Halloween Science Event

I meant to post these quite awhile ago but we have been so busy that I just haven't been keeping up with things very well. Anyway, the U of A physics dept. put on a Halloween science event that the boys went to. Aaron took Conner and Max and all three of them enjoyed it. They got to blow up a raquetball with hydrogen and make other science experiments.

Harp Hawk Hoe-Down

Just a few pictures from the schools Harp Hawk Hoe-Down. The kids had a great time, and the basket that I made for his class to auction did pretty good. It was not as pretty as the other baskets, but considering it was geared toward men (a safety basket with fire extinguishers, all-weather radio, etc.) it did not really need to be.

Max getting a hole in one!

Celia right after she got the top of her head painted pink.

My baby is getting big.

Just an example of how much taller Conner is getting.

Celia's Halloween Costume

So I asked Grandma Merry if she would help out with Celia's Halloween costume. She is so talented I knew she would be able to come up with something......but I didn't expect this! This dress is beautiful and the cape is soooo pretty! A girl like Celia doesn't need to pretend to be a Disney princess when she clearly is OUR Princess Cecelia. By the way, one video is sideways for a few minutes. Sorry about that!

It's almost time....

Well, the puppies are almost ready to find their new homes. We have had so much fun having the puppies around. When I found out that Beauty was having puppies, I was definitely not thrilled. It has turned out to be a great experience though. All five puppies have been healthy and each one now has their own distinct personality. I must admit that it is going to be hard to see them go. The kids have definitely gotten attached. The upside of them moving on is that we now will get to have Beauty back in the house with us. I listed them on Criaglist, and within a few hours, we have had gotten four people who want one!!

Here are a few pictures...

Good Morning

I got up this morning, got my coffee, turned on the Christian radio station, checked e-mail, and then the news. It is my usual routine before I get the kids up and ready. Somehow this morning was different. It amazes me how God will speak to you when you least expect it and yet need it, (even if you didn't know that you did!)

My mood was less than positive, as I desperately wanted to be back in bed. All of sudden I just felt so blessed. I always know that I am blessed, but I am ashamed to say that I do not always feel it. This has been a difficult year for us. Not difficult in that anything really bad has happened, but difficult in that we have had to reassess our future plans and things have felt a little less secure. Aaron is good at reminding me that security is an illusion and that our faith is our only real security.

This morning I spent a little time thinking of things that bring me the most joy. Here are a few of them...

-laying down in bed at night and knowing that all of my kids are warm, safe, and in their beds

-hearing the kids laughing with each other down the hall (is there any better background music?)

-waking up in the morning and realizing that it is Aaron's day off!!!!

-watching the kids eating a home cooked meal

-Aaron and I planning our next vacation

So, today I am going to do my best to earn all of the blessings that I have been given. I am going to go to work, put others first, and then come home and hang out with the people that bring me an unbelieveable amount of joy. I could never do enough to feel like I deserve them, but I am definitely, absolutely going to spend every minute I can enjoying them.

Puppies!!!!!

She finally had them. Wednesday night she started going into labor. She had the first puppy around 4:30 a.m. I had gone to sleep thinking it might still be awhile, and suddenly heard the sound of a little puppy crying. I walked in the laundry room where we have her set up, and there was a little puppy in the middle of the floor. An hour later we had number two, and in another hour we had number three. I started getting worried when the fourth had not arrived an hour and a half later. We called the vet who told us to bring her in. We decided to have her walk around a little bit and luckily Aaron was there to catch number four in the driveway. Number five arrived about five minutes later. Mom and puppies are doing well and we will hopefully find homes for all of them in the next two months. If you know anyone who is interested please let us know. The animal shelter is providing all of their shots and we are not charging anything for them. We just want them to find good homes.

Our Big Surprise

So when we decided to get a dog for Max, we thought we would skip the puppy phase and adopt an adult. I guess the joke is on us because she is having puppies! It should be any day now. I took her to the vet a week after we adopted her for a general checkup and was told that her belly was very big because she needed to be dewormed. Guess he was VERY, VERY wrong. We dewormed her and she just kept getting bigger.

