Emily

Emily has changed a lot this summer. She only wore solid color t-shirts last year--no print--but now look at her. She had a lot of fun shopping and figuring out her new style.

Sarah

Sarah was very excited to be back with her friends and have more people to socialize with! She is still young enought that it was okay for me to take a picture of her at school....it didn't embarrass her.

Christion

Christion was too cool to have me take a picture of him at school, so I had to get a solo shot of him at home.

Happy first day of school!!!!!!

I am thrilled that today is the first day of school. Emily started 8th grade, Chrisiton started 5th grade, and Sarah started 1st grade.

My BOY!!!!!!!!

Christion received many awards this year. He did very well academically all four quarters, volunteered to be a student valet, and had 100% attendance. Great job, Christion!!!!!!!!!

Incredible weekend

Getting away with my husband is my favorite thing in the world! Going on a date is nice, but there just isn't enough time to strip away the worries and have fun. Bryce and I went to LA on Friday and didn't return until Sunday night. That was just the right amount of time to remember how much fun we have together and forget about stress. We dined at Spago (Wolfgang Puck's restaurant), went to the Magic Castle, shopped in the garment district, shopped in Beverly Hills, went to the Getty Museum, and had a ball. I love my hubby!

Cute kids

I was happy to find the kids getting along well one evening. Christion was so kind to play with Sarah and her new Princess Ariel ball and Emily was peacefully reading in her room. Days like this give me hope.

40 isn't so bad!

I've been dreading turning 40, but found that it wasn't all that bad. :)

Disneyland!

Sarah was invited by a friend to attend the "Happiest Place on Earth"--of course her mom just had to come along, too :). So, Sarah and I ditched school and spent a fun filled day at Disneyland with friends Jericha and her daughter, "Ju-Ju". The park was not packed and we had little to no wait on most rides. It turns out that my little girl is quite daring. She loves the fast roller coasters! She was thrilled with Space Mountain and the Materhorn. When she got off each ride, she would quickly say, "Can we go again?" The last time Sarah went she was 3 and she doesn't remember anything from that trip; so this was a fun adventure to see Disneyland for the first time, AGAIN!

Tea Party

Bryce and I went to a Tea Party rally on April 15th. Interestingly, what we found was a cross section of America. There were older people, teenagers, young parents with children, men with pony tails, men in suits. People of all different races, religions (including people that were not religious), and walks of life attended the rally. As we said the Pledge of Allegance I had to smile at the fact that Tea Party participants are portrayed as the crazy fringe of America. In fact, I'm sure that someone looking for a wild time, thought we were boring. We listened to patriotic music, listened to speeches from junior high aged students, radio hosts, soldiers, religious leaders, and enjoyed a commeraderie of people that truly feel like this is a wonderful country and we are thankful to be here. It gave me hope to see that there are people that feel it was important enough to gather and express their freedom of speech. In my opinion, that's one of the best things about being American. God Bless America!

Lets Make A Deal

Bryce and I were invited to attend "Let's Make A Deal" with our friends. Bryce was picked to make a deal with Wayne Brady himself. We can't tell what happened until it airs, but we can say that we had a lot of fun. That is a cool show to attend--we highly recommend it to anyone!

I love spring!

I love this time of year. Blue sky, birds chirping, and trees exploding with blossoms. Here is a picture of a tree in our front yard completely covered with tiny pink flowers. Sarah loves it so much she counts pink trees whenever we drive around town. Happy Spring!

Cooking

One benefit of not working this year is that we are spending a lot more time together. All of us enjoy cooking. Sarah and I made goodies Saturday for an activity at church.

Now he's 10

Christion turned 10 last week. He had a birthday party with 12 other ten year olds.....what was I thinking? They had a pinewood derby party. I couldn't have done it without Bryce and our friends Robert and Amy who brought the track and ran the race. A good time was had by all.

Valentine's weekend

We had a fun Valentine's weekend. Emily and her friend Paige decorated Valentine's cakes to share with their families. The girls did a fabulous job! Since Valentine's was on Sunday, we decided to have a family candle light dinner and ended up inviting friends, too.

What?

On what planet would this outfit actually match? I don't get it. I couldn't clash this much if I tried, and yet when I ask Sarah to go get dressed....this is the type of outfit she comes out in. I've tried to teach her about patterns and colors, but obviously it isn't working. This is why I lay out her clothes on school days!

Dancing!

Tonight Bryce and I went to our dancing class, that's right, dancing class. For Christmas my husband signed us up for dancing lessons. I am so excited. Our first date (way back in '96) Bryce took me to dance lessons where we learned the two step (country was cool back then). We had so much fun together that I have always wanted to do it again. But with Bryce's night classes, babies, other expenses, etc. it was never the right time. Well, now it is and I am having a BLAST! Tonight we learned the waltz, the waltz while turning in a circle, and the waltz with a woman doing a turn. I was really impressed with my husband's dancing skills. So was the teacher--she came by and said that she could tell we were going to be her star pupils. I hope I can keep up with Bryce. I have to tell you though....ballroom dancing uses every single muscle in your body. Even my pinky is sore. The professionals make it look so easy--like all they do is float on the dance floor. I have new respect for the people on Dancing with the Stars.

Cooking from scratch

One thing I have been enjoying as of late is cooking from scratch. Yesterday, I made a chocolate truffle bundt cake from scratch, Bryce and I both made pasta from scratch, and I topped it with homemade alfredo sauce. YUM! So much for losing weight in 2010.

Science projects

It's that time of year again. Every year I swear that I am going to be involved less in next year's science project...but the next year comes along and I am in the thick of it again. I know I am not the only parent suckered into participating in the science project competition. Is it that I want my children to look good because they are a success or that I want to look good because my child is a success? Maybe it's a combination of both. Being a teacher (former) married to a teacher, grades are really important to me. Maybe it also has to do with my obsession with my children getting good grades. Whatever the reason, I was knee high in sugar, artificial and regular, helping my kids with their projects this morning. By the way, if I were you I would stay away from foods with artificial sugars--especially aspartame. Ew!