Spring Soccer Time!

Kylene is enjoying her second season of playing soccer. After two weeks of rained out games (the fields were too saturated/muddy), and a few weeks of very muddy practices, she finally had her first game on April 30th. Grandma and Grandpa Barney came to watch so we got lots of great shots. Here are a few of my favorites.

One of Kylene's coach's most frequent comments is that Kylene just won't stop smiling: any time she is out on the field, she has a huge grin on her face. She is loving it and every week asks me why the games aren't longer. I love the top right photo, right after she scored a goal.

Spencer and Skyler love being outside and getting to play with a soccer ball on the sidelines and eat as many graham crackers as they can during the games.

You can see the fields were still pretty muddy: Skyler slipped at one point and got a cute, muddy backside from it:). All the more fun, right?

Kylene is much more aggressive (or should I say much less shy about going after the ball) this season. She is quite adept at kicking the ball out away from everyone, then breaking away and taking it down the field. It is so fun to watch! Way to go, Kylene!

Kylene's Note to Mommy

Kylene of late has wanted us to write notes to one another and leave it under our pillows. I left her one last night and immediately after waking up this morning, she penned a reply. I saw her up in her bed working on it, so I was excited a short while later to find this note under my pillow:

"Dear mommy Thank you for the note. I like that you're our mother. I love you."

My heart melted! I was excited with how much she spelled correctly and how well she sounded out the words she didn't know how to spell. Later, she told me she copied some of the words from the note I had left her, then sounded out the others. I told her way to go on being resourceful! Anyway, I knew she could write, but this actually really surprised me. It is neatly written, includes proper spacing, has some upper and lower case letters, and mother is spelled remarkably well for being phonetic. (That is a difficult word to spell phonetically.) I was a proud mommy, not to mention feeling very loved!

(I didn't ever think she would "suffer" for being homeschooled in Kindergarten; however, moments like confirm it for me! Phew!)

Kylene is Six

Kylene woke up to find her new princess pop-up tent in the living room. She decided rather than breakfast in bed, she would have breakfast in her tent. Her choice of breakfast? Sausage and cold cereal; yum! (Actually, she ended up throwing all her sausage away, but it was still fun.)

In the afternoon, Kylene had a "doggie party." The highlights are pictured above; she chose to play "dog, dog bone" (rather than duck, duck, goose), Hide-and-go-seek, and "Pin the bone on the doggy's mouth." She also really wanted face painting so we threw that in there. She had a great time, loved the presents, and all the time with her friends. She even invited one of our babysitters, Margaret, who came and helped:). I think she had a fun birthday.

Fun with Tutu & Grandpa

Kyle's parents came to visit the week before Kylene's birthday. The kids always have a ball when they come. Kylene was especially thrilled to open her new princess snugglie from them for her birthday. Thanks, Tutu and Grandpa!

Soccer!

Yea for fall and soccer season! This is Kylene's first season participating in soccer. Here she is all ready for her first game last Saturday:

She loved it!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Kylene is officially a Kindergartner! It is hard to believe, but she was definitely ready. She is actually doing Kindergarten at home (yes, I am home schooling!), so here she is on her first day, backpack and all, although admittedly she hasn't much worn her backpack since then:). She still wanted to go buy one and all the school supplies, so Wal-Mart still got our business.

She wanted to start school the same day as all of her friends (although a month earlier she also told me she wanted to start then, so we did school work off and on as she wanted), so her first official day was September 14th. That also happened to be $4 day at the Oregon Zoo, so I figured: here is one of the perks of homeschooling right away: we can do what we want! And off we went to the zoo for the day. She had been begging to go all summer, so she was thrilled. Jana and Daniel were kind enough to join us (and it was a huge help to have another adult), so we had a lot of fun. (Our brand new camera was barely/sporadically working---another story, grrrr--so these are the best ones of the kids I could get. I'm leaving out the pictures of the animals, since you've all seen those before; sorry!)

Deciding to homeschool Kylene has been a long time in coming, and was a hard(er than it should have been) decision. But, all in all, it is going wonderfully well. Other than not having much of a break in my days, I love it and feel very good about our decision. It sure made it easy when we left four days after school started on a 10-day family vacation!

