Trip to NYC

     

D went on his school's 8th grade trip as a chaperone.   I would have liked to have gone with him since I've never been to NYC . . . one day I'll make it there!  

 

     Souvenirs for the me and the kids!  :)

Home from Taiwan!

My parents arrived safely from serving an 18 month mission in Taiwan!!!  The kids were excited to go to the airport to welcome them home!!!  We missed you Grandma & Grandpa!!!

"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them"   - Frank A. Clark

"Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be"   - David Bly

" Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what a ship is made for." M. Angelou  

We miss them while they are gone on missions - but they are such good examples!!!  We know they are doing the Lord's work!  We are proud of them for their service!

On the way home we met up with my brother's family and we all ate dinner together at Fazolli's.

Welcome Home . . . for a season!  :)

St. Patricks Day

  We started out our St. Patricks Day with a Pancake Breakfast!!!  :)  We were given free tickets - YEA!  So we put on our green!  No pinching us!

We had 2 extra tickets - so we invited the Bakers to go with us!

 Later in the day we had green mashed potatoes, asparagus, and kiwi!!!  Then Ak remembered I promised we could make green cookies - so we made those too.  Fun Green Day!!!  :) 



Chuck E. Cheese

We got invited here to a birthday party for a cousin  - I took Z and Ak and they were excited!!!   B chose to stay in town and go to her Activity Girls activity at church.  With a couple of the tokens given to us - we took the picture below - we chose the stretch version.   I thought it was so funny and a better souvenier than some of the "prizes" you get with the tickets you "win" from some of the games!

  



Ak lost a tooth!!!

On the way to MM today, she asked "when am I going to loose a tooth?"  I told her in a year.   :)  I didn't think it would happen anytime soon - so I thought I better guess far in the future.  :)  

About 3 hours later I was driving to drop her off at a friend's house so I could volunteer and she pulled up a water bottle top with her teeth . . . she kind of cried out . .  she said " I think I cracked my tooth".   I looked at her when we got there and I said, uh your tooth is LOOSE!  Oh she was excited!  My friend said Ak talked about it a lot while I was gone.  :)

Then about 2 hours later - we were home and they were all eating a snack after school and Ak bit into a cold cucumber slice and started to cry . . . I looked at her and there was blood in her mouth.  I figured she must have bit too hard and that perhaps the loose tooth got jarred a little bit causing the pain . . . well next thing I know - the tooth is out!!!   And she was EXCITED!!!

 She didn't want to let go of the tooth - she was scared she would loose it before the tooth fairy came.   She made a spot for it next to her bed and we got out my old tooth fairy pillow!  What an exciting day!  

Although I did mention to her that her voice/speech and singing voice might change a little bit - - - her mood dampened a little bit at the thought - noticeably - so I tried to focus on that it was okay and that she sounded fine!!!   Still an exciting day!  

Fun Weekend with A.J.!

 

Stuff done @ School

They got to sing in the Word's Largest Concert with their Elementary School!

                                              Z drew the above Star Wars Picture.  :)

                          B's answers about herself compared to Dr. Suess's  (:  She dislikes onions = units.  :)

Girl-time!

After the game - we went to the book store in time for story time with a special guest!  B got to use a gift card from her birthday, she picked out a Barbie Movie.  Then we went to Sams club and ate some "examples" (that's what Ak calls samples!)  They love doing that!  :)    We rented a movie and played at home.  Fun day together while Z was off with Dad. 

End of Basketball Season

                                                                   The Panthers

Z did a great job and it was fun to watch him out there!!!  He tries hard and has a good attitude on and off the court!  Keep it up Zman!!!

Big Bang Cheerleading Finish!!!

 I found Ak's outfit at a consignment sale - looked brand new but there was only one game left of the season. I almost didn't get it - but she had been asking for one so she could cheer next to B and for someone like her dad who is a UofL fan . . . I knew it would be worth the money - so I got it and she LOVED it!!!! 

B had 2 great coaches that made her first experience with cheerleading - EXCELLENT!!!    Many thanks to Coach Sarah and Coach Santana!!!    It was a good season!  They even taught her a haftime dance routine!!!  Click here to see B's Halftime Dance Routine!!!    This is first week's recording - so it's their roughest preformance and I was standing in the wrong place.   The 2nd time they preformed - I got 2 seconds before my battery died.  The 3rd preformance where I stood in a good spot - I can't find - so it might have been deleated before being saved to the computer - oh well - it's still worth sharing!!!  B's on the far right of the line up!
Click here for better view of B doing Halftime Dance
I found it!!!  Not sure the skill level is any higher - but you can see more of her face in this one.  (:    She's still the one standing on the far right.  Enjoy!

Monster Truck Show

D was given tickets to a Monster Jam in Indianapolis, IN to go with Eric and Brandi.   He got to take Z and another friend (Kevin) took his nephew along so Z would have a buddy.

 
It was a long day, but exciting and memorable for Z to go to this with his Dad!  Next time - bring your own water bottle!  (:  He now knows names of famous monster trucks.    (: 

Tornado Weather!

Wednesday the threat of a tornado was great - so my kids spent a lot of time in a crouching position at school - at David's school - they had the kids even eat in the hall!   3 touched down in our county!!!   Talked to a lady that said in her neighborhood people were looting and they had to call in the national guard!  Sad!  The pictures below were taken by friends of mine - south of me in my county! 

 

Yesterday evening (Friday) they got worried again with favorable conditions.  They dismissed school a tad early to try to get everyone home before it happened.   I heard that a little north of us witnessed a tornado - but I didn't hear if it touched down (I don't have TV channels - so I'm behind on my reports.)  (:  but  I talked to my friend Sharon tonight - she was out doing Census work yesterday out past L(about 30 minutes west of us) . . . she had more to do - but felt the weather was getting bad - so she drove 85 mph to get to L (she passed cops but she felt they must have known she was racing to get somewhere safe since they didn't stop her and they seemed to be in a rush too)   - found the hostipal figuring they would let some stranger in and have a safe place - she ran inside - they told her to go to a stairwell . . she did and with in 5 minutes she said they could feel it.   The autozone across the street got it's roof torn off by a tornado!!!!???!!!!   crazy huh?!   I"m glad she's safe!!!!  and glad she wasn't in her car when it hit there!!!!  and I'm glad where I live was not hit!

We got some crazy wind - and I heard down in Tennessee - Matthew (David's brother) has some tree's down due to the wind - but none on his house!!!   (although good bye to the neighbor's shed - see below picture).  His friend took the picture of the sky below across town near where Matt used to live!  Crazy weather!!!

And there is a city up north of Louisville that is "gone"  David said his mom lived in that town while she was a senior!  So glad to be safe today!!!