On the way to school this morning,.... I have the music on, relaxing as I drive the kids to school. I'm looking forward to returning home, to a quiet house,... get some cleaning done.... yep, I like school mornings.
From the backseat I hear Geoffery
"I wish I was rich"
"You do?? what would you do if you were rich?" I was thinking that he would say something in regards to not having to attend school or something. Instead his reply was
"So I can buy lots of video games and a new computer and computer games"
Ohhh okay.... well, get good grades in school, and get a GREAT job and you can buy all that stuff.
On the way home from school, we pulled up into our drive and Brian's friend was parked in the driveway. Both he and Sydney were "who is here??" They had a few comments about the white El Camino truck parked there.
"When I grow up, my car is going to be a limo" says Geoffery
I wonder what he will be when he grows up????
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Summer Ends....
August 2nd we drove the 3hrs to Little Rock airport to pick up Brian. He would be returning to attend ANC (Arkansas North Eastern College). It was wonderful to see him!!! I missed him a lot. Seeing him reminded me though, that Jessica was NOT with him, and would NOT be returning. That sucked.
All in all, at least I have Brian for at LEAST another 2 yrs as he works on his prerequisites towards a larger college. I think he hopes to transfer to San Jose State. We'll see how that all goes.
We made the long drive back home,.... and well, by this point, yes,... summer was indeed over.
I was having to shop for the various TONS of school supplies,.... 5 3 ring folders, 3pks of dividers, glue sticks, packs of pencils,... and the list goes on and on and on..... I admit, I don't like buying supplies like this for the entire class. Kleenex, hand sanitizer,... and even the dry erase markers??? Sheesh.
Back in the OLD days,.... you got your new binder, inside the binder you had your trapper keeper folders (if you were smart, you got those, they were awesome!) lots of binder paper,... the little plastic pouch held some scissors, crayons, some pencils, and new erasers!!! You would throw that with your lunch into your new backpack and ta da!!! You were off to school.
Our first day,... poor Sydney had a backpack full, plus two walmart bags full of crap as well. Geoff's backpack was full and one walmart bag full. Oh, and they had to carry their lunches!!!
But the great news is....
THE KIDS ARE BACK IN SCHOOL!!!!!!!
Brian started on the 17th, and seems to be going well with him. He complained about how easy his math was. One of his problems was something like 4 x 8. I reminded him about how "well" he scored on his ACT exam. He's as smart as Jessica,... only he decided to NOT apply himself. He skated through his last year of school,.... and after graduation, at the award program,... he realized "I should've worked harder and done more" YA THINK????? LOL
We're still proud, he's going to college, he's taken steps to find a job,.... and hopefully soon we can do something about getting him a car so he can take himself to school and soon work????
Sydney and Geoffery started on the 19th. The first day was rough. Neither one of them really wanted to get up. We had gradually started implementing the regular bedtime routine, but that left them laying in bed wide awake. Geoffery was the worst to get up LOL Sydney was looking forward to school,....
The first few days went well,... they like their teachers, they are happy to see their friends again. Things are looking good!!!
The first full week was last week. They were tired,... falling asleep well before lights out,... dragging themselves out of bed but able to be ready to go on time. The whole drop off and picking up procedure at the school is a major mess. They've torn down some of the school, (elementary areas) and it's caused issues with where to drop your kids off. They've started doing the whole "Kiss & Drive" While normally I'd not mind this, I don't like that I can't park somewhere and walk in and get my son,.... he's forgetful, and trying to convince him that it's in HIS interest to remember his lunchbag, (that they swore they'd use and not leave at school) and his homework,... etc etc.... it's tiring.
Normally I would wait in the cafeteria for him,... check his bag, make sure everything was there and if not, march to his class and get it. I need that one on one with the teacher. I hope that in time things smooth out and who knows, maybe Geoffery will get more responsible. HA! Who am I kidding???? LOL
I was pleased with this though,.... we knew Geoffery could read,... but I have to share :o)
You can see where his teacher wrote Good! with the smilie at his ONE HUNDRED THIRTY SIX wpm,... but personally, I think it's GREAT!!!! :o) LOL Nothing pleases me more than a child that can read. Seeing this,... I mean, sheesh, this is the beginning of the year,... what will his wpm be at the end of the year????? Very exciting!!!!!
Now, if only we can get math scores like this, we'll be in business!!!!
All in all, at least I have Brian for at LEAST another 2 yrs as he works on his prerequisites towards a larger college. I think he hopes to transfer to San Jose State. We'll see how that all goes.
We made the long drive back home,.... and well, by this point, yes,... summer was indeed over.
I was having to shop for the various TONS of school supplies,.... 5 3 ring folders, 3pks of dividers, glue sticks, packs of pencils,... and the list goes on and on and on..... I admit, I don't like buying supplies like this for the entire class. Kleenex, hand sanitizer,... and even the dry erase markers??? Sheesh.
Back in the OLD days,.... you got your new binder, inside the binder you had your trapper keeper folders (if you were smart, you got those, they were awesome!) lots of binder paper,... the little plastic pouch held some scissors, crayons, some pencils, and new erasers!!! You would throw that with your lunch into your new backpack and ta da!!! You were off to school.
Our first day,... poor Sydney had a backpack full, plus two walmart bags full of crap as well. Geoff's backpack was full and one walmart bag full. Oh, and they had to carry their lunches!!!
But the great news is....
THE KIDS ARE BACK IN SCHOOL!!!!!!!
