Happenings around here the last week of school!

The kids are so excited to be out of school for the year and looking forward to our trip back to visit family here in a few days. Here are some pics of stuff going on the last couple weeks of school.

Broc:

Broc was the only scout to show up for a brat sale the scouts were having a couple weeks ago, so he worked really hard at this. It was pouring rain the entire time that he was there, but the leaders told us that he really brightened the mood. Our branch president laughingly told us how he sang and danced to attract customers. One man walked up and handed the scouts a $20 bill just for the entertainment!

6th Grade Graduation!!!!! On to Junior High....ugh..
Broc's first and very likely LAST band concert ever. I think the magic of a shiny new trumpet wore off in the first couple days...then it was mostly just sticking it out for the rest of the year. He stuck it out though!

Whitney Brynne:

Brynne ran track all year and had a huge track meet at the end of the year. For some reason, I'm missing all my pictures, but I've included pics of an end of year field trip she went on with her class (Cade went with her). It was a living museum. At one point they were in a turn-of-the-century classroom (you know, back when it was okay to use a dunce cap and whip kids). I think Mr. Knowlton took them all there on purpose cause Brynne and the rest of the class decided that their teacher was definitely not as bad as it could get after that visit.

Taylor:

Taylor had a "Poetry Cafe" that his mom attended. It was so fun--all the kids got up in little groups and recited poems that they had memorized. I've included 2 short clips. I love how in the first video Taylor separates himself from the group...you can tell he's humiliated up there talking about rainbows, sunshine, and flowers. So Taylor.

(Sorry--couldn't get clips to work. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was hilarious!) Here he is on his last day of school. I took 3 or 4 pictures before I gave up and this is probably the best one. The kid cannot make a normal face for pictures.

Gavin:

Gavin had the coolest bus driver this year. Every day she dropped him off they'd be chatting back and forth and laughing about stuff. I'm not even sure what they were talking about, but we'll miss her.

Hello SUMMER!!!

Cade's Graduation!

Yay! Yes, ...ANOTHER graduation in the Spaulding family. I'm starting to feel like we're sending announcements out as often as christmas cards, but this is the final one! We made the effort to both fly down to Texas so Cade could actually walk at his graduation. It was the one we worked the hardest for, so we had to do it. Thirteen years! We had a wonderful time all together. I just have to show off these pictures of my cute husband:

Cade's parents and brother and sister met us down in Texas to celebrate the occasion. Afterwards, we took a trip down to the Gulf.

Congratulations Cade!!

Broc's favorite poster

This poster hangs in our oldest son's room. It was his personal choice which makes it all the funnier since those who know Broc can tell you the irony involved.

Taylor's Baptism

Taylor was baptized this last Saturday! It was special to have Courtney's mom and dad come and visit for the event. Cade invited friends from his department which made it even more special since many came and none were members of our church. Grandpa and Whitney Brynne gave the talks and Broc said a very sweet closing prayer.

Taylor was so cute in his little suit. The font was actually pretty warm and Taylor was not afraid to say so when he got in as well as giving a little shout when he came out. An exclamation of joy? Or just really hot water? We'll leave that for Taylor to decide.

Why Not?

THis picture of Daws was just so cute I had to put it on here!

Taylor is Eight!

It's hard to imagine that we have another eight-year-old already! Time goes by much too fast. Taylor had a great day complete with a family party (friend party another day), a dinner of chicken patties, deviled eggs, and a lemon cake for dessert, and a day off of chores. Definitely Taylor's day.

Love the Hat

This is how you know you're really in Wisconsin

Now that's an icicle!

We have 100's of these hanging off the front of our house. I couldn't believe how big this one was!

New Years

We took the kids to the YMCA for a New Year bash this year. It was so much fun with swimming, games, treats, and a New Year count down at 9:00!

New Year's Resolution: Keep up with the laundry (this is one week at our house)

Christmas Morning

Plum tuckered out!

(We found Gavin asleep like this at the end of the day)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with friends

Aren't these adorable? Reindeer cupcakes. They were almost too cute to eat. Almost...

The kids were stir crazy waiting for the Christmas Eve party so Cade played games with them. One of them was "how many crackers can you fit in your mouth?" It was fun.

Ahh, the Nativity. Courtney keeps trying this every year picturing a quiet evening where the children, dressed in costume, imagine themselves at Jesus's birth while listening to the calm narration of the Christmas story. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? Instead, we have tired, overstimulated children that really need to go to bed but are too excited to do so. What we ended up with this year was a huge pile of costumes in the front room (cause no one could find quite the right outfit after 30 minutes of picky searching), an angel that had a meltdown because the sheet made him look like a girl, a wise man that pouted in the corner because there are no superheros in the nativity...or something, a "baby Joseph" that kept running off with the baby Jesus, a narrator that had to shout over the tumult while madly trying to shorten the dictation as much as possible, a Mary that put her head in her hands and cried saying "Why does this have be so stressful!", and a shepherd that knelt and prayed through it all. Courtney decided this was the last year. Next year we'll sing the nativity song and watch Luke 2.

Gingerbread Challenge 2010

The kids actually beat the challenge this year by consuming the entire house in less than a week. It helped that the house was half the size of last year's and had twice as much frosting. As a reward Cade got them a 2 ft x 2 ft cloth checkerboard with 4 in pieces!