Tyler and the Tooth Fairy

So, Tyler lost a tooth at school yesterday. It has been a while since he lost one, and questions have come up about the tooth fairy and her legitimacy. I know it is probably time to tell him, but I don't want to ruin for Luke this early. So, I continue with the cherade and tell him to put it under his pillow last night. So at around 10:30 I creep in...keep in mind, this is usually Curt's job, he is much more ninja like than me. So, here I go.... I am crawling on the floor, I reach under his pillow, no tooth. Then I feel his hand clenched in a fist... the little stinker had it clenched in his fist. So, gently try to pry it loose... oh and did I mention that Luke is sleeping with him last night.... so I reeeeeaaaaallllly don't want to get caught. Then all the sudden Tyler sits straight up and I dart out of there so fast I fall on the way out..... OUCH! So, I give it 10 more minutes, try again... still clenched in his hand. Oh, forget it.... I left the money and went to bed. So, he gets up this morning and says " the tooth fairy forgot my tooth, but she left the money, wierd!" Then he tells Curt about it when he calls and Curt tells him to put it under his pillow again tonight to see if he can get a couple more bucks out of it! Thanks a lot Daddy. This time he will probably have a booby trap set for me!!!!!!!

Missing Curt

Curt left for First Sergeant school Saturday. Thankfully it is only for a few weeks, but we still all miss him terribly when he is gone.
I was just laughing with a friend the other day about Curt's packing techniques. We went to AZ for Labor Day weekend. Curt was off Friday and I had to work so I left him a "honey do" list. This was the first time he ever packed us up for a trip. I left a note with exactly what to pack. When I got home he was ready to roll. I expect ed laundry to be laying around needing to be put away, but it appeared that he had it all covered. I was impressed.Then when we got to AZ and I started going through the suitcases I noticed that there was 7 or 8 outfits for each kid. We were only staying for 2 or 3 days. Then the light came on..... As he did laundry he packed everything that came out of the dryer instead of putting it away.... Gotta love the way a man's mind works!

Summer Vacation

It seems like summer is really flying by this year! We finished up the baseball season early June. It was a good season for all the kids. Curt coached for Luke and Emmy, coach pitch. He was the assistant coach for Tyler's team. George came to visit and got to see all the kids play ball and that is always nice. It means so much to the kids to have a grandparent come and watch them.George came down for Curt's promotion ceremony. We all got to go up and the boys punched his stripes on his arms... they thought that was pretty cool.It meant so much to Curt to have his Dad there. We are all very proud of him. While George was here we got to go 4-wheeling and the kids thought is was a blast to ride with Grandpa. We had such a nice time, he 's such a good grandpa. He just sits and talks with the kids or plays whatever they want to play, usually baseball. He went in every night and said prayers with them. It was just a really nice visit.

The week after George left we headed to Alaska for 2 weeks to see my family. The weather was beautiful while we were there. Curt and the kids got to do a lot of fishing and I got to do a lot shopping. :) It was a nice and relaxing trip. Curt took a couple of charters and did really well salmon fishing. He also caught a pretty nice trout. The kids had a great time getting spoiled by nana and playing with their cousin, Jake.

Just a quick update. I will post more fish pictures when I get them uploaded.

End of the year!

I survived! I wasn't sure here and there, but I did! This has been the busiest two weeks of my life. Last week was teacher appreciation week and the PTO usually makes the week very special for the teachers and also organizes a huge luncheon for them all. It was also the weekend before mother's day and I organized a Muffins with mom breakfast for our school. I expected 30 or 40 people to be interested and we ended up getting RSVP's from over 200! To top it all of I was subbing a kindergarten class all week. Thankfully it all came together and went great! Then this week we had field day for the schools in the 90 degree heat all day with no shade to be found. I am so glad this day is over. I have never run so much in my life. I am exhausted but so pleased that it all came together and everything was a success. We had a WONDERFUL showing of volunteers for these events and I am so thankful. I am off to soak in a tub and start planning for next year! :)

Easter

Just thought I would share a few photos from Easter this year. Saturday night we colored eggs, that's always fun. Although we didn't get all that creative this year we were all pretty tired. Then we went to church on Sunday and had dinner over at the Ortiz's house. We had a little egg hunt over there. It was a fun day.

