Great at Eight

Today we celebrated Abigail’s eighth birthday. Lately we’ve been waking up with just enough time for Abigail to eat breakfast and comb her hair, but today we had an entire 35 minutes so there was plenty of time for her to shower and eat a special egg-free pancake breakfast before heading off to school.

For lunch we picked up Abigail from school and took her to McDonalds where as a special birthday treat, not only could she order a kids meal, but she was able to order a mighty kids meal. Really there’s nothing “mighty” about the mighty meal. Last week Abigail ate all but a few bites of her free gourmet adult-sized birthday burger at Red Robin, with French fries, and the large sundae they brought out to her. Kid’s meals just aren’t going to cut it for this girl much longer.


Abigail requested her favorite meal of chicken biscuits with rice for dinner after which we invited Justin’s family over for her favorite dessert… Oreo Madness.



Here’s a little about Abigail at eight: (If you don’t want to hear me praise her for all her incredibleness than you can skip this part, cause seriously she is the best)

Academically she continues to excel. She still maintains a top ten spot in her grade for reading and passing the most AR tests. She has mastered all of her multiplication and division math facts and is currently working on squares, which she thinks is a breeze cause it’s just like multiplication. If you ask me what 11 times 12 is I would need a calculator or a minute (or two) to work it out in my head. She has yet to misspell a spelling word on any spelling test EVER and I can’t take an ounce of credit for it. She does her homework on her own without any difficulty. She is also very excited to be learning cursive. She’s been making up her own version of cursive for over a year now so it will be good for her to learn the correct way.

She recently started playing basketball and has really good ball control when dribbling. I have yet to see them practice shooting, but I’m sure she’ll get that down in no time. I love that my kids didn’t inherit my severe lack of coordination. We are excited for her first game on the 23rd. I’m sure she’ll be very nervous but that she’ll do great.

Abigail is a friend to everyone. Seriously, people love her. She has so many friends that it was extremely difficult to trim down her birthday party invitees. Most of her friends are older than her. Only one friend coming to her party is younger and several are 2-3 years older, but you’d never guess it. While Abigail is mature beyond her age in many ways, she is also very naïve. She assumes nothing but the best intentions from everyone. Having older friends is slightly worrisome, while we’ve kept Abigail shielded from the likes of Hannah Montana and High School Musical other kids her age are already talking about boyfriends and popular celebrities and musical artists. If I could have it my way we’d keep life simple and innocent forever.

Abigail is very loving to her younger sister and brother and I am certain she’ll be a HUGE help once this baby arrives. She’s an excellent big sister. Unfortunately, if anyone is unhappy she immediately gets the blame. Not because she’s at fault, but I think that’s just how the pecking order goes. Our expectations have always been high for her and as a result she puts a lot of pressure on herself to do her best. The poor girl doesn’t give herself much slack.

Abigail is extremely easy to please. She wants for nothing. Several people have asked her what she wants for her birthday and she can’t think of a thing. She honestly wouldn’t even notice if a friend didn’t bring her a present. When I offered to take her to lunch for her birthday she said I didn’t have to because I took her out to McDonald’s last year for her birthday (of course we have been since then). Several times after lunch today she thanked me for taking her out… she takes very little for granted. We are so lucky! When we were deciding what treat to bring in for her class today, Abigail kept saying that she didn’t want to bring in rice krispie treats just because it was something she could eat. She said she was fine bringing in something that she couldn’t eat so that the class could have something better. Isn’t that nuts? What kid wants to take in some delicious treat and watch everyone else enjoy it on THEIR birthday?

To say we love this girl is an understatement. Our family wouldn’t function properly without her and we couldn’t be happier with the young lady she’s becoming.

Happy Birthday Abigail!

He’s Back - new and improved

Over the past few months I’ve been certain that we left our sweet little boy somewhere in the Caribbean. The boy we brought home was much more demanding, he had picked up an obnoxious whine, he didn’t love as freely, and wanted Mommy over Daddy 99.9% of the time. Of course nobody outside our home believed he could be that difficult, but we knew he wasn’t the same.

While we were in Utah Jason underwent a transformation of sorts. He wasn’t nearly as difficult, but he wasn’t completely back to his usual playful self either – he also had a major decrease in appetite.

I’m happy to report that by the time we returned home our sweet little guy had returned to us. Having been without him for the last 2 months I’m seriously having so much fun with him. He cracks me up all time, he wants to shower us with hugs and kisses, he is smiling and laughing so much more, and his appetite as big as his older sisters. Of course I’m sure he’ll always have his stubborn streak, but the difference has been amazing, wonderful, and very, very welcome.

In addition, to a new and improved attitude, Jason is talking a ton. Well, when you aren’t used to much talking at all, his current vocabulary is a HUGE improvement. He uses two word phrases all the time and shocks us with a new word nearly every day.

