So Proud

Olivia is in 3rd grade which means that she now gets letter grades. Going from 2nd to 3rd grade is hard. As mentioned before, you now get actual grades, there’s a lot less play and you have to be a lot more responsible. You basically have to function with a totally different frame of mind, and when you’re 8 (and you’re Olivia) switching from the 2nd grade to the 3rd grade mind set is hard. Well, it may have been hard but she made the principal’s honor roll for the first term. I’m so proud of what she has accomplished.

Falcons

After a long absence from the blogging world, I’ll spare you the normal excuse, well, normal for me. Life just isn’t always fun. But we still have been doing loads of fun things and over the next several days, I’ll try to catch up in no specific order. Henry wants me to start with him because he is super proud to be playing flag football this fall. The practices started about a month ago and this morning was his third game. His league is sponsored by the NFL and each team (4 in Henry’s age group) got to choose which NFL team they would be called after. Henry’s team chose the Falcons. To say the truth, Henry couldn’t care less about Atlanta or the actual NFL team but I have been reading The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull and the main kids in the book belong to a really cool secret club called the Blue Falcons. So the Falcons it is. Now back to flag football. As you may imagine, 5 and 6 year-olds are not the best coordinated, focused or skilled, which makes for really fun games to watch. But the best part is how much the kids love it. Henry would go to practice every day if he could. And even though he likes winning, he doesn’t care if his team loses, he just likes playing. He loves this pictures his dad took of him this morning, and I have to say, I do to.

Frog Lake

Yesterday, the kids and I went on a beautiful hike with some friends. We basically made it a day trip. We left Carson Valley around 10, started the hike around 10:30.

We had brought swimwear so once we got to the lake we stayed for a couple of hours. We had lunch and we played. I personally didn’t get in the lake; I was satisfied with supervising and visiting with my friends. The kids however had a grand time playing in the water and in the beautiful nature around the lake. They were especially thrilled when they noticed a nice slope still covered in snow. If you know Henry, you can guess what happened next. Yep, he decided he would sled it on his bottom in his swim trunks and all the kids decided to do like him. They really did have a grand time. They played hard and each now gladly bears a “wound” to prove it.

I gave Olivia and her friend Madison a small camera. Here are some of the pictures they took.

Thank you Heather for showing us such an amazing place.

Vive la France… et Joyeux Anniversaire Papa!

Today is Bastille Day; a day to celebrate France and being French because let’s face it; it’s a great place, with great people and great food. It’s also my dad’s birthday. I think it’d be awesome to have fireworks and a parade every year for my birthday. Joyeux Anniversaire Papa! Je t’aime de tout mon Coeur.

Death Ride

It is done. After months of training and of hanging out with his cycling buddies, Tyler completed the Death Ride today. That’s right all 129 miles, 5 passes and 15,000 feet of climbing. Can you tell I’m proud? Well, I’m very proud and he’s pooped!

His day started at 3:45 am when he met up with Clay, Callis and Joseph, his riding guys. He started the ride at 4:50 am from Turtle Rock Park in Markleeville, CA and up Monitor Pass to 395 by Lake Topaz. At 395, he turned around and went back over Monitor Pass. Then it was up Ebbetts Pass, turn around and back over Ebbetts Pass. After the second time over Ebbetts, they came by Turtle Rock Park on the way to Carson Pass and then back to Turtle Rock Park. Yep. 129 miles. 5 passes. 15,000 feet of climbing. I’m tired just typing it out. Tyler finished at 3:45 pm. Just under 11 hours including all the hydration breaks, potty breaks and lunch.

The kids, Tyler’s parents and I went to the finish line to see him finish. We are all so proud of him.

Tyler coming up to the finish line.

Olivia and Henry running to their father.

The 5 stickers on Tyler’s number. He got a sticker at each completed pass.

Tyler’s face crusted with salt because of all the sweating. Disgusting but part of the experience.

Tyler after we got home. Pooped.

Dance Recital

Friday night was Olivia’s dance recital. She worked really hard and practiced a lot. Last week’s schedule was dance, dance, dance and…more dance. Grandpa and Grandma came. So did Aunt Amber. Thank you so much. She had a great time. If she was nervous, she didn’t show it at all. She loved her costumes and all the attention. Dad got her roses and Amber got her lilies. Every time she walks by her flowers (and I do believe she walks by them a lot on purpose) she is reminded of what a great time she had and she says “I love dance recitals”. The recital was a no photography or videography zone, so I didn’t get many pictures. This is the picture I purchased from her studio (I got the digital file which allows me to do what I want with the picture!)

My point exactly….

On Monday, as we were driving to Olivia’s dress rehearsal, Henry kept pestering me for sips of my diet Coke. As a general rule, Tyler and I only let the kids drink soda occasionally and never with caffeine. Henry, however, has somehow developed a great liking for Dr. Pepper, which he manages to con his grandfather into getting him, and on the rare occasion I have a caffeinated soda he begs for sips. So when he begged on Monday, I told him he couldn’t have any soda because I didn’t want him to be addicted to caffeine and that caffeine was not good for a growing child. His answer, made in a loud dramatic voice was: “Don’t say I’m addicted to caffeine because I want Dr. Pepper ALL THE TIME.” The emphasis on “all the time” was made by Henry himself. I rest my case.

