Ryah is 6 months old!

Ryah turned 6 months on April 15.  She had her well-check appointment today.  All is good.  She is 14 pounds and 26.5 inches long.   (25% in weight, 75% in height)

She is already getting up on her hands and knees.  I am sure it won't be too long before she is crawling.  She is reaching out and trying to grab at everything.  She also manages to get where she wants to go by rolling around and/or rotating on her tummy.

We started her on rice cereal a couple of weeks ago and she loves it.  She is not so fond of fruits and veggies.  Hopefully that will change.

She even has 1 front tooth on the bottom that popped through today and the other one trying to.

I tried having her sit up using the bobby under the blanket but she apparently didn't like that idea.  As you can see, she was not happy about it. 

So after many attempts of calming her down and trying again,  I decided to just put her on her back.  Well...she liked that idea much better.

She then flipped to her tummy.  She likes tummy time.

Day Trip to Turner Falls

Matt and I were discussing the calendar last week and realized it had been a while since we've had a free Saturday.  Looking ahead, we realized that for the next 2 months we only have one Saturday that did not have anything planned.  Well that Saturday was today.  So we decided to go on a family day trip to Turner Falls in Davis, OK.  We had so much fun.  It was a great day to be outside.  The weather could not have been any better.  The kids are begging to go back already.   We hope to go camping next time we go.

When we arrived we drove through the entire park to check it all out.  We then stopped at a picnic area to let the kids explore the river while we got lunch ready.

After lunch we drove up to the high grounds that over looked the water fall.

This is Collings’ Castle.  While Ryah napped in the stroller, Matt and the kids explored the abandoned stone castle nestled right in the heart of the Arbuckle Mountains.

Matt took the kids on a hike to find the natural caves.  I stayed behind to feed Ryah and also to take pictures.

After their hike they really wanted to go swimming where the falls were but we did not go prepared to do so.  Plus the water is still really really cold.  Only a few crazy teenagers were in the water.  They did enjoy walking in the river though.  Liam ended up falling in several times.

Nia Soccer Practice

Nia had her 1st soccer practice this morning.  For being her 1st time to ever play, I thought she did great.  I was so proud of how hard she worked.  There are only 4 members on her team so she will get plenty of play time.  The other teammates are boys and of course she is the tallest.  That didn't seem to bother her.  She said she had a lot of fun.

Flying Kites

The kids were being a little rowdy inside after we finished homework today so I thought of an idea that I used with my preschool kids a couple of weeks ago. (I am not sure why I didn't do it sooner.) It kept them entertained for an hour until it was time to get ready for bed. I highly recommend it. All you do is tie a piece of string or yarn to a plastic shopping bag and let them fly it outside. I tied it to a silly band for the girls (I thought the yarn would continue to tighten around their wrists.). I tied it to Liam's belt loop. I didn't want them to fly away permanently. They had so much fun. Liam ran in circles almost the entire time. He should sleep good tonight. The girls ended up pretending they were dogs on a leash. It was a beautiful evening to be outside.

Check out the video.

Liam's Superman

Liam got his first Superman toy today. It is a McDonalds Happy meal toy. (I didn't want to cook tonight. We chose to go check the progress on our house instead.) You would have thought he won the lottery. He is such a boy. He new right what to do. Superman was flying in the air as soon as I put it in his hand. He must have learned that from the little boy of the friend that watches Liam for me while I work at the preschool because I know we have not seen superman in our house yet. We are still too girly around here.

Tonight was also the first time he has asked to sleep with any type of toy. (He doesn't even like sleeping with a pillow or blanket.) And of course it was his new superman toy. I just couldn't say no.

My beautiful kids!

I just love my kids and the beautiful bluebonnets.

On our way out to my parents' house for General Conference we decided to stop for a photo op. It would have been nice to have a less windy day. I was lucky to get a couple of shots without their faces covered in hair. Plus Nia just couldn't handle the wind in her eyes. She was wiping watery eyes after just a little while. Liam was finished after just two snapshots. He had no interest in the camera or sitting still for that matter. Ella was a good sport.

Maybe we will try again this Sunday.

Sledding!

Last year when it snowed the girls wished we had some sleds. So we bought some sleds for Christmas just in case we would get a chance to use them. Well, we were able to use them today. It rained Monday night and then by Tuesday morning it was freezing. It has been below freezing since then. Even into the teens. The girls missed school on Tuesday and today because of the icy roads. Matt got to stay home as well so we have enjoyed some family time. We decided to bundle up and go outside today. The driveway was a perfect place to use the sleds. Watch the video!

Look where I found Liam!

Liam must have climbed on top of my recliner and then climbed into the box. Amazing that he did it without tipping over. Once he was in, he called for me. As I approached, he ducked for cover. I went to get my camera and this is the shot I got as he jumped up.

Ella's Baptism

Ella’s baptism was wonderful. I am so proud of Ella’s decision to obey our Heavenly Father. The spirit today definitely testified to me again that this is what we need to be doing.

