Wilson's a Kindergartener?!!!!

I am sure every mom of a five-year-old has a blog entry like this one about this time of year. I will add my sentiments of disbelief to theirs. I can't believe my baby is going to kindergarten! But, unlike a lot of moms, this does not make me sad and nostalgic for the days when he was a little baby. I am ECSTATIC for Wilson. He is starting his education and some of the funnest times in his early life. He is so smart and is going to do so well that I can't be sad!
The first day his teacher, Mrs. Partridge, allowed the parents in to the classroom to read a story, The Kissing Hand. We found Wilson's table, pinned his name tag on and just let him go. Within minutes he was coloring a picture and then went directly to the rug when asked. After the story, there were parents crying and kids screaming for their mothers. But, not Wil. He was just like, "See ya later, mom!" That moment right there made preschool all worth it. That is exactly how I wanted his first day to go. Yesterday, he brought home his first worksheets. I almost cried then, though. I will have to frame them because I think it's soooo cute. He has worksheets!
Now, I'm not saying that next year won't be difficult when he goes to school ALL day, but for now, I am just excited to see Wil come home every day and tell me all about letters and songs and recess. What a great time in our lives!

PS I am also carpooling for the first time. Wilson has a girl in his class from the ward. I am the drop off mom and the other mom picks up. I think it was more nerve wracking waiting for him to be home after school the first day because it was out of my control. I was giving my responsibility to someone else for my child. It was a very strange feeling, but I think it will be good once we get all the bugs worked out. I will also be a soccer mom starting next week. Wow, I am the minivan driving, car pooling, picking up and dropping off, kids in school, soccer mom. Isn't it great?

A Blessing for my Baby

My mom only has three grand daughters. Each born in June and each 7 years apart. Weird, right?



I can't believe we did it, but we blessed Winnie on Father's Day. She must be a third child because I never would have dreamed of blessing either of the boys two weeks after they were born! Ben's parents came to visit from Virginia and were only here for a few weeks. We had to convince the bishop we were serious about the date and then it was on! Winnie's beautiful dress was made by her Nana Kay. It is completely hand made and will for sure be a family heirloom. As if the dress wasn't enough, I had to add the over-the-top feather headband to go along with it. Too much? Maybe....but our family only has a girl every seven years, so I thought, why not? Ben did a wonderful job on her blessing and it was fun to be surrounded by family and friends. It was a perfect day and I even managed to sneak in a nap! Can't beat that! I can't believe how much I am enjoying this little baby and how much she has already blessed our lives! We love you baby Winnie!

Welcome Winnie!

Ta da, I'm here!
Big brother Wilson
Kisses from big brother Bennett
So sweet!
Proud papa
Every girl loves getting her hair washed!
Apparently she did not agree with my choice in take home outfits!
Ready to go home now!


Introducing the newest member of our family....Miss Winnie! We are so excited she is finally here! She is such a sweet little baby, so petite! She actually came with dark hair! I always secretly wished she would have dark hair, but never expected it to really happen. Chances are it will change to blonde soon, but her dark hair will be well documented! Her brothers both love her to death and always want to check on her to make sure she is okay. I think they will be big helpers for me. She is gorgeous and we are enjoying every minute of having her here!

Congrats to our Little Grad!

Sitting by his friends Sebastian and Lydia.
Giving Mrs. Cameron a hug.

Wilson's pirate version of himself. Don't ask what that green stuff coming out of the side of his mouth is!

I can't believe Wilson is done with preschool! It was such an awesome year. His teachers Mrs. Park and Mrs. Cameron were phenomenal and I can't believe how much Wil has grown over the last year. He is so ready for kindergarten. The graduation was really fun to see. They sang tons of their favorite songs and each kid had a cut out of themselves on the wall. Of course Wilson's looked like a pirate! The teachers made each child a little bag made out of Capri Sun packages they collected over the year. How fun is that? Wilson kept asking me how many days he had left of school so I thought he was going to be happy to be done. He didn't even want to hug his teachers or anything, so I was completely surprised when he started crying outside the school because he was going to miss preschool! It was so cute. We are so excited to see what he will accomplish next year in kindergarten. Way to go, Wil!

Where's Teacher?

This was the biggest bullfrog I'd ever seen!
Except for this one of course!


Wilson and MacKenzie
Wilson, Tyler (how tall is that kid), MacKenzie, Bennett and a guest of the teachers

Wilson's preschool does these cool little field trips once a month where you try to figure out where the teacher is going based on what they are learning about. They learned about sea creatures a few weeks ago, so of course we went to the aquarium! It was actually really fun because we haven't been there for over a year. I don't think Bennett remembered his last aquarium trip and Wilson was actually excited to see the sharks, penguins, the new turtle (at least she's new to us) and he even touched a stingray for the first time! I love Wil's teachers. They are so fun and you can tell they love what they do. I am so glad we put him in preschool. I also can't believe that Wil is starting kindergarten in the fall! Wow, what a big boy!

Happy V-day!

