Friday, December 18, 2009

Officially on Christmas Break

Well, yesterday, we finally finished all our planned school work for this semester. (WOOHOO)  Even with our move and all the madness that goes along with moving we were still able to stay on track with most of our school subjects.  Our main goals were to complete our entire math book and Bible study book before the end of the calendar year.

On Monday the boys took their Final Book Exam for Math and they both got 100% on them.  I am so proud of them! They did a great job with the entire math book.  The book we used was Math U See, Epsilon, which is a full course lesson on fractions.  The next book that we will do (in the series) will be on decimals.  I love the Math U See approach to teaching math skills. After a certain level and understanding the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division rules the curriculum teaches on full "topics", such as the one we just completed, Fractions, and the next one we will be doing, which is Decimals.  Also, at the end of each topical lesson they are learning a little bit of Geometry and Algebra as well.  It was really cool to see them doing algebra and they didn't even realize it.

The other Lesson Book that we completed was our Bible Study book.  We are using books that are an Inductive Bible Study series for kids.  They are written by Kay Arthur and Janna Arndt.  I love these books.  The inductive part of it really teaches the kids to use their Bibles and look up a lot of scripture.  They get to see how scripture supports scripture. The book that we just completed was "Abraham - God's Brave Explorer", from Genesis 11-25.  The boys really enjoyed learning about Abraham and how he is an example to us, even today. The next book that we will work through is called "Extreme Adventures with God", learning about Isaac, Jacob and Esau.  We are excited to see what God has to show us about these three men and what we can learn from them.

There was much more work that we completed through our first semester together.  We are working through a US History and Science book that we hope to have completed by the end of the school year. We will be starting a new Writing curriculum in January and in the midst of it all we are ALWAYS reading!

I assume that today is also the day for most people to finally be all done for the year and you too can relax and enjoy your Christmas break.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Monday, December 7, 2009

New Place for the Holidays

Let's see...since my last update on the house situation we were waiting on our close date (on the house we were selling) and actively looking for a new place to call "home".  Our close date was December 1st and all went smoothly. After a lot drama we finally found a rent house and started the moving process right away. We only moved 1 mile from where we were so we thought that we could handle things all on our own and move ourselves. We did handle it all on our own but it was a lot of work and we were exhausted at the end of each day. It took us a total of 11 days to do it.  All the days included packing and cleaning, too.  We had cleaning at both houses.  The rental we found was very dirty. It took me 3 whole days to clean it before we could begin moving anything in.    

We are now, finally, all moved into our new, temporary home. It feels so good to have it all behind us.  It all seems so weird though.  I guess everything just happened so fast that we really didn't have time to process the fact that we would no longer be calling that house "home".

Where to go from here? Well, we are settling in to enjoy the Christmas holiday and relax a little.  All the while, we are actively looking for our new place to call "home".

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Week 14...of Homeschooling

We are just completing our 14th week of homeschooling and I have to say we are still going strong and things are great!

It is amazing how much the boys are learning and how much information we have gone through and learned these past 14 weeks.  At the beginning of it all (back in August) I set out a plan for most of our curriculum and where we would need to be by Christmas (end of the calendar year) in order to be on track to finish it all by May on 2010.  I am happy to say that we are right on track.  And actually, if we had not had a few interruptions with the sale of our house and all, we probably would be ahead.  So, all in all we are doing very well. 

The one thing that really blows me away is how fast we  have gotten through our math book.  I have both kids on the same level and with the way things are going right now they will most likely complete 2 years of math in only one year (school years).  Just amazing.  In fact, just today they were introduced to the beginnings of Algebra...already! ...and they "got" it! Amazing! Can you tell that I am blown away?  They are just learning SO fast (much faster then they would be in a classroom setting having to go at a slower pace). Wow!  

Still "Moving" along just one day at a time...

It has been a while since my last post and informing you about the sale of our home and our upcoming move.

Since signing the contract back in October, we have gone through the inspection and appraisal period.  I am so happy to say that we got a near perfect inspection and the appraisal came back at even more then the sale price (not by much though). We could not be happier about that.  We do have to complete some work (minor repairs) to one of the A/C units, but honestly that is to be expected for a place like AZ where you live by your A/C and depend on it almost everyday.  (Yes, we even had to run it a little yesterday in the middle of Nov.) The rest of the inspection came back "clean".  That is, kind of, not surprising since we are very particular people about our home.

