We have a Wii!

Yes, we have finally entered the 21st century of parenting and enlisted the help of Santa to bring our kids a video game system. He not only brought the basic system, but we also have several games. The kids said "We must have been really good this year!" They are having so much fun with it - although Seth is taking time to warm up to anything other than creating "Miis." I am really not very good at it, but I enjoy playing. We feel the need to rationalize this latest addition by saying that it will help with coordination, motor skills and also socialization opportunities. This was really the only present our kids got so luckily they like it. However, Lee got 6 tickets (from me) to see the Broadway version of Lion King on January 3rd which he will be sharing with all of us.

The Christmas concerts are over along with Christmas and it is a relief. Andrew did an amazing job at the Mesa Arts Center singing the "Silent Night" duet and my dad and Jackie were there to see it. I still get goosebumps at the end of every concert when all of the choirs together sing the "Hallelujah Chorus."

Happy New Year to all!

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I don't know if I inherited this trait from my mom, but it is possible - I love Christmas! From Halloween on I am just excited. My mom used to buy presents in the summer in anticipation (I did this for the first time this year.) She also did not sleep on Christmas Eve even when she was an adult because she was so excited. I think what I love most about this season is the emphasis on family and giving. It just brings out the best in everyone.

The kids are getting out of school tomorrow and the boys' big concerts are all this weekend. We are going to be spending this Christmas here at home after our big trip to Utah the first "White Christmas" my kids have seen last year. It is nice to be able to just slow down and relax. We plan on doing some baking and some hanging out and even some fun activities.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas season and share it with those who love you!

M & M's

Not only are M & M's one of my favorite candies, it is also the first letters of my two middle children, Marissa and Matthew who have birthdays this week. We jumped the gun a little because of our schedule this week and gave both of them their presents yesterday. Marissa got a new adult-size purple bike and Matthew got to go to a really cool store (http://www.ridemakerz.com/) and build his own car. It was a really fun day.

Marissa, as those of you know her can testify, is a sweet girl. She is generally our peacemaker and all of her brothers adore her. She can be silly and fun and also serious. She loves animals, especially horses and loves to be outdoors. However, she also has another side. She is an extremely motivated hard worker who is also very smart and curious. She blows us away with what she is doing at school. As Lee's mom says "How does it feel to know that your kids are smarter than you?" We expect to see amazing things from her someday.

Matthew is our passionate child. He feels every emotion deeply. I love the way his whole face gets involved when he smiles. He can also be our "absent-minded professor" who can't find his shoes when they are right in front of him. He and Seth spend hours making up elaborate characters and story lines which they plan to make into a movie someday. He has an amazing memory for details which is almost freaky. He puts his whole heart into things that he loves and it is inspiring.

Marissa

Marissa recently received the honor of having her picture displayed in our school district's food services building for the next year. She was the only one selected from her school so we are proud of her and her accomplishments. Remember - Food is Fuel!

The Election

I am not going to get political, but I hope you are all voting and making your voice heard. It is the blessing that we have of democracy that allows us this privilege. Even if we feel our choices are limited, it is still our choice to make.

Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween night going to "Trunk-or-Treat" at church. The kids got plenty of candy, although not as much as they would have liked. Lee was a "Goth" guy, Andrew a mad scientist, Marissa a cowgirl, Matthew was our "green" costume, made from recycled parts of old costumes, and Seth was a deputy riding a horse. I was a busy mom. I did manage to turn my hair blue helping to make cotton candy at the party.

News Flash!

I am an aunt yet again! Jacob and Jennifer had their first baby, Addison Louise, last night at 11:50 p.m. Jacob sounded like the proudest papa on the planet. I am really happy for them.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Okay, so I have to admit I was dreading some of the parent/teacher conferences this time around. This is Matthew's first year at his new school and he started with the "deer-in-the-headlights" look after the first week. Seth was, and is, our "drama king" and I was not sure how his new teacher would take it. We are just happy that Andrew survived the first nine weeks of school without failing any of his classes. The only one I knew that I would enjoy was Marissa's.

However, overall, things went really well. The kids are doing fine for the most part and they are liked by their teachers. Andrew's homeroom teacher gave him a little lecture about maturity and responsibility (and not reading during class instead of completing assignments), but he also talked about how Andrew had a special place in his heart because he was the one who alerted us to Andrew's health problems and who may have saved his life. I think Andrew really was touched.

