Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Sydnee!!

Sydnee's last day at Highland Elementary. Next year she will be in the 6th grade at Clear Creek Middle School! Sydnee received 4 awards for her academics in Reading, Math and Science. She improved all of her scores on the state tests and met or exceeded in each area. Math she improved more than 7 points and was honored for that! Sydnee had a fabulous 5th grade year in Ms. Johnson's class.
The last day of school the 5th graders got to walk to Skateworld for their end of school year field trip. As you can see the weather was not so lovely!
Maddy did not have school that day due to Parent Teacher Conferences so she joined us on the field trip.

Aren't they cute with their skates on!!
Their favorite part.. getting an icee!
I took a lot of pictures of the girls skating and they were getting mad at me for doing so. I just can't help it!
The first day of no school! Yay, the sun came out!!!
Sydnee bought a cruiser and a helmet with her birthday money! I think she will have a blast riding it around this summer!
The unfortunate part is now she is the only one with a bike. All of the others are in need of a new tire tube or a seat. Sydnee likes to have someone right beside her doing things or it is no fun! I will have to check craigs list for any cheap cruisers for sale!!

Presley!!

So school has been out for 2 weeks now for Presley. This is a picture of her the first day of summer! Presley had a great 2nd grade year. Her teachers Mrs. Heath and Ms. Conan were awesome! Presley excelled in all of her school work. She received 4 medals for the Math club and also a certificate for reading more than 90% of the school year! She excited to have a fun summer before she starts the 3rd grade.Had to throw this one in of her at the parade wearing a pair of Sierra's shades!

The Rose Festival Parade June 12th, 2010

Thank you Grandma Judy for taking all of the kids to the parade! They loved it! Sierra looks forward to it every year! This is one thing she does not complain about getting up early on a Saturday for! Their cousin Brady, came up from Arizona and spent the weekend with Grandma and hung with everyone at the parade!Sierra also brought a friend, Cassie, in this photo is: Sierra, Brady, Maddy, Cassie, Cole, Sydnee and Presley on the Burnside bridge.
Ta dah!!!

They had fun with the chalk....

all of my kids came home a bit kissed by the sun, which finally decided to make a full on appearance. I failed to put sunscreen on them and they all paid the price.
Thanks again Grandma! We love you and we had sooo much fun!!!!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Shoulda Been at Football Practice!

