Leaving Las Vegas

The final decision was made this afternoon. We are Colorado bound. This is a huge opportunity for Bob and I am happy for him. Connor seems very excited about the move. He is excited to have water parks, museums, amusement parks, and most of all a ZOO. Carter is not so sure. He has a lot of questions about the logistics, how we will make sure all the bears make it and so on. We expected this and that is why we have been preparing them for this for a while. Both boys and I will miss our friends. I wish I had a time table for the complete move but I am thinking mid summer will be about right. I would like to get to Colorado in time to enjoy the few months of no snow :)

I have been reflecting a lot about this change for a few weeks now and I am ready to move on. Las Vegas was a huge change in our lives. I can honestly say that I really grew up in Las Vegas. This is where I learned that I can truly raise my family on my own. In Phoenix, we had so much help but in Vegas I had to learn to do things on my own, especially with Bob traveling so much. Vegas gave me a confidence in myself that I didn't have before.

Vegas will always be special to me and the people that I have come to love here will be hard to leave but everything in life has a season and our Vegas season coming to a close now feels right.

Adventures of Frog Pond

Written by: Carter

Once upon a time two tadpoles were expelled by the evil Uncle Milton from the Frogville Stream. Uncle Milton captured them in a small bottle and gave them no food. He sent them in the mail to Las Vegas where he was sure they would never be heard from again.

Unfortunately Uncle Milton's evil plan was foiled by a hero named Bat Kid. Bat Kid rescued the tiny tadpoles from their packaging and began the process of creating a habitat for them to thrive in.

Bat Kid used his super powers to turn the tadpoles into healthy and strong frogs. The day came when the frogs were strong enough to be released back into the wild. Bat Kid found a pond (in his backyard) where the frogs could be safe and happy. The frogs were strong enough to make their way back to Frogville Stream where they attacked Uncle Milton and made him apologize for keeping them captive in a jar for weeks. Uncle Milton promised to never catch frogs again. The frogs returned to the Bat Pond and lived happily ever after.

Moms note to other parents: While the boys finally enjoyed seeing the process of metamorphosis, I would never, ever recommend buying tadpoles through Uncle Milton's. Read the reviews on this product. You can also read our experiences with this and see how much more money, effort and heartache this took. If you live in an area where you can't find tadpoles in nature, ask your fish store. Occasionally they accidentally get shipped in with the feeder fish and the store will gladly give them to you. This is a much better way to rescue a tapdole :)

Mickeys New Service Dog

Carter decided that Mickey needs a helper dog too. Build-a-Bear to the rescue again. I absolutely love the accessories that they have, including the dog cape and wheelchair. I crocheted the leash (yup, I did!)

Our Recent Comings and Goings...

So much going on here that I haven't had time to sit and just write for the last week. Where to start?

First off, my dad is in the hospital. He hasn't been feeling well lately and his legs have been really swollen. He has been there since Saturday with little to no progress in figuring out what is really the problem. Things are moving very, very slowly.

My mom turned 80 on Sunday. I can hardly believe that this vibrant woman is 80. She came up to spend a few days with us despite my dads hospital stay. She mostly hung out with us and enjoyed the kids busy schedule. Here is a picture of her and I at the local bar (yup, you read that right) playing video poker for her birthday dinner. ROFL!



Nala was presented with her service dog cape today. She is officially a "service dog in training" and has full access rights to anywhere her humans go. The boys are trying to figure out which rides at Disneyland she will like. :) Below is a picture of her and Krista, our incredible doggie and people trainer. Krista's organization, All Purpose Canines, is incredible. Please visit their site if you are interested in a service dog.

Bob has been in Colorado this week.

....and for those of you waiting to hear about our recent decisions, I will probably have a 100% answer by the weekend. Stay tuned.

Real Life Learning

There is no possible way that I can do this story justice by writing it but it is such a great memory that I need to preserve. Try to imagine my sweet, innocent 9 year old telling me this in all sincerity:

C: I am going on Club Penguin to earn more coins.
Me: Why?
C: I need more coins to buy new clothes so I can get a girlfriend.
Me: Um, OK. Good luck with that.

