Four little munchkins......

My friend, April, and her husband, Tom, went away for 4 days and entrusted us with their most prized possessions.....their 4 daughters! Brooke, age 6; Alix and Erin, age 4; and Samantha, age 11 months. So far, the biggest challenge was to get us all ready and to church on time this morning. And we did it....with about 3 minutes to spare! (Thank goodness we go at 11:30 and not 9:30!) I am so not used to having 4 little munchkins in the house, anymore - but it sure is alot of fun.

School's out.....let the party begin!

Above: The "group". Below: Where Amanda spent her time during the party.


Sam has been wanting to invite some friends over to hang out and spend the night for awhile now. But when school is in - I just don't have the engery to deal with it. (It must be age creeping in!) SO, this past Monday I let Sam have some friends over. Amanda was still on pain medicine and not able to really do anything and I figured this would give her some company, too. The original plan was for Sam and "company" to sleep in a tent in the backyard. But due to the fact that it rained all weekend and was cloudy all day Monday, they ended up sleeping on the front room floor, instead. (In Washington, if it's been raining for a few days and there's even a CHANCE it will rain again.....it WILL rain! ESPECIALLY if there's a tent involved!) Anyway, they had a great time playing games and running around all afternoon and evening. Then they got the sleeping bags all lined up, crashed on the front room floor and watched movies till they all passed out.

And the wisdom is gone....

Oral Surgeon - $3200+

Pain Medications - $9.00

Ice Packs - $5.00

Rope to tie ice packs to head - $2.00

One Sleepy child off in la-la land - priceless!!

Amanda went to the oral surgeon this morning to have her wisdom teeth taken out. In an earlier post, I mentioned that she had 5 wisdom teeth. Usually, when there's an extra tooth like that, the extra one comes out fairly easily when the one next to it is pulled out. Well, in Amanda's case, that wasn't the way it happened! They had a really hard time getting the 5th tooth out, making her recovery time alot more painful, longer and (most likely) a big bruise on her left jaw. So far today, she's been on 2 different kinds of pain medicine constantly....waking up long enough to eat a little applesauce and go back to sleep.

Poor Amanda! I think it's going to be a very L-O-N-G week for her!

Amanda's new hobby

Well, it's official! Amanda is my daughter. (As if there was any doubt with that red hair of hers!) Lately, Amanda has caught the photography "bug". We've had some roses in our backyard and she took over my camera and was snaping away! She had alot of fun trying different settings, different lighting, etc. There's nothing like getting "the perfect" picture. Now I have to fight to use my own camera! On the upside, I now have about 80 or so very beautiful pictures of roses and leaves!

What I love the most about these two pictures, is that you can see the water drops.

A Special Evening for Amanda

Tonight was a special night for Amanda. In Seminary, the students have an opportunity to receive The Stake President's Award. When she was starting 9th Grade (and her first year in Seminary), she made a goal for herself to get this award all 4 years. Well, tonight marked her 3rd year. (Next year - her Senior year - will be year number 4, of course.) Our Stake Presidency cooks a really nice dinner for them and gives them a special book. They really go to alot of work to make it a special evening for the kids who receive this award. (And there aren't very many of them.......only 15 students out of about 80.) Some of the requirements are: 90% attendance, memorize the 25 Scripture Mastery Scriptures and read the scriptures for 200 days throughout the school year (which is almost every day). She has early morning Seminary, too, which makes it just that much harder. I am so proud of Amanda for working so hard to get this award. She's an amazing Young Woman!

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of her special night. Parents don't get to go. :-(

Play it, again, Sam.....

SAFE!!

Sam and her friend, Amy.

When you live in Washington State, Fastpitch means:
*Sitting in the rain watching a game.....
*Sitting in 90 degree weather for the next game.....
*Sitting in the cold and fierce wind the NEXT game.....

AND THE BEST REASON OF ALL........
*It means the end of the school year is so very close!!!!

As I'm sure you all know, Samantha LOVES playing sports. She tried out for - and made - the JV Fastpitch team at her school this year. Her favorite position is 2nd Base, but she was occasionally "forced" to play outfield (which she didn't like AT ALL). There were quite a few games where she got a double out. She did a great job! WAY TO GO, SAM!!