Kids' First Train Ride

Heath knows how much Cole likes trains! Our church was getting together to experience this for the kids in Boulder, so Heath signed us up! I think the photos are pretty self-explanatory!

Alora's 4th Birthday!

I resisted as long as I could but she likes princesses, so...we did a princess cake! She had a princess theme the previous year, so I tried to incorporate a "popcorn party" idea and came up with a princess/movie star theme. Dad helped. He brought in disposable cameras for the kids to play with, chocolate covered popcorn, some keychain Ty critters for party favors, and a bunch of magic trick stuff. It worked out, the kids had fun and they LOVED the popcorn! Oh, and he paid for the food and cake! Yay, Dad! Thanks so much!

Academy Graduation

Heath had been talking about going from fire fighting in Arkansas to the police academy in Las Vegas. I asked him about it a couple of times and they were always on a hiring freeze or when he did start the interviews, something always came up with his job at the time where he couldn't finish the screening. Finally, last year he was invited to the Goodspring academy to train in becoming a deputy constable. After much deliberation on his part and a few questions to the Constable, he accepted and later resigned after graduation. The constables refused and pacified whatever reservations he had. They wanted him. He graduated Top Gun in the CAT-II academy and top scorer on the State test for the CAT-I academy in Henderson the following year. We are all very proud of him! He finally quit Stations job, he has his preferred days off and hours, vacation, and there is much, much, much less stress in our household (well, also do to me being home since then).

No More Teaching

This (school) year has been very trying for me. I only meant to teach for two or three years while I figured out what to study for my phD. Well, I've finally figured it out...seven years later. With the budget cuts and reduction in force, I'm thinking it's time to move on. Is that practical now with the economy, though? I'd love to go back to school.

Anyway, the kids are still growing soaking up every little thing. Cole is excited to go to school, but is still too young. Alora is becoming a chatterbox like Cole.

Let me upload some photos while I have a chance...

WiFi

I am trying to figure our how to upload photos from my phone to the blog. I'm in the dashboard clicking on the button without success...

Birthday Fun

This must be what it's like having twins. Talking to one about what they're not supposed to be getting into while the other is sneaking off getting into something else! Pretty close, I imagine. We're trying to plan Cole's fourth birthday in the meantime, his friends' birthday are tying us up. He's so excited about going to school already! Brady turned four last month; Tobias just turned six. Cole keeps talking about going to school with the big kids and we've been telling him maybe after his birthday, so it looks like we'll be putting him in a Kung Fu class since he's still too young for public school. Bummer.

Master Bedroom Closet and "Library"

What a blessing! Another gift from dear ol' Dad--What a great guy! It's always been a dream of mine to have a wall of books in my house. I never imagined I would have a library. I love books! Now I have a place to put them! I'm still moving them from Dad's house but I'm excited to fill these shelves!



The closet has been such an eye sore since we moved in. There was no door so I put up a curtain helping me forget about the disorganization of the whole thing. Amazingly for its size, the closet only had the one-level dowel through the whole space. I had storage bins stacked underneath and portable drawers. Now, with a sigh of relief and appreciation, I can be proud of the new space. Both areas were such a waste, an abyss of white paint and vaulted ceiling. I imagine this to be a great investment; although, now I just want to camp out in my bedroom with a good book and a fluffy robe for awhile!