Kalyn is 8!

I can't believe our sweet little girl is 8!  We are so pround of her.  We are so blessed with our children.  Happy Birthday Kalyn!

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"....from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"

This is another post of all the things we've been doing lately.  Kalyn performed with her class at one of the PTC meetings.  Her favorite song was, "Dirt You Made My Lunch".

She is right next to the microphone.

Logan has really enjoyed basketball and he does pretty good for his first team sport.

Logan has the ball.

Logan taking the shot.  He has made a few baskets and his current goal is to get a "3-pointer".

Brayden and Madisen being goofy as I play with my new camera.

Logan and his dad testing the electromagnet they made for the science fair.

Kalyn and Dad getting ready to go to the Father/Daughter dance.  Rob was reluctant to wear the Fedora hat, but when they got there he realized that all the dad's were wearing goofy hats.  They had a great time.


Kalyn and Brayden participated in a local Junior Theater production on Pinnochio.  Kalyn played Figaro and Brayden played a Hammerhead Shark.

Kalyn in the green room.

 

Brayden in the green room.

Both of the kids teachers came to watch them, but I only got pictures of Brayden's.  Kalyn's A-Team came to watch her too.  Of course grandparents came to show their support as well.

All my kids are so lucky to have such nice teachers this year.

"Figaro" on stage.

"Sharkie" on stage.

Kalyn and Brayden after one of the shows.

Bray was so exausted he fell asleep like this.

The kids have been celebrating Dr. Suess' Birthday all week and today was "dress as your favorite character" day.  So Logan is the Grinch, Bray is the Cat in the Hat, and Kalyn is Cindy-Loo Who.

We sure have had alot of fun, but we are looking forward to a little break.

The McMonkeys

I haven't posted in a while, but there actually has been alot going on.  Christmas was good.  New Years was good, but we were a little sick so we couldn't have our normal New Year's Eve party.  Logan finished his Science Fair Project.  He did a really good job.  His project was "Messing with Magnetism"...something about an electromagnet getting stronger.  I just helped with the poster.  Rob helped Logan with the project.
Here is a picture:

Logan is in basketball and is doing really well.  His team is 3 for 3 so far.  Kalyn has been busy with her little social life and is working ongoing to her 4th birthday party since the middle of January.  She and Brayden are in a Pinnochio play.  Kalyn is Figaro (the cat) and Brayden is a shark.  We spend most of our evenings at practice.  Brayden is keeping busy here.  I guess he wanted to see what he looked like blue.

My kids have always been talented in the climbing skill, but today Bray decided to challenge himself a little more.

Here is what they normally do:

And here is Brayden challenging his skills because it just wasn't challenging enough.
So this is what he did:

That's why there were footprints on the wall! I couldn't figure out why there were footprints all the way from the ceiling to the floor.

Family Photos 2010

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Halloween 2010

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Randomness

I guess it's been a while since I've posted.  Here is an update:

Brayden had been asking alot of questions about the snow and if it snowed in Bakersfield.  I told him that it doesn't and so he made his own.

The good news is that the baby powder snow smelled so good...it was called calming lavender.  I didn't get that mad as I was cleaning it up, it was very calming...and it even knocked his sister out. 

Our neighbors had to move so they needed a home for their dog and I thought of the perfect place.

Can you see the resemblance?  Although the black and white contrast on one of these subjects used to be... well ...more of a contrast than it is. They named him Izzy because he blended in with their furniture and couldn't find him very well...they would always ask "Where is he?"---Izzy.  Since then they got all cream colored furniture so they could find him.

The kids school had a Grandparents Day and they had a really good time with their grandma.

Brayden shared his grandma with his sister and couple of his buddies Warren "Dub" and Johnathan.

Brayden was learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin at school and found this pumpkin in our garden....so he plucked it.

We also had a carnival, mother-son game nights at school, and went to Disneyland but I have no pictures of them...as both my cameras were not working well.

Then there was Halloween.

Kalyn and Madi were Halloween witches and Logan and Bray were Harry Potters.

Those are some cute kids!!!

Well now its November, and almost Thanksgiving.  This year has gone by so fast!

WHOOO HOOO! Back to School!

Today was the first day back to school...Yes!

Logan is in the 4th grade.



Kalyn is in the 2nd grade.



Brayden is in Kindergarten.





Madisen has the house to herself and her mom.