We also get the privilege of having an extra week in the house so we can enjoy one last Thanksgiving here.  That was an added blessing.  Our new closing date is Dec.1st.  It looks like my traditional "after Thanksgiving shopping" weekend will be a weekend of moving instead this year. 

Even though we know we will be moving and not shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving we still do not know where we will be moving to.  We have looked and looked for a home to buy.  After, finally, finding one we were informed that the house we wanted was a "flip" house and had to go through a "seasoning" time.  So much for that.  So this week we have had to change our direction and start the hunt for a rental. We hope to be able to sign a rental contract this weekend so we can have a slow move and not have to rush through it.  AND...after a full day with our realtor yesterday I know that we will need at least a week to just clean before we can even think about moving in.  Seriously!  What do owners do with the so-called "cleaning fees" anyways.  ALL the rentals (except one) we looked at were horribly  filthy!! Such a disappointment!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Looks like were moving!

After being in our house for almost 6 years it is time to move on.  Over the past few years we have been kicking around the idea of adding on and expanding for some more square footage.  So after we stopped kicking and getting more serious we looked into adding on and realized that in an effort to keep a little money in our pocket it would be more economical for us to just sell what we have and find something else that has a little more space.

We decided to hire a realtor and throw the house on the market to "see" what would happen. Upon talking with our realtor we were informed, with the current economy and housing market, that we would probably not be able to sell at the price we needed AND walk away with any cash for a down payment on something else.  Well, God sure does have a way of communication and working when he sells your house after only being on the market for 4 weeks AND for the price that we were hoping to get.  Can you say AMEN to that!

So, as things look now, we will be out of our home before Thanksgiving (yes, the buyers are kicking us out so they can get in for the holidays  haha). Don't get me wrong, this is all a big blessing.  There is still, however, emotions that I am overcome by just thinking that I will not be in my home for at least one more holiday season.  So sad and exciting all at once.  I think this all just happened so fast and very unexpectantly.  

Where to go from here....we are not sure!  Yep, at this very moment only the Lord knows.  We "think" we are planning on staying close by but then we have also talked about seeing if this might be our time to get back to our home state of TX.  Who knows.  Moving out of state would definitely depend on the hubby's job.  Right now we are just taking things one day at a time.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Starting Adventures in Photography

Well, after many years of my hubby learning, studying and having fun with photography I have decided to start doing the same.  I picked up one of his photography books this week and began reading.  I quickly learned that I should have started with the "dummies" book.  I found myself skipping over more than half of the information as I was reading because I had no idea what certain acronyms and terminology meant.

There is so much to learn and know to really create some good photographs.  Someday, when I learn a little more and start shooting, I will share it here.

Oh yea,  I got my hubby's hand-me-down camera as he just got himself a new one.  We are Canon people so I will be starting and learning on the intro EOS Canon Camera (the Rebel XT...I think ?? ha).

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Completed Week 10

Wow! I can not believe that we have already completed our 10th week of homeschooling...last week. We are having a such great time.

We have learned so much (yes, even me).

There are so many great things that we get to enjoy and benefit from because we homeschool. One of the best things is that we get to do Bible studies together. We would try to fit it in our days before, when the boys were attending public school, but there just never seemed to be enough time or I could not get them to focus and be interested. Now I plan it into our day as part of our schedule and lesson plans. It is great!

I have discovered that I can get the boys to do just about anything that I want them to do if I put it on their daily schedule. It is awesome. I can even put their chores on their schedule and they do it. How cool is that?

Our field trips are some of the best, too. Well, I have to say that we have not been on that many, however we have a couple planned that have not happened yet. We went to the American Heart Association's Halle Heart Center Museum and learned about the heart and being "Heart Healthy". It was neat and I learned so much too. In fact, it is the only American Heart Association museum in the US...and it is here. Pretty cool!

Two field trips that we have yet to take are to the Hoover Dam and in Feb '10 we will be attending the Rock and Gem show in Tucson. If I am not mistaken, I think that show in Tucson is the largest Rock show in the US. We have already completed our Hoover Dam studies and are currently studying about rocks, gems and minerals in preparation for the show in Feb.