Tyler is 32

Today was Tyler’s birthday. I think he had a good time. He left this morning to go on a bike ride. He rode 68 miles and did 3 mountain passes. He liked that. After a couple of phone calls bringing birthday wished he opened his presents. There weren’t many presents (he’s saving up for a new bike) but he did get the new Brazil soccer jersey (merci Papa et Maman). He likes that. The kids and I decided to get him a “Sushi kit” and all the ingredients to make sushi tonight. He seemed to like that. After going to help a couple of families move, we went sushi-grade fish shopping and started making dinner. It was fun and really good. He really did like that. Happy birthday Tyler!

Summer vacation here we come!

Summer vacation started today. It was a very good day, full of excitement. We started with Henry’s kindergarten graduation. The cake says Tyler because everyone always forgets that he goes by his middle name. He wanted to dress-up nice, he was so proud and so serious. He barely cracked a smile, he was so cute.

The ceremony itself was short and sweet, just the way I like it.

Then we had water day (for the rest of the morning) with the rest of the school. The firemen came with their truck and watered the kids. There were multiple other games, some involving water, some not. The kids had a blast and would not stay put, so I had a really hard time taking pictures of them.

Henry is really excited to be in 1^st grade next year and what he’s most excited about is hot lunch and eating in the cafeteria. So I thought I would treat him to a mother/son date of hot lunch at the cafeteria. He was in heaven.

After, came a necessary quiet time for mom. After all the excitement, a migraine set in and I figured I should take something and go hide in a dark and quiet place (a.k.a. under a blanket and wearing earplugs) until the medicine kicked in. A couple of hours and a little tidying later we went to (what could be better?)… the McDonald’s play place. We had dinner (even caramel sundaes) and we played, well they played and I read.

But the fun was not over yet; we finally rented the tooth fairy movie, went home, popped some popcorn and watched what turned out to be a cute movie. We enjoyed despite Henry comment as the end credits started to roll. He said: “This should have been R-rated, there was way too much kissing.” There really wasn’t :).

Now, the kids are tucked in, I took another migraine pill and I’m going to sleep all this excitement away. We truly had a great day.

Too many hand-me-downs?

Disclaimer: Until the end of the school year, Henry is still me little buddy. Meaning that he doesn’t have school in the morning and has to tag along with me and for that simple reason, I have more to post about Henry. Once they both go to school all day, the ratio should even out.

A couple of Fridays ago, I decided to take them to the Swim Center. The kids were super hyper, the weather was not great and Tyler had had a really busy week and needed a little peace and quiet. So I thought, I would wear my ear plugs and let them wear themselves out. Plus, Friday is family night at the swim center and everyone gets in for $1. It was a win-win situation. So I announced that they needed to get ready, that we were going to the swim center and they squealed and ran to get ready (this is one of the few instances were they have ne problem obeying right away.) A few seconds later Henry came back to me and said, dead serious, holding one of Tyler’s swim trunks in front of him: “Mom, I don’t think these fit me yet.” He wasn’t kidding either; he really thought that the huge swim trunks were his!

Sorry, I didn’t get a spur of the moment picture. You’ll have to settle for this reenactment. See the size of those trunks? How could he even think they were his?

Still alive...

We're still alive. I'm just a little (well, more than a little) overwhelmed trying to deal with headaches and migraines. Coping with the medication that really isn't helping as much as I'd like it to but isn't sparing me the nasty side effects (like all the weight it's making me gain no matter what I do and the crazy moods). And if that was all... there's the end of the school year, all the testing I help with at the school and the end of school year outings and projects that I can't say no to. Ah, the stress! And that bring me back to migraines and headaches. Alright, I done complaining... for now... I promise that I have plenty to post about, with all the projects and outings, and I promise I'll TRY to post it soon.

Cute

This morning, Henry and I were watching the Extreme Home Makeover episode from last Sunday while I was folding laundry and ironing. Before I go any further in this story, I admit that I usually get misty-eyed at least once during each episode. Now, back to the story. At one point in the show, Henry looked at me and asked “Are you crying?” I answered that yes I was chocked up because the family’s baby had died and pointed out to him that he was crying too. His response was: “I’m not crying! I’m sweating out of my eyes.”

Sleepover

So I haven’t been detailing what we have been up to, well mostly what Tyler and the kids have been up to. I’m on an other medication (added to the other one) for a little over a month, my migraines and headaches are much better but I’m dead tired all the time and I sleep I’m not kidding around 12 hours a day and sometimes more. I pretty much go to bed at the same time the kids do and Tyler wakes me up before he leaves for work (I have the best husband in the world!). Not the life but the neurologist said he would keep me on the medicine for 4 months migraine/headache free and then wean me off and I’ve decided being a zombie for the next few months is worse getting rid of the migraines and headaches. Anyhow, now that my health is out of the way, a lot has been going on around here.

