First Strings Concert

I have been so proud of Brooklyn this year! She has risen to the occasion on so many levels. Being a new fifth grader must be hard (this is her fourth elementary school), but she has explored many new talents and done well socially and academically. She was chosen to be a student mediator (she listens to students who have disagreements and counsels them), she has been a safety patrol moniter, she chose to take on the challenge of reading all (A LOT) of the new texas bluebonnet books to have dinner with the librarian, participated in the school wide spelling bee, and has dedicated lots of time to learning the upright bass. All of these things were done voluntarily without any extra credit at school.

She is proving that she is ready for middle school. Here is a video of the highlight of the basses in the concert. There were 5 elementary school 5th grades that got together to perform. Meaning..., there were a TON of kids. There were also about 4 other girls who played bass. AWESOME!

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT WATCH THE VIDEO. You will get motion sick. Just listen. :) We need a tripod. ******* With my limited computer skills, I could not get it to update as quickly as I wanted, I will try later.

Halloween 2011

The blog has been a little neglected as of late. This is corresponding with Ava and her peaking curiousity and inability to sit still. She is a live wire! She is a combo of our other three kids...curious (and mischivious) like Brooklyn was as a child, I had to call Poison Control practically every month for a year..., the happy, playful nature of Tyler, she is ALWAYS smiling, clapping, or laughing, and the energy of Lily, she does not every stop... Full of energy, motivation and now the capability to walk. She is a triple threat to any plans I may have. So here is an attempt to post a few pictures from our Ward Halloween Party, while Ava wriggles out of her booster seat...

Now that the pictures have downloaded I realize they are not as great as I thought they might be while I was shooting them. :) So, here they are, the cheschire cat was obviously very tired by this time of night, and Harry looked a little uninterested. There was another family that pulled off the whole family in Alice and it was DARLING! Tyler was supposed to be the Mad Hatter, but apparently Party City doesn't have all the costumes in the store that are advertised online. So, last Sat., in a big mess of people, I went off to see what accessories I could use to make a Mad Hatter costume out of. I returned and found that he and Dad had already fixed things, he begged to be Harry Potter and Dad said ok. I relented and abolished my vision of having all the kids be a part of Alice. Oh well... I should've planned better. And I should've remembered to draw on the lighting scar. Come on, MOM! At least this was a trial run and we still have the real Halloween! As if we all need candy from multiple trunk or treats and the real deal...

Ava's 1st Birthday!

Ava is a light and joy to our family!!! We adore her smile with dimples and giant teeth. We want to eat up her squishy arms and legs. We long to hear her 'woody the woodpecker laugh'... She is too curious for her own good. Still doesn't say anything, except mamamamamam, dadadada, and like her Great, great, aunt Sally, she says, "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" whenever she sees food! :) Is very mischievious...likes to play itsy bitsy spider.... Stood up without holding onto anything for the very first time today, while opening presents. She got VERY excited about the clothes! (of course, she is my daughter...and a Virgo :) She is pure DELIGHT! We love you Ava, it is a treat to have you in our family!

First Day of School

First day of 1st grade...3rd grade... and last first day of Elementary School for Brooklyn. Once again, we were in a hotel to begin school. All in all, it was a good day, the kids liked their teachers and were happy to get back some of their own personal space! :)

BOOM%^$#!!!!!!!

WOW! We celebrated this Fourth of July in a BIG FUN WAY!!! That was after Jeff had to work all day and I cleaned the house. In the evening, some friends invited us over to BBQ and play. The kids were eagerly anticipating it because they have chickens! :) The birds proved to be very entertaining, the food was delicious, the company was fun and relaxing, and the fireworks were AWESOME. Usually if someone gives me the choice between a big fireworks show and a homemade one in the driveway, I'll choose the big one. However, these were the big ones. I'd never been where we lit off ones as big as a show. The Dad's LOVED every second of it, the big boys (Tyler) loved it even more, and the girls and mama's ooohed and aaahed! The favorite by far was the BIG, BAD, MOTHA. She lived up to her name. It went on and on and on. There were a few injuries with the sparklers, so we will continue those tonight with less kids to navigate around. Ava totally chilled during the show, even with the big bangs, she even fell asleep in the middle of it.

Happy birthday AMERICA. I didn't hear my customary Lee Greenwood tribute, but I am Proud to be an American. I love our Country. And most of all I love the freedoms of this beautiful land.