Sunday, June 10, 2012

No Training Wheels

Derrick has finally learned to ride his bike without any training wheels. We tried to teach him but he never really got the hang of it-we were all a little frustrated. Then last week he asked his friend if he could ride her bike, which was a little smaller then his, and now he is a pro.

Schools out for the Summer

Derrick graduated from kindergarten! Two weeks ago-I am way late on posting- a lot of things have happened in between.

Riley had a ton of dental work done that day, she had to be sedated- put under. She was in no shape to go and the thought of taking her and Owen was stressing me out. So I called Dan at work and he took off two hours from work to be there-he is pretty much awesome. All the pictures are on his phone sorry. His teacher Mrs. Stayer had them all make their own hats, Derrick was a sun. She just had a program with her class. They sang a lo of the songs she has taught them throughout the year.

Derrick loved her and so did I. She was an awesome teacher. Derrick keeps asked if she will be his teacher next again next and was a little disappointed when I told him no.

Derrick received all 4's (equivalent of an A's) on his report card. He knows all his sight words and most of the advanced ones too! He adds and subtracts like a champ, and is hand writing is better then his Dads!

He is excited to start first grade in August. I am excited excited about all
day school and not having to pick him up in less then three hours. On the other hand the thought of him being gone all day makes me a little sad. I am grateful that I am his mom and get to watch him learn and grow.

We Went to the Zoo

I have been wanting to buy a zoo pass for a while. The one I really wanted was a little expensive so I kept taking myself out of it. Then we got a discount coupons in the mail - almost $40 off - so I caved and bought one!

Our first trip was on memorial day since Daniel had the day off - we were told by one of the zoo workers that memorial day is their busiest day!

We of corse saw lots of animals, rode the train and went to a bird show (my favorite). By the end of the day we were sweaty, dirty and tired from all the fun- and having Daddy home all day!

We are planning another trip so we can see the new polar bear exhibit.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Marriage

My baby sister is getting married today! I am so proud of her. She has become an amazing women. Her (almost) husband Ethan is a wonderful man. I would not be surprised of he became the favorite son-in-law, brother-in-law and uncle. They are perfect for one another.

I can not be there due to health problems and an appointment in Utah that could not be canceled. I am so sad not to be there. I told her that only Ethan and her matter and in the end she will not even miss me.

She is marring into a wonderful family whom has already taken such great care of her. I hear that Ethan's Aunts made a beautiful wedding cake, lovely table cloths and a gorgeous quilt for them. I am excited for the special moments her and my Mom get to share today. I know she will receive so many wonderful blessing by being married in the temple. I can not wait to see where this journey takes her. I am sure it will be a wonderful adventure.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Solar Eclipse

Sunday night we go to take part in history, we watched the solar eclipse! We put together a little contraption made out of an oatmeal can and a diaper box. We poked a hole in the can (a pin hole) and cut out a circle in the box and placed the can in the circle and tapes it up. We made sure we had another hole in the box so we could peak inside. Then we used a sheet to make it extra dark. We pointed the pin hole towards the sun, the sun shinned in the hole and made a shadow on the inside of the box. It was so neat! When we first made it I was not sure it was going to work! I am glad it did work and we could we could see what was happening. We started watching from the very beginning and ended an hour later when the moon hit the middle of the sun. We had so much fun and even our neighbors came out to join us. (They even treated us to the most beautiful chocolate chip cookies I have ever seen, I was told they tasted even better!)



Friday, May 18, 2012

Curls

A friend of my told me how you can curl your hair with a flat iron. I had some fun curling Riley's hair today. (She not so much, she cried the entire time). I think it turned out super cute!

Field Trip

Last week was Derrick's very first ever, field trip. He woke up at 6:00am filled with excitement. After the millionth time of him asking how much longer, I set a timer to go off when it was time to head to school. He was also excited that he got to ride the yellow school bus.

They went to Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. When he came home he told me he got to pet a baby bunny, and a pigs ear. Then he exclaimed, "Mom I got to ride in a wagon that horses where pulling. Mom, it was a ancient wagon from the olden days!"

Here is a picture is him all excited to go!!


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

April

The first part of April my sister Ka- Rynn and her fiancé Ethan came down for General Conference and stayed with us. My kids LOVED Ethan. Owen who is not a snugly kid, went and got a blanket one night and snugled right up next to Ethan. Ka-Rynn and Ethan are prefect for each other.

Daniel got gravel in his eye at work and scratched it really bad. Finally after three doctors visits they gave him something to manage the pain and a contact lens to help his eye heal. His eye is 100% better now.

Then Derrick, Riley, and I got the flu. We were miserable to say the least. I was so sick that Daniel did all the shopping for the Easter Bunny. I was too sick to fix an Easter feast and fixed spaghetti - this will NOT become a tradition! Poor Derrick, We spent all of his spring break in bed. Hopefully we can do some of the things we planed to do during spring break this summer! Like our vacation to the Oregon coast and a trip to the Hoogle Zoo!

On the 27th Owen turned TWO!! I can not believe my baby is two. We all love him and can not get enough of his bubbly personality. He already has a great sense of humor, and does things just to make us laugh. He loves Cars 2 and Rio. He adores his Daddy and idolizes his big brother. He is still Riley's cohorts making unbelievable messes with her ( like taking permeant marker and writing all over the wall - thank goodness for pinterest and paint). He giggles when it is time for bed, he loves sleeping- I love him for sleeping. He hops when he runs and loves pizza. He loved being spoiled on his birthday and we loved spoiling him.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

March

March was pretty uneventful. It was the calm after the storm. Daniel did get a couple of days off due to snow. Those days were spent shooting before Derrick had to go to school.

