A Stilted Rodeo

Okay, so the rodeo wasn't really stilted, I'm just not very clever at titles!

Last week, Lylli and Layla went to the college rodeo with their Nana! They always love doing that! Lylli has been asking me for a couple weeks if we had missed it. But fortunately, we didn't and they were able to go! And somehow, they talked their Nana into getting them cowgirl hats. And they got one for Seryn too.

Lylli doing her model pose. (I told her to look cute, and this is what happened.)
And here's Layla, just being Layla.

And isn't Miss Seryn adorable?!
As most of you know, we closed on our house on the 19th. We are now staying with my parents for a while. Anyway, after we had finished moving things, Shane wandered out to my parents shed and found my dad's old stilts. He decided to try them out!
He got up on them...
But they weren't as easy as he thought they'd be. Still, he was able to take a few steps.
Dad's still pretty good. He says it's like riding a bike. Once you learn, you never forget!

Kick-off to Summer!

Since I seem to be too busy to blog just after events take place, I guess you'll have to get them all at the same time. So be forewarned, this post could be long, but it's mostly just pictures.
This first one is Lylli climbing a pole at the park on her birthday. Her class did their end of school party on her birthday! FUN! They had lunch in City Park and then went to Old Town to play miniature golf. She was the only one to get a hole in one on the 18th hole and got a ticket for a free game!

This is Jacob P. and Lylli. Jacob is Lylli's favorite friend! (Coincidentally, Jacob's grandmother was my voice teacher in college!)

Here are the girls being silly! A common occurrence at our house!

My birthday pictures didn't turn out real well this year, but all the girls got new swimsuits for their birthdays. Here they are modeling them.

This is Seryn telling me that this swimsuit is "mine."

We haven't had any HOT days here yet, but the girls had to run through the sprinklers everyday there for a while. (It's cooled off some now and I'm glad they haven't been asking. Maybe it will warm up again soon!)

And, this is how Seryn runs through the sprinklers! (She's terrified of water!)

Last weekend, our ward had a potluck dinner at the park. They also had a rocket launch. After the kids had been launching them for a while, Layla came to me in tears. She wanted a rocket. Shane was in the field helping Lylli fly her kite, so that left me to attempt the project. Here's our creation.

Layla was so thrilled and couldn't wait to try it out! Surprisingly enough, our rocket was one of the best-flying rockets of the evening!

The other night, the girls decided that Grandma was beautiful but needed to look exotic! So, they set to work. And doesn't Grandma look wonderful!

They had a great time! I remember doing similar things to one of my aunts as a kid only with hair combs instead of barrettes. Thanks, mom, for being such a good sport!

Smooth Sailing? More Like White Water Rapids!

Why is it that nothing will happen (picture worthy) for days or even weeks at a time and then all of a sudden, there's not enough room for all the pictures in a single blog? It seems like that's always how May is for me (and December.)

The week was pretty smooth sailing until Layla's birthday on Friday. (Should we blame that? No.) Seryn woke up Friday morning with a suspicious rash. When she first woke up, I suspected chicken pox, but the more the day wore on, and after some collaboration, we decided she's allergic to amoxicillin. It's just funny because she only had a dose or two left. But the poor thing broke out in terrible hives! And this is only her stomach!

This is me, effectively wasting a Saturday morning on the Wii. But hey, we're working out! And it's great Mommy daughter time! Behold: the Warrior pose!

And the Palm Tree pose. (I think.)

For those of you who haven't heard, we FINALLY sold our house!!! YAY! No, we don't have anywhere to go yet, but we're working on it. We're supposed to be gone by June 22, so we'll see what happens. In the mean time, we've started packing. And Layla discovered some of the computer games. She is VERY good at them!!! And she loves them. This is Layla and Seryn playing Dora the Explorer.

Then today, while Lylli was in school, Layla decided to teach Seryn how to ride the tri-cycle.

Unfortunately for Layla, Seryn LOVES it and can peddle by herself!!! Which means, Layla actually has to ride her own bike!!!

And yes, Layla really can ride a two wheeler bike with no training wheels and has been able to for a month or so now. But then, Lylli now has to ride her bike too. Such a rough life!

And lastly, but certainly not least... Tonight Lylli had her very first piano recital! She was terribly nervous all day and invited one of her good friends and then was devastated when he couldn't go. But she did a great job!! I think that's the best I've heard her! She made only one mistake at the VERY end of her second song and was the only piano student to have her songs memorized!!!! We are so very proud of her! Thanks Mom for teaching her. She loves it!

Ach! I haven't even posted birthday pictures yet! I'll have to do that in the next post.

The Behinder I get...

... I won't finish that. My 'behinder' is big enough!
So, I have a ton to catch up to do! This month, along with my book signing, we had Shane's grandmother's birthday (70-something: no one is quite sure what.) We also had Layla's track day and her graduation program. She loved preschool so much it has been very sad for her to be done. I, however, have enjoyed the break thus far (probably because I haven't done a darn thing!) So, since I was instructed to upload lots of pictures, and because it takes forever on e-blogger, I have posted several slide shows. I hope you enjoy them!
I have also received some fun kissing stories on my other blog. If you still want to win a free copy of my book, comment to enter the contest. Also, some friends and I have put together another contest. A different book or prize will be given away every day next month. I have the full list of details on my blog. http://rachelrager.blogspot.com/ Also, (yes, I'm promoting myself just a little...I have a hard time with it, so oblige me this once) also, if you think By Love or By Sea was good enough to receive a nomination for a Whitney Award, please go to the link on the sidebar and nominate me. Thanks for all your love and support! I'll be writing again in a week or so (hopefully) with birthday updates!