Here we go again...

Last December Bree had her first set of ear tubes put in but apparantly they didn't do the trick. One fell completely out and the other is partially blocked so the ENT felt that the best option was to put a more permanent, longer lasting type tube in. (these were taken before the surgery last December)

When the ENT did some of the inner ear testing he found that their was lots of fluid built up behind the ear, which causes ear infections but also can affect language development. He said that the testing showed that she can hear externally fine but that internally, or in otherwords, when she hears herself vocalize, it sounds like she is talking with her ears plugged. Basically that doesn't help when you are trying to learn how to talk and trying to copy sounds. So hopefully, this time around will last longer and be more effective. Last time she also had her adenoids removed so she was really miserable for like a week after the surgery, so I am hoping that because she is only doing the tubes this time that she will be feeling lots better. Last time she was really upset when they took us into the recovery room because of the pain as well as the confusion of coming out of the anesthsia and it was SO sad to see her that way! So I am hoping it is a little better this time.

Kyra just gave the sweetest prayer for Bree that I wanted to remember, she said "please bless that Bree will be protected in her surgery tomorrow and that she will do good while they put new tubes in her ears. Please bless her to be safe and bless that it won't hurt her. Bless her to feel better soon and bless all that she can do..." Then as I was tucking her in bed she was asking me about how the "medicine" (the anesthesia-we had been telling her last night that they give Bree special medicine to make her fall asleep while they do the surgery so that it doesn't hurt her) and how does she wake up from it and what if she wakes up before they are done with the surgery-then it would hurt her? It was so sweet to see her so concerned about her little sister.

Kyra Singing

My little brother recorded Kyra singing "The Climb" By Miley Cyrus. Its so cute!!

First day of Second Grade

Ky started second grade this week and it went better than the year before as far as tears at school....maybe because we both got them mostly out the night before. Ky has a hard time each year being gone from us but I was very proud of her for trying so hard to be brave. I could tell she was holding the tears back when we left her at the school, so I had to hide mine until she was out of sight because I didn't want to make it harder on her than it already was.

Kyra was REALLY excited about her outfit! She has been begging for a scarf for awhile and then when we found one for this outfit and she could wear her new pink shoes with it she was very excited!

She was excited that her new lunchpack hooks onto the outside of her backpack....

Adrie and Bree will miss her being around!

Kyra's desk

Julie's friend had this cute idea to give the teachers on the first day of school

Kyra's teacher is the same one she had for the last half of 1st grade. Her 1st grade teacher had a baby midway through the year so Miss Christensen took over, and now she is a permanent teacher and moved up to second grade because Kyra's grade is so big a teacher has to move up each year. So Ky has the same teacher, in the same classroom, but she is now Mrs. Hatch because she got married over the summer. For Kyra I think this made the adjustment to school a little easier.

My cute girls!

I LOVE this picture of Kyra and Halle! THey are so excited to be at school with eachother all day now and they get to ride the bus to and from school together now that Halle is in first grade!

Kyra and Halle

After we left Kyra we headed to the park with some friends for lunch since we were all missing our older kids, Adrie thought she needed a lunchpack like Kyras-of course!

After I took Adrie's picture Bree walked over to the same spot and posed and tried to say cheese.

The gang at the park

Adrie and Bree

Bree and Lucy

After school Ky wanted us to pick her up at school and as we were walking down the hall Bree pretty much jumped out of her stroller with excitement when she saw Kyra!

Relaxing after a long first day enjoying a show and some after school cookies with her webkinz

Last year we started the tradition of the back to school theme dinner

With our new little theme for the school year.....

the ABC tater tots (which are delicious!)......

served with chicken fingers, jello, and juice boxes on the school lunch trays.

All in all it was a pretty successful first day! There were some more tears from Ky at bedtime but she is doing pretty well. I am already missing the luxury of the summertime with no schedule though!

Back to School fun

The night before school started I made a little scavenger hunt for the girls....

THe followed clues through the house that related to getting ready for school...

and at the end of it they found their new backpacks full of goodies...
They had some school supplies, some lip gloss, some lotion, and a "missing doll" (Ky has a really hard time being away at school because she misses us so I found this little strawberry shortcake doll about the size of a polly pocket and it is to keep in the pocket of her backpack so she can rub it or look at it if she gets homesick)....

They also each got a new webkinz in their backpack...they LOVE webkinz lately!

It turned out to be a fun little activity so I think we will turn it into a back to school tradition.

After the scavenger hunt we had the tradition of Kris giving them each a fathers blessing and he also gives me one each year which I LOVE! It is always really hard for me to start the school year each year because it means my kids are growing up and that they are with someone else more hours of the day then they are with me and it makes me sad. I just want them to stay little and be with me all the time. Kris gave us all very nice blessings and we were all quite emotional,well except Adrie, who looks at all of us crying and says "so now can I go play webkinz". It was quite funny-she just lets things roll off her! I am really grateful for the tradition of the blessings to start the new year. It is always nice to have the peace that comes with it and it makes me a little less of a basketcase as I have to let my kids grow up! It is hard enough only having one in all day school right now-luckily Adrie is just doing a little preschool, I don't know what I will do when they are all in school all day!

Final Days of Summer

I really can't believe summer is over! It has gone by WAY too fast! We managed to have a funfilled final week of summer though!

We went on a bike ride and Jess and Grandma came too...

Had a LEMONADE/PUNCH stand...........

Each of the 6 kids involved made $1......

Bree was happy with her chocolate cookies and the stack of cups......

I love this picture...it looks like BRee is trying to kiss Griffin and he is not enjoying it.

We spent a few last outings with Chaly and Kacen before they had to go home...

Sunday dinner at Grandma Linda's is always more fun in the summer because it isn't school night.....Papa made these music shakers for Bree and she loved them.

We enjoyed YUMMY Gespacho and shopping in park city with aunt Gayla......

Mom and Gayla are going to use this pose for all their pictures now!

Chaly and I

A sad attempt to get a picture of the kids together.........

Friday night Kris set up a projector and we watched Hannah Montana the movie outside in the backyard with friends and Curt and Amy.......

Bree and Adrie had fun on the ladder while dad was hanging the sheet on the house

This is Bree saying "cheese"-she doesn't actually say it but she says something while she does it..her own language.....

Bree and Lucy were SO cute together! Bree was pushing Lucy all over the yard on this ride on before the show started and they had a blast playing ring around the rosies together.

Kyra and Emma in their Hannah Montana Pj's

Adrie and Rayany

The crew ready to watch the flick........

We of course had to have Kris's famous popcorn.....

It was like we were at the drive in in our own backyard......

we had lots of yummy treats with the popcorn and Kris also made homemade rootbeer....

Kirsten , me and Julie......Thanks Kris for setting it all up and being such a good sport about always watching all the girl shows with us!


Saturday night we camped in out backyard.........

We played games..........

the girls wore their new PJ's from dad for "back to school".......

we danced.......

Kris enjoyed some cuddle time with Adrie's puppy Ruffles.....

and played ring a round the rosies.....It was a fun outing for the last day of summer, although at about 1:30 am we ended up moving the sleeping girls inside and we slept inside the rest of the night because the wind was so bad that the tent felt like it was going to blow over, and it was SO hot we opted for the comfort of the house that was steps away.