Brian started on the 17th, and seems to be going well with him. He complained about how easy his math was. One of his problems was something like 4 x 8. I reminded him about how "well" he scored on his ACT exam. He's as smart as Jessica,... only he decided to NOT apply himself. He skated through his last year of school,.... and after graduation, at the award program,... he realized "I should've worked harder and done more" YA THINK????? LOL
We're still proud, he's going to college, he's taken steps to find a job,.... and hopefully soon we can do something about getting him a car so he can take himself to school and soon work????
Sydney and Geoffery started on the 19th. The first day was rough. Neither one of them really wanted to get up. We had gradually started implementing the regular bedtime routine, but that left them laying in bed wide awake. Geoffery was the worst to get up LOL Sydney was looking forward to school,....
The first few days went well,... they like their teachers, they are happy to see their friends again. Things are looking good!!!
The first full week was last week. They were tired,... falling asleep well before lights out,... dragging themselves out of bed but able to be ready to go on time. The whole drop off and picking up procedure at the school is a major mess. They've torn down some of the school, (elementary areas) and it's caused issues with where to drop your kids off. They've started doing the whole "Kiss & Drive" While normally I'd not mind this, I don't like that I can't park somewhere and walk in and get my son,.... he's forgetful, and trying to convince him that it's in HIS interest to remember his lunchbag, (that they swore they'd use and not leave at school) and his homework,... etc etc.... it's tiring.
Normally I would wait in the cafeteria for him,... check his bag, make sure everything was there and if not, march to his class and get it. I need that one on one with the teacher. I hope that in time things smooth out and who knows, maybe Geoffery will get more responsible. HA! Who am I kidding???? LOL
I was pleased with this though,.... we knew Geoffery could read,... but I have to share :o)
You can see where his teacher wrote Good! with the smilie at his ONE HUNDRED THIRTY SIX wpm,... but personally, I think it's GREAT!!!! :o) LOL Nothing pleases me more than a child that can read. Seeing this,... I mean, sheesh, this is the beginning of the year,... what will his wpm be at the end of the year????? Very exciting!!!!!
Now, if only we can get math scores like this, we'll be in business!!!!
The rest of summer...
Was pretty uneventful. I had picked up a few craft things for the kids to do,.. Geoffery was way more interested in playing on his computer,... Sydney would start a project, and never finish. Her "pompom" kitty keychains are still sitting on the bar unfinished.
The weather was fairly mild,.... we got a LOT of rain this year. My roses grew and bloomed a few times :o) I was VERY happy about this. I bought like 3 or 4 from WalMart,... they never did anything, in fact,... sadly we mowed like 3 of them down already. We also bought 4 from Sams Club, and they were MUCH hardier and only one didn't make it. I look forward to putting some more in the ground to replace the ones that didn't survive.
I think the best part of summer was that I read a lot of books, slept in a LOT,.... I let the kids do whatever they wanted. I mean, they stayed up till 3am and slept till noon or later!!! Usually I like to keep some sort of a routine, but eh,... it's summer. We didn't have any BIG summer plans,... we were doing baseball up until the end of June,... so this worked.
We DID however go to a local water park. It was the baseball "get together" and of course after all the HOT weather we'd had, they picked a day where it wasn't so hot. The water was FREEZING!!!! But the kids had a WONDERFUL time!!!!! As you can see from these pics!!!!
Don't they look COOOLLLDDD??? lol
It took a LOT of convincing that once they tried the water slides that they'd have a GREAT time,... and what do you know,... mom was RIGHT!!!!! They only had two slides,.... the other was red and covered,.... like sliding through a straw or something. They decided to give that one a shot after having done the blue a couple of times.
I missed this attempt,... and only heard the horror story of how Geoffery nearly drowned. It's not as bad as it sounds,... it actually cracked me up. You can see from the picture of Sydney sliding down, there's a guard right there,... if not ON the slide, standing in the water or very close by. Geoffery came out of the red one like a rocket,.... the red slide I learned later was MUCH faster,.... and he plunged into the water, and jumped up saying "help! help!" All he had to do was stand up LOL Anyhow.... he said he'd NOT ride that one again, but they had a great time going down the blue one again and again and again........
The waterpark is about an hour away from us, and is VERY cheap,.... I look forward to going back next summer as often as we can :o)
The weather was fairly mild,.... we got a LOT of rain this year. My roses grew and bloomed a few times :o) I was VERY happy about this. I bought like 3 or 4 from WalMart,... they never did anything, in fact,... sadly we mowed like 3 of them down already. We also bought 4 from Sams Club, and they were MUCH hardier and only one didn't make it. I look forward to putting some more in the ground to replace the ones that didn't survive.
I think the best part of summer was that I read a lot of books, slept in a LOT,.... I let the kids do whatever they wanted. I mean, they stayed up till 3am and slept till noon or later!!! Usually I like to keep some sort of a routine, but eh,... it's summer. We didn't have any BIG summer plans,... we were doing baseball up until the end of June,... so this worked.
We DID however go to a local water park. It was the baseball "get together" and of course after all the HOT weather we'd had, they picked a day where it wasn't so hot. The water was FREEZING!!!! But the kids had a WONDERFUL time!!!!! As you can see from these pics!!!!
Don't they look COOOLLLDDD??? lol
It took a LOT of convincing that once they tried the water slides that they'd have a GREAT time,... and what do you know,... mom was RIGHT!!!!! They only had two slides,.... the other was red and covered,.... like sliding through a straw or something. They decided to give that one a shot after having done the blue a couple of times.