Oh yea, and did I mention that I can't believe how much I am learning too. I am definitely finding out that you are never too old to learn new stuff.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

4 weeks and still going

Well, we are now in our 4th week of learning at home. Tyler really wanted to be a part of a concert band so he is attending Band twice a week at the middle school. He loves it! He, basically, has the best of both worlds. He still gets to go to school, see some of his friends (that he has gone to school with for 5 years) then come home do his school work and be done for the day (with out having to worry with homework). Kyle does not attend any part of the public classes, however he will be a part of a home school Math Olympiad group (the math stuff that he can figure out and do in his head is absolutely amazing). We are also going to join a science class with the homeschool group from our church. The math and science groups don't start for another 2 weeks.

There are always advantages and draw backs to everything. With learning at home, I have to say that the boys do go a little crazy at times being in the house all day. That part is an adjustment. ...with out getting in the car and spending money. We tried to go for a bike ride the other day but it is still way too hot here in AZ. I am learning to be more creative with keeping the boys busy. It has been good for me to use my brain a little too. :)

The other day the hubby wiped all the dust off our old Monopoly game and the boys LOVED it. It actually made for a good lesson in economics. As we were playing we were teaching the boys about the value of money, buying, selling, investing, and even how to negotiate. I have to say, it was cool watching them learn and enjoy it. I feel like a kid again playing games with them.

I just learned of Geocaching. I can't wait until it cools down and we can go Geocaching around town. I have never done it before but it sounds like a lot of fun. Anyone ever done it before? I have a few other ideas to tryout to keep us busy and learning outside of the written work we do at home. If anyone has any fun inexpensive ideas I would love to hear about them.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Until next time....

Saturday, August 22, 2009

2 weeks complete

Well, we have made it through our first two weeks of learning at home. It has been really great! We have learned SO much (yes, even me). It is amazing how much can be fit into so little time. The BEST part of the whole thing is the fact that we don't have our entire evenings taken up by homework. Now that we have found ourselves with extra time in the evening we have started playing more games and watching more movies together as a family. It has been so much fun...and relaxing.

Our main topic in "History" that we are studying is the Hoover Dam. It is very interesting! The boys are excited about studying it because we are planning a trip soon to go see it. (How's that for a cool field trip?)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Summer Hockey Finally Over

This summer both boys played in the summer hockey league at our local rink. Kyle played on a squirt team (ages 9-10) and Tyler played on a squirt and peewee team (ages 11-12).

Both boys played on the same squirt team, the Red Wings. They didn't have a very good season (according to the win/loss record). Although they did have a lot of fun.


Tyler is the goalie in middle and Kyle is behind him over his shoulder on the left.


Tyler's peewee team, the Bruins, had a better record overall and ended up almost winning 1st place in the final tournament. They ended up losing in the last 3 min of their final game. It was a big bummer, but they played hard and still ended up in 2nd place.
Tyler is the goalie in the middle on his knee.
Hockey is the best sport and so much fun to watch. We will take a little break before returning back to it in a couple months. (...sigh)

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Kyle Turns 9 on the 9th in '09

This is a pretty cool year for Kyle's b-day. He turns 9 on the 9th in '09.

He had a great day spending it with a friend. We all went to Red Robin for lunch and then back home so he could enjoy his new "toys" and play with his friend.




Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Interesting Birthday Activity - Spa Day

Well, as it is with everyone, we DO get older with every passing year. Yesterday was my day to celebrate that wonderful moment. Raah!
So, in an effort to make the day a memorable one I decided to make my trip to the spa for a pedicure a semi-family affair. I decided to take my boys to experience their first spa pedicure. When I asked them about joining me, to my surprise, they were actually excited to give it a try. Their only request is that I didn't make them get their toe nails painted. ha!

Kyle sat back and relaxed and really enjoyed it and Tyler was asking questions the whole time about what they were doing, why they were doing it and the products they were using. I think the lady that worked with Tyler couldn't get done fast enough. lol



Another Hockey Win

Tyler played in his PeeWee playoff game this evening. They were 3rd place going into the game. They played against the #2 team and won. Now they get to play in the championship game on Saturday for 1st place. Yeah! Good job Tyler and team.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Hallelujah!!!

