I have really great kids. I hate how I don't document very well what is going on with them personally more often. The last few days I have thought a lot about how fleeting this time in their life is and how I need to enjoy it more. I wish I would remember my thoughts when I walk in to the bathroom where my girls are showering, to find water puddling and running into the hallway carpet and speak softy instead of, "oh my gosh! Do you know what you are doing! THERE IS WATER EVERYWHERE! THE CURTAIN GOES ON THE INSIDE OF THE TUB!" I hope that's not all they remember about me. . .I hope they remember some good times.

Anyway, so back to my great kids, Aaron and I decided we would take a break with the whole dance thing this January. This would end up saving 3 days of week of taking the girls. We broke the news to them and it was anything but pleasant. They cried, I cried, it wasn't fair, EVERYONE else did it, and in the end I was sure I had made the wrong decision. Other moms could do it, why the heck couldn't I? But the girls came through and after about an hour a plan was made and we all knew it would work out somehow. I was so impressed with how the girls ultimately handled it and I was looking forward to a calmer schedule. I promised them we would start up in the beginning of April.

Time went by and it was amazing how nice it was to not be on the go almost everyday of the week. I wasn't yelling to find shoes, to buckle up, to make sure they had everything, "What, you forgot your ballet shoes??!!", "You don't have a coat, its 10 degrees outside??!!" It was soooo nice and the girls loved having more free time to just play. But April and the new session were approaching and we were getting excited to start up again, so I emailed the dance guy. His reply was, "oh no! we are full, you will just have to come this summer." I was so annoyed. . .how was I going to break this to the girls. I seriously couldn't sleep that night, so annoyed that I had needed to take a break and I felt so bad that I would let them down. The next day I told them and after a few questions, it was like they took a deep breath and then said, "ok, that's ok, we will just wait. . ." I was so proud of them. I knew Ashley had this schedule in her head of when she would take certain classes and how fast she would hopefully move up and she just took the bad news so well. As a mom there are so many moments when I wonder if I'm raising my kids okay, and then they respond like this and I just want to hug them and kiss them and make sure they realize how great they are.

I'm going to update who my kids are right now since I can't remember the last time I did it!

ASHLEY - 9

• She is a good student. She cruised through her speed multiplication and division tests. I just met with her teacher today who said, "If I had a classroom of Ashleys you could call us Harvard!"
  

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• She loves, loves, loves to read. And I love that she loves it, I hate to have to pull her away from books and I usually don't. It took her about 10 days to get through the first 5 Little House books. Its so fun to watch!
  

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• While we were gone on our cruise she was so good and took care of the things she was supposed to. My mom said that she was a rock while we were gone. I'm so grateful I can count on her while I am away.
  

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• She loves life and likes to do fun things. I was able to go with her class on a field trip to the fish hatchery and it was so fun to see her in that environment.
• She loves to be with friends any chance she gets.
  

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• She asks to make ice cream almost everyday. I hate the mess and so I tell her no all the time. When she finally does get to make it, its never that bad and they love it.
• She continues to do well on the violin.
• She is starting to get her own style. She knows how she wants her hair and certain outfits.
  
• She is so careful and never wants to do something if it isn't right. She also doesn't want me to do anything if it might be different or crazy.
  
• This makes her a great 'keep your eye on the kids while they are outside' kid cause I know she won't let Dallin or Wyatt do anything remotely dangerous.

Kailyn - 7

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• She is my free spirit. She always has something going on in her head.
  

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• She is the queen of pretending and making up games. I actually need to include Ashley in this because they are always in it together. Here they are playing The Amazing Race. Last night we were at the Johnson's home and Caylee was there watching Tangled with us. They had to check her blood a few times because she has diabetes. Kailyn came home and made her doll her own blood testing kit.
  

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• The girls talk and dream about their own room but when it comes down to it, they need each other. I think if they had their own room they would still end up together.
  

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• She is so incredibly helpful. She will randomly clean things or if I need her to get in and get something done she does it. She loves to help me with anything.
  

