A Poem from Lucy Goose

Back on Mother's Day, Jason and I were lucky (NOT) enough to speak in church.  I was ticked.  Seriously?  Mother's Day?  Just have men speak, dangit!  Lucy got to speak with us.  By the time she was done with her talk, I was grateful that we had the opportunity.  Without it, I wouldn't have this literary genius:

My mother is special because
She takes care of me very well
She washes our clothes so we don't smell.
She is the one person that I would not sell.
She buys me food and water plus clothes to wear.
I'm so glad I have her there.  

Pure awesomeness, right?

We love the Wrights!!

Our fabulous friends, the Wright family, came to visit us in June.  It was just the distraction we needed with our upcoming move and the stress that comes when you are anticipating such an event, but can't actually pack yet.  We had a fabulous few days!  I LOVED looking through all the pictures that Kalleen took with her sweet camera.  

Lucy and Lydia found a project to dive into.  They made friendship bracelets.  I love the concentration.  

We spent a beautiful day at the beach.  It was a warm day, so that made it even more enjoyable.  

Here's the boys of the group.  

I had to include a few shots of sweet Claire.  I love this girl!  She is so little and petite compared to my big Ben-O.  

One of Kalleen's cool shots.  

It was warm enough that I was willing to squeeze myself into a wetsuit and boogie board with Lucy.  

I love this picture.  They both look like they are having a great time.  

Check out the sand on that face.  He hasn't ever minded having a face full of grit.  He'll eat his snacks or whatever with a sand all through it.  Nasty!  

Love these cute kiddos!

Graham doesn't mind the sand too much either.  We've caught him licking it every once in a while.  Awesome.  

Sweet friends.  

We spent another afternoon at Marina Park.  They have a cool zip line that the kids love to ride on.  

Here's Grayson taking a turn.  

I love how quickly all of our kids pick up where we left off the last time we saw them.  There is always minimal shyness at the beginning and then they jump in and have a great time together.  

Campin' with the Kiddos

We had an opportunity to go camping for the night back in June.  Jason was called as Scout Master in our ward just a few months before we moved to Phoenix.  He tried to fit in as much as he could before he took off.  So, he planned an overnighter the first week in June.  Well, only one scout could come.  So, the kids and I joined Jason and Ethan for a night up at Lake .

 We brought the bikes and the skateboard.  Lucy and Graham got adventurous on this hill by our campsite.  

 I love that they are rockin' their jammies.  

 Jason and Ethan Cryder.  He was a good sport having dinner and breakfast with the Ray family.  

It was short and sweet, but we had a great time.  Jason loves camping, I don't hate it.  I always have fun when we get there and I'm grateful that Jason talks me into it.  The work to fun ratio just isn't right when it comes to camping.  Luckily, I'm married to a wonderful man that does all the work.

Dancing Queen

Lucy decided to give ballet a try this past year.  She liked it, although she hated the drive out to Camarillo every week.  She said she didn't like practicing the same thing over and over again.  I tried to explain that's what "practicing" is, but she wasn't convinced.  She wanted to have more than once recital over the year to work for.  This girl loves the spotlight.....one performance at the end just isn't enough for all the work they put in.

My tiny dancer.  

Jason and I were very impressed.  We, of course, thought she was the best one.  We were sad to hear that she didn't want to do it again next year.  We think she's pretty talented :)

I love this picture of her after her performance.  What a sweetheart.  

Afterwards we went to dinner with our ballerina.  She looks way too grown up with her "stage makeup" on.  

My attempt at a ballet pose.  Don't mock.....I took a year of ballet back when I was 7 or 8, too.  It didn't last.  I'm with Lucy, too much work with too little glory.  

Every Day Moments

 I thought it would be worthwhile to document some of the every day things going on at the Ray house.  There are countless times during my days as a mom that I think, "I want to remember that about _____."  My kiddos are growing up too fast.  I wish I could freeze time right now.  They are all at such fun ages.  

This is what I see at the breakfast bar each morning.  By this point, Benny has usually been up for an hour or so.  Graham follows and Lucy is up last.  Lucy always has cereal.  Graham and Ben-O mix it up a bit more.  They prefer waffles or pancakes, but I don't make 'em, Dad does.  So if we're out, Ben settles for a bowl of oatmeal with a bowl of cereal on the side.  He has started wanting milk in his cereal, too, which makes for a fun breakfast mess to clean up.  Graham whines for a bit that we're out of waffles or pancakes and then decides he'll have toast with peanut butter and syrup (same way he eats his waffles).  

 This is our back yard here in Oxnard.  Every once in a while we pull out the jump rope and get the kids going.  I love watching Graham do his thing.  I think his record is 26 jumps in a row.  Lucy can run in and out and do all the fun little songs that go with the jump rope scene.  

 Here's something I see many nights on the way to bed.  Foot rides!  Benny is getting older and wants to join in, so Jason put Lucy Goose on his shoulders.  

 Lovin' it!

 Graham is back to riding without training wheels.  The trainers came back on while Jason was deployed.  We had too big of a break in between rides, so he was too nervous.  Now he's a pro.  I love Benny's pose in the background.  

 Benny loves his "motorcycle".  He never ever calls it a scooter or bike.  It's Graham's old ride and he's sure to remind Ben of that every time we get it out.  

 He's actually really, really good at it.  Pretty quick and controlled.  We went for a walk at Seabridge the other day and I was impressed at how well he handled the big hills.  Except for one at the end.......against my better judgement, I let him go down a big ramp.  It ended with him running into a cement wall.  Awesome. Way to go, Mom.  No blood or scratches on the boy, though.  He was mostly ticked off that the wall hit his elbow.  

My crazy boys.  

Here's the picture Graham drew for my Dad on his 60th birthday.  I love everything about it.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.  

I've mentioned this on many occasions, but one of my favorite things is looking out my window and watching my kids play happily together on the tramp.  This is one Saturday afternoon after one of Graham's baseball games.  Lucy got each of them a cup of goldfish for a snack.  

I sure love my job!  

Run, Lucy, Run!

Lucy participated in the track program at her school this year.  She practiced every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after school.  The city put on one big track meet on a Saturday at one of the high schools.  

 Here's Lucy gearing up for her standing long jump.  

 Lucy girl with some of her peeps.  

 Finishing up her 200 meter race.  

Lucy took 2nd place in the long jump out of all the 3rd graders that participated.  She finished 5th in her heat in the 200 meter.  It was so fun watching my girl compete.  

Brewer Baseball

Graham played his first year of baseball this year.  Good times!  By the end of the season he would have told you it was boring times, but we're all glad he participated, even if the season went a bit long.  

 I loved watching Graham interact with his teammates.  He always wanted to give everyone on his team a high five after the game.  Graham had no problem running from one side of the field to the other to get a ball that was finally hit by the other team.  There were a couple wrestling matches between the kids as they fought over who got to throw it to first base.  

 If only I had gotten a picture of him dancing in the outfield.  We always caught him shakin' his booty while waiting for some baseball action.  

By the middle of the season he could hit the ball without the tee.  We were quite proud.  I think my proudest moment may have been watching him from the bleachers punch himself in the crotch over and over again (athletic cup was a required part of the uniform).