End of May

Kenedy came home with her Drama Letter! She told me that her Drama Coach was having kids fill out papers writing down everything they had done for drama and each thing gets an amount of points and if you earn a certain amount you get your letter. Kenedy was not thinking she would have done enough but she filled out a paper anyway and to her surprise she got enough points to receive her Letter. She was so excited and I was really excited for her. I Lettered in swimming and dance and since my High School was Moreno Vally High and our colors were blue and gold, our Letters are really similar from what I can remember, I need to pull it out and compare when I get a chance. I did a lot of Drama in High School and even made it into Advanced drama for my Sophmore and Junior year but my Senior year I dropped out so that I could end my day earlier. My Drama teacher did not appreciate that and never gave me my drama patch for my letter even though I earned it. Not cool. But I am happy for Kenedy and think her letter is pretty cool!

Kenedy has been saving her money so she could buy a Ukelele and she was finally able to get it. She picked out a really pretty turquoise colored one and has been learning on it every chance she gets. One of her friends who knows how to play has been teaching her some chords and from what I can hear she is getting better. She is currently trying to learn "Lava" from the Disney short of the same name and has also been working on "House of Gold" by 21 Pilots. I love the Ukelele sounds and don't mind her practicing at all.

She is so pretty!

Kefford has been messing around on it as well and has been working on "House of Gold" also.

On our way out to the farm on Memorial Day Kenedy and I had to laugh at Ryker and the way he was resting in the car.

Peterson Girls do the Bubble Run

Last year it was the color run, this year the Peterson girls decided to do the bubble run. We thought it would be fun to do another fun 5k and this time around we decided to do it with all of the little as well. Brit had to bow out because her sister decided to get married on this day in Utah but the ones that were there were, Alison, Elizabeth with Rylee and Avynlea (Kenedy had to drop out because of her foot being in a boot), Gwen with Ally and Mikayla, Mikell with Jenna, Brooke, James and Kelly, Whitney with Madison and Sadie, Michelle, and Trista with her boyfriend Austin. Since Brit couldn't make it, Britney (a favorite Peterson Cousin) with Lucy was invited to take her place which was pretty awesome! Although we missed Brit and her girls it was fun to have Britney there. Sara couldn't get away from work so we missed having her there as well. But it was a lot of fun with the ones that were able to make it, it was a lot more crazy with the kids and the strollers but I quite enjoyed having everyone there!

I did my, Avynlea's, and Rylee's hair in french braids so that we would be matching and we looked pretty cute! I was struggling with how to do this race. On one hand I really wanted to run it because I like running and it is fun for me, on the other hand I really wanted to be with my girls. In the end I decided I could take one day off from running and I walked the race with my girls and the rest of our family. I wanted to share the experience with them and I am glad I made the choice I did because it was a lot of fun. I ended up being with Rylee more then Avy because she was walking with Ally and kept getting away from us but I saw her plenty.

Overall, I thought the bubble run was pretty fun. I did not like the idea of the bubbles getting on my face and so I would cover my face with my t-shirt as we went through the bubble stations, worked great! The thing I did not like about the Bubble run was that it was on the fairgrounds and we would be walking through dirt and then grass and it was just not pleasant. I liked the color run better in that it was in a paved street and I didn't feel as gross at the end. But the best part was definitely being with my girls and the rest of my Peterson family. I am very glad we did it!

"Am i the Mad One or are You?"

Even though it may be a little bit of a more Gothic store, I love Hot Topic! It has the cutest Disney stuff and Harry Potter things, so much Pop culture items, it makes my Disney and Harry loving heart happy. I found some things in the brochure we got in the mail that I had to have and that were on sale and so Friday morning I headed out to the mall. While I was there I found a Belle bow and a Jasmine bow perfect for Avynlea and Rylee. That night Avy wore her Belle nightshirt to bed but had to do a little photo shoot first with her new bow. She cleverly attached it to her clothes s it looked like Belle was wearing it before she stuck it on her head for a final look. What a silly cutie pie. 

