First Day of school -- August 2014

Not sure if you have noticed, but I have made many posts today.  Just trying to catch up.  I used to be so good at blogging and then, I don't know, things happen.  Life just gets so busy.  So I decided to catch us up briefly on what's been happening this year.  So this is my last post today and hopefully, I will try to stay more in touch with my blogging skills.  For this last post we will talk about the first day of school.  School started here early this year because they gave us back our Fall Break.  Woo-Hoo!  Some people say they would rather have a longer summer break and forget about Fall Break.  Not me.  I love Fall Break.  It is a great time for traveling and even if you don't want to travel.....man, the weather is just perfect to have some good old fashion family fun.  Needless to say, I was very glad for the shorter summer break.  Besides, my kids were really ready to go back to school.  So let's start with Megan,

Megan is hitting a milestone this year.  I huge one.  She is starting high school.  Yep, that's right....high school.  I am still in AWE.  I still can't wrap my brain around that.  I swear, it was just yesterday when I dropped her off at her kindergarten class in Las Vegas.  That makes me a mother of a high school student.  It's just weird I tell you.  She also hit another milestone.  She started seminary this year as well.  In our church, when kids get to high school, they also take a seminary class first thing in the morning before school starts.  This is a chance for them to really dive into the scriptures and get a good understanding of them.  Megan was not sure she was for this.  She thought it would be like going to church every day, but I think she sees it differently now.  She seems happier this year and I think that may be do to opening up the day with thoughts about our Heavenly Father and keeping that with her for the entire day.  She seems to have had some good days this year.  I hope and pray those days will continue.

So I put this on facebook on the first day of school.  I wanted to show how crazy it was that I had this high school student now.  Though, she did make a very cute kindergartner.  

Emilee is also starting a milestone this year.  She is now starting middle school.  Seventh grade.  She gets a locker, a rotating schedule and I even let her start wearing some make-up.  She now tells me she needs a cell phone.  Hmmm.  Not quite Emilee, but maybe soon.  She has been enjoying herself.  Though she already has had to change lockers.  Somehow her locker kept jamming up and so I had to go up there and ask them to change her locker.  I have to say, it is a beautiful locker.  It has wall paper up, a rug, magnets, mirror, whiteboard and even a chandelier that lights up.  Megan didn't want hardly any of that stuff when she started middle school, but not Emilee.  She wanted the works.  Why not.  Maybe I can get her to take a pic and I will post it for ya.  Anyway, she is doing great and having lots of new and fun experiences.

 Hunter started fifth grade.  This is the first year he gets to change classes.  He has Math and Science with his homeroom teacher and then has Reading and History with another teacher.(With whom I just love.  She also taught Megan and Emilee in the Fourth grade)  I of course am a little worried about Hunter this year.  He doesn't speak up too much in class and this is the year where he really needs to speak up and let them know when he doesn't understand.  He will also have to work harder this year then ever before.  He is growing up and it is time to start being responsible for his own learning.  He is a good kid though.  He has enjoyed things so far as he has not had any homework yet.  

So that's it.  That is the first day of school.  Three great kids with aspects of a great new year.  They will do great this year and I know that they will have many many successes.  I am so proud of them already.  They beautiful, kind, smart and talented.  It will be a very AWESOME year.

May Birthdays 2014

So, by now you should know that the end of month is like Christmas for us.  All three kids have birthdays in the same week.  So of course it began with Megan.  

 I actually didn't get to be with Megan on her birthday.  This is the third year I have not actually been with Megan on her birthday.  Globals is always during her birthday.  So the first year I was at Globals with Emilee, then the next year Megan was at Globals and then this year I was at Globals with Emilee again.  It will probably be like that again if either one of them wins next time also.  So, she celebrated with Jeremy, her grandma and Hunter.  As you can see, they gave her cinnamon rolls.

She turned 14 years old today.  It is very hard to believe that she is really that old and that I am old enough to have a fourteen year old.  I am still in denial.  This year instead of going out to try and find something for her, Jeremy gave her $100 in cash.  I guess when she opened the card, she thought it was just a $20 until she opened it more and kept counting 20's.  She was quite surprised.

 Hunter was next.  He turned 10 years old this year.  I took him and a few friends ice skating on his request.  Two of the boys had never gone before.  They struggled at the beginning but they made it through and actually enjoyed themselves.  Afterwards I took them to the pizza place called Stevie B's and let them play some games.  It was a very easy birthday for me.

Of course he also had to celebrate with the family and his favorite dinner is Pesto pasta.  We call it green spaghetti.

