Soccer tryouts

That's Lauren in the blue with the goal. The tryouts have consisted of a 2 week, 7v7 tournament involving 4 teams from her high school as well as teams from 7 other high schools. She has done well and her team has done well, but we are still waiting. First cuts will be made Thursday, final cuts sometime next week.

Keeping the tooth fairy in business...

...and because Sierra wants to do everything that Ashtyn does, here's a picture of her cute little haircut!

Keeping Busy

Wow! What a busy couple of weeks! I love summer and the slow-down lifestyle that we lead during these couple of months. But the lack of routine and keeping kids entertained can be exhausting! We are staying up later and getting less done. My house is a complete disaster and just simply keeping up with the laundry and keeping food in the house has been a challenge this summer. But what fun we have had! Sierra loves to help Lauren make cookies!

Last week our Stake held its annual family week. We are encouraged to eliminate tv, computers, and anything else that distracts from the time we spend together. All church meetings are cancelled during the week and we make time to have some fun family activities. We played games, painted fingernails, played outside, went to the pool, baked cookies, went bowling, worked together, and spent some fun time with other families in our ward. One of our favorite activities during this week is our parents vs. kids soccer game. It is always a lot of fun, even if the kids take the bragging rights for the year.Ashtyn has lost a couple of teeth this summer, but this one has to be the cutest. I love it when kids are missing their 2 front teeth! It makes such a cute little smile, but she's had a hard time eating corn on the cob! We're working on getting the 2nd front tooth out...maybe the tooth fairy will be visiting our house again tonight! Ash is keeping her busy this summer!
Mackenzie has contacts! She's has wanted to get rid of her glasses for a while now and with the braces too there was just too much going on with that sweet little face. The first couple of days were a little hard, but now she is doing really well with them.
We celebrated the 4th with Mark's family in Atlanta. We were able to watch the laser show at Stone Mountain, swim, go to the movies, play games, eat great food, and watch fireworks. Sierra also got her first haircut! I have been trying to talk her into it for awhile now, but she finally agreed and Aunt Diane was there to cut 3 or 4 inches off. It looks so much better and is so much easier to brush through. It was a great weekend! We always stay busy and have a good time when we visit.
And now we are in the middle of high school soccer team tryouts! The coach has coordinated a 7 v 7 tournament with several other schools and will use this as he picks his JV and Varsity teams. Lauren has had a great time and has played well. The tournament will continue through next week and we hope to know the outcome in time for the soccer team's car wash fundraiser next Saturday, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Spring Hill McDonalds.

No Fear

Sierra never ceases to amaze me! When I was told that she had a mild form of autism I cried and cried for days wondering what her life would be like, if she would fit in, be "normal"... It was a hard time. She was in a special ed preschool last year and really amazed me with her progress. Her speech is fantastic and she is so much more social. But I am still not sure how well she understands things. For this reason, I was hesitant to teach her how to swim. She loves the water and has no fear. She jumps in with her floaties and will put her face in the water without hesitation. On Monday I decided to take the floaties off and see what happened. Wouldn't you know it, but that little turkey stood there for a minute and then swam to Lauren! I'm talking face in the water, legs kicking, arms moving, going somewhere swimming! And she loved it. Within an hour she was swimming to Lauren in the 5 foot area and scaring me to death. I wish I had had my video camera with me, because I'm not sure Mark believed me or whether I believe it myself now. But watch out world! She's not going to let anything stop her from doing what she wants to do!

Life is ... ?

Most have probably noticed that I am a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl. I rarely dress up and don't even really own anything dressy, other than church clothes. When I go to shop for me I always end up with something resembling a t-shirt. The "Life is Good" t-shirts are my favorite. I love them! They are so simple and plain and sooo soft! I own several and wear them often. While we were at the beach this summer I found a new line and fell in love almost instantly. I was drawn to them, they sang to me! And I bought this one!

Needless to say, the "Life is Crap" shirt is not for everyone, or for every day, but there are several that I just have to have. And Mark can usually tell how my day has been as soon as he walks in the door!

As the mother of 4 daughters, this one is appropriate. Especially while travelling and using a rest stop!

Check them all out for a good laugh!

Because life is (not always) good!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am most thankful for a wonderful dental hygienist who took the time to help Sierra with her first visit. We had tried one other time and couldn't even get her to sit in the chair. We've been talking with her and helping her practice opening her mouth and had a very successful visit yesterday. 20 clean teeth, no cavities, a new toothbrush and 2 treats from the treasure box! Made my day!

I'm thankful for the Rec Center where my kids have been entertained for hours this week. They love the slides and fountains and I love the lifeguards who allow me an almost relaxing day at the pool.

Tonight is the last night of Lauren's conditioning with the high school girls soccer team, and Lauren is extremely grateful for that! She has worked muscles she didn't know she had and run more than she ever wanted to. She has 2 weeks off and then 3 weeks of tryouts. Cross your fingers and wish her luck!

The steroids I'm taking which are finally helping my foot heal after a little injury 6 weeks ago. A much better alternative to ditching the flip flops!

But I am most thankful for my fabulous husband who works so hard so that I can stay home with my girls. He is such a great dad and we are so lucky that he wants to be so involved in everything at home. He is a great coach, grill master, trampoline bouncer, swing pusher, sand castle builder, swimming pool player, ice cream scooper, Saturday morning breakfast cooker, dad and best friend. I must have done something right!

Imagine That

In the interest of maintaining my "good Mom" standing, I took my girls to a movie today. This one is so cute and my girls were all entertained. Now if I could just get my 2 little girls to ditch their blankies!

Camp Hulaco

What a wild couple of weeks we have had! Two days after we got home from the beach, Lauren and I were packed up again and headed for girls camp at Camp Hulaco in Alabama. This was my 2nd year going as a cabin mom and Lauren's 3rd year. We left early Tuesday morning to make it there before the other girls arrived and I was so happy to meet the girls in my cabin. I was to be with the 2nd years and had 2 of the best youth leaders in the bunch! They were great and we had a lot of fun. The weather was perfect, even a little bit cool at nights. The food was awesome, especially since I wasn't cooking it, and the activities planned were so fabulous. Everyone seemed to have a great time and the days went by fast. But in the end I was so very anxious to get home to my own bed and see my little girls! I missed them so much, even though I knew they were having a great time with a couple of terrific friends who agreed to help out.
Saturday we got up and took the kids to the zoo. There weren't a lot of people there, so we had a great time on the playground, got to feed the lorikeets and the little girls even rode the carousel. That night we decided to take the girls to the drive in to see "Up!" and "Night at the Museum 2". We were up late, but had a lot of fun. Needless to say, Sunday afternoon I needed (and got) a nice, long nap!