Brittyn

Our baby is growing up!! Brittyn has felt abandoned here as all of his siblings are at school all day now!! So we fill our time with errands, Tuesday playgroup, and library visits! He's our crazy, out-of -control child, and we aren't afraid to admit it. But the other day he did mention to me, on our walk to the busstop to pick up brothers, that he was a good listener. Can you tell what we have been working on with him lately? He can "Kung-fo Panda" better than anyone, which we have now banned. He kung-fooed a boy at church who is 7. The boy ran away crying and wouldn't come back for Brittyn to apolgize. Not to mention the many times he wrestles Torbyn and wins! We signed him up for spring soccer. This should be interesting. Rule #1-only kick the ball Rule #2- no tackling.

Torbyn

Torbyn is the only child in Kindergarten that can go to school with 2 different shoes on and not care about getting teased! He's also informed Jeff as he got the clippers out that he was growing his hair out!

Our little boy had a rough go in MD at first. He came home from school one day with a very sad face. Without saying a word, he got all his papers out and one of them was a book he composed called, The Sad Book. It was truly sad! He said how he missed Idaho especially his friend Emily. And he was really sad. The next page was our family with smiles next to our Idaho house saying, I miss Idaho! The last page was illustrated wtih our family driving back to Idaho in our van and he is all smiles. When we read this Jeff and I felt bad! Jeff talked with him and had him compose a happy book which consisted mostly of Torbyn playing football with dad.

A few days ago at the dinner table he annouced that when he grows up he wants to be a Kindergarten Teacher! Jeff and I looked at each other with relief.

A night at Union Station in DC

January 30, 2009 was a night to remember! A black tie affair in DC. It started off a little rough as we got stuck in the never ending DC traffic. We'll remember and suggest to anyone, when going into DC by car, always plan for almost double the time! The GPS doesn't account for that. By the time we arrived everyone was just sitting down to a very gourmet dinner! The event? The 2nd annual national school counselor recognition night. Jeff's company was a sponser and at the last minute they had an extra ticket! Which meant I also got to go. You all know I only go to these things for the food, which was absolutely amazing! Apparently, the chef also catered the Inauguration luncheon. Only the best in DC!! We got a wonderful meal and educated on the process of what it takes to be nominated as the best school counselor in the nation. What a night. Oh, we did get home a lot quicker.

Jadyn

Jadyn was one of 11 finalists for the school's Geography Bee!

In early Feb, 2009, he came home to announce that he auditioned for the school district honor chorus and made it. Apparently, only 4 kids from his school were chosen!! They practice at school and perform in May at an all school district concert. We are soo proud!! He is also preparing for the spring school talent show. He's learning, Five for Fightings', "100 years".

He's already looking forward to Middle School next year and playing baseball this spring.

Morgyn

Morgyn is our emerging dance star! She and a friend choreographed and taught 7 other girls a dance for a church talent show! She loved every minute of it! She wishes for a cell phone, new ipod and new clothes, ie., Aeropostal, Hollister, Abercrombie, to name a few. Little does she yet know the shopping possibilities here. Shh, it's our little secret. It's only a matter of time however, sigh, since moving to MD she has officially grown to 5'3"! What happened to our little Morgy and who is this in her place? Teenager. Now I know why people hit mid-life crisis'!

Snowdays in MD!

This is for you Elena!! Her faithful prompt to update my blog has been my guilty conscience for at least a month now:)

My kids aren't even in sports yet and I still get behind, how is that possible? Where to begin? Oh yes, the title, the lovely

state of MD, or at least our Frederick County, doesn't handle snow very well. The kids, already have had 4 days of school closure and a couple late starts and early releases due to minimal amounts of snow. In their defense, the snow does sometimes turn to freezing rain which can be a bad combo for motorists and kids walking to school. So they err on the side of caution which might have us going to school even later than June 17, 2009. And don't even ask the kids how they feel about the last day of school in the middle of June. Notice the kids making snow angels in the grass, ha ha. They humored me. But a couple weeks later they really did get a day of fun to play in a few inches of white stuff. Britty was even out playing for who knows how long without one boot. Finally Jeff noticed, I had to run an errand, but it didn't stop him for long. A cup of hot cocoa and warming his foot in a bath was all he needed. Then back outside with all the kids. You would never know he was only 3. It wasn't good for building a snow man but great for sliding in our neighborhood. They had so much fun right here in our own backyard that later that evening they went out to enjoy one last round of sleding!!