I missed this attempt,... and only heard the horror story of how Geoffery nearly drowned. It's not as bad as it sounds,... it actually cracked me up. You can see from the picture of Sydney sliding down, there's a guard right there,... if not ON the slide, standing in the water or very close by. Geoffery came out of the red one like a rocket,.... the red slide I learned later was MUCH faster,.... and he plunged into the water, and jumped up saying "help! help!" All he had to do was stand up LOL Anyhow.... he said he'd NOT ride that one again, but they had a great time going down the blue one again and again and again........
The waterpark is about an hour away from us, and is VERY cheap,.... I look forward to going back next summer as often as we can :o)
The morning after
The time at the hotel with the kids was great, breakfast was enjoyable,... it all seemed so perfect. The ride home, the kids were sorry to leave, wanted to stay longer,... however, Geoff DID have his new Wii game to return to, and he was anxious to play on that!!!
We no sooner walked into the door, when the phone rang. It was my ex. The older kids were there for the summer,.... Chris had answered it. I was working on ushering in the kids, getting bags put in rooms, etc. Then taking the dogs outside. All the while trying to get an idea of what was going on on the phone.
It didn't take too long,.... I gave Chris a look of " ???? " and he mouthed "Jessica" First I felt alarm,... but the look on his face didn't say she was hurt or anything,... then it hit me. "She wants to move there." I didn't ask it, I just said it. Chris nodded yes.
My first reaction was NO!!! NO NO NO this will NOT happen. We had gone through this with Brian but he was younger,.... maybe not even Jr. High. When we talked to him at great length about it, he really didn't have a reason to leave,... he just wanted to. Well, with his age and all, I just wasn't ready.... and didn't think he was really ready either.
Jess was about to enter High School. Here the student class is roughly 80??? Classrooms are small and you do get one on one with the teacher,... the teachers KNOW their students. Jess is also a straight A student. Very smart,.... to the point of she never has to pick up a book and STUDY. I have NO clue where or how she got this ability, because it sure the hell wasn't from me!! LOL
So, I was pissed. My first thought was "Ohhhh right,... he wants HER because he'd not have to "raise" her... he won't have to worry about her with school,.... he didn't want Brian (long story there) but he'll be MORE than happy to take Jess."
I just wanted to tear stuff up,... I was so angry. I was hurt. I was in tears. I didn't want to lose my baby. That's how it felt. I felt betrayed. I was mad at her. How could she want to do this??? How could she want to do this and have never discussed it WITH us????
All these feelings took place in a matter of hours. After Chris had gotten off the phone, he explained. Jessica was spontaneous about the whole deal,... it was like she'd been thinking about it to herself for awhile, and only just announced this to her dad.
Her reasoning was that the school there, had wonderful classes that she was very much interested in. Canine sorts of classes,... animal types of classes. She wants to be an Animal Control Officer when she "grows up" and these classes are SO NOT available here. The school there is much larger,.... they're able to do a lot more.
HOW do you argue with a 14yr old who says she wants to live there because of SCHOOL ????? I just couldn't. I felt like my hands were tied on this. I relented. I hated it, I wondered if it was the right decision. Was I tearing my family apart??? Chris and I talked about this for days and days.... I had already given in,... but we were concerned about the decision for sure. We were blaming ourselves.... it was just so difficult.
I have to keep reminding myself that she's 14. A teenager. They don't think. They sure don't think things through. They definitely don't think about the outcome of their decisions and how it will affect others.
I think the worst part of it all was telling Sydney. I felt sick inside when her daddy held her close and told her, and she started crying. Did I make the right choice???? Is this all my fault????
Just to recap,.... as it's been nearly 2 months since this took place. I guess we're all "over it" now. Sometimes I still feel resentment,... sometimes I still hurt that she's gone,.... but she seems happy, and has started school. The school is huge and she's learning her way around,... she has a combination lock locker,.... (they don't have locks on them here) so that's a challenge in itself for her,... but she's enjoying her classes and her teachers. She's taking all honors classes, so I figure with a classroom size of 30+ students, it will be even more challenging, and I keep reminding her that it's just the start of the year, she will probably HAVE to study. I pray that she does well there. I would like to see her as an honor student. I know she would've been here.
She's happy,... so that's all that really matters right??? Sydney's looking forward to redoing the bedroom to suit her,... daddy said we'd get her a full size bed, and change things around the way she would like them. She likes that she doesn't have to share the computer in the room anymore too LOL Simple pleasures. She and Jess text, and Jess calls every once in awhile. I guess things are working out okay for all of us.
Still miss my Jessica though.
We no sooner walked into the door, when the phone rang. It was my ex. The older kids were there for the summer,.... Chris had answered it. I was working on ushering in the kids, getting bags put in rooms, etc. Then taking the dogs outside. All the while trying to get an idea of what was going on on the phone.
It didn't take too long,.... I gave Chris a look of " ???? " and he mouthed "Jessica" First I felt alarm,... but the look on his face didn't say she was hurt or anything,... then it hit me. "She wants to move there." I didn't ask it, I just said it. Chris nodded yes.
My first reaction was NO!!! NO NO NO this will NOT happen. We had gone through this with Brian but he was younger,.... maybe not even Jr. High. When we talked to him at great length about it, he really didn't have a reason to leave,... he just wanted to. Well, with his age and all, I just wasn't ready.... and didn't think he was really ready either.
