Christmas Day

GG visiting Santa

Santa at the Villa (GG's apartment)

New Leapfrog Book

We spent Christmas Eve making the Jesus cake and watching Christmas movies and finishing up last minute stuff. Dad went to help the SRDA hand out presents and baskets. At night we went to Chris' s house. We had dinner and then opened up the presents from Pat and Jim and the kid's gifts to everybody. Carmen's (Rachel's mom) boyfriend Kurt dressed up like Santa and visited the kids. Brandon almost blew it because he kept saying he knew it was Kurt but I had a little talk with him about playing along and he got better. He still believes in Santa but he doesn't believe he will actually meet the real one so everyone else is fake. I think deep down he is realizing that there isn't really one and he isn't ready to bring up the subject yet. They were on overdrive they were so excited and I didn't get them to bed until 10 pm. Then I still had to do my stuff. I thought they might sleep in but they were up by 6:30. I heard them whispering in the dark living room so I got up before they started opening everything up. Brandon got a new bike and a toy ATV from Santa and Jessie got a sparkly toy horse and a little porceline angel doll and a purple sparkly dreamcatcher. The kids got pretty much everything they wanted so they were very happy. I think we all got what we needed this year too. Everything went smoothly, no tantrums from grownups or kids, so all was good. We managed to stretch Christmas out for most of the day and then Chris and Rachel went to her mom's for dinner and we spent the rest of the evening looking at the gifts and playing with the kids. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Of course the kids had trouble going to sleep that night because they didn't want it to end. I don't blame them, the let down can be intense. You plan so long and then it's over. But they are still having fun playing with their toys and Jessie is already talking about her birthday.

Christmases to remember

They were having a thing in the newspaper where you write in about your most memorable Christmas and it made me think about mine. I have had a lot of memorable Christmases in the past and hopefully many more in the future. Here are some of my more cherished Christmas memories. Brandon and Jessie’s first Christmases are a few of the top choices for obvious reasons. The Christmas I was pregnant with Jessie is one of my favorites because she was so excited even inside me. I remember she was active all day which wasn’t unusual but when Scott gave me the white tiger as a gift for her and I held it to my stomach she settled down like she knew it was for her and was happy to be included. She still loves Christmas with a passion even at her early age. It’s not even the gifts she looks forward to but just the season itself.
Another Christmas close to my heart is when grandpa died. Since we knew it was his last, the season took on new meaning. Everything seemed more special that year. The lights were brighter, and it all just had a special quality. I spent days looking for the right present to give him and finally found it, the music box, I still put it up every year in honor of him. I can still remember the church service only in that it meant so much to grandpa.. My only regret is he didn’t get to see the presents we all got for him. Later that day, Grandma opened Grandpa’s gifts and handed them out to us, giving us back the ones we gave and splitting up the others among us. I am not sure of the right description of emotion for that but even though it would seem morbid, there was a kind of tranquility, maybe it was knowing that he was knowing he was no longer in pain. He even left us the final gift of family since the Cooks came in and we spent the rest of Christmas together.
He loved Christmas so much and it was only fitting that he left us on that day. Grandpa instilled that love of Christmas to mom who in turn passed it on to us kids. Every year Mom tries to make Christmas special. She gets into it and wants everyone to get lots of gifts because she loves giving and never asks for a lot. Every year she is surprised by how much she has because she doesn’t expect anything in return. Even when we were little, we never went without no matter what the circumstances were. We have lots of traditions and some are the same as when I was a kid, some have changed slightly and some are just getting going. I only hope that I can carry on that passion for the true meaning of Christmas to my kids and teach them what I have learned. No matter how much you receive, it means nothing if you don’t have close family to share it with. I hope I can instill that same Christmas passion that Grandpa and Mom have.

addendum to pre christmas

I forgot a few things when I posted earlier. We also went to see Santa at the mall and had dinner there. Brandon told him what he wanted and also told him what Jessie wanted because she couldn't remember. I think she got nervous. Then Brandon told Santa that he knew he was only an assistant to Santa so he wouldn't be seeing him on Christmas Eve. This Santa even has a real beard but we told the kids some Santas are only helpers because he couldn't be everywhere so Brandon figures that they all are the helpers. When Santa said he would see them Christmas Eve, Brandon told him they would be asleep so he wouldn't see them. I think Santa was very glad to move them on. Jessie has been the one questioning Santa more than Brandon so we will be lucky if we get a few more years out of either one of them. At Brandon's Christmas party, there is a boy that is in kindergarten named Daniel whose brother is in Brandon's class, they ride the bus together, and Jessie has a crush on him. She got all giggly when she was talking to him and Scott freaked out because he got a preview of what is coming and wasn't expecting to have to deal with boys already. It was funny. The kids also made gifts for Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim because they felt bad that they were going to be home by themselves for Christmas and wanted to remember them. They also made gifts for some friends of ours that have given the kids stuff over the years. The kids overheard Mom telling me that they weren't giving themselves gifts this year because they are also having financial problems and the kids didn't think that was right for them not to have something to open. Yesterday we went to GG's apartment where they had a Santa, and we made sure they didn't tell anyone they thought he was a helper. Brandon was going to ask if he came by car or sleigh but decided against it. I got a picture of them and I also got a pic of GG sitting next to Santa that I will post later, I haven't downloaded it yet. Then they went up to her apartment and we hung out there for awhile. GG introduced the kids to her friends that hear all about their antics so they were glad to finally get to meet them. I think that is finally all so far.

