Back to School....

September = Back to school.... where did summer go?

Yesterday the kids had back to school day. We went and put away all their school supplies, found their desks and re-met their teachers. They were so excited!

I have to admit the highlight of the day for me was when Rick called me and asked what time we were going to be there because he didn't want to miss it. He drove into town and met us. It was a fun and special thing to do as a family!

Surprisingly bed time went better than expected. They were both so nervous. Kaitlyn was worried that her teacher wouldn't like her and that she would flunk all her subjects. She is such a worrier!

Wake up time went great. Both kids got up really well. All was going well until I told Trace to wear tennis shoes because he had P.E. today. Well turn on the freak out. Kailtyn had told him that if he couldn't tie his shoes he would get kicked out of P.E. and then get kicked out of school. So he told Rick to teach him right now how to tie his shoes. Rick told him he couldn't do it today but that they could work on this week. So at that point Trace said he wasn't going, started crying and then spilt the drink he was carrying to put in the sink all over him. GGGGRRRREEEAAATTT. We got him changed and Rick loaded up the kids in his car and hit the road. I followed them and just as I was getting on the freeway I got a call to go back and get Trace's glasses.

I made it on time to get a few pics before they went into school. I didn't cry, and it made me feel so good to watch them both just march right with confidence, smiles and eagerness.

Both had great first days. Trace did pull a warning stick (the stick in kinder is they friend to remind them to make good decisions) but survived the day and his teacher said he did well and she was proud of him. Kaitlyn loved her teacher and had a blast. She is so excited for tomorrow mostly because she gets to wear basketball shorts since it is her P.E. day. My deal with her is P.E. days are the only time she can wear basketball shorts. Dang it if she doesn't have P.E. 3 times a week this year! That one backfired on me big time.

Rick and I survived the day too. I was a wreck all day. I knew Kaitlyn would have a great day but Trace is our challenge. I know he is exactly where he needs to be and I know that he has teachers that can not only lead him to do great both with his school work and his emotions but will also teach him that his attitude and actions need to make Jesus proud. Please keep him and his teachers in your prayers :-)

That's how they roll...

This just rolled up to my yard sale. I believe that would be a washer shoved in the side. Sweet!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Great Story!

I just read this on THIS BLOG and found myself wanting to share it. I echo what Michelle says in the following :-)

I read this today and thought I'd share it. Yes, it's political and it totally speaks to my beliefs, so if you think you'll be offended, don't read it!

From a teacher in the Nashville area:

"We are worried about "the cow" when it is all about the "Ice Cream" The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year.The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members.

We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have.We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids.

I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother. The day arrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first.

He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Everyone applauded and he sat down.

Now is was Olivia's turn to speak. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream."

She sat down. The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream." She surely would say more... She did not have to.

A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream?
She wasn't sure.

Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it.
She didn't know.

The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten.

Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and 52 percent of the people reacted like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other 48 percent know they're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess! Remember, the government cannot give anything to anyone --- that it has not first taken away from someone else.

Kids say the darndest things...

In an effort to record the funny things my kids say... here are 2 of my favorites in the past week:

Me to the kids: "Guys if we get new couches there will be NO MORE eatting or drinking on them."

Trace: "Great, then where are we going to eat dinner?"

********************************

Trace to me: "Mom how much did you run last night?"

Me: "Well I would run for 60 seconds and then walk for 90 seconds and I did that for 30 minutes."

Kaitlyn: "Ummm, mom, Sorry but that was NOT running it was much more like a very slow jog."

********************************

Nothing like 2 kids to keep me grounded!

A MUST check out!

This is the coolest blog... check it out and find all kinds of fabulous deals!!!

http://krazycouponlady.blogspot.com/

Grandview Fair

Kaity headed to the west side for a girls weekend with Kathie and Meredith so we were down to one. We decided to take Trace to fair in Grandview.

Trace had fun eating his favorite corn and checking out the animals. But by far his favorite was the rodeo. He was so into the bull riding. So I guess a trip to the BF fair and rodeo is in our future.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICK!

Happy Birthday Rick....

A great dad....

a wonderful husband....

and the reason we are a family...

We love you and hope your birthday is great.

House Work....

So if my house was clean all the time would I appreciate it as much as I do right now after spending hours cleaning a truely messy house??? Maybe one day I will know the answer to that. As for now, we are too busy running kids to soccer, VBS, working, racing and playing.... and we love every second of it! Right now, I am loving my clean house!

Disclaimer: The only reason my house is clean is because the Directv dude missed his 8-12 window by 3 1/2 hours! Yep, he got here at 3:30 and I now have a clean upstairs!!

What to do... what to do...

Saturday was Cheyanne's birthday (our friends Jeremy and Nicole's daughter). Cheyanne and Kaitlyn are the same age and their younger daughter Taylor and Trace are the same age (they are also boy friend and girl friend if you ask them!). So Nicole asked me if they could take the kids on Saturday and keep them over night. Who am I to say no. Rick dropped them off on Saturday morning and they had a day of fun with the Douglas family.

Rick called me right before I was about to leave work and said to stay in town and meet him at Anthony's for dinner. YUUUMMMM! We had a fabulous dinner watching what we can only describe as FOOLS out on the river (it was 108 degrees out! How could it even feel good on the water unless you are IN the water.). After dinner we went to the mall and browsed around a bit and then headed over to watch The Hangover. The movie was hilarious. Definately not for everyone but Rick and I both completely enjoyed it and laughed the entire time. When we left at 9:30, it was still 100 degrees out!