Aaron and I had to laugh about it. Here Aaron was calling her Cleo the Cow because of her belly and the whole time she was just pregnant. We impressed ourselves with how quick we were to pick up on it. But then again, the vet missed it so we won't feel too bad.

When I told Max, he was thrilled. He has told everyone that it is very exciting news. He asked me if we thought it was exciting and I told him that dad and I used different words to describe the event, but that it was definitely a big deal.

So, I will post pictures soon, and if anyone knows anyone who wants a basset hound/? puppy, they will be ready in about eight weeks!!

Back to school!!

I can not seem to figure out why the first day of school is so monumental, but every year it is. It feels like once you send your kids off to their first day of kindergarten, time speeds up and they grow so fast that you just can not keep up. It seems like just a few months ago we were sending Max to his first day of kindergarten with his new Star Wars backpack and Star Wars tennis shoes, but then reality kicks in and I realize it has been three years ago.

I feel like I am always walking this thin line of wanting to hold on to my kids as they are right now, and then being eager to see who they are becoming. I realize that the only thing I can do is enjoy every single moment with them along the way. I have been VERY fortunate to be at home with them all of these years. I admit that next year will be extremely difficult for me with Celia starting school. It will be an end to a very special time in our lives. I remind myself that all that means is that we will be on a new adventure. How lucky I am to have this group of people to go on that adventure with!!!!



Conner and Max outside of Max's school this morning. Conner has always made sure to be there for Max every year on his first day of school. Conner is going to George Junior High again this year. Although he is still in the junior high, it is his first academic year of high school, so now everything REALLY counts. Conner and I have frequently been repeating the word SCHOLARSHIP together.




Max getting ready to go into his third grade classroom.

What an eight year old boy's tears can accomplish...

So, after swearing that we would never get another dog, we now have a new Basset Hound that Max has named Beauty. She is very, very sweet. We did do things a little differently this time. Instead of getting a puppy that we knew we would not be able to housetrain and not have enough time to be up at night with, etc., we went to the Rogers Animal Shelter and adopted an adult dog. Beauty is approximately three years old, and the nicest dog we could ask for. She is completely housetrained, sleeps in her (open) crate all night long, and walks nicely beside Max when she is on her leash. She likes to sleep and hug which obviously means that her and I will get along well, and she loves to play with the kids. Here are a few pics of our new addition.

Crazy summer!

Well, it is obvious that I am having a hard time keeping up with this blog. Things have been crazy busy around here. Aaron left Denver Mattress after we got back from Vegas. With the awesome economy and furniture sales being drastically down, Aaron decided it was time to try something new. He is now working for a local gym that currently has three locations and is opening a new mega gym in Lowell. He is really enjoying it. He is also going to school full time and we are really looking forward to May when he is done and I can have him back on his days off. I miss my husband!!!!

I am working part-time as a preschool teacher. I am going back to school this fall to get my teaching degree. I always thought that I would want to stay home full-time, but lately I have been itching to have a career. I will be able to start teaching around the time that Celia is in first grade. I am really excited about it, and both Aaron and I are excited about the insurance and money that will go to retirement. Do I sound old or what? By the way, I turned 37 today! I can't believe how fast time is going. It seems like just yesterday that I met Aaron and now I have known him over 20 years.

Anyway, when I work the kids get to go to employee camp. It is pretty much like a summer day camp where they get to play games, go swimming, watch movies, etc. Today was hat day and this is a picture of the hat Max made. Celia decided she needed to be in the picture too, which she often does. Check out the cool goggles!

Vegas was a blast!! We had so much fun hanging out at the pool, going to shows, going out to dinner, and most of all hanging out with friends. I wish a had a lot of pictures to post, but unfortunately I did not take more than a few. I brought both my digital camera, and our videocamera that I bought just for this vacation, and never really used. Thank goodness Michelle was there. She ended up taking quite a few pictures and sharing them with us. The only problem is that I have not figured out how to download those yet. So here are a couple from what I have.
Aaron, Spence, Amelia, and me outside in front of the New York, New York hotel.
This is our cabana that we rented on Monday. It was wonderful!!!!! It had a flat screen tv, a fridge stocked with water and pop, a lot of seating, and a ceiling fan. We spent the entire day there and had a blast. Mike and Natalie stopped by and spent a couple hours with us before they had to head back to L.A., and then Jay and Michelle joined all of us for the rest of the day.