Daniel also put his name in a "hat" to be transferred to Canada. (Still have not heard anything. We are pretty sure the job is not starting for a while). If he does go, I will not be able to go with him. Little island- only way in is by plane! So we decided that if he does go, the kids and I would move to Oregon and live near my parents. It would be nice to be closer to my family and have their help if I needed it. It is no secret that I love southern Oregon, I would move back in a heart beat. Rivers, mountains, pine tree and the ocean... Need I say more. However I love were we live. It is close to the city, and far enough away that I feel safe and secure. When Dan was working out of town, I had lots of help when needed. I have made many friends and LOVE my neighbors'. There is a little park right outside my door. Literally. It would be hard to move. So part of me want to stay here, the other part wants to be close to my family. By June both my sisters and my parents will live in Oregon...I miss them.

Also during March...Derrick took Daniel's razor and tied to cut Riley's hair. Lucky it did not cut very much off. We went to Target and listened to Dr. Seuss books being read in celebration for his birthday. We got Lorax mustaches in our gift bags. We went to a really cool park. It has a pyramid shaped climbing structure that is over two stories tall. A little scary, but way cool. It is the 3rd of its kind in the entire world. Can you say BUSY. The kids loved it. I found a free table with two chairs on the way home from church. Score!

Monday, May 7, 2012

February

The month of love. I felt love all around my family in February. I learned the power of fasting and prayer. We felt the strength of the priesthood. I know that blessings can heal and miracles happen.

Owen started walking when he was 8 months old. He is busy!! He has always wanted to keep up with his older siblings. He hates being left behind. He has fallen and bunked his head more times then I can count.

When he falls I always look for signs of a concession. He never had any. He usually cries for a minute and is right back on his feet running.

In November I started noticing that every time he bumped his head ( even a soft little bump) he would throw up. Concerned I would watch him, but he seemed all right after. Going on his merry way. And it was just like he was spitting up.

In February he bumped his head and throw up a lot. Then that night he threw up again, this time when he was sleeping. So I took him to the doctor. He assured me that it was normal. So I asked around. No one thought it was normal. So we took him in for a second opinion. She did some more extensive test and looked at his reflexes. She said she was 95% sure it was not a brain mass. She was 100% sure it was not a skull fracture or a concussion. He acted healthy and fine. The only thing he was lacking in was his communication skills. He was 22 months old and only said a handful of words. She assured me that he was probably okay, that sometimes a child was behind because of siblings or parents catering to them. She thought maybe he had acid reflex. So she gave us a prescription.

We returned home and that night he throw up again. And the next three day after that. At this point he had thrown up 6 nights in a row. We called for a family fast. We started the fast on a Saturday. He threw up that night. ( Day 7.) We called our neighbor and he helped Dan give Owen a blessing. It was beautiful. Sunday we ended our fast. He did not throw up that night!

On Monday we returned to the doctor. TMI: he had been throwing up until he was dry heaving. When we took him in that day he had lost 3 pounds, in 4 days. He had stopped eating during the day. The doctor gave us another prescription to try. This one was to help with an upset tummy. She still was certain he did not have a brain mass, just acid relex.

Our insurance was being dumb and we would not know if they covered the prescription until a week later. By Friday Owen still had not thrown up at night yet, he was still not eating. Then Dan brought home pizza Owen ate 3 slices! The next Monday the insurance called and said they were not covering the second prescription, since it can be bought over the counter ( or is it under?). It was 90 dollars and we decided to do without it since he had not thrown up for over a week.

He still has not thrown up. I get a little nervous when he bunks his head, waiting for it to start all over again. We have gone 3 months without an incident.

Some might say it was just how the stars alined. I know my Father in Heaven had a hand in healing my little boy. Owen has alway happy, but he is even more so now. In the last three months he was went from a handful of words to talking in sentences. He giggles when it is bed time. He went from wearing 12 months cloths to 2T, totally skipping 18 months. He brings joy to all of us. We can tell that he is feeling better. Miracles do happen.


January

I am trying be a better blogger. I should go back to the end of August and start with Derrick's first day of school... I don't know where the camera is, plus I like blogging from my iPhone! So I am starting with the first of the year!

January meet us with Daniel getting 4 days off in a row. He had been working and staying out of town and it was nice to have him home. We stayed in our pj's watching movies and snuggling on the couch.

On the 9th I turned 30. I received a popcorn popper! I love being in my 30's. I finally feel grown up.

Derrick turned 6! His birthday is the day after mine. I make sure it is all about him ( has to stink having your Mom's birthday be so close to yours). I made a four layer cake all different colors, and he loved it. The weekend before we went to a closeout sale for a craft store and Daniel and him picked out a huge bag of balloons to put up for Derrick's party. When I went to blow them up all but three said, Get Well Soon!! He did not care. He is a pretty easy going kid most of the time.
6 facts about Derrick
6. Favorite Movie: Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
5. Favorite food: French Toast
4. Best friend: Ethan
3. Favorite Game: Battle Ship
2. Favorite school subject: Math
1. Favorite color: Orange

At the end if January Daniel stopped staying out of town. The company decided they needed to save money and all the guys from Utah could go home every night. He would get up at 4:00 leave at 5:00 to be to work by 7:00 ( hour and a half drive). Then he would work most nights until 8:00 and not be home until 10:00. Even being home every night the kids hardly saw him. It was hard. He was good to spend as much time with them when he could. On Fridays I would let them stay up and wait for him to get home. We also were called to teach in primary. Fun times