Hayden's Soccer Game

Here are a few pictures and a short video clip from one of Hayden's soccer games this year. I have to say we were both resistant about him playing again b/c the last two times he played, he didn't really participate much. Brian and I have never been really interested much in soccer but he kept wanting to play. The first two seasons, he just ran behind the pack of kids who were actually playing. This year, he really stepped up and PLAYED!!! We were very proud of him...he made several goals and participated in the game. Way to go Hayden!

Easter 2009

Trying to get a family pic before church...not so great, but you get the idea!

Sorry...don't know why these uploaded sideways...just turn your head (haha)

After church, we headed out to Mimi & PopPop's for a fish fry. It was a great meal. The kids had their annual easter egg hunt, too. Wow! Look at all those eggs!!!!

It was soooo windy this day!!!!

The cousins...Madison, Hayden, Jeremy, Hannah, Garret, and Hailey...funny they are in ascending age order.

Hailey's GT Presentation

This is a video clip of Hailey doing her presentation for gifted and talented. They had to choose a topic, research it, develop a power point, and present it in front of the GT class. She chose the Diamondback Rattlesnake and did all of the work on her own at school. I don't even know how to do a power point, so I was pretty impressed! Way to go Hailey...we are proud of you!

Updates Soon!

I know I am behind but have been super busy getting ready for Easter and Hayden's bday. Have lots of pics and videos to post. Will try to get started posting tomorrow or first part of the week. Hope everyone has a great Easter!

A Lesson With the BB Gun

The first pose.
He wanted to pose "like a soldier"

A lesson in loading the bb's.

Taking his first aim.

Watch out Annie Oakley

Getting it just right.

I had to take this picture of the target. Hailey's first shot EVER was the one on the 2nd ring closest to the center! Wow! Can you believe that?! She also made the shot just above that one. Brian made the shot below the circle just on the black rim. Hayden and I couldn't find ours :).

Here is a clip of Hayden shooting his bb gun. It was so funny. He got a lesson in gun safety and a quick "how to" with the gun. He couldn't quite remember which eye to close, which was pretty funny. You have to watch in the video, his face after the gun goes off. It is super quick, so you may have to replay it. But he has a delayed startle reaction that is funny.

Here is a clip of Hailey. I had to post this one because it was pretty funny, too. First of all, she took FOREVER to finally pull the trigger b/c she was so concerned with getting it exactly spot on, which she almost did. Anyway, it is funny b/c she is aiming for so long and then just squats (all her own idea) to rest her elbow on her knee I guess to steady herself more. I had to end up stopping the video b/c it took so long. She did finally shoot. I have to say, she did better than all of us!

Hayden's Birthday Party

Hayden and his new BB gun!

Putt putt'n

Watch out Danica!

Cousin love!

Not sure why this is sideways, but....here is Hayden and two classmates.

Vrooom!

Hayden and one of his best bud's, Gracen. They are pretty tight. They sit at the same table at school and, apparently, are pretty inseperable. All we hear about is Gracen and me this and Gracen and me that. It is sweet and she is super cute!

Saturday was a beautiful day for a birthday party. We had it at a go-kart/putt putt place here in town. The kids all loved it! It was super fun! Hayden had lots of buddies there and got lots of great presents! He was in heaven! Here are a few pictures of the festivities. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us! What a special day to remember a special little boy! We love you Hayden and can't believe you are already 6 years old!!!!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Today was very busy because it was Hayden's birthday and party. We weren't able to make it to our church Easter egg hunt cause I couldn't get everything ready for the party and get there in time. So, I had Brian take the kids down to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt while I headed to the party place to set up. He said they only got a few eggs because there was close to 100 kids there...whoa! But they had fun anyway.

Hayden's School Easter Party and Birthday Celebration

On Friday, I had the day off (b/c my school was closed but the kids had school) so I spent the day with my mom. We had a great day. She spent the night with me the night before and we dropped the kids off and then headed to Stoby's for breakfast...yummy! Then we hit the shops. We were soooo busy. I had to get everything for Hayden's birthday and little things here and there. Then we hot tailed it up to school for Hayden's easter egg hunt and April birthday celebration (which he was the only one so felt very special). It was sooooo cold for the egg hunt but they had a good time. Hayden loved all the attention he got for it being his birthday the next day.

Early Easter Celebration at Mimi's & PopPop's

We celebrated Easter a week early at Mimi and PopPop's because Sean, Karen, and Garret were able to come down. The kids had a great time playing with Garret. They had a sleep over at Mimi's with Garret on Friday night and went fishing on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we had our Easter celebration. It started with an egg hunt of over 250 eggs. It was cold and gale force winds but they managed to find all of the eggs. Afterwards, we had a yummy fish fry, crappie to be exact! It was very good. Garret came home with us for a sleepover that night so they could play a bit longer.

This week

Lots going on this week. Hayden had softball practice on Sunday, soccer practice on Monday; Hailey had jump rope on Tuesday and Wednesday and softball on Wednesday. Now, Hayden will have softball practice on Thursday (if it doesn't rain) and a soccer game on Saturday. We have a busy weekend, too. We are looking forward to Garrett and Sean & Karen coming home.....planning a big fish fry...YUMMY! Also, having a big easter egg hunt for the kids and a fishing trip! The kids can't wait....they always love to see Garret! Also want to send Happy Birthday wishes to Linda! We miss you guys and hope you have a great birthday!

