Cache finishes First Grade

Cache finished up his 1st Grade year.  Some things in Cache's personality came to light this year:
1. He is a class clown. Possibly the class clown. (Which yes, gets him in trouble)
2. He is more clowny in the winter time.
3. He is every one's friend.
4. He tells everyone he rides the bus or takes his scooter to school, but in fact, I pick him up every day. Just wishful thinking he says.
5. His reading skills have really blossomed this year. He is favorite books included: Captain Underpants series and Chronicles of Narnia.
6. Spends his recess playing tether ball, fly up football and pretend Hero Factory with Gabe and Brandon and Collin.
10. Some of his good friends also included: Preston Griffith, Taylor and Hayden.

Cache had a good first grade year. We are so Glad for Mrs. Kalkman who was calm, relaxed but consistent. She could handle  a first grade boy and all his silliness.  He had a lot of good friends and just like all of our kids sitting still for more than 5 seconds(besides when a cartoon is on) is complete torture.  We are working on this. I blame the Ortons for it.  The whining,,, came from the Spratling side.

 We heard a lot about Livia this year. She was a ninja for Halloween just like Cache and her family loves football her little sister is named Naomi, and she is the only person that can beat him in a foot race!  So.. thank you Livia for curbing Cache's girla-phobia. 

We are hoping that he will tolerate his sister a bit more now. 

We went swimming and out for burgers to celebrate the last day of school!

 First swim of the season = owie swim toes.  It took 3 of us and Lightening McQueen cartoon to get these band aides on his raw toes.  He hated band aides! But Oh I'm in love with those tosies and chubby fingers.

OH the things they say!

Cache:
Going to bed after Gage was already sleeping. Tip toeing around the room while I helped him get settled. "Mom, last time Gage was sleeping before me, I tried so hard to wake him up and he wouldn't wake up! First I patted his diaper, then I gave him a wet willy and even a wedgie! And he STILL wouldn't wake up!"


Naomi:
"Mom, in OUR house we follow the prophet."
Me: Yes we do. (feeling very impressed and proud of her statement.)
Naomi: "Or if we don't he will KICK our heinie"s out of house!"
Me: Wait.. what?
Naomi: If we wreck our house like push the screens out the windows and color on the walls,
The prophet will make us move out of our house because that's what the Lord will tell him to do.
Me: "um nooo... "

Took me about an hour of processing to finally click what she was talking about...

Naomi has the biggest destructive bone in her. If it can be colored, picked at, ripped in half, bit in half, chewed on, scraped off, bent, punched a hole in,  she HAS to do it. She is infamous for just walking by a window and pushing the screen out just because.
So we started being drastic with her and told her if she kept ruining things the Landlord would kick us out and we would live on the street.

Right about the same time she is learning in primary that the Prophet is the Lords mouthpiece on the earth.... Ahahaha!


Gage:
Whenever he is made to ride in the stroller or cart on a jog or at the store, Gage will find something, usually a feather or just his finger point it foward into the air and yell in a very gruff voice: "CHAAAAARGE!"  And he will do it for the entire duration of the ride.  So funny and yet so exhausting . Especially in stores it drains me.   And if you whisper to him to stop yelling, he will yell louder: "NO I'm NOT YELLING!"  So that's pointless. And if you keep on him enough he will then cry, so we usually let him  yell. At least he is happy.

Gage is sweetheart. That can be said about him 95% of the time.  But if he is off.... He is very hot and cold. If he's into it,  He is extactic about most things we do everyday.He is VERY excited and will jump and cheer at anything we do.  "Yah! We are going to the gym! YEAAAH we are going to take a nap!" It adds a lot of energy and happiness to our house.
But then something flips in him and we all know Gage is in a bad mood. He will yell at me for everything including turning the car down a road he doesn't think we should go down. (He is 2 ) Or what song is on the radio.  And if anyone says anything he will yell: "I HATE and name whatever they just said." This gets us laughing pretty hard sometimes depending on what he has just yelled.

And when putting his clothes and shoes on, I always put the wrong shoe on his foot first because I know whatever foot I put it on, he will insist it goes on the other.  I even had to start putting his shirt on backwards if it doesn't have a picture on the front, because he will always insist I turn it around.
So we do things to make him feel like he is in control. (Thank you love and logic book!)  Constantly giving him choices when he doesn't need to have them. Do you want to nap on your bed or Cache's bed?  Do you want Lightening McQueen book or Thomas? If he is in the middle of a fit, he will immediately stop if he realizes you are giving him control of some kind of situation.  Never tell him which shoes, instead always: Which shoes Gage? Your blue ones or black ones?   As he is getting a little older and understanding reason a tiny bit, I'm curbing that and making him do things without a choice.
Ah these kids. They are a puzzle to figure out sometimes!

Spring odds and ends.

Devin and Cache headed to Father sons camp out leaving Gage to shop with the girls. In his shark jammies no less.

