Fun idea

Just thought I would put up a few pictures from a fun reception I went with Nikelle to. We got an invite from her first Oakcrest councelor, and of course she wanted to go. Because this gal is such a "fun" person, they had a "celebratory carnival"! I was a bit concerned about how this was going to work with the cold weather, but I needn't have worried. They moved it inside and everyone had a great time! They even had a big blow-up bouncy house inside the cultural hall at the church!

It was a fun little "carnival" with the works: cotton candy, popcorn, cupcakes (with little pinwheels...so cute!) snow-cones (yup, even though it was FREEZING!) and yummy treats! It was really a fun little time! Nikelle even got her face painted!

But the highlight was the "balloon ARTIST"! This wasn't your ordinary balloon-animal-maker guy. He was extrodinary! (AND......he had the coolest PURPLE shoes to go with his TUX & top HAT!!) I've NEVER seen anything quite like it. He told us that he made over 300 different things, including 7 different princesses! We saw him make a sumo wrestler, a ballerina (on point ), horses, giraffes, dragons, sunflowers, and crowns. So Nikelle tried to throw him off and asked for a penguin.....but of course he could do it! And isn't it the cutest one EVER!

Then of course we had to get the Ariel one to bring home for Carissa! Wish I had some pictures of her playing with it when we brought it home, but she had just gotten out of the bath, and wanted to "swim" with her in the living room. (this is of course before the pj's got on! which explains the no picture!)

So here's a picture of Nikelle with her councelor from her first year.

Then her second councelor got there and they got to catch up for a bit.

So fun to meet some of these special gals that work with the Oakcrest program! They are all so special! Nikelle will always have fond memories of those camps!

Volleyball

Since starting high school, Nikelle has joined the volleyball team. She enjoys playing and is working hard on her serving. I was lucky enough to go to her game last friday to see her in action. She loves to be in the center front position where she can talk smack to the other team's

center. I thought it just looked so cool with the two of them talking right before the serve!

Then I snapped this picture at the end of the first set of games (they lost...bummer). We have a team of about 15 girls, all at different skill levels. Some are just starting to play this year for the first time (Nikelle) and others have several years experience, which is nice cause this is the first year Paradigm has had a girls volleyball team. They mostly play other private/charter schools, so we travel quite a bit. The closest game is in Eagle Mountain, and the farthest one is in Price.

The Announcement(s)!

Well the "announcement" that you're all anticipating, (well like 5 of you!) and the one that I seem to be having a hard time admitting to myself! I am currently living in two different worlds. The teenage world.....and the toddler world. Sometimes they just co-habitate, and sometimes the universe aligns both worlds and I have two ginormous events happening simultaneously. This is one of those times.

I'll start with the "toddler" world. I've had a whole week to think about this and get this post put together, and I just don't seem to be able to put into words exactly how I feel about it! Everyone knows and accepts that their kids grow up.....eventually. After all, I have 2 older kids that have "grown up", so I should be able to grasp this concept. But I have been in total denial with my little "baby"growing up!

I had made the appropriate arrangements to get her into preschool, and got her on a waiting list. (Just at one school. After all I'm in denial right?) When I never heard back from the teacher, I just assumed that I wouldn't have to deal with it until next year. But then 3 weeks after school began, she called and told me that a space had opened up. Of course I was interested! But was I "ready" to send this little stubborn, and very outspoken little 3 year old off to "school"??? I decided to try it, with the understanding that if she isn't ready, then I'll be able to pull her out. She has now been to "school" 3 times and yesterday was better than the last time, and that was better than the first time. So I definitely have some hope that she will someday be able to go to school without me. The bad news is that I haven't left her there. Just haven't been brave enough. She always comes looking for me, and I fear not being there, and she has a melt-down.

The other reason I have neglected this post (and this is a stupid, but valid reason!) is that she was so uncooperative on the first (and second, and third) day of preschool, that I didn't get one good picture. She wouldn't stand still, wouldn't look at me, wouldn't do anything but run away. So these are the best of the first morning. After all, even though the pictures are lousy, they completely explain her right here, right now! Hopefully it will get better, but for now, I just have blurry pictures to show for her "first day of school" experience! And someday when she's looking at the pictures, I will be able to explain to her how STUBBORN she was on the first day of school, (Payback....yup!) and have the proof of it!!

