BABYSITTING

My sister Steph will kill me. Good thing she never looks at my blog! :) She was sweet enough to watch our girls on our anniversary, so that Erik & I could go out.

I guess I should say that Erik & I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversay! We went out to Someburros for dinner (where we went on our first date) & then we went to see Angels & Demons. Which I liked that movie, but Erik didn't think it was that great. I'm more easily amuzed.

OK - back to my story. While Steph was babysitting they must have played dress up & took pictures. Well, I just found these gems!! Here's a lesson to all - don't take pictures with my camera unless you want that to be leaked out - HAHA!!

PARAMORE & NO DOUBT

***I am ridiculously behind on blogging. There are a few new posts on here & MANY more to come...***


My lovely sister Stephanie bought tickets to the Paramore / No Doubt concert for my sister Allison's birthday. Well, Allison ended up not being able to go. LUCKY ME!!
Steph asked me if I wanted to go - UH YEAH!! It was so much fun. I've seen No Doubt before - back in the old days. I had forgotten how much fun they are live. It was a real treat to see them again. Paramore was really good as well. I give MAJOR kudos to their bass player who did a barrel roll over the guitarist while playing! That was awesome!! We had a blast!

Thanks again Steph!! (Oh & Allison for having to go out of town! :) )

Jay's GRADUATION

May 21st was Jadyn's Kindergarten graduation. The year has just flown by!! Jadyn was such a good student. An award was given of "Citizenship Award for the Year" to a student by her teacher Miss Ritter. When Miss Ritter was announcing the award she said that "He best represents all of our values for the year". It was given to only one student & then she called Jadyn's name. We were shocked! Especially since she said "He" a couple of times. We're so proud of Jadyn & the great example she is to everyone. She received all "O"'s for Outstanding & all 100%'s for her grades. She is definitely ready for 1st grade.

Jadyn with Miss Ritter...

Erik & I with the "Citizen of the Year"

Jadyn with her friend Betsy Hughes....

P.S. - I owe a HUGE thank you to Betsy's mom Katie for these pictures. I took the battery out of my camera to charge it & forgot to put it back in. Not a fun find right before the graduation began! I was sick to my stomache!!

D-BACKS

On Friday May 8th we went to the Diamondbacks game. Erik's been dying to go & the girls think it's the best. They love anything that dad loves. We had a lot of fun checking things out, eating peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc. It's always fun to go to a ball game!!

KIDS

This has got to be the worst part of raising kids. The heartbreaking thought that other kids are mean to your kids. Kylie is such a sweet girl. She truly has a genuine personality. On the flipside, she can be bossy & overbearing. Not in a vindictive way - just a "I like to play what I want to" way. I'm sure that doesn't make any sense to just read this, but if you know her than you understand. Some kids just don't know how to handle her & it sometimes makes life hard. Even though she likes to do her own thing, she in no way is mean to other kids. I'm not just saying that either. I'm definitely not one of those "my child would never do that" kind of moms. In fact, I automatically assume it's my kids fault before finding out the truth. Backwards I know.

I wish I could pick my girls friends, but I know I can't. I wish I could pick the cutest girl in the class with the best family to be their best friend. But, I'm finding out that sometimes that person is not very nice. Poor Kylie has had a rough time with this one girl. It's someone she's always wanted to be friends with, but this girl is just not nice to Kylie. It breaks my heart to see her cry & have her feelings hurt. I remember what that's like & it makes me crazy to watch someone else go through that. Especially someone as sweet as Kylie. Kylie may be loud, hyper & crazy as all get out, but she's not mean!! I am thankful for that. It's also hard because this girl has a great family. But, unfortunately, at this stage in life - Kylie's better friends are the ones I necessarily wouldn't just go out & pick for her. They're not mean though, so I find comfort in that. Hopefully, Kylie will be able to find a GREAT friend soon that can last for a lifetime. Heaven knows that's the best way to make it through life. I was lucky enough to find many in High School.

Well, at least the school year is almost over & we can have a break from this kind of stuff for a couple of months! Bring on the trips & the FUN!!!

Here is what is wrong with the world these days! This just sums it up, as far as I'm concerned, about how there are just some MAJOR wackos out their...

We all know that I'm a Twilight fan & spend a little more time than necessary keeping up with what's going on in that world. Apparently, Stepehenie Meyer just received some pretty prestigious awards for Breaking Dawn. Kudos to her!! I think it's well deserved. However, upon reading some comments people wrote about whether or not it's a children's book or not I found this lovely quote...

"Although I would consider these books to be more young adult than children, I would have to agree with some of the other posts. My daughter is only 8 and she is reading Twilight now. She is up to chapter 8 and has only asked what 3 words are and to explain only 1 thing that she didn't understand. While my daughter loves to read, I thought she would only make it through about 30 pages and then give up on it but she is determined "to read the entire series so she can understand the relationship of all the characters." (Pretty mature answer for an 8 yr. old, huh?) I was reading Stephen King novels at her age and this series is much less frightening than his were. I really think it depends on the parents and maturity level of the child. I would not recommend this for all children but I wouldn't deny my child the chance of experiencing a great series of wonderfully written books. It seems to be a little better than continuing to fill her head with princess stories! "

Does anyone else see the problem with this? She did say she thought it was more a young adult novel & that she apparently has a mature 8 year old. But, seriously?! Stephen King novels at 8? Also, what's wrong with letting your child "experience a great series of wonderfully written books" when she's a few years older. What's the rush? They're not going anywhere! And my biggest beef - what's wrong with princess stories at age 8?

Am I really hindering my child because I like keeping her young? My 9 year is very aware that she's not allowed to read these books - or watch the movie. She still likes to read the Fairy books for fun. (The older books of Tinkerbell & her friends.) She's also getting into the 39 Clues series & quite enjoys those. But, Twilight - dare I say "Hell no"!! Sorry for the language, but I just can't believe some people. (If you're one of those people - well, I'm sorry. But, I strongly disagree with you on this one! And let's just agree to disagree.)

**At the risk of starting some major backlash towards me - keep in mind that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I realize that some kids are more mature than others. I believe mine is pretty mature, but not that mature. I still love you all no matter what you believe! :)

CANADIANS

**The following post in no way reflects our views on other nationalities. We are not responsible for opinions of 5 year olds who don't know what they're saying!!**

Just a silly Jadyn story. I thought it was funny. Keep in mind, Erik didn't find it as funny. It may have been one of those 'you had to be their' moments. (I have a lot of those.)

Erik left at 5:30am this morning. While I was doing Kylie's hair for school I heard Jadyn tromping up the stairs. She likes to go up & wake up Erik or just look at him while he's sleeping sometimes. I was waiting for her usual yell of, "Where's Dad?" But, instead I got something a little different.....

A little frantic - "MOM!! Dad got stoled by Canadians!!"

I was laughing so hard. I thought it was hilarious. Where did that come from? I can't say we've ever talked about Canadians before. I still am wondering where she got that from....