F.O.U.R.

That's how many times I posted in June. Lame & pathetic. I'm a blog loser. I LOVE posting on my blog, too. This just has not been the lazy summer that I so look forward to. We have 2 more weeks of school left, and then I don't plan on leaving the side of my pool until school starts up again.

2 Cool 4 School. Achievement Days Daddy Daughter Dance. 50's style.

Blake is always the little jokester. Notice the "bunny ears".

Kelly's husband, Brandon, was the star of the show this month at Spring Mountain Ranch in "The Buddy Holly Story". Of course, he was Buddy Holly, and he was amazing! I stole these pics from Kelly. We always have a blast watching Uncle Brando perform.

Videos that I promised...









This is a cute video. Brookie is obsessed with "Thoroughly Modern Millie". Kelly just finished playing Millie and I think Brookie saw the show about 20 times. She knows all the choreography.

I am ready for things to start slowing down here. I need a break and a vacation :) Already, my schedule is filling up for this week- Monday & Tuesday booked already. Not to mention all the little inconveniences that keep happening. Like having to replace my car tires, and today my fridge broke! Ugh! Good thing we had a fridge in the garage to put all the food in. There is a leak in the pool somewhere, too. Couponing takes alot of time each week, but it is so worth it because I save a ton of money. I bought 8 packages of diapers and pull-ups this week for practically nothing. It's late and I am starting to ramble.

Whatever, I love my life. As busy as it is, I couldn't be happier. I could use 5 more hours in a day, though...

Update

My blogging has been pathetic lately. I feel like I've been crazy busy lately with the house, family, and YW stuff. I haven't been taking any pictures, therefore, I have none to post. Sorry. So, here is my attempt to update everyone on what the Berkabile's have been up to.

Jim- has been slammed at work, which is a really good thing. I know he wishes he didn't have to work so much, but it is a blessing to be so busy when you are in Real Estate. When he is not working, he is at the Church, Stake Meetings, Presidency Meetings, speaking assignments, missionary farewells, planning Youth Conference, you get the picture. He always has such a great attitude, though, and I feel like we still get plenty of family time, so no complaints.

Kirsten- has enjoyed having just the 2 little girls home this schoolyear, though I don't feel like I'm home much. There is always so much to do, and I never feel caught up. The crockpot has become my best friend, because it is so much easier to make dinner in the morning than after the kids come home from school (lessons, practice, playing with friends, homework, baths, etc.). YW's is keeping me pretty busy. Lots of emailing, some meetings, visits, phone calls...hoping we will be ready for camp, etc. Dylan is pretty much potty-trained. She has random accidents. I wish I could say as much for the puppy. I have been running about 5 miles a day, and my right knee is giving me major problems. I can't stop running, so I have been pushing thru it and icing it. Jim & the Dr. tell me to stay off it, but, seriously, I have never in my life been able to run and I am not about to stop. I think I may start alternating with spinning...

Taylor- is growing up way too fast. She is obsessed with "Twilight" and is now in the middle of "New Moon". I told her she can't read "Breaking Dawn". It took alot to get me to let her read the series. She's 10 going on 13. She is constantly emailing her friends and family, she wants to be an actress when she grows up, and she is super smart. She has no homework for the rest of the year because she memorized her Counties and Governors. She is the classic over-achiever.

Blake- is as sweet as ever. She is always crafting and doing funny creative things. She is the class clown, and has a TON of friends. She, too, is always emailing and talking on the phone with her friends. After school, she gets phone calls all afternoon from friends. If a friend of hers is sick or injured, she always wants to make them a treat. She has so much faith and has a strong testimony. She wants to go on a Mission. She is a good girl.

Lincoln- is all boy. He is constantly playing baseball. It is rare to find him without his ball and glove. He loves Mario Kart, and he loves playing with his friends. His room is always clean, and he would eat waffles for every meal if I let him. He is a huge Mets fan, and has a shrine on his bedroom wall to the Mets. I will have to post a picture of it later. He is so sweet to Dylan, but teases Brooklyn relentlessly.

Brooklyn- is a princess. She only wears dresses, is always brushing her hair, and is always singing, playing the piano, and dancing. She loves to reenact this scene from "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (Kelly's show), and she has the choreography down perfectly. She is a sweet girl. She loves to play with her girlfriends, and she always hugs them when she says good-bye, like she's a teen-ager or something.

Dylan- is such a good girl. She plays puzzles and Nick Jr. all day long. She is such an easy child. She loves to dance around and she always has a smile on her face. She is the happiest little girl I know. She loves Diego and Wow Wow Wubzy. She thinks grapes are doodleberries, and her favorite word is "poopiage" (she made it up). I love that girl.