Christmas so far

I kept meaning to do this earlier and time keeps getting away from me especially now with the kids home. I am trying to stay positive in the face of Christmas so I refuse to write about all the problems and stick with the good so here goes. We went to see the Electricritters at the zoo. That's where the put up a bunch of lights and animated lighted up animal figures. The kids love it including my light freak brother. We dress up like eskimos and drink hot chocolate and walk around the zoo in the dark with all the lights. It's beautiful and fun and when it snows it has a magical quality. Another weekend we walked the riverwalk at night and looked at the lights. They have the boat going with Santa on it, which we did one year, but we waited so long for the boat ride to start we froze and then it is even colder on the water, it is not worth the price, so now we just walk it. We saw the new veteren's bridge and the indian statue. The statue was beautiful and so intricately detailed. The blanket looked real. So we walked the whole riverwalk and drank hot chocolate. It was great. Then last weekend Chris and Rachel had a party at their house for friends and family. They wanted to show off their decorations. You may all remember that Chris is a Christmas decoration freak. I mean that in a loving way. Every room except the bathrooms have decorations. Three big trees and two small, two villages, and lights and lighted figurines everywhere. It could have looked junky but he has a flair for decorating and it looks beautiful. I will try to get some pics of it on Christmas Eve. The kids have had their parties at school, Jessie's in the morning and Brandon's in the afternoon. Oh and the kids did the secret Santa shop at their school which I helped out at. The get to go in and buy their own inexpensive gifts for everyone. The kids all have a good time doing that and it gives them some independence. Since we don't have a lot of money this year, I have been making our gifts to everyone so I have been busy doing that in my spare time. Also making the Christmas cookies, every weekend is a different kind. Today I am making banana bread for gifts and Christmas Eve we make the Jesus birthday cake which has been a tradition since Chris and I were kids to make sure we don't forget who we are really celebrating. I think I got the kids too involved in giving. They donated to the Thanksgiving food drive, money to the school Christmas drive, toys for the toy drive and now they decided they need to make gifts for everyone along with the ones they bought. Which is great except guess who gets to come up with the ideas for the gifts? They are so caught up in the Christmas spirit it is like a constant sugar high. It really makes me grateful to have these loving generous kids to spend Christmas with. And now I have to go because they are trying to make the banana bread without me.

school troubles

usually I don't have time to write on the blog during the day but I have both kids home sick with colds. I was trying so hard to get them through this week without missing because next week they are off for thanksgiving break and Brandon has a field trip to the Nutcracker on Thursday. Instead I kept Jessie home today and then ended up picking Brandon up. Now I can't send them tomorrow either because they are running slight temps and the school policy is no fever for 24 hours. So I go for no miss and end up with two instead. I guess I should have listened to Scott and kept Brandon home also but Brandon wanted to go and since he is already having trouble in school I didn't want him to lose any more than he has to.
He has started title 1 for reading because he is behind. He is having difficulty in almost every subject. When I sit right down with him he does better but he can't have one on one attention all the time. He gets distracted easily and can't finish his work on time. His teacher has begun the process of trying to get him into a funded program for help but by the time he gets through the red tape he will probably be in third grade and even more behind. I have been trying to do my own research to figure out how to help him. The other problem is Jessie is so bright that she is going to quickly out do him if we are not careful. She is always asking to do homework. And when I am working with Brandon on Fridays she is always listening and learning. For example when we were working on adjectives and I was reading sentences and he was supposed to tell me which word was the adjective, Jessie was answering before him and getting them right. Luckily Brandon thought that was cool, but how long before he feels threatened by that? Oh well I guess I will just have to take it a day at a time.

