SHE LOST IT!!!!!!!

Oh, what a happy day it is. Bryn has lost her first tooth! I can't believe it, actually it makes me a little sad to think she is growing up so fast. However, she has been looking forward to this day for a long time, and she couldn't be more excited.

An Unexpected Haircut

Why is it that scissors are so interesting to little kids???

To start the story, let me first tell you about our morning yesterday.  The kids came in like they always do, and they had their regular wrestling match with dad, then they watched TV while Erick got in the shower and ready for the day.  When he got out of the shower, I shaved the back of his neck for him.  Apparently Kyler was watching(error #1)......

In the afternoon, I was at the computer working on my school assignment (Error #2, I usually wait until the kids are in bed, however they were engrossed in Pocahontas so I thought I was in the clear).  All of a sudden I hear Kyler say, "I am going to show Dad how good this looks" I flipped my head around and saw Kyler with the scissors.  Here is the product of his work 

He literally cut it to the scalp.  I have to admit I laughed for about 5 minutes before I could tell him that we don't do that.  He told me that Joseph Smith cut his hair like this and he wanted to cut his too.  So, I took him outside and shaved it.  There is still a patch in front that is shorter than the rest.  I didn't want his whole head to be that short, so we will have to shave it one more time to even it out.  

childhood past times revisited

Bryn and Kyler have discovered the Chinese Jump Rope. They have had so much fun playing with it. Usually they will get two kitchen chairs and put the rope around the legs and play for hours. I looked up the rules on line and there are a few different "games" to play, the one that works best for us is: As you play you chant the positions; "In" means both feet inside the rope. "Out" means both feet outside the rope, one on either side. "Side" means you straddle the rope on either side, usually followed by a jump to the opposite side, straddling the other rope. "On" means one foot on top of each side of the rope, pressing them to the ground. Finally "X" means the child takes the rope, crosses it using their legs, so that their legs are inside of an x. Then the child has to jump out and straddle the rope. The most common order is: IN, OUT, SIDE, SIDE, IN, OUT, ON, all the way out to one side and finish with X. We all have had a lot of fun playing!

Happy St. Patrick's day

Sadly, I didn't even know it was St Patrick's today until I looked at the calendar for something else. Last year we were all about the green clothes and the green food and everything else green. Those are the things I miss about public school. They just seem to make days like this more exciting. However, we all put on a swimming suit with green on today in celebration!
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!!! I hope none of you got pinched today.

Tennis Tournament

On Saturday, the medical school had a tennis tournament.  Erick signed up to play singles and doubles, so you know it was an all day affair!!  He had a great time playing and took second in singles and third in doubles.  It was a beautiful day to play tennis.  The kids had a great time as well.  They were "hunting" for tennis balls.  Behind the fence there was a section of shrubs and they were climbing around the shrubs looking for balls.  They ended up finding 15 ball all together.  But we had to add one from the tournament ball to make it even.  It would be horrible for one of them to have more than the other!!  

Kyler waiting for his turn!

BEACH BASH-- Bahamas style

Yesterday was Erick's second Mini of 3rd semester!  Usually after the first Mini Ross sponsors a beach bash.  However, things were not ready after Mini 1 this semester, so they did it after the second Mini.  

It was so much fun.  We got to the beach about 4pm.  There was football going on, volleyball, and water games.  Kyler brought his soccer ball, so we played that for a while as well.  There were 2 kayaks that you could just take out.  I took Bryn out for quite a ways and Erick took Kyler.  The kids mostly just played in the sand and water and had a great time.  They served hamburgers, hotdogs, and BBQ chicken wings.  It was a great night.  

Kyler and Erick in the Kayak

Bryn's Sand Angel

Bryn and Aspen COVERED in sand

Getting covered in sand

Having a great time in the warm water!

Erick playing volleyball

A cruise ship coming in

Playing soccer with Doug

The beach!

It will never happen to me.....

Have you ever heard a really bazaar story that has happened to someone else and thought to yourself, "That will never happen to me."? Well I have to admit, I think that a lot. When I hear stories, I think how horrible it must me to go through, then I usually think about how grateful I am that is wasn't me, and finally I come to the thought, of "that will never happen to me."
So here is my advice to you- Don't think that, or it probably will happen to you.
I had just heard a story about someone getting their identity stolen and a bunch of money, and at the end of the story thought, "that will never happen to me.".........
Here is our story:
This morning, I got on the computer to check emails, and do my regular morning routine. When I went to my bank account there were some charges that I had no idea what they were. I couldn't imagine Erick had made them, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions before I asked Erick about them. That could be very embarrassing to get the bank on the phone and claim to have never spent the money to later find out your husband had!!! So I sent Erick a message asking him to look and see if he know what they were. He of course sent a message right back that they were not his! While I was waiting for the clock to strike 10am, the phone rang. It was a lady from QVC (where one of the purchases was from). She is calling to verify that I had really ordered the HOME STEREO SYSTEM!!! Okay first of all, I don't even own a couch what am I going to do with a home stereo system. So I explain that I had just seen the charges and that I had not made the purchase. She said she would cancel it. I asked where it was being sent to and she told me she could not give me any information about the purchase other than it was to be delivered in Massachusetts. When I got off the phone it was exactly 10:00, so I called the bank. After waiting for an hour, which come on, you are going to tell me that right at 10:00 "all operators are currently assisting other customers"? I don't think so! I guess what happened was I called as they were turning the phone system on and my call got "lost". I would probably still be on the phone, because I was petrified of loosing my place in line, but thankfully Erick who knew I was still waiting tried to call and got right through, so he sent me a message to hang up. Right after I hung up the bank called me. So Erick is on the phone at the school with the bank and I am now on the phone with the bank at home. She was calling to verify a purchase from Bed Bath & Beyond. I explained to her what we knew, what the lady at QVC had said and that Erick was on the phone with someone else at the same time. As I am talking to her a purchase came through for Forever 21, and iTunes. It was like living a nightmare. The charges wouldn't stop and the thought of someone having ALL my information tied to my debit card was really freaking me out. They kept asking me if I could stop in to a branch and get it all sorted out, but the fact that I am out of the country makes that a little difficult!
Long story shortened a little.. We now have to deal with paperwork long distance to get all the money back and change all the information on our account. I then spend the rest of the day on the phone with the Social Security Administration, the major credit reporting agencies and the bank. Hopefully we have it all under control now, but what a mess!