Maren's Bandaids

I think you have learned from all the previous posts that Maren has an addiction to sticky things...here she is after biting her lip and doctored herself...

the bonk on her head was another incident...we had multiple bandaids on that one for days as well...in case you are wondering-the bandaids are hidden and placed up high...she just climbed the shelves to find them so I figured it was much safer to let her have them.

Connor Receives Presidential Award

We received a letter last week inviting us to attend a special brunch at the Junior High in honor of those receiving the Presidential award...maintaining 3 years on the Honor Roll and above the 85th percentile (Nation Wide) on their CORE tests.
Here is a picture of Connor receiving his award...it was awarded by his counselor, the man with the beard is the other counselor and then Mr. Marchant the Principal.

The award included a certificate signed by the President of the United States, A letter from the President of the United States, a Presidential Academics pin and a shirt from the High School. Here is Connor with the Principal...

Now with his certificate...

This is a picture of the entire group that received the same award...all 9th graders! It was great to see some of Connor's best buddies (boys and girls) in this group! Connor is third from the right and next to him is his best buddy Josh :0

One more!

Congratulations Connor!

Surprise to Me!

This is how my husband came home from work on Friday! Was I mad...pretty much (I'm just being honest!) He knows I hate his hair short...but he loves it short! So to explain this and give him credit, this is the whole story...Jeff teaches elementary school. The students participated in a fund raiser...it was a walk-a-thon. The students got sponsors to donate for every lap they walked. The goal was $5000. As motivation (last year they didn't earn very much), different teachers volunteered to do different/funny things for different levels of earnings. The reading teachers did a 80's lipsync for the first $1000. Some of the other teachers got pies thrown in their faces for $2000-$3000. The principal covered his face with shaving cream and got cheetos thrown at him (sticking to the shaving cream) for $4000. If they reached their goal of $5000, Jeff said he would shave his head. Like I said before, they didn't raise much last year so he wasn't too worried. Well the final fund raising was ...$8000! He was the grand finale of the assembly-all the others did their thing as the amounts were announced. They had even arranged for a beautician to come and shave it- the kids were all chanting "Shave It Off"... for him it is no big deal-it's just hair, it will grow back. I don't think he realizes the implications for me. Some of you might remember 9 years ago when he had cancer and was bald for about 7 months while going through chemo...when he walked in I was just sick...I remember him mentioning to me weeks before that he was thinking of that as an option...I just wasn't prepared when he walked in...we even had people at church asking to make sure he wasn't doing chemo again...His coloring is much better than during chemo, but I told him no more surprises like that!

What was he thinking!???

My Baby, Maren, is 3!

Maren chose princess tableware for her special dinner...the boys were pretty good to eat with pink princess plates, napkins and cups :)

Here are her balloons...some of her favorites...Sesame Street, Princesses and one that says Happy Birthday..we couldn't find balloons with Tink.

Cheyenne decorated and set the table for her

Here she is eating her requested meal...homemade hamburger and fries...wearing her crown of course.

Here are the PINK presents...can you guess her favorite color?

Her first gift...a Tinkerbell backpack...she has carried it everywhere full of her other gifts!

When we got to the new clothes...she would make comments like Oh, or cute, but would immediately go for the stickers on them...

Collecting more stickers...

pulling off more stickers...

not one piece of clothing went without sticker removal...we couldn't move on to the next gift until all the stickers were taken off the clothes.

This is the first place she puts her stickers when she gets them

more clothes = more stickers

and the shorts too...of course

cute outfit...notice there are no stickers.

Annicha volunteered to hold her sticker so she could pull the next one off

More cute clothes...

Maren covered in the stickers...

Here they all are...

Maren eats sleeps and breathes Dora the Explorer...so here she is on her cake

Maren blowing out the candles...

I didn't get a picture...but Grandpa and Grandma brought over some dress-up shoes later that evening...she's been clacking all over our house in them!
Grandpa and Grandma Stephens were out of town, but gave her the Leapster games and then brought her lunch when they got back...
Happy Birthday Maren! We sure love you...you provide so much comic relief, hugs and kisses, and just blow us away with how smart you are, how big your vocabulary is, how much you notice and that you remember everything!

Cheyenne Was Initiated By Her Brother

Connor wanted to initiate his little sister and her friends in his own way...so he got a little help from his parents and a good friend.
Here is McKay, Savannah and Cheyenne...eating ice cream blind folded...the first stop on their adventure...

Maddie and Allie

Here are their abductors...Connor and McKayla...they had a great time!

After ice cream...we went to a friends field...there they encountered a zombie, a gorilla and a crazy guy with a chain saw on their way to find the vehicle to take them home! They all had a good time!

Maren's First Dentist Visit

Maren couldn't wait to visit the dentist ! I think she was excited because her brothers and sisters always come out with new toothbrushes, paste, flossers, stickers, ice cream certificates, and prizes. I think the stickers were her main motivation-you just have to know our sticker addict!
Here she is getting in the chair...

At first Dr. Anderson was just going to count her teeth, but she did so well that he actually got to do the exam as well.

They were going to call it quits after that, but I told them she would be so disappointed if they didn't "brush her teeth". This was her favorite part- she called it vacuuming her spit...she giggles every time :)

Here she is with her "shiny teeth" and her tigger tooth brush with stickers down her front...she loved it!

NJHS the End and the Beginning

Last night was bitter - sweet...it was the end of National Junior Honor Society (for Junior High) for Connor and the start of office for Cheyenne.

Here are the officers for this year...Connor is second to the right.


Here they are after receiving their leadership medallions from their advisor.


A closer look...


Here are the new officers for next year...Cheyenne is on the left


Here they are taking the "oath"


this years officers "swearing them in" ...Connor on the right


It was a nice night...can't believe this year is almost over already, but yet so ready for it to be over...bitter sweet all around!