried a couple of times when I dropped him off, but he did have fun everyday and he is going to preschool there in the fall, so I am glad he got a preview of it. Netta went to a gymnastics camp. At the end they had a performance and they showed off their skills on the different pieces of equipment. She had a lot of fun, but even she admitted that she likes dance better because of the costumes and the big recital.

EZ went to a British soccer camp. I have to admit that I was excited to just listen to his coaches talk and I am pretty sure I was not the only mom hanging around listening to their accents ;) EZ had a lot of fun and made a ton of improvement. He said he got made fun of a couple of times for being slow and sadly for EZ he just isn't all that speedy and he will probably have to deal with this anytime sports are involved. Luckily, the comments weren't as mean or as numerous as when he went to basketball camp last year and his coaches were really encouraging.

EZ also played baseball this year. He was lucky to have a great coach, who actually works with John, but he still had a tough year with learning to bat with a pitching machine and moving to a more competitive league. By his last game, I have to admit that I was secretly praying it would be rained out. It was a long season with EZ struggling to get on base and he even said at one point that he shouldn't play anymore because he isn't very good. Luckily the game wasn't cancelled and EZ ended up going 4 for 4 at bat, scoring 3 runs and being named player of the game. He surprised us all and I seriously almost cried. The best was that he even admitted that he wasn't as bad as he thought and that he should keep playing.

King Gets a Cast/Happy Birthday EZ/Baptism/Virginia Beach

As the title suggests, things got a bit busy around our house at the end of May. One day I picked King up from the childcare at the YMCA and they told me that he had tripped and hurt his foot. Now King trips all the time, but he usually walks it off no problem, so I was a bit alarmed at how much he was crying. So, after he refused to even step on his foot for the rest of the day and it as swollen and warm, we decided he needed to get it checked out. After EZ's cast we learned to just go straight to the orthopedic doctor and so we did and it saved us so much time and money. It turns out he fractured the base of his big toe and he would have to have the cast on for 3 weeks. Of course this happened less then a week before we would be leaving for Virginia Beach. Luckily, the doctor said that the cast is water proof and King could swim in the pool. The downside is that it isn't sand proof so we would have to get creative if he wanted to go to the beach.

This year we were actually close enough to drive to the beach. It was 14 hours and luckily on the way down we were able to break the drive up over 2 days. We weren't so lucky on the way back and that was a long long day. We were all extra excited to get to meet the 2 newest additions to my side of the family. My sister Katie's new daughter Kaelyn and my sister Meghan's new son Timmy. John kept joking that maybe I would change my mind and want another kid after seeing the babies, but nope I am perfectly content with the kids we have.

This was also a big year for the family, because for the first time the 4 boys born in 2012 were all together! We tried our best to get a picture of them all together, but it was like herding cats.

EZ's 8th birthday was on May 26th. We are so proud that he decided to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to make it extra exciting, we were able to have it on his birthday and in Virginia Beach so he could have a ton of family there to support him. King however was not super excited about the baptism and spent the entire time moping on the floor. That's my King.

I asked EZ how he felt about getting baptized and he said he felt good, but shy. It was a lot of attention on him, which he is never quite comfortable with, but we couldn't be happier with his decision. I still can't believe I have a kid old enough to be baptized!

After the baptism we went back to the beach house to celebrate his birthday. Since he loves super heroes and it was Memorial Day, we went with a Captain American cake. Unfortunately, it was a made at Walmart, so it came out a bit wonky, but EZ still loved it.

Conrad especially loved the cake, as evident by the icing allover his body. 

While trying to get this picture of Conrad, Timmy ran by and tripped and while it looks like Conrad took him down, I promise he didn't and they like each other.

There seems to always be one rainy day at the beach and we like to use that as a chance to go the aquarium. This year my family went with Sarah's family and Grace. Uncle Casey got took all of these sweet pictures for us.

Of course we spent a lot of time in the pool and at the beach. I have no pool pictures, but that is probably because John and I were both just trying to keep everyone alive. King got to swim a couple of times, but that cast was not nearly as water proof as advertised and trying to wrap it and keep things out was nearly impossible. So, we kind of restricted his activities a bit. Luckily, he was not all that interested in the beach. The other kids however loved the beach and had a blast touching disgusting little fish that washed ashore and digging holes. Kids will be kids! 

Happy Birthday Netta!

