Alycia and Joseph....

What parent doesn't want to brag about their kids? But I have the best kids ever! I love my kids and I can't believe they're growing up so quickly. Oh how I wish they could come up with a pill that freezes your child's growth, just so that I could enjoy them just a little longer....I took these pictures of my wonderful little ones (well...technically Alycia's not so little since she's past me in height)...anyhow...I took these pictures after church last Sunday.

Alycia's officially in Young Women's and enjoyed her first Mutual activity last night. She was beaming when I picked her up. This is so bizarre to have tween. She's now a beehive and officially babysitting ready. She thinks she's ready for it since she took classes through our City and is CPR certified. (big sigh)....Now she's just waiting for a gig.....

Our little man Joseph loves taking goofy pictures...It's so nice to have him around...He's our little jokester and loves to scare people with his fake bugs...(he's put them in the dryer and scared me a few times)..naughty boy! I guess that's what boys do....He still likes walking around the house with his quilts...His favorite is the one his Aunt Charlene made with the animals (he cannot sleep without it)...I made him a quilt for his bed that he uses, since Nemo is no longer age appropriate (per Joseph). Now he drags the twin sized quilt I made him throughout the house. I need to make a smaller version now. He can be very particular...that little man of mine...All his blankets need to be accounted for and HAVE to be in his bed in order for him to sleep (it's 110 outside!). That can be quite frustrating, since they need to be washed and dried. Oh...he'll wait for them though...We've had some issues with him lately...He had to see his Pediatric Orthopedist a few weeks ago, due to our concerns in his running abilities. A few years ago they thought he would need surgery to correct the tightness in his acchiles tendon, but with PT twice a week that procedure was no longer needed. Now, we need to be diligent with him using his orthodics and wearing shoes with support in the house. This will keep his feet in the proper position and will (hopefully) keep him out of the operating room. We have one more week to wait for his new inserts and we hope he won't mind using them. If you have a child with flat feet, Birkestocks are highly recommended since it has arch support. No flip-flops for our little man....bummer....

I hope you enjoy the pictures....these kids change too quickly!

Alycia's 12th birthday party...

Alycia had a fabulous 12th birthday....

The girls had a wonderful time playing American Idol, DDR, swimming, playing games, eating, and decorating flip-flops..It was a fun filled evening and everyone had a great time. Alycia said we should have parties like this more often.... Alycia's friend Erica made an awesome card...I took a picture, since it was such a wonderful idea...Enjoy!

Etiquette and dancing...

Our church/stake had a Teen Elect night last night. I believe the age groups were 12-17, but they separated them by age groups. The 12-13 year olds were where Brent and Alycia were. Since Brent's our ward's Scoutmaster, he was over the deacons (12-13 age group). At this meeting they were taught proper etiquette like no texting at the dinner table, place settings at a fancy dinner, they even taught the boys to stand up and pull out a chair for the young ladies (the young man sitting next to Alycia did it for her), making a good first impressions and modest dress were also part of some of the lessons. There was even dancing involved! Oh...how I wish I were present to witness that! I really should've had Brent take my Blackberry to take pictures and videos....(big sigh)....

Brent had a great time helping out at this activity. As the kids were being served their fancy dinners, some of the men played waiters and served them. Brent was one of them. Brent balanced 3 plates on one arm and 1 on the other. Many folks were impressed and asked if he had done that before. As some of you may know, Brent worked as a Banquet waiter at the Marriott hotel while in college. (My dad helped him get that job)...He said that it was easy to get back into the groove of things...His other role last night was as a chaperon...There were more girls present than boys, which made things a bit tricky when it came to dancing. There were several deacons hiding out in the restrooms, and Brent and others had to escort them back onto the dance floor. He said there were several boys that were terrified to have to dance with the girls. There was one boy that had a cup of water in his hand hoping that would get him out of dancing...nope! You can't fool those old timers, mister! Several of the Scoutmasters even tried bribing the boys to dance with money. One was even offered $5, and still said no. While on the drive home, Brent mentioned to Alycia that several of the boys were scared of dancing with the girls to which she replied..
"Boys...scared of us girls? We're not scary!"....
"Roaaar!!!"
hahaha...Brent thought that was funny....

Alycia danced with several boys and Brent even took a picture. We promised her that we wouldn't post it, so sorry...no picture. She said she had a lot of fun at this activity. The dancing, fancy dinner, and hanging out with friends was the best part of the evening. She's so excited to go into Young Womens this Sunday. Girl's camp was such a great experience for her and she's anxious to move on...I'm not ready for this....

Well that's the latest and greatest from our little lives...

Oh so busy....

