2009 Reflections

2009 Reflections, Beauty is...

Shailyn's Entry in photography:

This year Shailyn wanted to enter a picture into Reflections... 

The theme this year was "Beauty is" and Shailyn wrote a about how she finds beauty in nature. 

The above picture was taken by her this year up at Donut Falls towards the end of September.   

She was so excited when she found out she had won an "Honorable Mention" ribbon! 

Frightmares!

Today I took advantage of having some time off from work and took the kids to Frightmares! Let me just start by saying I absolutely hate anything scary so I have never had the desire to go there but the kids really wanted to ~ so I gave in.

Trying to get into the spirit of Halloween, we started the day off by going on the Haunted house and then the Terror ride. As if those weren't bad enough, they had 3 more Haunted houses I had to survive through. Austin is not shy when it comes to gooey looking creatures and I think he got a thrill out of my reactions. He would try scaring all of the employees before they scared him so we had all kinds of creatures following us around trying to get him back... Unfortunately, it was his weak mother that had to pay for this and Austin would laugh every time one would scare me. Shailyn surprised me in the haunted houses, she laughed at more characters than she screamed at. She was definitely stronger than her Mom! Kaysie on the other hand was more like me, her and I both had to get a drink afterward because our throats were so dry from screaming! This trip I let each of the kids pick one ride they absolutely had to go on and then we went on all the rides on our way to that ride. Shailyn picked the Colossus, Kaysie chose the Dragon (Not sure the official name of this one) and Austin wanted to keep his a surprise (Come to find out, it was the swings... the one ride I can not stomach, so unfortunately I didn't join him and Kaysie on this ride). As much as I dreaded going, I really did enjoy spending the time with the kids. They are growing up so fast and recently I decided I am going to jump on every opportunity I can to make their childhood more memorable.

Donut Falls!

Sunday Tim and I decided to take a trip up to Donut Falls with the kids, Shailyn is doing photography for Reflections this year and wanted to get some pictures of the mountains with all of the leaves changing, it was just beautiful and Shailyn got some amazing pictures!

Once we made it to the falls, both Tim and I were shocked~ apparently about 2 years ago there was a rockslide and the path up to the falls was blocked off.Now you have to climb up the slippery rocks to get up there, and since my ankle is still in a brace we didn't make it to the top but Tim did take the kids a little bit farther than I could go.

There really wasn't a good place to have a picnic near the falls, but we made do by eating on some large rocks. With the exception of Austin who found laying in the mud more comfortable.

We met up with Aaron and Becky after we were done with lunch, and let the kids play for a while.

Unfortunately our time was cut short because Kaysie fell and sliced her knee open. Poor girl! She is not one who tolerates blood very well, especially when it is on her own body. Once we got her settled down enough to see her wound Tim declared she needed stitches... (My thought was, of course she does... we don't have insurance right now! and this would be the third thing in the last 45 days that needed medical attention and we are responsible for 100% of the bill!) Luckily, when Tim stated this a lady named Modge declared she was an EMT and could take a look at it for us (Amazing Lady I might add!). She looked at the cut, and although it is very deep Kaysie didn't injure anything but skin. She could've used a few stitches but Modge said a butterfly closure would do just as well. So we hiked back down the trail very slowly, and finally made it back to the parking lot. Aaron was much wiser than I was and had a full first aid kit on hand, we were able to get Kaysie's wound closed and elevated her leg in the car. Kaysie is one tough cookie! After the blood was gone, she was fine to go down to the creek to do some fishing. Once we got there however the hill was too steep so Kaysie and I stayed at the top with a few of Aaron and Becky's kids and made our own fun. Kaysie kept us entertained by doing a one legged dance while Tim, Austin and Shailyn headed down to the fishing hole.

We had a wonderful time! I am just hoping one day we can have an adventure without an injury!

SUN BATHING

Yesterday the girls didn't have school and I got invited to a lunch meeting. Thankfully my parents watched my girls so I could go. When I got back, my girls were sunbathing, and it was so cute! They were just laying out enjoying one of the last days before the pool is closed. I had to share these fabulous pictures! How would it be to look that cute in a swimsuit?

Life Changes...

Well, what to do now? I have asked myself this very question several times over the past few days. The company I have devoted much of my daytime hours to over the past 7 years officially closed last Friday and I have found myself without a job. Often when I am emotionally unstable I find myself cleaning, or working in the yard, or doing something just to keep my mind and hands occupied. Over the weekend I accomplished the laundry, deep cleaning the kitchen, getting through all of the papers I have been putting off for ages, rearranging the front room, and then I started in on de-junking my girls bedrooms... Sunday, Shailyn told me "Mom, you need a job, I don't like being your employee!" I had to laugh because unfortunately I found myself giving deadlines for having certain things done, allotting certain time frames for breaks and even a lunch hour... That is when it really hit me that I no longer have a job! A very hard thing for me to swallow especially in the current state of our economy. I had plan "B" and have been working a night job for a little over a year but about a month ago it got put on hold due to a terrible accident with my boss. So now, I get the opportunity to stay home and do.... I don't know what! That is between 9:00 and 3:00 then my girls come home. Today I have to admit has been one of the longest days I can remember, we had homework done by 4:30, including reading... Tim cooked lasagna for dinner, and I had everything all cleaned up by 6! We usually don't eat until after that. I of course am so used to having my schedule so jam packed with some type of errands I don't know what to do with myself when I have so much time on my hands! But, as the saying goes ~ Everything happens for a reason. - I just wish the happenings came with the explanation!

Austin for President!

Austin is running for School President this year at Spectrum Academy. He is so excited and I think this will be a great experience for him. His motto is "Party's" (Imagine that), he is under the impression if he becomes school President he can throw as many parties as he wants to... I have tried to convince him otherwise but to no avail. It will be very interesting if Austin is nominated, and I hope he is not too disappointed about the type of parties the school will allow. Either way, He is giving this everything he's got, and I think it is wonderful how motivated he is for this competition. I am very proud of you Austin! Good Luck!!

First Day of School

Wow! Summer is gone again and the kids are back in school already!

Austin is in 8th grade this year at Spectrum Academy. His teachers' name is Mrs. Ryan, however Austin calls her Mrs. "B" ~ I am not sure why this is (and I am really hoping there is a good reason and it doesn't stand for another word I can think of...) but she seems okay with it so I am not going to push the issue... yet.

Look at how much Austin has grown! He is around 5'4" and is starting to look all grown up! (YIKES, That is what I call a reality check!)

Shailyn is in 5th grade and her teacher is Mrs. Laver. I am really hoping this year her teacher stays all year, she has had the worst luck with teachers the last few years!

The first week of school Shailyn is being tested to see which classes she will rotate into for her level. I love the way our elementary does this, they rotate into leveled classes for each subject! Shailyn is also looking more grown up, and is now 4'4" tall

Kaysie is in Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Bitners 3rd grade class. She will not be rotating classes this year, her teachers are leveling the students within the classroom. Her 2nd grade teacher also did this and Kaysie progressed so much academically last year, let's hope 3rd grade will be a similar success!

Kaysie is taller than Shailyn, standing at 4'5" tall, officially 1" taller than her sister!