THE BASTINGS BUZZ: June 2014

Father's Day

These kids are so lucky to have Craig as their dad!!

He loves them, teaches them, plays with them, provides for them, and they are his top priority.

Thank-you Craig for being such a great father to our kids!!

Happy Birthday To Me

I got the best birthday cake ever this year!! It was made by my 5 year old daughter with the help of my mom. She was so excited and proud of herself and that made it taste even better!!

I wanted to get bar stools for the kitchen counter so I looked at a few stores and then decided to try and save a little money and order them online. I did so through Amazon and received 3 bars stools which I put together. The first 2 went together just fine but the back on the 3rd one wasn't cut right and it wouldn't go together right. So I emailed Amazon about an exchange. They instructed me to go directly through the company that made them so I emailed that company and asked for an exchange. About a month later I received 3 more bar stool boxes. (Ha!) I explained to the delivery man that I only needed one so he kept the other 2 to return back to the store. I put together my third bar stool and noticed right away that it was a little different. The quality was much better--the wood was heavier and nicer and not only was the seat leather but the back rest was also entirely leather unlike the other two. Then I noticed the two bar stools I already had were also slightly different themselves. One had a gold decorative trim and the other didn't. I emailed the company to find out what I needed to do to return the damaged bar stool and asked "How did I end up with 3 different bar stools?" I voiced my disappointment that the first two were not the same kind of quality as the third one was which was what I felt that I had really paid for. The reply I got was that they didn't want to "hassle me" with returning the 3rd damaged bar stool but to keep it. Shortly after that I received an amazon gift card in the mail for the amount of one bar school. (Cool!) Then about a month later there was another barstool box on my front porch. (What??) I opened it and it was the nice quality bar stool but a lighter brown in color. So in the end I ended up with 3 functioning barstool that are all slightly different, a damaged bar stool in my garage, another bar stool in a box that is the wrong color, and an amazon gift card. Not really sure what I think about this whole thing but I think next time I will just get my bar stools from the store.

Visitors in Town

It was nice having my grandparents in town for a few days for Nathan's Wedding. My grandpa is 90 years old and told me "this is probably the last time you will see me here in Oklahoma." One afternoon they were watching Brooklyn and my sister's baby while the rest of us went out for lunch. He commented that Brooklyn is "just perfect" that "everything about her is perfect....her eyes, her cheeks, etc....and could you everything think that God could create something this perfect?".....it was sweet.

Brooklyn and Matthew were born just one month apart. I was hoping that Matthew who is one month younger would be able to teach Brooklyn how to crawl but she still didn't take any interest.

Mikayla with her cousin Rachel

(my parents filled their pool half way full so all the kids to touch easily)

Austin with his cousin Tyler

It was lots of fun getting these cousins together for several days.

Only wish they lived closer so we could do it more often.

Another Additon to the Reid Family

On May 31st, my little brother Nathan got married to Dayleigh in the Oklahoma City Temple.

They started their eternal family. It was nice to watch them get married and remember those promises that me and Craig made almost 11 years ago at the Oklahoma City Temple when we were married and started our eternal family.

They are cute together and we are excited to have her as part of our family.

(Since when did my younger brothers get so much taller than me)

My Grandma and Grandpa Hirschi flew in for the wedding and it was nice to see them again.

Attempted to get a decent family picture but this is the best it got.

I was happy that the kids got to be at the temple and hopefully they can feel that it is a special place.

Last Day of School

This school year seemed to go so fast. It doesn't seem that long ago that these two were holding up the First day of Pre-K sign.

We love Ms. Ruddick. She was Austin's teacher in Pre-K so I knew right away that Mikayla was in good hands. Mrs. Ruddick does so many fun things with her kids. She teaches them fun songs and Kayla always comes home with creative artwork.

Ms. Davis was her other Pre-K teacher and was just as much fun. Mikayla loved going to school this year, being with friends, and learning new things. She mastered her alphabet and has started reading.

Austin's Kindergarten teacher Ms. Garland moved up with her class to 1st grade so we enjoyed having her for another year. She is so sweet and had nothing but kind things to say about Austin and what a thoughtful person he is. She is a great teacher and we will miss not having her next year.

And it was my (baby) sister Kristina's last day of High School. Enjoyed getting to see her graduation and excited to see what the future holds for her.

School Days

The super kids had a super good year and brought home some super good schoolwork!

Mikayla always brought home very creative and fun artwork from Pre-K. She loved the "5 Little Pumpkins" story and had the book memorized.

Rapunzel

And I would smile when she would bring home papers like this.

I appreciated the teachers labels on the drawings because sometimes it wasn't always clear.

Her teacher said that Mikayla was always at the art table coloring or writing during free time and told me that she is very good but that I don't get to see a lot of it because she will give it to her friends. Mikayla loved her pre-K friends.

She even surprises me with her creative drawings.

Mikayla talked on and on about being Queen of the Day and loves her Queen of the Day Book filled with drawings of her that each child drew of her. It is quite amusing looking at the drawings of Mikayla done by her classmates. At the end of the year Mikayla also brought home her ABC book that they worked on all year and it is a great keepsake!

Most of Austin's school work was focused and reading and writing but occasionally he brought home some colorful artwork.

Austin's aunt saw this picture he did hanging up at the mall. He created this out of torn paper.

This one made me smile.

Translation (just in case you are not proficient in 1st grade spelling): My favorite pet is a dog. I like my dogs. They like to snuggle. They like to fight. My dogs like to push. They like to exercise.

Translation: I would get up to fly on a airplane. I like when we lift off. I like to play games. I like when they pass snacks. I would not get up to go to my soccer practice.

Austin's teacher would often comment that he has such a gentle heart and he really does. I love it when I find things like this at home.

Translation: I like to play with Mikayla....hey don't you want to play? Don't you want to go on the slide one more time?

And Austin made this for us the day before we left on our cruise.

Ha!! Sounds a little too much like his dad.

Austin kept talking about his number scroll and I wasn't quite exactly sure what he was talking about until he brought it home. And it was a scroll with the numbers written from 1 to 2140.

He completed the highest numbers written in the class and was pretty proud about that. He has excellent math skills and his teacher commented several times about how good he is with numbers. Looks like there might be another accountant coming to the Bastings family.

Love this!! Makes me smile every time. Although the world be a better place if these things were implemented, I don't think Austin would make a very popular president!

Mother's Day

Being a mother is one of the toughest jobs I have ever had.

But being a mother is also the BEST and MOST REWARDING job I have ever had.
And it is more than a job.....it is my choice, my desire, and my purpose in life.

I love these kids with all my heart!!!

For kicks and giggles: Questionnaire the kids did at church

How old is your mom?

23 (Mikayla) 33 (Austin)

How tall is your mom?

10 feet (Mikayla) 19 feet (Austin)

What is something your mom always says to you?

I love you (Mikayla) Don't be mean (Austin)

What makes your mom happy?

That I love her (Mikayla) Hugs (Austin)

What makes your mom laugh?

When I do silly dances (Mikayla) Making baby laugh (Austin)