Chris and Rachel’s New Addition

Chris and Rachel got a dog. They didn’t really plan on getting one right now, especially because they are both working extra hours right now so the timing wasn’t great, but a friend of theirs found a Chihuahua mix dog and after lots of searching, couldn’t find his owner. The friend has two pit bulls and the little stinker always got them riled up and he was afraid the little guy would get hurt so he asked Chris if they wanted him. They named him Tiko and are very attached to him. He is a real cutey. They think he is around 4 years old but are taking him to the vet just as soon as they have a chance to be sure. They bought him a coat and a sweater since that breed of dog gets so cold, but the coat is heavy enough that it almost knocks him over. The kids get a real kick out of him since they are used to just having big dogs to play with. He loves to give them kisses. They brought him over for dad’s birthday party so we could see how he gets along with our dogs and cat and it was a wild night. Fearless didn’t pay too much attention to him but Tiko and Shane kept sniffing each other and Shane got so excited at having a new playmate. He didn’t seem to notice the size difference and neither did Tiko. Then Shane decided to give Tiko a bath with his tongue and he was soaked. Tiko really liked Socks the cat though. They are about the same size and they would play tag with each other. By the end of the evening Tiko and Shane were lying side by side exhausted and Socks was just as tired. Chris picked Tiko up and put him in his lap and Tiko’s little head just fell against Chris and he went fast asleep. It was quite lively, but fun.

Halloween

We started the Halloween season with our annual trip to Pantleo Farms. It’s a farm nearby that offers free hayrides pulled by a tractor (Brandon is in heaven) and they always have ponies to ride and an inflated spook house and slide and a bounce house. The kids love going there every year. We grew pumpkins in our garden this year so we had a new pumpkin to carve every week in October, plus Jessie got one when they had a field trip to a pumpkin patch at school.

Jessie had her first school Halloween party and had a good time. They did the traditional costume parade and played games. Jessie was Cinderella again (of course). Then we went back to school in the afternoon for Brandon’s party so Jessie got a bonus of two parties. She walked in his parade too for a short time. Brandon was a wildland firefighter again. Big surprise but he is a cute one. Maybe next year they will decide to be something else. That was on the Thursday before Halloween since they don’t have school on Friday. Then on Halloween day, we went to the mall around 4:00 to trick or treat. The kids got a little bored this year doing that because there were big gaps where stores were out of candy so they were just walking and not trick or treating so we may have to try something different next year, but they still had fun and got a lot of candy. Next, we went to GG’s apartment to trick or treat with her. We visited there for a while and then went to pick up pizzas to take to Chris and Rachel’s house. GG had decided not to go to their house; she didn’t feel like tackling the stairs. So we moved on to their house and had dinner and met their dog for the first time (more on him in the next blog). Rachel’s Aunt and Uncle have a house nearby and always do a spook house for the neighborhood so we all went to that. It was quite spooktacular (get it?). The kids thought it was great, not too scary, and they saw kids trick or treating in the neighborhood and wanted to do that too. It was getting too late to do anymore trick or treating but next year if the weather is nice we might just go around Chris’ neighborhood and Rachel’s Aunt’s neighborhood instead of the mall. We had two very tired but happy kids but I sure wish Halloween could always be on a Friday or Saturday night so there wouldn’t be school the next day. Jessie was over tired and had a melt down and wouldn’t get on the bus the next day so I had to take her to school. Her teacher said that is pretty common for her age group after so much excitement. Brandon was upset because Jessie was upset and didn’t get on the bus and I was worried about how he was doing but he seemed to get by ok, fortunately. We pay the price for having a lot of fun sometimes but it’s worth it.

kids

In preschool the kids are starting to learn their letters. Every week the learn a new letter and have show and tell bringing a small item that starts with the letter. Jessie informed me yesterday that they were starting it but no note was sent home so I didn't really give it much thought. I was trying to decide if I should give in to paying a dollar for PJ day. (more about that in a minute). Anyway I forgot all about it. This morning Jessie wakes up and asks me if smile begins with the letter S (the letter of the week) I said yes it does and she said that is what she is bringing for show and tell, her smile. I can't think of a better one can you?
The school has pajama day as a spirit thing every year. This year they decided to charge a $1.00 for every student to wear them. If you don't bring a dollar and you wear pjs you get a trip to the principal's office and a call to your parents. I gave in because Jessie was so excited even though I don't think that is right but Brandon decided not to do it.
Speaking of Brandon, my son is so full of empathy it literally hurts him sometimes. He cries when they have the commercials for the abused animals and now they are doing a fundraiser for St. Judes hospital. Yesterday they brought in a video to show the classes and are doing a math a thon fundaiser. Brandon came home all excited but I thought it was because of the prizes. The problem is we don't have the money for another fundraiser, I told him that and he said he understood but then he couldn't focus on homework which is nothing unusual so I didn't give it much thought. But then I started seeing the signs. He almost cried when I lectured him about staying focused during homework which is a daily lecture, and when Scott came home Brandon showed him the fundraiser but said he didn't care about helping stupid cancer kids. That is when I realized what was bothering him. When he started crying he said he just really wanted to help them out. I told him we would try and find a way to donate somehow but the fundraiser looks like they want a minimum of $10 pledges. How do I help keep his ability to want to help and his passion for it when we can barely help ourselves right now? I try to show him everything is good with us but then I turn around and say we can't give $10 dollars. He is getting confused and I don't know how to help him. I am trying to think of other things he can do to help but its hard to find things for an eight year old to volunteer and everything costs money anymore. I feel like I am letting both kids down.

