Political Aspirations

Devin ran for 7th grade office this week. They do it differently then I remember. Each school picks one representive from the 6th grade to be a 7th grade officer at Syracuse Jr. Devin had talked about maybe running at the beginning of the year. But, I didn't hear anything else about it until a few weeks before, and then the permission slip came home with a poster due back the next day! The candidates had to give a 60 second speech in front of the entire 6th grade and then the students voted. The top four went on to be interviewed by the 6th grade teachers, and then they chose the winner. Devin came up with a funny and very original poster idea, and I helped him come up with the slogan. Then he decided to do a speech that was a little bit Nacho Libre and a little bit Devin. He was so nervous about the speech. I don't think I've ever seen him so nervous about anything! But, I was proud of him because he didn't quit,(which he might have done a few years ago)he sucked it up and did the best he could. He was terrified that no one would laugh and he'd be shunned for the rest of his life. :) While I was waiting for him after school a friend, and fellow candidate, ran up and told me that Devin had made the top four. I was so thrilled!! When Devin got in the car I gave him a high five and told him congrats. He said the speech went well and "some people laughed". The interviews were held the following day. It was a long day for me, waiting until 1:15 when I went to pick him up to find out what happened. It turned out he didn't win. But, he said he felt really good about the interview and was glad he had tried. We are so pround of Devin. He faced a fear and did awesome!

Noah is 4!!!

Okay, so I'm a lame mom!! It has taken me this long to post about Noah's birthday, which was January 23!! But, in my defense....okay, don't have one.
Anyway, Noah is now 4 and he is so much fun. He LOVES Lightning McQueen, Batman, and super heros in general. He is at that great age when everything is either so exciting and wonderful, or terrible, horrible, and no good. :) These days he has more good times then bad, which makes life much easier for me. His favorite thing to do is play with his friends Ethan and Carter and to watch Power Rangers movies.
I love the way he says "A few last weeks ago I...." and how he tells Drue she can go on the potty, yet he refuses to. And don't think we haven't bribed him. He just doesn't care! We love his chocolate pudding eyes and his toothless grin. He is a joy! Happy Birthday Noah! We love you!!

Happy 16 years on the 16th!

Happy Anniversary to us!! Sixteen years ago today on a frigid, sunny morning Mark and I were married in the Bountiful Temple. These days we wonder what the heck we were thinking getting married in December, but then we remember that I was in school and it was Winter break. Still. December!!! But, we actually started dating in December, five years before we got married, so it makes December super special! :)

To celebrate we're going to see Eclipse's Christmas concert tomorrow night, and tonight we had Little Caesars Pizza and forced the kids to watch our wedding video. :) Actually, they liked it. It brought back lots of great feelings and memories. It is amazing to think that there was actually a time when we didn't have five kiddos making life fun, crazy, and hectic.

I am so thankful that Mark and I made it through high school, missions, college, and that we're together to make it through kids and all that has come and is yet to come!! Mark is such an amazing husband and father. He takes me out every Friday, he spends time with our kids and takes a genuine interest in each of them and what they think and need. He works so hard and is so good at what he does, I hope someday he is recognized and rewarded for it. He is one of the kindest, most loyal and honest people I know. I feel so very blessed to have him in my life.
Happy 16 to us!!!

Happy 6 on the 6th!!

Ty is 6 years old today!! Ty is our little smarty pants, in more ways then one! :) He is reading like a pro already and he has a quick little wit that sometimes gets him in trouble. He is enjoying Chinese Immersion Kindergarten and can be heard singing Chinese songs throughout the day....so cute-and amazing!

Ty loves Spiderman and helped design his cake this year. :) He also loves playing with his friends. He is a very good friend, and a good brother. He manages being stuck between two really BIG boys and a little brother and sister pretty well, although sometimes you just have to stick up for numero uno!

