There's a Snake in my Boot!

Luke decided that he really wanted a pair of cowboy boots but we told him he had to earn them himself. So he spent a month doing jobs to earn the money to buy the boots himself. He did jobs like picking up his toys, brushing his teeth, and making his bed. We were all very excited when he finally earned enough money.

Grant tried some boots on too!

Luke paid the cashier himself (and then Dad slipped him a card to cover the rest!)

Luke wore his boots nonstop for the first couple of days. It didn't matter what else he was wearing (or not wearing), he wore those boots.

Lucas plays soccer! - Game 1

We signed Luke up for a soccer league that plays at the Holladay Lyons Fitness Center. It was so cute to watch the kids playing and see how excited they were.

We arrived 15 minutes early to get his uniform and meet his coach. Her name is Sarah and his team color was orange. His team name is the Tigers. The uniforms were a little on the big side - not just for Luke but for all the other kids on the team. Everyone had a good laugh as we watched the kids continually hitching up their shorts while running after the ball. One little boy actually lost his shorts while trying to kick the ball (hehehe). More than one kid lost a shoe while they were kicking as well.

Coach Sarah was great about making sure that all the kids played in the game and that everyone had a turn throwing the balls in from out of bounds.

Luke looked so cute with his new uniform and his white tennis shoes.

Every time Luke kicked the ball he always looked back at us to make sure we saw that he kicked it. He would even give us a thumbs up. He was so proud of himself for kicking the ball. We'll have to work on following through after kicking the ball next.

After the game, all the kids huddle together and do a team cheer. Then they try and line up and give all the kids on the other team a high five and a good game.

And the best part is - WE WON!!

Grant LOVED watching the game. He didn't really like it when we yelled but he loved watching the kids run up and down the field.

Dalley Family Reunion

Time for the Dalley Family Reunion, the get together of the Charles and Zola Dalley. Their children are Leola Hatch, Richard Dalley, Colleen Riches (my grandma), Stanford Dalley and Wesley Dalley.

Every summer, typically in August or September, we have a reunion with the Dally Family. It's always at the park in Lehi and each of the siblings take turns planning it. This year it was Leola's turn. She is the oldest in Grandma Riches family.




Someone tied a strap between 2 trees and the kids all took a turn walking a tightrope. It was pretty fun. Lucas always wants to try things he sees other kids doing so of course he took a turn. He did pretty well with help. There were a couple older kids who actually made it across without any help! Very impressive.

Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of all the families. :( 
I saw Carol taking a lot of pictures and I should have followed her around but I didn't think about it until later and by then, a lot of people were gone. Oh well, next year right? I did get Wesley's family though.

It's always great to get together with family. It's great to hear some stories especially about Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Dalley. They were still alive but very old when I was younger. They died when I was in high school. I remember that Grandma Dalley was always dressed very nicely and my mom told me that she always dressed her best. She might not have had a lot of clothes and jewelry but what she did have was very nice and she took very good care of her things. A good lesson for all of us to learn. To take pride in our appearances (but not too much) and how we treat our things. Other stories I remember is how everyone remembers how well Grandpa Dalley took care of Grandma Dalley. He always treated her with the utmost respect, which she deserved. They truly were great examples for everyone.

 

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The Wesley Dalley Family

(Grant took a turn walking the tight rope!)

Utah Book Festival

KSL had been advertising this festival for awhile, it seems like there are always a lot of activities and events and family, you just have to be looking in the right places. Good thing I watch the news occasionally! I thought it would be a good thing to take Lucas because usually these events are free and they hand out a ton of free stuff. Which they did. Lucas got a new book called The Janitors which is way above his reading level but when he does start reading (at a 3rd grade level), he will have a signed book to read. It was either that or some really stupid prize that I would eventually end up throwing away so I felt that the book was worth it. Plus we got a poster as well and Lucas thinks that pretty cool. It looks creepy and scary which is what he seems to be into right now. Perfect!

So as I was reading who the authors were that were presenting, I noticed that there was one author who was talking about his new children's cookbook and the recipes were geared more towards boys because it was some monster cookbook. Lucas would not let us sit and observe the presentation because he could see the bouncy house nearby. Oh I was ready to smack him because of all the whining he was doing. Later Josi Kilpack demonstrated how to make a pumpkin roll for her new book "Pumpkin Roll" which I desperately want to read, but Lucas didn't want to sit through that one either. If only I had another adult with me. Oh well, the recipe is in the book, I can figure out how to make it on my own.

Lucas and Raja Bell. Turns out he's a player for the Utah Jazz (I didn't know that but there were a lot of people around who were really excited to see him and get his autograph (I'm such a follower)). Anyway, I totally had to bribe Lucas to stand next to him for a picture and he was NOT happy about it at all. We got his autograph too.

He was very happy, however, to have his picture with Clifford the big red dog. Go figure.

 We spent a lot of time at the bouncy house - Lucas had a blast playing there. It's probably because then he can be crazy and wild all he wants and it's okay because everyone else is doing it.