The boys are in the home stretch of finishing up their summer hockey season. Tonight was the last season game before heading into the play offs. After a full season of being the bottom ranked team and not winning ANY games, well, they finally got a win. WOOHOO!! Way to finish with a bang! The score was 4-1. Kyle had one of the goals and Tyler stopped over 30 shots!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Weird Day

Today is the first day of school for all the kids in our district where we live. However, it felt kind of odd not getting the kids up early this morning and heading off to school. We have decided to try homeschooling this year. We are all very excited about it. I know we are all going to learn a lot this year (me included) and have fun doing it, too.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Happy Birthday Tyler

Tyler is now 11 years old. Here is a picture of Tyler and Kyle at the driving range on his b-day

Sunday, May 31, 2009

3v3 Midnight Maddness Under the Stars

Kyle was invited to play in another 3v3 soccer tournament this past weekend. Being that it is SO hot out here already this tournament was an all-nighter. It started at 4pm and ended around midnight. It was a late day/night but it sure beats sitting and playing in 100 degree + heat. Even though the days are hot the nights are still cool and very enjoyable. It was a perfect night for soccer.




Here is Kyle with his team. There are only 5 on the team. Aren't they so cute!
Here is Kyle with one of his team mates, Peter.

Last Day of School and More Awards

Last Thursday was our last day of school. It feels so good to be done and have a nice long break ahead of us.

Not only was it the last day of school it was also award ceremony day for 3rd graders. Kyle received the Principal's List Award again the 4th quarter. He also received recognition for earning Principal's list for all 4 quarters. Principal's List is the award for making straight A's on your report card. Kyle had all A's for the entire year. In fact, out of about 120 third grade students, Kyle was one out of only eleven that made straight A's all year long.
Way to go Kyle! You rock!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Promotion Day and Awards

Today was 5th grade promotion day at school. Tyler will be heading into middle school next year. I can't believe it!

In addition to having the promotion ceremony they also received their quarterly awards. Tyler made honor roll again and, even better, was selected by his teacher for the citizenship award for his class. I am such a proud mom! Growing up my mother would always make such a big deal about citizenship awards and tell me that citizenship awards were always better then any grade you could make. Being a mom myself, I now understand what she was talking about. Being a good citizen can take you much farther in life then any grades can!

Way to go Tyler! I am very proud of you!



Monday, May 11, 2009

Another shut out and a new game of 3 v 3 soccer

Tyler recorded his 8th shut out as a hockey goalie this past week. Yeah Tyler! I am so proud of you!

Also...

This past week, we have gotten to learn and experience a new kind of soccer play (well new to us, not sure how long it has formally been around). Kyle was asked to join what is called a 3v3 soccer team and has already competed in one tournament. One of his friends that he plays club soccer with decided to form and start a team that can compete together. There was a 3v3 tournament this past weekend and Kyle's team ended up taking 2nd place. Not bad for the first time playing. It was so much fun to watch. It is quick, very fast and usually lots of goals. Kyle had 8 goals in 4 games. Way to go Kyle!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Dream becomes reality

Playing Indoor soccer....That's right. I have always wanted to have the opportunity to try and my hand (or feet) again at playing indoor soccer. Well, last Friday I played for the first time after almost 15 years. It was great, a lot of fun and an exhausting workout! Can't wait until our next game. It is the perfect thing to be doing right now out here in hot and sunny AZ.

Made it to the finals again

Our soccer team made it...again...to the Championship finals game this season. We play for first place this coming Friday evening. We placed 5th (out of 6) at the end of regular season play and somehow made it back to the final game. wow!

Count down

Only 2 and 1/2 weeks until school is out and summer is here. Yeah! Yeah!!

Darn those Wings

Well it is that time of year again...The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs!

The Red Wings and Ducks are playing a best of 4 out of 7 right now to move on to the western conference finals. The Wings won again tonight to lead the series, 3-2. Come on Ducks...beat those Wings!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!!

Many blessings to all on this Resurrection Sunday!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter Service

Being a part of a rather large church we had the opportunity to attend an Easter service this evening (Saturday) instead of the traditional "Sunday morning". It was an awesome service!

