So this is were one of the partners had to carry a cow tongue while wheel barreling the other down a slip and slide covered in maple syrup. Then they were supposed to bounce on the ball and slide down the blow up slide landing in a thing of pork and beans. They had a lot more games. Too many to write. I had to lead a group of 5th and 6th grade girls for girl talk one evening. It rained almost all day Saturday. She had such a great time.

Then they had to partner up and lay on the ground head to head. They then had to spoon pudding in each others mouth. None got into their mouths.

We Survived Camp!!!

So Victoria was on the yellow or gold team. They came in third for their round of messy games. They had to pass cow intestines over their heads then under the next person. Gross! Lots of screaming.

Getting Old Stinks!

So Victoria's cheer coach has suggested that they exercise at home by jogging to get their endurance up. I told her to ask her dad. They started running, but with Brent's surgery haven't been able to. I got this bright idea that I would start with doing it with her, at night of course so no one could see how stupid I looked gasping for air. So she talked the entire time, did cartwheels next to me on the sidewalk, and even in some cases ran backwards looking at me and making sure I was OK. Which I wasn't. She ever so graciously kept reassuring me that it would be fine if I need to rest, which I did on numerous occasions. What happened? What started out as a good idea ended up being very depressing and quite annoying:)
Brent is doing better. He got his stitches out on Friday and is gradually able to get back to his routine, which he did by working all day Friday.
Zach's hands and feet are still dry. The doctor said it was from his shoes, although I don't know how that happens to your hands.
They hired a lady to help with the front office at cheer. It has helped a lot. Still so much to get done and not enough time to do it. Victoria and I head off to Prescott for camp this weekend. It should be lots of fun. Look for pictures.

What a crazy couple of weeks. Brent was in the hospital this weekend. He had an emergency appendectomy. He started throwing up again and we decided to take him to the ER. His appendix didn't rupture, but it was infected. We hope that this takes care of it. We won't know for a couple of more weeks. Victoria is doing good, however we have had problems with her braces every week since she has gotten them on. Mainly that the wire keeps coming out. Last week I got so sick of going back I got needle nose pliers and stuck it back in myself, but it came out again this weekend. They are having a patriot assembly tomorrow and she has to tell why she is proud to be an American. She says because we treat everybody as equals, of course I'm thinking that the statement is up for debate. As for Zach I just got off the phone with is pediatrician and we are going in at 11am today to take a look at his skin on his hands and feet. The last week or two they have been dry and now they are cracking and bleeding.

Finally Braces

With much anticipation leading up to this day, Victoria is figuring out it's a lot to get used to. Not only did they put the braces on they told her that she needs to wiggle her last two baby teeth out or they will be pulling them. They also put clement mounds( that the only way I can describe them) on her lower back teeth so that her bite will change. The only problem with that is that she can't close her mouth all of the way, and since they are the teeth that you chew with it has made it interesting to eat. The up side it that she only has to have the cement on for the first twelve weeks, and if all goes well with these new type of braces she could have them off in as little as a year. We will see.

Two More Days

Two more days until Victoria gets her braces. I can't wait just so I don't have to hear the countdown until she gets them on. I don't think that she knows all of the after affects of them. Maybe then she wouldn't be so happy. She is doing really well in school this year. She is really applying herself. She had a science test last week and got 105. 100 for the test and 5 for her studying tools, which I made. So I guess I received the 5. We always joke with her on what our grade is.
She had 7 hours of choreography last week and the team already looks good. They flew a coach in from Texas to teach the routine. We are all really excited for this year. She is being thrown in the air a lot, which makes me a little on the nervous side. I hope the girls catch her. I think I liked it better when she was the one catching.
I also started this week working at the gym while she is there. They are losing their receptionist and I've had experience. It will help with the cost of her ever increasing fee there.
Brent's dad, Elgen, had a pacemaker put in today. I guess everything went well. We will go to the hospital tonight to see him.
No new pictures this time, but check back after Thursday to see the new mouth bling.