Sunday Rick had to work and I had no kids to wake me up. Leave it only to me to be up at 7:30 but it sure was nice to read the paper, sip my coffee and not have to break up one fight. It also gave me time to go over all the ads to price what I wanted to get Rick for his birthday. His birthday isn't until Wednesday but we have the most insane week ahead of us and Rick was in big time need of a pick me up. So I cruised down to Tri-Cities, KIDLESS and not having to head to work, and started my journey to buy him a new TV.

I ended up with a Vizio 55" LCD. We are not techie people... we are not movie watchers... we don't have a clue on electronics. So high end anything isn't necessary, I just figured it was time to moth ball the 36" tube tv that has made its home with us the last 9 years. It will works, it just is a nice square (as opposed to the nice rectangles modern era TV's are), it weighs approximately 3 times what the 55" TV weighed, it has to sit on a stand (which the new is on now until we decide where we want to mount it) and well.... it was time for a big screen. My brother in law came over to help me move the old one out and set up the new one (which worked out well since he is color blind, haha) and I believe his words to me were: You were the last ones I know with a old TV, even the old people have a flat screen. hahaha.

I went and picked up the kids around 4:30 and we were home and waiting for Rick to get off work. He walked in and was so happy to see his new TV. I'm sure he was even happier when he got to watch Hannah Montana and Wizzard's of Waverly Place all on night.

Today is the start of a pretty crazy week. Tonight I am going to a CAbi show of their new line and Rick is getting the kids. It is our only down night. Rick will be busy the rest of week getting the racecars ready for Stateline this weekend. Kaitlyn is heading to the west side with Kathie on Thursday so Trace and I will have a day in Spokane on Saturday. Rick thinks he wants to drive home after the race so we can have Sunday to be home. I figure we will see how he is holding up at the end of the week. He has been working in Vegas 2 of the last 3 weeks. While he has enjoyed being down there, it is hard being away from home and his normal job. There is lots waiting for him!

So thats us in a nutshell.... aaaaggggghhhhhh, back to blogging finally :-)

Truck on fire....

This morning after I dropped the kids off at daycare, I got to witness a truck on fire in the bypass. I was talking to Gus on the phone as I saw the black smoke. Ironically we were discussing mobile blogging. He told me I needed to take a pic and post it from the mobile....well since I was talking to him I didn't take the pic BUT I decided to still post the story so he would know I'm making the effort. So picture here a mid 80's F-250 burnt to the ground. Literally a complete loss. Not a good Monday morning!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

This Morning.....

This funny little boy....

said, "OMG... what is that smell??? I think it might be beef!"

To which this funny little girl...

said, "Mom I think he is going to be a Veterinarian!"

And since I'm pretty sure she meant Vegetarian.... I had a nice morning chuckle.

Happy Friday!

Testing the mobile blog...

I finally decided to try out mobile blogging. Wish me luck!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

YEP ADDISON.... we feel the exact same way about this heat wave!
(is it sad that the 97 degree break we have today feels good)

Beachin it at Cannon Beach!

We have been in major need of a family time out so this weekend we loaded up and hit the coast on Thursday. It was boat race weekend here so we decided it was the perfect time to escape the craziness (and the heat!). We drove to Portland on Thursday and then hit Seaside on Friday morning. We spent most of Friday in Seaside. The kids had a blast feeding the seals and walking around the town. Then we drove to Cannon Beach to check into our hotel and spent the afternoon on the beach.

Saturday we hit the tide pools at Haystack rock and they were incredible. We saw so much and the kids were just in awe. Sunday we also went and they were not nearly as filled as they were Saturday so we totally lucked out. After that we drove down the coast and just spent the morning exploring but made sure we were back in plenty of time to spend all afternoon on the beach. The kids got skim boards which they didn't really pick up on but had a blast trying. It was such a great relaxing weekend!

After we hit Seaside for a bit on Sunday we hit the road to get Rick dropped off at the airport. He is working in Vegas this week and will be home on Friday. This is the 2nd time he has gone down for work in the last 2 weeks and will most likely have to go one more time. Its hard having him gone!!!

Here's a few pics of our adventures.....

Welcome Miss Addison!!!!!!!!!!

Addison Nicole Beightol arrived on July 14th weighing in at 6 lbs and 14.8 ounces. She was 19 inches long.... Little and so sweet!!!

A million excuses...

That is what I have for not updated my blog in MONTHS.... but maybe, just maybe I'll be back on track now.

We have been one busy bunch of people the last few months. The store has been insanely busy, Rick and the kids are both racing and I helped host a shower in honor of the arrival of my sister-in-laws baby girl....

Rick has been putting in lots of hours with the race program and has had tremendous results. The group he is racing with is probably one of the largest touring series on the entire West coast. With the economic problems racing doesn't seem to be on the top of many people lists but the NW Pro 4 Alliance has had over 30 cars at both their events. In May we raced in Wenatchee and finished first!! Last weekend we raced in Yakima and finished first!! It took until the last minute to finish this car and then just 10 days before the Yakima race he blew up a motor in practice, so these wins were especially appreciated! We are so proud of him.

Kaitlyn finished up 2nd grade.... I am so going to miss her teacher but it was so nice to finish the year. She is going to have a great class next year. She is doing basketball camps and lot of vacation bible schools this summer, finished up dance last week, and is still racing go-karts.

Trace finished pre-school and will officially be a kindergartner at Liberty in August. We are waiting on his teacher still but he has gone through the testing process and did great. Just hoping his behavior will stay in line so he can do well socially too! He is doing lots of VBS also and is playing soccer and racing. Tonight is his first soccer game, wahoo!

As for me I am just working and working and working.... I am finally able to get off at 5 instead of 6 which is so nice. The store is doing well which is a blessing. Here are a few pics of the shower I put on with my other sister in laws for Wendy and Addison: