DARE Graduation

Last Friday, Tim graduated from the DARE program at school. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. He was so excited because he will get to do the program again next year as a 5th grader. Tim is in a 4th/5th grade class and the 4th graders got to participate. The graduation program was about an hour long with a slide show and all the graduates singing the DARE song. Too cute! Plus, all the graduates got a DARE t-shirt. Tim is such a good kid.

Tim in his DARE t-shirt!

Singing the DARE song. Tim is in the back row, middle. Tim receiving his "diploma!"

Double "WHAMee"

The first "WHAM" - I added another song to my play list: Wham's "Wake Me Up Before You Go." I decorated my walls with posters of this band as well. George Micheal was pretty hot, when I was thirteen and no clue about "him." Hey, the music was fun!
The second "WHAM" - Tim and Mak go off track tomorrow. They are off 3 1/2 weeks this time. Whatever happened to 3 weeks. The last time they were off track it was like 4 weeks off. Don't get me wrong, I like year-round school. It's just that the off-tracks sneak up on me way too fast. This time I am prepared! I have the kids involved in some activities. If I don't write for awhile it's because I am so busy with all the activities I have planned, or I am so exhausted from the fighting that I have locked myself in the bathroom for some "me" time.
Check out the bottom of my blog! I added a "family sticker." I saw this on Brooke's blog, loved it, and tried it. It's so easy and free! It's a lot of fun too. You get to play around with hair cuts, clothes, and height. Notice that I am taller than Cory on the sticker:)

My Music List

I thought I would take the time to explain my choice of music on my music list. Maybe it will give you a little more insight into me, or maybe you will just have a good laugh! Sorry it's so long, hopefully you will find it entertaining! Here goes-
1. Supermassive Black Hole: Hello Twilight. This is from the baseball scene, which I thought was the highlight of the movie. All the action took place from this scene on. When I first downloaded this song, I played it over and over, and loud too. My kids love it and play it in the car. So if you see a white bus in your neighborhood with the bass booming, don't call the sheriff, it just me and the kids!
2. Carrie Underwood: What an awesome voice. And for all you "American Idol" fans out there, she rocks! Cory and I saw her last November in concert. What a performer: her voice is beautiful. An All American Girl!
3. Mamma Mia: Come on, who out there that saw the movie couldn't help yourself from singing and dancing along. A total feel good show that chases all the blues away and makes you a happier person. Thank you Abba. My twins love this movie and dance and sing along with me!
4 & 5. Sugarland: This group makes me smile everytime I hear them. Fun, fun, fun. I love to hear Kelli sing the ooh, ooh, ooh's from the song "All I Want to Do." She gets her shoulders moving up and down too. So cute!
6 & 7. Nickelback: Cory got me hooked on this group a couple of years ago. They can get pretty hard core. However; some of their songs are beautifully written and say so much. These two hold a special place in my heart for what is said. Listen to them sometime.
8. Rihana: Kind of a funky song. I have always liked this one. On "Dancing With the Stars" last season, a couple danced to this song, and totally rocked it! They took a chance with the music, dance, costumes and ended up being the judges' favorites that night. I like that!
9. HSM: I have really enjoyed all the movies. When I saw the 3rd one on the big screen, I got chills. I know, lame, but the opening scene where Troy is playing basketball and this song is playing, well, I was totally into it. I found myself yelling "shoot the ball," "foul," and cheering with the fans. Totally took me back to high school, playing basketball, and cheering on the home teams! Way to go High School Musical!!
10 & 11. Kenny Chesney: Aw Kenny! His voice is so soothing and fun to listen to. I love the island songs and the laid back life he sings about. Cory and I saw him twice; first in Salt Lake, then in the Bahamas on the beach! Good times. These two songs are my favorite that he sings. Let me tell ya though, it was hard to pick from all his hits!
12 & 13. Little Big Town: I love their first big hit "Boondocks!" Cory and I got to see this band up close and personal on cruise ship that took us to see Kenny in the Bahamas. This was before they were really big. They were so much fun to listen to and you could tell that they love their music and the fans! They were in concert with Carrie this past year. Boy can they sing and get the crowd involved.
14. Grease: yes baby! I grew up on the movie and fell asleep in my Mom's waterbed listening to the soundtrack from an 8-track! I even saw this movie at the drive-in in a convertable bug! How cool is that for a 5/6 year old? Love the music and dances. And John Travolta, what a hottie for that day!
15. Footloose: Another musical that I grew up with. I love the opening scene with all the different feet dancing to this song. The shoes and legwarmers crack me up everytime I watch. And Kevin Bacon, he was cute too! Rumor is that Zac Efron is going to be in the remake of "Footloose!" Maybe we should have a Girls' Night Out for that Movie!
16. Enya: There was a time in high school when all I would listen to was Enya. My parents must have thought I was depressed or something. She is so soothing and relaxing. I have fond memories just thinking about her music, like the time I was in Reno with my friend Jodie and ran right into a cannel full of water. A college a friend discovered the name of Enya's sister: Outya!! Thought you would like that.
17. Duran Duran. This is my fav from the boys. I admit, I had Duran Duran posters all over my room growing up. And how cute was Simon? Wow! We would go on family trips to Mt. Shasta, CA and I would listen to Duran Duran all the way there, every second I was there, and all the way home. I just couldn't get enough of the group, especially Simon. Did I mention how cute he was?
Hopefully you have gained some insight into me by the music I listen to. There are others that I should share, but for right now, this will do. Enjoy!