***30 minutes later***
***Carter enters visibly upset***

C: My girlfriend broke up with me!
Me: What?
C: I did everything right. I don't understand. I took her to the pizza parlor. I took her to the coffee shop. Then she invited me back to her igloo
M: ***starting to giggle at this point***
C: Then she just dumped me. *very sad puppy dog face*I did everything right. Why?
M: I don't know C, girls can be like that.

***5 minutes pass. C is back on the computer.***

Me: What you doing now?
C: Applying for a job (he is in the Club Penguin Pizza Parlor)
Me: Why?
C: Well, I can't get a girlfriend so I might as well get a job!


***And who says that unschoolers don't learn anything????***

In case you don't know, Club Penguin is a virtual game owned by Disney where kids interact as penguin characters.

And That Ain't No Bull

We took the boys and Nala out to the County Fair in Logandale this weekend. Both Bob and I have such fond memories of the fair as kids. I know the boys will too after such a great family day. Here are some pictures:

The movie City Slicker comes to mind here...

Who doesn't have Fair memories of the big slide?

Can't believe he really went on this!


They really do have fun together :)

Watching the goat show...

Have I mentioned yet how AMAZING Nala is? She is only 17 weeks (pushing 45 pounds now) and she walked that Fair for 5 hours like a pro. The only thing she balked at were the roosters. She had no problems with any other animal, noise or people. She is beyond incredible but if I have to answer one more time, "What type of dog is that?" I may say she is a cat.

Extreme Dodge Ball

Sorry for the down time lately. Between Carters staph infection (which is responding very well to all the antibiotics BTW) and the life changing decisions (don't want to say anything conclusive on this just yet ;) ) we have going on for the family, I just have not had the time. Anyway, we seem to playing a lot lately. The weather here is so beautiful and we have been trying to get outside and enjoy it before the heat comes. We had a lot of fun with our friends at Skymania on Friday. This is Connor's favorite homeschool event each month. The kids play dodge ball on huge trampolines. The moms hang out and talk on the sidelines. Carter likes to get up on the trampolines and be bounced by all the kids. It worked out this time that everyone that was on his team this time is also in one of our homeschool groups so I thought I would post it for all the kids to enjoy :) The quality is not that great because I have to reduce it so much for the blog.

Please Turn the Volume Down!

I need a vacation. A solitary stay in a silent monastery sounds perfect. Actually, Mrs. Puff gave me the idea (if you know any child under the age of 15 you know who I am talking about). We were watching the episode where Mrs. Puff goes to jail and SpongeBob and Patrick insist on trying to break her out. I felt so sorry for poor Mrs. Puff, why couldn't SpongeBob just leave the poor woman alone instead of haunting her every moment with that insidious laugh and stupid smile? Jail doesn't really fit my style though. Somehow I doubt that jail bunks have the 600 thread count sheets I require for sleeping :) So, the idea of the monastery came to be. It would feel like a small piece of Heaven to be somewhere quiet for just a few days. It seems like everything around me is is just SO LOUD lately. Everything feels like noise to me. I know, I know, I KNOW it is because I feel some insane need to take on everything...the HOA Board, starting a new homeschool group, keeping a company going, taking the kids to everything that they take on, being a wife and mom in general I guess and I know that I am not the only mom in the world to feel this way once in a while. So, if you are a little stressed too, why not book a room with me......just please, NO TALKING!

PS...I am checking into the thread count at the monastery :)

The Boys Are Going Back to School!!!

This was an April Fools Joke people....

We are all so thrilled. It is rare to have one kid accepted into this program, but to have both boys accepted is a HUGE honor for our family! The boys will start school this summer at the Sandou Theatrical Circus School. Carter is hoping to train as a master elephant pooper scooper. Connor is aspiring to be the head trapeze boy. He really wants to earn his tights quickly. In order to pay for their schooling, I have taken on a teaching position with the school. I will be training the clowns to juggle and get in and out of the car. I was hired because of my immense experience in in this area. We are so happy and proud of our boys!



If you didn't guess already, April Fools!