We have a new schedule. I drop off all the kids at 7:40 a.m. Brayden starts at 7:45and the other kids start at 7:55. I pick up Brayden at 11:10 unless it's Wednesday, then I pick him up at 10:45. I pick up Kalyn at 1:35 and Logan at 2:25. If it's Wednesday, then I pick both of them up at 1:35. Don't even get me started on minimum days! Got it? Good, cuz I don't!

So I asked them how their first day was.
Logan: "GREAT! I love my teacher and it's going to be an awesome year!" I'm glad Logan, that's great I said.

Kalyn: "SUPER! My teacher is so nice and she'll let me go to the bathroom whenever I need to!" That's really good Kalyn, I'm so glad that you're happy I said.

Brayden: "There is a stupid boy named Derrick and he called me a "dip face" and then wouldn't let me talk to my "girl friend"....Mom he's dumb! I do like Miss Key though". Ummm...Brayden, I'm glad you like your teacher?!? I said.



This is going to be.....a year!

What does a bead, toilet paper, and a penny all have in common?

So our summer was interesting. We have had our share of sibling arguments, brotherly brawls, and creative curiosities. I've decided to tell you about the creative curiosities, because you probably have heard plenty of sibling arguments and been in your fair share of brotherly brawls.

One fine hot summer morning, I send Brayden off to summer school. The two older kids argue about watching another Barbie movie and Madi decides to help me vacuum with her nose. At least I hope she was at least trying to help. She comes to me and says, "My nose hurts!" Trying to get some cleaning done...I tell her to try and blow her nose. She starts to wimper and runs and hides. I thought that was a strange reaction from me telling her to blow her nose. I find where she is hinding and crying and asked her what was wrong. "My nose hurts!" "Madi, did you put something up your nose?" She starts pouring out the tears. I tried to get her to blow, but nothing was coming out. I could see an orange coned-shaped bead up her nose. Of course the pedi doctor was closed, so off to the ER I go. $100 later and lots of tears the bead come out. So I paid $100 for a bead that I already owned and they didn't even let me keep it. "Madi are you going to put things in your nose again?" ...."No".

Another fine hot summer morning, the older kids are again fighting only this time it was the Wii, and I hear another wimper. This time it was Brayden. He comes up to me and says, "Mom...I got something in my ear"..."uh yeah, Brayden it's called wax. Go get a Q-tip", I said. "No, Mom I have toilet paper in my ear!" "Brayden why did you put toilet paper in your ear?"..."Uh-e-uh.", he said. I looked and sure enough a tiny wad of toilet paper was in his ear, just far enough that if I tried to get it out, I would've shoved it in farther. So off to the doctor's office we go. I made him keep his head sideways the whole time so that gravity wouldn't make it go in further. $25 later and lots of giggling from all the staff (including the doctor)we left. That is some expensive t.p.! "Brayden, are you going to put things in your ear again?"..."No".

Yet another fine, but hot summer morning, the kids were watching another show, but there was no fighting over the tv this time, it was, "Who ate all the crackers?!?"..."Not me!...Yes you did!...No I didn't!...MOOOOMMMM!" I hear a sound like someone is choking and quickly ask, "Is everyone ok? Is anyone choking?"...."No..No...No..No." I think good...all four answered. Madi walks up to me and says, "Mom, I ate money." "What?!?" (hence the choking sound I heard) I quickly went to my wallet and took out a bunch of coins and told her to point to the type of coin she ate....of course she pointed to the quarter! Geez! (only I didn't say geez!) Called the doctor and went in. They said, "Well, there is nothing we can do, but we want an x-ray and you'll have to examine her bowel movements until it comes out." CRAP!!!! (Pun intended and I really did say that!). So I took her to get an x-ray and asked if they could tell what type of coin I was looking for, 'cause at this point who knows what I'm going to find!' They said that they couldn't tell. Thirty-six hours later, $225 out of pocket, and four rememberable experiences of bowel movement examinations later, out comes a bright and shiny penny!....A PENNY!!!! $225 for a penny!!!!...."Madi, are you going to put things that don't belong in your mouth anymore?"..."No".

UGH! School is finally here...... THANK...YOU!!!

Momma Mia!

It seems this momma bird was having a challenging summer like I was. Her kids were fighting and knocking each other around, they weren't always being very obedient and didn't always stay where they were supposed to. POW! POP!

So I decided to help my fellow momma out. I built guard rails so the kids couldn't fall out anymore. Here is a video of her grounding them, for all the scary scenarios they put her through. A few weeks later the baby bird learned to fly and would hang outside our window as if to say "thanks for saving my life". You're very welcome...now come and help me!

Happy 4th of July!

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