We had the privilege of having Kendall Payne leading us in worship. She has such an amazing voice and is a very talented musician. She has written songs that have been used in numerous films and tv shows. The biggest one is Grey's Anatomy. Her most recent CD is a praise and worship remake.

I would add in some of her songs from YouTube, but being that I don't know how to add those to my blog I will leave it up to you to check her out on YouTube for yourself. Or, you can find her on her web site at www.kendallpayne.com .

One of my favs (that she performed tonight) is a remake of U2's "One". I never really listened to the words of that song before. Great song!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

End of Season Video in Review for the Ice Dogs

Part 1

Part 2

The coach's wife put a lot of time in and made a video of the Ice Dogs season. She did a great job and I wanted to share it here. It is a long video. I had to split it into two different segments.

I know that the picture size is small and sometimes hard to see clearly. It is so much better on a big screen. Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Wrapping up and Starting New

It is official, the Ice Dog days are over. This past Saturday Tyler had his end of season team party for his hockey team. It was fun to all be together (parents and players). Of course it was an ice skating party with pizza, drinks and tons of other munchies. Most of the team will probably not be together next season as some players are moving to a different rink (the new one in town) and some will, most likely, be split up when teams form next season. This has been the best team and season EVER for Tyler (and us as parents). The WHOLE team got along and everyone developed close friendships with one another. Tyler developed some of the best friendships that he has ever had with his teammates. Even though we are all sad it is over we realize how much we have been blessed by it and thank God for a great season and the wonderful new relationships we all have because of it.

Looking ahead, we are already on the road to starting a new season. We got a call this afternoon from the new hockey coach for this new season and found out that the first practice is already here, this Friday! Wow! We are one of the families that made the move to the new ice rink in town. I am not sure what to expect with it all. When you are so used to one thing sometimes change can be hard. We decided to make the move to the new rink for mainly one reason...LOCATION! The rink we were at last season was a 1 hour round trip for us from our house. This new rink is only 20min at the most. Yep, it is only about 10 min from our house. SO NICE! Another change for this season is that Kyle will also be playing. Tyler and Kyle will be on the same team. This will be the last time that they will be able to play together for a couple of years. I am excited to see what this new season will bring!

**I am working on uploading the Ice Dog team's video recap. It is a video that was put together by the coaches wife for all the players. So stay tuned.

Monday, March 23, 2009

9 More Weeks

Well, today was back to school (and work) for us. Spring break was so nice and much needed. Now we are on the count down to summer...9 more weeks. Woo Hoo!

2nd Place

Tyler had his championship game yesterday. They ended up with a loss. The score was 3-5. Big Bummer! They played a very tough team that held 1st place the whole season (they play a 6 month season). Overall it was a good game. They played their hearts out! He did a great job all season long and learned a lot. Way to go Tyler!

Tyler receiving his 2nd place award with his coach.



The Ice Dogs!

They all look so sad :(

Saturday, March 21, 2009

My NetMinder

Here is a rare picture of Tyler in his gear without his helmet. It was taken this past Friday evening after their 8-0 win.



So Sad

We found out this week that one of Kyle's best friends will be moving to TX. I am not sure who is more bummed about it, me our Kyle. Raising kids is hard and when you see your child develop friendships with kids that are "good" for them, you don't want to see it end. This kid is such a good kid, so kind and polite. We will miss seeing him and having him around. We wish him all the best as he moves to TX.



New York in Arizona

Last summer (I think it was) my hubby and I totally remodeled one of our spare bedrooms and made it into a really nice functional office for both of us. We tore out the carpet and put in laminate wood flooring. We painted the walls. We added new lighting and purchased all new office furniture from Ikea. It has been one of the best things that we have done with the house since moving in almost 5 years ago.

If you have ever been to Ikea you know that most all of their furniture comes in a handful of colors (or finishes). The finish that we chose was black. With 10'+ high walls we needed something that would work with our black furniture and large off white walls. So where else to look for just the right thing then...you got it...Ikea.

This is what we found... a New York Times Square picture. It is mostly a black and white canvas print with a "pop" of yellow (the taxis). It is awesome. It fills the space and looks great!



BTW...if you have never been to an Ikea and have the opportunity to go...you must do it. They are awesome!