Ryle has started reading the Harry Potter series this year and has really been loving them. She is currently on book 5 and has been taking AR tests on all the books and getting 100% on all of them. Her backpack that she has had for the past two years has gotten to be unusable, in fact she has been through several of their old backpacks this year and all of them are now useless. Hot Topic just happened to have the cutest Harry Potter backpack for sale and I bought it for Rylee to use next year. She loves it and it really is so cute! I love that she has discovered a love for Harry Potter and I love talking to her about the books. She is a reading genius! 

I found for me an Alice through the looking glass tank and an Ariel tank and I love both of them! I can use them when I go running and also as a coverup for the beach or when I go swimming at the pool. Perfect!

The kids have ben having quite the fun with this mannequin head and I had to giggle this morning when I saw it staring at Ryker as he slept. Ryker slept on the couch last night and I suspect Kenedy put it there to give him a scare which it did! Hahaha!

On Saturday Ryker hung out at Mikell's for a couple of hours playing and bonding with his cousins while Kefford and I went to the movie. Mikell stopped by to drop off Rylee's watch right when we were leaving and we all talked Ryker into going home with her so he wouldn't be bored being at home all alone. Kenedy was babysitting and Avynlea and Rylee went to the farm for the weekend. Mikell sent me this picture of him getting a fire started so they could have a weenie roast. When we stopped by to pick him up Jenna climbed onto my lap being super cuddly and telling me she loved me. She is so sweet! I love her too and she made me laugh because she was trying to give me a kiss and I was trying to turn my face so she could kiss my cheek but she kept going for my lips. She cracks me up! 

Choir Shows and Dance Recitals

May is always such a busy month with all of the dance recitals, choir concerts and end of the year stuff going on. I look forward to it and dread it all at the same time. 

First up was Kenedy singing with her Treble Choir. This was all of the choirs end of year performance and I knew it was going to be a late night so I wouldn't let any of the kids come. Avynlea especially was upset about not being able to go but I was glad I made that decision because I did not get home until close to 10:00. It was ridiculously long but I enjoyed most of the music. Kenedy did a good job and it is always fun to see her perform. They performed a medley of Disney songs they sang at Disneyland which I liked and their choir director encouraged them to wear Mickey ears if they had them. 

The next week was Dance Recital week. I had Dance Connection's first recital on Saturday the 14th that I had to be at all day. Wednesday after school was Dress Rehearsal for Elevated Dance Project's dance recitals. Thursday Avynlea, Rylee and I performed our dances. Avynlea and Rylee did so good and I had so much fun watching them. I help teach their class and so I see them dancing these same songs every week but it is so rewarding and so much fun seeing them perform on stage. They looked beautiful, smiled the entire time and looked like they were having so much fun because they were! They were in a combo Ballet/Jazz class this year and got to perform two dances in the recital. Their first piece was their Jazz and they danced to "Safe and Sound". They wore the black outfits pictured below which I picked out. 

The second dance they did was part of the ballet. The ballet this year was "inside Out" and Avynlea and Rylee's class were Goofball island. They were so cute and I loved their dance. I love these pictures that were taken during the recital and think my girls looks so fun and beautiful with amazing smiles!

I got them each a rose which they loved and congratulated them on how well they did. I danced to "The Martian" an instrumental piece from the "The Martian" soundtrack. It was a more modern piece which I was not too thrilled about but I liked it enough and knew the dance so I was not worried about performing. I should have been. I felt like a hot mess on that stage and a couple of parts forgot what I was doing and ended up in the wrong spots. Luckily when I watched the video Kefford took of me I did not look like the hot mess that I felt I was and it looked good so that was a relief. I am not sure what happened to me but am grateful for the summer break to recoup. 

Alison came and brought flowers for the girls. I love that she is always so willing to come and support us when she can and my girls loved having her here!

After the Thursday recital I had to go back for the Friday recital because Kim and my Kinder classes were in this show. We had two classes and Kim actually handed over the reins for one of the classes and had me take charge while she focused and took charge on the other one. Both classes did amazing and were so cute! For the ballet my class was Friendship Island and the one Kim took was Abstact Thoughts. I loved both of their dances and had a lot of fun watching them but after the ballet I left and chose to go home rather then stick around for the rest of the recital. Our classes were done and were not performing in anything after the ballet so I was good to go.

