Dallin's 2nd Grade Program

Dallin had his 2nd grade program this past Friday.
This was one of his parts to hold the big South sign!:)

This was his other part....his speaking part....it was a line of a poem. He did so good!! They also sang a few songs and he did great on those too. I LOVE watching my kids learn and grow. Dallin has loved 2nd grade, but we are glad it is only days away from being over!

Now....for Mothers Day!

My 4 sweet kids came upstairs yesterday morning flooding me with gifts they have made at school and activity days. I was given painted flowers, a flower bow for my hair, planted flowers and paper flowers with chores they would do written on them. I was also given love notes - which I LOVED! My favorite gift of the day though came from my sweet little 4 year old Laiklie....she carried out from her room an old wrinkled 1st Place Blue Ribbon and handed it to me. "Dis is for you for Moders Day Mom......It says Oakleys name on it doe (though). but dats okay." I LOVED it!! She thought I was 1st place mother!:) She is also the one that gave me the very best compliment over mothers day weekend. On Saturday evening she asked me to put this super long piece of material in her hair so that she could play Rapunzel and after I finished attaching it to her hair she said, "Did you use you mommy magic to put dis in my hair?" SHE THINKS I HAVE MOMMY MAGIC! What a compliment!!:)

We got to spend Sunday afternoon at our mom's homes. Ryan and I are so blessed to have the mothers that we have. They have been amazing examples to us. We have been very loved, well taught, cared and nurtured and prayed for over and over by these two beautiful women and we are eternally grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who blessed us by allowing us to be their children.

I told my kids yesterday that they could give me gift after gift after gift and they still wouldn't be able to top the very best gift I have already been given and that is TO BE THEIR MOTHER! The fact that Heavenly Father loves me enough to entrust them into my care is a gift far greater than any other gift imaginable. My four beautiful babies are my very most precious jewels and the fact that I am even their mother is greater than anything I could ever ask for!

Puffer Face Contest

OAKLEY

DALLIN

RHETT

LAIKLIE

The kids decided to have a Puffer Face Contest the other night. I was laughing SO HARD! They all look sooo different all puffed up! Ha, Ha!! You can decide who wins!

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend. The sun was FINALLY shining and the wind was FINALLY done blowing (for 2 days....don't worry....we are back to windy!! Ugh!). On Saturday morning we had our Annual Hawkins Cousin Easter Egg Hunt and Breakfast. This year we decided the kids were too big to just pick the eggs up off the grass, so we had the egg hunt in the pasture. They LOVED it! They actually had to LOOK for the eggs. It was so much fun!

In the picture is Ryan's dad - Grandpa Hawkins - he picked up this water trough and told the kids it was "his Easter Basket" and that he just needed a "5 minute headstart." The kids laughed and laughed! What a fun grandpa!
My grandma Murdock has been in the hospital this past week waiting for back surgery. On Sunday we had Stake Conference so we decided as soon as it was over to run in and let the kids see her. She was SO EXCITED to have some Easter company and LOVED the girls new Easter dresses!

I LOVE this picture of "MY CREW!" With these 4 sweet kids (Dallin hiding behind Ry) and 1 giant man I can do anything in this world! They are definitely my very most prized possessions!!

At this time of year I love reflecting on the things that the Savior did for us and the True meaning of the Easter holiday. I KNOW MY SAVIOR LIVES! I KNOW HE DIED FOR ME AND FOR MY FAMILY AND THAT BECAUSE OF HIM DOING SO WE CAN BE RESURRECTED AS HE WAS! I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THE KNOWLEDGE I HAVE OF ETERNAL LIFE AND KNOW THAT IT IS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST THAT WE CAN ACHIEVE IT!

Ward Talent Show

Every month our ward puts on a community potluck. They decided this time to add a primary talent show to the potluck. My kids have looked forward to it since the primary president announced it a few weeks ago. Those of you that know us know that I have some fairly shy kids so I was BLOWN AWAY when they all wanted to be in it! We have had several talent shows for FHE (some super funny ones - I might add) and so I guess in their minds talent shows ROCK!!Oakley danced 2 of her clogging solos. The only pictures we have of her dancing are some more of those super fuzzy ones....so, here is the pre-dance. Yes, that is me the one on the right in the background (I know I've got my "chub on" over the winter....no comments please!) I was having to hold down the cardboard we made her dance on since they just refinished the gym floor. We didn't want to be responsible for scratching that up!Dallin dribbled the basketball with one of his best friends Carson. The only picture I got of the actual dribbling was of Dallin's back...so here is the only picture I got of his front.Rhett decided he wanted to jump rope and is actually a really good jump roper. He got a little nervous just before time to perform....which I had kind of anticipated....so luckily I brought 2 ropes and he enlisted the help of his friend Nathan to jump rope also. At one point his pants were falling down as he was jumping so he reached down and did a full jump-pant-pull-up all in one! :) LOVED IT!Laiklie (and McKenzie - a neighbor girl I have at my house quiet often - the one in the background) decided they wanted to hopscotch. I took our foam hopscotch for them and they were super cute too!