Friday, March 20, 2009

Hockey Update

Okay, now for some hockey updates...

*2 weeks ago Tyler's team played the #1 team in the league. They won! It was the best game that I have EVER seen him play. The old phrase, "he stood on his head"was just about reality for Tyler. He almost literally stood on his head to make some of the saves that he did. Wow! It was a great game!

*We are at the end of another hockey season and with that comes the playoffs. The first round was this evening. Tyler's team was awesome. They won 8-0. Tyler got credited with another shut out. They will be playing Sunday morning in the championship game for 1st place. Go Ice Dogs, Go!

*So with the end of one season comes the start of another. Oh yea, they do not waste any time. Tomorrow morning we are off to skate evaluations for the new season. They use skate evaluations to help divide up the teams. Kyle will be playing this season as he will (mostly) be off from soccer and not have any soccer commitments over the summer.

*Oh yea...and the Coyotes...They are not doing too well. But still, we support them and love watching and going to the games. We thought that there might be a little glimmer of hope that they might actually make it to the playoffs...but I don't think it is happening this year. oh well!


note: Hubby got some great pictures at Tyler's game this evening. I will try and post some tomorrow.

Soccer Update

Ok Here are some soccer updates...

*Kyle officially finished his first year of club soccer. He is still practicing with the team to stay sharp for tryouts coming up in April. He had a great year and learned a lot.

*We are half way through our recreation soccer season. Hubby and I are coaching, Tyler and Kyle are both playing. It is a Family event this season. Overall our team is not doing too well. We have 2 ties and 3 loses. Hopefully we can put a win on the board before the end of the season.

*I officially started my adult co-ed soccer season today. We played in our first game of the season this evening. We won 3-0. woohoo. I love it!! It is SO much fun!!

*One of the major sporting teams that AZ DOES NOT have is a MLS team. There are many groups, organizations and people that are really pushing to bring MLS to AZ. So with all of the efforts they were able to get an MLS exhibition game here. We went to see the LA Galaxy and the Chicago Fire play last Saturday. It was awesome! That was the first time that I have ever been to an MLS game (or any type of pro soccer game). I would love to have a team here in AZ. I know, just another place to burn the paycheck. HA! But it would be fun!

Featured Blogger! WooHoo!

Thanks Jen for adding me as a featured blogger for today. That is pretty cool. Thanks, also, for the sweet words about me. Your the BEST! Yes, you did beg (pretty much :)) for me to start blogging. I know I am not "in to it" as much as you are but I do still have fun with it. Thanks for getting me started and for all your help with the blog "look" and such too. You are so talented with all that you know how to do with blog design. So, if you are a guest reading this and working toward winning a blog make over for yourself, well all I can say is keep working towards it because if you are her lucky winner you are in for a big treat.

On another note, if you are a guest here today and have never been to my blog, thanks for stoppin' by. As you can probably see, I am not an "everyday" blogger (I don't post everyday). I mostly use my blog to post about my kids, family stuff, all our sporting adventures (we are a sports crazy family) and a few other hot topics that come up from time to time. One of those hot topics you will find here are autism related posts. My oldest son is mildly autistic and I have found that posting and communicating with a few others out there has been an outlet for me as we (my hubby and I) walk this autism road together. So, if you would like to know more about our autism story I would love to share. Just leave me a post in the comments.

I guess I had better update a little on the latest with the kids and family soon. It has been a while since my last post. I will try and add some updates in a while so make sure to check back. We have been on spring break so there is plenty to post on, I just need to do it. :)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Big day for boys, Another 1st

Today was a big day for both boys. We are to that stage in life where we get to add another doctor to our "list". The Orthodontist! Yep. They are both starting a 2 stage process of ortho work. Kyle gets to experience having his upper pallet expanded and top front braces while Tyler just gets the top front braces.
Since Kyle's process is more involved he will not be getting his braces for a while. He has to go through the process of expanding his top pallet before he will see a different "smile". He was fitted for "rings" today and is having to wear spacers between his top molars. The spacers will help the rings fit better and not hurt as much when they are permanently attached. The rings will hold his pallet expander in place that will fit in the top of his mouth.

Tyler on the other hand gets to jump right to having braces and he got those put on today.

