Families Are Forever...

February 2009

2009-09-02T11:44:00.001-07:00

SCIENCE FAIR 2ND PLACE
2 years running
Kaleb placed 2nd last year in 4th grade science fair at school, and went on to County. His project was called "Homerun" he wanted to know what kind of bat would hit the baseball the farthest:wood or aluminum.
They only take 5 kids from each school to County. When you go to County you get a free shirt, a "day off" of school (he still has to make up some of the work) and lunch at John's Incredible Pizza...oh and a chance to place at County. Last year he didn't place and he was pretty bummed.
Well this year Kaleb placed 2nd out of all the 5th graders at the Science Fair at school, and he went on to County and this year...he placed 2nd at County in Materials and Consumer Science. (plus the shirt and pizza and stuff). This year his project was called "Hot Pockets". He wanted to see what would heat up and retain the heat the longest in a heating pad:sand, rice or beans. Ask him what he found out.
>
It was fun for him to have Grandma and Grandpa Kingston here to watch him get his award. On the way home he told me now he has alot of pressure to do well in 6th grade so he can go at least 3 for 3. :)
Great job Kaleb, we are proud of you for working so hard!

January 2009

2009-09-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

As you know we went to the Newport Coast Villas (condos) with most of my family. Everyone but Mandi's family was there, we missed them. It was definitely NOT a vacation. I believe as a mother it is very hard to have a vacation with children, so we will call this a trip. Here is a rundown of the days and events.
Friday-drove to condo after work and school, we arrived about 10PM.
Saturday-Picked up Nate and Laci at LAX, Ashley & Brandon's families arrived. (8 adults & 8 kids all in one condo-can you say cramped)

Sunday-Universal Studios-We went on the Studio Tour, Jurassic Park, The Mummy, The Simpsons, and we met Spongebob & Curious George. We saw Shrek 4D and Waterworld.
Dad & Mom arrived and we got another condo.

Monday-Disneyland-For being January it was pretty busy. We rode Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Dumbo, Gadget's Go Coaster, Pirates, Splash Mtn, Thunder Mtn, Star Wars, the Teacups, (to name a few) And we met a few Characters too. We were pooped.
Tuesday-Our day off-Dad, Mom, Peggy, Nate, Laci & I went to a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Dwight from the Office & Hoobastank was there) (No cameras allowed)That took 6 hours of our day off, but we had a great time. Everyone else went down to the beach and found out all the fun things the condo had to offer.
Wednesday-California Adventure/Disneyland-We rode Soaring (Tycee's Fav), Screamin', Grizzly Rapids, Tower of Terror(even Tycee) King Triton's Carousel, and we spent alot of time at Bug's World, (to name a few). We saw Playhouse Disney, Bug's Life 4D, and the Pixar Parade. Then we walked Downtown Disney.
Thursday-Sea World *My kids favorite* We rode Atlantis, and we saw alot of sea animals. We watched the Sea Lions, Dolphins, and of course the SHAMU show. We loved Sea World and we are planning on going back as soon as we can fit it in.
Friday-Disneyland/Cal Adventure-We went back to catch some of our fav rides, and to ride a few we missed.
Saturday-San Diego Zoo-I thought Tycee would love the zoo, but she was "so tired" she couldn't have cared less. She just wanted to go home to the condo and play with her cousins. I don't blame her. We went, went, went and we were all tired. So the zoo was short lived and we rested and played the rest of the day.
This was just the daily events there was also alot of swimming in the pool, playing basketball, putting at the green, playing in the sandbox, and rolling down the hill too.
Sunday-Drove Home-It's always nice to be home after 10 days of running around. As you can see we had a GREAT time and there was never a dull moment. I definitely could have used a vacation from my vacation...I mean trip.
Thanks for the memories Dad & Mom.

YEAR IN REVIEW aka Catching Up

2009-09-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, no excuse just life. Here they come ready or not...

Newest Project

2009-09-01T20:39:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long. My friend and I have been trying to come up some new ideas for this year's craft season. Here are a few things we've come up with. You can go to her blog for more details-http://homegirlhappenings.blogspot.com/
Let me know if you want more info, or if you want to host a home show and earn great stuff.

LET US BE MEN

2009-06-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all those wonderful men out there!

2009-03-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

2009-01-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

Takin' A Long needed Family Vacation.
Be Back Soon!!!

So You Think YOU Can Dance? Watch Us

2009-01-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What are you?

2009-01-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

2008-12-25T23:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

From our Family to Yours

HaPpY BiRtHdAy Tj!

2008-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

We hope you had a ball!