 And ever since Hunter had a GiGi cupcake, he now has an aversion to frosting and just wanted a batch of brownies instead.  Again, pretty easy!

I can't believe my youngest is 10 now.  Man, the time does go by fast.

 And then finally, the last birthday is Emilee.  She turned 12 this year.  Maleficent came out on her birthday and asked if she could take a few friends to go see it.  How could I say no.  Another easy one for me.  Here they all are in front of the movie theater all sweet and cute.

 And this is how we moms see them. Crazy, crazy and more crazy.

After the movie, I took them to get frozen yogurt.  I sat at the next table and pretended I didn't know them.  I think they all felt big.  

 Emilee also celebrated with the family.  Her favorite meal is chicken and rice

...and she has no problem with frosting.  12 years old and going to middle school.  She will be my girly, girl all the way.  She loves clothes, nail polish, make up and shoes.  She never thinks she can have enough shoes.  

Happy Birthday kids!  Hope your year is fantastic!

Easter

Once again the Easter Bunny made an appearance.  I think next year, the Easter Bunny might be just a little more conservative.  Sometimes, he just can't help himself.  Darn Easter Bunny.

Down below are the kids dressed up and ready for Easter.

Megan

Emilee

Hunter

Yep, I have beautiful children!

It's Birthday Time again.

 Yep!  It's that time of year.  Once again......Birthday Time!  I have been blessed with three children and we are so lucky that all three kids have their birthday in the same week.  Sometimes it gets a little crazy in the month of May, but we make it through.  Actually, it seems as they get older, it gets easier.  I can't believe how time flies.  Megan, Emilee and Hunter all celebrated another year older.  That makes Megan 13, Emilee 11 and Hunter 9.  It is just crazy.  So here it goes.  This is what we did in the month of May.

             

 CRAZY!  I now officially have a teenager.  Oh my GOSH!  That is just nuts.  When I sit and have time to think about it, it just blows my mind.  How could this happen?  This year on her birthday, Megan was in Knoxville, TN.  She was there for Destination Imagination Global Competition.  Her and her team were competing against teams from all over the world.  A few days before she left, we took her out to dinner and ice cream with a present from her family.  I am so mad at myself.  I usually take pictures of these great moments, but it just slipped my mind.  Just know that it was a wonderful night.  We went to Famous Joe's Pizzaria for dinner and Baskin Robins for ice cream.

               

I happened to be in Pigeon Forge with Hunter at this time, but through the various texts I got, she mentioned that it had been the best birthday ever.  Her and her team mates designed dresses out of duct tape to attend a Duct Tape Ball and then after the dance, they went for milkshakes.  The picture above shows the team and their creativity with duct tape.  I am so glad that she had a wonderful birthday.

Emilee had a slumber party this year.  As you can see, it was ice cream theme with lots and lots of fun activities.  From what I could tell, it was a hit.

            

 

So many activities for the night.  They started the night with Tie Dyeing t-shirts and then they made their own pizzas for dinner.  While their pizzas were cooking they did Karaoke and then Emilee blew the candles out and opened some presents.

             

Then because it was an ice cream themed party we had to have an ice cream sundae bar and let's just say they went a little nuts with the whip cream.  They burned off the ice cream by dancing to Dance Dance Dance Revolution on the X-box and jumping on the trampoline.

Finally it was time to quiet down and get some sleep.  Whew!  That is what I call a party.  We had waffles in the morning and they all took home an ice cream container full of goodies, a tie dyed t-shirt and an ice cream sundae glass.  

Because all three kids are usually the same week as Memorial Day, if they have a birthday party, we have to do them a couple of weeks before.(To many people go out of town)  I would say Emilee had a  great day on her real birthday day.  She invited a friend to join her and she got her ears pierced and we all went and pampered ourselves with pedicures.  What a day!  By the way, Emilee is 11 now and that floors me just as much as Megan being 13.  

Hunter had a huge surprise.  On the last day of school, as soon as he got off the bus, I took him over to his friends house.  There he learned that we were picking up his friend and his friend's mom and going to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge right then and there.  He didn't believe me cause he didn't have anything packed. Of course I packed the car while he was at school.  Finally when they were packing the car he got clued in that we were indeed leaving right then for Dollywood.  What a great birthday for him.  This is his suprised but I don't believe it is today face.  HA!  I love it!

It was a very fun day.  Though I have to laugh at the two of them.  They were to nervous to go on the big rides, but they had a blast anyway.