state fair

We went to the state fair on Labor Day weekend. The kids got free tickets for back to school day although Jessie is free anyway. Mom gets discounted tickets through work also. This year since the food is so expensive and Scott doesn't get off work until 4:30 we decided to pick up some chicken sandwiches from Wendy's and eat before we left which worked out well. When we got to the fair, we did the usual wandering around. There weren't a lot of shows the kids wanted to see by the time we got there. There was one with dogs that did competition water sports that we watched for a few but people kept standing in front of us. People have no respect for anyone any more, especially to stand in front of little kids. Anyway they watched a poor puppy whose owners were trying to train to get into water before the show started and the poor puppy was not happy. It was a German Shepard and shepards do not usually like water. Once the show finally started, the kids got bored of course. We went to the petting zoo and they rode the ponies, a tradition. We wandered around the booths and then we went to look at the tractors and sheds. They also had a manufactured house you could check out. I think the kids had more fun in that area than anything else. Brandon had to sit on every tractor, Jessie for some reason was scared to, and they went in every shed. There was one that was almost the size of the kid's room and looked like an adobe house. The manufactured home was pretty cool also. Scott took the kids in first while mom and I stayed with the wagon and then the kids took us on a tour. Brandon should be a salesman. It was really nice, a little smaller than ours but I really liked the master bath and closet, they took up almost one side of the house. The kids got some light up souveniours and then we went to head home. We were taking the shuttle to the parking lot where our car was parked and standing in line and the people from the back of the line jumped on first so we had to wait for the next one. When the next one came, the kids jumped on and we almost didn't get on with them. Mom had to yell at some people to leave us room. The couple behind us commented that they didn't think we were going to make it and schools must not be teaching people how to wait in line anymore. (Most of those line cutters were adults sad to say) Brandon started to talk to them and said we were on a space shuttle heading to Mars and the couple could push us when we got there. Then the lady said something about driving home and Brandon told they had better not have had too much to drink. She told him no they only drank Gatorade so they were okay. They were getting a kick out of him. Chris and Rachel were going the next day so I called him Sat night and told him to make sure they went to see the house. That night I got a call from Chris and he told me I stank. I asked him what I did and he said they fell in love with the house and were mad at me for making them see it. (Not really mad but they did fall in love with the house.)
any way that was our adventure for a while.

Here are some Jessie sayings that I thought were cute:
She fell asleep on the bus coming home from school but she said she wasn't sleeping just her eyes were. They got tired and needed to close for a while but she was wide awake.

Jessie:" Grandma if I got married will you come to my wedding?" "Yes of course I will" "Will you wear the dress you wore to Chris' wedding?" "Sure if you want me to" "Well you know you will need to wash it first!"

Chris and Rachel's Wedding

Chris and Rachel's wedding went pretty well considering the minor problems they had getting everything together. Thursday night we had dinner at Chris's house with just our side of the family, Rachel's side went to her mom's house for dinner. It was nice getting to visit with Pat and Jim and Rebecca and Mary before it got too hectic. Mary has sure grown up since the last time I saw her. The kids all got along great. On Friday we went to the mountains with both sides of the families. It was a lot of fun and then everyone had fun playing in the water and wandering around. Some of the family went to Bishop's castle after but we took Mary back to our house so the kids could have some quiet time before the rehearsal dinner. They played play doh and tried to see who could outdo themselves in the gross category by making pizza with nasty stuff on top. At night we went to Country Buffet for the rehearsal dinner and then to the church for the rehearsal. The rehearsal was certainly interesting due to Carmen (Rachel's mother) wanting to make sure everything was perfect. Brandon and Jessie felt better learning what was expected of them as ring bearer (barrel as Brandon calls it) and flower girl. Mom and I reminded Jessie she would have petals in her basket tomorrow at the wedding and she said, "Oh year, I'm supposed to throw them at the people in the benches." We had to do some fast explaining of what she was really supposed to do with the petals. I took the kids home and the rest went to decorate the hall.