This is the view of our pool from out hotel room. We will definitely stay at Mandalay Bay again. Oh, I forgot to mention, the one downside of this pool is their lifeguards. Aaron found this really cool way for all of us to bodysurf in the wave pool. We all lined up at a certain point and the waves would carry us to the end of the pool. I guess we were supposed to be further back because the lifeguards blew the whistle at us. A bunch of people saw what we were doing, and started doing the same thing. After awhile there were about five lifeguards watching all of us. Aaron found a loophole though so we were able to continue and not really break the rules. It was so much fun, I felt about eight years old!

Catching Up

Okay, I am finally going to get some of the pictures from the last couple months posted.

On the second to last week of school, Max's second grade class had a sleepover at school. I got to volunteer to stay the entire time, and it was a blast. All of the second grade classes were there. The kids got to do a scavenger hunt, survivor races, karoke, have pizza, make smores on six different fire pits, look at the stars through a telescope, and read stories in tents. We slept in their classroom, and then had doughnuts and juice in the morning. Max had so much fun that he was almost in tears when he had to go home in the morning. It was a very eventful night, and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to watch Max and his friends.

Max and his team were being paleontologists and digging for fossils. (really they were excavating chocolate chips out of cookies with a toothpick)


As you can tell by Max's headband, he was on the purple team.


I just added this picture because I love it. We had Nick and Mason over one day and Nick (who does not usually nap) got tired and fell asleep with Conner on the couch. As you can tell, Conner has a soft spot for the little red heads.

Vacation is almost here!

On Sunday morning, we are off to Vegas. I am soooo ready for this vacation. We are going to be staying at the Mandalay Bay hotel because of their pool. Aaron and I are big water park fans, so it only made sense to stay where the best pool is. On Monday we are renting a cabana and spending the entire day there. Of course the most exciting part of this trip is getting to see some of our best friends again. Mike and Natalie, who live in L.A., are going to be there Sunday and Monday. The last time I saw them was six years ago. Jay and Michelle will fly in from Dallas and they will be there for the entire four days. Yeah!! And of course, Amelia and Spence will just be stuck with us from start to finish.

As far as the kids go, I might feel a little guilty taking a vacation without the kids, except they get to spend the week with Grandma Merry! Aaron's mom is driving down on Saturday to take care of the kids and my guess is to spoil them a little bit as well. We can not thank her enough!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am planning on staying up late, and sleeping in. I will post a bunch of pictures when we get back. I also have a gazillion picture from the last few weeks that I just have not gotten around to posting yet. Be prepared to be bombarded with photos!!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our 9th anniversary! Aaron had to work today, but he did surprise me with these flowers. Celia and I took him lunch this afternoon, and mid-way through the meal he pulled out these flowers and a card. He is such a sweet guy!!! I definitely made the best decision of my life nine years ago today.

We are going to Las Vegas in a few weeks and we will REALLY celebrate when we are there!

Celia's evening ritual

Aaron at work!

Aaron went to Denver lasst month for work. Although he was disappointed that he did not get in on the indoor skydiving, he did get to go snowmobiling. He really enjoyed it. Now I want to try it! Were hoping to get a Denver vacation in one of these next few winters.

?????Celia?????

Celia had to go to time out the other day. When I went to check on her, she was asleep with her coat on....her legs!

Aaron found Celia playing in Max's room. We don't think she could see what she was playing, but she seemed to be having a great time.

