New Patio and Mother's Day

We put a patio in our backyard. I love it. It looks so good and we have already used it a ton.

For Mother's Day Ben and Lucy made me breakfast. Lucy made a card for me and I opened up my present. I was expecting  a homemade gift because we had agreed after the patio was put in that we needed to start saving money again. Apparently Ben made the purchase before that discussion so he didn't break any agreements. I saw a small envelope with the word ArtTix on it. I burst into tears because I knew exactly what it was!

Wicked tickets!

It has been my dream to see Wicked since before I can remember. Maybe the dream started in high school. I am not sure. It is all I have ever talked about with Ben. The show comes every summer to the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City but they are ridiculously priced. Ben joked that if he ever got me a ticket it would just be one and that I would have to go by myself. So the first thing I said when I saw the envelope was "Are there two?" and he nodded yes. Then I burst into more tears. That was a great surprise. We are going to see it in August. I don't know what I am going to do after August. My dream will be fulfilled and all over! It seems surreal to me. Another cute line that Ben used was, "I thought it was unfair that my dreams came true and that yours hadn't. You made my dreams come true by marrying me so I got you these tickets so that your dreams will come true too." Or something along those lines. He said it better. It was an extremely cheesy comment but I loved it.

At church, Lucy gave a talk in sharing time about Moms. It was sweet. Everyone was watching me to see my reaction expecting me to cry or something. I wrote the talk so I couldn't pretend that what she was saying was a surprise to me. I kept a good smile on my face though. Hopefully that satisfied everyone in the room. Hahaha. Ben did a good job feeding her the lines. ;) It was a great mother's day. 

And Ben was wrong. Even though seeing Wicked is one of my many dreams, he is what made my dreams come true. He gave me the greatest gift by giving me 3 beautiful children who I adore. He has given me a better love than I ever imagined as a little girl. He is my dream come true.

Baby Laughs

My boys started laughing a while ago. I don't know when but it surprised me at how young they were. Now that they are 3 months old I finally got it on camera. Enjoy.

Lucy's 4th Birthday

Lucy turned 4 on the 15th. I made a cake the day before and had been planning on taking her to the aquarium that Saturday. The morning of her birthday  rolled around and she was so excited for her birthday party. What!? Her birthday party? I didn't plan a birthday party. So I posted on Facebook asking someone to please come over and play, and Ben made her birthday pancakes!

. I got two girls to come over by 9:30am and they stayed until a little after 12pm. It went great. Chloe and Claire and Lucy played so well together and pretty much entertained themselves. They colored, painted, played downstairs, ate cake, and then Lucy opened a gift that my best friend Maria sent to her. Thank you Maria! It was so relaxing  to just let them play. It was the best impromptu party. I think I may do that every year! It was so stressful last year with themed decorations, themed games, themed treats, costumes and my high expectations. It really taught me that kids don't need a lot. She loved her "Cinderella Birthday Party" and still talks about how great it was.

We had been asking Lucy what she wanted for her birthday and she kept saying a library. Unfortunately that wasn't in our budget. Ben researched online and decided to buy her a big kid bike. She loves it. She had never ridden one before but it didn't take her long to get the hang of it. She now rides up and down the sidewalk. Our block is pretty large so I think it makes her feel really independent to be able to go all the way down the side walk on her own. She rides it everyday.

The next day we went to the doctors for her 4 year check up. She got her Kindergarten shots. The doctor explained it to her and told her she could do it now or wait until her 5 year check up. She thought about it and then told him she wanted them. She was so brave.

She is in the 30th percentile for height and weight. She is a petite girl. She is so smart for her age. She's reading beginner books. I keep telling her that if she can read she can do anything she wants in life, so it makes me happy that she loves to read books. She draws so well. She meets every requirement for kindergarten even though she has another year of preschool. She is incredibly social. A man at the grocery store told me that she will do well in life because of how social and confident she is. I believe that. I appreciate all of her unique qualities. She is so different than the shy child I was. I love her so much.

Spring Dance Recital

Lucy is finished with dance class. Her last class was on May 6th.

That Saturday was her Dance Recital. She danced tap to "Everyday Princess" from the Disney movie Princess and the Frog. Once again she was distracted. This time it was from a red feather that was floating on the stage. She picked it up and blew it around.  Everyone laughed and sadly you cannot hear the audience in the video. She is the 4th girl from the left in the video. Her distraction begins at around 0:30 . 

Her 2nd dance was to "I feel pretty" and it was ballet. She is also the 4th girl from the left in this video.

After her dances were done she decided to escape and run across the stage during the older girls' performances. It was funny to everyone except her mom.


Grandma Rhonda, Grandpa Hans, Jeffrey, Lyndsey and their girls came out for the recital. It was so kind of them especially since it was a long show in a very hot auditorium.

We are not planning on putting her in dance again next year. It was a great experience with great teachers and friends. We have swim lessons starting in two weeks!