The wedding went really well and it was a beautiful ceremony. The kids looked so cute and did great standing up there the whole time. They only started getting a little upset after taking tons of pictures after and Chris finally told Jessie she didn't have to do anymore when she looked up at him with her big blue eyes and pleaded with him to make them stop. Brandon said that Chris owed him one, which Chris will happily repay given that they did so well. I took the kids over to GG's after the wedding while they did a few more pictures at the park. They at least got a little rest before going to the reception.

The reception hall was decorated really nicely, Chris did a good job with the center pieces. The food was a little spicy so some of us couldn't eat very much and Chris and Rachel forgot to get plates and forks for the cake. Some things always have to go wrong at a wedding, it's tradition. When they were called up to cut the cake, the DJ was supposed to stop the music and announce the cutting but for some reason he didn't so they just did it anyway and not everyone got to see it. They will laugh about it one day. Jessie was upset for a little while because she didn't catch the bouquet but Brandon was upset because he did catch the garter and when Joey, the best man, told Brandon that he was next to get married, Brandon marched right back up to Chris and gave it back. Chris wore it on his arm the rest of the night. We took the kids home shortly after because they were just getting too tired to go on. Mom and dad stayed there to help clean up once everything was over. All in all it was good and Chris and Rachel had a great wedding and everyone is happy.

School start

Brandon started school two weeks ago and Jessie last week but I am a little behind with all the wedding stuff. This is the first week they will go the full week though. They are starting four day school weeks this year. The bus picks up my kids at 7:30 to be at school by 8. Jessie gets off at 11:30 but it takes her an hour to get home so she is here by 12:30. That is a long time for a four year old and yesterday she was sound asleep on the bus. If I pick her up from school then Brandon will want me to pick him up and that is just too much gas going back and forth ( we live about 10 minutes from the school). Brandon only has about 20- 30 on the way home so it is not as bad. Jessie seems to like school so far but she can't remember what it is she does there by the time she gets home. Hopefully once she gets into it more she will start remembering more, this was only her fourth day today. She looked so tiny getting on the bus and her backpack is as big as she is. Brandon took his responsibility to get her to school a little to hard and he thought he had to watch her there also and got upset when he couldn't keep an eye out on her during school. He was so cute though taking her to the bus for the first time. He enlisted the help of the other boys on the busstop to help her and she was surrounding by three big boys and then little her. It was funny and kept me from crying to see her go.

Brandon was all ready for school and liking it until they did testing last week and he didn't do so well. Now he thinks he is the only one in his class having trouble and that he is dumb. Getting him to go to school now is like pulling teeth. Of course he had a lot of excitement this weekend that could be making things more emotional for him on top of everything too. I am trying to convince him that he is not the only one and that it will get better. I know the four day weeks are hard on a lot of families that all work but I am grateful that I am not working right now even if it makes things more difficult financially but this way I can homeschool them both on Fridays and help get Brandon back to where he needs to be. His kindergarten teacher was not very good for him and he has been behind ever since. Luckily there is a new kindergarten teacher so Jessie hopefully won't have the same issues. I think Brandon is looking forward to homeschooling. Of course I had to promise a lot of field trips, play time, and science experiments in addition to regular work but whatever works. We will see how that goes over once we really get going on that.

kids gone crazy

The kids are driving me crazy. They had trashed their room for the umpteenth time and this time Brandon asked me help clean up the room because he was finding all kinds of toys he hadn't seen in a long time. Now keep in mind that I have tried to make it as easy as possible for them. They have a big toy box for the big toys, and lots of plastic boxes to organize the rest. I have even tried mixing up the toys in the boxes and bringing out a box at a time so they would have different toys all the time, but they always wanted something that was put away. I used to have a rack with different boxes to put their shoes in but they always threw them in front of it and it is right by the door so I couldn't shut the door, so I gave them and old laundry basket to put them in. All they have to do is throw them in but they still put them in front of the basket. Or throw the toys in front of the toy box. How hard is it to put them in the box, even if it is the wrong box. So yesterday we set about cleaning the room. I told them that I would help but they had to do it and decide where they wanted the toys. I figured that if they did it they would be more likely to keep it that way. After the first hour with me yelling at them to help, I finally took a break and told them that when we started again they better help or I was done. By that time you couldn't even walk into the room. I quit after we had the majority of the stuff in the boxes and all that was left was to put the leftover toys that was on the floor in the proper boxes and throw trash away and put Jessie's doll stuff in a pile so I could put them with the rest in the other room. The final straw for me was when they were sitting on their beds eating fruit snacks while I was digging around the closet pulling out toys. I told them what to do and left. When they said they were done, they had shoved everything in front of the toy box so you couldn't get to them, the doll stuff was nowhere to be found, and they just threw the stuff where ever, they even stuffed the trash places instead of throwing it away. One of the bags I had started Brandon threw in the toy box and it opened up so now there is trash in there again. So after a whole day of room cleanup and yelling and Scott trying to smooth things over and mediate, their room is clean if you don't look too closely and it is sort of in order. They seem to be happy with it and I can walk so I guess I should be satisfied. I should be happy that they at least put their dirty clothes in the hamper so I at least don't have to go searching for that. I am not sure if it will be better when we can get a garage and separate them or if I will just have two disaster rooms. At least then it will be more spread out. Maybe all the stress is just finally getting to all of us. Only three more weeks until school starts and I am not sure if that is good or bad or just a new stress.