This year Talan got to have a birthday party. He invited several friends over, and we rented him a bounce house. The kids bounced almost the whole time. We grilled hot dogs, and made brownie sundaes, and opened presents. I think he had a blast. He told me next year he didn't want a party, he wants us to save our money. How many of you have heard that? From him it doesn't surprise us.
They grow up WAY to fast. I can't believe it has been 9 years since he came into our family. Our family has been so blessed to have him a part of it. Talan has always had such a big heart. He is always worried about others and their feelings, and is very upset if he thinks he is the cause of others hurt feelings. He is a very hard worker and he is helping me out regularly with things around the house. He is everyone's friend but he is especially fond of his sister. (he likes his brother too, when he's not getting teased by him) She gets very upset at Kaleb when he is taunting Talan and she will yell at him, "Stop it! He is my friend." It's funny how protective they are of each other. Talan likes to tease her also and she will threaten, "You are not my friend any-more!" and the teasing will quickly stop.

He has always been my buddy. He is great to take shopping, and is a great help with keeping on track of why we are at the store and what we are there to buy. Sam is so proud of his saving habit, he has been known to tear up on occassion, when Talan announces that he would rather go home and eat to save money than to go out to eat at a restaurant. ;)

We are so proud of you and what a wonderful young (man) you are becoming. You are a great example to all who know you. We hope that you had a special day. We love you so much!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy KaLeB!

2008-10-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPORT!

We hope you had a great day, cast and all.

We took him, Talan and 8 of his friends bowling (it's the only sport he can do with only one arm) believe it or not he was tough to beat with a 108 on his first game. We had fun, food, and he was surrounded by his friends. I can't believe it has been 11 years already, how the time flies.
I was telling him today that my last day off was on Oct 5, 1997 the day before he came, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. He is a great example for his brother and his sister. His faith is strong and he stands for what he believes. I really admire him, and his leadership abilities with his team. He is a very hard worker (usually) and I can count on him to do the things I ask him to do.

Kaleb, we love you so much and we are grateful to have you in our family. Keep smiling, the cast will be off soon.

This is my favorite picture of him when he was a baby (3 months old). He's been flirting with the ladies for as long as I can remember.
Sorry this is a little late, consider it in Funk standard time :)

San Francisco

2008-10-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that we went (by choice) to San Francisco? And can you believe that we had a FaBuLoUs time?

Sam coached Kaleb's baseball team in the spring and (long story short) we met some great people. Sam and one of the mothers of the boys on his team were always talking smack about football (he being a Raider fan and she being a SF fan) They were taking his office staff to San Francisco for the weekend for the 49ers game so they got us and the assistant coach tickets to the game too. So we spent the weekend in SF.

We ended up driving up early on Saturday so we could do some fo the touristy things. It was the first time any of us had been there. We drove over the bridges, walked around fisherman's wharf, people watched (sometimes not so good), ate seafood, the kids swam, and then on Sunday we were up and gone by 7:30 A.M. Yes A.M. They had a big tailgate party planned with food for an army. The kids played catch and went exploring. We hung out and enjoyed everyone's company until 12:30 P.M. or so and

then we packed up and walked over to the game. We were all excited, it was opening day so there was even more excitement in the air. Even as big of a football fan that Sam is, he had never been to a pro game before. He was almost as excited as Kaleb was (the 49ers are his favorite team). It was a great experience, even though the 49ers lost to Arizona. We are going to try to go back, someday. The worst part of the whole trip was trying to get out of San Francisco after the game. We sat in traffic for about 3 hours. The game got over around 5 and we didn't get home until after midnight. It's usually a 4-5 hour drive.

Once again we left Tycee home, but really she doesn't mind. She stayed over night at Adam & MaraLee's AKA Travis' house. As she reminds us on a regular basis "Travis is her prince". She is a princess and she changes into her Cinderella dress at least 3 times a day. When Sam gets home after work her clothes (if they are even on) are inside out and sometimes backwards. But she says it best when she tells me "that's okay Mom, right, that's okay." My favorite lately is when she tells me "I am a princess and Daddy is my king."

UPDATE

2008-10-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

We went to the Doctor and...
as of now there will not be a surgery in Kaleb's future. He said that things look like they are healing great and Kaleb was very relieved to here this news. He has been worrying since his last appointment that he would require surgery. He is missing footbal and they are missing him. His team hasn't won a game yet, so he is even more frustrated that he can't be out there helping them., next year.

Talan #32 is doing great in football and is loving it. He's had some great hits. His team is 2-2. He plays fullback and defensive end. It is really fun to see the fire in his eyes as he is learning the fundamentals and the love for the game. He's really understanding the positions, which hey he's doing better than I am. (I was always just looking at the boys, not paying that close of attention to what was going on) He's doing great and we are very proud of him.