Netta turned 6 on May 9th. I was still recovering from making King's cupcakes so I asked her what she wanted to do for treats that wasn't cake related. She opted for chocolate and sprinkle dipped cones. We got to spend some quality time in the kitchen working on them.

We had a fun night at home celebrating, although she was quite jealous that Grandma and Grandpa were here for King's birthday and not her's.

For her friend birthday she opted for a Hello Kitty theme. We have done this theme once before and I wouldn't be surprised if it is repeated multiple times. I tried to find a place to have her and EZ's birthday parties, but I quickly learned that there are very few places to have parties here and they fill up way in advance, so a home party it was. She had a few of her friends from church and school come over and they spent almost the whole party giggling and telling stories. It was awesome. They also got to color, break a pinata, get hair tattoos and get their nails done. It was very girly, which is fine by me if it means they are not running all over my house like crazy people.

 For her cupcakes she was dead set on having the little Hello Kitty candies you can buy at the store. Done and done. The only problem was that the candies wouldn't come off the paper very well, so each cupcake may have had some added fiber. I did however make the cupcakes and frosting from scratch and I love them a little bit too much. I sent a bunch home with each of the girls so I wouldn't stuff them all in my own face. May is not a good month for my waistline.

I love my boys, but I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with Netta to be my best girl friend!

Happy Birthday King

King turned 4 on May 4th. This first picture of him is not actually from his birthday, but it does sum up a bit of personality at this point. They had a special day at preschool where all the parents could come and watch the kids be in a marching band parade. King is not a fan of attention, big groups and lots of noise, so he was not too keen on this whole event. He refused to play his instrument and no amount of coaxing could get him to smile. On the other hand, Conrad was there with me and was desperately trying to join the parade. King may be a stinker, but he really is just a sensitive sweetheart. 

King was lucky enough to have my parents in town for his birthday and it happened to be the Blossom Time Parade as well. I guess Blossom Time is like Homecoming in the spring and everyone celebrates the fact that he heinously long winter has ended. King and Netta were both lucky enough to get shoulder rides during the parade.

Conrad basically pushed his stroller around the whole time. We put one of the breaks on so it just kept going around and around in a circle and that did not bother him one bit.

Poor EZ has now outgrown his ability to get a shoulder ride from anyone. He also got really bored and in his defense it was the most poorly timed parade I have ever seen. There were humongous gaps between floats and we ended up leaving early because we just couldn't stand it anymore.

After the parade we wandered down to the famous carousal. It was nice to finally check it out and at it the list of perks of living here. My Grandpa E was obsessed with carousals and I have to think that he probably road this one at some point in his life.

My mom and I, with some help from Netta, spent a painstaking amount of time in the kitchen working on King's cake and cupcakes. We ended up making 26 Skylander sheep (some are for him to take to preschool) and plus a hill for a figure to stand on. The whole thing turned out really cute, but my gosh my entire body hurt after it was all said and done. And my mom may never be willing to help me with one of my projects again ;)

Again EZ is benefiting from King's love of Skylanders. King was so excited about his new figure that he insisted he have his picture taken with it.

More April Fun

It's embarrassing to admit how much we eat at McDonald's. King is obsessed with it and there is really nothing else here, especially with a playscape. I really thought that since this place is frozen half the year, that they would have more indoor places for kids to play. If I had the money I would open a Chick fil-A in a heart beat. I am going through serious withdrawal. Lucky for King McDonald's is everywhere no matter how small. He loves this place so much that he requested I take his picture with the man himself.

He is also obsessed with the playground across the street from his preschool. He refers to it as the "new playground" and wants to go there everyday after school. He is especially happy when his friend Hannah comes. She goes to church with us and is in his preschool class. For some reason he refers to her as his sister. I wish he was as excited when his actual sister is there to play with him ;)

We have been really impressed with the kids school so far. When we came for orientation we learned that we could have free access to Rosetta Stone at home so that the kids could practice Spanish. Obviously it's not the same as immersion, but at least hopefully this way we can try and maintain most of what they have learned. They also have amazing activities and are actually good about communicating to parents about them, which was something our school in Texas was not so hot at. And again since it's a smaller school, when they do have fun activities they aren't crowded and you can actually fully participate in them without waiting in huge lines or losing kids in the crowd. The kids were really excited about crazy hair day. That morning I realized that I am seriously lacking in hair supplies and don't even have hair spray, so we had to get creative. For both kids hair we used my mini-crimper and for EZ we helped spike it up with mascara. 

Netta of course finished hers off with a lot of teasing and some hair clips.