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.

Louisville, KY - July 2014

A big family vacation was not in the cards this year.  We have been saving our money to go to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida.  Our plans are to go this October for Fall Break.  Jeremy does a lot of working out of town and was going to Louisville, KY.  He asked us to come along this time and make it a kind of mini vacation.  At first the girls were going to go on this big zip line there that is in an underground cave, but at the last minute, they decided to go to the amusement/water park.  That was right across the street from our hotel.  Hunter didn't want to go.  He had plans to hang out with some friends here and keep his grandma company.    

It was quite and eventful day.  Hot, very hot.  Emilee didn't want to go on the scary rides with Megan and so she was frustrated, but by the end, Megan finally got Emilee on a log ride.  Emilee loved it and couldn't get enough of it.  By then though, it was too late to go on the other things.  The park was closing.  Oh well. Hopefully she will have more courage for our trip to Florida in October.  The next day, I did some shopping with the girls and we met Jeremy and had Cheesecake Factory.  They have never eaten there and hope to eat there again real soon.  I think they liked everything about it....especially the cheesecake.

 It was a short trip.  Every time we come home from a trip to KY, we always stop at one of the caves.  This time it was the "Lost River Cave".  I think I would like to visit the area again.  There was a lot more I would have liked to see of it.

It had a butterfly habitat there.  It was fun to be in the middle of all the butterflies.  Very beautiful.  I highly recommend this place.

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!

Destination Imagination 2014

Once again I managed Emilee's DI team.  It was quite the year.  We had a team of 5th and 6th graders this year.  As much as I wanted them to do Challenge D:  The Improv challenge, I couldn't get them to do it.  Megan's team decided they wanted to do Improv and this is the first year that Emilee was put in the same age group as Megan and so she didn't want to compete against their team.  She convinced everybody that would be a bad idea.  They went with Challenge B:  The Scientific challenge.  They had to create gear that would get them out of a bad situation and help the survive in that extreme weather environment.  Emilee's team this year was called Warning:Extreme Danger.  In their story, they found themselves landing on Jupiter, fighting against Alien squids and trying not to be sucked into the Great Red Spot.  Guess what?  They survived.  It was quite the story.

At Regionals they came in first place.  This is indeed an accomplishment.  They were by far the youngest team going against Middle Schoolers.  Megan's team also got first place in their Improv challenge.

Megan's team at Affliate.  They did a great job.  They got second place.

Emilee's team at Affliate.  They did a fantastic job.  I thought for sure they would get first, but they also came in second.  

So with my two second place winners, I thought.....Whew..No Globals this year.  I can relax.  Then it came.  A first place team had dropped out.  They pulled out a team randomly from the second place winners and guess what? ....Warning: Extreme Danger was that team.  Well, of course they were just excited and so the fundraising begins.  We did a lot of fundraising and with that hard work, everything was paid except for $175 per team member.  Not bad for a $900 bill for each team member.  So onto Globals we went.  (Remember...Globals is where the team competes against the whole world.  That tournament is always in Knoxville, TN.)

Here we are, ready to go.  They were excited!

I signed the team up to have a buddy team.  I thought that would be a fun experience for them.  Their buddy team was from Romania.  I had hoped they would get to visit with them more often, but our schedules were very different, and it just didn't work out.  The kids exchanged t-shirts and gifts and loved it anyways.

Here are some highlights of our trip above.

It was a great trip.  The kids were fun and got a long well.  They did awesome!  Next time, Emilee will be at the middle school and under a different group.  It means a whole new learning experience for the both of us.

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!

Wicked in Nashville

In March I was so excited to take my girls to see Wicked in Nashville.  So many people, told me all about the show and how great it was.  I tried to see it in New York City twice.  Both times, it was just way to expensive.  Friends said, it is so worth it, but I don't care what show you are watching.  $200 a ticket, $400 for the pair, is just not worth it.  So patience.  I knew it would come to me.  Woo-Hoo, my friend Kyla said let's go and so we decided to take our girls.  Best day.  It was a great show.  Still not worth $200 a ticket, but a good show.  The seats were high up, but we all had a great time and the music was wonderful.  

It is now one of our favorite sound tracks to listen to.  I think watching this made Megan want to get on the stage even more.  Since going to the show, she has expressed a stronger desire then ever to pursue this goal.  She loves to sing, she loves to be on stage and she loves to act.  
    So would I recommend seeing wicked?  Ya, definitely.  If it is coming to your city, for sure go.  You won't be disappointed.    

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........