Catch up...a year in review

Wow.
Wow.
I knew I was a slacker but wow!
So...where to start?  So much has happened in the last year.  Allot of good things and allot of bad things. 
My last post was Chesney and Jaycie going to preschool...

We got a cute little niece to join our family.  Coriena Joy Brandol!

Chesney turned 5!

Well, I guess next comes Halloween!

It was great as usual.  Laine was a zombie.  He even made a torn shirt with homemade blood all over it.  Kaylee was a devil. And a beautiful one at that.  Chesney was a princess with a light up dress and flashing crown.  Jaycie was a kitty cat!  This year was an odd one because Halloween fell on a Sunday.  So the kids had a chance to Trick-or-Treat twice!  Can you just say candy overkill!

Next came Christmas!

Of course we all love Christmas!  I will spare you the pics because I just can't find a quick easy tie it all together picture to share.  But I promise I will get on top of things and pull it all together for this year.

Jaycie turned 4!

Then we will jump ahead to Easter.

Oh the kids had a blast with Easter.  Chesney and Jaycie got to go on a egg hunt at home.  Then off to Grandma Wendy's for more Easter fun.  Chesney and Jaycie got to go on another egg hunt with their cousins while Laine and Kaylee where CSI's and had to find out what happened to the Easter Bunny!  Turned out it was a series of unfortunate coincidences that Chicken Little created that led to the Easter Bunny's accident. (really cute)  Then over to Grandpa Tom's for more Easter fun with a great scavenger hunt to find their loot!  It was almost like Christmas again!  Almost!

Then in May we had another cute little niece join our family!  Macy Anne Russell

Before we knew it the school year was over and Jaycie graduated from 3 year old preschool to 4 year old preschool.  And Chesney graduated preschool all together!

She was so excited to be done with preschool and go off to kindergarten.  All except for getting her kindergarten shots.  She told everyone that she hated them!

June came and we had our newest upset.  Laine decided he wanted to spend his time exclusively with his dad so unfortunately we don't see him anymore.  I am hoping he will change his mind and come back sometime.  Kaylee decided that she needed to move out and be with her dad and brother so we get to see her every other weekend sometimes.  So our newest family picture doesn't include Laine but he is there in spirit.

On a good note...Also in June we found out that we are adding the last addition to our family!  A little baby due Feb. 13th  2012!

That catches us up to school starting again!
Jaycie started her last year of preschool.

And Chesney started kindergarten as a "big kid."

I can proudly say that both are doing great!  And loving every minute of school.

Soon after that we found out that our tiny mystery package is going to be another Girl!  Riley Simmons is still on schedule to join us around Feb. 13th.  We are still working on a middle name.

So that is it up till October 2011.  I will make separate posts for what has happened so far in October.  And I promise to be more on top of things. (I hope)

School Days

This year I am in for a roller coaster ride, as far as school is concerned anyway. Tom has been accepted into the masters program at the University of Utah. (go Utes!) It is a two year program and will be in school on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Very proud! Very proud!

Laine is in 8th grade and is doing well.

Kaylee is in 7th grade. First year of middle school! Laine is old hat when it comes to Middle school since he is a big 8th grader now. Hehehe. For Kaylee it meant new school and new experiences. We spent 2 days at the school getting used to the surroundings and finding her classes. She is very excited! And a bonus, she gets to ride the bus!

Chesney and Jaycie started preschool this year as well. Can you say excitement overload! Chesney goes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Jaycie goes on Tuesday and Thursday.

Here are some pictures of Chesney and Jaycie's first day of school. Kaylee is to cool for first day of school pictures and Tom, well he is just Tom.

The newest member to our clan

We were lucky enough to add a new addition to our family. Introducing Nike! She is a little dachshund. She is 3 years old and came to us fully trained! She is a perfect addition! She loves the kids and plays with them all constantly! She had taken to Kaylee the most. She sleeps with her, unless Kaylee is gone then she is with me. She loves to play ball and soccer! Squeaky toys don't last long with her (about an hour) but it sure is entertaining watching her play with them. Everyone (including Tom) loves having her around.

I absolutely love it when she begs. We call her our little groundhog.

The first break for Chesney

We can now say that Chesney has broken a bone. On Father's day we were at Tom's Dad's house when Chesney, just being a typical kid, was running for the swing set and tripped falling on her hands and knees. Well, just this little, normal, happens on a daily basis, thing was enough to give Chesney a "buckled" broken bone in her arm right above her wrist.

When she first fell she was really hurt but could move everything just fine. We just thought she sprained her wrist or something. After a few minutes it started to swell so we put ice on it and she cuddled with Grandma and Grandpa. About an hour later she was back to playing.

After playing for about 30 minutes or so I was sitting on the floor and she comes up to me and says, "Mom, I need to talk to you." I told her she could talk to me and had her sit on my lap. "I lied mom." I asked her what she lied about. "I lied about my arm. It still hurts. I just wanted to go and play again." I asked her if she was ok. "Well, yeah, I think I am good." (Cute side story)

The next day she was babying her arm and kept telling me it hurt. I would give her pain medicine, still thinking she sprained it. After the last does of medicine wore off the swelling came back. We decided to take her in to the ER to have it looked at.

So at 9:00pm Monday night we were off to the hospital. Chesney didn't want to go because she was afraid of getting a shot. The admitting nurse told her she wasn't going to get a shot and then things were ok.

We went back to get the xrays done and told her she was going to get pictures taken of her arm. She was as good as gold. Sat perfectly still in every position they put her in. Now when the camera would go off it would beep to take the xray. Since Chesney was getting her picture taken she would smile and pose for each beep. That made me giggle. After all she was getting her picture taken.

While waiting for the films they brought her in a coloring book and some crayons. "Mom, I am having the best time ever!" was what she kept telling me. She thought this was all great fun.

They wrapped her arm in a splint for 5 days till the swelling went down the we went to get the cast put on. She chose a purple cast. That surprised me because she constantly tells me her favorite color is pink and she could have gotten a pink cast.

She has to wear it for 3 weeks then it comes off. She has been really good about the whole thing. I couldn't be prouder of her.

Kaylee is 12!

It is official, we have a preteen in the house! Kaylee celebrated her 12th birthday this year. Her gift from mom and dad was her first set of real make-up. (Oh No!) To help mom prepare for this venture, aunt Angie held a make-up applying party with her Mary Kaye consultant. Thank you Aunt Angie! While we were there, she bought her some moisturizer and some cleanser to help teach Kaylee proper hygiene. At her Birthday party she got some much needed snow cone and sucker supplies from Grandma Rayna and a beautiful handmade cloth doll from Grandma Wendy! She had a great time and is now ready to face her teen years! Thanks to all who came and helped make her birthday so very special!

A Star is Born

Kaylee's 6th grade class put on a condensed version of A Midsummer's Night Dream as their class play. Kaylee came home all excited to try out for a fairy. She practiced and practiced her lines and won the part. Our budding actress! She relinquished the part she had practiced for to another girl, but she still was a beautiful fairy. Congrats to Kaylee on her excellent performance!

Biggest Looser...NOT!

So, I haven't posted anything for a while. Mainly because the exercise train derailed! I had made it to week 5 on the P90X and before that had been doing other things since the first of the year. Well, for some unexplained reason, it all came to a screeching halt. I do plan on starting over. Just don't know when I will find the motivation to do so. So sorry, no complaining for a little while.