Out with the Old; In with the New

It's that time.  After about 4 years on this blog, we're about full, so we've moved on ....

http://theormeclan2011.blogspot.com/

What Can I Say ...

Spring Break + Strep + 3 Kids with Strep + 1 Kid with an Ear Infection + Hubby Working in Laredo + A Birthday =

1 Tired Momma

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!!

Wow ... 7 years old!!!! It's hard to believe Taylor is getting so big. After waiting around all day, it was finally time to open presents and have "cake."

We've started getting the kids a birthday outfits Taylor likes "comfy" clothes (i.e. scroungy T-shirts and cotton shorts), so I was worried she'd reject the outfit. Of course the necklace that came with the shirt was lost by the end of the day, but the jeggings were a hit ... she HATES jeans!

The first thing she grabbed ... the card our bishop sent her. She was most excited about that. She thought it was awesome that he sent her something. Next came a card from Nana and Papa, and the "dollar" they gave her. She was extremely thrilled to get that "dollar."

She got a cute card and money from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson as well ... and couldn't wait long enough for me to snap the picture.

Finally, she got to the cards from the Browns. They sent her some silly cards (we love doing that to each other). This one had instructions about putting your tongue on this dot (and then later implied how absolutely unsanitary the dot was).

She read the entire card and then debated ... finally she gave in and did it. That's my Taylor; I knew she couldn't resist!

Then came the presents!! She is one easy girl to shop for. She is very passionate about things, and you definitely know what she likes, and doesn't like. When we go to our friends' house to visit, she latches on to 2 things, so I knew she would love them. The first is ...

Wii Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Can you see the excitement?!? She was thrilled. When she can't play it, she's content to read every last word in the instruction manual ... yeah, she LOVES this game.

The other things she LOVES at their house is ...

Beyblades. She kinda felt ashamed at wanting "boy" toys, but I told her they're for anyone, and, if you like it, who cares. She was soooooo excited to finally get Beyblades and immediately looked to Shelby to share her excitement.

I always like to give my kids books, but Taylor doesn't like to read as much. This was about animals ... perfect ... and had some silly things in it ... again, perfect. Hopefully she'll enjoy it because she usually is a non-fiction reader.

Of course, we couldn't just get her Beyblades; every Beyblade battle needs a stadium. She carries this stadium around everywhere she goes at our friends' house; it rarely leaves her side, so she was ecstatic to have her own.

Finally, she is a creative little girl, so she got this bucket of things to create with. Again, she was too impatient to wait for me to snap the picture ... so this is what she gets. Haha!

She requested brownies made by Shelby because Shelby apparently knows how to make them perfectly - with chocolate and peanut butter chips added.

While Dad hurriedly assembled the Beyblades, we got the brownies ready. After putting on the 7 and the candles, Taylor went to show my mom how it looked. My mom quickly glanced over, moving just her eyes, and said it looked good. Taylor replied, "Nana, you're just like Dad. You say it looks good, but you don't even look!" I almost cried I was laughing so hard. That's our Taylor. She cracks us up ... a lot!

Then it was time for a few more photos. I kept trying to get a good photo of her, and it just wasn't happening, so she decided to be silly. I love it!

With the candles lit, we hurried to sing "Happy Birthday" because Declan kept trying to blow out the candles. How do you explain to a 2 year old that it's not your birthday?

As you can see in the side of the picture, it's hard to explain to a 4 year old as well that it's not your turn. Haha! Of course, then we cut the brownies and everyone immediately called dibs on the piece they wanted. It was definitely a delicious end to a good day.

Happy Birthday Taylor!! We love you and love your unique ... and usually funny ... way of seeing the world. You are an independent, strong-willed, creative, imaginative, and intelligent girl, and we are glad to have you in our family!!!

Birthday Adventures

For birthdays, we like to go to a movie, go out to eat, and go on an adventure. Last Saturday we went to see Rango, so that we would have enough time today for Taylor's adventure and restaurant ... Space Center Houston (i.e. NASA) followed by Red Robin.

We got the tickets 1/2 off ... sweet ... but I knew that awesome deal would bring the crowds along with the fact that it's also spring break. We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and left the house around 8:30 and got to NASA about 15 minutes before opening. We were not the only ones, so we quickly jumped into line and waited.

Our kids LOVE looking at the maps to places we go, so they quickly fought over the map and then started avidly looking it over.

Finally it was time. Right when we got in, we saw the Kids' Space Place ... a cool HUGE playground area. We headed there first in hopes to avoid the crowd that I knew would be there later. The girls headed up together to explore and slide down the slides, making friends along the way. Meanwhile I headed into the ball pit with Declan.

He loved sitting there and shoving the balls into the holes and pushing to button. We found out later through Shelby that the balls would shoot up the tubes and land in a room up high in the playground where the big kids could then shoot the balls back down into the ball area. After playing for a bit, we decided to find the next thing to do. Again, in hopes of beating the crowds we headed to the tram tours. We picked the one that went to Mission Control and Rocket Park. The cool thing is that we got to go see the actual Mission Control. In fact, a few weeks ago it was in use as they oversaw the last mission of Discovery.

As we looked, the tour guide pointed out the mission badges on the left wall, showing every completed mission made by NASA. In front, we saw cameras and monitors, showing what the crew was doing on the International Space Station (sleeping), monitoring the shuttle Endeavor on the launch pad in Florida, mapping the exact location of the International Space Station, and other things. We could also see all the seating areas of the different personnel ... Flight Director, Capcom (Capsule Communicator), Flight Activities Officer (FAO), and so forth.

On the right wall, rests the badge of the current mission(s) as well as 4 badges for missions that will never be completed ... the Challenger, Columbia, and 2 others.

Next we headed back onto the tram to ride over to Rocket Park. I snapped a shot of Tom and the girls sitting in front of me, and Declan got a bit jealous and told me, "Me. Declan turn." Cute boy, so he got his turn getting his picture taken as well.

As we drove through complex, we drove by this flag pole. Apparently it sits directly in the middle of the NASA complex. They fly the flag as long as they have an astronaut in outer space. I loved learning about their traditions as well as seeing the pride and honor they have in what they do. It was very touching.

After reaching Rocket Park, we were dropped off and left to fend for ourselves. We headed to the 2 outside rockets first. First we checked out Little Joe II, which was from the '60s and never flown.

Then we checked out the Mercury-Redstone, which is a rocket similar to the one the flew the first men into space. Next to this rocket was an F-1 engine.

While the tram ride had been cloudy, breezy, and cool, the sun started warming things up, and we were eager to get out of the sun as well as see the big space ship inside the hangar, the Saturn V. Apparently, the government was in the process of making a fleet of these, but then some political something or other happened and funding was cut. This space ship was only 95% complete.

Now when I said big, what I really meant was GINORMOUS. We started at the tail end and worked our way up. Here are the five F-1 engines that were used to power the first stage of flight.

It's hard to fathom the blast that would have come out of those HUGE engines. This section of the rocket was hard to get a full picture of, but I guess the crazy thing is that this section was only to power the first stage of flight and would eventually fall off the rocket once the fuel was used up.

Declan was extremely interested in the rocket, and he would not accept any other substitute for that word ... not space ship, only rocket.

Then we moved on to the next section, whose only purpose, again, was to propel the space ship into outer space. It was powered by the smaller J-2 engines and would eventually fall back to earth.

Then we came to the 3rd section, which again was just to power the space ship; I'm guessing the rocket would have passed through our atmosphere because there was just one tiny little engine on this section.

Here was yet another section whose purpose I don't remember, but still we hadn't made it to the section which held the astronauts.

Taylor was very anti-picture taking today, so I held her down, so Tom could get a quick shot of us.

Finally, we made it to the tip where we found the Apollo spacecraft. Taylor was blown away when I told her that the astronauts got to stay in just that teeny tiny little cone. It was TINY.

It was amazing to see this. It's amazing to think of what we can do, what we can accomplish.

Finally it was time to head back to Space Center Houston. At least time around we got to sit together. Again, Taylor tried her best to get out of the picture.

As we drove off, the tour guide mentioned this field of longhorns ... yeah, it was kind of weird since were in the middle of NASA. Apparently, a school district donated the land, and so they are allowed to keep their students' competition animals here. The brown and white longhorn is a two time champion of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and worth about $500K. It was also a good shot of the many NASA buildings.

We crossed a creek on our way, and I got a picture of this neat looking bird ... can you find him?

As we pulled up, the tram lines were PACKED. We had definitely come at the perfect time. We walked in and there were people everywhere. We grabbed a few souvenirs ... patches of 4 different mission badges ... and then headed to the water exhibit. We went to the interactive station that showed how water goes from outside to a water treatment plant to our homes back to a water treatment plant and back outside again. The kids got to pump water to each section and thoroughly enjoyed doing that.

We went to another station that had us answer questions about our water usage. After each question, the appropriate amount of water would be pumped into a clear tube in front of us, so we could actually see how much water we use each day. We then made it to the front of the water exhibit. At this point, between the crowds and our rumbling tummies, we decided it was time to go.

We got stamped on the way out, and the stamp lady decided to make Declan's day by giving him a million stars on his arm ... he loved it.

When then headed over to Red Robin. Taylor was dying to get her free ice cream. I told her she had to eat lunch first. When the servers finally started singing to her, she just froze. She didn't smile, but rather looked like she didn't want to be the center of attention. Of course after they finished and walked off, she suddenly burst into a huge grin and said thank you. It was too cute. It is hard to have an entire restaurant looking at you, but she did love it.

After we all enjoyed Taylor's ice cream, we headed home for naps. We had a fun time on our adventure.

