First Day of School!

Tuesday was Brianna and McKayla's first day at school. Brianna started 2nd grade and McKayla started first. I got to start a daily ritual that includes 4 trips to the school! Kindergarten and 1-5 grades do not start or end at the same time! Poor Courtney, I think she will soon tire of the constant in and out of the car she has to do! We have to walk McKayla to class and pick her up at her classroom, so that is even extra walking for Courtney!

Oh well. All in all, it was a great 1st day and the girls seem to have some great kids in their classes and great teachers. McKayla was so excited about starting school that she couldn't stop smiling. Today she had homework and couldn't wait to get started. I've been told that McKayla's teacher is the best Kindergarten teacher in the world by just about everyone in town. So far, on day 2, she hasn't let me down. Brianna is in a class with all new kids because we changed tracks this year. This time she has 12 girls in her class instead of just 5! I've heard that these girls are really nice, so I'm excited for her to make some great new friends.

Backyard Update

Well, we continue to add plants to our yard. This spring I planted 80 trees and shrubs. However, the big project was the cedar patio cover we built. We stained the wood to match the trim of our house. It turned out great! It is amazing how much we enjoy sitting outside now. We get afternoon shade anyway, but the extra bit of privacy you feel when sitting there is wonderful!

Summer Vacation

In July we headed up to Oregon for a 2 week family vacation. We stopped off in San Francisco for two days so that Chris could do some business before we headed further north. We stayed at a Courtyard Marriot near Fisherman's Wharf. The girls had a great time swimming almost all day long. We were on the 17th floor of the hotel and Courtney kept going over to the window at night to look at the lights. She loved "Cisco." The next day before hitting the road we went on a tour of Alcatraz!

For some reason, McKayla has had this fascination with "going to the dungeon." She even voiced her plan if Mom was to ever have to go to the "dungeon." She says, "Grandma and Grandpa can come and take care of us. Then we can go and visit you through the little window!" I assured her that I would never do anything that would make me go to jail. She replied, "Well, maybe someone else would do something bad and say you did it!" ......

So, McKayla particularly liked this trip. The audio tour is amazing. The sound effects and narration by former prisoners and guards were very well done. The tour took 3 hours, but not once were the kids bored.

Next we enjoyed some time at my parent's home. Chris and I went golfing. We also got to enjoy a real rainstorm and a classic Eugene Emeralds Baseball game.

At my parent's cabin we met up with all of Chris' family for a reunion. We hadn't seen Greg and his family for 3 years, so it was great to see how big all the kids had gotten. The cousins all had a wonderful time playing together and the weather was wonderful, not a bit of wind! For the Oregon Coast, that is a huge deal!

After the Thomas gang left, my parents and Brent and his family came out for the 4th of July. Chris and I went to dinner for our Anniversary and noticed that there was a pie eating contest taking place in Old Town on the 4th. We convinced my dad to sign up, and even got Chris and Brent to join in as well. They were a huge hit. The crowd all sided with "Grandpa" and even were cheering, "Go Grandpa Go!" I think he ate like 6 pieces of pie in 2 minutes! However, Chris and Brent gave him quite a run for his money. Unfortunately, everyone was so focused on Grandpa that Chris ended up losing some time as he had to wait to get more pie!

Point Loma Lighthouse

On Memorial Day we ventured down to San Diego to see Point Loma. We toured the lighthouse and Cabrillo National Monument, then hiked down to the shore to see some tidepools. These tidepools were nothing like the ones in Oregon, but the kids were just as fascinated by them. On the way home we stopped at Solana Beach so the girls could do a bit of swimming in the waves. All in all it was a great day.

La Brea Tar Pits

We heard about the tar pits and decided to take a trip and see them for ourselves. They were very interesting. The place was rather stinky and tar was oozing up all over the place. We had to watch our step if we ventured off of the sidewalks! The girls like the adventure and Courtney especially liked the movie showing the animals getting stuck in the tar millions of years ago. Archeologists are still recovering thousands of bones from these pits dating back to prehistoric times. It is pretty amazing.

1st Grade Field Trip

Each grade gets one field trip a year and I was able to go with Brianna's class on her big field trip to Riley's Farm where they learned about pioneer life. I have been volunteering in her class all year and it was fund to go and just have fun with the kids. They were all SO good on this trip!!! The picture at the top is Brianna and her best friend Megan.

What I learned at General Conference/The kids are really listening!

So I have discovered the truth in the idea that our kids really do learn something by watching General Conference--even when they are 4 years old. Now, we only make our kids sit through the Sunday Morning session, but they generally are around for the others too.

Anyway, ever since conference McKayla has a favorite saying, "I'VE LOST MY CTR RING AND I CAN'T CHOOSE THE RIGHT!" Then she starts giggling. She even knows the whole story that goes along with the quote! Thankfully, she thinks it's really funny and knows it's not a valid excuse for doing something wrong.

I must note that during this story she had snuck over and was playing with legos with Courtney (the only one allowed to play with toys during that session, at least for the first hour). We didn't think she was actually listening! What a thing to absorb!