Croup

Luke has been having a terrible time here lately with croup. Kids usually have grown out of it by this age, but he seems to be getting it more and more often and more severely. The time before last we were very close to the 911 call because the poor little guy couldn't catch his breath. He just had it again this past Thursday. This is the second time in three weeks. So we were up all night. First we would put him in the bathroom with the shower running and then run him out into the cool air, which usually helps to reduce the larnyx swelling, which causes the barking cough. Well, since the weather has warmed up it wasn't working. The last time I took him to the doctor he told me to put his head directly into the freezer for the really cold air. Well, imagine trying to shove a six year old's head into the freezer while he is half asleep and coughing his head off. I know he thought Curt and I were trying to kill him. Curt just kept hollering "just stick your head in the freezer boy!" as he proceed to shove him by the back of the head into the freezer. Drool flying, coughing, kicking, screaming. It was not pretty. Meanwhile, I am in the background saying "you are just upsetting him, you're making it worse, let me." So, here I come " okay baby, we are just trying help you, let just breathe in this cold air," mind you as this is going on his coughing is getting worse and his lips are turning blue. Before it was all over I was yelling " for crying out loud child stick you head in the freezer!!!!" Yeah, I saved the day. He finally woke up enough to realize that his parents were NOT trying to kill him and he stuck his little head in the freezer and it helped some. I did learn one important lesson from this whole experience. There is no way I ever want another BABY! Sleep deprivation STINKS! I was delusional for a while thinking about it and I know this was God's way of saying "girl, you don't know how good you've got it!"

Good Times

For Spring Break this year Curt, the kids and I all went to Nacogdoches, TX. We met my parents, my sister and her son, and Olivia and Kaleb (Megan's kids) there. My folks rented a cabin and we all stayed there together. We had so much fun. We had golf carts that we drove for hours.We played baseketball, shot the bow, played games, told stories, sat around the fire, and so much more.
It was also a very emotional trip. Every time I look at Olivia I see Megan. Sometimes it makes me sad because I miss her so much but most of the time it brings me comfort to know a piece of her lives on through her children. It was very special for us to all to be together. Every now and then you could sense what everyone was thinking... the only thing that would make this more perfect was if Megan were here. But you could feel her all around us, all of the time. On the way out of town, we drove by the cemetary one last time and about 10 minutes after we got there, mom, dad, Kelli, and Jake all pulled up. It was nice to have that time with ALL of us together before we went home. I thought a lot about if I should take the kids to visit her grave. And Curt and I both agreed that it is important for them to see how much we love Megan and miss her. It is also a good way for them to see how important it is to be good to one another and love each other all the time.
I had a lot of time to think on this trip and mostly I thought about how important family is. I spent a lot of time after Megan passed wishing I could go back and do so many things differently. I wish I would have been a better sister, a better friend, a better listener. The list could go on and on. But most of all I wish I had spent more time with her. Just hanging out or even talking on the phone. I just didn't know her time here would be so short. Time with family is such a precious gift and I am so thankful for having that over Spring Break.

There wasn't anything Emmy really wanted for her birthday so we decided to redo her room. She has had the same room since she was 2 years old so we thought it was time for a change. Her only request was no more pink.... she wanted purple. So I locked her out of her room for a week and unveiled the surprise on the day of her party. She LOVED it. Thought I would share some pics.

Emmy is 8 years old today! I can't believe it! She had her first slumber party over the weekend and it went well. Well, I survived so I guess that means it went well. She was disappointed that nana and grampa didn't come but she had a good time anyway and she understood. We did crafts and played games and watched High School Musical 3, of course! Today is her real birthday so she requested chicken enchiladas and oatmeal cake, so that's dinner tonight. So glad it wasn't chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese!

We are all so ready for Spring Break! We will be going to Nacogdoches to see my family. Mom and Dad are renting a cabin and they will get to have Oliva and Kaleb (Megan's kids) for the time we are there. My sister, Kelli, will also be there. It will be so nice for us to all be together. It stinks to be so far from them, but who knows.... maybe Alaska will be in our near future again! :)

"If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans..."

Just when it seemed like we had it all figured out, the rug got pulled out from under us. Curt canceled his palace chase. He will be staying in the Air Force. The Klamath job sounded great in the beginning, but one thing after another kept changing, making the deal not so great. The Air Force also offered him some benefits that we just couldn't turn down. Although we are sad to miss out on being closer to family, we do believe this is a blessing. We have a good life in the Air Force and now we appreciate it even more. We appreciate how understanding everyone has been with our sudden change in plans. We hate to let any of you down. Curt and I really believe if we are patient God has something even better waiting for us down the road.