2 More Years

This summer Michael applied to several residency programs for pediatric dentistry. We just found out this week that he was accepted to OHSU. In June we will leave sunny Texas and head back to Portland. It's a great opportunity for him and we're very proud of him!

Picking our Christmas Tree

We actually went our the day after Thanksgiving to get our tree--I just haven't had a chance to post about it yet!

This is Kate's new face for taking a picture.
Kate "helping" Mike move the tree.
Kate posing in front of our tree
All loaded up and ready to go. Apparently Kate thought we were going caroling next.

Kate was so curious about the tree, especially when we brought it in the house. Here she is "helping" Mike again. It was so funny, for some reason she really wanted to sit on the tree and would not get off!

Kate's Nativity

Kate has her own little nativity to play with in her room. Tonight we were cleaning it up and this is how she arranged it. I love the "special" visitor in the back. Definitely something Kate would do.

Crazy Hair Day

Crazy hair day at school today. Allie and Luke designed their own looks.

Turkeys in Disguise

I guess a big thing here in schools at Thanksgiving time is to make a disguise for a turkey. Here are the disguises the kids made.

School Thanksgiving Lunch

The kindergartners had a special Thanksgiving lunch at school and invited the parents. We had a Thanksgiving dinner lunch and it wasn't too bad. All of the kids wore headbands and vests.

Luke and Kate

Luke and Kate have a funny relationship. Kate knows that Allie ranks above her in the family and gets to boss her around, but Kate thinks that she and Luke are on the same level. She is very playful and sometimes a little too rough. She definitely loves him though and he is very patient with her.

Coloring Contest

Our apartment complex had a coloring contest. Allie and Luke both won first prize for their age group. Here's a picture of them picking up their prizes. Their pictures, along with the other entries and on the door behind them. (Allie and Luke were the only entries!) They don't care though--they are just glad they won. It reminded me of when I was little and I entered some coloring contests. I remember there was one at the Disco supermarket. There was another too where the weatherman would put your picture on the weather page in the newspaper. I checked that thing for years but I never saw my picture there. How sad! Luke felt bad that I never won. On the way back from picking up his prize he said, "Mom, I'm sorry you never won a coloring contest. Maybe you will win one in the next life." So until then, I can just be proud that MY kids won!

Trick or Treat

On Halloween as we were getting costumes on (and before I fixed her hair) Kate opted for the trick instead of the treat and emptied a shelf on the bookshelf.

The best part is if you zoom in on the picture and read the poster on the bookshelf. Very fitting.

Halloween Festivities

I love Halloween. It is so much fun!!!!

Today we had class parties at school, dress up at work, and we had the trunk-or-treat at church. We enjoyed chili, games, candy and getting to wear costumes a day early. . . By the way, the credit for the costumes goes to my mom. Each year the kids pick what they want to be, send in the requests to Grandma and magically they appear. And for the record books, this year they even arrived more than a week early! She's amazing.
Our church building shares the parking lot with the temple. That's why the temple is behind us.

I don't think I ever mentioned that I was suckered into being the room parent for Allie's class this year. I filled out the paper and said that I would help the room parent. Well, apparently I was the only one that even went that far, so I got the job. Today we had a Fall (not Halloween) craft with a healthy snack. These are apple "cupcakes" with peanut butter and raisins. (Thank you Martha Stewart.) They actually had great curb appeal and the kids really liked them. Who really needs cupcakes and all those calories?

21 pumkpins that have been sitting on my kitchen counter ALL week waiting to be given funny faces with cut vegetables. I'll have to post some pictures of it--the kids were really creative. I'm so glad to have them gone, and so glad to have my counter back--I could barely handle that.
Everyone dressed up at Michael's work, so he tried out his new look. I personally think the comb at the top is a nice addition. Very professional. I for sure would not have any concerns about this guy working on my kids' teeth.
Pics from the trunk-or-treat party
Kate is opposed to wearing anything on her head (and has been since day 1). Luckily she has enough hair to make her own antennas.

Allie with pals from church and school.

Daddy Daughter Activity Day

At church, they have "Activity Days" for the girls 8-11 twice a month. For two years before she was old enough to go, Allie would snatch the program on Sundays to see what the Activity Day girls would be doing. Now that she is finally old enough, she is so excited to go. This week they had a daddy-daughter pumpkin painting activity. Here's pictures for the night. Luke, Kate and I stayed home and watched the "Monsters vs. Aliens" Halloween special on TV. We didn't take any pictures, but we had fun too!

