8-1

Karlee had her last academic team meet yesterday. I was able to attend all but one. I missed one when I went to Chicago. It has been fun to watch. This last meet I knew more answers then ever before. The questions are tough. But these kids do a great job.

There is a 7th and 8th grade team also, only one is a 7th grader. I guess next year it will be mostly 7th graders if all these kids do it again. I hope so...I'm getting to know a couple of the moms.

Now that Karlee has some free time, she has tried out for the school musical. It's good to be busy.

life

This boy has started food and is loving it! His first time eating, he ate the whole jar (sweet potatoes), and still had a 6oz bottle. He better start crawling soon or he's going to get even chunkier (is that a word).

Yesterday, out of nowhere, Carson started playing with this doll. He has taken her with us on rides and then puts her in his car seat when we go into the store. (There is a limit, he can't bring her into the store.) :0) Yesterday her name was Zoe and today it's Sarah. He's a cute little dad.

I took Bailee to the orthodontists today. We found out that she might get her braces off in July or August!! She about did flips as we left the place. LOL When we scheduled her next appointment I was asked what time is best. I almost couldn't respond...I'm so very tired of appointments. Is there ever a good time?

My Mom is not doing very well, in fact there isn't much the Dr's can do anymore. Talking to my sister, it sounds like pain management is the plan. My Mom told the Dr's that she doesn't want to go on the ventilator again. My parents will be married for 52 years on April 24. They don't do well without the other. Let me change that. They don't go or do anything without their best friend. I'm worried for my Dad....for me...

girls

After the ATV accident, Bailee and Karlee received flowers, balloons and get well cards. Bailee also received the most yummy cinnamon rolls. Thanks Tori and Emma!! This was the cutest card she received, I had to share...

For Health class Bailee had to make a poster of her family tree. I told her she needed to keep it, that she might need it for church someday. I love it. Maybe well have to put it on the wall so we can all remember our ancestors better.

Karlee made it home from camp yesterday. She looked soo grown up when I got there. Brian asked her if she missed me, she said she missed all of us. Awww! We love you Karlee, we missed you too!

just because

they are cute!!

spring is HERE!!

We went to the park to play. First time on a swing...not sure what he thought.

Popcorn popping on the....tree. I cant wait for bluebonnets. I'm already watching along the freeways for any sign.

Bailee

Today she went back to school, with battle wounds and all. Everyday her bruises are a different color. Finally they are starting to get lighter. She wasn't very excited about going to school. But she can't afford to miss too much or it will be difficult to catch up.

Her surgery is scheduled for April Fool's, I laughed...she didn't. Luckily she will have 4 days before she goes back to school. She is nervous about surgery. Right now I'm very OK with all of this. I'm sure the day of surgery it will be a different story.

You are very brave Bailee, hang in there.

Camp Goddard

Karlee left this morning for Camp Goddard. It is a camp for 6th graders, and only 50 from her school can go. She has been looking forward to this for some time.

As I was dropping her off, I gave her a hug. I asked her if she was going to miss me. She said, "No, I have my friends." Can you imagine my surprise!?! This is the same girl that cried everyday for 6 weeks as she left for Kindergarten. The same girl that gives me a hug 47+ times a day. I know she's trying to be tough. I know I'm going to miss her. I hope you have tons of fun Karlee! I love you!!

Happy Birthday!!

Today is Brian's 42 birthday. (Wow!! That's a lot of years!)

This picture is one the reasons I fell in love with Brian. His smile and fun attitude of life. He brings the fun to our family.

He is such a good example to all of us. He works hard to support our family so I can stay home with the kids. He is such a good Dad and as soon as Adam hears his voice he starts to smile as he knows the fun is about to begin.

I hope you have a great birthday. I love you with all my heart.

bummer weekend

Bailee has been bummed all weekend. Not just because of the accident, but because this was going to be her first youth conference, it was Thursday - Saturday. She was looking forward to all the fun.

She has been considering for the last two days about going tonight for the dance. She decided to go and was very nervous. She wore her glasses in hopes to hide a little bit. Luckily it will be dark.

I think she will only stay for an hour or so. Her head still hurts.

I told her if she is going out in public, then I get to put her picture here. She sighed and said, "But only that one!" Today her bruise started turning yellow. The only color of the rainbow she hasn't tried is green. :0)

say...cheese

I don't think his smile could get any bigger. This is the toy Brian and I gave Adam for Christmas. This is the first time I've seen him use it. I think he likes it.

Carson does too!!

spring "break"

This is the real reason Brian got himself a truck...so we could haul another ATV. We headed off to the Red River for some MUD and fun!!

We found the mud...and we all had fun!!

Brian couldn't resist the temptation to be "king of the hill".

If I had know all the kids could fit in a queen size bed, we wouldn't of gotten two rooms. This bed had the best view of the TV. Nobody wanted to give it up.

See that little white building? That is the bathrooms and showers. Not pretty, but at least we had running water.

This is part of the bridge that goes over the Red River. It was a great place to race.

