The phone call and metal

Yesterday was the beginning of a LONG process for Amber. The first part of her expander and Herbst bar were place in her mouth. She is a trooper about it but not having a good time eating with all this "metal" in her mouth.


It finally happened. I got a midday "call" from Tyson's teacher. Yes, I know what you guys are thinking, I too assummed that I was getting the "Tyson said... or Tyson did... " call, but I was pleasantly surprised.


When I answered, Tyson's teacher told me that he had advanced a level in reading and was so excited that he had to call me. She then asked me if I was "tearing up" because she was over his excitment. He was soo happy and proud to tell me of his accomplishment. What an awesome kid and what a great teacher to allow him to call me during classtime. I appreciate her doing that and for also sharing in his enthusiasm and mine. That phone call absolutley made my day. By far the best phone call EVER !!

Halloween 2009

Napoleon Dynamite ( he's a natural) Gum on the bottom of a shoe ( what can I say- she is definetly a creative one) Witch ( the cutest witch ever !!) Clone Trooper (his offical last stinkin costume with a mask )

Baby Love, My Baby Love.....

Oh we have got the Baby Love bad. Baby Chase has us all wrapped around his itsy bitsy finger. He's so perfect in every way. We are all in L O V E !! We just get get enough of him. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa and Unlce JJ Auntie Aub and the boys ( i love it) for coming out to our Sacrament meeting program. It was so nice to have them all there.

I "heart" you, too

I was so happy to see that my Lays potatoe chips feel the same for me as I do them. I do love you Lay's, I always have. More than doritos and cheetos. You are always there for me for when I need some grease and salt.

I heart you, too.

Only Tyson

Who is this kid?? Where did he come from?? He is the coolest kid ever- i'm lovin the preppy school boy look, but what is the other all about ?? We were on Hollywood Blvd in LA but come on..... Only Tyson can pull an outfit like that off !!
( Disclaimer: we had just gotten into LA and stopped to eat and walk the stars. As for the no shirt- he got yogurt on it and I refused to unpack his suitcase for another tshirt. Come on now,we were in Hollyweird anyway)

The Kissing Hand.....enough said

Well I made to day 3 of kindergarden then the flood gates opened. The Kissing Hand is by far one of my favorite books ever ( Skippy jonjones definetly comes in second)!! I recommend it to any and all with school aged children. I thought I made it free and clear since Ava's teacher didnt read the story while the parents were in the classroom ( like with all of my other kids) until Ava brought this home for me today. I will proudly carry on my busy way today with puffy swollen eyes and I will continue to place my "kissing hand" to my cheek everytime my baby hops out of the car.

First day of school- 2009

My empty car ride home...

The day finally came. All 4 of my children are in school. Dman in 7th. Amber new to middle school in 6th. Tyson, the big sibling on campus, in 2nd grade. And my baby started kindergarden. All of them are so excited for this year. They have great teachers and lots of good friends in their classes. I was proud to keep my eyes dry today, but I feel the emotional break down coming on. When I dropped the last one off, I realized that Ava has been my partner, just her, for so long. she is always in the car with me. She does all the drop off and picks up, she keeps me company, sings with me on the drives, and reminds me which way to turn ( backseat driver thing kinda drives me nuts- but im gonna miss it). What am I going to do now? I will continue to sing, probably miss a few turns and be wishing I had a few more years with my baby before she grows up on me. Of course she went to class so excitied, waved goodbye to me and dad, and didnt look back just as the older ones did. The best part is seeing them walk to the car to be picked up. All dying to tell me about their day. Dman is now the "big" 7th grader and will hold that over Ambers head all year. Amber thinks middle school " is the coolest thing EVER" and cant wait to go back. Tyson said his teacher is super awesome because they get to tell jokes at the end of everyday. And Ava gets her very own kindergarden bag tomorrow. Im glad i survived today.... tomorrow will be a different story.

My new Priesthood holder

Wow- 12 already. Dman turned twelve on august 5th and was ordanded on the following sunday. That very next tuesday we were able to go with him to the temple to do baptisms and then watch him pass the sacrament that sunday. He has already had a rafting trip and tonight is the "back to school" dance at the stake center. I feel it is all happening tooo fast. But its more that I dont want to admit that he is 12 than anything else. Onto another church stage: young mens.

I told Drew to watch out. Hes been in primary with me for a while, so Im sure they will put him back into young mens soon.

Thanks for being such an awesome kid Dman. We couldnt be more proud of you. Your relationship with the Lord and your willingness to obey the spirit is an inspiration to your family. We love you

My afternoon

The day was going pretty good. We hung out and cleaned the house. Watched some iCarly, and were just headed out to give the car a much needed bath when this happened:


Amber: "Mommy, there was a baby lizard and Ava killed it"
Tyson: " it was tiny , it was the size of an eyebrow. Now hes dead"



Tyson: " she rand him over and crushed his heart
Amber:" and now he is in pieces"

Ava: " whatever, I did not !!!


Ava: " well they told me to"
Mom: " to what?"
Ava:" Run him over !!!"

Tyson is still in mourning. Its been about an hour. Needless to say- I wont be going out to clean my car since that is the scene of the crime. Dman is "CSI" out there now. Horactio Cane maybe coming to my door soon.

When did she grow up....

Here we are with Jennie at her BRIDAL SHOWER !! I cant believe it. She has been one of my best buddies. She was in our first primary class that we taught. I remember her baptism, I've been her young womens leader, been there through first dates and heartbreaks and now she is all grown up and getting married. Im feeling rather old !We couldnt be happier for her. She has an amazing guy and such a bright future ahead.