ULV Dinner Gala

One of the perks of Chris' job is that he, in behalf of the company, gets to make large donations to the colleges and universities they manage. Often it means he gets to gather a foursome for a golf tournament. But, once a year we get invited to the President's Dinner Gala at the University of La Verne. This is a VERY NICE event held for all of their sponsors. This last year they took our picture. It is a rare occasion that we actually get a nice picture taken, so I thought I'd include this one.

Goofy Teeth

The last time we went to Chuck-e-Cheese, McKayla picked out a set of goofy teeth as one of her prizes. Well, these teeth have been a big hit and Chris and his dad thought it would be hilarious if we all got a set and wore them on the roller coaster when we got our picture taken. So, the night before we went to Disneyland Chris and his dad went all over town in search of some of these teeth. The ones they found weren't as good as McKayla's, but they did the job. This is the first attempt we took at a crazy picture along with some others that I snapped of the video screen with our photo on it. They had a great time wearing those teeth all over the park. They got some pretty interesting looks from other people too! It's amazing how teeth affect your total appearance.

BRIANNA TURNS 7!

It is hard to believe that Brianna is already turning 7 years old. Time goes by so quickly! For her birthday she requested that her Grandma and Grandpa Thomas come down and go to Disneyland with us. So, that's what happened! She was very excited because she was finally able to "fly" her own rocketship on one of the rides. (you have to be 7 years old) She also wanted a new 20 inch bike, and she got that too. So, I think she'll agree it was a pretty great birthday. She even got to skip school to go to Disneyland! I spent most of the morning on Saturday constructing a 6 layer princess castle cake for our party at home. It turned out pretty good and it tasted yummy!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I failed to mention that Chris and I weren't the only ones who had fun while we were on our little excursion. Our girls, who we left behind, had a blast! Their grandma and grandpa let them have way too much fun. Grandpa was an amazingly good sport at letting the girls use their make-up on him. And, I'm afraid my girls really like to pose for the camera! I think the pictures tell it all.

Fourth in Line

Well, I'm supposed to be going to bed, as I just finished choreographing my newest aerobics routine for aerobics on Thursday (Chris got an IPOD for Christmas and has been collecting music like crazy and we finally have something that has come out in the last 10 years! That's how outdated our collection was! So, good-by oldies and hello today's hits!)

Anyway, I quickly checked my e-mail and somehow realized that I hadn't put any pictures of Courtney in my blog lately. . .

So I have this yellow dress and hat that I had my pictures taken in when I was 2 years old. When Brianna and McKayla turned 2 they also had their pictures taken in it. Well, when Courtney turned 2, life was a bit busier and I just barely got them taken! I didn't even go to a studio, I just opted to take them at home. Somehow I just didn't feel up to the whole ordeal. Anyway, the pictures turned out cute. Here is a couple. I'll try to scan the other girls' photos in and add them later.

New Hairstyles

We had haircut day this week.

Brianna got her first "real" haircut by a professional. We decided to try some layers. McKayla decided she wanted to try out something different as well and wanted me to straighten her hair with the blow dryer. The results look pretty good, I think. I got my haircut as well, and McKayla took a chance at trying out the camera for herself. After many attempts (Thank you digital cameras) she got some shots with my head in the pictures.

Brianna is hoping that for once maybe she'll get attention about her hair instead of McKayla. It's hard on her because EVERYWHERE we go someone always comments on McKayla's red hair.

Another Cute Quote

We were walking into the church today to exercise with the ladies and there were hoses all over the floor from the cleaning group. McKayla wondered why everything from the classrooms was in the hallways and asked what was going on. When I told her she replied:

"WHY CAN'T JESUS CLEAN HIS OWN HOUSE?"

This kid just keeps coming up with them!

A moment to treasure

Last night as I was puting Courtney to bed, McKayla showed the greatest bit of love for her little sister. Courtney would not settle down. She has graduated to a big bed, and she doesn't always cooperate now. Anyway, one of my tactics is that if they don't lay down for bed and stay in bed they get one toy taken away. It hasn't been used much, but it tends to work. Courtney has this puppy that she loves and she sleeps with it every night. Well, when she wouldn't lay down, even after reminders about the toy, I took it and walked out of the room and closed the door. I was standing by the door, waiting for Courtney to decide to cooperate. Courtney can't open doors and she was struggling to get it open and crying heavily. McKayla quickly came to her rescue saying, "Don't worry Courtney, I'll help you." I sent McKayla back to bed and McKayla, struggling to hold back her own tears, said, "Don't take away her Rosie! She needs it to sleep! It's her special puppy!" She was so worried for her sister, I was very touched. My girls argue, like all sisters I guess. But, to see her stick up for her like that and be so genuinely concerned was wonderful. I never intended to keep her puppy, I just was going to hang onto it until she layed down in her bed. It worked, she settled down and didn't get up again. After I left I heard McKayla singing her a lullaby....

"NO More Diapers for me. And I feel great, I am proud of me!"