So, there's the update. I'm sure it was terribly boring to anyone who isn't one of my kids' Grandparents. But, since I'm kind of obsessed with journaling and genealogy, I feel like it's good to document these things sometime.

seven

My baby boy turned 7 on Sunday. We had some of his friends over on Saturday to swim. There are so many things I love about Lincoln:

• He is so sweet to his mom.
• My favorite & worst time of the day is in the morning when I go in to wake him up. He is impossible to wake up, but he is so snuggly.
• He loves having his back scratched.
• You will never see him without a baseball and his glove. He is constantly throwing the ball. He is very careful to use a nerf one in the house, though.
• His room is always clean.
• Every once in a while, he will clean the whole house to surprise me.
• He is REALLY good at xbox & wii. Especially Guitar Hero.
• He is REALLY good at pretty much every sport that he tries.
• He loves baseball & golf.
• His favorite color is orange.
• His favorite food is Eggo Waffles.
• His claim to fame is his hair.

Somebody left this giant Spongebob pinata at one of my sister's properties. We saved it for Lincoln's party.

The boys got a little crazy in the pool. Ok, ALOT crazy. I could not control them. I kept telling them to settle down, and they kept ignoring me. Charlie got really hurt, too. He fell into the palm tree next to the slide. I think I used 15 band-aids on him. I felt horrible. I still feel bad. He will probably never want to swim at my house again. The boys were out-of-control. I think they all had fun, though. I was really relieved when it was time to dry off...

May.was.insane.

This time of year is always soooooo busy. Piano recitals, violin recitals, dance recitals, Memorial Day, Blake's birthday, Lincoln's birthday...it's a lot to try to cram into one month. Thought I would post some highlights. I will try to post videos of the piano & violin recitals later. I'm not sure how to do it with the new video camera.

Memorial Day weekend was fun. The neighbors had a party and invited a lot of friends. The kids had a blast swimming all day with their friends.

I had to post this picture. Jim took it. It's such a "Blake" picture. It shows her little personality. I've always said, she marches to the beat of her own drum...

Every 5 minutes, Dylan would run and get a new toy out of this box and put it by the side of the pool. She probably had 20 toys at the end of the day.

Blake turned 9 about a week ago! I haven't even had time to post it, and it's already almost Lincoln's birthday. I gave Blake the option of having a party or $100. She took the money (halleluhah). We just had a birthday cake with the family and gave her the money. She made me take her to the bank and exchange it for one dollar bills. So, now she has $100 in ones. I would love to have a glimpse into her little brain one day. Some of the things she does are totally left field. I love her, though. She is still very picky about her clothes, hair, and backpack. She picks her own clothes out, I am allowed to brush her hair ONLY, and her backpack has to weight 100lbs. Her latest quirks are: it really bugs her if Jim & I are watching TV downstairs after she goes to bed. Even if we turn it waaayyy down, she can't stand it. She will curl up in a ball in the far corner of her room and sleep on the floor. Also, I cannot have any laundry going at night. It makes her crazy! I have to write all of this down, so she can read it when she's a mom someday. She is so funny. Oh, BTW, she wants to buy an overhead projector with her birthday money. ???

Blake had her Spring violin recitals. She had a classical one and a Broadway one. I will post a video of her classical one soon, I hope. She played "Popular" from Wicked for the Broadway one. I don't have a video of that. We are finally in the middle of Book 2. I thought we would be in Book 1 FOREVER. She's doing great, though, and after almost 6 years of lessons, she still LOVES the violin!Brookie Doodah graduated from Preschool! She is so grown up now. She is soooo over cartoons, she said. She only wants to watch iCarly & Zach and Cody. She will be going to Kindergarten soon. I will miss her!

She has a dance recital in a couple weeks, and they tried to get me to pay $20 for one 8x10 photo. I thought that was just ridiculous. So, I did a little photo shoot of her in her costume. I liked how they turned out and it was FREE.

I took my boys down to LA to see the Mets play the Dodgers. We are huge Mets fans at our house, and I figured it was cheaper going to LA than NY to see a game. I surprised them with it. Thanks to my Mom and Sisters for juggling my girls into their busy schedules that day.

We had so much fun! I had the longest hotdog I've ever seen in my life. We also spent about 3 hours at IKEA before the game. It is possible that Lincoln was more excited to go when I told him we were going to IKEA, too. You would think we were going to Disneyland. I wish we could've gone to Disneyland...