First Day of Preschool

Lucas is starting preschool today! His teacher's name is Miss Jani and her school is the Cottage Preschool. He hasn't turned 4 yet so he is supposed to be in the 3 year old class but I asked Miss Jani to consider letting him be in the 4 year old class with Eva from his Primary class.

We started the day with a pancake breakfast. Daddy tried to make Lucas a Mickey Mouse pancake.

Lucas - 3 years old

Lucas got a new shirt and a new pair of shoes to wear to preschool.

The kids aren't allowed to wear shoes in the classroom so everyone has a cubby to put their shoes and their backpack. Miss Jani asked each of the kids to bring a backpack for papers. Lucas had a hard time deciding what he was going to take in his backpack the night before. He finally decided on a notebook and some markers.

As each of the kids were leaving, they picked up a star with their name on it. The stars were a big help to me so I could see what some of the other kids are named. Now I can ask him more specific questions about other kids.

Lucas and Miss Jani

After preschool, we picked up Lucas and treated him to Wendy's. He was really cute, as soon as he finished eating his chicken nuggets, he pulled out his "pack back" and the notebook and markers that were inside. He said he needed to do some homework.

Sleepover at Grandma B's

Grandma B. invited Andrew, Tyson and Luke over for a sleepover at her house. Luke was very excited because he loves playing with his cousins and it gave him the chance to use his sleeping bag.

Grandma B. had some new toys for the kids to play with such as a cash register with a debit card and some play food. They rolled out some paper and drew dinosaurs and watched some super hero movie. They all slept on the floor in her room in their sleeping bags.

It was such a great time for all. 

Grandma B. should definitely have another sleep over another time.

100 Books of Summer

Lucas is such a smart boy and I don't think I'm just a proud mom. He knows all his letters, he can sing the ABC's and he can recognize most of the letters as well. He confuses a few such as W & M and P & R. I think he is well on to his way to reading. So I've decided to kick it up a notch and we are going to read 100 books this summer. (Although, this might be slightly difficult since Lucas LOVES to read the same books over and over and over...)

We've already started by reading:

1. Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

2.Always Listen To Your Mother by Florence Parry Heide & Roxanne Heide Pierce

3. You're Finally Here! by Melanie Watt

4. ABC Kids by Basher

5. Jumpy Jack & Googily by Meg Rosoff & Sophie Blackall

6. Wanda's First Day by Mark Sperring

7. Time To Play by Nigel Gray

8. Maisy's Rainbow Dream by Lucy Cousins

9. Roadwork by Sally Sutton

10. Just Helping My Dad by Mercer Mayer

11. How Do You Make a Baby Smile? by Philemon Sturges

12. David Goes to School by David Shannon

13. What a Treasure by Jane and Will Hillenbrand

14. No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo

15. Curious George and the Ice Cream Surprise by Margret & H.A. Rey

16. Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory by Margret & H.A. Rey

17. Don't Slam the Door by Dori Chaconas

18. Daddy Adventure Day by Dave Keane

19. Scrambled Eggs Super! by Dr. Seuss

20. Not So Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos

21. Pigs To the Rescue by John Himmelman

22. My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza

23. Love is a Handful of Honey by Giles Andreae

24. Traveling Babies by Kathryn O. Galbratith

25. Just Big Enough by Mercer Mayer

26. Dr. Duck and the New BabiesDby H.M. Ehrlich

27. Quiet in the Garden by Aliki

28. Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael B. Kaplan

29. Two Naughty Chickens at the Beach by Patti Beling Murphy

30. When Sheep Sleep by Laura Numeroff
31. Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
32. Boo Boo by Olivier Dunrea
33. Yes Day by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
34. Up in Heaven by Emma Chichester
35. Firefighter Ted by Andrea Beaty and Pascal Lemaitre
36. Earl the Squirrel by Don Freeman
37. Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld
38. It's Fall! by Linda Glaser
39. Ferret Fun by Karen Rostoker-Gruber
40. One of Those Days by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
41. Beasty Bath by Robert Neubecker
42. The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld
43. Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey
44. Fix-It Duck by Jez Alborough
45. Myron's Magic Cow by Marlene Newman
46. Nobunny's Perfect by Anna Dewdney
47. Yes We Can by Sam McBratney
48. My Mother Is So Smart by Tomie dePaola
49. A Whisper is Quiet by Carolyn Lunn
50. Wake Up, Sun! by David L. Harrison
51. Miss Nelson is Back by Harry Allard
52. Ladybug Girl Loves... by David Soman & Jacky Davis
53. It's Picture Day Today by Megan McDonald
54. Sylvie & True by David Mcphail
55. A Ghost Story by Nina Crews
56. Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey
57. I Didn't Do It by Patricia MacLachlan & Emily MacLachlan Charest
58. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Eugene W. Field


We didn't quite make the 200 books but we were pretty close. We forgot to record some books but Lucas also does a lot of reading at Grammy's house so he almost made it. Grammy and Poppy have a lot of the Dr. Seuss books as well as others.