Mr. T-Bird

As a part of the big homecoming week excitement the high school as a competition called "Mr. T-Bird", which is basically the male version of Miss America lol. Matt decided to strut his stuff and compete against 14 other guys for the title of Mr. T-Bird.

The evening began with the "Boxer" event:

(yes...that is my son up on stage in his Sponge Bob Boxers lol...)

This was followed by "Talent" where Matt and his friend Shawn did a dance skit/routine to "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" by Trace Adkins:

Followed by "Formal Wear" where they strut their stuff in a tux:

Ending with the dance competition where they danced as a group:

He didn't win but we still got a kick out of the whole thing lol.

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went a field trip with Kamryns Girl Scout troop to the Happy Apple Farm in Penrose. We went on a hay ride out to the pumpkin fields, picked our pumpkins, then got a ride back to the farm house...

Matt...

As if school and work didn't keep him busy enough...Matt decided to take on 2 sports this fall. He played soccer, where he ended up playing goalkeeper alot, and also participated on the Cross Country team...



....and yes, he did dye his hair black...

Kamryns 9th Birthday

This year for Kamryns Birthday we all kind of made out. We got a limo (thanks Jeff!!) and met a bunch of Kams friends at the school with it. We drove them around town a bit, stopped to play at a park for about 15-20 minutes, then drove around a little more. We had 11 kids in all. When we were finished we took them back to our house for pizza and cake. Then the adults (minus Robin because someone had to stay with the kids lol) went for a little spin in the limo. All in all I think it was a fabulous day!!

Birthday girl...





Me and Bunk...


Chuck and Pat...


And finally, anyone want to take a guess at how many DECADES these 2 have been divorced??...

Maya

We have a new baby in the family! For years, all Bryttaney has talked about wanting has been a snow dog. In July, some coworkers of Robins found out that their Husky was pregnant (the daddy is an Akita) and we started considering the possibility of a new puppy. On July 28th she had 9 puppies! When they were 4 weeks old we took the girls over for a look. Of course Kamryn picked a totally different puppy from the one that Robin, Brytt, Matt and I wanted. So I made a deal with Kamryn, told her that if we took this one she could name her ;) We picked her up a little over 2 weeks ago. She is now 9 weeks old and I think she has doubled in size...she is going to be a big girl!

These pics were taken a week ago:





This one was taken yesterday...she was enjoying a belly rub from Grandma Lin :o)

One Proud Mama...

Brytt came home from school at the end of the 1st week saying that she was going to join girls track. She turned in all her paperwork and started practice. Everyday that first week she came home and told me she was done...she was not going back. Then the next morning she would wake up telling us she needed her water bottle she was going to track lol. We are so amazed and so proud of her. I never in my wildest dreams ever thought she would do something like this. Remember...this is the little girl that doctors said would never walk or talk and maybe we should consider turning off life support! The first few weeks I would sit and watch practice and just cry. The first meet was so cool. She looked so grown up in her purple 'pride suit' as she calls it. That first meet she on her jumps she would jump so soon that she barely made into the sand. Now that we have been doing it for awhile she has really improved. She is so proud of herself (as she should be). These pictures are from the first meet. The 2nd two are her with one of the interpreters. She was just so, so very happy and I love those pictures because you can just see the excitement all over her face!

Winston

Poor Winston hasn't been feeling well lately. He has had this cough that makes him sound like a goose. Last week I finally told Robin that we need to take him in the vet, after all, we have had him longer then both the girls! He is over 15 years old so we went in prepared for the worst. He has lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes) which didn't surprise us at all. Because his lymph nodes are swollen it is pushing on his trachea which is causing the cough. The vet said that since, amazingly, he has no problems getting around, walking up and down stairs or getting on the couch, is still eating fine and has control of his bladder, etc that his quality of life still seems fine (for his age). So she put him on steroids to shrink the nodes and swelling. The cough has gone away with the steroids, so that is good. I know that the day that we have to put him down is fast approaching, we are just thankful it wasn't this week!

