Valentines Day

Okay...this day was not to come for a long time, but it happened anyway! Liz recieved her first Valentine from a boy, and no it was not one of thoughs cutesie cards you get at school. This is from a boy down the street and Liz says there is no "crush" on either side of the friendship but I think the flowers she recieved today said lots lots more. She turned about 7 shades of red.Try not to tease....this was so darn cute!

HAPPY VALENTINES TO EVERYONE!
I spent the evening baking 70 cupcakes for school parties today, so now it is time to hit the school books.

Toby Fits In

Toby (Yorkie) has adjusted nicely. Of course it is like having an infant back in the house:) Ojo was not liking this idea at first.....but now.....it is her new best friend. Instead of "chase" the kitty its "get" the puppy. She is so gentle with him and he fights back (just barely got his first tooth).

The cat is ok with him until the other day when he so nicely found the cats tail and assumed it was a chew toy!

Welcome Toby

Some call me crazy some call me insane...I just call myself busy:) We have added a new addition to the family as of 2-6-2008. We call him Toby and he is adjusting nicely. This pet will be Mikaela's, she makes a good mommy, however I have not been able to convince her that if Toby sleeps during the day he will not sleep during the night. Life for me would not be fun if I did not have some kind of craziness all the time. Enjoy the pictures:

Judges Cup

Sorry the blogs are coming so slow...school is currently occupying my life and the other half is with the family.

This past weekend was another gymnastics meet. Here is a video clip of how she did. She took 9th out of 22 girls aging up to 9 years old. Their team to overall champions for the 4th time this season. We have one more in March and then it is down time. With her scores she is now eligble to move up to level 4 this Spring. Most kids do not get to move up until they are 9 but Mikaela's team of girls are very motivated.

Enjoy the clip and I will try to stay updated on the blog. After the meet we had a get together with my classmates here at the house, this consisted of board games, WII machine time, and just hanging out until midnight or so. This was wonderful and I am so glad to have the small group as classmates and the unit we have become.

http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg231/babybean-33/?action=view&current=385b26b7.pbr

Love to all

Cat in the Toilet

I thought this was fun....our cat gets its water out of our toilet and the other day I had the camera and walked in on him getting a drink. Here are a couple of pictures of the cats reaction:

Ingnore the stamp dates on the pictures, these were just taken a few days ago.







(This pictures says: OOPS BUSTED AGAIN!)

What the New Year has to Bring

All I can say is the new year has come and gone and I am sitting here trying to figure out where it went. We had a very calm break with lots of catching up on crafts, enjoyable reading, and family fun. Now I am sad to say that is officially over for the time being. I am in full swing at school and so are the kids. It is crazy to say the least, I was completely not prepared to return to school last week, and every evening of my first week back was full of activities. We literally had something every night this week and did not get home until 9-9:30 each evening. As a mom I try to be sure we are home doing nothing atleast 2days a week, this did not happen this week.

The weekend however was filled with family fun activities and it paid for the week of not seeing each other. We went ice skating, movies, and a get together with moms friends from school. When we went ice skating we got the pleasure to take Riley (4years old and part of the family, I have had her in the daycare since she was just shy of 3 months old and she has continued to be a part of our lives). It was fun to watch how Liz and improved and Mikaela as well and then to watch Riley who has never been on skates. Dad took Mikaela to see the new Veggie Tale movie and next week I am taking Liz to see a movie. Kendra (our new house roomate also joined in on the family fun)

As for this week we are slowing down again and hopefully getting into a routine.

Side note on kids....Mikaela is as stubborn as always and keeps me on my toes, when it comes to Liz she is still the best 12 year old a mother/father could ask for, except for I can say Ken and I are officially in what is called the eye-rolling stage and we are now part of the "dumb parents" club. They both test boundaries daily:)

Ken has applied for two jobs in the past couple of weeks and we are waiting to hear from them (I will keep you posted).

Today we are in -8 degree weather and snow...it is a day to sit on the couch and watch movies.

Love and miss to all!

Merry Christmas

Okay so Christmas is actually over but.... I figured I better make a post. We headed to Denver and spent this time with Opa, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Dennis, Rachel, and Neal. It was a white Christmas while we were there and we did many things to keep ourselves busy. During our visit the kids went to a trampoline facility and played for awhile, then it was off to a movie. Dennis' family purchased a Wii machine while we were there so we did lots of that.