The day started off with a small breakfast and fast showers. Once everyone was ready, Ella’s primary teacher, Rachel Shipp, came to the house to do her hair. The braids looked great on Ella. We then drove to the church house. We arrived a little before 9:30 am. Luckily one of the members of the bishopric had already set up the room and filled the font. I just added a few finishing touches (i.e. table cloth, programs, guest sign in sheet, digital photo frame of pictures of Ella from birth ‘til now and set up the refreshment table.) Ella was so excited; therefore we also quickly got her dressed in her baptismal clothing so she could greet her guests.

The service was held in the Relief Society room because we were expecting about 40 people to attend. It was nice to see the room filled with so many of our family and friends. Everyone who participated did a marvelous job especially Nia who sang, “I am a Child of God” all by herself. Aunt Jenna conducted the opening and closing songs. Ella’s Grandmas gave the opening and closing prayers. Aunt Danna gave a talk on Baptism. Ella’s Grandpas were the witnesses of the baptism. Uncle Jacob gave a talk on The Holy Ghost. Those who were in the confirmation circle included: Great Uncle Mark, Great Uncle Merrill, Uncle Eric, Uncle Jacob, Grandpa Cody, and Grandpa Baird. And of course I am honored to have such a worthy husband to be able to perform the ordinances today. Ella chose all the participants and their role. It was nice to have so many of our family members contribute. Thanks to Brother Jones for playing the piano. I was scared that I might have too.

Afterwards we visited and celebrated with cookies that I had made. They were sugar cookies with almond flavored icing. Yummy! Each one had CTR written on them. CTR is an LDS motto and it stands for “Choose The Right”.

All the family joined us for lunch at Pei Wei, which needless to say was really good. The rest of the day consisted of playing games, resting and getting ready for the family dinner that night. We had taco salad with a lot of fixings plus leftover CTR cookies. It was nice that we were able to eat and play outside. We are finally getting a few glimpses of fall weather. But of course the bugs eventually found us and we moved inside. Once the kids were put to bed, all the adults spent the evening playing the game of “Scum”. We also had some Blue Bell ice cream that the guests from Utah bought for all of us to enjoy. They are deprived of the best ice cream in the country where they live.

Ella is 8!

Ella turned 8 today. We woke up this morning to a rainstorm. And of course Ella's party is scheduled to be at a park at 10am. We decided that we did not want to have to reschedule it so we decided to make the best of it. Luckily most of her friends decided to do the same. We had a great turn out (12 of her friends plus family).

She picked "Peace" as a theme. Each girl was given a peace sign necklace when they arrived. Ella wore a tie dye shirt. We decorated with tie dye balloons and primary color table cloths. The paper goods were tie dye as well with peace signs. It rained pretty much the entire time, but the girls didn't seem to care. After they played on the playground equipment for a while it started to thunder, so we decided to play some games under the pavilion. They played a Hula Hoop Game, Duck Duck Goose standing up and Silent Ball. We were hoping to play some field games but the girls had fun playing these just as well. After the games, we served hot dogs, grapes and chips. They played a little bit more in the rain before Ella opened her presents. Ella loved them all. We served cookies instead of cake. I have to say they were awesome. I made them and decorated them with a peace sign and wrote "from Ella" on each one. Ella helped a little, but it still took forever, but it was well worth it. They then played some more on the playground and took a walk in the rain until all the girls left.

It was a great success even though it was raining. Except we forgot to sing "Happy Birthday" so Grandma and Grandpa sang to her on the way back home.

Nia is 5!

Nia turned 5 today!

Aunt Jenna helped Matt decorate the house last night because I had a volleyball game. It looked good.

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning so I dragged all the kids to that and then I treated them to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

We then spent the afternoon at home playing and making mini-cupcakes.

Nia wanted pizza for dinner so we decided to take the family to CiCi’s. It was easier than making a mess at home. The McMurdies met us there as well. Tyler and Nia are best buds.

Afterwards we went home where my parents, Tyler McMurdie’s family and Sade Peterson’s family joined us for cupcakes and ice cream. The kids got to play for about an hour together.

All and all it was stress free and Nia enjoyed her birthday.

Campfire Songs

I am the Stake Primary Music Leader so I was asked to teach the 8-11 year old girls some camp songs at the Stake Activity Day Girls event today.

Ella and I spent the last few weeks learning the following songs: "Little Green Frog", "The Milk Song", "Rise and Shine", "I Love the Mountains", "Baby Shark", "Boom Chicka Boom", and "If All The Raindrops". We sang them so much that I went to be with them in my head and I woke up with them in my head as well. I wanted to be prepared so I could sing/teach them to the girls without looking at the words. They divided the girls into 3 groups of about 30. I was one 1 of 3 rotations the groups went to. I think everyone had a great time and so did I. I was exhausted when it was all over with though. Ella was amazing. She loves to sing and was a great help to me.

My friend, Amy, gave me the idea to create a campfire in the room. Of course, it didn't even cross my mind to do such a thing. But with her idea and Matt's convincing, I decided to do it. I think it worked out pretty good. After cutting the tissue paper, I taped it to a fan and then tipped the fan upwards.