Jess was about to enter High School. Here the student class is roughly 80??? Classrooms are small and you do get one on one with the teacher,... the teachers KNOW their students. Jess is also a straight A student. Very smart,.... to the point of she never has to pick up a book and STUDY. I have NO clue where or how she got this ability, because it sure the hell wasn't from me!! LOL
So, I was pissed. My first thought was "Ohhhh right,... he wants HER because he'd not have to "raise" her... he won't have to worry about her with school,.... he didn't want Brian (long story there) but he'll be MORE than happy to take Jess."
I just wanted to tear stuff up,... I was so angry. I was hurt. I was in tears. I didn't want to lose my baby. That's how it felt. I felt betrayed. I was mad at her. How could she want to do this??? How could she want to do this and have never discussed it WITH us????
All these feelings took place in a matter of hours. After Chris had gotten off the phone, he explained. Jessica was spontaneous about the whole deal,... it was like she'd been thinking about it to herself for awhile, and only just announced this to her dad.
Her reasoning was that the school there, had wonderful classes that she was very much interested in. Canine sorts of classes,... animal types of classes. She wants to be an Animal Control Officer when she "grows up" and these classes are SO NOT available here. The school there is much larger,.... they're able to do a lot more.
HOW do you argue with a 14yr old who says she wants to live there because of SCHOOL ????? I just couldn't. I felt like my hands were tied on this. I relented. I hated it, I wondered if it was the right decision. Was I tearing my family apart??? Chris and I talked about this for days and days.... I had already given in,... but we were concerned about the decision for sure. We were blaming ourselves.... it was just so difficult.
I have to keep reminding myself that she's 14. A teenager. They don't think. They sure don't think things through. They definitely don't think about the outcome of their decisions and how it will affect others.
I think the worst part of it all was telling Sydney. I felt sick inside when her daddy held her close and told her, and she started crying. Did I make the right choice???? Is this all my fault????
Just to recap,.... as it's been nearly 2 months since this took place. I guess we're all "over it" now. Sometimes I still feel resentment,... sometimes I still hurt that she's gone,.... but she seems happy, and has started school. The school is huge and she's learning her way around,... she has a combination lock locker,.... (they don't have locks on them here) so that's a challenge in itself for her,... but she's enjoying her classes and her teachers. She's taking all honors classes, so I figure with a classroom size of 30+ students, it will be even more challenging, and I keep reminding her that it's just the start of the year, she will probably HAVE to study. I pray that she does well there. I would like to see her as an honor student. I know she would've been here.
She's happy,... so that's all that really matters right??? Sydney's looking forward to redoing the bedroom to suit her,... daddy said we'd get her a full size bed, and change things around the way she would like them. She likes that she doesn't have to share the computer in the room anymore too LOL Simple pleasures. She and Jess text, and Jess calls every once in awhile. I guess things are working out okay for all of us.
Still miss my Jessica though.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Happy 9th Birthday Geoffery!!
It's hard to believe my baby boy is 9 now. His Birthday is July 5th. Do you know how hard it is to try and plan a REAL party right after a holiday???? I think we're going to REALLY try hard to plan his party for like the week before or maybe even for the week right after school lets out??? I have to come up with something, because it's not easy after school lets out.
Anyhow.... we strained our brains to come up with something that we knew he (and Sydney too) would enjoy doing. After all the comments from the two of them over time about hotels.
I got questions like:
"Do you LIVE there???"
"Is room service for real? like they bring you food to your room??"
"What is IN a hotel room??"
Comments like:
"I wish I could be in a hotel"
"I've never been to a hotel, I always wanted to do that"
I'm sure the list went on and on, but those were a select few that amused me.
Soo,... I mention to Chris,... "what about getting a room for a night, hotel w/ a pool so we can swim, that sort of thing??" "Do you think they'll like that???" "yeah, I think so,..." I mean,... why the heck not?? Not like we had to go FAR and not like we had to stay more than one night,... let them get the new experience of being in a hotel room,... we can do room service and the whole shebang right????
We did some looking, and we planned it out. One night in Jonesboro (biggest town near us) we'll do the swimming, we'll do the room service for dinner,... Geoffery LOVES waffles/pancakes, so we thought we'd do Waffle House or IHOP for breakfast,.... AND the awesome theater was real close by, we were going to take them to the new Ice Age 3, in 3D!!!
On the 4th we informed the kids of our fun filled day ahead. They were VERY excited, and Sydney wasted NO time at all in packing for her trip. I helped Geoffery make sure he had all his stuff. I also had a new pair of goggles for them for the pool. Yup yup, this was going to be GREAT fun!!!! I was thrilled to see them so excited about all this.
In the morning, they were ready to go, but check in was later, so we had time to do some cake and icecream and presents. Grams came over to help us celebrate as well.
Daddy with his 9yr old boy!
Happy Birthday Geoffery!!
Due to the "trickiness" of the candles, Geoffery called for reinforcements
Ahh the excitement on his face says it all,... Sonic the Black Knight for the Wii!!!
See the GameBoy Advance game??? He wanted that game for a LOONNGG time,.... since before Christmas. Sadly, it's no longer found NEW so I've been looking in Game Stop for it ever since, and amazingly, I found it!!! I had to find an empty case and printed out the cover art for it :o) Such a clever mommy if I do say so myself!! He was THRILLED over his new games though
Soon after the small party at home, we headed for the hotel,... the kids were very anxious to get there and check things out!
Of course, when we got there,... our room wasn't yet ready, and we got to wait just outside of it for a good 15mins or so. Rather irritating,... but the kids enjoyed watching as she worked, and tried to see inside the room like a sneak peek or something LOL
Little do they know, they're sitting upon their bed for the evening!!