He picked this headband out himself.

I had a lovely weekend. Ran into lots of friends. Asked them why their husbands weren't camping too.

Had the whole ward in a panic that they missed father sons camp out. Nope. 

Devin went a week early!We laugh a lot about this now. 

Came home after a windy, cold night of only eating fruit salad for dinner, and breakfast. 

Preparing for summer by making a car first aide kit.

I asked Devin to help me come up with ideas.  

His list is on the right.  Mine is on the left. 

Gage is so helpful with our mourning routine. Making beds and loading the car.

Rascal.

               

Sometimes we go buy soda and cookies at whole foods, just for the irony of it.

  It is safe to say my little family(actually very large in whole foods) and very loud family of soda drinkers is not super appreciated by the other Whole food goers.   Never the less, we love that store.

Cache: Mom spell the word UP. (potty humor.)

Me: No way. Knock it off.

Devin: Cache spell the word..

ME: NO Devin. (too late.)

Devin: Spell the word, I-CUP.

Cache laughed so hard, soda came out his nose. 

Fort building 

Family bike rides

Pre-school un-birthday party.

I do all my errands with a princess and superman.

Cache's chess obsession is growing.

Our baby and happy to be it.

 He is in no hurry to grow up. Don't even mention, giving up blankies, binkies or diapers. 

He is perfectly content.  

Memorial Weekend

•  Rained and poured. Love! It did however discourage us from our camping plans.
• Watched movies
•  slept in our own beds with the windows open to smell the storm.
• Woke up and drove to the mountains for breakfast. 

• Gage LOOOVES pancakes. All morning long while everyone else was at the river, he kept coming back to his plate. He would sing and giggle and say: "Syrup. hehe."  

 He and his pancakes had a grand time together.

Naps.

•  Naomi: "Mom, come with me, lets go find pretty things, because we are pretty and need to hold pretty things. 

•  Gym as a family. Since Devin's speed school is part of our gym right now(Axiom),  we can go over and play there and have the whole place to ourselves.  Naomi made me a bed of weighted balls. Surprisingly comfy. 

• Ended the weekend with games and a BBQ at the Hanks. Will post Devin winning minute to win it. Hilarious!

Gage's knock knock jokes

Naomi- Spring Dance Recital

Naomi's spring Dance recital! 

Nay and I(the girls) went early because I was a backstage mommy.

Devin took the boys. He ran errands for me, cleaned them all up and got them to the performance on time.

Devin is really good at playing Mr. Mom. When it is time for him to step up and take my place for a day, he is very efficient and on task,  just like his mom.
That being said, it's always fun to see what he's got them dressed in or what he's been doing. He always has some kind of surprise! 

This time he picked up Naomi a pink rose and gave the boys and himself all haircuts!  

And he decided to try out my Grandpa's Tahitian shirt. I loved it! 

* This is also the closest we could get Cache in a group shot.

Naomi did so good shaking her little tutu on stage with her two dances. 

I sweated it out trying to keep ten little girls entertained, pottied and quiet for 2+ hours.

There were 100+ dancers. I am so impressed with my friend Bri who runs it all. 

Naomi looves to dance. 

 Cache sat by his good friend Sawyer.

I got several reports from other mom's that the 2 boys danced and sang along to every dance.

 Devin even picked up PINK icecream sandwiches for us to eat afterwards.

A few pictures of Naomi getting ready. 

She loves her picture taken. 

Good dancing Naomi! We are so proud that you are ours!

Cache - Soccer and Reader's Theatre

Spring is so fun. 

• Cache finished up his soccer season.
• Played on his cousin Kyle's team. 
• Devin and Aunt Julie were assistant coaches.
• Upwards was such a fun program. They had a big tunnel they ran through at the beginning of each game and their closing celebration night they had an amazing band and transvilequist. I get really nervous spelling that word- Its the guy with puppets. (Just to be clear.) 

Really the best I've ever seen, even on television.

We were all laughing our heads off and at the end each player received a really nice soccer ball. 

I was hustling to get Cache dinner and get to him to his awards ceremony.

 Cache did NOT want to go. Finally he let me in on why.

"I'm afraid they'll make me sing." - Not that kind of ceremony Cache.

"Will I see dead people?" Umm NO. That's a funeral. Hahaha!

"OK. I guess I'll go."

Cousins!

Readers Theatre at School.  

• "Cinderella Bigfoot."
• Cache played two parts: "Prince Smeldrid" and one of the Step Sisters: "Whiney"

Gabe, Cache, Livia and blurry Hayden.

• To play two parts Cache would throw a wig on and read his part in a girly voice.Then take it off and answer in his manly prince voice. He even had to get down on his knee and ask Cinderella to marry him!  If you know Cache,  to even talk to a girl is torture or do anything that has anything to do with girls.  He has grown up a lot this year!

   It was so funny. I was very proud! Good job Cachey Pie!