The next day, Saturday the 21st, I had our second saturday of Dance Connection recitals to go to. It was a long day and I was there from 8:00 to 8:00. We had four shows with some downtime in between and I was exhausted by the end of the day. Kenedy was there with me helping with the dancers and I had her get some pictures for me of all of my classes. 

I am always nervous when it comes to these dance recitals because I am afraid I am going to forget what I am doing and not remember the dances I am helping with. I am the dork that takes her dance notes down with her to the front and refers to them on the sly as I am helping my classes. If it helps us all perform better then why not. All of my classes did amazing and recital always reminds me why I do what I do and makes the entire year worthwhile. I am taking next year off and not teaching because I feel Heavenly Father ,for whatever reason, has been telling me that's what I need to do. I don't know why or what's going to happen, if anything, but I am doing what I feel I am being told to do and even though it is hard and has been a tough decision I know it is the right thing for me and my family at this time. 

Brighter Beginnings

"Alice in Wonderland"

Lila, Molly, Rosalynn, Annalisa, Ellie, Abigail and Jenna

 Evelyn, Tenley, Nora, Chloe, Lainey, Hallie and Madelynn

Eagle Creative Preschool

"Tangled"

Premier

"Tangled"

Peyton, Gianna, Kynlie, Charley, Cordelia, Molly and Haddie

 Katana, Gwen, Taytem, Stella and Paisley

Premier Babies

"Winnie the Pooh"

I was busy with another dance class and so I gave my phone to one of the HS girls helping with this class to take a picture of them for me. She did a terrible job and so I took one of all the kids at the last class I had with them. I would have probably done that anyway since Collin never showed up to dance at the recital. I was bummed about that because he was so cute in the dances and always did a really good job during class. 

Born to Suceed

"Jungle Book

Back row: Jocelyn, Collin, River and Sophia
Front row: Sopheea, Abby, Mila, Kaelyn and Grace

Coverdale Montessori Downstairs

"Alice in Wonderland"

 Nora, Olivia, Isabella, Hannah, Reese, Julianna and Charlotte

Dom, Skyla, Claire, Evie, Haddyn, Grace, Mya and Ella

Cloverdale Montessori Upstairs

"Jungle Book"

Boys Campout and a Girls Night Out!

May is the time of year for the annual Father's/Son's campout. Kefford and Ryker have been going together since Ryker was a two year old in diapers and while it may not be Kefford's favorite thing to do,  Ryker loves it and I am glad that they get to have this time together. This year Kefford thought it would be fun to borrow his cousin Coby's jeep and take that up for their campout. Kefford has always been a clean car fanatic and he also lives by the policy to return borrowed items better then when he got them. So Friday morning Kefford vacuumed and cleaned up Cobys car so it would look nice for him when it was returned. After Ryker came home from school they loaded up, let me take a few pictures and then were off. From that point on I do not know exactly what activities entailed at their campout. I know they had a lot of fun and that they all did service and built a fence at the place they stayed at in exchange for a free stay. 

Kefford is always so good to supply me with pictures and I thought he did a good job taking pictures this time around.

I had to teach dance that night but since it was the last class before recital and I knew they would not miss me much I asked Kim if I could skip out after the first class so I could take my girls and have a girls night. Kim was of course more then OK with the idea and I left after our Pre-Teen class and Avynlea, Rylee and I went to Red Robin for dinner. Kenedy had a date to go see a play and so she missed out on our girls night which was kind of sad. One of her guy friends asked her out on a double date to go to a show and then out to dinner after. The morning of the date she was told that the other girl was sick and had to cancel and that the other guy invited a third guy friend of theirs. So Kenedy ended up on this date with just her and three guys. We thought it was pretty funny and I was not worried about it because these guys are all friends of her and I knew them and knew she would have fun despite not having another girl around. 

At Red Robin I ordered the Garden Burger because it sounded good and I thought it was a burger with all the fresh veggies on top hence the name garden burger. When I got my meal I realized it was named the garden burger because it was actually the vegetarian option and it was meatless and had a vegetarian patty. I ate it and thought it tasted good enough but was really curious about what the patty was made of. I saw some oatmeal and I think pinto beans in their but am not sure what else was a part of the patty. 

