I Survived Girls Camp!!!

Wow it's been a while since I last blogged, but it has been a little crazy around our house. I just got back from girls camp and my in laws are here visiting us. They are wonderful. They came to help with the kids so I could go to girls camp. THANK YOU grandma and grandpa!!!!


Camp in Texas is a little different than camp in Utah. First of all it never cools down and I felt like I was going to melt like the wicked witch on the wizard of OZ. It was like 95 degrees and 70% humidity. I'm not used to that. Then there are the bugs. Everythings bigger in Texas, including the bugs. There was no point in even attempting to put makeup on since you were constantly wiping you face from all of the sweat dripping down your face. And my hair, it would never stay strait in this kind of humidity and you can't leave it down cause it was too hot so all week I wore it up in a "sweet" bun. I actually loved not having to do my hair or makeup all week long. Well, I thought I would share a few pictures from girls camp.

Carson's last day

Today is Carson's last day of 3rd grade. He moves on to be in the oldest grade at his school, 4th grade. He starts off the next year on the safety patrol which he is so excited about. He has had a wonderful teacher who has been so loving and patient with him and I have seen alot of growth this year from him. His ticks continue to make school challenging, but he is learning to push through it and achieve his goals. He has decided to try writing a book about tourette syndrome as seen through his eyes. I'm not sure he will ever finish it, but he really wants others to be aware of it and know what its like living with it. He makes me so proud to be his mother. Here is a picture of Carson and his teacher, Mrs. Douthit. He's almost as tall as his teacher.

Graduation Day

Today Ethan graduated from kindergarten. He is so excited to be going to first grade. I can't believe how fast time is going by, before I know it he will be graduating from high school.

















This is his teacher Mrs. Shehane.











These are some of the friends he made this year.











He has changed so much this year and I'm kind of sad about some of the changes. For instance, he is now too cool to be seen holding mom's hand, he has to walk at least a few steps in front of or behind me, heaven forbid he be seen walking right next to his mom. He is so independant and wants to do everything on his own without any help. I can still get hugs and kisses from him if no one is around to witness it. I miss my little snuggler, but I'm so proud of him. He has come along way since we moved to Texas.

My new niece

Today I have a new little neice. She was born to my brother Matt and his wife Kolene this morning at about 8:30, 7lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. She has yet to recieve a name, so for now she's baby girl. I have to wait 3 more weeks before I'll get to see her and hold her for the first time, I can't wait.
Today is also the 6th anniversary of losing my Grandpa Lewis. He was an amazing man and a hard worker. I used to always look at his hands and see how rough they looked and felt. It was proof of the many hours he spend working and helping others, but somehow they we also so gentle and loving. Carson has his hands, maybe they will be just like grandpa's someday.

My boys were so young when he died, Carson 3 1/2 and Ethan 6 months, so they only met him a few times. My grandpa must have made such an impression on Carson and I will tell you why. My grandpa died of Cancer. He had been sick for a little while, but I didn't really discuss it with my kids. I guess I didn't think they were old enought to understand.

Carson climbed on my lap one day and looked at me and asked, "Mom, why does Jesus want Grandpa Lewis to come live with him?" I wasn't sure what to think of his question and didn't really worry too much about it until I recieved a phone call about an hour later from my Dad saying that they didn't think grandpa would make it throught the night. My grandparents lived about 4 hours from us, so we headed up to Idaho and I took Ethan with me and left Carson with Milan. As we were getting off the freeway, Ethan woke up and was fussing, he'd had enough of his carseat. He continued to fuss until we walked into my grandparents house and he saw my grandpa laying on a bed. His eyes lit up and he couldn't stop smiling. I know he knew what was going on.

Kids are smarter than we give them credit for.

This is the last picture taken of my grandpa. Ethan was meeting grandpa for the first and last time. I love you Grandpa and I miss you.

Awards assembly and Memorial Day

Today, both of the boys recieved different awards at school. Carson recieved the award for Citizenship... He also got picked to be on the safety patrol. Every 6 weeks they pick a new group, but he gets to be in the first group to start out the school year. He is so excited. Me, not so much, since this means we have to be to school even earlier.

and Ethan recieved an award for "Sweet as Apple Pie". Kind of sounds like a made up award, but hey it's still an award. His teacher said he always has a smile on his face and is always so kind and sweet (like apple Pie)...
We took the kids swimming on Memorial Day. It was Paytie's first time swimming. The water was a little cold, but it didn't seem to bother her at all, in fact she seemed very relaxed and happy in the pool. Later we let her crawl around on the trampoline with Carson and she loved it.

Poison Ivy and Pinworms

So I took the boys to the doctor today because we were having some itching problems. Turns out Carson and his little friend went frog hunting and found more than frogs. He found Poison Ivy. Luckily it isn't too bad and some hydrocortisone cream should clear it up.

Ethan, on the other hand, is itching for another reason. He told the doctor that he was itcy all over and that his grandma gave it to him. I had to laugh. Especially since we haven't seen grandma since Christmas time.

When we were living in UT, my mom would come over and stay at our house, usually in Ethan's room with him and she would tell him pirate stories to get him to sleep, well one night her legs were itchy so she slept without her pants on (sorry mom)and he thought that was so funny. Well some random day later he was itchy from exema and he thought he had caught it from grandma. So now when he itches, he blames grandma. Well he may be itchy all over right now, but the main reason we took him in was his bum was itchy and it was keeping him up all night, turns out he has pinworms. That's crazy, how do you get pinworms? Well I guess you can get it from someone who has them or from playing in dirt or sand that animals have been in. So the next time your at the park or on the beach, you might think twice about letting them play in the sand or dirt. It is easy to get rid of, prescription, hydrocortisone cream, and sanitize their entire room.

Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to post and other times I'm trying to squeeze a bunch of events into one post. well this is one of those long post, sorry.
Yesterday, Milan and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. It wasn't too exciting, but I did get a dozen roses. It's about the only time I ever get flowers, but at least it makes it special when I do get them. I can't believe how fast the years have gone by. It has definately been a crazy ride. I love you Mi.

Of coarse with Payton changing so much right now, I almost always have new pictures of her. This is her cheesy smile and the other one is how I found her today after her nap, standing in her crib. This is the first time she's done that.

I put her on the grass to see if she would like it and this is the reaction that I got from her.

My boys are probably going to disown me for putting these pictures on here, but I though they were so funny. They are always being so crazy and silly. I was unpacking a box the other day and found my old hair clip, the boys thought they were so cool til the camera came out.

Last weekend my brother and his wife came down from Gainsville to visit. Its always great having company over and we love it when they come. Aaron tried tohelp Milan get the 4-wheelers going, they were able to get one going but not the other. I think Milan's going to have to get some professional help with it. Here are some pictures of the 2 of them trying to get them running.