For Christmas everyone got what they wanted and a wonderful time....Deb did the twelve days of Christmas and it was the hit of Christmas Eve. Both sides of family were more then generous this Christmas and words cannot express how thankful we are to have the Anthony side and Light side in our lifes!!! The support that we have is overflowing and it is the true meaning of what family stands for! It was also nice to see Rachel while she was home for the holidays. I also had the opportunity to chat with dad Light and my sister Stacy on Christmas this made it all GOOD! Our visit with Opa was to short but he will be returning to visit us in May.

We did purchase a new video camera so I am excited to send some videos that are actually decent in the near future.

Not to much to report...during this time all activities come to an end and the kids are out of school, so it is our time to organize and refocus on family time.

School for me will not go back into session until January 14th and the kids return on the 9th. The Fall semester I passed with 3 B's and 2 A's, Liz made honor roll with all A's and 1 B. Mikaela does not get grades yet but is moving forward nicely!

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!

Love to all

state gymnastics meet

Last night was the final night of gymnastics meets until March:)!!! Mikaela did a fantastic job. She took 2nd on vault and 4th on beam this is out 14 girls in her age bracket.
I have video clips this time so click play and enjoy.

winter fun

Last weekend was our first good snow fall for the winter season. We took the girls out in the back to have snowball fights and make snow angels. Afterwards we came in and had some hot cocoa!

This week consisted of school projects due for Theresa and holiday fun for the girls. All of us get a winter break until January 8th. I am so excited to have this time to be a family again.


I hope everyone is doing well and I am thinking of you all always.

(Mikaela making snow angels)

(mom and girls having a snowball fight)

Drumming cirlce performance 12-06-07

These video clips are of the drumming circle, I hope you are able to view them.

You have to be in the 4th, 5th, or 6th grade to try out for drumming circle. Mikaela was invited to be the drumming circle "mascot". She goes to all practices and attends all performances. She fills in when a drummer is not in attendance. Liz plays several parts and please exuse getting the directors "behind" in several shots (she moves around alot).

Congratulations Liz

Liz had tryouts on Dec. 4th for the CYO (Casper Youth Orchestra). She has been practicing her trombone very hard and has even gone in extra hours at school to get help from her band teacher. With that being said.........

She got in!!! This is grades 6th-12th and is a challenge to get into. You have to be invited to tryout first of all and then you have to compete against others who have been playing a lot longer. She will be one of the youngest but the director says she has only heard good things about her motivation and strive to work at things that hard for her.

We are very proud!

Congratulations Baby girl on a job well done!!!!!!

Love MOM, DAD, and MIKAELA!

whirl wind

This weekend left me breathless....but as momma Light pointed out I always make time for myself and God.

Friday came and went as we did a little Christmas shopping and then got home to bed to get ready for a very crazy Saturday.

Saturday morning I was up by 6am and off to a womens community group at 7am to focus on my life, God, and to enjoy a little scrapbooking. Then at 10am it was off to Liz's last volleyball game. Whew they kicked butt and took names!!! I am sad to see the season end but on the same note am glad to have that time back that was used for practices and weekend games. Then its home for lunch and showers only to head out again for a 1pm gymnastics meet with Mikaela. She took 2nd place all around and 1st place on floor. Also took 2nd place on bars, beam, and vault. Nothing more to make a momma proud! Nope not done yet...this got over at 4:30pm and we headed to the event center to see Oregon Trail (the girls school) get awards for Lego Robotics. Our school took championship and are now invited to Altanta, Georgia for Nationals.http://www.usfirst.org/community/fll/default.aspx (this is a website explaining lego robotics a little more). After this we headed to the Eastridge shopping mall with the "Drumming Circle" They performed at the mall until 7:30pm (both girls are involved, Liz being a drummer and Mikaela being a Mascot). Now its time for home and to bed only to get up the next morning and head to church. If you are exhausted just reading this...you can only imagine how Ken and I feel physically:) We love it and would not change it for the world. Next weekend: a weekend for Ken and Theresa!!!!

