Mixed Emotions

Well, it is official Hannah has lost her first tooth. She has been working for weeks to loosen this tooth up and get it out. Yesterday she really got it loose while we were at the Mall. Every mirror we saw she had to stop at and see how much it would wiggle. As Hannah and I were sitting in the car waiting for my 3 other ones to emerge from the movies, she says to me, "look mom" Here tooth at this point was just really hanging on by a thread. So I told her " you need to pull that thing out" and with that she says with a proud smile on her face " I just did". She was so excited the blood pouring from the spot was not an issue. She was so excited she had to call her daddy and then grandma's to tell them the exciting news. She came straight home put the tooth in a baggy and straight under her pillow for the tooth fairy. Thank goodness the tooth fairy stopped by last night, and since it being her first tooth and all she received $5.00. She is one lucky girl. Just a side note the reason why this is titled mixed emotions is because, I am pretty sad that my little baby is growing up and this is just one more milestone that makes me realize how fast they grow up and how I need to enjoy every moment I have with my 4 beautiful children.

Family Visits

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind! My sister and her family were here for the last 12 days. We have such a good time together. Especially with the kids. They all get along so well and enjoy each other's company a lot. My sister and I even got to enjoy two girls nights out while she was here. We spent a lot of time at the pool and just hanging out. We did manage to get to the Naval Air Museum, for the 2ND time in 3 weeks. ( I think my kids are pretty much done with that place, and so am I). But it was nice to get to share that with my sister and her family. We saw the movie Walle, it was horrible! Really can't kid movies just be a fun things for kids to watch, instead it turns into some political statement. We did not get to the beach but 3 times while they were here. The Jelly Fish are just really out of control and going in the daytime is miserable when you can't get in the water. So we spent two evenings down there were my sister was determined to build a sandcastle with a working moat around it. I am happy to report that the second time it was a success. It was a little different with Carissa working everyday we did not get to spend much time with her, so most of the pictures will not have Carissa or Matt in them, because he is working all the time also. Christopher, Bryan and Austin did a British Soccer Camp. I think they really enjoyed it and hopefully picked up some new skills they can incorporate into there soccer game. Not much else going on. Getting ready for one more visitor. Matt's Uncle Mike will be coming for a week before the kids go back to school. Speaking of School, I am looking forward to it starting. Not looking forward to all the driving and activities and homework, but looking forward to regular bedtimes, and a true schedule again. I have to say I am not excited to buy all the ridiculous amounts of school supplies that we have to purchase every year. I do believe we have to take out a small loan to get the kids everything they need every year. Well I have rambled on enough. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Fun little game!

Here are the directions:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you have of Matt or I. It doesn't matter if you know us a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about us, We'll assume you're playing the game and we'll come to your blog and do the same thing. Thanks for playing!

Great Website

I have to let everyone know about this great website that my great friend Maria let me know about. I have kept it to myself for long enough and I thought I should share it with everyone. It is www.thepioneerwoman.com, she has some really great recipes and I have found myself checking out her website almost every day! Her apple dumplings is to die for. Her lasagna is delicious, and her crash potatoes are a great switch up on potatoes! She is not only full of information she is hilarious too. I just wish my blog could be as interesting!

Summer Fun

Well summer is in full swing now, and I am still not as organized as I would like to be. We have been spending a lot of time at the pool. We have only been to the beach twice since school got out, because the jelly fish have been really bad, and they don't seem like they want to leave. This past couple of weeks have kept us really busy. I went to youth conference with the kids from church and had a great time. I was exhausted when I got back but it was all worth it. The girls are a lot of fun and there were some great speakers we got to enjoy. Matt' parents were here and just left a few days ago. We mostly just hung around the house and took Hannah to swim lessons. We did manage to get to the Naval Air Museum which is always fun. I really think Matt's dad enjoyed that the most while he was here. We also went to Destin to Osaka's Japanese Restaurant. They have the hibachi grills and we thought it would be fun to take the kids. They had a blast. Actually we all had a great time. When we walked in Christopher said, "this is a really nice restaurant" I thought to myself, yea its not Chili's which is the nicest place my kids have probably eaten at in a very long time. Hannah had this crazy look on her face the whole time. The cook was doing all sorts of jokes and trying so very hard to get Hannah to laugh but no luck on his part, she is a very tough crowd! She did say she liked it alot, although it was a good thing she ate crackers on the way there because she did not eat one bite of her food! We are now getting ready to have a full house again. My sister and her family are coming for a visit. We were not sure it was going to happen but it all worked out and I cannot be anymore excited to have them here! I am looking forward to a girls night out with my sister and no kids!!

Free Child Labor

Well summer is upon us and we are trying to stay busy. The boys left Sunday for Scout Camp, and as much as I was ready for them to go, I miss them terribly. Carissa is very busy working at the Karate Club in the kids daycare and taking Karate lessons, so that pretty much leaves Hannah and I to entertain each other. We have been spending time at the pool. We actually got to the library today to set Hannah up with their reading program. She is excited that she can earn prizes for reading and they do fun weekly activities, like tomorrow she gets to go to the driving range to hit golf balls. She is excited because her friends will be there also. The other night Hannah decided to help Daddy vacum his car. I walked out there and I think Hannah might have vacumed all of Daddy's car. She was so proud of herself and was very excited about the headphones that Daddy fixed so they fit Hannah pretty good. She loves helping out around the house and I find it funny that she describes each and every little detail of what she did and how she did it, sometimes the description can last a good while. One last note to share with everyone. As I read back thru my previous post I have to apologize to everyone and the never ending I am so proud of my children. I think I said that in almost everything I posted. I need to start finding better words to describe how I feel! By the way I should explain the picture of Hannah playing Guitar Hero. Matt and I had gone on a "date" and we got home about 10pm and there was Hannah sitting on the futon, playing Guitar Hero with a very glazed over look, it was a pretty funny sight!

End of the School Year!

Well the end of the school year is upon us, and with that comes, class parties and award ceremonies. Bryan had his award ceremony yesterday and was given an award by his geography teacher for being an excellent student. She said some wonderful things about Bryan. He also received the "Diamond" award for having straight A's and B's for the entire year. We could not be any prouder of his accomplishments. Hannah had her party also yesterday. She got her Kindergarten Certificate and then her teacher handed out cute awards for all the kids. Hannah got the "Princess award, for always being such a jewel in Class" She thought that was great. They sang songs to us and had ice cream sundaes and played outside. Christopher had his 8th grade award ceremony today. Christopher was awarded the excellent student award by his algebra teacher, she had wonderful things to say about him. He also received the Diamond award, the Presidential award for having an A average for 6, 7, 8th grade. He also received the top 25 in the class award. Christopher was ranked number 6 in his class. He received a really nice medal for that. We are very proud of him and all his accomplishments. All the kids are excited that the school year is coming to an end, and they are really looking forward to summer and all the activities they have planned. I am very proud of all of our kids, I really could not have asked for 4 better kids!