This past week we’ve overcome another huge hurdle. Jason slept in the same room as Justin and I when we were in Utah so we learned that the boy coughs a lot. It doesn’t seem to bother him at night, but Justin and I got to the point where both of us would rather sleep on the couch than share a room with Jason. During the last few days he’s been wheezy as well as still coughing. We’ve been through this before with Abigail and have hoped we’d be able to keep Jason off daily asthma medication, but it looks like he’s heading down the same path. We’ll meet with an allergist/asthma doctor next week to get their recommendation. In the meantime we’ve had to do some treatments with the nebulizer. In the past this has always been a struggle. What kid wants to be pined down for 20 minutes with a mask on their face while some machine loudly pumps meds into their body? Jason shocked me by being more than willing to cooperate. In fact this afternoon he held the mouthpiece in his mouth all by himself until every last drop was gone (watching Curious George, of course).

Welcome back Jason! We’ve missed you!

Happy New Year!

We had a great time welcoming in 2010 at my sister Brenda’s house. They’ve developed an impressive balloon drop contraption that we couldn’t wait to see in action.

But first there was a little Rock Band action

Justin and Cammy on the drums, Lee and Ray on vocals, Brenda on guitar and Carly handled the foot pedal of the drums.

Apparently during the week Abigail and Carly’s cousins introduced to them to Taylor Swift. Abigail knew all the words to many of her songs and had a great time singing along with her cousins.

We woke up Jason just in time for the balloon drop. He was highly impressed and was talking about it first thing the next morning (I just know he was dreaming about balloons and stars all night).

As if over 200 balloons and confetti wasn’t enough there was plenty of silly string to make the New Year even more exciting.

Thanks for a great party! Happy New Year!

More Utah Fun!

Since all my family was in Utah for Christmas and my Mom’s wedding, our week was filled with fun events and activities. The kids played with cousins every day and even got to have a sleepover with their cousins Caylee and Emily. They had a great time and can’t wait to do it again.

They went sledding

Apparently Jason got spooked when his cousin ran him down and the hill was a little too steep for our little guy so Justin and Jason didn't get to do much sledding, but the girls had a blast.

Jason doin’ a little bum-sledding

Sunday morning we attended church with my nephew who recently turned twelve and was receiving the priesthood (link). Justin was asked to perform the ordination and we were grateful to be there for his special day. It was a neat experience.

My Mom made up a fun activity for Jason – well, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. He enjoyed being whirled around in Grandma’s office chair until he and the chair toppled over.

During the week we put together two 1000 piece puzzles that my Grandparents had. The kids pitched in when we had just a few pieces left. Doing puzzles is something my family always did during Christmas break when we were kids.

One evening we got together with a few of my friends from high school. It was fun to see everyone's kids and catch-up on each others lives.

We haven't changed that much in 15 years have we?

A Wedding

Last Tuesday my Mom married Val Kesler

Aren't they a cute couple?

After the short ceremony we enjoyed visiting with friends and family over a delicious BBQ lunch. Many of my Mom's sisters were able to attend as well as my Grandma Ikhaml.

All of the grandkids were wearing new clothes for family pictures, but we weren't taking pictures until after lunch... it was a little worrisome (BBQ w/light colored clothing), but I think we made it without any clothing disasters.

This was Jason's first time wearing a white shirt and tie. Even though his tie was way too long I think he looked adorable.

Congratulations Mom! We are so happy for you!

Ogden City Lights

Last Monday we upheld our family tradition of attending the Ogden City lights with some of our crazy family.

There are tons of little houses throughout the park decorated and sponsored by various organizations in the community.

Jason enjoyed riding on Uncle Lee's shoulders the whole evening.

Even though we were all freezing afterward we kept with tradition and went to Farr's Ice Cream afterward for dessert.

Yummy!

Christmas Morning

Our Christmas morning was very relaxing. Justin and I got up around 8 am to find that Abigail had been up since 6 am reading her new books from Grandma while she waited for everyone else to wake up. Carly was up around 7:30. While we waited for Jason to wake up, I made a breakfast omelet I've wanted to make for several months. It was delicious and Justin liked it so much that he says it's our new Christmas breakfast tradition. My Mom thought it was pure torture to make the girls wait for Jason to wake up, but they were incredibly patient. At 9:30 we finally decided to wake Jason up so we could start opening presents.

Definitely one of my favorite parts of Christmas is watching the kids discover all the little things Santa put in their stockings. I love to see how excited they get over new socks and underwear, lifesavers, and even the orange at the bottom… all the same things I remember Santa bringing me when I was a kid.

Abigail was baffled at the flat package under the tree. When she opened it she was thrilled to discover a music book and a certificate to finally begin piano lessons. She’s been waiting a long time for this… now we need to find ourselves a piano.

Christmas Eve with the Hipwell's

It seemed like we had just settled into seats on the airplane when the pilot announced that we were flying over Boise. How sweet it is to eat breakfast at home and arrive at Grandma's house nearly 1000 miles away by lunch.

We had a few hours before the family came over for our Christmas Eve celebrations so the girls and I made cookies for Santa.

My family has a Christmas Eve tradition of gathering together for my Mom's homemade clam chowder (she even makes a clam-free batch for me). Then we reenact the story of Christ's birth from Luke. Abigail wanted to be a wise man with her cousins Brynn and Emily. Carly opted to sit out and watch the production from the comforts of Grandma’s lap.

