2011 Christmas Tree

                             

Ought oh….  Some one found the tree…

 

   

It’s a good thing you’re so stinkin’ cute Fluffy!!!

I Just Call You Mine

I pinch myself
Sometimes to make sure I'm not in a dream
That's how it seems
I close my eyes and breathe in the sweetest moments I've ever known
It feels like home

And here I am
I want to be your everything
There you are
Turning winter into spring

And everyone that sees you
Always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
Always has a smile
You're a standing ovation
After years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
Yeahhhh
I just call you mine

  
I fall apart
And just a word from you
Somehow seems to fix
Whatever's wrong
Ohh
You reach into the weakest moments and remind me that I'm strong
You gotta know
I'd be a fool not to see or even worse to forget
That you're more than I deserve

Cause everyone that sees you
Always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
Always has a smile
You're a standing ovation
After years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine

Nothing makes sense when you're not here
As if my whole world disappears
Without you what's the point of it
Cause everyone that sees you
Always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
Always has a smile
You're the dream that I've been chasing
After years of waiting
For a chance to finally shine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine
Everyone calls you amazing
I just call you mine

LOVE this!!

May

I had every intention of being a good blogger last month…  I took pictures of our happenings, and actually thought through what I was going to blog about, but obviously my follow through went awry. 

So for a quick “catch up” here goes, enjoy. ;)  (I’ll try to go in order of occurrence.)

For starters I took a million and a half senior pictures.  Okay not literally a million and a half, but it was sure a marathon.  These last minute sessions required me staying up till 12, 1, 2, even 3:30 in the morning editing so that I could get their pictures back to them in enough time to be printed and sent out in their invitations.  Crazy, crazy, crazy… ha ha, but after it all I do have to say I think Seniors are my favorite.

Here are just a few.

   

After church on May 15, I was craving chocolate cake SO bad…..  I have a recipe that I love, but was feeling lazy.  I kept teasing Court, don’t you want to learn how to make a cake?  He really had no desire, but after a little more teasing, and asking, don’t you want to be able to say you have made a cake, and from scratch.  He finally agreed after I promised I would help him through every step.  Yum-O , he did AMAZing!  This seriously hits the spot every time, especially with the whipped up cream cheese frosting.  He was seriously beyond words proud!!  We even took some up to his parents and sister to share.

 

Easton created an AWESOME lego ship.  When I saw it sitting on the counter I couldn’t believe he had created it himself.  It was completely symmetrical on all sides.

Easton finished 1st grade, and will be moving up to 2nd next year.  He is SO smart, sweet, thoughtful etc etc etc.  I am beyond proud of him, and cant believe he will be 7 this summer.

Last but not least, Denise graduated from high school.  I am so relieved this is the last graduation we have to go to for a while, ha ha.  But I HATE that she is leaving!!! :(

Oh wow I almost forgot this happened in May, Ian came downstairs got his helmet and told me, “I’m taking my helmet upstairs Mom.”  I was a little worried, wondering what he would need it for, I figured I would give him a couple minutes before I went to peek.  ha ha.  Two minutes later he came down like this.  Introducing SUPER KID!!

  

A few minutes later he took his cape and helmet off and asked me to take pictures of “Ian.”  ha ha

 

Thanks for listening, and I promise to do better this June!! :)

Warning: Proud Parent

Yes, that is right, I’m very, very, very proud.  When we put Easton in Kindergarten, it wasn’t without studying, thinking, praying, worrying, second guessing etc etc.  Easton is one of the youngest in his class, and I know the new “thing” Is to hold your kids back a year, especially boys.  I worried A LOT about this.  I asked a lot of people/teachers their opinions, I heard both sides, some said for sure hold him back, others said if I felt good about it, and thought he was ready then to send him, and others were completely flabbergasted with the whole new hold them back thing.  To be completely honest my logical side kept coming back to holding him back, he would have the age, maturity, experience and time to be a lot better at school, he would have a better chance of being a leader amongst his friends, the whole sports thing would be a little easier, and then after he graduates he would only have a few months till he could leave on his mission, that would be a huge sigh of relief!  Through prayers, and a few opinions that I really respected, we decided to send him. 

Kindergarten was hard, I still worried about our decision, I had the peace knowing that we had followed the answer that we had been given, but sure enough that human part of me still worried.  There are kids more than a year older than him in the same class, and the developmental difference when they started was pretty apparent.  As I am typing this, I feel almost guilty for the way it is reading out, I am not trying to say that Easton was slower than the rest of his class, he is  and always was a very bright child, like I said before it was just the stage of their development that made things easier for the older kids to pick up on.  By the end of the year he was just where he needed to be for 1st grade, and I was feeling a lot better seeing how the kids were all starting to level out, it wasn’t quite as obvious who the oldest and youngest kids were in the class anymore. 

 

We had Parent Teacher Conference last night, and I just need a moment to brag.  Easton is in the top percentage of his class, they are expected to read 60 words per minute, and he is reading 80!!  By the end of Second grade they are only expected to read at 90.   Yes like I said very proud moment.  There is a test that they take weekly to chart their knowledge of the math concepts they are supposed to know by the end of the year, I’m holding the test in front of me, but can’t find a name on it….  So you’ll just have to go along with me, ha ha.  There are 30 concepts they are supposed to have mastered by the end of the year, and Easton got 28 out of 30!!  The teacher also went on to tell me, Easton should have gotten this one and this one right, he knows them, and that there were a few questions on the test that were tricky, and the students didn’t understand them, and out of the entire class there are only a few who have gotten all 30/30 so far.  Overall our 1st grade has an 80% average, they are very very proud of the 1st grade accomplishments this year!

  

I need to put a huge plug in here for the teachers, the faculty, and the community.  I LOVE that we live in a small town, I doubt any other school in the district is quite like ours, the community is so tight knit, and they come together and create an amazing experience for our children.  The teachers go above and beyond, and we have an awesome principal. 

  

BTW Legoland was awesome!!!  And so child friendly!  Easton especially loved the miniature star wars land.

I know you were all wondering where milk came from…..

Life here is never boring.

Pictures

I’ve been wanting a new profile picture of Court and I for a year now.  I finally decided to just pull out the old tripod the other night and snap a few.  I need to download the remote app for my ipod, that way I wouldn’t have been running back and forth from the camera to Court.  We only had about 10 minutes before the light was going to be completely gone, so these were really rushed.  I really just need to have some family pictures taken by someone else. 

  

 

From the proud owner of a Robot Horse.

I’m going to type as I ask Ian a few questions, I want you to experience one minute with Ian.

What is your robot horse’s name?

“Well, well, his name is Hawk, now type in his name.”

Is there anything else you want to tell me about Hawk?

“Well, he has that black letter on him.”

A black letter?

“mmmmhmmm, he has that on him…. but that one goes on my robot talking pillow….. ha ha ha ha…  that’s funny!”

Why does your robot horse have a black letter on him?

“Oh, cause he is a black letter robot.  He has lots of them, to spell his name.  But they float in my swimming pool, he is at my tent.  I don’t know which mountain it is on, it is on a really far away one, a bumpy one, it is really bumpy.”

 

What color is your robot horse?

“Well he is black with his black friends….  Well he has, well he has…  Well I have dragons too.  Will you type in my robot pillow’s name that talks, I have one…  ha ha ha ha.”

Do you want to tell me anything else?

“No, well um, that is all the questions that I have.”

I’m going to start a section called ask Ian, do you have a question you don’t know the answer to, or a dilemma you don’t know how to fix…  Well I know someone who has all the answers, or at least give you a good laugh.

Come on ask away, I dare you.