So this post is a bit late, but the week before we left on our trip to Thailand (the first week of January) Courtney decided she didn't want to wear diapers any more! Hooray. It took only 2 days and she was pretty much accident free and could go potty on demand.

She got some motivation from a book she got for Christmas called, "The Potty Book for Girls." The title of this post is a quote from the end of the book that Courtney loves to repeat. It's pretty darn cute. I gave the rest of our diapers to Brianna's teacher (his 12 month old wears the same size as she did!), and we are now free from diapers. Life is great!

Disney Princesses: A Dream Come True

We just bought annual passes to Disneyland and this week I took my girls by myself! They were dying to dress up in their costumes and visit, so I let them. It was a great photo opportunity. My girls loved meeting the princesses. Courtney is usually afraid of meeting the different characters, but when we saw them she walked right up to each one and gave them a giant hug. It was so precious! The princesses were very nice and made her feel so special, and the other girls too. It was a great time.

Cute quote of the month!

Well, I haven't been very good at keeping track of the cute things my kids say lately. But, here is a good one from McKayla. She and Brianna were playing doctor and she proclaimed that her name was "Doctor Incovenants." Anyone from church will recognize that name!

An update about our "worst Christmas ever"

Well for those of you who heard about our Christmas events (and those who didn't) here's a recap. On Christmas morning, like most kids, Brianna woke up very early (I think 4 a.m.?) wanting to go see what Santa brought. We let her peek and then sent her back to bed. She made several trips back to our room to see if we could get up yet until finally we obliged at 6:30. We were all looking over the loot and getting ready to open presents when Brianna said her tummy hurt and she thought she was going to throw up.

She ended up in the bathroom for 1/2 an hour. We'd ask her if she was ok and she said she was. After a while we became concerned and I went into the bathroom. She was staring off into the corner and had thrown up. Her behavior was odd, but she was still answering questions and was aware of what was going on. She had uncoordinated motor skills and continued to stare off to the side. She wanted to lay down, so we let her lay on the couch while we opened presents and wondered what was going on with her. It was like a terrible flu suddenly hit her.

Her condition slowly deteriorated to the point that she was no longer responsive and was chewing on the inside of her cheek and drooling. We called 911. When the paramedics arrived she was in bad shape and we were all very scared. They weren't sure what was going on and after injecting her with all sorts of things they took her to the emergency room. Chris rode along and he said that at one point they yelled a "code red" and turned on the lights and sped ahead.

Her body was acting a bit seizure like when the paramedics arrived and so they gave her some anti-seizure medication in the ambulance. That brought her out of it and she eventually fell asleep. When she woke up about an hour later she was her normal self and wanted the needles out of her and wanted to go home! The doctor concluded that she probably had a seizure, which, from the time we found her in the bathroom until she came out of it, lasted two hours!

She underwent a cat scan among many other tests and was cleared to go home that afternoon. We were so glad she was back to normal and didn't have to stay overnight in the hospital. We tried to have a normal Christmas day. But, the trauma and scare of the morning couldn't go away. We just were very confused about what brought this on and what exactly had happened. Brianna proclaimed that afternoon, on the way back from the hospital, that this was, "my worse Christmas ever!" We agreed.

Well, two weeks later she had an EEG and follow-up with a neurologist and it turns out she has epilepsy. During the 30 minute EEG she had dozens of very short seizures. (The EEG was done while she was asleep. To assure that she slept she was only allowed to have 4 hours of sleep the night before! That was a major challenge. I stayed up with her and we "partied" until 1:00 a.m. and Chris woke up with her at 5:00 a.m. She stayed up better than I did as I loaded her with sugar and caffeine. Morning was a different story!)

The doctor said that she likely has been having these brief seizure episodes in her brain for a while, they just never lasted long enough before to have any outward effect on her body. The episode she had at Christmas was a series of many seizures that got progressively more intense and longer in duration. This explains why she was able to communicate with us off and on. This is likely something that she will grow out of when her brain finishes growing, closer to adolescence. She is now on medication twice a day and will continue to take it for the next 3 years at a minimum. We have emergency procedures set up at school and medication there and at home in the event she has a seizure.

It has been a very scary and unexpected turn of events in our lives. Brianna is taking it well and has even talked about it with a few of her friends. We are grateful that she is physically healthy and has not had a problem with recurring seizures. So far she hasn't had anything noticeable since Christmas. She has had to have many blood tests as we try to get the medication levels right and she's actually been really good about getting those done!

We are grateful everything has turned out o.k. Christmas morning was a very scary time for us and we came home from the hospital with a great realization of how much we love her and how grateful we are to have her in our family. When I went to bed that night I layed down in her bed with her and snuggled her for a long time. We didn't have any answers at that point and I was afraid that it was going to happen again. I didn't want to leave her alone. Christmas this year was a day I hope we never go through again.

Anyway, all is well and life goes on. We made our trip to Thailand after reassurance from the doctor there was no reason to cancel or postpone. Her grandparents took very good care of her for us. We continue to pray that she will continue to be fine and will grow out of this condition. Prayers for her from our friends and family are appreciated as well.