Tumbling for Emerie

Emerie has been begging to take a class of some sort! Maddie is in piano and dance and Taylor is in piano and hockey. Emerie wasn't in anything! And by darn she reminded me all the time so we had to find something that would fit into our schedule and be fun for her! We found this tumbling class on Saturday mornings and she said she wanted to try it! She loved it!

Emerie trying to do a handstand.

Emerie doing the 'Crab Walk'.

Emerie jumping around.

Payton Sleeps in 'Big Girl' Bed!

We have debated about when to take our little 'caboose' out of her crib! Since she is the last one there is no hurry but we thought we would try out the bigger bed and see how she did. She did GREAT! She was so excited! She got right in and asked to have the light turned off!! WOW!! Then I heard a few peeps last night but she never got out of her bed till 7am this morning!! This might be easier than I thought!! We will have to see how she does over the next few nights and also how her naps go but I think we are off to a good start!! Yeah Payton!! :)

She still uses the binkie so that will be our next challenge!! ;)

Bittersweet News!!

Well, here in Flagstaff charter schools are really popular! In fact, in our neighborhood, we are the only ones to go to public school!! And that is because when we moved here all the charter schools, and all the other better public schools, were already full and not accepting any new students!!

For Middle Schoool there is a GREAT charter school called NPA (Northland Prepatory Academy). Well, it is very popular and therefore there are many people who try to get in each year. This year is the biggest year so far with 159 applications for 7th grade with only 70 spots available! And 34 of those 70 spots went to siblings! (Siblings of current students get preference.) That left 36 spots and 125 applicants!

Well, Maddie and her friends all turned in their applications about 3 weeks ago and they had the lottery last week! Madison got in!! But...her two friends did not! So when Maddie found out she was ecstatic!! Then her happiness turned to tears when she found out neither Sarah or Emily got in!! So we have a big decision to make! Have Madison keep her spot (which then guarantees that Taylor, Emerie and Payton will get to go there) or give it up and have her go to FMS--Flagstaff Middle School--with her two friends!?

Madison is sad because currently she doesn't go to school with her friends. They both go to a charter school. She is nervous about starting over at another new school! It is hard because NPA is rated in the top 100 High Schools in the nation (by US News and World Report)! We'll keep you posted...

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Emerie and Taylor 'making cards' with Grandma!

**I know this is a little belated but:

10 Things I love about my mom:

1) She has always been an optimist!
2) She loves my kids and loves to spend time with them!
3) She will help anyone in need!
4) She is always up for anything! Go here, go there, come see this, come help with that...
5) She is a WONDERFUL cook!! She can cook anything! I wish my kids ate as well as I did as a kid!
6) She is the best organizer! You need something organized--she's the gal!! She should start her own business!!
7) She is very giving! (Of her time as well!)
8) She can make anyone feel special!!
9) She is the best mom ever!!
10) She loves me and my family very much!! :)

Taylor made this card for Grandma:

Payton Helps Grandma Make Bread

I keep forgetting to post these pictures (as well as others) from our St. George trip over New Years! Payton loves to 'help' and so Grandma let her have her own piece of dough and she was all serious about copying the way Grandma kneaded and formed the dough!

Sidenote: I actually tried to make my mom's yummy roll recipe right after we got home and it tanked!! I had tried to put all the ingredients right into my bread maker (like I always do with my current recipe) but it didn't work! The dough was lumpy and it didn't really rise so I had rocks for rolls! (They went in the garbage!) So I called Grandma and had her tell me step by step how to do so they come out just right!! So yesterday I attempted it again and they were heavenly!! I guess it is all about following the steps in order!! :)

"Jail"

Our sweet little Emerie never ceases to leave us speechless!! On our trip home from St. George for the New Year's holiday Emerie kept unbuckling to try to reach a game that she had dropped. After telling her over and over to get back in her seat and buckle up, we decided to pull-over and get it done ourself! She was scared at the look on Mom and Dad's face (we were just a tad irritated) as we came to buckle her in ourself! She looked out the window and said, "Is this jail? I don't want to go to jail!"

I looked at her kind of surprisingly and then looked at the building we had stopped in front of. She, of course, would notice the 'bars' on the windows! --It was an old abandoned building on the reservation!

We (Mom and Dad) couldn't stop laughing our heads off!! Only Emmie would think of that! ;)

I had to take a picture of it to get the full effect!