Although Kylene was super excited about being homeschooled at first (she was a very open part of the decision), that first week watching her friends go off to school was hard on her. "I want to go to regular school, mom." But after we left on our trip, and since returning home, she has not said a word about going to public school, and seems to love her Kindergarten experience thus far. She still has her regular play dates with her closest friends and is doing soccer for the first time and loving that. So, plenty of "social" opportunities. And I love the freeness of our days, the unique one-on-one time I get with her, the many "ah ha" moments we've already had together, and knowing exactly what she's learning. I love doing reading time in my bed, on the couch, on the floor, or anywhere else we want to. I love spontaneous "tea parties" for our "school snack" with water and the leftover "paint" from our pudding paint project. Yes, I know the year will have its ups and downs, and its "Why am I doing this again?" moments, but I love being my daughter's teacher as well as her mommy. She is one beautifully smart and intelligent daughter of God and I am so thankful to be her mom! Here's to a learning filled year, for her and me!

Kylene's Horse Club--A First!

A little background: last week and this, Kylene read her first official "chapter books". Two, cute readers about a first grader named Monty. In the first one, Monty decided he loved Kangaroos and wanted his own club. He wrote up his own rules and then had his first meeting, complete with his mom making refreshments.

Fast forward to this morning: we were talking about going to the library and she told me she wanted some books about horses. So while we were there, we went over to the non-fiction horse section and she randomly chose three or four that looked interesting to her. One of them was all about owning your own horse and taking care of it; the last page had a little, removable "certificate", saying that you are now an official member of the book's horse club. Flash of inspiration. Kylene decides she wants her own pony club. The rest of the afternoon is spent creating her "club", signs and other "membership" items for it, and discussing what will happen and who will be a part of it. (Just so you know, it's a "private" club, so only Kylene and her close friend, Rachel are invited! Nice.) Anyway, during dinner she said, "Mommy, I have a special favor to ask." Okay. "The next time we go to Winco, can we buy some special treats for our refreshments after our Horse Club meeting?" Hmmmm. Then after dinner, she asked me to write down some rules for her. Here is what she asked me to write, verbatim. (A few borrowed from Monty, keep in mind.)

RULES OF THE CLUB
1. Ride ponies whenever you see one and ask your mom.
2. Like ponies and take care of them if you have one.
3. Don't tell anyone about the club. (I had told her she couldn't exclude other friends if they were over to play with her and Rachel.)
4. Learn all you can about horses.
5. Always be kind to horses.
6. Listen and obey the officers. (This one definitely from Monty. "What are 'officers', mom?"!)
7. If you want, you can have another club. (Phew!)

Too cute. I guess because I remember all the "clubs" I made up with my girlfriends growing up, this is all very endearing to me. Thus it begins. My little girl is growing up!

Kylene's Ballet Recital

Kylene has been doing ballet once a week for the last 2-3 months. She signed up at the same time as two of her good friends, Rachel & Gwen, and it turned out they were the only students in that class! They have had a ball going each week and dancing and twirling together. It has worked out so well to carpool, and only have to drive every three weeks, although I must admit it was a bit of an adjustment (and another big step for me as the mommy) to "send off" my oldest on her own! I don't know that I am ready for Kindergarten, even if Kylene is!

The studio she attends holds a big dance recital in June, but since we started late (it usually runs the school year), and we are going to be out of town the weekend of the recital, Ms. Sara, her instructor, agreed to hold a special "recital" for Kylene's class. She taught them a very short dance which they performed and the remainder of the class time she had the girls show us what they had learned. Besides giving a talk in church, this was Kylene's first ever "performance". She was nervous but very brave, eventually relaxing and really enjoying herself. It was darling to watch her.

My parents came, so my dad kindly agreed to take a few pictures. As you may guess, I now have 253 great pictures to choose from! So, here are a few of my favorites (not in order).

I love this still shot of her, with the mirror showing her back.

The "grand" audience. Alyson, Brent, and family had arrived the day before from Colorado for our family reunion this next week, so they joined us! Yea for family!

Rachel, Kylene, Gwen preparing for pony gallops.

Getting ready.

Our Preschool Graduate

Kylene is officially "graduated"! Way to go, Kylene. You are definitely ready for Kindergarten!

For the graduation "ceremony", we had a fun field trip to the Oregon State Capitol. The children all went on a photo scavenger hunt around the Capitol grounds, stopping in the middle to go inside and see the rotunda, etc. We finished at a horse statue (one of the first circuit rider's in the West), had popsicles, then a small graduation ceremony (with Dollar Tree hats, certificates, and all)! The kids loved it. We ended with a picnic, then playing in the street fountain across from the Capitol.

Here are the kiddos on the steps right in front of the Capitol entrance.

