Kindergarten Wrap Up

Summer is in full swing already around here but it was just earlier this month that Carter "promoted" from kindergarten. We switched his school when we moved and have been so happy with his new school! At the promotion ceremony, the kids sang the school song and I have to admit getting teary eyed--schools were a big factor in our decision to move and I feel so blessed.


At the honor roll assembly before getting his award (just have to mention that I was at work that night so Danny had to rush home from work, pick up kids and get them there all on time--he's a stud)






Carter was on the Principal's Honor Roll--he loves to learn!


At promotion


The note regarding promotion said to have the kids dress nicely, so we had him dress that way. He was mortified when he saw other kids not dressed up. He calmed down when he saw all the girls were in dresses and one of the boys was in a lava-lava.:)


Love those freckles!


Receiving his diploma (ha ha)


We are so glad Nana was able to join us that morning


And this picture is just so sweet


Danny took Claire and tired William home before the end of the ceremony and then Carter and I just walked home so we didn't get a family photo


With his great teacher--I should add that we really loved his teacher at his previous school. Carter always says how great she is and how she taught him to read!

Memorial Day 2011

We started our memorial week when we visited the Riverside National Cemetery last Sunday morning. We enjoyed the beautiful grounds and, more importantly, speaking with our children about sacrifice, honor, freedom and the terrible reality of war. Of course our children are still quite young so the conversation was simple, but they understood the key points.

From May 2011

Carter and I reading the grave stones and discussing names, dates and the World Wars. He asked the logical question a child might ask, "When is World War III?"

From May 2011

William enjoyed walking around although the grass was so thick it swallowed his chubby little feet.

I wouldn't have posted this, but Sarah insisted.

Claire being Claire.

Will is ever pointing the way...to what he wants.

Carter helping us out with William...and ensuring he will soon have a full diaper.

On the way out we were struck by all of the flags; too bad we didn't get a photo of the cemetery today, it looked spectacular as we drove past.

Carter and Claire preparing to pose for the Memorial Day outfit shots at Grandma and Poppa's. As you can see, this shoot was doomed before it ever started.

William bails immediately.

Carter is enjoying the meltdown for some strange reason and Claire appears indifferent.

He's done...

And Claire declares the sun to be simply too much.

And we've lost #2...and I argue it was a success. We captured our children as they often are and we managed to display their outfits.

This morning's preparations and yard work included a visit by my every-helpful father-in-law who put up another mini-fence in order to ensure our pool is securely gated off to prevent children drowning.

Sarah looking content (and cute) at our little family get-together today out back.

My mom also looking pretty and content.

We also took the chance to celebrate our amazing niece Ella's fifth birthday.

Claire handled it all fairly well. Ella shared very well which made things go much more smoothly.

My dad and Ned playing with their cameras. They never figured out how to turn them on.

All in all we had a great day remembering loved ones who've gone before and those who sacrificed all for our freedoms. I wish I would have snapped more photos, but I know many other shots were taken and we look forward to seeing them.

Just another Manic Monday

I finally printed 2008's blog book and it has inspired me to get back to blogging. As I drove around today, I thought I should document what a "day in the life of" is for me right now. I know it will be too soon that the kids will be gone and all I do in a day is go to work, or read, work around the house, go shopping, etc (that sounds really nice;)).

-Awoke to the alarm clock at 6:15

-Read the scriptures

-Ran 4.8 miles

-Made breakfast and lunches, kissed Danny and Carter good-bye (it is always so nice when Danny can take him to school)

-Cleaned the kitchen

-Used Amber's carpet cleaner to clean the floor in Claire's room that she urninated on recently (that's a whole different post), cleaned the rugs and sectional

-Put Will down for a nap, showered and got dressed

-Went to leave and found a dead battery in the van

-Called Shonda who was watching my kids so I could volunteer in Carter's class

-Went to the neighbors for help and called Shonda again so she could come jump the van and pick up my kids (thanks again!)

-Got van started, kids left, volunteered in Carter's class

-Picked up kids, got gas

-Came home, made lunch, got box in mail of slipcovers, threw slipcovers on the recently purchased DI couch and loveseat ($90!)

-Picked up Carter from school

-Came home, April & Wes (who happened to be off work sick today) came over to watch all the kids so I could go to the orthodontist

-Got my braces off!

My orthodontist and I in my "after" picture

-Came home and got to relax and visit with April and Wes while kids played

-Made dinner and cookies for work potluck tomorrow

-Ate dinner

-Had family night--a lesson on the warmth the Spirit brings (evidenced by a warm towel) versus no spirit (sandpaper in the freezer) [an idea I got from this book I just finished reading] and activity of planting our spring garden and trimming some overgrown palms

-Baths for kiddos

-Bedtime routine (milk, brush teeth, scripture story, prayer, more stories in bed)

-Sing the Hallelujah Chorus

-Clean the kitchen again

-Ordered a laptop power cord for a greater ease of future blog posts

-Decompress with my sweet hubby

-Blog post

-soon enough--bed!