First and foremost, Olivia went to her first sleepover that was not at a family member’s house.

I was very worried because we all know that Olivia is not a great sleeper. She has nightmares most nights, wakes up screaming and is afraid to go back to sleep. Plus, she has started to sleepwalk. It is pretty funny but not the best for sleepovers. However, I know her friend’s mother and after discussing my dilemma with her, we decided that we would give it a try. Olivia had an awesome time and slept great. Anna, I may have to send her to your house more often!

You should have seen her getting ready for the sleep over, she was so happy. Definitely a moment to remember.

F.R.O.G.

Last Sunday our ward had their baptism preview. I had never heard of a baptism preview, and I’ve been in Primary for the most part of the last ten years, but I’m glad we had one. It was great. Olivia’s teacher, the CTR 7 teacher, was in charge and she did an awesome job. She explained about baptism. She didn’t dwell on the spiritual part, she left that for the bishop, but went through all the other little details (i.e. what will you wear, where is the font, what could/should happen during the baptism meeting…) She had the bishop, the cub scout leader and the activity days leader talked about all the fun things they will do with them once they turn 8. At the end of the meeting she presented each child turning 8 this year with a frog she made. She explained what F.R.O.G. stands for (Forever Remember Our God). She explained that after they get baptized everything counts but also that they can count on Heavenly Father to always be there for them. The frog is to remind the children that Heavenly Father is always watching and loves them. She even added a ribbon on the right side of the frog to remind them to always choose the right.

Olivia loves her frog and she's excited that she’ll be baptized this summer.

Looks like a 7 year-old

She might talk like a teenager but she definitely looks like a 7 year-old. Nothing says 7 like missing teeth and she has a few of those. Yesterday, Tyler finally pulled the top one free after letting it dangle by a thread, literally-it was really gross, for a couple of weeks. There was a lot of screaming, howling, giggling (from Henry) and attempted biting. Now, if you listened to Olivia’s version of the story, Dad pulled a tooth that wasn’t even ready to come out with pliers. For the record, the tooth had been ready to come out for weeks and the pliers were necessary because her teeth are tiny and Tyler’s fingers are huge. He wanted to get a good grip so that it would be fast and painless. Now, the tooth is finally out and…. she definitely looks like a 7 year-old!

7 going on 16

Lately Olivia has been acting like a teenager. I remember teenage years so I will admit that it’s not full- blown teenage attitude yet but still very similar. She doesn’t want me to do her hair anymore because I do “baby hair”, meaning she won’t sport pigtails, braids (especially if there are two of them) and any colored barrettes (instead she wears my brown and black ones.) It’s kind of cute that she cares so much but isn’t she two young to want to look “cool”?

The teenage thing isn’t in the looks only but definitely in the attitude and language. Last Saturday I went to Gymboree to spend a gift certificate I had and was about to expire. The kids didn’t really need anything but I figured it was free money anyway. So I went to the store and found what I knew Henry wanted right away. I couldn’t make up my mind for Olivia. It was between a cute summer dress and an equally cute puffer vest. So I decided to call her and her ask what she would prefer. Here is the conversation we had:

Me: Olivia, it’s mommy, I’m at Gymboree and I was wondering if you’d rather me get you a dress or a puffy jacket with no sleeves.

Olivia: What kind of dress?

Me: A summer dress, it’s really cute, it’s… (and I describe the dress)

Olivia (very nonchalantly): I’ll take the sweater.

Me: You mean the puffy vest with no sleeves?

Olivia: Yeah, whatever!

I’m not sure if I should see the humor in the situation or if I should be worried. It was quite funny so for now, I’ll laugh.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Olivia is mostly sweet, loving, caring, helpful… Henry not so much. I mean has his sweet moments but lately they have been overshadowed but the dread of Mr. Hyde imminent reappearance. They are moments when I can see the cute little boy who would come to me every 5 minutes asking for “love” (a hug), who would play sweetly for hours in a corner, and smiled all the time but mostly I hear “No!” “I don’t want to!” “Why?” “You’re the meanest mommy in the world” “Why do I have to do everything!”… ... And right when I’m about to lose it, he comes and gives me a hug or says “I’m sorry mommy, I love”. I love the sweet moments, and I cherish them but let’s face it, nowadays there’s a lot more whining and crying than anything else.

New Beginnings...

So I haven’t been posting anything. I said I would write about what I like about Christmas and I never got around to it. Maybe next year. December was an incredibly busy month and I (and things I like to do) definitely got put on the back burner. It doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good Christmas or that I didn’t do anything fun; I had great times with family, I did do a few knitting projects as Christmas gifts and I had the best time making a family tree for Tyler’s parents (now I want to make one for me and my parents). I am ready, what am I saying, I can’t wait for a new year, for new projects, new goals…