Spring Break

Spring Break was over a month ago and I felt pretty guilty because Mike and I had to work almost every day they were out of school. To try and make up for it, and to keep them from doing stuff like this, I took the kids into the Living Aquarium one day.

Is this a hillbilly sleighride or what?

They loved feeding the sting rays.

2 Down, 10 to Go

Remember how I am taking one family picture a month, for a year? Well, I am and I haven't failed yet. Here is our April picture. It was on Easter at Debbie's house. Yes, Mike has on his ugly crocs, Michaela doesn't even have shoes on, Dal needs a haircut, and no, we don't match, but we did it! (I'm not sure why I feel the need to point out everything wrong.)

Easter 2010

The Hunt!

And they're off and running.

Monster eggs.

The annual "kids on the porch" picture.

Nana and the cute little girls.

The Baird Fam.

The Durfee fam.

20 mph club

I'm proud of this kid, er... I mean young man. In April, he joined the 20 mph club at TOSH. He can definitely out run me now. He had to maintain 20 mph on the treadmill for six seconds. When he was done, I think I was sweating more than he was. I was just imagining him getting flung off the treadmill and his skinny little body flying through the air. He was also chosen as athlete of the month for April for his hard work ethic.

This is the awesome group that worked with him each week.

They made Dallon pose like this. It's sooo not like him.

This Week

This past week has been full of adventure.

I was a witness to a very rare occurrence in the Didericksen household. Two kids, one 6 one 14 sitting quietly together playing the x-box. No one told the other that she was annoying or loud and no one complained that he was mean or stinky. It didn’t last for more than a half hour, but it was sure nice while it lasted.

Reagen sparred for the first time on Saturday. She was so cute and we were so proud of her. She made it through a two-hour workout and didn’t complain once. She was like the energizer bunny; she just kept going and going. I thought for sure she’d sleep all the way home, but she came home, ate, showered and then went and played at a friends house.

Dallon decided he won’t become a burglar because the mask is way too hard to remove. He is such a dork and no, he didn’t ask for permission to use my nylons.

She also decided she wanted bangs. My girls have never had bangs (except that one time nana decided to give Michaela bangs when she was two and that did not turn out good).

One of my photography heroes, Tara Whitney, is doing something fun and if she’s doing it I guess I have to do it, right? She is taking one photo of her family per month. Since our last family photo was taken when Reagen was one, I decided that I am totally going to try this. Even if it’s just a shot on the bed in terrible lighting with three sweaty kids and a hairy cat. Even if one of them is sticking her tongue out at the other.

Lately

Life has been good. I have been busy with Young Women activities, meetings, meetings, and even more meetings. I had no idea there were so many meetings going on at church until this calling. Holy cow! I'm grateful for all the help I have in this calling and I found out that it won't actually kill me like I thought. Life goes on.

Mike had a birthday and we celebrated with family at Applebee's. He's been working quite a bit at the post office, which has been a blessing. He really likes it and gets to hear all the town gossip first hand from the little ladies that work there.

I had my first experience (that I remember) with laughing gas. Because I didn't want to get numbed, the dentist must have thought I needed to be really relaxed because he jacked up the gas to extra high. I had no idea if my mouth was even open. At one point I could not open my eyes although I was awake, I think. I kept telling myself I was still in control because I could tap my finger, but I think I was past knowing what the crap I was doing. That was some weird stuff.

Michaela has 6th grade maturation this week. She doesn't want me to go because I didn't make it "fun" last year. I asked her how I could have made it fun and she told me that I could have told her that maturation was all a lie. She gets asked every once in a while to be a body guard to someone that's been picked on. You'd never know looking at her sweet little face that she can kick the crap out of the bully on the bus.

We meet with Dallon's school counselor Friday to plan his high school classes. I'm so not ready to have a kid in high school. He's already moody, onery, and annoying. That's my job.