(Should I tell her now or later that the binky has to stay in the backpack?)


Here she is showing Andrew the project that they worked on in school. She was pretty proud of the pictures that she picked out.


I did get some cute pictures the day we went to the store and picked out her backpack. And she also picked out an umbrella, and I could just envision all the cute pictures to be taken (assuming she will cooperate!) so of course I had to get it! Isn't it adorable?


She had already decided that Tinkerbell needed to sleep in the pocket of the new backpack!





Look at the cute little "attitude" in these two shots!! Just makes me smile!

My second world is the oldest. He took his road test for his license tonight!

Waiting (patiently :) for the tester to come out!

Andrew was the one that had the privilege of taking him for his test, and I made him come all the way to get the little camera, and wouldn't you know it, he didn't get a shot of him holding his new (temporary) license. But he did remember when they got to the school to pick up Nikelle from volleyball practice. Not the same, but I guess it will do. He did manage to get a picture with the road tester gal, cause she used to work up in the building he works in now. Thanks hon, but I don't think I NEED a picture of the tester! But nice try!

And here's the official document to show he is "legal"! It was really weird not having to take him to work tonight. He got quite the lecture about the rules, and hopefully won't screw it up in the first 24 hours!

I'm gonna miss hauling him around everywhere. Over the past couple of years, he and I have spent more time in the car than I think I ever was with my parents. And I actually have come to enjoy our conversations. And even his ROCK music! (I've even downloaded some of our favorites on my iPod!) It will seem weird to not have to pick him up from school (but a HUGE blessing) and have that time to talk to them about school and homework and other things. Just doesn't seem that this day is really finally here. I've known it's been coming for awhile now, but I'm in denial that I can actually have a "teenage driver"!

So the universe can return to normal. I guess the next biggest universal clash won't happen for me until 2010. That's when he'll graduate from high school and Carissa will start Kindergarten that fall. Seems like a joke when you think of it like that!

EVIDENCE......

That I live in a house with TEENAGERS!!

Not even sure which one of them can claim this one!!!

And thankfully (judging by the evidence), it was ONLY one roll of toilet paper! And obviously done by AMATUERS!! (Not that I would really "teach" my kids the proper TP'ing techniques!!) My favorite part was the TP tied to the windshield wipers! And the pathetic excuse of wrapping the tree! But considering that the sprinklers came on this morning, it makes it a bit more difficult to clean up! And now I am SO thankful that we DON'T have any "huge" trees in the yard! (remember yesterday's post!) Guess I'll have to wait until Carissa is in high school to get any real "TP'ing" damage!

Any of you jealous of me yet??? Yah......You just laugh NOW!!

Day of Firsts

This morning Carissa woke up at 9 (this was after she woke up at 5:30 this morning for an unknown reason) so I assumed she wouldn't take a nap this afternoon (right again), so I decided since the weather was nice, I would venture over to Wheeler Farm and check it out. I've been saying I should head over there all summer, but just never got around to it. So today was the day! And what a fun time we had!! At first she was a bit hesitant to do anything. She wouldn't sit on the tractors or walk into the barns to look at stuff. So I just let her explore. I of course had never been there, so I was exploring too. I noticed a bunch of people gathered around a cow pen, but didn't know what was going on, cause Carissa didn't have any interest in doing anything I suggested at that point. So I let it go. Then we went around a saw the rest of the farm, including feeding the ducks, who were not shy at all once they saw we had food for them!

Later on, as we were waiting for the tractor ride, someone came out of the barn and mentioned there was a baby cow and a mama in the barn. We went in to check it out, and soon realized that this little calf had only joined the world a couple of hours ago! (if that) There was a little boy that had climbed up on the fence, and right after I snapped this picture, big momma charged toward us. Just a tad protective! Then she was eyeing us very carefully! And everytime this little guy got close to the fence, she came toward us!! This little calf was still had curly hair and couldn't even stand yet! When I say brand new, I mean brand new! I've never seen a farm animal quite that "new"! So I've come to the conclusion that the people gathered around her pen were talking about the birth, and the farm hands that had been cleaning an adjoining pen (which I thought was pretty routine, until I saw the calf!) were obviously cleaning up after the birth. I must have just missed it by about 30 minutes! So sad I missed it! If momma hadn't looked like she needed some privacy, I could have stayed there all day, just watching. But you all know Carissa wouldn't last 20 seconds, so off we went for our tractor ride. I'm really surprised she was able to sit the entire time! But she was so excited to see so many HUGE trees! She kept pointing every single one out. (guess we do live in a neighborhood that is seriously lacking in BIG trees!)