Here is a before and after picture. He is such a cutie! I can't wait to see how even more handsome he will be once his braces come off.

Spring Break, Almost here!

Yeah! Spring Break is almost here, only 2 more days. Can you tell we are READY! :)

Friday, February 27, 2009

One More Week

One more week until we get a break from school and we are on Spring Break! I don't think it can get here quick enough. We are all ready! No big plans...just ready!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

First Club Season Comes to an End

Yes, we are officially done with club soccer for the year. Kyle completed his first year playing on an Arsenal team. It was a great experience for him. He learned a lot, scored a lot of goals and took a lot of falls. He is already talking about next year. This is his first week off and he is already missing it. But a break is good. He will have a few months to relax until tryouts are upon us once again.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

More Vaccine Injury Information...thought that I would share, this is REAL!

From happy vacation pictures (below), to this...

http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/02/managing-editors-note-below-is-the-story-of-iam-gromowski-a-boy-who-lived-47-days-after-his-hepatitis-b-vaccination-thank.html

This story just makes my heart hurt and at the same time makes my blood boil. When will doctors and the medical community start thinking about "lives" instead of their "kick-backs"?

Monday, January 26, 2009

Some Vacation Pictures

Boys at Disneyland


Here we are driving Mickey's Car


The boys with Minnie


Boys with Mickey


Family Picture at Disneyland Entrance


The Boys with "Cars"


The family in front of the Hollywood backdrop

Boys playing Rock-Paper-Scissors on a ride



Kyle's first time to do the driving all by himself (finally tall enough!)



Waiting in line...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Busy Times

Where has the first month of this new year gone? That is the question that I found myself thinking today. It seems like it was just the other day that we were fighting to stay awake to see the new year in. Now we are one month through it.

We have had so much going on that I feel like my body is literally spinning in circles at times. Between starting back to school and all the sports games and practices it is always something going on.

Yes, we did just get back from a nice little get away to California to see Mickey and friends. We spent most of last week walking the parks of Disneyland and California Adventure. We were so exhausted from all the walking that we almost felt like we needed a vacation from our vacation. HA! :) We had a great time but it has been non stop every since we drove back into town.

The night we got home we had just enough time to unload the car and then we were off to Kyle's soccer game. The next 3 days we found ourselves driving an hour each way to more soccer games. Kyle played in a tournament that was really far away. It was so far that most families from the team ended up staying at a hotel by the fields for the weekend. One of the days we had to be at the fields by 7am. I had to set my alarm for 4:30am that morning. Blah! (way too early or me). It was a fun tournament, they always are. Kyle's team ended up in the consolation round and won it. Overall, Kyle had 7 goals this weekend! He was on fire!

There is always Hockey on the weekends as well and this weekend was a big one for Tyler's team. They played the #1 team in their league and beat them with a 4-3 win. It was very exciting to say the least!! It has been a long time since I have seen grown adults jumping and screaming uncontrollably with such passion. hehe!! I think all the parents were more tired then the players from all the screaming, yelling and cheering.

Now looking ahead from here...we still have the crazy hockey and soccer schedules in addition to the start of a new recreation soccer team that the hubby and I will be coaching, and... Tyler will be picking back up with his song and dance group at church (more practices during the week to be at). Oh yes, these are busy times!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Another trip tp Disney

Yep, we are planning another trip to Disney in the near future. Last Fall break we took the kids to Disneyland. After a few days there we enjoyed it so much that we decided to upgrade our tickets to annual passes. So being that we already have our tickets to the park we thought it was about time to return to the "happiest place on earth".

I am also looking forward to seeing the ocean. I LOVE the ocean! I look at the ocean and think of how truly awesome our God is!!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Belated Greetings

Let me start by greeting you with a belated, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We celebrated with family from out of town, we ate lots of In-n-Out (for the out of towners), went to a Phoenix Coyotes game, shopped for Christmas gifts together, wrapped Christmas gifts together, shared many late nights together and had lots of fun! Thanks for making the time to spend Christmas with us, Jen. It was wonderful to have you here. I look forward to spending many more Christmases with you.

We had so much fun that the time went by way too fast. In fact, the kids started back to school today. Blah! It was hard for everyone this morning to get up to alarm clocks, instead of the sun.