July 17, 2005

July 17, 2005
Another busy week flies by! I have never seen summer move so quickly! It has been quite a bit hotter here, so we stay inside more. Our tomato plants are growing so great and we have even been able to eat a few grape tomatoes and they were awesome! My roses however, got attacked by some very nasty beetles who ate all my roses. We sprayed and they still kept coming. So, this weekend Bob got some heavy duty spray and went in like a commando and blasted those stupid things. There were so many that it looked like I had black roses that moved. NASTY! I think they are all dead now, so hopefully these poor roses can try again.

Tyler and Kayla passed their Tae Kwon Do orientation and earned a yellow stripe. Tyler decided to continue on and Kayla chose to quit. Tyler is doing very well in the class and learning so much stuff. Now I think we need to get him a punching bag so he won’t use the sisters for practice. His sister actually elbowed him in his "private" area today and he cried and turned purple. Not good. He is also becoming a huge helper in the kitchen. He loves to help me cook and he even cracks eggs better than his dad (who got shell in the cookie dough today).

Kayla has decided to start volleyball in the fall. I think she will do very well. She definitely loves sports. She is also becoming very apprehensive about school starting even though it’s a month away. Thank heavens here they have registration the first week of August and we find out who her teacher is. Then a week or so before school starts they have an open house where we can meet the teacher and other kids in the class and see her classroom. I am hoping that will ease many fears.

We went shopping for Marisa’s school supplies this week. She is so excited she can hardly stand it! I hope this year goes really well for her. She also will have a pre-registration day as well as an orientation day which should also help ease any fears. She and Kayla have been doing this computer program which is teaching them how to play the piano on our keyboard. They are really working hard and can play one song. They need to learn a new one quick though- the other one is driving me insane.

Alayna. What can I say? I chose to put her back in diapers and she was so happy and this week she has decided to start potty training herself. More power to ya, little lady! I will say we have had lots more laundry, but she is trying and that counts for a lot. Oh, and she has decided she is a princess. She is ALWAYS in some kind of costume. When I went to the store the other day, she was adamant about wearing the bright yellow sunflower costume. As my mother always said, "You gotta pick your battles". So, I let her wear it and you wouldn’t believe the attention she got. I will never get her in regular clothes again. She is always saying "I look so pretty today", etc. She has a healthy self esteem which is a good thing. What a character, I tell ya!

I am going back to school when the kids do to renew my teaching license which expired. I only have to take 6 credits so I can easily get it done this year. Then I will exchange it for the Iowa one and hopefully start teaching again when Alayns starts kindergarten. We shall see how things play out.
We have a fun week ahead of us as my parents are coming to visit from Utah along with my sister and her 3 kids. Boy do we have a fun party planned. I will tell you all about it next week.

Also, a special Happy Birthday to Grandpa Hart! Have a great week!
Love-Kris