Here is a picture of Winston sleeping on the couch the other day and a pic of him with the kids they day before his appointment (just in case he didn't come home with us).

Labor Day

We are officially back into the swing of things around here. Everyone going 100 different directions lol. School is going well for all of us. My birthday was the 25th and Robin, Matt, Brytt, Kam and I went to Red Lobster for dinner with Chuck and Pat, then cake at their house. After that we went to my moms for more cake lol. We went camping this past weekend in our usual spot up off Wagontongue. It was just us and my dad. We took a bunch of sparklers and tried this technique with the camera that I got off of http://2peasinapicture.blogspot.com/.
I was very pleased even though I had a few issues with my camera.


Matt


Kamryn


Tracy


My dad (maybe that is a J for Jenny lol)


Matt writing his name...how cool is that??

Where did summer go?

So Brooks tag made me realize it has been awhile since I blogged. Lets see...summer for me officially ends on Monday. I have to report to work at 7:30. The kids all go back on Thursday. Kamryn is more then ready, Brytt has accepted it, not sure where Matt stands lol.

Last week we bought a Wii and what a stinkin blast that thing is lol. I think I pulled a muscle in my thigh yesterday either playing golf or bowling :o) I swear if we had gotten that in June I may have lost some weight this summer.

We had a blast at the lake this past weekend. It was hot, hot, hot and of course the only night we were there we had thunder storms, wind and rain. But during the day it was hot and we played in the water alot. Bryttaney actually road on a tube behind the boat going full speed. I have great video of it! We all came home sun burnt and dirty.

Notice all the blankets drying on the line from the storm the night before...

Brytt in her tube with her grandpa.

Monday I woke up with a sore throat and by Tuesday it was worse so I went to the doc to find out I have strep...yippee! Nothing like spending my last week of summer vacation sick!

I took these pictures of my silly cat a few weeks ago. She was trying so hard to get comfy in this little whicker basket that holds our remote controls.

Tagged by Brook...

Today I was tagged by Brook, this is my first time and I am kind of excited lol, I have to list seven things you probably don't know...hmmmm...

1. I sleep with a mouth guard (it helps my headaches =)
2. I have never flown (except once when I was a few months old...but that doesn't count, I don't remember it lol)
3. I am terrified of hight...
4. I still love and listen to those 80's & 90's hair hands (you know...Cinderella, Poison, etc...)
5. I have every 'NSync album and saw them in concert 3 times =)
6. My college degree is in Zoology (I love animals...which is why we have 13 of them not counting the fish pond)
7. I know my way better around Childrens Hospital then I do the mall (of course, this will change as they are closing Childrens because they built a new one lol)

Boy that was hard. I am such a boring person, so why am I so busy all the time lol?!?!

July 4th

We have a family tradition that is over 20 years old of going to Manitou Springs every year to watch the fireworks off of Red Mountain and to play in the penny arcade.

This last picture is flag...for as long as I can remember they start with a water fall and end with this flag. The little red dots to the left are the Fireman waving at us.

Brytt playing air hockey with her daddy.

Kamryn with her face painted...she is a Fire Fairy...

Kamryn with a very large gum ball!

Kamryns Haircut

Last Monday Kamryn came in and said that she wanted to cut her hair. After looking at her for a little bit I realized she had already started on it. So we headed over to Great Clips where they cut off 9 inches. What a shocker but it looks so cute on her even though it makes her look older.

Camping...

This past weekend we took a quick trip up into the mountains to camp with my dad, stepmom, sister, mom & stepdad, plus me, Robin, Matt, Brytt & Kamryn. We went up early Saturday morning and came back late Sunday evening. The weather was beautiful and was the scenery! The highlight of the trip was seeing a bear! I was born and raised here, as was my mom and pretty much my husband and we have never seen a bear, so this was beyond cool!




2 of my monkeys in the tree! Kam came home with a ton of sap in her hair lol!