MEXICAN

Kylie's full of them lately! Here's her latest silly quote...

Erik & the girls were watching "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" the other night while I was making dinner. In the catagory 1st Grade Language the question was: What language is the word Fiesta (meaning party or celebration) that is spoken by 1/3rd of the world.

KYLIE: "Oh! That's so easy!!! I know that one!"

(**I have so many exclamation marks on purpose. She's yelling as she says these things because she's so excited.**)

ERIK: "Oh yeah, what is it?"

KYLIE: "It's MEXICAN!!"

I about fell over I was laughing so hard. Silly girl! She quickly realized the error of her ways once Erik & I couldn't talk from laughing so hard.

FALL FESTIVAL

Last weekend was the girls Fall Festival. This is the school's one fund raiser they do each year. They don't sell cookies, wrapping paper, etc. They have this carnival. Since I'm on FPAC this year I had a committee to help with. I, luckily, had a partner with me - Kris. She's the best ever!! We were over the games. It was A LOT of stress & a lot more involved than I thought, but it actually went pretty smooth. I'm glad it's over! Here's a few pics from the day....

Kylie didn't feel very well at the end. She ended up spending most of the time helping with the Prize Booth & hanging out with me.

Kylie with her teacher, Mrs. Kunda, and her boys...

A sign that my daughter loves me so. ;)

Jadyn told me this today - as well as a couple of days ago.

"Mom, you're getting old. You have lots of white hairs."

My how I love that kid! I'm just not quite sure how to respond to that.

HALLOWEEN 2009

Erik loves Halloween. He was dying to carve pumpkins this year. We usually do, but for some reason we haven't the past couple of years. We did this year. Only I didn't take a bunch of pictures. Nor did I have candles to put in them. Therefore, we don't have pictures & the pumpkins rotted fast before I got candles to light them. Oh well! We still had fun.

This year for Halloween we headed down to Arivaca, AZ for the second year in a row to hang out with Luke & Rennie's family again. We had such a blast last year that we figured we needed to do it again this year while we still had the chance. If you've never heard of Arivaca don't be shocked. It's definitely a small town. Which is what makes events like this all the more fun! Small towns know how to do holidays.

Everyone gathers at a church for dinner (aka hot dogs & such) & mingling. Then, you jump on a hayride. Lucky for us, my brother Luke drives one of those hayrides as a representative of the boys ranch, so we get to reep the benefits. All the hayrides caravan through the town making various stops to trick or treat to booths rather than doors. After about 3 different stops everyone ends up on the main street to "trick or treat" to all the booths up & down the street. It's great! No doorbells, wondering if people are home & just lots of fun. This is more than likely our last year doing this, so it was fun to go one more time. One of the booths...

My poor girls have the worst mother when it comes to these kinds of things. I'm not good at going all out for a one night deal. Nor am I creative at all in this area. Kylie actually had her costume planned all year. She was dying to wear her pirate costume she wore for a dance last year & there was no changing her mind. She told everyone she was Elizabeth from "Pirates of the Carribean". And we let her.

Jadyn wanted to be a vampire. We went to Wal-Mart to look for a black dress. When we went to buy it the cashier asked Jadyn if the dress was for her & what was she going to be. Jadyn replied that it was for her & that she was going to be "Victoria" from "Twilight". That took me by surprise. I looked at Jadyn & asked her how she even knew who that was? Not only that, but why am I buying you a costume when she could just wear regular clothes if that's who she wanted to be! Silly kid! I guess I forget how observant she is. I'm a huge "Twilight" fan (as I'm sure you already know), but I've never let my kids watch it. I just don't know how that came about!

Here's our scary group of pirates & vampires on the hayride.....

Only in a small town would you see this I think....

I love how the parents are COMPLETELY decked out & their daughter is in a cheasy, crummy, some kind of princess costume. Isn't Halloween for the kids?!

This old guy was awesome zipping around on his TINY electric scooter...

His name was "Little Mike". He was trick or treating himself & didn't even get off his scooter. He'd just zip up to the tables & hold out his hand. HILARIOUS! Another thing you would probably only ever see in a small town.

On the drive home (about an hour to Luke & Rennie's) I think the kids were a little tired...

Thanks again Luke & Rennie for the fun time!

VETERAN'S

Our girls are so blessed to go to such a wonderful school!! I love that their school is very patriotic. They have flag ceremony everyday where they recite the pledge, sing the National Anthem, learn about this day in history & discuss the virtue for the month. By far, my favorite thing their school does is the special Veteran's Day flag ceremony & breakfast. Kids can invite Veteran's to come eat breakfast with them & then attend a special flag ceremony. This year did not disappoint!

Due to Kylie being on Student Council this semester & me over the yearbook we were highly involved this year. Kylie helped decorate Monday after school. All of the student council kids wrote notes to the Veteran's on the paper they placed over the tables. Here's one of Kylie's...
Then, on Tuesday morning we were at the school at 6:00am to help prepare. (They had it a day early since there's no school on actual Veteran's Day.) She helped set up the chairs & then had the job to greet people as they came in to eat.
As the flag ceremony approached she was outside passing out programs. The girls are also very blessed to have their own Veteran! Erik's dad served in the army. We are so lucky he lives close to us & that he was able to attend this event with them. Here they are eating breakfast...