He had his own gift unwrapper (his sister). So all he had to do is play. He never got overwhelmed or crabby.

He really enjoyed the cake and knew exactly what to do with it.

Zach's 1st Birthday

I can't believe that our little baby is a year old. Gosh this year has really flown by. Our pool party turned out to be a bust. Next time we'll have to remember to have it earlier in the day so the Monsoon rains don't ruin it.

Victoria's First Day of Fifth Grade

Victoria started fifth grade. She was so excited to start school, so she didn't have to take care of Zach anymore. Poor Zach:( Interestingly enough she could wait to see him after she got home. Everyone liked her hair. She has a new teacher this year and, "She is soooo nice!" After one day I don't think they would be mean.
Brent had another episode with his hernia. He was sick for 3 1/2 days this time. I guess they are giving him some medicine to try for a couple of weeks. If it doesn't work he will have to go to a specialist.
Zach is sick with a cold. Hopefully he will be better for his birthday.
As far as I go I'm just trying to remember how to get back into the groove of the school/homework/cheer schedule.

It's hard to believe that in a little over a week Victoria will be starting back to school. Zach is going to be sooo upset. He just loves his sister. Victoria was also placed on two cheer teams. She is an alternate on the Junior level 5 team and will possibly be put permanently on it soon. She is also on a Senior level 4 team which she gets to fly on so she is in heaven. We will see how it works out.
Zach finally got another tooth in so he's up to three, but that's not stopping him from eating everything(and I do mean everything). He is off the bottle and is drinking milk. He really doesn't care for the milk though. The kids are in the pool everyday. I don't know what we did with out one. If Zach sees that someone went outside without him he gets so upset. He automatically thinks that someone is swimming without him.

Finally a haircut

After months of waiting for Victoria's gym to do the Locks of Love donation and still no date set to do it, we finally decided to do it on our own. We went with picture in hand and ten inches measured. This is the final result. It will require some styling which she isn't used to. We used a flat iron last night which gives it a different look than this picture. She is still trying to get used to it, but we think it is soooo much better. Hopefully it will grow long enough for competition season.

Well Victoria made it through VBS. She really enjoyed it, but glad for it to be over. "The four year olds are a little crazy," she said. Victoria goes back to school in one month from today. Yeah:)
Zach is standing up on his own without the help of a table or chair to pull up on. He thinks he is just too cool now.
Brent received some of his test results back and he has a Hiatel Hernia in his stomach. They hope to help him with some medication. They just need to find out how big it is. If it's too big they might have to do surgery. I think that would be better anyway. Then he doesn't have to worry about taking the medicine everyday.

So Victoria is on her second day of VBS. The first day they put Morgan (who is 11 almost 12), and Victoria in charge of their own group of preschoolers. Ten to be exact. They lost two of them. Can't say I blame the girls. Unfortunately they are 30-40 adults short. They were finally assigned a adult. Today ran a lot smoother. I finally made it back to the gym only to have Zach suffer from separation anxiety. So they had to hold him the whole time I was there. I only made it about 45 mins. Too much guilt and some tiredness:) I'll try again tomorrow. Brent is on his way back into town from Tampa. Still haven't heard from the doctor regarding his tests.

Our Kids Are Growing Up So Fast

So life is going by so fast. The other day Zach was taking a nap and when he woke up I heard him talking like usual. No big deal, but then he started to cry. Not hysterical cry just like a cry to come and get me. So off I went to get him. When I opened the door there he was sitting on the floor next to his dresser. He must have leaned over his crib and fell out. Needless to say Brent lowered the crib mattress right away.

Yesterday our teenage daughter, our 10 year old going on 16, Victoria came in to me with her leg bleeding. Immediately I could see that there was no hair around that area on her leg. So I asked if she shaved it with a razor. "NO", she replied. After a little more prodding and telling her that I did the same thing she finally confessed. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I at least wait until I was in 6th grade.