I really appreciate the time that teachers make to talk to us as parents not only at conference time but throughout the year. I want to be an involved parent and most seem to welcome it.

It's Fall

Here I sit in my sweat pants (yes, pants) and I am still feeling a little cool. Our temperatures took a big drop yesterday and we are down into the 70's for highs. I know that it will be back up in the 90's later in the week, but for today I am going to enjoy it. I think I might even make cookies later today and enjoy it.

We are not doing anything special for the holiday tomorrow. I will be working and our kids have homework and school projects to keep them busy. Lee is enjoying his time off (I think) and we have been able to do some things together, like go to the temple, that we don't normally get to do.

Andrew and Lee went on a scout campout this weekend and an 18 mile bike ride. I was really nervous and would not let Andrew go without his dad because we are still trying to figure out his blood sugars, etc. but he did really well and stayed right up with everyone. He even sang at a boys choir thing last night after they got home.

Mid-Week good news!

Generally the main reason I like Wednesdays is because it is halfway to the weekend. This week I had two more reasons to be happy about Wednesday.

1. Marissa's picture with people eating healthy food was the one chosen to represent her school in the Food and Nutrition building in our district. I often worry about Marissa getting her time in the spotlight with our boys in choir, scouts, etc., but she seems to find her own way. I will post a photo of the picture when we actually see it at the reception for the winning artists.

2. One of my clients was officially adopted yesterday (okay, so technically today is Thursday, but these good things happened yesterday.) His foster family has been working towards adoption since they got him at 2 weeks old and now he is almost 16 months old and someone else challenged it at the last minute and it looked like it wasn't going to go through, but the judge saved the day and used common sense and told the challengers that they should be ashamed of themselves for putting this family and this little boy through this. Many prayers were said and Heavenly Father heard them and I am so grateful.

Good Week!

Andrew is back at school and doing well. He has been managing his shots and everything really well. The only problem we are having is that he is eating us out of house and home. I finally had to tell him that it is not okay to go through a jar of peanut butter, a Costco bag of string cheese 24 servings of peanuts, and two pounds of lunch meat in a week for one boy (and that was just for snacks!).

Andrew will be going to JAPAN and KOREA on tour with boys choir next summer! We found out about it yesterday. We are all really excited about it. Now we just have to hope his voice holds out until then.

I am attaching a picture of Matthew at the Rain Gutter Regatta. He did not win, but he looks so cute I thought I should put it on.

What a Week!

Hello everyone! For those who don't know, we have had quite an eventful week. Andrew has been feeling kind of "off" for a few weeks - tired, thirsty, hungry, etc. but we chalked it up to being a growing boy. Finally when his teacher mentioned that he had used up almost all of his bathroom passes we took a close look and decided to take him to the doctor. We suspected diabetes. The doctor did not think he had it, but took a blood test anyway. Well, at 9:45 p.m. on Monday the doctor called us and told us that the test came back with a blood glucose of 926. Normal is 60-90 and diabetes is 200. Technically he should have been in a coma. So, I packed up a few of his things and drove him down to Phoenix Children's Hospital. We finally got into a room at about 4:30 in the morning. I had been up since 4:30 the day before. For the next 3 days we had intensive teaching and training on how to live with type 1 diabetes which is the kind where you have to take shots every day. It is not something that he could have avoided, he is just "lucky." We feel blessed that he is alive and doing much better at this point. He has gained 6 pounds already (which is a good thing for him.) The nurses and doctors were amazing. Andrew is amazing. He is giving himself shots and checking his own blood. He will be back to school tomorrow.

Hello Again!

We had a fairly good week even though choir rehearsals started again. We had rehearsal Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with a performance for Andrew on Saturday night.

I have managed to prolong my birthday celebration through the whole week by going out with friends, etc. I love all of the free stuff you can register for online for your birthday.

We have a blog!

I can't believe we actually have a blog! Now I feel committed to do something with it. Thanks to Patty Reay for the beautiful photo in our heading and thanks to Uncle Ruel and Aunt Carol for the cabin so that we can go and actually spend time where the photo was taken. Today is September 1st, Labor Day, which just happens to be my birthday this year. It was a fairly low key birthday but very nice.

I am going to try to be diligent about keeping this up because I know that I enjoy looking at other people's blogs to see how they are doing -- so feel free to visit and comment.

Have a great week! Pray for rain!