Rodeo Days

Last Friday, Spencer went on a field trip with his kindergarten. They went to a horse boarding place in Kernville and had their own rodeo. This field trip was scheduled for last month but was postponed several times due to the weather. He was so looking forward to it. And wouldn't you know it, he woke up with a fever. I, being the good mother I am, gave him some motrin and sent him on his way. I was going to take him home after the rodeo but he said he felt better and wanted to stay at school. A lot of the kids dressed up like cowboys and they did rodeo events. It was a lot of fun. Spencer with his gold that he panned.

Spencer and his good friend Brenna

Spencer riding "the bull"

Spencer and his best bud Trey

They had tons of fun. And my vote for Best Wrangler Tush of the day goes to ............................. Spencer!!! Of course. You didn't think I was going to name some other kid? I wanted to get a picture of his little bum in his wranglers but he wouldn't go for it. And turns out, he was sick all weekend and came home from the doctor on Monday diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. Which, for those of you who don't know, is just strep throat with a rash. Sounds worse than it is. Oops....hope he didn't cough, sneeze, or breathe on any other kids.

Congratulations, Tanessa!

Tanessa has always struggled in school. She started when she was young (my bad) and had been "recommended" to be retained every year up until third grade. In third grade, her teacher said that she knew Tanessa could do the work but just needed more time, and did not recommend retaining her. Yay! Also in third grade, we began exploring reasons for the difficulties in school. After numerous tests (academic and psychological), which came back diagnosing her with a "specific learning disability", which ironically seemed to me very unspecific. We did tons of tutoring but it did not help much. In fourth grade, we went to a specialist who put her through more tests. They diagnosed her with some other stuff and then she got glasses and went through a year of expensive vision therapy. I noticed minor improvements. Very frustrating! Then in fifth grade her teacher (and principal) and I did not see eye to eye so I pulled her out of school and began homeschooling, against everyone's advice. It was a struggle that first year, then got easier for both of us the next two years. She went back to public school this year in eighth grade and...................is doing awesome!! This past trimester, she got honor roll (first time ever!!) and also received the student of the month award from her language arts teacher! Good job, Tanessa! It's been a long, trying road, but you're finally there! We are so proud of you and love you so much. Congratulations!!

Formal

I only call it the formal because it was supposed to be a winter formal back in December. The teacher who puts on the dances was sick so it was postponed till after the Christmas break. It got pushed all the way back to Valentine's Day. Then that one got snowed out. Finally, it was on Feb. 27. By then it was being called a semi-formal and most of Tanessa's friends were not going. The ones that were going had decided not to wear dresses at all. Tanessa was really bummed. We had picked out a really cute dress and shoes and she had been looking forward to this for months now. She had a dilemma. Did she wear the dress anyway and risk being the only one dressed up or did she wear jeans and a shirt like her friends and follow the crowd? I am proud to say that she did what SHE wanted to. She went against the crowd and wore her dress. Honestly, I can say that although I encouraged her to do what she wanted, I wouldn't have made the same decision. I can't stand standing out or having any unnecessary attention on me. Seriously, it brought tears to my eyes. Of course she was nervous, especially when I dropped her off. And none of her nightmares came true. There was one other girl really dressed up and a few more dressed nicely. And no one laughed at her or stared at her. She was even crowned queen for the night. I am so proud of my daughter for the independent, courageous young woman she is becoming. She is truly beautiful inside and out! Maybe I could learn something from her!

Before the dance photos

With her crown afterwards

Valentine's 2009

I need to finish up a couple posts so that I can move out of February and into March. Going back to Valentine's Day, the kids were going to have their parties. Marcie and I were going to go up to the school after lunch and take pictures. Just after 10, I look out the window and it is snowing! I called Marcie and told her to look outside. It was really coming down. And it was not supposed to snow that day! Marcie called me a few minutes later and said that Mrs. Jones had called and they were doing their party right then in case the kids got sent home early due to the snow. We rushed up there and took a few pictures just in time for the kids to go to lunch and then get sent home. I didn't even think to take pictures of the snow (DUH!) but when we got there it wasn't even sticking and by lunch time, the playground was covered!! Here are the quick pics I did get.

Spencer and Trey with their treats

Spencer ready to head out to lunch

Ali and Tayah with their Valentine bags

Ali looking through her Valentines before going home

Needless to say the kids were sugared up (all that junk before lunch) and excited because of the snow and leaving school early. Except Tanessa. She was bummed because her winter formal turned valentine formal was postponed......again! Freak snow storm!

Two Hour Delay?

Who in their right mind would wake up in the morning, look out the window and see partly cloudy skies and wet roads and assume there was a two hour delay? No one, right? Well, not me and not Marcie for that matter. I came in from starting the car to tell the kids to load up when the phone rang. Marcie says, "did you know there was a two hour delay?" (she was already up at the school). My reply was, "WHAT?!" I guess we need to listen to the radio every morning. Who would have thought? My kids were very unhappy with me. They all ran back to their beds fully clothed, then came out a few minutes later. Tanessa says, "Great! I can't go back to sleep now." I did feel bad for her because she went to bed very late last night after we got back from Bakersfield and she finished her homework. But how was I supposed to know? A two hour delay without even a dusting of snow..........

