Abby the Science Kid

The 4th Grade has come with a whole new set of challenges.  We've been battling them as well as they have come.  New friends, new curriculum, new way the teacher requires cursive to be written (found that out the hard way when her spelling test came back with a low score and NOT because the words were misspelled!).  We've welcomed silly boys and their teasing, California Missions, G.A.T.E work, GPA's and not just plus and minus scores.  We thought we had 4th Grade in the bag.  After all it's more than half way through the year.  BUT NOOOOO.  It's Science Fair time!  As Abby is our oldest this is our first experience with doing a science experiment and all that it entails.  Oh man has it been a while since I've done this.

We are sure glad for the help of some great family and friends for help with this one.  A lot of food was consumed to make this possible.  I hope Aunt Tam's kitchen doesn't still smell like a food court! I sure hope I get an A!

Hogwarts Here!

So this week at the kids elementary school they celebrated reading by being able to dress up as their favorite storybook character.  If you know my kids, you don't even have to guess what they dressed up as.  It wouldn't have been possible without this years amazing Christmas gifts from Aunt Tammy who made the cloaks and Grandpa U who made the wands.  She also gave Walker the glasses and we found the ties and vest. 

Abby was the best Hermione because she had the hair to make puffy as she called it.  Walker has been growing out his hair and it all came together perfectly.  He even wanted to draw a scar on.  I think they really enjoyed their day.  Thanks to a great idea at a great Elementary school.

H&G

Hello and Goodbye!

Before I start telling the happenings of THIS year (I know, we are only 2 weeks in), I'll just do a short recap of last year.  And by short I mean just last month.  I'm too tired and have lots of other things going on to talk about all of last year and really, not much happened.

We spent our Holday's with family and this year was super extra special because we got to spend it with both sides.  That hasn't happened in about 4 years and that's a long time for me.  Just see for yourself how much we enjoyed ourselves....

To kick of the Holiday festivities we enjoyed the St. Philips Nativity story that all the children participated in.  I say all and I mean about 100 kids but one.  Can you guess who the ONE was?  Yep, my child.  Oh, don't get me wrong, he knew the songs and had been practicing for weeks all around the house but come the actual performance the kids was soooo excited that he just couldn't stand still on the risers.  Jumping and squirming too much and may or may not have grabbed the mic.  So the teacher pulled him off the third row and put him and the ground, by her side, away from ALL the other kids.  That was it for him.  Sad thing is it was about the 4 number in.  Regardless he as a cute little Donkey.  Granted at the time there may have been another word I may have been thinking of instead of Donkey.








We had some good times with the Watson's exchanging early Christmas presents then having a night of our annual (ok, we've done it twice but I'm sure it's here to stay.  It's pretty fun.) Navity reading/reenactment.  I'd like to give a shout out to the Dad who played Joseph.  No child chose that character simply because it didn't have a crown/staff/gift or anything "cool" to use.

Don't you just love the Twin Sheep?

Then we headed up to Utah for some much cooler weather, snow and more family.  Two out of three isn't bad.

We just chilled on "Big Red", my own name for the womb of comfort in the folks basement. It sleeps 4 kids comfortably!  It's the lenght of a twin bed! 

Ate, watched some T.V. and played THE BEST Wii game EVER,  ABBA dance baby!  Anyone care to dance with me?  Kids played on their new toys and men watched ball games.  Not sure if we ever got out of our pj's the entire time.

It was much needed R & R for what lies ahead in our next wild adventure!

What I will mention is that Cordell and I have had a tradition since the first year we were married that is we get chinese food on Christmas Eve (if we are not with family) or some time during Christmas break.  Not sure why but it happened and sort of stuck.  This year it was pretty fun because we got some good fortunes.

So to send us off in to the new year, Confusios says...

"You will soon be crossing great waters on a fun vacation."

Why I like to "craft"

This is from an article I've loved and have read often, shared with others and now a clip of it is in video form.  This is why I like to create, design or make things.  Why I do it for fun or for others.  I believe it's something each of us has deep within ourselves.  We all may not be the "crafty type" but I do believe we can all create something out of nothing.  If you've made lunch today then there's a start.

New Zealand!

North Island.  We'll be living South of Hamilton.

Our new home.  A lot of land, big trees and sheep.

So the word is out (or starting to get out I hear) that the Watson family is packing their bags and heading south, VERY far south to almost the end of the earth to live in New Zealand.  It is true!  Cordell has an opportunity to work in New Zealand in a small town as their Doctor for a few short months.  Short enough for us to be able to return back to our life here in California pretty easily but long enough for the kids to go to school there and get the full experience of New Zealand life.

We are really excited for this adventure and time to take our family to a new place, to learn a new culture and a new way of life.  It will be hard to leave some of our responsibilities and our lives here but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we feel blessed to be able to experience.

So I guess we'll see you all later.

Dear Santa,

The bird's been eaten, the pies have been consumed and the pants have been stretched beyond any safety limit so what does that mean? Bring on the CHRISTMAS MUSIC! Get out the DECORATIONS, start eating the TREATS and in my kids case, get your LISTS made STAT!

Walker has made quite the work on this years list leaving nothing behind and I mean NOTHING! I think this kid has been thinking about it ALL year long. "Hmmm, think what do I want...(scribble scribble, scratch scratch as smoke starts coming from his paper). You know that scene from "A Christmas Story" where Ralphy using his decoder to find the secret code from Little Orphan Annie. He's working away so intently with his little tongue moving around and his fingers moving so fast. Ya' that was Walker writing down his Christmas list. And after a little while and days of adding to his list he ended up with 4 pages of items and this is some of what he came up with. I sure hope Santa can deliver. Or someone!

• Harry Potter DS Game
•  T.V. for my room
• Remote Control Shark
• Lawn Darts
• Electronic Chop Sticks
• Fake Mustache
• A Band
• Round Harry Potter Glasses
• Plastic Sword
• Spoons
• Creepy Crawlers
• Church Vest and Coat
• Baseball Bat (not wood)
• Flashlight that never EVER brakes
• Paint for my room
• Colored Paper
• Clown nose, hair and shirt
• Mail box
• Giant bowl of apples
• Target to throw rocks at
• 3 large trees (to plant in the back yard)
• Pocket knife for camping
• Balloons
• Harry Potter Wand (wood please)
• 3 tree houses to put in the trees we plant (see above)
• Kindle fire 
• 500 dollars, 50 or 100

I say that's a pretty good list. With a broad list like this I'm sure he won't be disappointed. This is also coming from the same kid who a few years ago sat on Santa's lap at the mall and whispered in Santa's ear that all he wanted was an eye patch. Guess what he got in his stocking that year.....

On the Up and Up

I knew it wouldn’t take long.  Well, at the time I did but looking back I guess it really didn’t take too long to get out of that sad funk I was in. 

What was it that got me out of it and so quickly?  It was YOU!  A lot of phone calls, texts, sweet visits all from very dear friends and more specifically, a little bit of this:

Thanks for caring.  Thanks for sharing your advice, your music, your time and more importantly your solid heart.  A liquid has been made in to a solid!

I love you all so very much!