So Tuesday June 8th, starts like most any other day....Cole asks if he can go riding at the MX Track after school. I ask him if he has completed all of his microtypes for his Bridges class. He sadly tells me not quite. So I tell him he needs to stay after school and finish them. He relunctantly agrees. I also told him that after that he needs to go to Football practice. They are already conditioning every day after school. Well 2:23pm arrives and Cole calls me. Mom I completed my microtypes during lunch can I please go riding at the Track... I told him no that he neded to go to football because I was going to be helping Sierra make a pinata for one of her class projects. He relunctantly said.. OKAY! Well then 5 minutes later he calls me back and says he doesn't feel like going to Football today, and he will go tomorrow. I battled with him to stay and he said his stomach was still not feeling 100%. (he had a 24 hour stomach flu the day before) By this time Sierra was already home so he walked home. While Sierra and I dipped strips of torn newspaper into the flour and water mixture, Cole got out his motorcycle in the back yard. He got on it, started it up.. reved the motor a few times, then turned it off. The next thing I hear is "That's Disgusting!" I looked at Sierra and we both asked him "what's disgusting?"
See, we were up on the deck and he was down below and we could not quite see what had happened. I went down the stairs and I see blood dripping down his leg. As I get closer i am realizing how deep it is. I had him sit down, he wanted to go in and shower.. insisting that it was not that bad! UHHHH, no buddy.. I am calling your Dad. As Cole sat there and looked at it he became very pale and more sick to his stomach. I told him to not look at it.
As I am looking at it, I am thinking "where is the skin?" It appears to be missing!
After calling Steven, I called the Pediatrician. They told me to bring him right in.
We got to the Pediatricians office by 4:30pm, they got him right in.
I asked the Dr. what that chunk was hanging out on the left, he said "fatty tissue, looks like we found the only fat he has in his body!" His Doctor came right in and after tugging at what skin was left he then sent us right over the ER
So here we are now in the Legacy Mt. Hood Emergency Room. They got Cole in a room with in 15 minutes. I looked at the clock and it is now 5:30pm. I was commenting on how quick they got him in a room and Steven says "I waited 3 more hours from the time they put me in a room!" I was like ohhhh.... well I guess we have some waiting time. No more than 2 minutes later in walked the Doctor!
A couple different nurses came in and cleaned and flushed out the wound with alot of liquid, preped it for the Doctor! The Doctor, Dr. Samuel Richard had him all stitched up before 6:40pm! The nurses were so nice and witty! Dr. Richard was a very kind man.I think it all went pretty quickly considering!
Here it is all stitched up. BTW I did video the Dr. stitching him up. During which I did get a bit queezy and had to sit down for a bit. All of that tugging and pulling got to me. He had to cut out 2 chunks of dead skin and really had to pull the remaining skin down to meet up with the other side. So The Dr. put 3 stitches inside the wound and then 10 on the outside! A total of 13 stitches!
If you look at it from a different angle it is in the shape of a "C" I told Cole I should use a sharpie and write the rest of his name!
Wednesday morning I was cleaning it and getting ready to redress it before he went to school and you can see the bruising around it now.
After he went to school, I decided to go look at his Motorcycle foot peg and see if any of his missing skin was on it! Sure enough, there it was! So, since I have a backwards brain, I am realizing I never did say exactly what he had done. His motorcycle is tall and heavy and has no kickstand, so when he goes to get off (usually wearing the proper riding gear and boots) he holds onto the handle bars then jumps off to one side so when he comes down all of his weight is going down. He happened to catch the side of his leg on the foot peg. can I just say OUCH!!!
The weather forcast around here has not been to kind, but they are predicting 80's for this weekend. Perfect for riding on the MX Track! But The Doctor said absolutely no sports or extra caricular physical activities for 2 weeks! OUCH!! AGAIN! He has already been scheming on how he can go riding this saturday. "MOM, I promise I will put on the shin guards and wear all of the extra pads that go in my riding gear!" Cole just doesn't realize that that is not enough. All of that stuff will rub against his stitches and further irritate it or make it worse. I feel just terrible that this freak accident happened. But if he would have listened to me in the first place he would have been at Football practice and not home playing with his bike! Tough Love! Gotta admire that he thinks he is invincible!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Wednesday May 26th to Wednesday June 2nd, 2010

So Finally we had the proper papers and documents and Cole received his Driver's Permit!! Woop Woop! He even looks happy!!So I let him drive home! I have to say I was a bit nervous but he drove very well. He is very verbal at reading signs and talking about his surroundings. Great Job Cole!!
Sierra came home with an award for Exceeding on the Oaks State Math Test! Way to go Sierra! This is no small task... I am very proud of her and her academics!

Wednesday Evening for Young Women's, I was on my own ( meaning no other leaders) So I taught the girls how to make cinnamon rolls.
The girls did a great job rolling them out. I was very impressed!

While they were raising the girls got their groove on! Madison Taylor brought her iPod and dock and they had a good time. After they came out of the oven they frosted them with Cream cheese frosting! If you look at Madison she made a mustache with the frosting.
The aroma filled the building and we had many visitors coming in asking for a cinnamon roll. The girls were very generous and shared. I have to say I was just so impressed how well they did!
Thursday May 27th, Sydnee's 5th grade class was chosen to draw abstract art on the walls at the Aspen Highland Park directly next to the school. They were interviewed by the local news channels about the graffitti problems that have plagued the park for years. Surveys show that if the walls have art, they are far less likely to be vandalized or tagged with graffitti. They each got to draw their own design.
With all of the rain that we have had, it has been difficult to get to work on the project. Thursday the weather was dry long enough for them to start on their paint.
This is Sydnee's design... an abstract elephant. I am Looking forward to seeing the finish art! If the stinkin' rain would stop!!!
Friday May 28th, Road trip to The Coast!
As soon as I got all of the other kids off to school, Maddy and I rode with Steven to check on a few jobs he has going on in Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside.
Steven wasn't feeling too great.. thanks to me for giving him my cold. (sorry) So he ask us to ride along too keep him company. Maddy didn't have school and was not too excited to spend her day off in a truck.
It is not even 9 am and Steven is already snacking on Cheezits.. nice teeth ey!
Maddy and I entertained ourselves with whatever we could find in the truck. Safety glasses photo session... aren't we hot! (me not)
We finally arrive in Astoria.. it has been raining on us the whole drive.. no fun!
This town is a very pretty place to visit, especially when the sun is shinning.
This is the Bridge that connects Astoria, Oregon to Ilwaco, Washington. It is right at the mouth of the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific Ocean. It is just beautiful. Today... not so much. Wet and gloomy.
After Steven checked on the job in Warrenton, he treated us to Dairy Queen.


