9!!

SOOOOO exciting:

And nothing but a Captain America cake would do:)  The boys in this house, including their father, are very into Captain America:

Nolan is such a fun kid to have around and I really enjoy this age!

Belle's project

Isabelle worked hard on an end of year project that I never got on the blog.  She and her friends studied about WWII, and these are pictures from when they presented.  I wanted to get this into our family history because I love her friends and the fun people that they are.  They sure do get together a lot (under the guise of needing to work on school projects) and they have a great time together!:

Brynlee Stewart, Ella Bjornn, Emma Gilbert and Isabelle

Ella Bjornn, Gracie Rowe and Isabelle:

Abe's soccer season ends

Abram is always enthusiastic about everything that he does.  It was so fun to watch him in soccer this season.  I love to watch Nolan, too!  His games have gotten pretty exciting, and I guess that's the only excuse I have for not taking pictures...

hair and skin

It's no secret that Maddie has gorgeous hair.  I love the unique color that it is and that it is so incredibly thick and beautifully curly.  Maddie finally likes her hair just fine, too, but she also really enjoys straightening it from time-to-time because she can do so many things with it.  She can be seen running her fingers through it at any given moment when it is straight, but she also does the most amazing hair-dos.  Which is really great for her, because her little sister IS NOT good about cooperating and letting her play with her hair.

I should probably take pictures of ALL the cool hair-do's she does.  I think she said this one is an eleven strand braid?!!!:

And it may be a sign that I am getting older, and I am noticing changes in my own; lately when I look at her I always notice her lovely skin:

Really rolling in the dough...

in more ways than one! Isabelle's been baking AND earning money:)

Isabelle is very motivated about making money right now.  And she is finding every chance she gets to work on making her bank account grow.  She has watered plants for neighbors who go out of town and made $42.00 so far doing that. Her biggest money maker thus far, however, has been her baked food sales.  She has participated in three so far, and made about another $50.00 doing that. Her friends have also walked away with that much - not bad for a ten year old!

The first time, she held one with her friend Ella Bjorn in Ella's neighborhood.  Then she held one in our neighborhood with her cousin Ainsley, and then in Ainsley's neighborhood the day after that.  I got some pictures of the one by our house:

They picked a very windy day to do this and had to keep everything covered up so that it wouldn't dry out!  They baked food all morning and finally got this all set up around 3:00:

The boys cracked out their walkie talkies and did all of the running around for the girls in exchange for free treats:

She and some more friends have more bake sales planned in more neighborhoods, and she is also looking forward to picking and selling raspberries at her grandparents this summer.

All of this money earning is so good for her.  She is really learning how to budget and save for things she wants.  She pays her tithing (10%), puts 60% in the bank and saves up for things she REALLY wants with the rest.  Her first purchase was a pair of sunglasses.  Now she is saving up to go to the water park:)

Meanwhile, she is sure spending a lot of time in this one:

I could find her swimming in the pond almost every day there for awhile:)

She really kicked it!

 Maddie just got back, with her team, from soccer camp at SUU, and Isabelle did her usual wecome home:

So sweet! She had decor, all around this sign, hanging from Maddie's bedroom door.  She did something similar for Caden last week, when he was gone for Boy's State.


Spring soccer is officially over.  This was a good little team, and they had a nice ending to the season because they ended up winning the last tournament of the year!

So exciting for the team!  It has been a fun season watching them play.

And fun to watch Pace enjoy the games in his own special way:

...making friends with complete strangers;)

happy

I was reading out on the porch this evening when Pace came and got me.  He said, "Bunny!"  and motioned for me to follow him.  We have a lot of wild rabbits hopping around in our side and back yard all the time, and I thought that was what he wanted me to see.  But there, on the ground under the garage windows was a tiny little bunny. I have NO idea how it got there, but our cat kills them all the time, so the kids knew it needed to be protected right away.  It's the size of a mouse and still doesn't have it's eyes open, so I am surprised Pace could recognize it for what it is!

Anyway, if we can keep it alive, I suppose this is a new pet (sigh).  Pace is very taken with it and has informed everyone that it is "MINE!!!"  and says it's name is Happy.