Reagen started taking TKD a couple weeks ago and she loves it. (I know, all I need is another kid in TKD) She's doing great in school and gets 100% on her spelling every week despite us forgetting to practice the words. She's very social and thinks she has to call a friend over to play every day. She informed me tonight that she is getting bangs. She's always has been the rebel. I have no idea why this is underlined, but I don't care enough to try and change it. :)

Vegas

Wednesday, February 10th, we headed for Vegas. Dal and Kayla were competing in the US Open in tkd. Here are a few highlights from the week.

Reagen was sick the whole week before with stomach flu. I was sure she just psyched herself out because someone at school threw up right by her and she gets super freaked out about anyone throwing up. She was sure to tell me "I told you so!" when she started throwing up herself.

Our washing machine went kaput the day before we were to leave. And doesn't everyone wait until the last day to do laundry and pack? I do.

The ride to Vegas went surprisingly well until we got to Vegas and then the van quit at every red light. Vegas traffic is so fun anyway. The kids didn't fight and I didn't yell. (Of course we all made up for it on the way home.)

The hotel we stayed in had half naked ladies dancing on the tables. Who said the Luxor isn't family friendly? Mike turned it into a learning experience and told Michaela she better get an education or she would end up doing the same. Good advise, hon.

My dad came from Arizona and watched the kids compete for the first time ever. Michaela came home with a silver medal. Dal fought well, but got hit with a headshot in the last round and couldn't make up the points in time. He has only been training for a month so we were super proud of him.

Here's a few pics of the trip.

Progress

We're seeing a lot of it in Michaela's mouth.

Catch Up

Where does the time go? I've been terrible at documenting our lives lately. I have good intentions, but they just don't seem to work out. Blogging seems to be falling lower and lower on the priority list. Here's a quick re-cap of what's been going on in the last couple months.

We survived Christmas and everyone seemed to be happy with what Santa brought them.

We rang in the new year by staying up until 10:00 pm. We must have still been exhausted from all the Christmas fun. Michaela let us know what big party poopers we were. I didn't even get the camera out.

January brought Jr. Jazz. Michaela is the only one that wanted to play and it's been really fun watching her. Dal and Michaela have been training for the US Open in TKD and Dallon has been doing the Tosh program so life has been busy. I've been busy trying to learn all that's involved with the YW program. The girls are wonderful and I'm learning I CAN do this calling (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...that's my mantra).

Now bring on the next holiday. Reagen and her nails are ready.

And Then It Was December

Ready or not, here it comes!

The tree has been decorated, thanks to two very willing

participants. They did a very thorough job making sure that

any ornament that we've ever owned, made, inherited

or given to us was hung on that tree.

The letters to Santa have been written.

There will be NO fighting over stockings this year!

And we're trying hard not to get caught up in too much of the

holiday hoop-lah and remember the real reason for the season.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Seasons Come and Seasons Go

Since I've last blogged, a few sporting events have come...and gone. Dal played his last year of little league football. It was sad to see this part of his life come to an end. It's been fun to watch this group of boys grow up together and to learn to win and lose together.

Michaela's soccer team moved up a division after finishing in the top two during Spring season. This was their toughest season. They've always had an easy time winning and it was hard to see them start the first half of the season with more losses than wins. It also made them grow and work harder and they ended the 2nd half of the season with some exciting wins that kept them in this division. I love watching this girl play.

Reagen wanted to play soccer again and surprised us by her speed (when she felt like it).

She's also doing gymnastics and loves it. She practices her handstands over and over at home. Usually in front of the tv when we are trying to watch it, but at least she's practicing.

What a Difference a Year Makes

This kid has grown up so much over the last year. It's hard to believe that only a year separates these two photos. Dal turned 14 on September 13th. He's such a young man. His voice is lower with the occasional crackle and he's shot up like a weed. He's gotten so strong and thinks it's hilarious to grab mike by the ankles and pull him off the couch. Mike gets so frustrated, all he can do is laugh. I had to add texting to our phone plan because all of a sudden he has a social life. He's even attended two school dances. It's fun watching him grow up and mature (well, maybe it's a stretch to call it maturing!)