4th of July and Brandon's birthday

4th of July was like most of our others. We picked up fireworks and had GG's birthday party. GG got a cushion for her outdoor rocking chair, some candy she likes, and a gift card to Walgreens. It was a good day and everyone had a lot of fun. Towards the end, the wind starting blowing really hard and shortly after everyone went home it started to rain. At least it waited until the end. We had a really good heat lightening show too.

Then mom took a vacation the week of Brandon's birthday so they had lots of activities last week. Monday Scott's sisters came out and gave Brandon his gifts. Tuesday we went to the library where the kids got their books for the summer reading club and their next prize, then we went to to the park next to the library and ate lunch and played for a little while. Wednesday we went to Applebee's for dinner because it was kid's day and kid' dinners were only 99 cents and they had a special thing with pony rides and a magician called Mister Magic. They rode the ponies and then while we waited for dinner, Mr.Magic did magic tricks and made a balloon dog for Jessie and a motorcycle for Brandon and also 4 swords. He did extra stuff in honor of Brandon's birthday. Brandon also got a free ice cream sundae. On Thursday, Brandon's actual birthday, we went to the zoo. We spent the morning there and the kids bought some small toys and we ate snacks and then I made homemade chicken nuggets for dinner. We also did lots of swimming that week. On Saturday we had his party. He had a lot of fun. He picked out a GI Joe cup, Transformer napkins, firefighter cake toppers,and Power Ranger dessert plates. The dinner plates were green and our glasses were red. Quite colorful. He was hoping to eat outside but it was too hot and windy. He was really happy with his gifts, especially the scooter we got for him. We don't have a lot of places he can ride that is not really rough but he doesn't care, he rides back and forth between the houses and in the house and everywhere around. He even wanted to take it to the store. We will try to get 8 year old pics done soon, hopefully this weekend, and send them out as soon as they are finished. Once I get my house back in order, I can start focusing on other things. It's close to being done (inside anyway).

Brandon With Scooter

Balloon Toys Made by Mr. Magic

New Bike Helmet

Opening Gifts

Wild Birthday Cake

wedding update

Chris and Rachel should be finally getting their invitations sent out this weekend. Two procrastinators planning a wedding is an interesting challenge. If Mom doesn't go crazy by the time the wedding happens it will be a miracle. We finally took Rachel shopping last weekend to get flowers for her bouquet and look for bridesmaids dresses and next weekend we are going to take her again to get some stuff. Scott took Chris tux shopping this weekend so at least everyone should be dressed. Rachel keeps adding bridesmaids, she's up to five, because one she thought was going to bail so she had a backup and then they all confirmed, so now Chris is trying to come up with groomsmen. Then last night Rachel mentioned she wanted to write their own vows and they keep adding to the invitation list. Hopefully it will all come together soon. Mom and I are trying to help out as much as we can without interfering and it is hard on them because they only have the weekends to do wedding stuff plus yard work etc. Chris is so excited to have a yard to fix up again that he is having trouble focusing on other things besides that.

Scott finally got offered a job. It doesn't pay much and is clear out at the reservoir but at least it is some money coming in and maybe our luck is finally changing and good things will start happening. We are hoping one of the other jobs he applied for will still come in but it is a start.

We are still fighting the insurance company for repair work done on the house from the May hail storm. Hopefully everything will be done by the wedding. The carpet and floor will be done Monday. I am starting to wonder if it is worth it now that we have to move everything out the way to replace it. I will like it once it is done but right now I am not.