2nd grade field trip

Today, Aaron and I went on Max's field trip with his class. We went to the Gentry safari. I have known about this place for a few years, but never made it up there until today. When I was a kid, we used to go to a place call Pioneers park that had a small drive thru area to look at animals. The problem was that there were not many animals and very seldom were they actually out where you could see them. I guess I thought that is what Gentry safari would be like. I was soooo wrong. There were so many animals and now I can't wait to take Conner and Celia with us too. On top of the huge drive thru area, the kids also go to feed the animals. Here are a few pictures of our day.

Max trying to feed the kangaroo and get close enough to pet him. He never did get close enough to this one, but did pet a bigger kangaroo.

I thought this animal was a sheep but it as four horns, so now I am not so sure.

Our Easter

Celia hugging her best "puppet" friend Mimi. Grandma Merry brought her puppets and the kids had a blast playing with them. We had meant to make some puppets while Grandma was here, but Max and I decided to come down with the flu instead. Hopefully we can get that done on her next visit.

The Easter bunny brought Celia this little tea set. What I did not realize was what a professional Aaron was at having tea. I believe he taught us all the appropriate way to hold our cups.

Grandma Merry also brought four Valentinos Pizzas and Lasagna. This was not an easy task for her. The dry ice that Valentinos gave her the night before she left Lincoln was gone by that morning. She stopped at a grocery store where they just happened to have some left from one of their shipments. Once she got here, the kids loved playing with it. (And Aaron loved eating his pizza!)

Celia in the Springdale Morning News

Celia was in the paper yesterday. On Wednesday we went to a Prince and Princess Tea Party at the Jones Center. The kids had a great, great time. While Celia was playing she got her photo taken for the paper. It was in the Springdale Morning News on Thursday. Here is the link below.

http://nwablogs.com/photogs/2008/03/bubbles_dreams_and_childhood.html

Max is 8!!!!

On Thursday, March 6th, Max celebrated his eighth birthday. I can't believe how big he is getting. On Thursday, Max went to school and then we went to Denver Mattress to celebrate with his daddy. Aaron had a small cake and a present there for Max and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. After that I took all the kids to McDonalds and then Fun City. On Friday, Max had a couple of friends over for a sleepover and we had cake and ice cream. Max had a great time!

Over the last couple of days, Celia has been singing Happy Birthday to Max. While we were driving to McDonalds, Celia sang Happy Birthday to Max......about fifty times in a row. My very polite son asked me, after about forty rounds of her singing the song, if it was okay if he quit saying thank you to her. For those of you who are not around Max very much, he is like a very genuine Eddie Haskell.

I'm not tired!!!

The other afternoon, I kept asking Celia if she was tired. Of course her answer was NO. However, a few minutes later, I looked up from the computer to see Celia on the couch in this position.

Crafts?

I am really not very crafty, but the other day I decided to give it a shot. We made salt dough and had the kids sculpt, made silly putty, and wrote secret codes with invisible ink (lemon juice). The kids had so much fun, that Amelia and I were thinking that we should try and do a craft day once a week. Then we came to our senses, accepted ourselves for who we really are, and decided to shoot for once or twice a month.

Pirates choice of food

This morning Celia decided we should play Pirates. She got on the treadmill, which was her pirate ship, and starting looking for land. After a few minutes and many aaaarrgghhhh's from her, Aaron and I, she decided we must be thirsty. Luckily she found tea floating in the ocean, and being a very brave pirate she jumped in after it. All of us pirates had tea and then carried on with our travels to the island to find treasure. When we were almost there, Celia decided that we were all very hungry. In our best pirate voices Aaron and I yelled that we were hungry and asked what us pirates were going to eat. Celia proudly exclaimed that us vicious, tough, pirates loved........smoothies!!! Aaron and I could not stop laughing, as we repeatedly yelled aaaarrrrgghhhh and and asked our matey for more smoothies. So if any of you were wondering what mean pirates like for dinner, it's tea and smoothies!!!

I'm not the only one ready for summer!

Celia saw my dress that I had worn to the luau (sp?) at DisneyWorld and decided it should be hers. I decided that she should just borrow it because you never know when you are going to be invited to another luau. She was doing hula dances last night for Aaron and I and even had to sleep in it. We think she looks a little like Lilo when she wears it.

Modeling with Dora on the t.v.