Just, You Know, Life

 So, as you can imagine, life with 5 kids is a little bit crazy at times. Or always. There is always something. Somebody always has a program, a special day at school, a tournament/game/class/what-have-you. And I love it (for the most part). I really do like to be busy and involved. It makes me happy to see my kids perform in any situation. Here is just about a month's worth of going-on's at the Collette household. Just another month in paradise...

Baron had his 100th day at school so they celebrated by dressing up like 100 year old's. It was funny. And pretty darn cute.

Just thought I'd throw this in here. My sweet childhhod pup Lacie passed away. She was nearly 17 and even though she gave my parents some grief in her last few years of life, she was still just a great little dog. I will miss her.

Here is Laylah at the school spelling bee. She took 6th place and they only took the top 5 to region, darn it. Barely missed the cut-off! Oh well, she hardly studied and hopefully she can make it next year. She is a great little speller.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I just love our neighborhood. All of my kids have such wonderful friends and we do too. We spent the evening with some of our dear friends the Heath's and the Murray's and their two boys just happen to be Baron's two best buds.

Besides just our neighbor friends, we love friends in general. Miles and Magnus spent a fun evening playing together while I did my best gal pal's hair (Miles' mommy, Cristan)

And then we went to Leatherby's where we realized we have the exact same purse. Random! I just love this lady. Friends from the very beginning.

And Magnus is busy coloring away. He's taking after his big bro Bear and loves to do all things artsy.

Andy and I were able to attend the Blue and Gold Banquet with Jonah for scouts. I love this kid.

 He earned a badge for winter scout camp.

Just a nice sunny day at piano lessons. Laylah was inside getting her lesson while everyone else was enjoying the gorgeous weather. I want a playground like this in our backyard soooo bad!

Another one of M. He is completely obsessed with motorcycles and had to sit on my dad's new toy.

A rainy day

Andy and I were able to go to my Uncle Jim's surprise 50th birthday party. I adore my mom's brother's, they are the best uncles a gal could ask for.

 And my darling cousins were there too.

 It was a karaoke party and my mom and Andy did a duet, ha! It was pretty dang funny.

Jonah loves chess, so when there was a chess tournament in the district he wanted to sign-up right away. It was his first one and I was amazed at how well he did! He only lost one match out of 5, had 1 draw, and 3 wins. He had one of the top scores and got 6th place out of 38 kids in his division. He got a gold medal. It was such a fun morning and I hope he wants to do more tourney's.

 These were a bunch of kids from our school there. Some of these boys are in his class.

 Jonah's luck wasn't over for the day. He had his last basketball game of the season where he scored half of his team's points! It was a great day to be Jonah :)

We got the boys a new bed. M had completely outgrown his toddler bed. We got another bunk with a twin over full and I found some really cute sheets. Bear and M have done really well sharing a bed and now I just need to find new quilts.

I had an all day work training and it was fun spending the day learning new techniques and doing hair. I really like the girl's I work with and we had a fun time.

 We went to lunch across the parking lot. I was surprised how fast the day went by.

Just a sample of some new styling techniques I learned. 

Andy finally got the go-ahead to wear regular shoes again. No more boot!! His scar looks much better and he also started back to work. It's been an interesting transition.  He'll still have physical therapy for several more months, but he is definitely on his way.

Just one of the hazards of working in the beauty industry. Some guests are so picky and want to see every single lipstick/eyeliner/blush color we carry in the store...

Just a shot of my Laylah girl.  She's pretty cute I guess ;)

Parents and Pastries at school. We get to go read stories and eat donuts a couple times a year before school starts. It's early and we are always late and barely make it in time to get a donut. But it's fun.

Jonah had a biography fair at school. He got to choose someone (that was dead) and learn about their life. He made a poster and memorized some tidbits and then had to dress like his person. The whole class was supposed to be statues and they had little buttons on their desks that could be pressed and then they would "come alive" and talk about their life. It was so much fun and so cool to see Jonah. He did Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. I loved it.

I've noticed that I take a lot of photos of food.  I don't post them a ton, but this one had to be because there is a story that goes along with it. Andy and I go out once a week. We usually agree on somewhere to eat, but not always. If we don't, we take turns choosing. Well, one night he wanted mexican food (and I really don't like authentic mexican food) so we went to this place called Morelia's. He kept saying we had been there before, but I had absolutely no recollection of it. So I ordered this combo meal thing and when it came out I was shocked at the size. Just look at it!

Yuck! I had a few bites of each thing and then I was done. Andy ordered something similar and ate all of his and then pretty much finished off mine. Yeah, he wasn't feeling very well a couple hours later and didn't join us for church the next day due to some GI issues. I'm just glad he won't want to go back there. Haha :)

Just another Sunday playing games and eating a giant skillet cookie smothered in ice cream, fudge, and whipped cream.

Super busy day at work. I made a huge mess.

The kids choir group sang at a district meeting. They did such a great job.

They're pretty cute. I'll keep 'em.

Here's just a couple photos from my least favorite holiday, St. Patrick's Day. We had green eggs and milk, wore some green, and a leprechaun brought us a little treat. And we call it good.

Daphne had a grandparents day program at school. Andy and I were able to go to the dress rehearsal and the day of the actual program only grandparents were invited and they had cookies and punch afterwards. Daphne had some lines and some photos in the slides how. It was a darling program and I loved watching her. She's on the back row, third in from the right.

And that's that for the last month and a half or so. Our lives continue to be fun and busy and I love it. I love my family. Work and school are fine. It's just a lot. Life is a crazy thing. Anyway, I won't start rambling. I hope to stay a little more caught up on here, hopefully.... later alligator.