It is a manic life with little ones but it is oh, so worth it. There are four people who I get up each morning willing to endure mania for and I am so grateful they are mine!!

Pictures from Easter Sunday

I also have to add how grateful I felt today for my husband's great job with excellent benefits as braces are not cheap but I am so glad I was able to get them!

I heart DT:)

Quick Update

We've moved! We still have our little house on Blaine which is now being leased to some friends of our neighbors who live next door (right next to the church there) and have moved into a home about 15 min. away in Riverside in an area called Orangecrest . It's right next to the elementary and middle schools and a five minute walk away from a large park and library branch. The home was built in 1991 and is good shape but needs new paint in many areas. We painted the family room and are going to tackle the downstairs guest room/office. Painting always seems like it's going to be easier than it ends up being...or is that just us? We're also taking our time unboxing everything so we can organize it properly. It's very nice to have more storage space!

Carter loves his new school (Tomas Rivera), Claire is still going to FUMPS pre-school on Brockton which is helping with the transition and Will, well, Will's learning and growing at an amazing rate. Right now he loves to say "Uh oh!" and "Hi!" to everyone in earshot, especially strangers at the store. He garnishes a lot of attention with his bright blond hair, porcelain skin and blue eyes.

I am excited to get back to work since there's so much to do, especially since my colleague Nazle is now off on maternity leave which leaves me with ALL the secondary schools's ELA departments.

Sarah is Sarah, aka super mom. She doesn't set out to be super mom, she just embodies the role naturally. Up and exercising before I crawl out of bed, working per diem at Kaiser hospital in South Fontana and spending every other minute nurturing the kids and running the household, a full-time job that I got to help out with a lot more this week and, as usual, taught me a whole new level of respect for what parents do who stay at home. Yes, Carter is a sharp little reader and we owe a lot of that to Mrs. Camarillo at Hyatt, but Sarah has been so dedicated to reading and homework time and it's already paying off.

We already miss being so close to all of our friends and neighbors in the university heights area and miss Hyatt (Mrs. Camarillo) but we know we'll adjust to this area soon and feel blessed to have some more room. Now if my commute just hadn't grown by 15 minutes! :)

Carter D. Todd is Six!

Carter's birthday started out with pancakes and smoothies for breakfast before school. My favorite thing about our birthday breakfast tradition is the look of joy on the face of the child whose birthday it is not when they give the birthday child a gift. Teaching children to be generous and unselfish can be difficult but these little moments add up in a lifetime. This picture shows my point.

We got Carter a lamp for his bed to read at night and he has used it every night since!

William covered in breakfast.

Carter decided he wanted to go ice skating for his birthday. This year we decided he could invite a few friends to join him. He chose his good friend, Sam and his "best cousin," Ryan. Here are the three of them elated for ice skating:

(Sam's sister and Claire's good friend, Lucy, is just as excited in the background)

Before we could ice skate, though, we had pizza and this cute cake.

I asked my mom to help with the cake because I knew I wouldn't have time to make one myself and she went to a lady in her ward who made this ice skating cake which, I might add, was delicious!

And, there were presents to open as well.

Carter insisted on inviting Monique, a very special young woman who occasionally helps out our family, to his party. Daniel and I have a few hour overlap when I work and Monique watches the kids. She is such a sweetheart and we are sad she is leaving to WA next month but excited for her (thankfully, she has a younger sister who can take over for her:) )

With Lucy and Sam

Cute cousins, who both look so, so sweet in the picture! Ryan is wearing a helmet for ice skating, BTW:)

Ella and Carter with Claire and Lucy getting in on the photo as well!

Carter with Nana. Boppy was busy during the party but took Carter out for a birthday lunch earlier in the day and gave him his first set of golf clubs. They are so cute and we are excited for him to try them out.

Grandma and Papa got Carter his first pair of roller skates and he has been a roller skating maniac since then! Well, he doesn't really skate...but he rolls a little.

The boys took the ice with super trooper Daniel. I give him props, I would have definitely fallen especially trying to help the boys! They all hit the ice more times than we could count, but there were no tears. These are some tough boys!

I really didn't get any great shots of Carter, but he had a great time. He thought he was going to be able to go out there and skate with no problem. Instead, he fell a million times and refused help as much as possible. By the end, he literally crawled off the ice! He loved it though, and wants to do it again. Ryan and Sam both started off a bit more timid than Carter but ended up skating well by the end!

We are so grateful for friends and family who join us on the journey of raising this sweet boy, Carter. Here's six of his greatest attributes:

--he is SMART!

--he is CURIOUS!

--he is THOUGHTFUL!

--he is KIND!

--he is HELPFUL!

--he is CUTE!

Melissa & Jeremy with Noah in hand Maddie in tummy:)

Uncle Eric & Aunt Sydnee

Kollin & Asher--such cute boys

We love him and are so blessed to have him as our oldest child. Thank you to all of our family and friends who are not pictured here (Julians, Alemans, Brobergs, Ottosens, etc.) who made his birthday special. So, despite the weather, thanks to everyone who came and helped us make Carter's day special.