Back to School...again

Every August when we begin the task of getting ready to head back to the classroom, I find myself asking where summer went? This year is no exception, so I ask myself, "Where did summer go?". Haili is in the 8th grade this year and Emma started 5th grade. I only have two in public school right now, however I'm not happy about school seeming to start earlier and earlier every year!

Now that we're into week two of school, the anticipation has worn off. The shiny new shoes and school clothes have been tossed in the laundry basket. All those fresh new school supplies are already showing their signs of use.

I have to admit that I forgot twice last week to wake Emma up for school. I just went about my summer routine without even a thought of school. Seriously, it's pretty bad when your kids are late for school twice and miss 1 day altogether in the first week! That's in a 4 day school week as well...he, he! What's even worse, is when you are trying to cram a few more summertime activities into these last precious weeks of summer-like weather and half your plans include pulling your kids out of school for the day.

Sorry ASD, I don't agree with starting school before Labor Day, so I'm gonna make the most of the precious summer before it's gone and you may or may not see much of my kids this week:-)

Update

I checked the Utah County arrests website and.......

The kid who set up the attack was arrested for assault!

We'll have to see how it all plays out, but good news for now.

Mama Lion

This is me a few days ago!

Really, I became the like the wildest, most fearsome animal of Africa.

Why?

Here's the scoop:

Without going into to much detail, my son was jumped by 8 guys and beat up with a metal baseball bat.

It sounds like something you'd hear on National news or the movies, not here in "Happy Valley", right?

Do these thugs realize the danger they face when you have a mama lion witness the bruising and welts a baseball bat causes on her cub. Do they understand that you just don't go around beating people because you feel like it. There are consequences and mama's who will watch you burn in hell for the crimes you've committed.

I didn't study years of karate and self defense not to be able to use it someday. Had I caught the culprits, well let's just leave it at that.

I'll sit back and try my patience as the police investigate and hopefully take action against them. We'll watch the system work through this crime and they'll hopefully enforce the harshest punishment.

Until then, be warned...Nobody hurts a mama lion's cubs!

Blog? I have a blog?

This post is just to remind myself that I do have this blog here and waiting for updates about my family's lives. My excuse for not keeping up is that with all the family reunions and visiting we've done over the last few months, most of our family and friends have had updates on what's going on in the Llewelyn's lives. For those of you I haven't seen or talked to in awhile, well, this is for you!

Scot has been busy, busy, busy finishing the touches on his latest program. He hopes it will boost sales and revenue in this DOWN ECONOMY (bad words). If not, well we'll cross that bridge when it comes. He could always get a job in the circus juggling:)
*Side note: Scot learned how to juggle a couple years ago and is up to 5 balls at a time...impressive!

Alex has a job!!!! A really great job. He is currently the assistant manager at the Orem Dickies restaurant. He is working hard to become a GM and so far it looks pretty promising. No girl friend right now (at least that I know about), so he basically just works a ton of hours, sleeps a little, and hangs out with buddies. He is becoming more responsible and I am thrilled he is doing so well.

Sean has a job!!!! A really great job. I know I'm repeating myself, but funny thing is, he works at Dickies as well. Actually, he got Alex the job since Sean's been working there longer (funny how that works isn't it). Sean is the "Brand Ambassador" which means he's the face for Dickies. He goes out and promotes and sets up catering. He also works in the store about 30 hours a week, so we don't see a lot of our boys much. Non-facebook followers: Sean got a full 4-year scholarship to UVU this fall and he also was accepted into the honors program. We are soooooo happy we won't be paying for college:) We even offered to pay his housing if he wants to move out. When Sean isn't working, he spends a LOT of time posting videos on his You tube account of him playing video games. He claims it's his second job and one day he'll get paid for his awesome playing, but I don't get it.

Haili is dancing, dancing, dancing! She loves it and is excited to begin another year on the competition teams. Ballet is NOT her favorite, much to her mother's dismay - hm hm. However, now that she is on pointe, she is growing mildly fond of it. Pointe shoes are just not the same as in my day...oh the memories of the blisters and pain! She never even gets blisters...they have gel and amazing padding in pointe shoes these days. Along with her dancing, she is showing interest in drums (ahhhhh, another one) and the guitar. We'll see where THAT goes as she gets a little older.