Report Cards

I keep meaning to post the kids grades and keep forgetting. I am so proud of both of them. They are doing great in school. Here are their grades:

Hailey: Reading Level 3+ (above grade level)
Accelerated Reader 186% (goal:100%)
Writing Grade 3+ (above grade level)
Daily Language Review 96% A
Math Grade 91% A
Speed Quizzes 98% A
Spelling Grade 100% A
Science Grade 94% A
Homework 100% A
"E" for Excellent in...music, p.e., art, behavior, and work/study habits
WooHoo! Go Hailey! We are sooooo proud of you!

Hayden: Computer lab scores: reading .82 (82% of way through K)
math .98 (98% way through K)
Reading level-on grade level
Knows all letter sound match, fluent letter ID, and fluent sight word recognition
Writing Grade-on grade level
All +'s for mastery of writing skills and spelling skills
Math grade advanced (4)
counts to 120 at least
All +'s for mastery of algebra skills and measurement and data/probability/statistics
"E" for excellent in music, p.e., art, work/study habits, and behavior

Wow Hayden! That's great! You're doing awesome, too! Way to go!

Crawl, Drag, and Squirt

Here is a video clip from Crawl, Drag, and Squirt. Hailey did awesome! She beat out her competitor for the fastest time! She says she gets to go to Toad Suck to compete now. Not sure if that's right...I'll find out and let everyone know. I thought it was just one from each grade that went on to the final competition, but she said it is whoever wins against their competitor so that would be the fastest from each class. We'll see....regardless, we are very proud of her-she did GREAT!!!!

For those who haven't read the other post describing this event....it is put on by the Fire Department. During P.E. they are timed on an obstacle course. The fastest two girls and two boys from each class get to compete at school during the Crawl, Drag, and squirt competition. They complete another obstacle course wearing a fire hat and fireman's jacket. They are penalized 2 seconds for each mistake they make (forgetting to turn off hose, not going through cones, pushing with the mallet instead of hitting, etc.) You'll see all they have to do in the clip. Then, those who win from that go on to race the other qualifiers from the other schools in town at Toad Suck Daze.

Our Spring Break

Weekend before: Garret was in town and the kids were so excited to see him! They all had a sleepover at Mimi & PopPop's on Friday night. They made gingerbread men sugar cookies that kept magically running away! We had big plans for saturday. ...We headed to Hayden's soccer game and it rained the entire game! We had planned on heading to LR to a go-kart track but the rain ruined those plans. So, we took the kids to Cheeburger Cheeburger and then to the IMAX to see Race to Witch Mountain. It was cute and they all enjoyed it. We had planned to go bowling after that but everyone was getting tired so we called it a day.

Day 1: Had lunch at Holly's!!!!! Yummy!!! Then took the kids and Megan to two different parks to play. I have pictures on my phone but am having trouble sending them to my email. I will keep trying though.

Day 2: It was cool and rainy so we went to Pizza Inn for lunch and then to Jump Zone which was packed!!!

Day 3: Headed to Petit Jean with Kristen, Hannah, Jeremy, and Madison. I do have pictures that Kristen sent to me to post....my camera messed up, of course! The kids did great! We saw a "bear cave" and did about 3 different trails. We saw the big waterfall and had a picnic lunch. It was much cooler than we thought so we froze until after lunchtime but still had a good time.

Headed on a hike with our "walking sticks"!

In a "bear cave"

The boys in the cave.

Whoa! Look at these rocks!

Queen of the mountain!

Near a smaller waterfall.

Posing on top of the tortoise shell shaped rock formations.

Hiding in a cubby hole.

Hailey in the hole in the cave.
Of course, I had to do it to get everyone else to go in!

Day 4: Had lots of errands to run. Took my car in to have some work done on it, got my carpets cleaned, and got my hair done! Ball practice....Whew!!!!!

Day 5: Packed for Memphis and had lunch with Mimi! Headed for Memphis for an overnight stay and to go to Memphis Zoo on Saturday. Our hotel was very nice! The pool area was really nice too. The kids had about an hour to swim before it closed at 10:00 p.m. Hailey went to the room early to shower and Hayden hung out in the hot tub!

Day 6: Went to Memphis Zoo and we are all exhausted! I took a TON of pictures and couldn't decide which ones to post, sooooo...I posted most of them. It took forever and some got deleted so I will repost those soon. But, the sea lion show was tootoo cute! We all enjoyed it! The polar bear was AMAZING. I had to take a bunch of pictures of her. We got to see them feed her and we also got to watch the penguins feeding time. It was Enrichment Day at the zoo so lots of extra things to see and learn about. It was a great, but cold, day. We left the zoo at 4:00...were there for 5.5 hours!!!! Whew! Guess who slept on the way home! :)







All in all, we've had a great week. I am not ready to go back to work on Monday and I know the kids aren't either. It makes me really ready for summer break! Can't wait! So glad to be able to be home with them! Such a blessing to be on their school schedule!

It is starting our busy time of year. Hailey continues to have jump rope practice 1X in morning before school and one day/week after school. Her softball practice will be one night per week and she will start having one game/week soon (I will post schedule when we get it). Hayden continues to have soccer practice one night/week, ball practice 2 nights/week, soccer games (1 day on weekend), and will start softball games one night/week soon. Busy!!!!! But all worth it!