She also had a really good time going on a pony ride! This little gal's name is "Marshmallow" (funny name for a black horse:-) And she had fun being led around the pen. Apparently it is "better" to not have them on a wheel, and only have the ride go for 1 minute, versus on a wheel and the ride go for 10 minutes. Hmmmm....same amount of money.....not sure I'm buying that one again! And considering that she was under 4, so I had to walk (in the mounds of poo) around with her.....yah...not doing that again! (at least not with not flip-flops!)

Do you just love this "pout" picture?? She didn't want to get out of the little tree house and go do anything else! Mean ol' mom, making her do other "fun" things!!!

Stay tuned for a big announcement on Monday! (don't you dare go jumping to conclusions.....I am WAY too old for that!!!!!!!!)

A growing up lesson:

Now that Donavan has turned 16, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised by this, but I really didn't know he was making plans to take Sherrill to homecoming (after all, they don't go to the same school) until he told me we needed to make a trip to the store to find a tie that would match her dress. When I asked him when homecoming was, he told me "this saturday", (it was thursday at this point!). So we went off to find a tie, and believe me it took a while for him to find the "right one"! Then the night of the dance, he came downstairs after his shower and asked Nikelle to straighten his hair. When she started doing it, I knew it would be a major disaster if I didn't step in to help! So Nikelle let me take over, (I can't tell if the look on his face in this picture is because she had put his hair in pony-tails OR because I was taking a picture of him with his hair in the pony-tails!!) and the finished effect was that he looked just like every other boy at school now! But he really liked it. Too bad it takes awhile to do, and I'm NOT willing to get up to do it every morning! So I guess I'll have to settle for the "darth vader helmet head" thing going on!!

Oh, the lesson of high school romance! After spending some time together over the summer, and going on a few dates, they reached a conclusion that they should see other people (happy mom dance here!) and so the plan is to remain friends. Me for one am sad to see him sad, but now that school is back in, I really want him to focus a bit more attention on school (even though he never really has had to give it much "attention"). Now I guess it is on to the next adventure for him. Hopefully it will be a happy adventure!

Thought I would also show a cute picture of the girls! It is so rare to get a smiling/happy picture of Carissa. But Nikelle can always get her laughing and giggling! So here is a cute little picture of the two of them! (sorry for the blurry leg, but she just won't hold still while she's being tickled!)

New class

I am taking the type+writer class with Jessica & Liv. We started monday. I got a bit behind due to Carissa giving us a scare. She started running a fever on Monday. Didn't think too much of it, because there is stuff going around. Well on tuesday, I started noticing that she was limping and not using her right leg. I called the doctor and took her in. Of course because I gave her motrin for the fever, her leg symptoms also dissapeared, but she still wanted to follow up if it continued. So yesterday was the miracle day. The fever went away and she started using her leg again! And now she is back to her good 'ol self! But wow! What a scare!

The reason I mention it, is that this class is helping us to recognize something and write about it. I probably would never have sat down and written 4 pages about how I was feeling as I was anxious about her leg. But I'm so glad that I did. The class goes for 2 weeks, and we also get to do some digi scrappin', my favorite! If you are thinking about starting the digi-journey, hop on over to Jessica's site and take a look at the new self-paced first class, called "up and running with Photoshop". You no longer have to wait for a scheduled class to take it! Then the following courses, you'll have to wait until it is offered, but they are SO worth it!!

Here is the first layout from the class. I used Nikelle's photo shoot pictures and changed it quite a bit from the class kit. It only took me all day yesterday, cause it just does! Trying to follow the instructions just takes me longer than just doing it out of my head! But I still love it.