Throughout the entire morning I was on the verge of tears. Seeing all of the Veteran's always makes me emotional. There was one gentleman I couldn't even look at. (He's in one of the smaller pictures in the tall hat & red shirt.) When he first walked in he stood out. He was tall & in a fancy get up. I snapped a picture of him. Then, I watched him sit down with his grandson to start eating. He then proceeded to tell his grandson stories & cried the entire time. I had to walk out of the room. He was SOOO cute & endearing. And he was in tears throughout the whole morning.

During the flag ceremony the kids always sing the different military anthems. (Again, my personal favorite of the event.) As the anthems are sang the Veteran's stand during their song. This is really when the tears start flowing for me. There's something so wonderful about their sacrifice that they made for their country & for me. Here's a couple of shots I got of them standing during their song...

The first gentleman was one of my favorites. I LOVED that he came in a uniform. We only had a couple do this this year. The second is our very own Veteran. We sure do love him & what he went through. We're so blessed he's in our lives.

This last gentleman is another that brought a tear to my eye...

Do you not want to just hug this cute man? A WWII Veteran. I can't imagine how different things were in the military back then & the things he went through. Maybe it's because my Dad's dad served in WWII that I find it more fascinating. I never had the opportunity to meet him - he passed before I was born. I love looking at his pictures from the military & wish I knew all of the stories behind them.

Another military man I can't forget is my Grandpa Julian. He was also a WWII vet. He had great stories of being a fighter pilot. He was truly an amazing man & we miss him dearly!!

The last thing at the ceremony was this darling 2nd grade class that sang "God Bless America" with their teacher. It was beautiful & there wasn't a dry eye their. I love going to things like this and being reminded of what a great country we live in!

FRUSTRATED

This week I find myself OVERLY frustrated with things. It doesn't help that I have a tremendous amount of things happening right now. Oh well - such is life. Everyone has that, so I can't use that as an excuse.

My main concern right now, however, is my stinkin' diet! I started exercising about 2 months ago. I do this on and off from time to time, but I've done much better this go round. I'm so sick of always being the biggest one & being uncomfortably large. Which has led to my desperation of sucking it up & doing something about it finally!! I've talked about it for years, but now is the time for action!

About 1 month ago I decided to really start running & even counting my calories. That's an unheard of adventure for me on both accounts!! I'm a lady that can't even run a lap around the track! I never thought I really ate all that terribly, but this counting calories is hard work! It's almost a full time job. It's getting really old. As for my running - I quite enjoy it now. I walk/run 2 miles at least 5 or 6 times a week. Within that 2 miles I can now run a full mile without stopping. That is something I've never done in my entire life! So, I'm pretty proud of that. The other laps I always run the straightways & walk the curves. After my 2 miles I then run up & down the bleachers 3 times (I run at the nearby Community College) & then finish off with a cool down lap. It takes me about 40 minutes total right now.

Here's my frustration....

After 2 months you would think I would have lost something, right?! Not so in my case! A whole month of counting calories & running & a big fat nothing! My weight's the same & my inches are the same. I'm so frustrated!! I'm not going to give up, but I just don't understand what is going on. Plus, I thought exercising was suppose to make you feel better. Well, I just feel tired & worn out. Not to mention the fact that I'm STARVING all of the time. I think I can now comprehend a little bit of how Michael Phelps must feel! :)

Here's the only benefits for me so far:
1) I can actually run a mile! (Seriously - that's huge for me!)
2) My skin has actually been clearer. An added bonus I didn't think of. I can actually feel like an adult when I go out now & not like a paranoid teenager! Hopefully, it lasts & isn't just a fluke.
3) uh......uh......that's all I can think of at the moment

I don't necessarily feel better. Just tired & hungry. I can't even say I feel stronger. Oh - did I mention I do a workout DVD as well? That's how I get my strength training in. Wish it would help. I'm not going to give up. I realize I'm not like the contestants on the Biggest Loser. I'm not obese & realistically can't expect to lose weight the same rate they do. I know this, but a little something would be nice. To actually have my clothes look normal on me & not like they were painted on my body would be nice as well. It's not too much to ask for right? ;)

I've been even more sluggish the past 2 days. I'm hoping it's a hormonal thing & will go away soon. Oh well - I'll keep going. Don't mean to be a DEBBIE DOWNER on here, but I had to get it out.

Yesterday Erik was helping Kylie clean out her room after school. This is always an overwhelming project. She is the hugest pack rat. In fact, Erik is on the lookout for that "Horders" show to tape it & show Kylie how crazy it can be.

Anyway, not the point of my story. I hear this little conversation occur during the process over Erik trying to throw away some "Camp Rock" movie peraphinalia....


Kylie: "Dad, you can't throw that away! It's from my "Camp Rock" party which was my second favorite party ever!"


Erik: "What was your first favorite party?"


Kylie: "My baptism, duh?! That's everyone's favorite birthday party."


Well, gee - maybe I'm not the world's worst mother after all. Seems like I'm doing something right!