Once they finished inspecting the bathroom, the drawers, the "awesome" flat screen tv,... our room upstairs (this room had a real 70's feel, I got the impression of a swingers type party probably went on here,... the adjoining door, the decor was very *cough* tasteful..) well, by now the kids were all set to go SWIMMING!!!!!
Fun in the pool!!
The kids had a great time in the pool, it was indoors... they made friends with some older kids and had fun playing a game of keep away w/ a beach ball they had. We spent a good hour or so there, then headed back to the room to order us some "room service" dinner!!!
Dinner consisted of burgers and fries, it was brought to us on a large tray with cloth napkins. The kids thought this was just the greatest thing. It was fun to see them so excited about such trivial things,.... but I will say, this is the first and last time we order room service like this,... holy cow, burgers and fries cost a LOT like this. BUT they really enjoyed it, so it was worth the expense. Don't you agree???
After this, our next surprise was to go over to the nice theater,... they have theater seating, and HUGE screens, not to mention the new 3D screens!!! We were off to go see Ice Age 3 in 3D!!
I couldn't resist snapping a picture of him in these glasses, so cute!!!
The movie was cute, but lacking in the 3D effects I thought. I still hope to maybe take them to see GForce in 3D as the previews sure made it look awesome!!! The kids really loved Ice Age though, so that was the important thing :o)
Now back to the room,... they didn't know that their bed was the pull out sofa they'd been sitting on. I kinda left that for the evenings "surprise" LOL Ahhh to be a kid again, when everything is so new and exciting huh???
Walking towards the room, they were both saying something like "I wonder what our bed is gonna look like???" Well, I was very happy to show them!!
And with that, we left them to their room, with their tv.... they didn't stay up too long. We were curled up in our bed over them,... and listened to the jabber,... and the tv until the wee hours LOL Finally I snuck down and turned the tv off.
Chris and I enjoyed talking about how well it went, and vowed that we needed to try and make more of an effort to do more things like this with them, even at the cost of it all. To see them so excited over little things, well, to me, that's always the best. I love to look through life through a childs eyes. This I guess is just a great age to view life through too.
In the morning, we did the hotel's free breakfast, and they had quite the spread. Geoffery got his waffles too!!! They were sorry to leave, but even a night away, I was happy to be home and back in our bed that night.
Happy 9th Birthday Geoffery.... glad it was the "most awesome Birthday ever" I hope we can top that next year!!!
Anyhow.... we strained our brains to come up with something that we knew he (and Sydney too) would enjoy doing. After all the comments from the two of them over time about hotels.
I got questions like:
"Do you LIVE there???"
"Is room service for real? like they bring you food to your room??"
"What is IN a hotel room??"
Comments like:
"I wish I could be in a hotel"
"I've never been to a hotel, I always wanted to do that"
I'm sure the list went on and on, but those were a select few that amused me.
Soo,... I mention to Chris,... "what about getting a room for a night, hotel w/ a pool so we can swim, that sort of thing??" "Do you think they'll like that???" "yeah, I think so,..." I mean,... why the heck not?? Not like we had to go FAR and not like we had to stay more than one night,... let them get the new experience of being in a hotel room,... we can do room service and the whole shebang right????
We did some looking, and we planned it out. One night in Jonesboro (biggest town near us) we'll do the swimming, we'll do the room service for dinner,... Geoffery LOVES waffles/pancakes, so we thought we'd do Waffle House or IHOP for breakfast,.... AND the awesome theater was real close by, we were going to take them to the new Ice Age 3, in 3D!!!
On the 4th we informed the kids of our fun filled day ahead. They were VERY excited, and Sydney wasted NO time at all in packing for her trip. I helped Geoffery make sure he had all his stuff. I also had a new pair of goggles for them for the pool. Yup yup, this was going to be GREAT fun!!!! I was thrilled to see them so excited about all this.
In the morning, they were ready to go, but check in was later, so we had time to do some cake and icecream and presents. Grams came over to help us celebrate as well.
Daddy with his 9yr old boy!
Happy Birthday Geoffery!!
Due to the "trickiness" of the candles, Geoffery called for reinforcements
Ahh the excitement on his face says it all,... Sonic the Black Knight for the Wii!!!
See the GameBoy Advance game??? He wanted that game for a LOONNGG time,.... since before Christmas. Sadly, it's no longer found NEW so I've been looking in Game Stop for it ever since, and amazingly, I found it!!! I had to find an empty case and printed out the cover art for it :o) Such a clever mommy if I do say so myself!! He was THRILLED over his new games thoughSoon after the small party at home, we headed for the hotel,... the kids were very anxious to get there and check things out!
Of course, when we got there,... our room wasn't yet ready, and we got to wait just outside of it for a good 15mins or so. Rather irritating,... but the kids enjoyed watching as she worked, and tried to see inside the room like a sneak peek or something LOL
Little do they know, they're sitting upon their bed for the evening!!Once they finished inspecting the bathroom, the drawers, the "awesome" flat screen tv,... our room upstairs (this room had a real 70's feel, I got the impression of a swingers type party probably went on here,... the adjoining door, the decor was very *cough* tasteful..) well, by now the kids were all set to go SWIMMING!!!!!
Fun in the pool!!
The kids had a great time in the pool, it was indoors... they made friends with some older kids and had fun playing a game of keep away w/ a beach ball they had. We spent a good hour or so there, then headed back to the room to order us some "room service" dinner!!!