In one game, you had to bounce a ping pong ball onto a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. Doesn't the heart shaped bread make you sick?
Ever tried to stack 3 golf balls? Not easy.
The Hansens went head to head in the Oreo challenge. In the end, Elena was victorious!
Jorga won the petroleum jelly and cotton ball game. LOL fun!
Julio tried his hardest and we laughed the hardest at his attempt!
Lisa was masterful at blowing up her balloon and knocking down cups but........
Once again, Preston showed us how full of hot air he really is!
The Walker's pulled out tissues from the box with one hand. Jessica beat out!
In the end there was a tie and we did card castles to see who won. Preston couldn't handle it on the table so he moved to the floor. He was not very successful.
This was all Lisa had to do to put it away for the girls!
Here are the winners of the first annual Minute to Win it Boys Vs. Girls Challenge!


Ben and I both really don't like Valentine's Day. Ben is one of those guys who doesn't want to be told what to do and I hate all the crowds and commercialism surrounding it. A few years ago we decided to start having a Valentine's Party at our house with friends. Since then I actually look forward to the holiday again! Our tradition has been to play Battle of the Sexes, but the women lost every year so I decided to try something new. We played Minute to Win it Games that require no skill whatsoever to level the playing field. It was hilarious and I am proud to say the women won! Yeah! The Sudweeks won back their title in the Newlywed game and it was a great time had by all (I hope). I am grateful for good friends that can make even the worst holidays better!

A dream come true

Proof of just how close we were! Row 8, baby!
Our seats were right by the camera guy. It was fun to watch him work.

The names on their jerseys. The sheer mass of their shoes. The size of the Bear's tail. Jimmer Fredette. These are all things that you can see from our seats in the lower bowl that you can't from our regular seats upstairs. Ben and I decided we wanted to spring for lower bowl seats for our anniversary and it was the best thing ever. I really didn't know how to act down there. Most people just acted too cool for school. They didn't really cheer all that much and were more interested in their beer and yelling at the refs than watching the game. I was way excited and probably embarrassed Ben with all my giddiness. You could actually see the plays unfold and you could totally see every foul. We even got to go under the stadium where the players go to use the bathroom. It was really fun. The only thing that sucked was that Deron Williams didn't play. He's my favorite. Oh well, maybe next time? Now I just hope Ben doesn't become a seat snob and complain about our upper bowl seats. I don't care where we sit, I just love the Jazz!

One Proud Mama

Every year I do a turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning so I can feel better about stuffing myself silly later that day. My sister and I decided to try the Bountiful 10k for the first time. This year I asked Wilson if he wanted to race with mom. He surprised me by saying yes. Now, I don't know if you remember how butt crack cold it was on Thanksgiving (18 degrees or so) but I thought for sure he wouldn't want to go. I left early and then called Ben to see if Wilson still wanted to and HE DID! I was so amazed. My race started about 5 minutes late so I was scared I was going to miss the start of the 1k. Wilson's bib was locked in my sisters car and she was behind me with a friend. I got done with my race and saw all the kids lined up, but I thought Wilson and Ben were in the parking lot. So I just kept running to the front of the rec center and they weren't there. By the time I got back to the starting line all the kids had already left. Still running, a nice lady pointed me in the direction of the race and I caught up to them! I grabbed Wilson by the hand and we just kept going. He ran the WHOLE TIME! He was even going onto the snow to get around people. I was so proud of him. I hope he got my dad's freaky running genes because I had so much fun with him and the whole family. He got his first racing medal and enjoyed his first free gatorade and fruit at the end of the race. It was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember!

How long was I out for?

A friend of mine asked if I forgot I had a blog. I basically have to say um....yes. Life is nuts, but if my sister Heidi, who just had her fourth child can do it, I can post a little something here and there. I don't really have any super new pictures, but can post some of my favorites from the end of the year.

We went to California on vacation in September 2010 and it was the best vacation ever. We went with Ben's sister, Jennie and her family and Ben's parents. The hotel was perfect, the beach was perfect, the park was perfect, the weather was almost perfect and I would go back tomorrow if I could. To this day, Wil's favorite game to play is vacation. We pack up all our stuff(ed animals that is) and get on a plane, usually to Disneyland. It was awesome and probably the highlight of the year. Here are just a few pics to show you how much fun we had.

Astro Blasters was by far the winning ride. Second was Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise.
Save the Batteries!
Outside the Tiki room, it was the best 1/2 hour of the day in an air conditioned room when it was 100+ degrees outside. Thank you Tiki room!

Wilson was our map guide. This was at Sea World. Man was that awesome. Too bad my camera died shortly after so we have no pictures to remember it by!
Bennett loves Buzz!
Huntington Beach....cheese and pretzels and sand are a lethal combination.

I love this picture. I think it captures what Disneyland is all about.

Wilson and Parker playing in Goofy's backyard.
Bennett was sleeping, so he missed out on meeting the Big Mouse himself.
We lucked out here. Most of the lines to meet the characters were ridiculous, but we just happened to be leaving the dog pound when Goofy came out.
Now that is a strong boy!
On the train around Disneyland. I don't remember it being so fun, but the boys wanted to keep riding it over and over again. It must have been the dinosaurs!
Huntington Beach, I highly recommend it to any who have the means! (name that movie)
Bennett kept yelling at the waves because they just wouldn't leave him alone. "Mommy, the water just keeps coming."