June 2018

School's Out For Summer!

Foster's Graduates from Preschool!

With a bit of a heavy heart, we said goodbye to Pomerado Christian Preschool for the last time this June.  Both of the boys loved going to preschool.  The teachers and staff were so sweet and the school had such a wonderful atmosphere.  Preschool is such a sweet time of life and we're all a little sad to see it go.  The last week of school, the preschool held a picnic to celebrate the year, there was a bounce house, hot dogs and even face painting.  Foster had a blast!

Foster with Mrs. J and Mrs. Arnold, both of his preschool teachers.  He loved them both so much and had a very special bond with Mrs. Arnold from his first year at preschool as a three year old.  That must be why he called Mrs. J, Mrs. Arnold for the first six months of school!  Mrs. Arnold told me that everyday Foster would stand by her and chat with her during playtime until she told him he had to go play.  They were the best of friends.

Mrs. J

Mrs. Arnold

Most of Foster's Friends were girls.  The girls would run around trying to kiss him, teasing him that they wanted to marry him.  His best friend at preschool was Charlotte Warren.  We had many playdates with Charlotte after school.

A close up of Foster's Iron Man face paint

Here's a look at some of the work Foster did this year...

Jesus

To celebrate the last day of school.  Foster and I, joined with Charlotte and her mommy for a special treat at Cream and Sugar.  Over-the-top sugary milkshakes were just the thing to celebrate such a wonderful two years.  We'll never forget Pomerado Christian Preschool!

James Finished First Grade!

James grew leaps and bounds in first grade.  He went from being very anxious and dreading school, to letting me drop him off at the curb and running into his class on his own.  He became dedicated to running and enjoyed running mega milers every week.  He made lots of good friends and now has a big group of friends he looks forward to playing with everyday.  We are so proud of James and his willingness to try his best!

The last month of school, James got to go to The San Diego Zoo with all of the first graders.  He had a lot of fun exploring the zoo with his friends from school. Mom chaperoned and ended up giving an unofficial guided tour to some of the parents, she can't help herself when it comes to the Zoo!

Jack, Brooks, Levi G., Hudson, James, Jacob

Levi G, Jack, Hudson, James, Jacob (laughing at some monkeys)

Here's a look at some of the work James did this year...

James won an award for all of the running he did during running club.

This was James' "write back journal".  Every Friday he wrote a message to mom and dad and then we wrote him back.  Most of our messages were "who would win" messages where we compare two characters like Voldemort and Godzilla and then we say "which one would win". 

This year James developed a love for writing.  Each week he would bring home multiple stories he had written at school.  Some of them were sticker stories and others were stamp a story.  I love watching James' imagination at work!

The last day of school was field day, where the kids play games on the field all day.  They also get a chance to sign one another's yearbooks.  Some of the girls in James' class called him Duckie, and signed his yearbook this way, because of a quacking noise he was known for doing.  He made the noise with his throat and it sounded painful but it always got a laugh!

Yearbook Signing with Friends

After school, we met up with neighborhood friends for an epic "Last Day of School Swim Party"!  A blast was had by all.  It was a great way to wrap up the year and usher in summer.  Can't wait for longer days with my boys.

May 2018

Foster Turns 5!

Our baby boy turned 5 in May and we had so much fun celebrating our larger than life, Foster.  He is witty, entertaining, charming, strong-willed, task minded, hard-working and no nonsense.  He's our "get it done" boy and loves to help mom with chores and projects around the house.  He loves to visit Grandma and Grandpa to help with jobs in the yard or to cuddle up in the family room and watch a movie with Grandma.  He's generous with his cuddles and kisses and loves to give and receive affection.  Mom is still the apple of his eye and he frequently asks to marry her.  He loves to make James laugh and often resorts to potty talk to get the reaction he wants.  Foster is very social and loves to leave notes for our neighbors in their mailboxes.  Sometimes I can hear him talking to the neighbors through the fence and he often requests that we visit Leon, the 80 year old man that lives next door. He can talk to Leon for hours and we always leave Leon's with a souvenir of some kind.  