Mammoth

Finally! I'm back with something to blog! January was an uneventful month for us. This week, the Bushlings invited us to Mammoth for a couple days to go snowboarding. It was a blast! We left Tuesday night and didn't get up there till around 11pm. The kids were wired and didn't go to bed until after midnight. Then they got up before 7 the next morning. Needless to say, we were all tired that day. But we still managed to have a lot of fun.

After we got over our scare with Tanessa. She got up that morning and said she didn't feel very good. She was feeling dizzy. Me, being the kind, compassionate mom that I am told her she was fine. One of my most common phrases when my kids are whining is, "suck it up!". Imagine my shock and horror, not to mention my guilt, when I was braiding her hair and she got this glazed over look on her face and wouldn't answer me. I laid her on the couch and she was this pale, ashy color. I called for Dave and him and Marcie came running over. He checked her pulse which was fine and after she had lay down for a few minutes her color came back. When she was little, she did this a few times and would actually pass out. After worthless ER doctors and pediatricians, we finally found a ped that took action. He referred us to a neurologist (who found nothing) and a cardiologist (who discovered she had some congenital heart defect). She was 6 at the time. We went to another specialist who put wires in her heart to check the electrical pulses in her heart and he didn't think that was what was causing her to faint. Long story short, we never did find out the cause of her fainting episodes and she hasn't had one since. Until this week. Back to the fun part of my story.

When she was feeling better, we headed up to the mountain. All the boys got full mountain passes and all the girls got beginner passes. Turned out to be a good thing since Tayah had hurt her tailbone riding her motorcycle and Tanessa started to feel dizzy again on our second run. We went in for lunch and Dave took her to to the first aid and had them take her blood pressure. It was a little low but ok. They said it could be altitude sickness, have her drink lots of water, and gave us directions to the hospital. After lunch and a few bottles of water, she felt fine. The boys went back to boarding and the girls rode the gondola up to the top of the mountain. Tanessa got back on the lift and was fine the rest of our trip. Tayah didn't want to go again cause she didn't want to fall on her bum again.

Ali and Tayah

Tanessa

Wednesday was a gorgeous day. Warm and sunny. At the end of the day, we all rode the gondolas back up to the top to take pictures. All the kids

The whole gang
Bushlings and Hansens

Our family


That night we went out to dinner. Marcie and I went to the store and let the husbands give kids baths and get them ready for bed. The kids had ice cream and popcorn, played for a while, then went to bed.

The next morning we headed up to a different part of the mountain. This time it was cold, windy, and snowing. After lunch, the boys went on a long run to another part of the mountain and us girls rode the gondola to town where there were little shops. It was too cold to walk around for long so we went back up to the hill, grabbed our boards and drove to where the guys were headed. We took the scenic route but we made it eventually. We went snowboarding some more. Buy then the snow was powdery, which was new to all of us. It was fun. A little sticky (we got stuck a few times) but still fun. At least it didn't hurt when you fell!

The girls on the gondola

It was time to go home way to soon. Wouldn't you know it, two days of snowboarding and I didn't get hurt. Then walking out to the parking lot, I did the whole cartoon character slipping on the banana peel thing, only I slipped on ice. Landed right on my back and my head. A big knot on my head and my back and neck are still sore! What a dork!

I love Mammoth, though. It was a great experience. We had so much fun with the Bushlings, I seriously don't know how my family is going to survive when they move away. Thanks for inviting us, guys, we had an awesome time!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year......

......and anything else that has happened over the past few weeks! Our Christmas break was nice though it was way too short. Friday the 19th the kids had their Christmas programs and parties at school.

Spencer was a reindeer

Spencer and Trey decorating Christmas cookies

Ali and Tayah enjoying their Christmas party

When we got back from snowboarding, Tayah and Trey came over to spend the night and exchange gifts. Marcie and I had bought the same thing for eachother's kids and they thought that was the funniest thing ever! It worked out well because they spent a long time playing with their new presents.

The Boys

The Girls

On Saturday we went and stood in line in the freezing cold, surrounded by the pretty festive lights, to see Santa in Kernville.

We went snowboarding a couple more times before Christmas. Then on Christmas eve, we went to church and then came home and opened a few presents. This year was hard because Dave had to work early Christmas morning and Tanessa was at her dad's and wasn't due home till noon on Christmas day. So we opened some with Dave that night and saved the rest for Christmas day when Tanessa got home.

After Tanessa got home, my mom and brother came over to open presents. The kids got a ton of stuff. Way more than they needed of course. A family favorite was the Wii. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures of Christmas morning since I was video taping the whole thing for Dave. Spencer did insist on having his picture taken with his new goldfish.

We had a few others join us for a small Christmas dinner. A couple ladies from my mom's church who don't have family around, and Grandma Leah and Uncle George. It was very nice and quiet...until all the old people left and the kids got back to the Wii! That is how the rest of our Christmas was spent.

Again, more snowboarding, then came New Year's. We went to our friends Josh and Tisha's house for New Year's Eve to barbecue. We had a good time visiting and the kids had a good time playing board games, the Wii, and roasting marshmallows for smores on their outdoor firepit. No pictures of that either, darn it.

Then more snowboarding and then back to reality. The kids had to go back to school and I had to go back to Brady, who after being away for 2 weeks really wasn't that hard to get back into the swing of things. Usually, I enjoy having my kids home with me and don't want them to go back to school. But this time I was ready. They were all bickering and getting on eachother's nerves, which in turn got on mine. I was ready for some peace and quiet! Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and a safe New Year. I am going to try to be better about staying on top of this whole blogging thing.