And We Picked ...

Laredo.

I've been hearing siblings ask (or ask my parents) where Tom will be working, and I realize I've never let y'all know. Sorry. I often find I have no motivation whatsoever ... let's just say it's been a long 7 1/2 years. The end feels closer, but without us being settled, independent, and stable, I still feel the weight of our life weighing down on me. Anyway, without motivation, writing, which is one of my least favorite things to do, definitely has no hope of happening.

As we looked at things, we just really felt that the benefits of the Laredo job were too good to pass up and would help us keep in track with our financial goals. San Antonio would have been wonderful for many reasons, but we'd have to get a car, pay for malpractice insurance, and find lodging for Tom ... okay so he'd have lodging because our friends the Chappells would definitely take him in, but we didn't want to be a burden on them because we feel bad about having to lean on so many people over the years.

In the end, Laredo was where we felt was the right place for us, so starting December 6, Tom will be working in Laredo until June. The timing of the job is actually perfect because on May 23 Tom will have been out of dental school for 2 years, so banks will more freely lend him $ and on June 2 the kids will be done with school. We're definitely looking forward to June. Now we just have to buckle down and make it to then. It won't be fun, but we know we can do this!!!

Ward Trunk or Treat

Well, this year Halloween was on Sunday, so we weren't going to go trick-or-treating. The kids also wouldn't be able to wear costumes to school. All they would have was the ward Trunk or Treat. Plus, I wanted to keep their costumes simple and reusable this year.

I went to Walmart one day and found skeleton pj's in Declan's size ... perfect ... pj's and costume all in one AND they glow in the dark. Love it!! So did Declan, the first night I let him wear them, he stayed up til 10:30 looking at them glow.

At that point I decided costumes that could double as pj's would be perfect. I went looking at different places, and in the end Walmart had it all. Payden found a shirt that said Scaredy Cat, so she was a scaredy cat for halloween. With a boa tail, boa ears, and make-up whiskers, her costume was complete. Like Declan's her costume glowed in the dark, so she was excited!

Shelby and Taylor's shirts were much harder to find. Apparently, I Love Vampires is what all girls need to wear at their age, but there was no way I was going to even go down that road right now ... they're only 6 and 8. Swooning over Twilight can wait til later. Finally I found these pumpkin shirts. Taylor's glowed in the dark, so she was perfectly fine with that. Shelby's was glittery; I'm sure she would have preferred glow in the dark, but I couldn't find anything else, but she liked glittery, too. With ponytails sticking up on their heads, curled ribbon for vines, and Dad's shirts stuffed up their shirts for plumpness they were set.

They sure did look cute, and it was all easy to do.


They had a blast at the trunk or treat although I think Taylor about died a million times as we had to go do games at the carnival before we could do the trunk or treat. After explaining a million times that we couldn't trunk or treat yet because everyone was inside at the carnival, I was tempted to go take her trunk or treating to the empty cars ... but I didn't.

We did a cake walk, decorated a foam Halloween house, and participated in a costume contest. They had to say their names and what they were ... Payden was too dang cute as she coyly state, "I'm Payden, and I'm a scaredy cat."

With the carnival done, we headed out to trunk or treat. Taylor and Shelby ended up doing a lot on their own as Tom was with Payden and I lagged behind with Declan. It's crazy to see them getting so big.



We came home with TONS of candy. Fortunately, by Sunday we sorted out the good from the bad, so we placed the "bad" candy in a bowl on the front porch and left a note for kids to "Take 1." Hahaha ... I bet no one took 1, but I didn't care. I was just glad that the candy we didn't want was gone. It worked out nicely. We did have a good Halloween, especially as Dad was able to come and be with us. Now to start thinking about the family-themed costumes for next year ... I can't wait!

Success Assemblies for the 1st 9 Weeks

The first 9 weeks has come and gone. It's hard to believe we've finished 1/4 of the school year. They had Success Assemblies to celebrate the kids' achievements for the first 9 weeks.

Shelby's assembly was in the morning. She got All A Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, and the Citizenship Award for her class. She was 1 of 2 students picked in her class for the Citizenship Award.


Taylor's assembly was later that afternoon. Unfortunately, the 1st graders don't get letter grades this 9 weeks, only E's, S's, and U's. If they had given letter grades, Taylor would have gotten All A Honor Roll, so in my mind she got it!! She did get Perfect Attendance.


The girls both had a wonderful first 9 weeks. They've done their homework, studied for tests, chosen to follow the rules, and have done an AWESOME job!!!! Way to go, Shelby and Taylor!!!!!

Homemade Halloween Decorations

I really do wonder what I'd do without the Internet. For most holidays, I google holiday coloring pages and crafts. This year I let the kids pick what they wanted to color, I printed them out, they colored, and voila ...



instant holiday decorations AND ... this is the best part ... something for us to do over a few afternoons and something for the kids to enjoy. Love it!!