End of School

Okay it has finally calmed down a little so here is some information on Brandon's last days of school. First they had field day. I hope it gets better as he gets older, because they don't put much effort into the younger kids. It was chilly and the kids froze during the water sports but they seemed to have fun anyway. Scott and I took Jessie and she did pretty good but got cold and tired towards the end. Then the next week was their final field trip. They went to City Park to ride the rides for an hour, then ate lunch in the park and played around for awhile. I stayed the whole time but Scott just took Jessie to the park to meet us for lunch and she played on the equipment for awhile with Brandon. He was so worried that she was going to get hurt playing with the other big kids. After the park, Scott took Jessie home and I went with the kids to the library for a tour and story time. Trying to keep 56 first graders quiet in the library is real fun by the way. They split us into three groups and we took a tour of the library, visited the Infozone, which tells the history of newspapers, and then had story time. The kids got very bored because they were tired and it wasn't enough action for them. Last year the first graders got to go ice skating and we got the library. I think the best thing for them was the glass elevators. The final day, the kids had their final assembly in the morning where they got awards. Brandon got awards for spelling, knowing 200 site words, and the helping hands award for always being willing to help everyone out. He also got a special award for the AR reading program for being in the top 3 in his class. The first grade also was noted for helping to get the most chain links on the Rachel's challenge. Rachel's challenge is when the kids are challenged to do acts of kindness. When they do an act of kindness a paper chain link is made. The chain was pretty big by the end of the year. The teachers seemed pretty sad to lose this group. After the assembly we could take the kids home, so we met mom and dad at the park for lunch and fed the ducks and played around. When we got home, shortly after is when the storm hit. Nice ending to a good school year. Also Jessie got into the preschool program at school so she will be starting school next year also. It will be interesting because they are going to a four day school week and also contracting out the bus services to a company instead of the school district, which will add re to the usual start of school year confusion. I guess I'll worry about that closer to time.

hailstorm

I was going to do a blog about the end of the school year and all of Brandon's activities, which I will still do soon, but yesterday we had a massive hail storm that did a lot of damage and it is too hot to think much right now. We had everything from pea to golf ball size hail. It not only trashed the trees pretty good but mom and I both lost most of our flowers we got for Mother's Day. (Everyone buys us flowers to plant in our planters for Mother's Day). A few may still survive but most didn't. Our roof is going to have to be replaced and the siding on the house as well as the gutters and the worst part was our skylights broke and allowed water to gush into the kitchen and bathroom. Today some guys came out and put in giant fans to dry out everything so it won't mold and we can't run the air conditioner and of course today was almost 90 degrees and about a 100 in the house. It is really miserable right now and everyone is sleeping in our room because we have a window air conditioner to try to cool down that room at least. And of course everyone thinks I am some super mom that can do six things at once and do everything as soon as they ask and with the heat I am not handling that as well as I probably could be. Mom and dad had a lot of damage to their roof also so now we all get the fun of the insurance and roofers game. I will try and do the end of the school blog as soon as we get the fans out of here and some coolness back in.

Easter

We had a really nice Easter this year. It started with egg decorating the night before. The kids love decorating Easter eggs and so do the “big kids”. Dad and Scott really get into it. They have their traditional decorating they do every year. Dad always makes one look like a green olive with a stuffed pimento and Scott always makes an elaborate fire scene. I enjoy it too and mom usually ends up taking pictures and video instead of coloring eggs.

The weather was nice enough for once to hide the eggs outside (plastic ones, not the real ones). It’s so much more fun doing it outside where they have more room and there are more places to hide them. After the egg hunt Grandma, Chris and Rachel showed up for dinner at around 1:00. We had a really nice ham dinner with our traditional deviled eggs and then we all went back outside and the kids had a treasure hunt for another Easter surprise. We had gotten them some audio books that have the book with it so they can read along and it was too big for an Easter basket so we thought we would do a treasure hunt. A couple of years ago for Brandon’s birthday Mom and I made up pictures of various places in the yard that we use for clues and had bought a box that we used for his birthday gift bags that was the treasure, but we like to play this game with the kids in the summer and bought some small dollar toys that we put in the treasure box. They get a kick out of it. Anyway…we used the clue cards for them to find the books. They had fun with that and then they hid some eggs for their Uncle Chris to find. After that they played with the toys they got in their Easter baskets. It was so nice out no one wanted to go back inside, but we did finally go in for dessert because Chris and Rachel were due to go have dinner with her mom soon too. It was a very memorable day and I hope all of you had a great Easter too.