Dinner consisted of burgers and fries, it was brought to us on a large tray with cloth napkins. The kids thought this was just the greatest thing. It was fun to see them so excited about such trivial things,.... but I will say, this is the first and last time we order room service like this,... holy cow, burgers and fries cost a LOT like this. BUT they really enjoyed it, so it was worth the expense. Don't you agree???
After this, our next surprise was to go over to the nice theater,... they have theater seating, and HUGE screens, not to mention the new 3D screens!!! We were off to go see Ice Age 3 in 3D!!
I couldn't resist snapping a picture of him in these glasses, so cute!!!The movie was cute, but lacking in the 3D effects I thought. I still hope to maybe take them to see GForce in 3D as the previews sure made it look awesome!!! The kids really loved Ice Age though, so that was the important thing :o)
Now back to the room,... they didn't know that their bed was the pull out sofa they'd been sitting on. I kinda left that for the evenings "surprise" LOL Ahhh to be a kid again, when everything is so new and exciting huh???
Walking towards the room, they were both saying something like "I wonder what our bed is gonna look like???" Well, I was very happy to show them!!
And with that, we left them to their room, with their tv.... they didn't stay up too long. We were curled up in our bed over them,... and listened to the jabber,... and the tv until the wee hours LOL Finally I snuck down and turned the tv off.Chris and I enjoyed talking about how well it went, and vowed that we needed to try and make more of an effort to do more things like this with them, even at the cost of it all. To see them so excited over little things, well, to me, that's always the best. I love to look through life through a childs eyes. This I guess is just a great age to view life through too.
In the morning, we did the hotel's free breakfast, and they had quite the spread. Geoffery got his waffles too!!! They were sorry to leave, but even a night away, I was happy to be home and back in our bed that night.
Happy 9th Birthday Geoffery.... glad it was the "most awesome Birthday ever" I hope we can top that next year!!!
4th of July!
I'm just going to post a few pictures here,.... we did the usual,... buy fireworks, enjoy a nice show later in the evening. Visited with Chris's family a little bit,... was a pretty relaxing day, but the kids always enjoy the buying of and lighting up of fireworks!
Our pretty babies
Daddy with his kiddos
Geoff LOVES the tanks!!!! When we bought our fireworks, (from our lovely neighbors who run a tent each year, he informed them that tomorrow was his birthday, and she threw in poppers and more tanks for the kids lol)
Oooo!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Pretty!!!!!
Our pretty babies
Daddy with his kiddos
Geoff LOVES the tanks!!!! When we bought our fireworks, (from our lovely neighbors who run a tent each year, he informed them that tomorrow was his birthday, and she threw in poppers and more tanks for the kids lol)
Oooo!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Pretty!!!!!Fathers Day!
Each Fathers Day, I try and come up with a lovely craft for the kids to do. I often thought how sad it was that the kids are in school during Mothers Day, so teachers come up with neat things for the kids to make. Father's Day, school is out and Dad's don't get the wonderful crafted goodies from their kids. Sad. I think I've done pretty good each year,.... as they get older, the crafts are a bit harder to think of.
One year, and I think probably daddy's favorite gift? were the stepping stones they did. I bought these kits at Hobby Lobby for like $10 each, they came with these plastic split marble deals. It came with pretty stickers to stick onto the split marbles. I did one better though,... I bought silicone glue, and printed out various pictures of the kids. From baby ones to now,.... and we glued those to the marbles and added some smaller sticker ones and pretty colored flat marble deals (like you put in vases or fish tanks) and they stuck their hand in the center. They had a LOT of fun doing them. They're still sitting on the front porch for anyone to see when they come over.
This year, my creativity was lacking. Like I said, they're getting older and it's harder to come up with great fun kid crafts.
While in WalMart, with the kids as they were out of school. We wandered up and down the craft isle. Trying to come up with ideas, when I saw these nice wooden frames,... I thought there we go!!! Great summer craft for the kids!!!! Bought them each a frame and they picked out a cute wooden element to glue to the frame as well.
I planned a nice grilled dinner for hubby too. We also invited his folks for the meal :o) It would be a nice day for all.
The kids worked for 2 days making their frames just perfect, we took various pictures and I printed them out and had them all set to be wrapped up. Which the kids did as well. While at Target, they each picked out their own Fathers Day card,... which was a first for them as well. Usually I did the helping of the picking, but this year, I said "You pick the card that you want to give to Daddy" He was very pleased with what was picked out too :o)
It really was a nice day, the food turned out great,.... although, I've slept a lot since then, so can't exactly remember what all was prepared, but I know we ate good LOL
Here are a few pics that were taken,... and one of the frames the kids did :o)
Frames turned out cute!
Daddy and his kiddos!
Chris with his step dad Bernard
Chris's folks
One year, and I think probably daddy's favorite gift? were the stepping stones they did. I bought these kits at Hobby Lobby for like $10 each, they came with these plastic split marble deals. It came with pretty stickers to stick onto the split marbles. I did one better though,... I bought silicone glue, and printed out various pictures of the kids. From baby ones to now,.... and we glued those to the marbles and added some smaller sticker ones and pretty colored flat marble deals (like you put in vases or fish tanks) and they stuck their hand in the center. They had a LOT of fun doing them. They're still sitting on the front porch for anyone to see when they come over.
This year, my creativity was lacking. Like I said, they're getting older and it's harder to come up with great fun kid crafts.
