today is the last day that my baby will be six years old. build a bear tomorrow...L

Anna got the principal's award in her class yesterday--the same day that i got my test back from my paris/florence class in the middle ages--i got a 49 out of 50. so i had taylor take our pic as we celebrated december in a non-traditional way but exciting none the less...L

because nothing says AZ winter like orange trees! i have started making my christmas album pages with my december pictures. quite fun. Shanna was here yesterday with baby Chloe making me and my girls happy! what a sweet little girl. so fun to see shanna. i miss her. fun to do some things that we used to do back in the day--shop at scrapbooks, etc. and eat mexican food. sigh. i miss my faraway friends like shanna and kerry. but after a nice evening with shanna i came home to a nice talk with carson. my future angelina jolie. carson wants a lot of kids but doesn't want to actually give birth to them. she wants to adopt. so last night we are talking about it and i'm like--carson--you know if you adopt you won't be able to breastfeed. at which point carson yells out--um, yeah--that's one of the highlights!! lol

happy sabbath...L

carson came walking in and i looked up and said--it's a school marm. and taylor said--no, it's BRIANNE! i have to agree!


ok--so i have committed to taking a picture a day this december. amidst all that is going on in my life i want to document the holidays. With this picture you can see that the holidays are coinciding with finals at ASU. But i did have eggnog for dinner last night and put warm flannel blankets on my bed. tis the season...L

casa grande ruins. that was the field trip i went on with anna last week. very cool. the hohokams lived here around 700 years ago. amazing site and we got to see one of the three owls that live there. since i am taking a class of native american poetry this semester as well as a middle ages history class i found this quite interesting. i am making a new years resolution early this year--and i rarely make resolutions as i usually find them cliché. i was reading a blog the other day and this woman has a picture every day on her blog. everyday. which means she took the picture, downloaded it, edited it and posted it. but i loved looking at her pictures and wishing i took more pictures. the last year was pretty rough for our family but i see a bright and happy future. and i've decided i don't want to miss it. so i am vowing to take more pictures and blog more often. i would love it if i could take a picture a day all of next year. i'm willing at least give it a try...L

I scrapped. It is a Christmas miracle. It felt so good too.

taylor is in photo class this semester and she took this photo. her class had to take different types of images and i convinced her to take one of the stop sign in our neighborhood. the rare times i update my blog i always want to put a picture on but i haven't had much time lately to take many pictures.

school is going well for everyone. we are almost to midterms for me and quarters for everyone else. i go back and forth between my homework and the girls--and we all look at haley's 1st grade homework and sigh. lol everyone is adjusting to the move and all the changes that go with that. i am so proud of my girls--they have had a tough year and they are doing well in school and help me out a lot.

tonight we were playing this game--don't know the name of it--but you fill a thimble with water and then everyone tries to guess the answer to the question they ask--whoever gets it right gets the water thrown on them. so it's haley's turn and she asks who is her favorite movie star. after a lot of hannah montana, demi lovato, selena gomez and ashley tisdale answers carson finally asks for a clue--the first letter of the name. haley tells us T. so more guesses with no luck and carson says--ok--give us the second letter. which then haley replies--SWIFT. lol didn't take long then to figure it out...L

it's back to school. actually school started for the girls about 3 weeks ago and my school started last week. let's see--a list of my classes: literary theory and criticism, indigenous poetry and paris and florence in the middle ages. lots of light reading! however a really humorous thing happened at school. dallas was here visiting and so i took him to ASU with me to my classes. my poetry class is about native american poetry. our teacher is a native american. she asked us to list all the negative stereotypes that people associate with native americans. so my son jumps up there and writes 'lazy' on the board. and there are a lot of people up there writing things like--uneducated, poor, drunks, bloodthirsty savages, mystical, dirty, superstitious, etc. then there is one boy up there who is looking around at everyone and he says "i think i'm confused." so my son says--oh, that's my fault. i told him we were writing our personality traits up there. oh my gosh. everyone in class is laughing. i'm like--don't take your kids to school with you. lesson learned. ha

in more exciting news. happy birthday brianne. it's a boy. not mine. my future grandson. let the shopping begin...L

i can't believe it's been a month since i blogged! well, not much to say or do anyway. life has been pretty busy here. i found a house down in the valley. we are packing up and getting ready to move before school starts. i am enrolled in ASU and the girls are enrolled in their schools as well. everyone is pretty excited about the move and we picked out paint colors for the new house. taylor has a sky blue, anna and haley have a pretty periwinkle blue and carson's room is going to be hot pink, black and white. i can't wait to get settled.

this packing thing is wearing thin! i don't feel that well today and i have an entire house to finish packing. the girls are helping me and i had a friend from work come and help last week which was so nice. in other news brianne and jeff got to hear MY GRANDBABIES heart beat! dallas went out on a second date and the girls had a great time with their aunt debbie and uncle dennis in california. carson is officially 13! by my next blog i will probaby be in my house...L

I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!!!!

i got this package in the mail today from brianne. little stinker kept it a secret for a few weeks. i'm so happy!!!! oh my gosh. i can't even believe our family will have a cute little baby on january 11, 2009!!!!

congratulations brianne and jeff...

here are some pics from my family reunion a few weeks ago.




and here are some more...





i had a lot of fun up in pinetop with my family and girls. the older i get the more i enjoy seeing my cousins and aunt and uncles that were a big part of my life. we went go-kart racing, antique shopping and had a blast...

old friends. i got to see shanna this week. it was so nice. i miss her. and i scrapped. i got 8 pages done! on a vacation album i've been working on for three years. lol i also got to annoy kaelene. always a treat. lol and kerry--that is shanna eating serrano's bean dip. just for you.

in other news--anna and i survived the catalina island field trip. we kayaked, snorkeled, soaked up the sun, made friends and watched dolphins swim in the ocean. no pictures because they are on my phone and i have no cable to download yet.

in other news i have registered for college! yay for me. i'm so excited to start school. i have decided to go to radiology tech school that has opened at our little college in prescott. it is a 2 year degree. i plan on doing that and then maybe becoming an ultrasound tech. i have a few prerequisites to do before i can start the program. math. again. because after 10 years you have to take it again. so sad. i have also contacted ASU about finishing my bachelor's degree as well. so i have some options.

anna and haley's last day of school was yesterday. it was a nice program. my favorite part (besides seeing my girls on stage) was the director of their school's little anecdote. she told a story of an old man that walked along the beach every morning with a pail collecting the starfish on the sand and throwing them back into the ocean. another man stopped him and asked why he did this as the next morning it would be the same thing all over again and that it didn't matter. the old man grabbed a starfish out of the pail and threw it as far as he could out into the ocean. he looked at the man and said 'it mattered to that one.' great story.

i haven't blogged in like forever. but i had to quickly tell what happened with brianne and jeff's visit. brianne cooked and cleaned the entire weekend. so fun. she made me mexican lasagne, bread pudding, vegetarian monte cristo sandwiches and my favorite eggs benedict! i can never make fun of her cooking again. not that i could before, i just did. lol plus she gave me and taylor facials and her and jeff colored and hunted easter eggs with the girls. plus they also were the easter bunny this year.

i have to say that there is no better feeling or reward in this world than having raised the most wonderful children. and brianne is just that. i love you honey. and your sweet husband. now go make me grandbabies...