The potluck was well attended and the talent show was full of everything from pogo-stick to a boy scout skit to a cheerleading lift! We loved every minute of it and hope they make it an annual affair at the potluck.

Science Fair

Our elementary had their science fair this week and most teachers let the kids choose if they want to do a project....but, Oakley's teacher required them to. Luckily he let them work with partners. I HATE SCIENCE FAIR!! It is seriously NOT MY DEAL!! BUT....this working with a partner thing was SO MUCH BETTER!!

Oakley and her little friend Katie chose to work together and the decided to do their project on Water Electrolysis. You hook a battery up to some pencil leads and there are two kinds of gases in water and the one clings to one pencil and the other to the other pencil. You can see the little bubbles on the pencil on the right. It worked! Yay!

Not only did it work, BUT....they got 3RD PLACE! They were SO EXCITED! Oakley was very surprised because some of her friends had some pretty neat projects. It makes me proud of her and the work her and Katie put into it. Way to go Science Girlies!!

HOEDOWN THROWDOWN

Last night was Oakley, Rhett and Laiklie's spring dance recital. They were excited about it, and since it was Rhett's 1st recital he was extremely nervous. Infact, as I was curling the girls hair to go he came in the bathroom and told me that he had gone in his room and said a little prayer so he wouldn't be nervous! EXTREMELY PROUD MOMMY MOMENT! I am so glad that something that I have taught my children - the fact we can pray anytime, anywhere, about anything - has stuck!! Yay!

Since I just posted pictures of Oakley clogging a few weeks ago I decided that I would just post pictures of my little ones! Sorry about the crappy lighting. That comes with dance recital pictures! Laiklie is the one on the left and Rhett on the right. This dance is called "Get Your Jammies On" and so they are wearing their pj's and have their stuffed animals for the end of the dance. It is a super cute dance. The giant hand you can see in the picture is their teacher....she sits at the front of the stage and helps them through the dance. They did great! This dance "Old McDonald" (a rap version of it....SUPER CUTE!) was the hit of the night. The crowd LOVED all the little animals doing their thing! Rhett is the one and only cow and Laiklie is one of the sheep....the 2nd in from the right. This is Laiklie in her Sheep costume. She NEVER smiles and thinks for some reason that she had to keep her chin in costume at all time! :) There is a part of the dance where her and the other sheep come out and shake their little tails and it was SO STINKING CUTE! Here is FUZZY Rhett. Sorry...fuzz also comes with dance recital pictures!

Oakley danced her 2 dances and then her 5 solos and did great on all....LIKE USUAL!

The teacher taught all her students the "Hoedown Throwdown" from Miley Cyrus and that was the grand finale. It was a fun night and I was sure proud of all 3 of my little cloggers! We finished the night off with ice cream cones before bedtime! If you look close you can see ice cream all the way down her chin!

Sleeve Napkin! Duh!!Dallin likes to purposely get an ice cream mustache.Smiley!!

*Here is just a little clip of Rhett and Laiklie dancing "Get Your Jammies On!"

Blastoff

This coming July will be 3 years since Ryan and I had the opportunity to go on Trek with our stake. We got to be the ma and pa to a group of amazing (and drama filled) teenagers. One of the teenagers we were able to be ma and pa to was a young woman named Shae. Shae was handpicked for our "trek family" because she has Type 1 Diabetes....something Ryan and I know a little bit about! Shae is now a senior in high school and for her senior project she did a gathering for all the T1 diabetic kids and their families. We were invited to BLASTOFF! Blastoff is one of my kids VERY FAVORITE PLACES EVER!! I love this picture of my ratty haired - messy faced baby! You can see she was in heaven!:) Rhett showing his sliding SKILLS!

They opened the entire facility to the T1 diabetics and their families. Usually you have to pay separate to rock climb, mini golf and laser tag. The three big kids rock climbed over and over and did some mini golf. The laser tag line was too long! I LOVE this picture of Rhett looking up to see HOW MUCH FURTHER he has to go!

It kind of surprised me that Dallin was a little hesitant to try the rock climbing and would only try it after he saw big sister Oakley and little brother Rhett try. He LOVED it though and once he started didn't want to stop.

And here is our little T1 diabetic herself. It is only because of this sweet girl and this disease that has affected every minute of her life that we were even invited to this event. (I would choose not being invited over diabetes ANY DAY!!) I am SO GRATEFUL for the chance Ryan and I got to meet Shae and be a part of her life. She is an amazing young woman and I hope Oakley can continue to make a difference in others lives the way Shae has.