While in WalMart, with the kids as they were out of school. We wandered up and down the craft isle. Trying to come up with ideas, when I saw these nice wooden frames,... I thought there we go!!! Great summer craft for the kids!!!! Bought them each a frame and they picked out a cute wooden element to glue to the frame as well.
I planned a nice grilled dinner for hubby too. We also invited his folks for the meal :o) It would be a nice day for all.
The kids worked for 2 days making their frames just perfect, we took various pictures and I printed them out and had them all set to be wrapped up. Which the kids did as well. While at Target, they each picked out their own Fathers Day card,... which was a first for them as well. Usually I did the helping of the picking, but this year, I said "You pick the card that you want to give to Daddy" He was very pleased with what was picked out too :o)
It really was a nice day, the food turned out great,.... although, I've slept a lot since then, so can't exactly remember what all was prepared, but I know we ate good LOL
Here are a few pics that were taken,... and one of the frames the kids did :o)
Frames turned out cute!
Daddy and his kiddos!
Chris with his step dad Bernard
Chris's folks
Baseball Season
Geoffery signed up for baseball this year,... very exciting!!! I remember with great fondness going to my brother's ball games. Sometimes it could be a pain in the butt, but for the most part, it was a lot of fun. I also loved going outside and playing catch with him. I knew for sure that my brother would be on a pro team in the years to come. He was a GREAT player!!!!
Now,... as a parent,... I wondered to myself,... did MOM feel like this??? When the coach would call and say we were having practice I would groan. "AGAIN???" *sigh* Our practices were usually games,... with another local team. I felt they really needed more work on fielding and such, but I wasn't a coach, and sure the heck didn't want to be,.... so I couldn't complain right??? Off we would go to these practice games that would never start on time, and never end when I wanted them too. Not to mention, that it would be FREEZING cold,... there was one time, where I didn't bring enough layers, by the time we finished,... I got into the truck blasted the heat and still took a good hour to warm up after we got home!!!! Geez I can't remember when I'd ever been so cold!!!!
However, Geoffery who isn't much for being outside and doing sports, I was thrilled that he was willing to give baseball a try. I felt he had the frame for it for sure. I can't see him doing football, I would be scared he'd get broken in half LOL
He struggled a lot. I never knew that a kid would have to be taught how to swing a bat,.... I thought things like that came naturally??? I was so wrong. Between hubby and I, we worked with him as much as we could,.... we were teaching him to swing, to throw (yes, that was something else that amazed me,.... how can you NOT know how to throw a ball??? LOL) we threw hard grounders to him and taught him to run up on the ball, to scoop it into his glove,... yes we worked with him a lot. It was fun too :o) And so exciting when he would hit the ball and it would go places,....
Geoffery was enjoying himself, he loved being a part of a team. He had some good friends on the team,.... he had some friends on other teams,.... and even if he didn't know someone on the other team, he would make friends with them. Yes,... Geoffery is a very social creature. He makes friends every where he goes.
In all the games and practices I can count on one hand that he hit the ball I think,... we braved the cold, the crap weather and we watched and cheered hard for our "Bad News Bears" sort of team,.... they had some awesome games where they were really close, and we had some horrible games where we were totally pummeled. The boys all had a great time, and we owe that to the coach. They were out there to teach the kids to play, to have fun,.... can you ask for more???
Here are some pics, and even video of some of the game time..... Enjoy!!!!
Go Team Bandits!!
When asked what number Geoff would like, hubby picked #3, gotta tie some Nascar into baseball ya know! lol
He looks so smart, so serious, so professional,....
Geoffery brings bat twirling to baseball....
Geoffery Hits the ball!!!
He Swings!!! He Hits!!! He Runs..... to 3rd?????
Now,... as a parent,... I wondered to myself,... did MOM feel like this??? When the coach would call and say we were having practice I would groan. "AGAIN???" *sigh* Our practices were usually games,... with another local team. I felt they really needed more work on fielding and such, but I wasn't a coach, and sure the heck didn't want to be,.... so I couldn't complain right??? Off we would go to these practice games that would never start on time, and never end when I wanted them too. Not to mention, that it would be FREEZING cold,... there was one time, where I didn't bring enough layers, by the time we finished,... I got into the truck blasted the heat and still took a good hour to warm up after we got home!!!! Geez I can't remember when I'd ever been so cold!!!!
However, Geoffery who isn't much for being outside and doing sports, I was thrilled that he was willing to give baseball a try. I felt he had the frame for it for sure. I can't see him doing football, I would be scared he'd get broken in half LOL
He struggled a lot. I never knew that a kid would have to be taught how to swing a bat,.... I thought things like that came naturally??? I was so wrong. Between hubby and I, we worked with him as much as we could,.... we were teaching him to swing, to throw (yes, that was something else that amazed me,.... how can you NOT know how to throw a ball??? LOL) we threw hard grounders to him and taught him to run up on the ball, to scoop it into his glove,... yes we worked with him a lot. It was fun too :o) And so exciting when he would hit the ball and it would go places,....
Geoffery was enjoying himself, he loved being a part of a team. He had some good friends on the team,.... he had some friends on other teams,.... and even if he didn't know someone on the other team, he would make friends with them. Yes,... Geoffery is a very social creature. He makes friends every where he goes.
In all the games and practices I can count on one hand that he hit the ball I think,... we braved the cold, the crap weather and we watched and cheered hard for our "Bad News Bears" sort of team,.... they had some awesome games where they were really close, and we had some horrible games where we were totally pummeled. The boys all had a great time, and we owe that to the coach. They were out there to teach the kids to play, to have fun,.... can you ask for more???