Right after the ceremony.
Kylene, Jacob, Gwen, Emily, Gabe, Rachel

Lunch time.

Race Day

May 1st was the Salem-Keizer Foundation's Awesome 3000. Kylene ran the Pre-K race (300 meters) for the second time. (Next year she will make the big jump to 1,500 m; woo hoo!). Since she knew what was going to happen this year, she was really excited for the entire day. And of course, she loved being with her buddies.

Before the race with Gwen, Rachel, and Jacob.

Hudson, Andy, Zach, Kimball, Kylene and Spencer before the race. Spencer told me he didn't want to run so I didn't register him. Of course, the day of he wanted to, but such is life. He enjoyed eating graham crackers on the sidelines while Kylene ran.

Walking over to the starting line. Woo hoo, such excitement!

And they're off! I loved how Kylene & Rachel held hands the entire race. So darling.

After race medal! Way to go!

The family.

After the race, it's back to life as usual: play dates and more play dates! Her and Rachel just can't seem to get enough time together:).

Kylene's First Primary Talk

Kylene gave her first talk in Primary this past Sunday. Last Tuesday, I reminded her we needed to decide what she was going to say. She knew the subject was supposed to be on prophets but I had every intention of writing the talk for her and helping her read it. But she told me she knew what she wanted to say and immediately started telling me. After her first sentence, I jumped up and started typing it out on the computer. Here is what she told me, with little to no prompting from me:

Jesus Christ testified that Adam was our first prophet and Adam's wife would be named Eve. Jesus Christ also testified that we would come to earth and after we died we would be resurrected like Jesus Christ was.

President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. He also teaches us the Gospel. He teaches us that missionaries are on this earth. Also President Monson teaches us that we should be kind to one another. Also President Monson teaches us that Jesus came to earth before we were born and when He was on the earth, He helped people and He taught the Gospel. President Monson teaches us that we have to be baptized to live with Jesus Christ again.

I believe that prophets live and we should follow them. I know this Church is true and I know prophets live. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

She then wanted to practice reading it almost every day last week so, needless to say, she was very ready for Sunday. On Sunday she was nervous but I told her that was normal and I knew she could do it. And she did! She got up and spoke so clearly and read the entire thing herself. I stood beside her feeling a little bit conspicuous, in fact! It was so fun to see her have the courage to do it and have her express those thoughts so clearly. Kyle brought the two boys in and sat in the back and listened. I love the Gospel and the wonderful truths our children learn, but also I love the skills they begin learning at such a young age (in this case, public speaking).

Kylene

Kylene in the natural light. Compliments of my dad.

Kylene is Five!

Happy Birthday to Kylene Noelani today! We are so thankful she has been on this earth for five years. She is truly a light and joy to have in our home and is a wonderful big sister to her two little brothers. Her smile and eyes sparkling together light up a room and she is helpful, thoughtful, and kind. I don't know what I'd do without her "mothering", always watching over Skyler and teaching Spencer. This week she taught Spencer that when he coughs or sneezes, he should do it into his elbow rather than his hand; he is now doing it like a pro. I love listening to them laying in bed at night talking to one another in their bunk beds. It's amazing what she will explain to him.

When she found out her and Mickey Mouse share the same birthday, she decided she wanted a Mickey Mouse party; then it changed to a Minnie Mouse party, of course! I did my best to make her a Minnie Mouse cake and face, so we could play "pin the bow on Minnie Mouse." She was happy with it and had a wonderful little family party on Monday night (thanks for coming, Logan & Shayla!) and a very happy birthday today.

Opening presents.

Pin the bow on Minnie.

Dressed up to match her doll she received from Grandma & Grandpa Barney.

Happy Birthday, our beautiful girl from heaven!

Preschool & Pumpkin Patch

Kylene is participating in her second year of a preschool co-operative (moms take turn teaching). This year we have six kids participating: Jacob, Emily, Gabe, Rachel, Kylene, and Gwen. Kylene has really seemed to enjoy it thus far.

Last week was my first time teaching; we made these fun pumpkin "faces" on english muffins for our snack. (I love that they're so easy to please!)

This week was our field trip to the pumpkin patch (Fordyce Farms). Spencer and Skyler got to join us, of course.

Spencer running in the hay:

The preschool kids on top of the hay maze (two of the kiddos were sick that day).

The boys and me on the hayride:

Kylene riding on the pony.

Gwen & Kylene choosing their pumpkins.