If I have learned anything in the past months....if you cant find out who you are and do something for yourself you cannot be a good mother or wife. If you and your husband do not have a "relationship" you may struggle to have a good family. Find time alone and with your spouse just to remember why you have children!

This upcoming week is my next rotation for fieldwork, lucky for me I get to stay in Casper. I will let you know how it goes. This is our mental health rotation, I am very excited!

Love to all!!!

I am posting pictures from this weekend on the Walgreens website (to many to add to this). Watch for you invite to see these photos. If you do not get an invite let me know so I can get it to you!

Dad's defense

This is an unbiased description of what truly occured in Theresa's absence. Ken had to work on Monday and Tuesday and take care of all the things that Theresa usually does. Ken was told about the towels in the dryer when he was watching the Denver Bronco game and thus is not responsible for anything told to him during that time. While Theresa was in Gillette lounging around and eating bon bons, Ken had to cook, clean, vacuum, shuttle kids around, coach volleyball, counsel his girls, attend PTO meetings, and teach a Wednesday night church group. All in which made Ken and the girls wonder how in the blazes does Mom go to school, pull straight A's, and get all the housework done. We all realized how much we rely on her and how much more we all could be doing to make her life easier. She was truly missed, but it was great to have the one on one time with my girls.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family!!!!

Volleyball

Here are a few pictures of Liz playing volleyball....I am coaching and for this last game Ken stepped in and coached for me. Thanks Aunt Debby for taking pictures for me!!!

Survived

Mom has returned home. Last week was an adventure, and it is one I could do again! I stayed with a family in Wright WY and they were awesome. It was definitely an experience to sit back and watch another family without having to be involved. There were 3 teenage girls, mom, and dad. Oh yah and one bathroom for everyone:) They treated me very well. The fieldwork experience was also more then I could ask for. I was in the school district and got to observe how Occupational Therapy works in the educational setting. The kids in this setting were a blast and the benefits they get from OT is unexplainable. It was not all good though...I have come to really dislike the school district and the philosophy, what happened to putting kids needs first! Nope now its all about who is gonna get paid for what services. I want to work with pediatrics but I think I will steer clear of the school district setting.

Now you ask how did my family do.... It was wonderful, they found out just how much mom does:) (bonus for me not for them) I realized how much they can do without me!!! Wow...do I hear a win win situation here? The only thing I realized not to do when leaving Ken in charge is give verbal directions without writing them down. Example....Ken please rotate the last load of laundry and put the stuff in the wash into the drier (this was stated to him on Sunday before me leaving town). When I returned home on Friday evening, and he could not find towels for family we had in town I discovered the laundry was not rotated. Why.....it was not written down! Of course I did write down to take the trash out on Friday and that did not get done either???? The last story would be that a mother does need to remind children to shower, fathers do not! By Wednesday dad realized Mikaela had not showered since Sunday.

I am blessed to have them all and would not change for the world!

My next rotation in December is here in Casper...no traveling for this one yahoo!

Thanks to everyone for all the support!

leaving home(:

Well not for good....this is the weekend before my first fieldwork rotation for school. I will be in Gillette WY (2hrs away) from Monday-Friday. All though very excited, very nervous at the same time. Ken will be here with the girls and I know between the three of them they will survive! I will try to keep the blog posted while I am away...more so the girls can follow my days. Ken has a road ahead of him(he has no idea how active the girls truly are during the week) I will enjoy sitting back and letting him take the ride.

Liz has been active in volleyball and drumming cirlce, her new thing this weekend was to go the "link". This is a Christian facility to give the younger kids a place to go that is safe and fun. They have a chance to connect with others. She loved it but had way to much coffee...this is what happens when they get out of moms site for a couple of hours:) She is loving life right now, she struggles with her friends at school, but her friends that have moved onto JR High still keep her going...and going...and going. Come Mondays she is beat! It is good to see her involved and enjoying life in a healthy manner.

Mikaela has had two gymnastics competitions.Nov. 3rd she took 7th overall out of 23 girls. And today we are not sure I will post that later. She is being kind of mean to mom right now but I think it is because she is nervous about me leaving and this is her way of dealing with it.

The rest of the weekend will be spend lounging out with the family. They are taking me out to dinner tonight.

I will keep the blog updated during the week.