After the play my Mom had a white elephant gift exchange with the grandchildren. Everyone was excited for the fun to begin.

This was the first gift exchange my girls have participated in so it took a few turns for them to catch on to the whole “stealing gifts” idea. Abigail scored $10 along with her goodies and in the end Carly was lucky to walk away with a Zu Zu pet. There was also a gift exchange for the adults. I scored one of the sentimental gifts - a picture album from my Grandma Ikhaml with all the pictures our family has sent her throughout the years.

Then it was on to gifts from Grandma. All the kids got books and the girls got new Webkinz which they really, really wanted. Jason received a set of cars from the movie Cars – which he of course played with the rest of the evening.

Christmas with the Fletchers

Since we were spending Christmas in Utah this year, we celebrated Christmas a few days early with the Fletcher Family.

Grandma and Grandpa sure do spoil their grandkids

Grandma even fills stockings for the kids

Carly was thrilled when she opened the gigantic craft kit from Grandma & Grandpa

Each of the grandkids had one final gift they opened at the same time… pillow pets. Check out the damage after an evening of opening gifts.

"Nutcracker"... again

Starring: Carly as a sugar-plum fairy

Saturday afternoon we attended Carly’s first dance recital. She started dance last month with two of her friends and has really enjoyed it. The girls looked adorable all dressed up in their ballet costumes before the performance and nobody seemed at all nervous.


It was a fun show to watch, especially some of the youngest little dancers. Carly did a fantastic job and was a beautiful ballerina.


Below is Carly’s ballet debut as a sugar-plum fairy in the Nutcracker. She’s the last (fourth) dancer in a pink tutu to enter the stage from the left)

Resemblance

Have you ever been told you looked like someone famous? Until recently I hadn’t, then a few weeks ago someone told me that I looked just like the actress from the movie Casper – she prefaced that by saying I “must get that all the time.” When I didn’t know who she was talking about she explained that Casper was a popular movie when she was a kid (I don’t think she realized there’s nearly a decade age difference between us). Anyhow, she told me the actress was “beautiful” so I took it as a compliment.

While the following my seem completely unrelated, stay with me…

Over the several months I’ve been playing around with the idea of cutting bangs. Due to a larger than average forehead, I’ve had bangs most of my life. In fact I’ve had bangs that have warranted the nickname “poodle bangs”. While that nickname sounds cruel now, I don’t think it was meant badly… big bangs were the style.

Me and a side shot of my “poodle bangs” - 7th Grade Recognition Night

I’ve been bangless now for about five years and I love having less hair to style and maintain. However, as my face (along with the rest of my body) is getting rounder and rounder these days I thought cutting bangs just might be the trick I needed.

So back to Casper… several days after I learned I had a famous face I remembered that conversation and out of curiosity googled “actress Casper movie” – and wouldn’t you know it… one of the very first results read, “What is the actresses name from Casper with the big forehead?” Seriously! I took it as a sign and made the big move yesterday.

"Nutcracker"

Starring: Abigail as a sugar-plum fairy

Tonight we attended Abigail’s school performance of the Nutcracker. Below is part of her performance as a sugar-plum fairy (she starts on the left in a purple tutu). Abigail also had a short narrator part.

After the sugar-plum dance Abigail had a quick wardrobe change into this cute Chinese costume.

“The Colors of Christmas”

Starring: Carly (and a few other fellow kindergarteners)

Tonight was Carly’s first-ever school program. The kindergartners spent just under a half hour singing various Christmas songs – this is one of my favorites. I love her stern little face.

What’s Happening

We’re still plenty busy here with lots of fun performances and programs to look forward to in the next few days. I woke up yesterday morning just looking for an excuse to stay home and get some things done so when Jason woke up too late for me to make my yoga class (and with a running nose and cough) – that was all I needed. To me it seemed like just a normal cold, but Jason felt that the only way he would pull through was to watch several Curious George episodes throughout the day. He’s still not feeling well today, but instead of wanting to watch TV he just wants to sleep and rest. The poor guy slept on the couch all morning, has only eaten a few crackers, and is now back asleep for his nap. While I was certainly productive yesterday, today has been more about taking care of my little guy. The only perk of having a sick baby is more cuddle time for Mom.

Here’s a few things we’ve been up to lately:

Last Friday Justin took the day off so he could help Carly make a gingerbread house in her kindergarten class. Carly was very excited to have her Dad spend part of the afternoon with her and really enjoyed all the extra candy she got to bring home.

When Justin got home, we decided to surprise the girls by moving their bed into the playroom so we can start getting Jason’s big boy room ready. They went to their cousin’s house right after school so they didn’t discover the switch until they were getting ready for bed… from all their excitement you’d think it was already Christmas morning.

Saturday Justin and the kids went swimming at the YMCA while I ran errands. Over the past month or so they’ve gone swimming at least four times and they all love it.

Our little water boy loves to jump into the pool and Justin just stands there while Jason surfaces and makes his way over to Justin. It’s a little unnerving for me to watch, but Jason does an amazing job.