            

  

The next day we tortured the boys while the moms shopped at the outlet mall.  So not cool.  Don't worry.  They did something fun after lunch.  They wanted so much to go to this Magic Quest place, but the moms weren't to big on that idea since it was too expensive.  We finally convinced them(like they really had a choice), to go to Wonderworks.  They had a blast there.  It is quite the place with tons to do.  I strongly suggest going there if you are in the area.  They did things like a ropes course, rock climbing, laser tag and even laid on a real bed of nails.

Happy Birthday to all my children!  You are the best kids and I hope you all have a wonderful year.  Until next year........

Birthdays, Globals and even a baptism all in the month of May

May has been a busy month.  It usually is a busy month for us here at the Lamps home, but this year, it has been even busier.  It is the month of birthdays for us.  Megan, Emilee and Hunter all have a birthday the last week of May.  Why you say did I do that.  Well, I just meant to go for the summer because I taught but Emilee and Hunter decided on their own to come into the world earlier then expected.  It is a little like Christmas for us here in May.  We also had a few other events that happened as well which kept the month very occupied with many many things to do.  Because the kids birthdays are at the end of May, birthday parties tend to be earlier because have you ever tried to plan a birthday party around Memorial Day?  It is never very successful.  Also, they don't all get a party every year.  Megan and Hunter get one on their even age and Emilee gets one on her odd age.  This was a year for Megan and Hunter so first up is Megan.

 Megan turned the big 12 this year.  I can't believe it.  My little baby girl is growing up and growing up fast.  I swear she can't possible be 12, but she is and she has the 12 year old personality to match.  I told her a couple of years ago that if she wanted, when she turned 12, she could have a slumber party.  So, that is what she did.  She invited 5 of her closest friends and the party was on.  What a party it was.  She didn't want a cake.  She is very much into drawing and reading about these Anime characters so she made cupcakes and she attempted to decorate each cupcake as these characters.  I don't think they looked exactly like them by any means, but the girls could tell and had fun with them anyway.

It was quite the night.  Jeremy took everyone camping so that they wouldn't have to be around all these 12 year old girls and it is a good thing they did.  I finally told them to calm down about midnight and I continued to hear them even around 2 am which I finally went into her bedroom and said enough is enough, turn all the lights out and go to bed.  Finally, it was quiet.  Until I had to wake them up the next morning and let me tell you, I had a blast doing that.

The next week, we had a bowling party for Hunter.  We took Hunter and some of his closet friends bowling on the army base.  Hunter turned the big 8.  Holy Cow!  Can you believe it.  My baby is 8.  Taking these boys out was so different then taking my girls and their friends out.  Boys love to make strange noises and talk about strange smells and talk about strange nonsense things.  What fun they had though.

It is so hard to believe that he is 8.  He is doing so many things right now.  He learned to love to read, he does Taekwondo and is now learning to play the piano.  He loves to laugh, but we have learned not to make him laugh too much or there may be consequences and not the good ones either.

Next up is Global 2012.  I have been talking about this Destination Imagination for sometime now.  Emilee and her team had the opportunity to compete against the whole world at Globals in Knoxville, TN.  It was quite the event.  They left on a Wednesday and didn't return until Sunday.  Even with all the activities that there were, that might be just a couple days to long for these 10 year olds.  Pin trading was the big thing there.  All these countries and states had their own trading pins and the kids traded pins like you might trade baseball cards.  Some pins seemed to have more value then others and you could negotiate pins.  Emilee started with 5 pins, but came home with 34 pins.  I would say she is quite the negotiator.  This was a great way for kids to interact with other kids from around the world.  Emilee met kids from Korea, China, Turkey, Mexico, Guatemala, states like Louisiana, New Hampshire, California, New York and many many other places.

I felt that the kids not only did great with their instant challenge, but they did a wonderful job on their main challenge.  They were one of the youngest groups there and considering this was their first year in Destination Imagination, they have done quite well.  Will I do this next year you might ask?  I really don't know.  If someone else would like to take charge I am all for that and I would help all the time, but if Emilee wants to continue this next year and they need someone to make her team, then of course I would do it for her.

That brings us to Hunter's Baptism.  Emilee and I had to return home from Global one day early so that we would be ready for Hunter's baptism.  Hunter turned 8 years old this day and actually was baptized on his birthday.  That was just like Emilee when she was 8.  He was so excited and looked very sharp and missionary like in his suit.  He was baptized with a friend as well and so it was a perfect day.  When I asked him how he felt after he said, "I know I should have felt cold when I got out of the water, but I actually felt really warm."  I love it when kids make the connection.  It was a lovely day and I am so proud of Hunter and the decision he has made.