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• Again she is such a hard worker and a get it doner. When she gets a project in her head she works on it hard and fast until its done.
• She is getting the whole reading thing. The other night Aaron found both girls reading when they were supposed to be sleeping. It warms my heart.
• She has started violin and is doing great.
• She would still wear a dress everyday if I let her.
• She is my crafter. . .I can't keep up with all that is needed of me to keep her crafting. She is learning to sew and does great.
  

Wyatt - 4 1/2

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• He follows Aaron everywhere.
  
• He does so well if he has a job to do. He loves to water trees, pour ingredients, pick up by playing ski-jump, dusting, getting gopher holes ready, anytime he truly feels needed he's there.
  

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• He loves the snow. When he wakes up and sees it he thinks its time to put the Christmas tree up. He makes great snowballs, which then make great snowmen and snow forts.
  

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• His primary teacher made everyone in his class a scripture reading set. She drew pictures in the Book of Mormon to match cards which represent a scripture story. He LOVES to pull them out and 'read his scriptures'. He is getting very good at it.
  

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• Did I mention he LOVES to work outside?
  

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• He refers to grandmas and grandpas as 'your mom or dad' or Dad's mom or dad. If I tell him something about grandma he will say, "is that your mom, or Dad's mom?"
• He loves playing the Wii. I love/hate this. It is fun to watch him at it, he is pretty good, but I also hate having to monitor time limits. Sometimes its so easy to let that babysit him.
• He plays with his Thomas trains almost like dolls. I think he has watched enough Thomas movies that he's learned the vocabulary. So he has Thomas talk to Percy like they are best friends and he plays out these stories with his trains. I need to record it sometime. He parks them in their shades - under the china hutch. Its kind of fun to see these train faces poking out. He also lines them up in front of the computer so they can watch a show with him.
• He has finally started to eat what we eat. I have convinced him that it will help him grow strong muscles. As he eats he will hold out his arms and say, "See mom, my muscles are growing!" I love that he cleans up his plate now.

Dallin - 22 Months

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• He is so fun! He thinks he is as big as the other kids and can do what they can. He tries to play with Wyatt, which I make Wyatt let him, but Dallin just messes everything up. He is learning though. I watched Wyatt try to teach him how to follow his chopper along with a truck and he did pretty good. He also has learned where to dump the truck in the pit.
  

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• He LOVES to read with Wyatt and Aaron before bed. He has started to read Freight Train. He opens the book and says, "CHoo CHoo!"
  

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• He still looks like an angel while he sleeps. Sadly we are still working on sleeping through the whole night thing.
• He won't go to bed at night anymore. As I write this he is screaming in his room. . .
  

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• He loves both bears. He is so cuddly and I love it. I pick him up and he tucks his head on my shoulder and squeezes and pats and I just melt.
  

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• A couple months ago he found an open can in the garbage and cut his finger on the sharp exposed lid (what kind of mother doesn't own a safety can opener?). It was pretty deep, but we finally got it to quit bleeding and bandaged it up. He didn't know what the bandage was and he would examine it often. We also would ask him how his finger was and he would hold it up and show us. For a long time when Aaron would come home Dallin would come up and show him his finger even after it was all healed up. Sometimes he still studies it. . .

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• He is a dancer, he hears music and he starts shaking his hips. I think he might be our best baby dancer.
  
• He tries to get himself dressed. I am in love with this interest because Wyatt at 4 1/2 years old shows no interest in getting himself dressed - it takes crying and begging and bribing to get him to change his clothes. In this picture Dallin put Wyatt's shoes on all by himself. I'm not sure Wyatt has done that yet. . .
• He can say bubbles, noodles, more, milk, mom, dad, grandma and grandpa (kind of), yhea, go, hmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmmm those last three are how he mostly communicates with us. I think he thinks he is making perfect sense, but it just comes out as a bunch of hmmmmms.
• He is kind of growing. . .at his last doctors appointment he finally weighed 22 pounds. I was pretty excited about that.