Claire's Award Ceremony

Ms. Michaelsen's class had an award ceremony with all of the second graders. Claire was one of only two kids in her class to get Highest Honors. She also got The Super Reader award!

Claire and Allan were buddies this year - they worked together a lot and were both in the 800 level for reading.

Way to go Claire Bear! It is so nice to know that she loves learning and reading - now to keep it up over the summer :)

Miles' Kinder Graduation

Miles had his kindergarten graduation ceremony this week. His class performed several songs and I confess I got a bit teary when they sang this I Love You song. They all did a great job! Miles is on the far right, top row. 

Kinder Graduation from Shannon Hiller on Vimeo.

Miles' teacher this year was Mrs. Prince, but she was out the last month of the school year after having an operation to remove thyroid cancer. Ms. R (blonde hair) was her substitute. Mrs. Prince did come to the ceremony and we spoke with her afterwards - unfortunately her cancer has spread to her lymph nodes and she had to do more procedures, but she seemed confident she would be back next year.

When I grow up, I want to be... a Scientist! 

He was the only one to say Scientist in his class. Almost every other boy said police officer or firefighter.  He is an original, that Miles. He knows all of the 50 sight words needed to go into first grade, he likes math a lot and even chimes in with the answers on Claire's math homework sometimes. Miles insisted on wearing jeans almost every single day to school. All of his jeans have holes in BOTH knees but I let him wear them anyway. He wore a pair of khaki pants one day and came home with holes in them after just one recess. Not sure what the kid is playing out there on the blacktop but it's intense! All I know is that after a rough start to the year, he did a great job and he is ready for first grade!

Memorial Day Weekend

Matt and the kids went down to a timeshare that Betty had stayed in with a friend over the weekend and went swimming. Heated pools and 70 degree weather sounded divine, but I stayed home with Henry who was cranky pants. Plus I didn't want to put sunscreen on Henry - or wear a bathing suit... sigh.

But these little fish had fun and are excited for swim lessons this summer, or maybe even swim team this time.

Then everyone needed a nap. I like these snuggling photos - but what they don't show is all the noises that Henry makes when he is sleeping. He is super loud - grunting all the time!

He is pretty cute - I think we'll keep him!

We also had an earthquake over the long weekend - it was a 5 point something quake, and we felt it, but nothing too scary. This made me laugh:

My B-Day, or How the Heck am I 37 Already?

I had a good birthday - was properly spoiled and loved, and ate way too much food. Here's to a great 37th year!

Miles blew out all my candles - I made Matt light them again so I could blow them out properly. I deserve a wish!

Matt's Graduation! or The Day Matt Became a Master

Two years ago, Matt decided to go back to school to get a Masters degree in Accounting. Accounting? Are you sure? Accountants are serious students. These are the people that I have worked with for the past 7 years. People who often live up to the stereotypes of a bean counter, number cruncher and pocket-protecting wearing nerd who would rather sit at a desk than talk to people. This was NOT Matt by any stretch of the imagination. He is a yellow/white personality with a splash of C and D thrown in... a people person, someone who is the life of the party and likes to joke around and not be serious. But this is what he wanted to do.  He enjoyed his undergrad accounting classes and felt that accounting would be a profession always in demand, something stable with a chance to grow a career. I think he was right.

This day was a long time coming - looking back it seems like the time went by fairly fast, but in the middle of a semester or the start of finals week with papers and tests due amidst soccer games, my work schedule, and church responsibilities, the days seemed long. But his hard work has paid off. Matt has a job lined up with a large national accounting firm called McGladrey (Mc G as Matt calls it), and he starts in November as an Associate Auditor.  They want him to study for the CPA exam this summer and take a few of the tests before he starts work full time. More studying... I guess we should all never stop learning. Is it my turn to go back to school? :)

After graduation (where we snuck out before the undergrad students walked across the stage), we went to BJs for dinner with Betty. We picked up the kids from a friend's house and headed out in the van - I got to sit in the back with these crazies.

All in all, it was a very great day! I am happy Matt chose to walk in the graduation ceremony - I like marking occasions like this and not letting them pass by. I never understood the people who didn't want to walk - I went back to BYU four months after moving to Las Vegas to walk with my graduating class.  We are very proud of you Matt!

Penelope Turns 3!!

This little lady has been working on her #3 fingers in preparation for this day - she got it down just in time for her birthday! The thumb is the tricky part, and she takes it very seriously...

We woke her up with a birthday doughnut to start off her birthday.

And a present from Grandma May - Pumpkin, the Palace Pet that she has been asking for for months.

And then as is our tradition, she got to pick the food for her birthday. She chose McDonalds. Surprise! Mema met us for lunch and gave Penelope a few presents. It is so rewarding to watch Penelope open presents - she LOVES them and says thank you all on her own. As an example, this is a box of Doc Mc Stuffins fruit snacks that she is hugging. :)

Then we went to Outback for dinner - Penelope didn't suggest this one, technically, but she mainly only knows Cafe Rio and McDonalds so we wanted to change it up  bit.

We love this sassy girl - she is smart, loving and opinionated. She definitely fights to be heard over her siblings and she succeeds most of the time too. She loves being a "Big Sista" and helps me take care of Henry while "her kids" are at school. Happy Birthday Penelope!

Mr. Henry

We were trying out our new camera lens with some help from our friend Emily, and trying to take photos of Henry before Penelope invaded each shot. She loves this kiddo and wants to be next to him ALL the time! Henry puts up with it, and I try to as well. I want her to keep the role of #1 Big Sister!

Henry is doing great! I love to see his little legs getting chunkier each week. It makes me feel a little bit proud, but mostly blessed, that I am able to nurse him and help him to grow. He is sleeping better at night - his schedule seems to be shifting a bit. But still only about 3 hours of sleep between feedings. He smiles a lot and likes to be held- all the time if possible.

Field Day and Field Trips

Matt volunteered at the Kindergarten field day this year and Miles was so excited to have his dad at school. Claire's field day had been a week before, and though Matt didn't get selected for that event, he was able to chaperone her field trip to the Springs Preserve.  They only got one photo that day - on the bus ride.

Lots of water fun with his friends - Miles had a blast!

Henry and Miles

I still can't tell if Henry will have blue or brown eyes, but he definitely looks like he belongs around here. He resembles his brother in a lot of ways. Miles had a lot more hair than Henry, and his eyes were definitely brown from day one. But they have a similar eye shape with little wrinkles below their eyes, and they look alike in profile especially. You be the judge!

Miles

Henry

Miles

Henry

The Claire Bear

Claire wrote this card for my mom after she came to visit, and before I dropped it in the mail I took a few pictures so I could remember how cute it was.

And here is the talk Claire wrote all by herself to give at church - her topic was prophets and she chose who she wanted to talk about, researched it in her book of scripture stories. She did a great job!

Claire doesn't seem nervous to get up in front of people. In fact, she bore her testimony in front of the whole congregation this week (and I missed it, being at home with Henry). I never would have done that at her age - heck, I don't go up now!