Broken Noses, Alchemy, Baseball OH MY

A couple of weeks ago I was pulled out of my classroom for an emergency. Quade had an unfortunate "run in" at school. Due to sharp turn in a intense game of capture the flag he collided with one of his friends. The result was a broken nose. We loaded him up in the car for a quick trip to St. George to get him checked out. On the ride down he was very quiet. I turned back to she tears streaming down his face. "Oh I am so sorry." I empathized. "Does it really hurt bad?"
"No." Was his reply.
Then came the question on his mind. "Is my nose going to look like Dad's?"
I couldn't help it. I had to laugh. Poor kid!
Hours later, and after the obvious diagnosis, He was scheduled for surgery. He had to go to school for a week with a crooked nose, but it was only one week.
His biggest concern was missing school. When the nurse was discharging him with all of his instructions, he asked if he could go to school the next day. She smiled and encouraged him not to. He was back to school the next Monday, and was also able to play a little baseball.

Taya the great alchemist.

For the science fair this year Taya turned pennies into gold. Well, not real gold but she had fun doing it. It was her first science fair. She worked hard and did a great job so proud of her.

I am saving this beauty picture for future blackmail.

Baseball, Baseball, and more Base(T)ball

This year we have 3 boys in 3 leagues. What a scheduling nightmare. Quade is in the Junior League this year, and having a great season. His games are in St. George twice a week. That plus Border League Basketball, and all of the practices that go with it make him a pretty busy boy. Reese is in his second year of Major League, which means mom has to put her time in the concession stand, super fun (NOT.) Finally after trying to convince him not to Dace is in his first year of T-ball. When Quade was old enough for T-ball I was so excited. Now I know better. Watching T-ball is close to torture. Good thing he is pretty darn cute in his Braves uniform. If you know Dace you know he likes to talk to himself. We watch him in the out field in his own little world, talking, and posing. His coach told us when he is up to bat he talks to the ball. "You better watch out! I am gonna hit you so hard."

The other day he asked me to take his picture in his uniform. You know I wasn't going to pass that up. He had all sorts of faces and poses for me. Here are just a few. What a Ham!

So Sorry

So, I set my blog to the private setting again, without telling anyone. I thought the old list I had would work, but it didn't. I have been getting calls and texts requesting invites. I will be resetting to private again soon. If you would like an invite send me you email address.

We Are Still Alive (at least I think we are)

Yes, I know, it has been a long time since my last real post. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't. Other than life being extremely busy. Royd's job has been really crazy that last few months. As a result it feels like we have been in a massive domino maze. Everything has been moving so fast. It is now Conference Sunday. My spiritual cup has been filled, and I feel renewed. So, lets get blogging. I will give a quick (relatively quick) little update on everyone.

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Dace: Dace turned 5! My baby is no longer a baby. I think I have had a harder time with him turning five than when I turned 30. He is growing up so fast. He absolutely loves pre-school. School days are his favorite. He is very smart too. I think he will be reading here very shortly. He will be starting T-Ball soon, and just finished his first season of wrestling. His favorite part about wrestling was the singlet. Hey, if ya got it flaunt it. The double "egg" take down was his signature move. When it was time for the big tournament he didn't want to go. "I just want to go to the one where they call my name and shine the lights" I explained this was as close as he was going to get for a while. He suited up and we were out. I was so proud of him. I was so afraid he would chicken out right before the match, and cry for his momma. He was a trouper. No tears were shed. He wrestled hard and came out in 4th place (yes, it was only a 4 man bracket.) To me it was like a gold medal. He was awesome!

Taya: Taya had her 9th birthday, and was able to talk me into getting her ears pierced. It was a big deal and she was so excited. We also loaded up a car of 3rd grade girls, to help her celebrate with dinner and a movie. Taya is still dancing and she is terrific at it. She is so beautiful. I am so proud of her.

Reese: Reese is the MAN! Reese has a super awesome cousin (thanks Latara), that took him and his friends snowboarding. He loved it. Not only did they get to play hooky from school, they were able spend the day on the slopes. Reese also just finished another season of basketball, and baseball starts soon. He loves being active. Reese is very talented artist. Ask him some time to show you his scetchs. He is also a lady killer at school. He has all the great moves. Just ask him how to pick up on chicks in the lunchroom on chicken drumstick day ("Calista, you have beautiful legs - wink wink.) It's a classic. What can I say, he is his fathers son.