Here are some pics, and even video of some of the game time..... Enjoy!!!!
Go Team Bandits!!
When asked what number Geoff would like, hubby picked #3, gotta tie some Nascar into baseball ya know! lol
Geoffery got to try bein on the pitchers mound some...
He looks so smart, so serious, so professional,....
Geoffery brings bat twirling to baseball....
Geoffery Hits the ball!!!
He Swings!!! He Hits!!! He Runs..... to 3rd?????
Saturday, August 08, 2009
End of Year Party
At the end of the year, our favorite 2nd grade teacher always holds a wonderful luau for the kids and parents. I've attended 3. Sadly, this last one will be the last one LOL No more kiddos for me.
It's always a big deal for the kids, they enjoy performing and eating all the yummy Hawaiian fruits.
Here are a few pictures and video from the party.
Geoffery's 2nd Grade class, the last day of school luauThe boys do a deal with sticks (forget what it's called.. sorry) and the girls did a hula dance :o)
I only recorded the boys....
Geoffery and his best friends (also baseball teammates)
How adoreable is she???? Are pre-arranged marriages still okay??? lol
End of the year goodbye party!!
The kids had a nice picnic lunch outside on the playground after their party
so, I said to Geoffery "Look at me so I can take a nice picture of you"*sigh* goofball!!
Handsome goofball though ;o)
Having fun on the swings w/ his friends
What a showoff :o)And so ends the school year of 2009!!!
I've got much more to post, but will save that for tomorrow,... we have baseball, 4th of July, Geoffery's 9th Birthday.... and maybe that's it?? LOL
In any event, I'm long overdue in getting this blog up to date,.... so I feel better now. That's all that really matters right??? :o)
I've got much more to post, but will save that for tomorrow,... we have baseball, 4th of July, Geoffery's 9th Birthday.... and maybe that's it?? LOL
In any event, I'm long overdue in getting this blog up to date,.... so I feel better now. That's all that really matters right??? :o)
The time has come....
... Graduation.
If there was ever anything that can make a parent more proud, and feel more old, I think it would have to be graduation. I couldn't believe the day actually came. My baby boy was going to graduate high school. It was so surreal. Wasn't it just "last year" that I graduated????? Yeah, right. Try.... 22 years ago! LOL Now my son was going to graduate. *sigh* Hard to believe.
I tried to document everything I could. I was excited, emotional,.... forewarned him I'd probably be a bawling mess this day.
Having some difficulty with the tie,... Chris was busy getting himself ready as he had worked that day,... so we were looking online to tie his tie LOL I don't recall if we managed to tie it, or if Chris ended up having to do it for him LOL I swear the day was a blur and a half.
He's excited!!
He's all set to go,.... this was just before taking him to the school, he needed to be there earlier than the parents to get things set up, pictures to be taken,.. etc etc...
Brian walking out to take his place at the front of the gym. *sniff* So grown up.
Near their seats,... waiting to sit down after everyone else files in
The Mom's are presented with roses,.... and I didn't cry!!!!!
Our proudest moment,....
Brian and I
WE DID IT!!!!We're so very proud. It's still very overwhelming. I'm grateful that we still have him here for at least another 2yrs while he attends ANC, Arkansas Northeastern College,... he'll be taking his prerequisites there. His goal is to go into the video gaming industry.
Award programs and such....
Lets see,.... not really sure where to start,... I think the Band Banquet was first,... each kid had an award program,... I was told Geoffery wouldn't receive any awards, so we missed that program. Of course he DID get awards,... Homework Club and Good Attendance.... Sydney I don't think got any awards to speak of,... she missed too much school from being sick,... Jessica got Good Attendance,... and Brian got stuff from Band and a scholarship award.
Here are those pictures...
Here are those pictures...
All of the Senior band members that are graduating,... plus the teacher (in yellow)
Each graduating member received a statuette, the one the teacher is holding is Brian's,.. he played the flute. Each statue resembled the instrument the student played. Very unique idea, rather than doing a plaque or medal.
Each Senior gets a tag with their name and graduating year on it, the tag (which looks like a dog tag) is clipped onto the Lion's collar here,... forever remembered :o)
Brian with one of his favorite teachers,... mostly because he would bring in his Xbox for the kids to play LOL He did have a great time in band, and I'm happy he got the experience. He played for 6yrs!!!
Brian and Mom,... wow,... hard to believe this is the LAST banquet I'll attend...... with this kid.
Jessica with her friend at their award program,.... they were just filing inside the gym,... I snapped this before things got started
Jessica with her Attendance Award. We really think she was cheated out of Honor Roll awards. She took band for a few weeks, decided it wasn't for her,.. and dropped it. She had all A's in every other class,.... but band was considered academic, so that hurt her. She had a C in the class before dropping it. Bleh. It's okay Jess,... we know you're smarter than all those other kids ;o) We're proud of you!!!Hmm... I thought I had a picture of Brian getting his scholarship award,... but I guess I don't. Seems I recall trying to use my cellphone to take the pic, and it didn't work so great :o( Dangit.
In any event,... he received a $12,000.00 scholarship from Nucor Yamato Steel, the company in which Chris works at. There are a couple different levels to this award. All employee kids are eligible, so long as they meet the requirements. General requirements are either writing an essay or doing some community service. Brian's grades and all I guess were good enough, that he didn't have to do either. We were so very proud for him getting this award. Very grateful that Nucor has such a program as well.
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