Monday we rode for about 6 hours. Had lots of fun, but started riding the same trails over and over. Brian and I began to wonder if 3 days was going to be too long. Tuesday, we found that 3 days might not be long enough. We rode and rode, and raced and raced until we were too sore to ride any longer. We stayed for about 9 hours.

Wednesday is when the "break" happened. We had been riding for an hour or so. Bailee and Karlee were leading the way. We always ride together and we always wear helmets. Bailee was going up a hill and meant to shift down and instead shifted up. As she headed up the hill the ATV flipped over and Bailee landed on Karlee and the ATV landed on Bailee. It was soo scary to watch. Brian, I don't think, has never moved soo fast. The ATV rolled off them but Bailee was already bleeding from her face. Karlee wasn't hurt, but very shook up. Immediately I knew that Bailee would need stitches on her eyelid. Luckily we weren't very far from the truck. We gave her some ice, loaded up everything and headed South to find a hospital.

We stopped in McKinney where they did a CT scan and stitched her up. From the scan we found out that Bailee had 5 broken bones. Her nose and the bones around her left eye. She was then transported to Cook's Children's to see a specialist. A couple of the bones are badly broken, so she will need surgery. That is the last thing that Bailee wanted. Once the swelling goes down then she will have surgery. It could be anywhere from one to two weeks.

She has done very well. The bruising keeps getting worse as the days go by and Bailee doesn't wast anyone to see her. I don't blame her at all. Friday the pain has been the worst. I think she might be doing too much and not resting. We will have to work on that.

Monday the appointments begin with the opthomologist and plastic surgeon. I'm soo glad it wasn't any worse. Any one decision could of made it worse. If we had let them ride without us, if either of the girls weren't wearing their helmet... She is doing fine and this can be fixed. We have to keep reminding ourselves that.

recognition night

Friday night was the 9-11 year old girls recognition night at our church. The girls shared their talents from gymnastics, skits, piano, violin and singing. Many of the girls made treats to share afterwards.

Here Karlee has some trophies from playing volleyball and a few that are academic. She also displayed a few books and her apron with the cookies she made.

Karlee and Ryanne sang "Did Jesus Really Live Again". They did a great job.

Karlee also played the piano, "Brethren, We Have Met to Worship". She has been working hard to be able to reach and play cords. She did a beautiful job!

big day

This is my 300th post! Not a big deal to many bloggers out there, but still something to record.

Something even bigger...today is mine and Brian's 20th anniversary!!!

Wow!! 20 years is a long time, and yet I can't wait for the next 20 years. It's going to keep getting better.

A few weeks ago Brian mentioned that he needed to be in Chicago this week for meetings. I told him "OK". Thinking that's life. He then said "but this is our 20th anniversary". "OK" again. He then decided to tell me that he wanted to fly me there for our anniversary. He wanted to surprise me but knew I would have way too many things to take care of before I could go. So, here I am taking care of everything around here. Adam is with his other Grandma, no not that one...Joy ;) Carson is going to stay with Goodlife during the day. Between Kinz and Bailee I'm sure everything will be fine around here. (I hope, I'm starting to feel a little nervous leaving all my kids here.)

I'm surprised how excited I am to go to Chicago. I've been there before and I'm not really going for sight seeing. I'm going to see the man I love! The same man that I talk to everyday! And yet...I have butterflies.

cool beans!!

(as Bailee would say)
On Saturday Bailee went to the mall with friends and bought boring white vans with the intentions of doing this! When my fabric markers, that I already had, weren't bright enough I picked up some more on Monday. Now life is great!! I won't be surprised if she continues to add more color to these shoes. She always liked to be a little different. :0)

kids

Here is Bailee at her camp out last week. They were cold once the sun went down.

There was soo much sun on their hike that she came home sunburned.

Basketball season is officially over, they both had their team parties this week.

It was so fun to watch them play, even practice was fun. They both made baskets, rebounded the ball and had a blast!! It was worth every penny and second.

Friday Karlee went to UIL for spelling. This was a first for us, nobody really knew what to expect. The best part I think was missing school. Today was the awards ceremony, she wasn't able to attend. Three friends called to let he know that she won 2nd place!! YAY!!

This is why Karlee missed the award ceremony. These three had a primary activity this morning...in there PJ's!! They have been looking forward to this for weeks and have been counting down the days. They had fun of course, it was with their friends.

Can you say...

TAX REFUND!?!

Adam

Even Adam thinks Bailee is funny!!

Mason

A couple of weeks ago Mason started working on an autobiography for a class assignment. Then he brought home a poster board of "ME". At first I wasn't very excited about this assignment, we only had a few days to finish it. So I uploaded about 40 or so pictures to get developed. I let Mason pick which ones he wanted to use. I actually cut out a few of the pictures of him, which he thought was soo cool. He kept reminding me that no white can show.It turned out soo cute. I almost want to do one for each of my kids. The Idaho Falls Temple is right in the center of it all, that happened my accident. The top and bottom right are with grandparents. The top is Mason's Great Great Grandpa Filmore, he lived to be 104. The bottom is with his Great Grandma Steel, she lived to be 101. Grandpa on Brian's side and Grandma on my side, our kids just might live forever :0).