Tycee, Tycee, Tycee what can I say. I found a quote the other day that is right on for her it said, "My fingers may be small, but I can still fit my daddy around them" and boy does she. She says some of the sweetest things. The other day she told me, "Mom you're my favorite girl". She is always singing or dancing, and she is so sweet to her dollies. We have got her on video singing, dancing, and doing a modern interpretation :) to her favorite songs on the iPod, so when we figure out how to download it we can all laugh together. She IS my favorite girl!

"DuDe WhAt's WrOnG wItH yOuR aRm?"

2008-09-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG-You've been warned!
For those of you that haven't heard yet, Kaleb broke his arm on Tuesday during his football game. Here's the story, from my point of view. :)
It's the second game of the season and they are playing the Falcons, and they are sure they are going to win, (because they have beat them every year). The game starts and Kaleb is playing middle linebacker. Kaleb gets the punt return, and fumble recovery. The next series, we are defense and on the first play, Kaleb tackles the guy with the ball, and someone falls on his arm. They all get up and as Kaleb is running back to the huddle JJ says to him "Dude what's wrong with your arm?" Then comes the blood curling howling as he is running off the field, holding his arm, and calling for the medic. The EMT's were very quick to respond. They put him in a cardboard sling, and then Sam took him to the ER, while I was calling around finding help for Talan and Tycee.
As he was getting fixed up by the EMTs the rest of the defense is still on the field "taking a knee" wondering what happened, and how bad it is. I looked over there and half of them were crying right along with me. He has a great group of kids on his team and some of them have been playing with him all three years, so they are close. I found one of my friends to come and pick up Tycee, and she also picked up Talan from football practice. They stayed the night at her house so I didn't have to worry about them. Thanks Jess. We ended up going to an Urgent Care for x-rays, and then onto the ER to wait, and wait, and wait.....Almost four hours after he broke it, they took us back.
When people would ask him what happened he would say "I broke my arm" then they would ask him how he did it, and let's remember he is in full uniform minus his helmet, and he would say "football". All I can say is; ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
There was a nurse there that helped speed things up for us, seeing as you could tell right on the x-ray that it was indeed broken. We went back, he got an IV (the worst part of the whole thing, according to Kaleb) but then he got the Morphine, and an anti-nausea med. and then they put him to sleep. Soon after he fell asleep they came in to perform the Reduction, in simpler terms to set his arm. OUCH! Sam stayed in to watch, I almost passed out when they put the IV in, so I was banished. He was asleep but Sam said he was still moaning and whimpering while they were doing it. They had to pull his arm apart and reset the bones together. Then they had to x-ray it and make sure it was where it was suppose to be. Good enough. We were finally discharged with instructions to call the Orthopedist in the morning.
The doctor we took him to came highly recommended. He is the only Pediatric Orthopedist in town, and we really like him. He looked at the x-rays and said that it looked great (when he finally saw the after x-rays) he put a cast on it and we are taking him back in next week for x-rays to make sure things haven't shifted. If the bones stay the way they are, he should heal without any problems. If things shift, then we are talking possible surgery. One of the brakes is really steep and so that is the one they are worried about. He picked a red cast in honor of his football team, and he even told me that no one could sign it until "the team" had signed it. (he did give in with much pressure from his sister)
The only thing that Kaleb was upset about was being out for the rest of the season. Sam told him he could help him coach the offense, specifically the quarterbacks. When he went to practice on Wed. he helped them coach. The team mom made a sign that all of the players signed, it was sweet. One of the boys told him they were retiring his jersey so no one else will be able to have it until he comes back next year. (Yes I was crying) Then the boys all lined up to sign his cast. I think it is very sweet how close these boys have gotten. We have had many phone calls checking on him, and even some treats brought over. We have some great friends, and family. Thanks to everyone. His spirits are up and he is excited about being the ball boy, with one of his friends, for the Centennial Frosh/Soph football team. He wasn't able to do it before because of practice, but now he's available. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Part Fish

2008-08-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've decided somewhere in our family history we must be part fish :) My kids thoroughly enjoyed just swimming this summer away. Tycee took swimming lessons from one of our good friends. She did so well the first session that we decided to put her in for a second. By the end of the second session she was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the wall. Every night when she went to bed she would ask me "I go swimming wiss Allie and Trabis tomowow?" and her face would light up when the answer was yes. Believe it or not she also enjoyed going to swim team with the boys and playing with her "friends". The boys had a great swim season and they have plenty of medals and ribbons to prove it. I enjoyed it too. Every Saturday, together as a family, we were off to a different meet, and they also had practice every day. I was hoping it would have worn them out a little more than it did, but it sure got them in shape for football, our latest adventure. They definately take after their dad.