Just a few weeks ago Ty learned Santa's secret. He told his Grandma Keime that he saw his mom and dad reading scriptures one night and it just came to him. (!!!) :)We are so glad Ty is a part of our family! Love you buddy!

Our Drue is Two!

I really can't believe Drue is two years old! She has brought so much fun and "girly" into our home. But, no worries, she holds her own with the big brothers!! :)She started off the day with a princess crown and yogurt. What could be better?
She is a smarty pants and can name nearly every color. She connects the colors to people in our family, blue is Devin, Green is Sam and Ty, and when she sees pink or purple she says, "My pink, my purple". Too cute. She talks like crazy and is *almost* potty trained.

Today I took her to Wal-mart to get some candles for her cake. I saw her smiling at someone behind me, but didn't turn around. Then I heard a voice say, "She is so cute!", it was the grandpa she had been smiling at. She's a friendly gal!
We love our curly haired girl and are so happy she is part of our family. Can't imagine life without our Drubie-doo! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Sam!!

Our Sam turned 10 years old today! In a way it's hard to believe, but at the same time it seems like he's been 10 for a while. There are many things I love about Sam, and one of them is the reaction he has when he opens presents. He has been wanting a DSi, but we decided he has enough "screen" time so we opted for his 2nd choice, a new scooter. He goes to school early every morning to ride his scooter at the skate park with his friends. He was disappointed when we told him he couldn't have a DSi, but you would never have known the scooter wasn't his first choice after he opened it! He pumped his fists in the air and said, "No way!! A new scooter! Yes!!" He had a similar reaction when he opened his Michael Jackson Experience Wii game.

You can always count on Sam to show his emotions, good and bad. :) He is such a joy to be around. He and Devin are close in age, but so different. When Sam's teacher said they had a science fair coming up and that it was optional, Sam only heard "science fair" and got to work at once. When he was done putting together his board he insisted on practicing his presentation for me. Wow!

Every year on his birthday Sam changes his favorite color, but this year he decided to keep his favorite color green. He said that green "explains who he is because he likes science, nature, and living things". :) We couldn't find a green scooter, so we got some duct tape and let him make his own design. He seemed to enjoy it.

Happy Birthday, Sam!! We love you!!!!

CHS Class of 1991

Last weekend was my 20 year high school reunion. Twenty years. Just the sound of that is wrong. I clearly remember attending my 10 year, 7 months pregnant with Sam, saying "I wonder what things will be like at our 20th reunion. How many kids will we have, what will we be doing?" And here we are twenty years since I graduated.

I was asked to head up the Facebook side of the reunion, which was fun. I just set up a page about the reunion and tried to get in contact with as many people from our class as possible. It's amazing how hard it can be to find people after two decades. I felt bad that some people didn't know about it, but we tried.


On Friday night we had a casual get together at the bowery in front of Clearfield Aquatic Center. There were about sixty people there, and it was really fun to walk around and get reacquainted with people. The best part was seeing two great friends, James Casper, and J. Bates who now live in other states.Having James, Dana, J. and I together brought back lots of memories. We had some good times in high school.

On Saturday night we had dinner at Maddox in Perry. There were about 150 people there. The food was awesome, and again, it was so great to see so many people we hadn't seen in years. Mark and I met in high school, so we had a lot of the same friends, which makes reunions nice for both of us. There were five cheerleaders from our class there...we were missing three. None of us really look much like we did...no big, curly hair...:)

Our Senior Class Pres. decided she had had enough of planning class reunions-who can blame her-so she asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to plan our 30 year. After silence, she asked if anyone would like to nominate someone. My best friend Dana looked across the table at me and I could see it coming. I said, "Fine, but we're in this together." So, guess who's in charge for 2021???? Seriously?? Please tell me the next 10 years aren't going to go as fast as the last ten years! Devin will be home from a mission, Sam will be on a mission, Ty will nearly be driving and dating, Noah will be 13, and Drue will be 11!!! Not to mention I will be nearly 50! Wo. Now THAT is crazy to think about.