We love you, Jennie

A mini pizza for my brave girl

Ava had her physical for kindergarden on monday. She and Tyson are my only brave ones. The older two kick, fight, scream, bite, and run when it comes time for them to have shots. The younger two laugh and pick what arm or thigh they want it in. Ava did great. She had her TB, hemoglobin and her 5 year old immunizations and barley a tear. Of course she ws so excited that if she was a "brave" girl she a got a coupon for a free mini pizza from papa murphys. She couldn't believe that she got her very own pizza. She was so happy about that , she barely paid attention to the shots. I wonder what it would take to distract the older kids.....NOTHING !!

The only concern Ava had about her appointment was when her Dr commented on her wearing her princess "sunday" undies when it was monday. He told her that for kindergarden she needs to have the days of the week right. I thought it was very cute and funny but know shes all freaked out that if he tells the school she wont be able to go to kindergarden.

Summer team 2009- part two

LA for 4th of July tournament. Great parents, awesome players, beautiful Huntington Beach, fireworks, blowing up "Jerry", and a 2nd place trophy.

Which one is real??

Hmmm.... tough call.

P P P Pokerface !!!

The girls keep us entertained one evening with their dance routine to Lady Gaga's pokerface. Im lovin the good use of my new tupperware box that didnt make it out to the recycle.

Summer Team 2009- part one

This is from our trip to Valencia in May. Tons of fun, great kids and parents. And a first place trophy !!

Monte Vista High 2009- 2022

My little baby is all grown up. She graduated from preschool in june and is ready to move on kindergarden. She has attended preschool where she will hopefully graduate high school ( yes, I love it here and hope to never leave). Im to be able to take this same picture of her in 2022 on her graduation day. GO MUSTANGS !!

Character Counts...

This is Ty during his 1st grade performance called " character counts". I think Tyson has plenty of character... you can count on that !!

2009 DANCE RECITAL

It was another great dance recital for the girls. They both did a wonderful job. Ava did her tap routine to " a sunshine day " ( remember the brady bunch song) and Amber's routine was to " heartless" by Kayne West. They both enjoyed their classes this past session and had great teachers. Ava will continue dancing with her tap teacher throughout the summer. She absolutley loves it and will be moving on to the dance team soon. Amber however has put up her jazz shoes and is moving onto soccer and tennis.

On the penalty kill again

Thats exactly how I feel.... we are one member short on our family bench this week. Amber just got back from her week long "Exploring New Horizons" camp and Drew leaves tomorrow on his Yosemite camping trip with his 6th grade class. We literally unloaded Ambers gear from my truck, shook out the sleeping bag, unloaded the clothes out of backpack and but Dmans in!

Amber had a blast at camp. She has been telling us all about it nonstop since she got off the bus. The best story thus far:
Mom: Did you kiss the banana slug?
Amber: Yah
Kids: eeuuww
Amber: Well it was either kiss it or lick a tree.....so I did both !!!
Thats my girl!! The other highlight was skit night. Where her group did a music video to " I kissed a slug and I liked it- hope my natuarlist dont mind it "
I missed her terrribly- it was the longest week ever. And know I get to start another one. Dman leaves on mothers day and will be home on wednesday. He has his 2 best buds in his cabin with him, so I am sure he will have a blast. I just hope that I will survive !!

May begins....

It is only 7 days into may and we have already had 2 brother in law birthdays and 1 nephew. Happy birthday Brandon, Anthony and Steve. So today we celebrate the 4th birthday so far for the month.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW !!!
Although may is busy for us, its my favorite month of the year. My wonderful husband was born, I was honored to marry my prince this same month. And for 2 weeks I get to gloat about being 2 whole years younger than him !!
I just wanted to let my "old man" know how much I love him and I am so thankful for him in my life. I also want to let his mom know how thankful I am to her for bringing him into the world and helping him be the person that I fell in love with. Thanks for being such a great dad- we have so much fun as a family and we love ya !!
We hope you have a great day ( dont work too hard )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY !!

Catch me if you can....

Come on Little Leprechaun, we're ready for you. Tyson had a class project to make a leprechaun trap. What do you think?? Pretty good huh? Tyson and Dad worked all afternoon in garage on it. You can bet that this will be packed up in a nice storage box for future use. Happy St. Patricks Day

She's one whole hand now !!

Happy 5th Birthday Avarie !! We had such a fun day. We slept in, had lunch and McDonalds, then a pizza party with yummy ice cream cake. Can you believe that she is already 5 ?? When did that happen? We are looking forward to a wonderful birthday week and another party this weekend with her friends from school and church. She is having a gymnastics party !! yah !!

Kipp

"Just because I have been chatting online with babes all day, doesn't mean you need to be jealous, Napoleon"

At the Hop- 2009

Another great time at the " take your Pop to the Hop" dinner and dance at the school. This was Amber's last one since she will be headed to middle school, but not for Dad Since Ava starts kindergarten there in the fall. They danced the night away, had a wonderful catered dinner at the school "diner", and even stopped at the candy shop to get a bottle of pop.

I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars

Check out my girl !! Yep , she is riding her cutest bike ever with NO training wheels. She already does " stunts" by jumping of the curb and can stand up while riding. She's just awesome. Happy one week before your bithday girlie. We love you !!

Tyson's big day at the Sharks Tank

Tyson's hockey team was chosen to play a scrimmage game during the first intermission of the Sharks game today. He also was lucky enough to be chosen to be interviewed as the " future sharks player" where he answered some questions and had his picture displayed on the jumbo-tron as well. He was so excited and had a blast. We were all able to go to the game. The sharks won 3-1 against the Atlanta Thrashers. Tyson is # 11 with the white helmet on.