Love to all


Oh Belated 21st birthday to our niece Rachel...Atleast the gift made it on time:)

Grades

The girls just finished first quarter of school. Liz comes out with all A's and has tested above her grade level for math and language. She has quit piano to get more involved with her trombone, we have found her a person to give lessons outside of school. Her music teacher talks very highly of her! As does her regular teacher, Mrs. Eskew says she love Liz's creativity when she does projects and her enthusiasm in the classroom is beyond any teachers imagination. This is huge from last year....I personally think it is the teacher that makes a difference. She has also started volleyball (you will never guess who they got to coach????? Ok its me:)

Mikaela also is passing with all A's and a teacher her could not find one negative thing to say! She says she is the most cooperative, follow the rules child she has had. She did say Mikaela got spoken to for the first time the other day in reading group for giggling with another girl. I told the teacher she must be starting to warm up:) Another gymnastics competition next Saturday...I will update you on her scores.

Theresa - midterms was last week and grades for midterm are 2 B's and 3 A's. This came as a shock...but I am pleased anyway. We are on the countdown for my 1 week rotation in November.For those who do not know I have to go to Gillette wyoming (2hours from casper) for one week to do hands on education. I am excited but nervous at the same time.

Ken - has been busy making games for the fall festival at the girls school. He claims he would rather be doing something else but I have found he loves it and is very creative. I will post some pictures of his game creations next week after the fall festival. He helps me coach volleyball when I am unavailable, and continues to work at the church in several areas.

This weekend we took the girls to dinner for their great grades and attitudes in school, went shopping for my nieces 21st birthday, and did the carving pumpkins things for Halloween.

I finally got to talk to my sister for the first time since she has had baby Olivia. It sounds like they are doing great and I have a beautiful baby niece!

Love to all!

school pics

Highlights

Wow...I did not realize how long it has been since I have updated the blog. This is because being a fulltime student, mother, and wife has taken over my life completely! I really am not complaining I love it...well accept for the school thing. I am truly ready for the end to be here. I am only going to touch base on the highlights of activities going on, so that you do not get board.

Liz - Drumming circle is in full swing and they have a complete line up of performances. The first one is next weekend and I will send pictures then. She is finishing up her soccer for the Fall season and has improved greatly! This team was such an improvement from that season! Again, pictures will be posted after her tournament on Tues Oct 9th. We have made it that she is to stay home and be part of the family at least one day on the weekend. This rule had to come about because she is such a young adult that staying home with the parents is not cool. She is home a lot but she usually has company with her. I am glad that we have a welcoming home that her friends like to be here. She has also discovered the movie theater with groups of friends. (this can get expensive:) She is pretty cool to hang out with too and I loved the comment the other day from her friend "you have a cool mom". Made my day anyway! Straight A's on all progress reports and her teachers do nothing but compliment. We have allowed her to quit piano because she is doing so well with the trombone and drumming circle it was getting to be to much. (she hated the piano)

Mikaela - Lost her first tooth in September (late bloomer; most of her friends have lost all theirs in the 1st grade, this was her first). She is a great student and her teacher said she has never had a student that follows the rules to the tea! She also has all A's and loves to read. She is still in Piano and gymnastics. She had her first meet of the season this Saturday and did well for the first one. She had some miss-haps but she enjoyed the heck out of it. She took 4th place in floor routine and her team took 1st place overall. This was against 20 other girls!

Ken- still doing Sunday school and Weds nights at the church. He holds down the fort when I am studying and trying to get assignments done. Still driving of course...and cant wait till I am graduate.

Thank you to everyone who supports us and understands that if I dont get emails off or phone calls made its not because I am slacking its because I really do not have a life right now!

Please keep the following people in you prayers for everyone has a busy and crazy life and a little faith will hopefully get them through:

Stacy, Brad, and Olivia - we are thinking of you and know that you doing well! Give my niece a kiss from us!

Deb and Dennis - returning from Poland; we are praying for good things to come from this trip

Ted and Sandi - thanks for all your support

Rachel and Neal - college is not easy I am with you always

Mom and Dad Light - being apart is something I know is hard; We love you!

Becky Majeres - mothering two boys; God has plans for you (thanks for your forevere friendship)

All other family that is out there...I am thinking of you daily!