What's DQ with out a Blizzard!

His next stop was the Job Corps in Astoria, while we were waiting in the truck a deer came up grazing on the grass.

It was almost 6:30 pm by the time we got back home. It was a long day in the Truck. Thanks Maddy for giving up your day off and riding with us. :)
Saturday May 29th, 2010 Memorial Weekend Tournament in Newberg, Oregon
Our Riptide Girls came and played hard! They won both their games on Saturday and won their Pool, which placed them in the Gold Bracket for Sundays games.
Being that it is a Holiday Weekend a couple of our Maddies were gone so we only had 2 there. Maddie Huff and Maddy Lindhorst! The 2 rock stars!!
Sierra came for the donuts. Not really but it was a good incentive!
Presley loves to wear Maddy's sweatshirt at the games. It's a bit big on her but I think that is why she like it so much!
Maddy is lead batter so she always starts off with a drag bunt. On Sunday during their 2nd game it was 3rd inning and Maddy Hit a triple with 2 girls on base, double RBI and then in the 5th inning she hit a double with 2 girls on base, again a double RBI. They played the Dragon Flys from Battle Ground, WA. A second year 12U team that had up to this game, gone undefeated and shut out all other teams in their past 3 tournaments. We won 9 to 6!!She batted 1000 this tournament. Way to go Maddy!
The weather could not make up its mind. We were thinking that the Tounament was going to be cancelled because it rained so much Friday and it was still drizzling Saturday Morning... but somehow Newberg managed to not get it so bad and games started on time. The fields were a bit muddy for the first game but dried out as the day went on.
By Sunday it was sunny and warm.... Sierra staying hydrated between games.
And well rested too!
The Weather however did not hold out for the girls 3rd game, which happened to be for the Championship. Up to this point the girls had gone undefeated and played amazing! The rain came in and they played in the drizzle. we all got under umbrellas and cheered for our girls to hold on for the win. They ended up taking 2nd Place! Pretty dang good for a 1st year 12U team! They lost 4 to 7, but they played their hearts out and left it all on the field.
Hey being #2 is pretty dang great!!! It was a fun weekend and a blast to watch the Riptide girls play so well.
Tuesday June 1st, 2010
Well here it is... Cole finally got to take his bike to the track. After school he called me and asked if they had cancelled the track for the day yet... I said nope not yet... but it is starting to rain. He still wanted to go. After 4 hours this is what he came back looking like.....

He said it was all worth it! His riding gear went straight into the wash... his bike, well he got the big chunks of mud off. He only went down 3 times. The track was a big mosh pit. He said the ruts were like sink holes... but still worth it!

Wednesday June 2nd, 2010 The Mathletes reward Field trip to the Bowling Alley!!!
Presley worked so hard all year long on extra math packets and earned medals for her achievements. All of the students that received at least 4 medals were rewarded with A field trip to the Bowling Alley. I had 8 students in my group.

Presley loves to bowl!!!
For lunch we ate pizza and pop!
Here is my group of 2nd graders
Nardeen, Monica, Presley, Sierra, Angel, Andrew, Pablo & Gerald!
They were all exceptional bowlers with the bumpers on. Presley got a couple strikes and so did a couple of the other kids.. their excitement is so fun to watch! I had a great time Bowling and I know they sure did! I would have to say that that was the noisiest Bus ride I have ever been on. They let the kids pick what soda they wanted for lunch and most of the boys chose Mt. Dew. I tried to encourage them to chose a different kind but they had their minds made up. The one little girl Nardeen had her hands over her ears the whole ride back to the school because it was way too loud for her.