PAYNE POSTS

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Month of June

We started off the month with our Primary Talent Show. Since I had to help be in charge of it and Ryan had to try and run the video camera and tackle Logan, poor El had to recap some of her talent for a photo op at home. She did gymnastics, we came up with a little routine show casing some of her sweet moves. She did such a great job. You could actually hear people say oh or wow when she did her one handed cartwheel. Bailey played the background music for her on the piano. It was a job well done by both of them.



Bailey and her BFF Sariah also decorated a cake to display as their talent. They both did a great job deciding what they wanted to do, and making it look fab. Good job girls!




School is finally out, it seemed like those last few weeks went on forever. The kids didn't seem to mind since it was mostly just doing a lot of fun things. We were actually able to have field day this year. Every year since Bailey started school the weather has always been awful on field day. This year it was perfect, not too hot but nice enough to enjoy being outside. I was able to be with both of the girls classes, it was fun to watch them do all of the fun activities.


Water games are a field day hit


Go Girls!!







Last Day of School

Ellie had her Kindergarten music program and graduation. They sang a few really cute songs, including Peanut, Peanut Butter and Jelly. Always a fan favorite. Ryan was late and Logan was awful during the entire thing. There is a pretty embarrassing story that goes along with this day, it includes me falling down, but I don't need to type it all out. It is burned in my memory FOREVER. The good news is Ellie didn't notice and she had a great time. Hopefully the video isn't too painful for her to watch in a few years. She had a great year in Kindergarten and loved her teacher Ms. T.



On the last day of school there is always a family picnic. It is fun to sit outside and watch all of the kids. They are so excited for summer and to have a break from school.



Bailey and her teacher Mrs. Cacioppo. She was perfect for Bailey, she had a good year.



This is Bailey's most awesome Girl Scout Leader that I spoke of in the previous post. She also works at the school. Love her, love her daughter and her granddaughters. Great family!!


Summer is Here!



Girls Trip to Denver


In the middle of June I took a little trip to Denver to meet up with two of my most favorite people, Sarah and Natalie. We met 8 years ago in Las Vegas while all of our husbands were in dental school together and have been good friends ever since. We haven't had a chance to hang out for a long time so it was so fun to just talk and catch up and spend a weekend without any kids (or husbands)!
We arrived Thursday afternoon and besides going to dinner and to Target, we literally just talked until 1:00 in the morning!
Friday we slept in, ate the continental breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the "Body Worlds" exhibit. It was really cool. Sarah and I spent 2 hours walking around looking and reading everything. Poor Natalie was 7 weeks pregnant and not feeling well so she just sat and waited for us- sorry, Natalie, for taking so long!


We then went to a really nice mall and did a little shopping. We ended up at The American Girl store where Nat and I bought some fun stuff for the girls. Sarah just walked around and dreamed about how fun it would be to have a reason to buy one of those cute dolls! Now she will get her chance :)
Look at all of our good finds!

We ate dinner at a restaurant called The White Chocolate Grill. The food was pretty good, but the dessert was amazing! This white chocolate brownie sundae was one of the best things I've ever eaten. Seriously so good. I still dream about it!!

Saturday morning we slept in again, ate our free breakfast and then got pedicures. We decided to get 4th of July nails and even though they were all totally different, they all turned out really cute! It was fun to go with people usually I just go by myself, it is much more enjoyable with good friends.


We then got lunch and did some more shopping. We stopped at a toy store and got some good stuff to take home to the kids. Can't go home empty handed after being gone for a weekend!
That night we headed downtown and ate at the Cheesecake Factory and then went to see a play that I had found called "Girls Only." It was a hilarious comedy about women. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! My abs honestly hurt the next day.


The whole show was put on by these two women. We didn't really know what to expect, but they were surprisingly able to carry the whole show. Definitely worth the money!


After the play we went to a place called "D Bar" which is a dessert restaurant owned by Food Network celebrity Keegan Gerhard. We were a little scared of the menu since none of it made sense to us, but everything was really good. It was the perfect way to end a perfect weekend!
I have eaten a lot of chocolate cake in my day, and this was hands down the best I have ever had. It was so yum!!

Sunday morning we had to get up early to catch our flights. Mine was delayed due to weather which was kind of annoying because once you get to the airport you are ready to be home, but it was kind of nice to just sit there and read my book by myself too.

The kids were really excited to see me and to get all of their fun surprises that I brought for them. Thanks to Sarah's husband Jon for coming up with the idea for the trip and thanks to Ryan for letting me go and for taking care of the kiddos while I was gone. It was a great time!


Father's Day

I love this picture. These kiddos love their daddy.


Ryan's hygienist got married at the end of the month. She has always been so sweet to the girls and very supportive of Ryan so we were happy to be a part of her special day.


The girls loved dancing under the gazebo

The Month of May

May is always a crazy month, here are some of the events that made it both fun and crazy......
We started out the month by finding out what we were having and much to my surprise
It's A Girl

I honestly was completely shocked I was convinced it was a boy. Ryan says he knew it was a girl but didn't want to tell me. So much for evening the score. I guess Logan will be in touch with his feminine side?? After the shock wore off..............we are excited. This little girl has thrown us for a loop from the beginning, I hope she doesn't give a us run for our money.

Happy Mothers Day

I am lucky to have these healthy, beautiful, crazy kids. I am happy I get to be their mom.




The kids and their friends thought they would start Spring/Summer of right by having a lemonade stand. They tried to make the lemonade from scratch and even added real lemons. They mixed it up in that bucket that they all kept tasting it out of. I don't think they sold much, thankfully, but they had a blast doing it and that's all that counts.