Last is Emilee's birthday.  She did not get a party this year.  She had a party last year, but she had quite the day.  She was treated like a queen the whole day with a tiara and everything.  When we woke up I took just her took breakfast and then off to get a foot pedicure.  She has wanted one for so long.  She is my girly girl for sure. She felt so special.  I asked her if it made her feel relaxed and she wanted to go to sleep and she said, "No, it makes me feel like I want to do it again."  Oh dear!  What have I done?

Earlier she wanted to go to Steak and Shake for dinner and get a large milk shake all to her self, but she decided that she would like to have mom's lasagna instead.  I think that ended up being a better day.

Personally, I like it when the kids don't have birthday parties.  I like doing the stuff with them that make the day just a little bit special.  It was a great day!

That brings us to now.  May is done and birthdays and special events are over.  School is out and Summer begins.  Can I relax now?  Probably not!

Playing catch-up, yet again.

It seems like lately I am always playing catch-up with the family blog.  At the beginning, I blogged just about anything I could, but I find now that I tend to get busy and I don't think about it.  So I had some time and I decided that I would play catch-up.

First -up, Destination Imagination.  I have talked a bit about Destination Imagination or for short, DI.  It is an after-school activity that involves kids on a team using their imagination to solve various problems or challenges that are given to them.  They have one challenge they work on all year long and then on tournament day they have an instant challenge that they have to do as well.  Both Megan and Emilee are involved with this.  They are on different teams though.  Megan's team is called the Green Glossy Gummy Bears and Emilee's team is called the Rabid Squirrels.  I am actually the team manager over Emilee's team.  Let's just say, it's not my favorite thing, but as teams go, this one has definitely come along way.  Well, they had their first tournament about a month ago.  In the tournament, they take the top three teams in each challenge and grade level and then those teams compete against other teams in the whole state of Alabama.  (Megan and Emilee are not only in different challenges, but they are also in different levels)  Well, Megan's team came in first and Emilee's team came in second.  Both teams were fantastic and worked really hard.

They then go on to compete against the whole state of Alabama, which is this weekend at UAH.  There, they will take the first place team in each challenge and grade level and from there,  they compete against teams around the world in Knoxville, TN at the end of May.  Teams come from US, China, Canada, Korea, England, and many other places. It is quite the experience, but even so, I will be glad when it is over.  It has been very stressful for me.

OK, up next....Davis cousins visit us here in Alabama.  My youngest brother Darin called one day and asked how I felt about them coming to Alabama for a visit.  They wanted to come for their Spring Break which was the week after ours.  We all thought that sounded great.  We did a few things together and then Darin took his wife Betty Jo to the Smokey's for an anniversary trip for a few days while the kids stayed here.  Now let me tell ya, it was quite the adventure while they were gone.  The kids did great, don't get me wrong about that, but I had a little taste of what it would be like with a huge family.  Seven kids all together, Jeremy was gone on TDY for those few days that they were gone and at night time, I was very tired.  Just dinner time itself was exhausting.  I have to give all you guys with big families props.  You are fantastic.  Since my kids were at school in the day time, I tried to keep Darin's kids busy until mine got home.  We went to the Space and Rocket Center (though Darin was still here with that), took them to the Children's Museum, Kid's Kingdom a couple of times, and Constitution Village.  I think they had fun.  When Darin got back he made us all a great dinner in which I really need to call and get the recipe for.  He started it the night before in the crock pot and it cooked all day long the next day.  It was very good.

Before Darin and Betty Jo left, we took them to Green Mountain Lake and walked around the trails.  As you can see, it happened to be St. Patrick's day which is why everyone seems to dressed in green.  Jeremy then took Hunter and Darin and his son Trevor to a Monster Truck show that night, while I took Betty Jo and  her three girls to Bridge Street to eat ice cream and enjoy some of the music being played down there.  I think we all had a great time.

I guess that brings us to Easter.  Not much to tell about Easter.  The bunny definitely came.  I had to get a few things the evening before and I had to laugh because when I got home, the kids were in bed and I found this note out with some carrots and ranch for the Easter Bunny.  Easter morning, they were gone except for one carrot.  Go figure.  Emilee was very excited about that.  The kids woke up early of course, the Easter Bunny had left them an Easter Egg Hunt in the living room and family  room.  They found all their eggs with prizes inside.  We all got ready for church in our new Easter clothes and when we got home, we had a great Easter dinner.  It was a very nice relaxing day.

I believe that brings us to now.  Our next DI tournament is this weekend, the days are beautiful so we might have some camping going on and soon, birthdays are coming yet again.  If you remember all three kids in the same week, plus Hunter turns eight this year, so that means a baptism as well.  We have some busy times coming up and hopefully I won't have to play catch-up too much.