Happy Birthday, Seth!

Seth turned 9 today. He is such a cute loving boy. I just love him to death! We surprised him with a new bike when he woke up. He hadn't really asked for anything for his birthday and we were clueless as to what to get him. He finally learned how to ride a bike last fall and has been riding Spencer's old one. So thanks to Tiara for a great idea. He loves it!

The girls and I went to lunch with him at school. I offered to bring him anything he wanted, but school lunch won out. Ick!! He had better taste for dinner though. We went to Rock Creek Pizza. I love the pizza and salad bar, but that's not why Seth loves it. He loves the cinnamon dessert pizza. He quickly choked down a piece of cheese pizza and then totally pigged out on cinnamon pizza. And since it was his birthday, nobody told him no. Aren't birthdays great? But his request for a birthday cake seemed the funniest to me. I always tell the kids I will make any cake they want. Seth's request -- funfetti cake with yellow frosting. No sprinkles, no decorations, just candles. Well, I guess that makes my job easier. But I felt like a lame mom fulfilling the request. This last year has been a big year for Seth. He was diagnosed with ADD and started on medication. While many would think that is a bad thing, it has been great for him. Once he could focus, we discovered what a smart boy he is. He skipped from 3rd grade to 4th grade at Christmas and it has made a huge difference for him. He enjoys school more and is thriving. I'm so proud of him. He amazes me with how quickly he learns. He is always there with a hug and an "I love you, Mom." Seth, I love you too.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

It's the annual Pinewood Derby! This is the event the boys look forward to all year. They plan what their cars will look like, draw them out, and then challenge Dad to cut them just perfectly. It's a month long process to perfect that little 5 ounce car. The Cub Scout motto of 'Do your best' in its full glory. Because nobody wants their car to come in last. I'm still not sure who gets more excited for this event - Dad or the boys. Spencer and Seth wanted matching cars this year and tried their best to create a Lamborghini. They did a great job...Well, let's be honest here, Dad did a great job with a little help from them. With three wards combined for scouts, it made for some stiff competition. And all their hard work paid off. Spencer came in 1st and Seth 4th! They were so excited. Great job boys (and Dad)!

Funny Girl

Tiara is a funny girl. She hears things her own way and thinks some of the funniest things. The other day we were talking about the daycare at the gym and she told me that sometimes she gets nervous to talk to the teachers. But then she said, "I just have to be strong, powerful, and do it!" Wow! Thata girl!

Then yesterday we were driving to the theater and passed a cemetary. She exclaimed, "There's a secretary!" Sorry to all you secretaries out there. I guess you have a pretty dead job. hehehe

Playing Catch-up

Here I am, trying to catch up on all we've done since my last post. I'm still not back in the groove of blogging again and most of the time I just plain forget about it. Not that I have tons of spare time anyway.

Once we got home from Henderson in January, I plunged into baseball. I'm still serving on the Board, so baseball for me starts long before the first pitch is thrown out. The draft is next weekend and things should settle down quite a bit, at least for me. Dave is planning on coaching two teams this year, so his craziness is about to start.

We took another fast trip down to Henderson and this time took my mom to help her do a little personal history work. We drove around to see and take pictures of all of the homes she had lived in as a child. Most of them were still there. We even managed to find the old church where she was baptized. She spent a good part of the time talking into a voice recorder and recalling many stories and experiences of growing up. We also visited with Grandpa Herm, took him for a drive, went to lunch with him and Teri, and also took him to church. It was nice to be able to go to church with him, but I felt bad because most of meeting he couldn't hear well enough to discern what they were saying.

The kids have been off track for 2 1/2 weeks now and I'm sad to see it come to an end. I love being able to sleep in and take things easy while their off. I also love playing with them. Right now, we're at Classic Skating. they are having a blast cruising on their scooters, bouncing on all the inflatables and climbing through the "jungle". Spencer and Seth played laser tag and Seth was so proud to get 2nd place! Only two more days of fun and then back to work for all of us. Bummer!

Daddy's Little Princess Ball

Oh, Tiara's dream came true. Her prince arrived and took her to the Ball. Last Friday night was the Daddy's Little Princess Ball at school. The drama started three weeks ago when she came home with an official invitation to the Ball and a request for her reply be taken back to the castle (school). She has talked of nothing else ever since. Where we are going to go shopping for a dress, how we will do her hair and her coercing Dave into practicing dancing with her every night. It's so darn hilarious and cute at the same time.

I'm told she had the time of her life dancing with Daddy and playing with her friends. I wish I had been there to watch. There were 800+ princesses and their dates making for a crowded castle. I drove them down and dropped them off so they wouldn't have to deal with parking. I sat there for a minute watching all of the girls and their Dads going into the school. They all looked beautiful and so excited for this night of royalty. I even think Dave had a good time. Luckily for him, he had some dad-friends to hang out with and eat cookies with while the girls danced and giggled together. What a fun night!

Happy 90th!!!

My grandpa turned 90 this weekend. He is the only grandparent I have left. I've been so lucky to have him around for so long and to get to spend so much time with him. For the past 3 1/2 years I've been working on a life history for him. It started out as just listening to some stories and turned into an entire book being published. Last summer, I had the idea to have a big party for him on his birthday. This seems like an easy thing, but my family is so spread out that it makes it a little harder. To top it off, nobody really talks to anyone else. You'd never know that we are all family because we don't ever see each other or do anything together. For some, it's been over a decade.

With the help of an aunt and uncle, we pulled off the party. Everyone gathered to Henderson, Nevada for the weekend. Most of us stayed in the same hotel which made it easy to get together. There were 43 of us there, only one grandchild and his family were missing. It totally wore out my grandpa, but he enjoyed seeing everyone again and getting the chance to talk with some that he hadn't seen in years.

We enjoyed a warm break from the yucky winter inversions that come every January. We always love to get away. The kids get so excited when we tell them we're going to a hotel. It's really cute.

I wish we lived closer to my Grandpa. I love visiting with him and I wish I could help him more. If we could afford it, I'd fly down every month and spend the weekend helping around the house and keeping him company. But, I'll have to settle for the road trips whenever we can get away and trying to get there as much as I can.

Another New Year

It's hard to believe another year has passed. They seem to be flying by now faster than ever which leaves me wondering if its just because I'm getting older or if time really is speeding up. 2010 was a good year. Seth was baptized, Tiara started Kindergarten, Dave and I were able to take another cruise together. Life has been pretty good. Which leaves me a little nervous for what 2011 has in store for us. Do you ever feel like things are going just a little too smooth and there must be something big lurking in the waters ahead? That's how I feel. I get scared when we're on auto-pilot. So instead of waiting for Heavenly Father to throw me a curve ball, just to see if I'm paying attention, I try to stay anxiously engaged in a good cause. Maybe that way I keep myself on the straight and narrow instead of needing to be reminded. Sounds reasonable, right? Let's hope so.



Looking ahead this year, Spencer will start 6th grade and Tiara will go to school all day. For the first time in 11 years, I will only have one child at home with me during the day. I'm looking forward to catching up on a lot of the things that have taken a back-burner. I just hope McCall isn't bored being the only one home. Other than that, I don't foresee anything big happening. Now if it will only stay like that...