COOKING MOM


I had the opportunity to be the "cooking mom" for Ellie's kindergarten class. It was so much fun and the kids always looked forward to it. They were always disappointed if I was at class that day to do something other than cooking mom. Some of the kids in her class even called me cooking mom whenever they saw me. We tried to do things that coordinated with the letter they were on. We made mini pizzas, smoothies, granola, marshmallow octopus, and the final one of the year was letter Y. I felt like we had used yogurt a lot so I needed to come up with something else, plus it was the last one so I wanted it to be fun. At my sister suggestion, they made "you" or self portraits of themselves on sugar cookies. They all did a great job. I will miss being cooking mom. Ellie said, "I hope we have cooking mom in first grade."


Ellie's self portrait



Bailey had her bridging ceremony for Girl Scouts. She is no longer a Brownie :( She has had such a great time in this troop. Her troop leader is seriously amazing. Love her!! Bailey would be a Junior Scout now if she continued, but I think we will take a break. She has Activity Days, her leader is going to be less involved this year so I could be time to move on. I am hoping I can get her leader to do a troop Ellie's age.

Way to go Bay, what a cute Girl Scout you are.

Thanks to everyone for supporting her and buying cookies.

I am proud of her for all of the things she accomplished as a Girl Scout and the good friends and relationships that she made.


Miss Bay also had a busy soccer season. She played with a great team this spring. Her coach is awesome. We got lucky, that man was put on the earth to coach soccer. Bailey really improved and had a fun season. Her team won the championship. They lost won game all season and had to play that same team in the championship game, which they won. We have been playing that team for 3 or 4 seasons and came close to beating them a few times, but it was nice to get a victory. She really loved playing for Ice Purple. I think she will get to have the same coach in the fall, so we will see how that all plays out.


Sweet hardware


The team in action

Bailey, Megan and Natalie have played together for a few years. I am glad they were able to stay together when they got on this team. Cute girls!!




Bailey had her end of the year music program. She did a great job. She had a little one word solo and she was very into all of the songs, dances etc. She loves this type of thing. I could still sing most of the songs because she has been singing them around the house for quite some time.


3rd Grade Picnic

This year the 3rd graders decided to have an end of the year picnic. Our spring weather wasn't the best, so I am glad they had a good day. Ryan was able to come home for the afternoon so I could go help out, and I was glad that I did. It was fun to watch all the kids and help them play the games. Bay was a champ at the potato sack race, and she was a good sport in the 3 legged race when the only person left to pair up with was a boy she didn't really know. It was a fun day.


Memorial Day


The girls are in to wearing hats right now.





We didn't do anything to exciting for Memorial Day. Mel and Spence were in town looking for a place to live, so we just BBQ'd and hung out. It rained early in the day so I was glad that it cleared up in time to enjoy being outside. It did give Logan a good reason to wear his boots. He loves these things and every time we go to Target and he sees them for sale, he thinks all of them are his and yells "my boots, my boots" at the top of his lungs. Great fun. Good thing he looks so cute in "my boots."

May did not disappointed this year, always lots going on. Summer is on its way!!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Logan!!






L o g g y is 2



I can't believe this little guy has already been in our lives for 2 years, but at the same time I can hardly remember what it was like without him.
He got really excited about the party at Ellie's birthday so I knew he would be super excited for his special day. He LOVES cake!! He also gets really excited for the balloons, decorations and especially the candles.




He was pretty much speechless when he saw all of the "party" was centered around things that he loves. Choo choo's and hoops. I think he said choo choo a million times that day.


He had cancakes (pancakes) for breakfast, he is a fan of cake in any variety

After we took the kids to school he was so excited when we got back so he could see his choo choo party again, "there it is, my party, my choo choo party"



He decided to start opening this gift when no one was around. It was the Little People garage, he got it from my mom and dad. He loved helping Ryan put it together.


Another Loggy favorite for lunch, cheese and dot dog on his Thomas plate of course


When the girls got home and after he played cars with them for a little bit, we went and got some dinner. A fabulous meal at McDonald's, he said he wanted nuggets and dip (ketchup), it's his day!

After Bay's soccer game we went home for cake. He really did love this cake. I was a little worried that the front car looked more like a bus, but when he woke up from his nap and saw it, he said "my choo choo cake" so bus looking or not to him it was a choo choo.


Sneaking some nandy out of the train cars


He loved having us sing to him and blowing out the candle. He got some of his favorite things for gifts. A basketball hoop and more trains and tracks. He still plays with them regularly. He also got a mini John Deere tractor that has started a serious obsession. More on that later, it deserves its own post. He says that he is 2 but he still only holds up one finger. We are working on that.

Hey guys do I look like my dad?




Shootin Hoops

I love these two pictures of him playing trains because you can actually tell that he is saying choo choo, while he plays.




Love this little guy!



The next morning when he woke up, we could hear him downstairs saying something. When we came down we could tell he was saying "my choo choo cake yum yum" he was just helping himself to a little breakfast.

Things we Love about Logan

  • He makes me crazy and makes me laugh everyday. He is such a little boy and I love learning all that includes, but sometimes he really is out of control. He still gives me hugs and kisses whenever I ask though.
  • He gets so excited about life. He loves his surroundings, his bed, his house, outside, any animal, bus, or tractor that we pass. He takes it all in. He loves when dad comes home or when anyone who has been gone comes home, but especially dad.

Love you tons Logan!!