This is week 3 of my kiddos going back to school. They're doing well. There hasn't been one complaint about it starting so early...I wonder if they were tired of the many chores I had for them to keep them busy.

Alycia's in 7th grade and is not thrilled about the many projects she has to do. The workload and expectations can be a bit overwhelming for her at times. She's doing 9th grade Algebra now and hasn't really struggled with it...yet. She came to me the other day and asked a question on her math homework...

"ahh...I just finished up my Intermediate Algebra just last semester..I should know how to do this"....were my thoughts.
...click....I was actually able to help her. After I answered her questions, I directed her to Brent...the math wiz...He enjoyed helping her, and they even had a few laughs. It's so nice when she comes home from school and tells me about her day. I don't remember having these conversations with my mom, she was always at work and I was a latch-key kid. I think I'm a hip mom, since she likes to wear my t-shirts and jeans. Yes...she can fit into my clothes. She's taller than my 5 foot self and my jeans are getting to be too short. Scary, huh? The one thing we're thrilled about is, we now have full access to her grades via the school's website. Missed or late assignments...hah! You can't hide that from us missy! She is not happy about this...and I personally wouldn't be either. I'm so glad they didn't have this fancy technology back in my day. Well, she missed the bus this week. You may ask yourselves why? Jamba Juice. Jamba Juice was at the Jr. high after school, so she decided to buy herself a smoothie. I have a very resourceful little gal...That morning she gathered up all her pennies, stuffed them into a ziplock bag and paid for her smoothie with her change. Yes...$2 whole dollars worth of pennies. She said the guy behind the counter's jaw dropped, gave her a look like "what am I supposed to do with this?" and proceeded to count the 200 pennies. Mind you, there were a ton of kids waiting anxiously to order their smoothie. Well, by the time she got her smoothie, ran to the bus area, her bus was leaving. She even ran alongside the bus...oh that mean bus driver! (were my thoughts).. I hope she learned that time doesn't stand still when you need it to, and neither does the bus....

As for my little guy Joseph, he's really enjoying school. No complaints so far. His teacher is a very kind and patient lady. Joseph's best friend is in his class and they're both happy about that. He'll be turning 10 tomorrow and just had a birthday party. It was a swim birthday party with 6 of his friends attending. I seriously thought I was going to cry this morning, not over the fact that he'd be turning 10, but the rain...There was a monsoon storm that hit last night (I spent all morning yesterday cleaning and spraying the deck in 108 degree heat)...Grrr...When I woke up this morning it was raining. What was I to do with all those boys if it continued to rain? It almost NEVER rains here! We live in the desert! (sniffle, sniffle) ...Well, great news! The rain stopped and the party went as planned... I wish I remembered to take pictures. Brent took a video of the birthday cake festivities...what a great hubby I married...

As for an update on Brent, he's enjoying being the Scoutmaster. He plans on taking the boys camping late September, once he's done with training. It's been weird not having him at home some weeknights and weekends due to training and 0ther youth activities...I guess I didn't realize how much I miss having him here at home 'til now...

As for myself...I'm finished with Joseph's birthday party and Alycia's is next! It's going to be a sleepover/swim/birthday party. The stress is on! We have a theme, but I just need to get the party supplies. I start school on Monday...Anatomy and English 101 are the courses I'm taking for the semester. I think Anatomy will be interesting as well as very difficult. As everyone knows, I'm all about getting great deals. Well I must boast a bit. At the campus bookstore they were selling my Anatomy textbook for $215, I found the international version online for $80...and that included shipping. Hah! Take that campus bookstore! As for my English class, I'm not happy I have to take it since it will require a lot of writing. I do enjoy writing, just as long as the subject interests me. A thought just occurred to me...English 101 is a freshman class. ugg...I'll be dealing with freshmen...they can be soo annoying! Okay okay, I will stop my grumblings. (deep breath...exhale) Much better.

I hope this next week goes well...It will be utterly stressful and busy... I have enjoyed the break from school to spend time with the family and getting to know them better. My family is what's the most important thing in my life...and I have treasured these brief 3 months I have had to spend one on one time with them... Now I need to get back into school mode...not fun...

Wish me luck! I will seriously need it!

Fat dog.

Brent and I noticed that our dog Copper had been rapidly gaining weight. We don't feed him scraps from the table on a daily basis and the kids forget to feed him at times...I know...we're bad dog owners...but he's looking more like a sausage dog than a weiner dog. I found out why just a few days ago...

As I was on the computer ordering my books for school, I heard him eating his dog food.

"What good kids, I'm glad they remembered to feed the dog"...were my thoughts...