Foster brings so much magic and excitement to our home and continues to be the life of the party.

Here are some stats on Foster:
Favorite Food: Waffles and Fruit
Favorite Restaurant: McDonalds and Luna Cafe
Favorite Friends: Charlotte Warren, Anna, Leah and Dane Thompson and James
Favorite thing to do: Decorate the house for any holiday, run errands with mom, make a craft
Favorite place to go: The park with friends, Grandma's house to help in the yard and Michaels Craft Store
Favorite Movie: Curious George Halloween BooFest
Favorite TV Show: BatPat, StoryBots, The Who Was Show
Favorite Treat: Lollipop or Chewy Candy
Favorite Toy: Foster loves Dollar Store toys that break within the week.  Sticky hands, bouncy balls, or any kind of squishy toy

Foster loves animals and will pick up anything.  He is always finding frogs or caterpillars in the yard and loves to pretend they are his pets.  The only bug that has ever scared him was a giant grasshopper that landed on his foot while he was trying to trap it in a net.  He screamed on and off for an hour, each time he would think about the grasshopper and would shake his foot like he was trying to get it off.  It is safe to say the grasshopper really creeped him out.

Foster chose a frog for his birthday present, he was a PacMan frog named Bruce.  I refer to Bruce in the past tense because he didn't last very long.  Poor Bruce.  

One thing I love about Foster is his willingness to try anything.  He doesn't love everything but he will always give it a try.  This year he has been doing gymnastics and has really loved it.  I absolutely love watching him because he takes everything so seriously and tries so hard to make his coach proud.  His coach has a Spanish accent and so anytime Foster tells us what his coach says to him, he always says it with an accent.  Always the entertainer.

After about 2 minutes without training wheels, Foster learned to ride his bike like a pro.  He loves cruising around the neighborhood and loves it even more when people notice he is riding without training wheels!

The Big Day

Foster woke up to the house decorated and presents on the table for him to unwrap before school  Foster's favorite birthday present was his red robe given to him by Grandma and Grandpa.  He wears it every morning and most days, he comes home from preschool, takes off all his clothes and puts on his robe.  Red is his favorite color and cozy is his love language.

We celebrated Foster's birthday at Boomer's with the rest of the Green Valley Ward.  I brought cupcakes to share with friends and we spent the evening riding rides and playing miniature golf.  

Mom and Dad took turns riding the Ferris Wheel with the Birthday Boy

Foster requested strawberry cupcakes for his Birthday cake and he wore his special birthday hat that Mrs. J (his preschool teacher) made for him.

Anniversary Trip to Idlewild

Scott and I celebrated our ten year anniversary with a trip to Idlewild.  I surprised him and planned the trip without him knowing where we were going or what we were doing.  Luckily, he loved the plan and we had so much fun hiking in the San Jacinto Mountains, eating delicious food and relaxing at a beautiful bed and breakfast.  It was the perfect trip and just what we needed.

Memorial Day in Las Vegas

 

We spent Memorial Day with the Vegas Olson's and had some much needed cousin time.  We also spent Monday at Cowabunga Bay celebrating John Huish's birthday.  He is always so generous to invite the entire ward to come and enjoy the waterpark for the day.  We had a blast on the lazy river and playing in the wave pool.

We spent a lot of time at Paul and Christine's house, riding the Lightning McQueen car, which we handed down to Elliot and playing in their inflatable pool on the back patio.  James had so much fun at their house that before we left, he took pictures of everything so he wouldn't forget.  And Foster loves any chance he gets to cuddle a baby.  

Mother's Day

Mother's Tea at Pomerado Christian Preschool is one of my favorite things about Mother's Day.  They go to so much trouble to make sure the mothers feel special and that we have a memorable time with our little preschoolers.  And of course everyone cries at some point because it's all too sweet for words.

Being mom to these boys is all I could ever want in this world.  It is my absolute dream job.