Quade: Quade is just short of brilliant. He pulled off another 4.0 this quarter. He works so hard to keep his grades up. Quade was able to represent his school at the Math Counts Competition. He is also doing really well in scouting. He plans to get his Eagle by the end of the summer. Quade has also been involved with more sports. He finished up a city league season in basketball, and is now on a boarder league. Baseball starts next week, and he is super excited for that. He really hopes he will be able to play 2nd base.

Natalie (me): I have been super busy at school. We have had a lot of changes at work. It is also getting closer to the end, and I want all of my students to be ready. I have also been working on my photography. I think I am getting to the point that I want to invest into it a little more, and maybe try to make enough money to pay for the hobby. Royd has really been getting on my case about it. I also am going to start on getting my reading endorsement. I had it half way completed and now I have to start over because I waited too long. The main reason for me to be going back to get it is because next year I will have a new job. I have been asked to be our school's Staff Developer. I am a little nervous, because I don't know what all I am going to be doing. I think it will be a great adventure.

Last but not least Royd: This time of year is always super busy for Royd. Sports take up great deal of his time. Even though he has been burning his candle at both ends, he still found time to build a fire place in my bedroom. He is so handy to have around. I just love it. He worked really hard to make it just the way I wanted. I am also super proud of my man. This week we found out that he has been accepted into BYU Graduate school. This is a tremendously big deal. If you ask him he will be very modest, but don't let him fool you. This is not an easy feat. Only 12 were accepted out of the hundreds that applied for the specific program. After 3 years of hard work I will be married to Dr. Darrington.

I hope it wasn't too long of a post. I hope to be better, and keep on top of things from here on out.

Kid History - Episode 3

Our family has had so much fun with Kid History on YouTube. Episode 3 just came out. If you haven't see the first two they are a must see.

Christmas Maddness

Christmas has come and gone (almost still cleaning up) at our house. Everyone got just what they wanted. We must have been very good this year. Celebrating started with a dinner ant Grandma Johnson's house. The kids like this part of Christmas the best, because they get spoiled rotten, and they love their Grandma and Grandpa. This year Taya and Dace got pillow pets and cute clothes. The older boys got cool remote helicopters, clothes, and special pocket knifes from Grandpa. We also learned that I am going to have a new niece or nephew. Chafin and Mirinda are expecting an addition to their cute family this summer. Chafin leaves for boot camp on Monday. With any luck he will be finished with his training by the time the new baby comes.

After the party at Grandma's we headed home for baths and to wait for P.J. the elf to visit. We love P.J. Christmas would not be the same without him. He did a perfect job. He even had pajamas for Grandma Darrington, who spent the holiday with our family (sorry no picture.) Dad got the same pajamas as last year, funny how that happened (sorry no picture of that either.) The kids looked super cute in their sleepwear. We sat in our P.J.s drinking hot cocoa, and reading books from Grandma D. until bedtime.

Christmas morning could not get here fast enough. The kids patiently waited until 7 AM. They then took their spots in order on the stairs, and waited for dad to start a fire.

Dace was the first to get to survey his loot. He got just what he had asked for;

Oreos in all shapes, sizes, and flavors

A new sword (not a real one by request)

Not just one tractor but 4 little ones
and some things not on his list

new "Cars" cars

and candy

Taya was pleased to find a crochet hook, a hat loom, and lots of treats

Reese got some much need deodorant

his favorite Fuze

and junk food

Quade also got deodorant and junk food

Everyone including Grandma got Nerf guns. Naturally we had to have a little play time before we opened our presents to each other.

Let the unwrapping begin!
Reese was excited to be heavily armed thanks to the present Quade gave him.

Dace got new church clothes.

Dace gave Quade little Debbie Cosmic Brownies (Dace ended up eating most of them.)

Before we were done Dace was finished. He just wanted to play cars.

Taya gave Dace Candyland. Anyone up for a game of Candyland Dace is your man.

We played a pretty mean trick on Quade. Other than the brownies, and a pair of shoes, Quade had no gifts under the tree. He watched his brother and sister get new CD players. He was so good and excited for them, but you could see his face drop as he noticed the lack of presents under the tree. He was such a good sport. After all the gift giving was over and we started cleaning up another present appeared. It was a large, light, present for Quade. Inside taped to the lid was an ipod. Quade lost it. He was so excited. Then he turned to me and said. "Mom! Why did you do that to me?"

We had a delish Christmas dinner that afternoon with the Pickerings and Jefferys.

All in all a very successful holiday.