I then turn around to see that he's nowhere near his dog bowl. I could hear him chowing down. I followed the crunching sounds and found him eating out of his food bucket. He lifted the lid with his nose and when he saw me his ears fell back, tail tucked in, and he avoided all eye contact.

He was caught red-handed...poor dog...

The mystery has been solved and Copper no longer has access to his all dog can eat buffet...

My poor little fat dog...

Little Anna at the Town hall meeting???

As I was running errands last Monday morning, I heard on the radio that there was going to be a town hall meeting with Congressman Jeff Flake. He was going to speak at Basha high, just two miles from my house. I thought to myself, I really should go and see what he has to say and it's not far from my house. As I kept pondering whether or not I should go I felt a bit nervous. I had seen on TV how some people were "roughed up" just for showing up.

Yes, I may be five feet tall and not super strong...but I'll be brave and go. Brent was a bit nervous that I was going by myself and told me to be very careful. When I arrived, the parking lot was almost full and there were tons of people moving quickly towards the gym. I did not see any protesters outside chanting or any signs. I did see however, some people being escorted outside the gates...they had signs...

As I walked into the gym, it was packed. There were many people present from different age groups. It was completely civil. Nothing like what I had seen on TV. It began with a prayer, which I was pleased to see a member from my stake offer. It was very patriotic and ground rules were given. Like I said, it was civil. It must me an Arizona thing....

What our Congressman informed us was frightening when he informed us what was in the "Health reform bill." It was a bill full of liberties we will lose as American citizens. This bill will restrict and ration our health benefits.Many think this would only affect the elderly but it also concerns premature babies. We all know that premature babies are in the hospital for a long period of time and the medical care and therapies they are to receive costs a lot of money. I do not want the government to have a say as to what's deemed "necessary"... They say will tax "the rich." Those who made over $250,000 gross... Small business owners will be affected by this in a major way.

I do not want this to pass...How are the American people going to pay for this? We're now trillions, not billions..but trillions of dollars in debt. This is fiscally irresponsible. The only way to pay for this is to tax the people...Many people are losing their jobs and homes, taxing is not the solution. This form of healthcare reform is a form of socialism no matter how those in favor of this paint it. They are taking away money from hard working citizens and giving it to those that don't. Sounds like a redistribution of wealth, right? Socialism, perhaps? Since when should we trust the government with our money? Bank bailouts, auto industry bailouts, and most recently "cash for clunkers"...We're all paying into the Social Security fund, right? The government runs this system and it's pretty much bankrupt. Will I see any of that money once I come of age to retire. Nope! How about the U.S. Postal system? The government is running it and continues to be in the red...What do they do when they are losing money? Up the postal rates! I think these are perfect examples of how we shouldn't trust the government with our money.

I am really disappointed in the direction our country is headed. People have this sense of entitlement...Is healthcare a constitutional right? The last time I looked it wasn't! People need to stop looking to the government to take care of them. Socialism is NOT the solution...So much of my tax dollars are being wasted on stupid projects..."cash for clunkers"...what a joke! Instead of dumping all that money into stupid programs, why not give the tax payers a rebate of some sort and let them stimulate the economy and let them choose how they spend the money. Just a thought...Okay, I'm done venting...

I just want to set the record straight...No one paid me to be there... I was not recruited... I am not astroturf as the speaker of the house stated... I am just a stay-at-home mom that wanted some questions answered by my Congressman... and I'm pleased to say that Congressman Jeff Flake did a fantastic job at addressing his constituents' questions. Should he run again, I will definitely vote for Flake!

Our lunch trader....

I meant to post this on Sunday....sorry..

This morning I decided to make some of my delicious homemade bread. I couldn't stomach eating the store bought stuff...While it was baking, Alycia said to me..

"Mom, I have to tell you something...At school last year, I grew tired of the bread you made and traded it with my fellow classmates. You have no idea how many kids wanted to trade my "homemade bread" (pb&j). I got multiple offers!"

"Hmm....well did you get anything good?" I asked.

"Yeah, I got a couple of things for just one sandwich." She answered.

When I told Brent about this, he wondered if she sold it as "homemade bread" in order to get a good trade.

When we got home from church today, I decided to make some of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. I'll have to post them to the family recipe blog sometime. Anyhow, as they were baking I could smell their delicious aroma. I thought to myself...someone will be coming down the stairs any minute now. Alycia was the first to arrive.

"Hey Mom. Do you know how many kids in my class would want to trade when I brought out the monster cookies you would make during snack time? I wouldn't trade if there was just one....well...I would trade half of my cookie for something...but it would have to be a really good trade though..."

I'm a bit speechless.
Should I be happy that I have such a resourceful child/tween that cuts deals?
Or should I be honored that she had multiple offers when trading?