Emma is growing up too quickly and keeping us attending "sports games and such". I thought I was done with all that sports stuff when my boys got older. Let's just say I'm not the biggest fan:) Oh, I enjoy watching my kiddos play and I'm totally right on the sidelines screaming and cheering. It's just that I did that twice, two boys and then I had two little girls. I imagined my two little princesses growing up in a world of ballet, art, and classical music. Silly me, if I've learned one thing in my life as these kids mama, it's that they definitely have ideas of where their own talents are and what they want to be doing. Anyway, back to Emma. She spends her time playing sports, taking swimming lessons, going on bikerides with her Dad, and she just won't obey me when I tell her to stop growing. She is also the best big cousin to her little cousins who adore her.

What have I been up to? Craziness, constant craziness! I've outfitted several high school drill teams with custom dancewear, planned two family reunions, watched my two year old nephew 2 days a week for the last several months, and tried to balance family time, work time, exercise time, church time - you know how it goes. I am loving the stage of life I'm in right now! I feel young, yet I've got half my family grown. I can walk out my door, giving jobs or assignments to very capable kids who do not need sitters. It's awesome! My nephews, nieces, and friends are becoming so much more important and I love making extra time for them.

No pics! I'm retiring my old camera that's had its day...poor thing! And I am not a fan of cell phone cameras (mostly because I never upload them to the computer).

I've got my eye on a camera I'm wanting and when the time is right, I'll get it.

Bye Bye for now, hopefully it won't be 6 months before I return.

Valentine's Day

What a beautiful day where we can express our love to our loved ones. Let me just gush a tinsy about my loved ones:)

Scot: I am so lucky to have such an understanding, supportive husband. You unselfishly encourage me to pursue my interests and hobbies and I am so grateful to have you by my side.

Alex: Even though we don't always see "eye to eye" (well, mostly because you tower over me by almost a foot), you are and always will be my first born, which indeed makes you extra special to me. I love how you are kind and sensitive and try to be a good big brother to your siblings.

Sean: This is our last year to have you around before you are off to college. You have made me proud as I watch you take the right steps to make a positive and bright future for yourself! I can always count on you to make me smile - constantly cracking jokes.

Haili: You are getting a double dose with your Birthday blog just before this. What more can I say? I certainly won the draw on getting you for my daughter. I have so much fun being your mom. We have so much in common - same interests.

Emma: I think you will always be my baby no matter how big you get. I love how you cuddle up during movies and let me kiss you good bye every morning before school. I call you my little love bug (Valentine appropriate) for a reason.

Birthday girl turns 13

January 4, 2011

Thirteen years have passed since this red-headed beauty entered our world

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. Her qualities continue to amaze me as she grows into a young lady.

She has confidence with a very strong will.

She shows kindness to all around her.

She is so creative and comes up with the coolest projects and has incredible talent in painting, sewing, and creating things.

She keeps our family laughing with her silliness.

I am so impressed with how smart she is.

I love how she puts her many talents to good use.

I am so proud to call her mine.

Family Dinner

Cake time

It took her about 10 minutes to blow the last trick candle out.

Heavy, Heavy hangover

The weekend after her Birthday, she had her best friends over for games, food, and fun!

This little game was a huge hit:

The girls rolled two dice. If they rolled doubles, they grabbed the make-up and went to work on the girl to their right.

It was so funny to see them decorated faces - unibrows, mustaches, sideburns were definitely what these girls were going for:)

Hanging out

It got a little crazy there. Even Emma and her friend started goofing around.

I could not snap a good pic of these sillies. They were seriously crazy girls. I'm surprised my neighbors didn't complain with all the screaming and laughing going on.

Disney Land

Our "Big Surprise" Disney Land was a big hit!

It was especially nice weather when we arrived and the pool was warm and inviting for all our kiddos.

Can't get enough of this baby Brightyn...love her!

The jungle safari ride is a favorite for all

This is a glimpse of what we did for 3 days...waited in REALLY LONG LINES.

We later found out that the park had to close down because of the crowds (apparently the week after Christmas is not a good time to go).

We caught up with a few characters

Stitch

This little character is my favorite.

Tucker makes everything we do so entertaining.

Getting Mickey's autograph

Sean even got a hug from this character

We made so many family memories and enjoyed every minute of this Magical place.