Pics from top to bottom:

Tycee with Allie at swim lessons

Talan doing Breaststroke (his fave)

Kaleb doing Freestyle leg of his IM race.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

2008-08-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's been 3 years already? I can't. Tycee has been such a blessing to our family. She is such a sweet little girl. She has such a big heart, and she LOVES her big brothers. She has everyone of us wrapped around a different finger (her dad is wrapped around a few) She is always singing, dancing or pretending she's a princess. Tycee we love you soooo much, Happy Birthday Baby!!! Here she is with her Princess cake. She had a great day.

Grandma Buttars flew in on Thursday and so we went to the LA Zoo on Friday for Tycee's birthday. We had a great time. We enjoyed seeing all the animals. We saw gorillas, komodo dragons (Talan's fav), lions, kangaroos, giraffes, hippos, lots of monkeys, and Tycee's favorite an elephant. Kaleb and his friend Dylan enjoyed the elephant too, for different reasons. Tycee is a lover of animals so she was in heaven.

So What Did YOU Think?

2008-08-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

I finished it last night and I have to say, I really liked how it all turned out. I don't know why there were so many critics. I read a few threads of others opinions, and I'm not sure what they were expecting. I think she did a pretty good job of tying up all the loose ends and questions brought up in her other books. So my rating is *****. I look forward to the other points of view books that are still suppose to be coming out (not in the near future) and I definately am looking forward to the movie. Enough about me. What did YOU think? Be careful not to spoil it for those that haven't finished yet.

Any ideas for the next book I can read and neglect my house, family and everything else for?

Dodger Game

2008-07-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Sam's company has Box Seats at Dodger Stadium that they let the employees use. Sam got the tickets on June 26 and we took the boys down to the game. The Dodgers played the Chicago White Sox so Sam was even cheering for the Dodgers. These seats were on the 3rd row just down from the Dodgers dugout. We had all you can eat, drink, ice cream, peanuts you name it. Our first course was Salmon and garlic mashed potatoes-not your typical ballpark cuisine, (we did have Dodger dogs later). We were there almost 2 hours before the game started so the boys could watch warm-ups and get some autographs (only 1 player signed their ball) The Dodgers lost but we still had a fabulous time. When we left home it was in the 100's but at the stadium it wasn't quite that hot. We still got sunburned and they even handed out sunblock. Who thinks to put sunscreen on their knees? I guess we will next time. We gave each of the boys $20 to spend at the game and told them what ever they didn't spend they got to keep. Kaleb had only $2 left by the time we walked through the front gate. (who does he take after??? I'm working on that) And we had to talk Talan into buying himself a hat for $10. As always he came home with some money (wonder who he takes after ;)) We knew it would be a long day for Tycee, so she stayed at Travis' house and didn't miss us a bit. She loves it over there and she always has a great time. More about her in a minute. Anyway a great way to make memories with your kids I recommend taking the chance if you get it.

Tycee and the DS

2008-07-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Tycee loves the DS'. They boys both got Nintendo DS systems for Christmas and Tycee loves to play "Mawo" Mario. One day I couldn't find her, and it was quiet-trouble. I was trying to sneak up on her and find out what she was doing. She had found Talan's DS and had climbed up on the chair to play. She so funny when she plays because she talks to the game, and says "oh man" or "Mawo died". She has decided that she wants a "pink DS" for her birthday because she's tired of asking the boys to play theirs. She is always making me smile. Can you believe she's almost 3? Where has the time gone?

ETSY-Ready or not Here I am!

2008-06-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I took the plunge. I am an offiicial ESTYan. My ETSY store is now up and going.
PLEASE check it out.
(And while you're at it BUY something) ;)

Visit me at SigncerelyYours.etsy.com

See you soon!

We're Up and Running-sort of

2008-06-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well Hello out there. Anyone that knows me even a little, know that I am not a runner. I actually preferred to walk the mile in PE during the "Presidential Fitness test". I am hoping to do a better job at keeping up with blogging. I will try to be more like my husband when he does his running, pushing until he's ready to "toss his cookies". I have very much enjoyed reading and keeping up with everyone on their respected blogs. I hope that you enjoy our lives in a very editted form, but for most it's better than nothing. I would love to add all of my friends on here so we all keep up with each other and our crazy lives.

I figured that I couldn't start posting until my blog was cute. Thanks to my sis in law Laci, I think she did a great job.

Be patient I'm still trying to figure it all out.

Thanks for listening (looking)
Post to you soon!