A 20 Year Anniversary

Today marks 20 years ago that my family was baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remember that time in our life so much. I remember the missionaries teaching us the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember reading the Book of Mormon for the first time and praying to know if it was true. My prayers were answered with a familiar, peaceful feeling from the Spirit that it is a true book. To this day, I still have that belief, only is it much stronger. I know that the Book of Mormon is a companion to the Bible and together they teach the words of Christ. I am so thankful to the families who helped bring our family the Gospel. I often wonder where my life would be if we had not been baptized. I have learned so man things from my leaders and from the teachings of the prophets and apostles that give me purpose and direction in my life. I feel blessed each day to have a knowledge of my Savior and his love for me. I am so thankful to my parents for having the courage and strength to accept the Gospel message and raise my brother and me within it's teachings. I am grateful that we were able to be sealed in the temple so that we can be together forever as a family. I am blessed to live a beautiful life full of richness in family and love and I can trace it back to that day 20 years ago when we were baptized.

Trip to the Corn Maze

Kate in the kiddie maze. She really liked it until some fighter jets that were doing a fly over for the Tech game came roaring by. That really freaked her out. After they were gone, we put her back in and she tentatively enjoyed it until they did another flyover. She screamed and ran straight to us and after that she would not go back in the maze.
A funny note about the pond behind the kids. Kate has a sign that she made up for when she wants a drink. She sticks her tongue out. She kept doing this by the pond and trying to get to it.
Allie's friend from school. They connected from the very first day. She's is super polite and always calls me "Ma'am."
Kate was checking out the pumpkins and trying to figure out how to pick them up.
It is ALWAYS windy in Lubbock. It does wonders for Kate's hair.
The kids really enjoyed the bungee jump.
It's kind of creepy seeing your child up so high flying around.
Luke almost did a flip.
Kate wanted to go too, but we thought she was too little. Maybe next year.
My favorite picture from the day.
The maze we went through. Seriously, people here are crazy about Texas Tech--they even design their corn mazes after them.
The fearless leaders who actually had a really good sense of direction.
I think it's funny how dry and dead the corn is. I was expecting something more like Oregon, where they are nice and green and a lot taller. At least there wasn't any mud.
Looking back towards Lubbcok. Flat as a pancake. We didn't make it out until it was dark. Luke led the way with a teeny tiny glow stick he found on the ground.

Luke too

I guess I shouldn't put up Allie's art without adding a little of Luke's. I love children's artwork. I could decorate my whole house in it. This is a picture of a spider that he drew for his teacher. The person holding onto one of the legs is Luke. I had to scan a copy because I didn't want to give it up! By the way, Luke's new "signature" is to make the "u" in his name into the smile of a smiley face. He's very proud of that.

Dolphin Diorama

Allie had this assignment from school to make a diorama of a dolphins. Other than help from me to hang some animals with fishing line she did it all on her own. The tornado of creativity struck my kitchen. She had paint, clay, & tools everywhere. It is the only safe place from Kate. (Thanks to the little gate at the entrance we affectionately call the "Kate Gate")

Harry Potter and the Curse of the H1N1

The swine flu struck our home. Allie came home two Mondays ago with a fever and by Wednesday we found out that it was swine flu. It also wiped out her soccer team and some school friends. Allie fared quite well and although she endured an ear infection, as well, she didn't seem too sick.

Just so you know, the CDC does not recommend letting children with swine flu cuddle with children who aren't sick. Kate wanted to cuddle with Allie but of course this was taken BEFORE I knew what Allie had! It was such a rare sight to see Kate being still that I had to take a picture.

Allie finally got to start the Harry Potter series. This was a moment I had been anticipating for years. I was teaching 3rd grade when I first read a Harry Potter book. Katie, one of my third graders, introduced the books to me. She would finish one and then loan me the book. Oh, the agony of waiting for a 3rd grader to finish the book you wanted to read. Luckily she was a great reader. It was so fun to talk about the books with her. Now that Allie is in third grade it seemed like a great time to start. I've been waiting until she was more mature to start reading them because I really wanted her to enjoy them. She began on Thursday and by Sunday she was halfway through book 3. She is reading all the time. This morning she woke up early to read and stayed in bed so that we wouldn't know she was up so early. It's so fun to see the excitement in her eyes while she talks about what is happening. There's nothing like reading a book that good!

Happy Monday!

I know it's not very nice to put unflattering pictures of people on your blog, but i just couldn't resist. Seriously, where does that hair come from?

Overheard in the car

Allie: Some kids in my class say I'm the smartest kid in the class.

Luke: Yeah, well, Kaden says I'm the awesomest kid in kindergarten.

Boots

A little while ago, we got out the kids soccer gear from last year to see if anything still fit. Kate had to be part of it and try something on. She found Allie's old rainboots. They might be a little big.