Chris wedding

Chris and Rachel have finally found a hall and a church available on the same day so they are officially setting the date for August 28th. Invitations will be sent out hopefully soon but I figured I would give everyone a head's up since I don't know when they will get them sent out for sure. It should be interesting because they want Brandon and Jessie to be the in the wedding. I will put in more details when I have them.

cute story

The other day Brandon found some matchbox construction cars that none of us remember him getting. I kind of remember he got a set a few christmas' ago but I didn't recognize some of the cars. Since neither of the kids ever put anything where it belongs it doesn't surprise me that they have been lost. Well after a while, when he was done looking to see if anything else appeared, he came in all excited and said he figured out where they came from. He said, " God was having a yard sale and loves construction toys and since he loves Me so much he decided to give them to me." Then yesterday he found a nickel and said he was rich and that God must really love him for letting him find that nickel. Remember the days when things were that simple and a nickel made us rich?
Spring break is here and of course the weather is only going to be nice for like one more day and it wasn't nice on Friday or Saturday so we will be lucky to have three days of going outside.
Chris is still tentatively set on the wedding date of August 28th. They are having a really tough time getting anything set. Carmen (Rachel's mom) is not helping much she keeps promising them stuff and then backing out. They thought about postponing the wedding but her grandma isn't doing well and even though she wouldn't be able to come to the wedding they were hoping to visit her after and be able to show her the pictures and video but I am not sure she will even make it to then. Hopefully everything will finally come together and I will post the date as soon as it is set for sure but the 28th is the date as of now unless they have to postpone. The only thing they do have is the dress.

Jessie's 4th birthday

I know I am a little late in writing this as her birthday was on the 7th but better late than never. She had a good birthday weekend. Brandon and her both usually get two birthdays out of the deal because we do the birthday dinner and party with my family and then Scott's family comes out for their presents on another day. Anyway we had my family's party on Saturday and she had a great time. It was princess themed of course, half general princess and half Cinderella. She chose all of her decorations and then told me where to put them up. She even tried to tell me how to decorate the cake. Brandon was a little upset because she is now old enough to want to open her own presents and he didn't like that. He liked it better when he had to do things for her. On Sunday Scott's family came out to give her their gifts. She started to come down with a cold that day so she was a little under the weather but she still had a good time.

She is finally able to reach the doorknobs enough to close doors but she can't open the doors because she is just short enough that she can't get a good grip on the knob so she is always locking herself in places and then hollering to get out. She can also now turn lights on and turn them back off if she is standing on something, she needs about another inch to reach the top of the switch when it is turned on. So now when I put her in her room for her "nap/ quiet time" (which almost nevers actually happens, as she is usually knocking on the door asking if it time to get up yet) she turns the light back on after I leave the room. I don't think I am going to have any trouble with her in school because she is picking up a lot from Brandon and is constantly wanting to read but she gets bored quickly with anything that doesn't involve reading. She is quick to learn though and I think she will have no problems.

Brandon on the other hand is still having difficulties with numbers. He seems to have a block when it comes to math and he does not like to write. I still think he was supposed to be left handed and it is messing with his brain but he was adament about using his right hand because everyone else was. He is doing really well in reading though. They have what they call accelerated reading books that are different levels and when you get three 100%s on the tests, you move onto the next level. He is breezing through the books, one of them he only had home one day and he passed the book and is on to the next. He just moved into a new level so he has two more 100's to go but I am very proud of him. We have resorted to bribery to try to get him to work harder and it is helping to a point but he is only earning his stickers towards a prize for the books and site word lists that he passes not for any of his other homework. It is still a work in progress. I still get amazed when I hear him read to me it just doesn't seem possible that he is old enough to read and to see his progress as he masters it. I forgot how hard the English language is until I started helping him with spelling and phonics. We really do have a difficult language. I am so proud of both of my kids and they are growing up way too fast.

Chris's graduation and engagement

Chris graduated from college again with his bachelor's degree in October. This time it is a Bachelor of Science for Technical Engineering. Anyway we were waiting for them to mail his diploma to him before we celebrated. They wouldn't give it until everything was paid. (His employer helped pay for his degree). Mom and Dad received it at there house so we gave him a surprise party and he didn't even know that he had his diploma yet.

It was fun. We made him wear his old cap and gown from high school and Dad presented the diploma. He also got some gift cards and a frame for the diploma. I think he appreciated it. It was also sort of a double celebration because he finally asked Rachel to marry him. He waited for their two year anniversary to propose. I guess he was pretty nervous but made it pretty romantic. Rachel was surprised he was nervous because it wasn't like she was going to say no. They are tentatively setting the date for August 28th. We'll see though because they haven't decided where they are having it yet so the date may change. I wasn't sure about their relationship at first but she has really changed and I think they will be happy together.

As for the latest on Scott, he is still having issues. I swear the doctor is just trying to milk the insurance. Anyway they are finally going to blast the kidney stone next week and if all goes well he can get the stint they put in over a month ago out a week after they blast it. Hopefully that will be the end to all of the major problems and things will go smoother. I am not sure how much more I can take. Scott can't even really try to get work because he is on pain pills all the time. We have been looking but there is just not a lot of options out there right now. Please keep praying because we need all the help we can get.