Our beautiful eyes!

A blogger friend did this on her blog, and I thought it was so cool. She posted pictures of all her girls' eyes. Wow! They are all so different, yet beautiful. So, I thought to myself, how cool would it be to take pictures of the eyes in my family and let you readers guess which eyes belong to whom. Good luck, and no peeking; the answers are at the bottom. Also, I am extending this "eye tag" to all my fellow bloggers out there. Have fun!
















Here are the answers from top to bottom! Cory, Amanda, Tim, Makayla, Kelli & Katie. Did you guess right? I know what you are thinking, where did all the different colors come from? I don't know, but it's pretty cool to see what comes from two different people!!

Troy vs. Edward

This is what I used to have the privilege of looking at!
Now I get to look at this!

My sweet little Makayla informed me a while ago that she was no longer a huge fan of High School Musical. For those of you who didn't know, HSM has been a huge part of Mak's life since her 6th birthday, almost 2 years ago. Somehow she convinced me to let her read "Twilight" and her life has never been the same. But when she saw the movie, yes, I let my not quite eight year old see it, things changed drastically. Last week, she took down all her HSM posters and pictures in her room. Then, being the awesome Mom that I am, I drove all over the valley looking for Twilight posters. FYI, Spencer's in the mall has them, but beware of the store, and do not take little ones to the back of it! Those of you who have been to Spencer's before know what I am talking about. If you have never been in the store, the posters are right out front, quickly purchase one, do not let your eyes wander, and quickly exit!! So, back to Mak, she put up her posters and pictures. Her Baci (grandma in Polish) gave up her calendar so Mak could cut out the pictures and plaster them all over her room. What a Baci! So, over night, she went from loving Troy to loving Edward. It is quite a shock for me to see her room transform from really excited, colorful kids jumping out at me to dead kids with amber eyes wearing black starring back at me. I keep her door closed most of the day, especially when I am upstairs:) Thus begins my journey with a soon to be tween!

Rotten Egg

Remember the saying, "Last one _________ is a rotten egg!" and you put in "in the car, in the house" and so on? Katie has modified the saying so that she is always the "rotten egg." Instead of saying "last one" she know says "first one" no matter what she doing. This has caused less quarreling among the kids because no one wants to be first, except Katie, and be the rotten egg. So, Katie is always first, thus the rotten egg, and there are fewer fights among the kids. Way to go, Katie!!

Let's Dance

This last week, all three girls started dance! They are all so excited! When I told Kelli and Katie about the class, they wanted to know right away who their teacher was, what day they were going, and what time. So, I told them. That was a mistake, because then every second, they were asking me what day it was, what time it was and so on. Katie even informed me that on the day of class that they were going after they went to school, ate lunch, and watched a movie. Those two never seem to amaze me. Mak is just as excited, in her own little way. When she put on her outfit, she noticed that the leotard was a little big. She asked me how long she could take dance classes. I told her that she could take them as long as she wanted to. Then she said, "I will take dance for 2 years so I can grow into my outfit!" That sounded like a good answer to me.

Bath and a Tootsie Roll!

So the other day I decided to give Copper a bath since his last bath was on Christmas Eve, right before we picked him up. I decided that the kitchen sink would be the perfect place. Right from the start, he was trying to get out of the sink. Hello, the water isn't even running yet. Then I turn the water on. OMG, talk about flipping out. I thought about waiting until Cory returned from running an errand, but who knew when he'd be back, so I proceeded with the task. Boy did I ever have my hands full. I couldn't even get a picture of Copper half way through the bath. No way was I letting Katie or Kelli take a picture. Let's just say that he looked like a drowned rat! Poor thing. And then there was the drying off ordeal. Usually Copper is chasing towels and biting them. Now he was running from them and trying to hide under the couch pillows. I got him somewhat dried and tried to brush him out. No way! To make a somewhat long story short, Copper was mad at me for the rest of the day. I would try to sit by him on the couch, and he would scoot away from me. Never knew that I could have my feelings hurt by a dog!














Christmas day, Copper decided to leave us a little "gift." He pooped! Someone noticed and told everyone else about the "gift." My Aunt, what a sweet lady, said, "Oh, a tootsie roll!" Katie, thinking that there really was a tootsie roll for her to eat, ran over to the "gift" and proceeded to pick it up. Luckily Cory stopped her before she touched it! Moral to this story, calling dog poop a tootsie roll around little kids is not a cool thing to do!:)

2008 slideshow

2008 in Review!

Since I didn't get a letter out for 2008, I thought you would all enjoy a little slideshow of what we did during the past year! Enjoy! A

Happy Birthday Cory!

We celebrated Cory's 36th Birthday New Year's Day! That's right, he's a New Year's baby. We didn't have a big bash, Cory is not too big on that. Instead, he made dinner for the family. Yea, it was his idea. He wanted to try some ribs. All I had to do was buy them. For his first time cooking ribs, they were pretty good. You always learn from the first time, right? I did make him a pretty sorry looking bundt cake though. It tasted a whole lot better than it looked! Any way, it was a small party, the fam and my Mom. If you get the chance, call, e-mail, or text Cory and wish him a belated birthday. He would love to hear from all of you! A

Welcome to our Blog!

Hi all! Well, I finally entered the world of blogging! What do you think? Give me some time though. Thank goodness Becky came over the other day and helped me out a ton. Thanks Bec! Hopefully I can keep the blog updated so you all can enjoy our crazy life. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you all. Take care. A