The Fabulously Fun Fourth

We had such a fun 4th of July with some great family and friends. I was having so much fun socializing that I didn't take many pictures, but I was able to sneak in a few.


Todd took Phil and Brian Stooksbury for a cruise in the buggy. You can't see very well but Brian had Maddie's pink goggles on and was covering his ears, but he had a huge smile on his face the whole time!

Bring on the homemade ice cream! We made 3 flavors- chocolate, vanilla, and cookies 'n cream. Yummy deliciousness!!

Someof the kids and I sitting in the back of Papa Dales's truck watching the fireworks show at La Habra High School. I think this is the only time of year that I'm happy about living next to the high school!:)


Breanna wanted me to take a picture of the stars I painted on her cheek. My dad suggested that I paint the kids faces while we were waiting for the fireworks to begin, and it was a huge hit!

Pinewood Derby

It's Pinewood Derby time again in Cubscouts. Trevor was very excited and he and Grandpa worked hard together on drawing the plans, cutting it out, and the fab custom paint job.


Here's the competition lined up and waiting to be weighed in.


Trev's first race. He's the green and red car on the left with all of the bolts in it. He calls the car the "Lightning Bolt" ;) hee hee..get it? Bolt? I think it looks like a car from the board game "Life" with all of the people pegs in it.


Trevor ended up taking 1st place overall!Go Lighning Bolt!



All of the boys with their cars.

End Of School

I'm so proud of Nathan and Trevor! They started at a new school this year, and as challenging and trying as this can be, they both jumped right and made the best of it. They got excellent grades all year, made some great friends,and were great students and examples in the classroom.


Nathan and his 5th grade teacher Mrs. Ghabour. This year Nate really got involved in the safety patrol at school and enjoyed learning about our country's history. He charmed all of the teachers with his willingness to help and caring personality.


Trevor and his 3rd grade teacher Mrs.Kudler. Trevor was lucky in that his 2 best friends also started at Jordan this year. He was very excited that Jordan had a computer math program called ST Math that our previous school had. Trevor was the first student in the whole school to complete the program this year, and only 1 of a handful that actually completed it. Trevor was SO excited! We were too because every night at dinner we would get a report from him saying, "I'm at 83% in ST Math", "I'm at 92% in ST Math", etc, etc....It's no wonder he loves it- it combines his 2 favorite things in life, computer games and numbers!

Both Nathan and Trevor received the Student of the Year award this year. To earn this award you have to get mostly A's all year and be a good student and a good all around person. They have both received this award in the years past, but being at a new school, I was even more proud that both earned this award. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful boys who are a great example to me and the people around them.

Overall we have had a fabulous year at Jordan Elementary School. It has been a good move and a good fit for us. We're looking forward to another great year next year with all 3 of our kids being Jordan Jaguars!

Maddie's Pre-School Graduation...the end of an era.

On Friday, June 11th, my little Maddie graduated from Miss Shawnie's Pre-school. My little girl. My baby. Sigh.....
The graduation was super cute! Each student wore a super hero cape and was given a super hero name that best suited them. Our Maddie was "Majestic Madison" because according to her teachers she's good, polite, and a friend to all. All Princess-like qualities. I wonder how we can get Majestic madison to make an appearance at home once in a while....at least she has everyone else fooled! ;)

The Graduate. Pretty dang cute, if i do say so myself!:)

The kids recited a poem and sang a couple of songs for us.
Most of her class- I accidentally cut off a couple of kids on the end
Miss Shawnie read a little something about Maddie, and then presented her with her diploma.
Miss Shawnie Hatori and Madison. Fabulous pre-school teacher, and maddie truly loves her and Miss Ayungi (pronounced Angie) If anyone is looking for a pre-school, I would highly recommend this one! They are amazing!
Maddie and Miss Ayungi
Maddie and her best friends Charli and Claire
Jack Stooksbury about to say the Pledge of Allegiance
The classmates that got cut off in the earlier picture.

Trevor Turns 9!!

For Trevor's birthday, on June 5th, he wanted to go motorcycle riding so we made it happen. Our whole family went and Grandpa Skip and Uncle Logan joined us as well. It was SO DANG HOT!! I kept telling Todd how hot it was supposed to be, but he wanted to make it happen for Trev. So we went, we rode, we melted, Trev got a little heatstroke- Happy Birthday to you! We had a great fun-filled time overall though!

Here's the birthday boy himself.

Gee, ya think maybe all of that hair PLUS the helmet in the 110 degree desert might have had something to do with that heatstroke?!

Here's Nate on his quad.


Maddie kicking back.

We found a cool place to rest during 1 of our rides.
Trevor

Maddie and Nate

Uncle Logan and Grandpa Skip

Todd and the kids.

Casida Randomness

Maddie was all smiles when she got to ride a REAL HORSE at our school carnival in May! She has loved horses since she was a baby.






We love the ride Space Mountain at Disneyland, and I thought Trevor was pretty funny in this pic. He was totally playing to the camera!

Hmmmm..who stole my camera??? This was the night that i first discovered that horrid nose smell!

Maybe she's trying to check out the the new hole in her nose here...

Maddie Update #2- The Little Stinker! No,really, P U!

The Friday night before Mother's Day we went to an auction/dinner fundraiser at church that the girls of the ward did to raise money for Girl's Camp. At one point during the evening, Maddie came and sat on my lap. I leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek when I was suddenly ambushed by the most hideous smell! Maddie's face stunk! The only way to describe the horrid odor is to say it smelled like butt. Sorry, but that's the only way to truly get across the foulness of it! I immediately pulled out baby wipes and started wiping down her face and hands. My first thought was, "where have her hands been?!" I know, disgusting, right?!

OK now cut to Sunday, Mother's Day. We've eaten a fabulous dinner cooked by the men and Cousin Amber, and all of us moms were lounging on the couch waiting to be served our dessert. (Jealous?) Maddie came bouncing in the room, plopped down between my mom amd I, and gave me an eskimo kiss...I nearly lost my dinner! Her face stunk-AGAIN! So gross! So of course I sent her from person to person and told them to smell her face. I don't know why, but not everyone wanted to join in the smelling game. Those that did participate did indeed agree that the girl had definite stench issues! After smelling and discussing, we came to the conclusion that maybe it was Maddie's nose healing. I talked to the Dr. the next day, and his answer when I asked him about the smell was, "That's great news!" Umm really Dr., not so great! He said that was a step in the healing process. It just keeps getting better!

So we went and saw the Dr. yesterday, and he said there is definitely a hole all the way thru in the septum. The smell was dead tissue, and he was kind enough to clean that out, so I might let my daughter come within 3 feet of me now. :) Good news though- she will not need reconstructive surgery! Woohoo! She will just have a perforated septum, no big deal. There's a slight chance she'll need surgery in the future, but that wouldn't be for many, many years down the line. Thank goodness!He'll keep checking on the healing process monthly for a while. So, another chapter in our lives comes to an end!