After dinner we stopped at a Redbox and got the movie "The Good Dinosaur" and then stopped in at the store to get the makings for ice-cream sundaes and a package of cupcakes. The movie was pretty boring to me but the girls liked it and I really liked the ice-cream so that made things delightful for me. It was a fun girls night with my girls and I always love this tradition of ours.

May Fun

On Sunday Avynlea freaked out after looking out the window and seeing the head of a mannequin laying in our yard. We had no idea how it got there but I thought it was pretty funny. I made Avynlea go out and take a picture with it because she saw it first but mostly because it was freaking her out so much. Hahaha! Later we found out the neighbor kids threw it in our yard after it broke off the mannequin they were throwing around. Weirdness.

At Kenedy Dr's appointment the cast came off and she was fitted for a boot. She can walk on the side of her foot while in the boot and on her heel but as of yet cannot put full pressure on her foot. She likes the boot so much more then the cast and seems to be recovering quite well. 

Kefford's cousins wife sells LuLaRoe and was having a party at her house in Oregon that we could not make it to. Kenedy needed a new dress and it is so hard to find cute modest ones so I had her FaceTime with Kelsey so that she could pick out a dress. This one that she got is so cute and looks so good on her. She found the idea on Instagram to wear it backwards with the zipper in front and I thought the idea was genius. Kenedy sure makes the dress look beautiful.

Sunday after church the family was chilling and hanging out in the Living Room playing games and enjoying together time. Rylee and Kefford were playing BattleShip, Avy and Ryker were playing Pass the Pig, I was reading a book and Kenedy was resting on the couch. I love this family of mine and cherish the times we are all together and happy.

I had card group on Tuesday and procrastinated a bit on making my cards so that I had to do them last minute. The Graduation card I made over the weekend and the Thank You card I had to make the morning of our card group get together. I really am usually better at having my cards done sooner than last minute but this month the time got away from me. I thought they turned out cute despite my last minute rush.

As soon as the sun appears after a long winter my kids think it is time to get in the sprinklers. This day was pretty warm so I let Rylee play with the hose on the trampoline. She had a lot of fun getting wet and jumping around and I had a lot of fun watching her and laughing at the faces she was making. 

My beautiful Avynlea got a hold of my phone and proceeded to take a plethora of pictures of herself. 

A Very Happy Mothers Day

Mother's Day was a really nice day this year. Kefford and the kids made me a breakfast of french toast, my favorite, and spoiled me all day long. After church we came home and I relaxed in my room while everyone else prepared dinner for me. Steak and fried potatoes, yum, yum! I sure love being a Mom to these kids and always love having a day to be appreciated!

Rylee made a couple of things in school to give to me, a picture hanger and a magazine cover she drew of me with a paragraph written inside about why I am Mom of the Year. 

"There are many reasons why my Mom deserves to be on the cover of People Magazine. One reason issue is the best cook ever. For my lunch she makes me a sandwich, fruit, vegetables and crackers. She sometimes makes me dessert like cookies and brownies. Next she is awesome at doing my hair. She does my hair every day, she makes me look beautiful and she always puts bows in my hair. Finally she is my best friend. She always hangs out with me. When there is no school she takes me shopping. Obviously that is why my Mom should be on the cover of People Magazine.

Love,

Rylee"

She is such a sweetheart and I love everything she wrote!

There were some things for the house that I have been wanting/needing from Bed Bath and Beyond and so I made a list for Kefford to make it easier on him of things he could have the kids get me for Mothers Day. I got a new paper towel roll, silicone muffin tins (my old ones are so old and rusted I wanted some that would not rust) and a doughnut maker from Ryker and Avynlea. I did not get the kitchen towels I had put on the list and I am guessing it's because they were online only and Kefford just went to the store. I was pretty happy with these three items and have already put them to good use!

Avynlea made me a magnet and some "why she loves me" tags at Activity days. At school the class were making keychains for their Moms. Avynlea originally had the idea to make a mickey keychain and got a little frustrated when more then half the class stole her idea. Her friend gave her the idea to change mine to mermaid fins. I love it! Such a cute and creative idea. I am just afraid to use it because I do not want it to get broken.

Kenedy got me some Nike running tights which I am super excited about. I have the exact same pair in blue and love that I now have a pink pair as well! 

Rylee picked out this Mickey necklace for me which was really sweet and she was so excited to give it to me!