Hound Dog News

Here is a little tradition the kids and I have (although we missed this year!!! argh!!!!)

We love to go out to Lattin Farms and pick some raspberries (gold raspberries to be specific that are the sweetest, most wonderful tasting thing I've ever eaten!) and then peruse the activities.

My kids will spend hours feeding the goats and visiting with the other animals.

Look how little my kids look . . . this was just LAST year!!!

I don't know if I have mentioned it yet . . . Austin is officially taller than me! (His long anticipated growth spurt has arrived)

It feels like he will be gone so soon . . . :(]

I think I had better take the kids out to Lattin Farms to visit the animals, ride the barrel train, take some pictures in the painted cut-outs, see the pumpkin sculpture, ride the hay wagon to the pumpkins & go through the corn maze . . . I don't have many years left of that!!

Here is a pictureless update.

Austin won his first medal last week at a cross country meet in Winnemucca . . . he took 7th place! Woo hoo!!!!

He is growing like a weed & is now taller than me (although I can still take him 3 out of 5 times in indian leg wrestling & give him a bloody nose!), and he has switched to the Tuba this year (everyone give a collected "huh???")

Joslyn has kept up really well on her school work so far this year!! woohooo!!

And she just started Jazz Band yesterday (*Joslyn sighs*).

She is trying to learn the flute part to a song for our Primary Program.

She had her first official sunday as a Beehive!!!

Saturday I took her and a couple of friends to Reno to see a movie and then go shopping for her birthday . . . they had a lot of fun!! We had a few things going on that night so we cut it a bit short, but they made use of EVERY minute!

Drew is having fun getting involved in school and doing the Student Advisory Committee (or whatever they call it).

We are in the works of possibly having her skip the 4th grade and move on to 5th grade this year . . . I think it's just up to us and if we decide to or not.

(Did I ever tell you that she tested at a 10th grade level for math???? She started the gifted and talented program this year and scored a 98% overall score . . . 99% is the highest possible score for this one and they want them to score over 94 in 4 different areas).

*insert funny story here* When I told Austin that Drew's teacher was talking about having her skip the 4th grade he said, "Great, now I feel like the dumbest one in the family!" I said, "Oh, you don't have to worry about that one!" We looked in the back seat and the little girl we call Trouble stuck her finger in her eye and howled, "AAAHHHH my EYE, my EYE!!"

Ellie is loving kindergarten!

She is constantly sounding out words and writing them down. It's amazing how quickly they learn when they set their minds to it!

She just went to her friend Ellie's birthday party yesterday and it was all she could talk about for a week!

Chloe has a new addiction . . . "Scooby Doo" and goes around singing the theme song on a regular basis (in fact when she asks to watch it she doesn't just say Scooby Doo . . . she sings it).

Apparently she has been paying good attention to "Super Why" and "Word World" as well, because yesterday when we got out of the car she went up to the license plate and started pointing at the letters and saying what they were & she got a lot of them right. I was amazed and asked her some of them in random order and she really knew them!

Scott has been sick for about a month now. He tends to have a difficult time getting over coughs (something he inherited from his mom I think).

He's been going crazy at work with so much to do and putting in a lot of hours. Some days I really miss DRI!!!!!!!

I am in the process of some projects around the house (we just had french doors installed in our dining area . . . I LOVE them!!!!). Too many projects to name!!

I'll have to take some before and after pictures.

I can't tell you how many time I caught myself on my way to give Chloe shots. It has just seemed so natural to me now to give babies/toddlers shots (not other people's . . . just my own). I always caught myself, but was so worried when I did . . . thinking that I might slip up one of these days and really give her a shot! I've even gone so far as to have her lie down . . . which she willingly did!! (sometimes she asks me to check her like I do Ellie, and has even asked for a shot a few times)

Yesterday I got the morning shots ready and started heading for Chloe instead of Ellie. You know when you are working on auto-pilot and you don't really hear what people are saying?? Well after about the third time Chloe's voice FINALLY penetrated my auto-pilot and I heard "nooo, not ME!!!"

At last, she can talk, she can tell me NOT ME & then I can shake off the zombie feeling and realize that I'm heading to the WRONG kid for a shot!

The other night Ellie asked if she could take a shower & get ready for bed . . . it was only 7pm & that is rather unusual for her. After her shower I had a good look at her face & she had apparently been playing in her big sister's make-up & was trying to avoid trouble by taking a shower.

This wasn't a first for her. She was about 2 and all was quiet in the house . . . not a good sign, so I went on the hunt and this is what I found . . .

Austin has been on a roll with Cross Country lately. His coach told him that if he keeps up the way he has been lately he might make it to state. He's liking it so much that he might do it again next year instead of soccer. He's not winning anything . . . but he is improving dramatically on a regular basis & he loves that feeling! (Not to mention the abs . . . lol) We had a local meet yesterday and he took over 2 minutes off of his time.

After the meet we hurried home to eat some dinner and change to head back to school for an induction into the National Honors Society ceremony. I don't know if they just do things differently here or what, because Scott and I were both in the NHS, but neither of us applied for it & there wasn't a ceremony or a club or anything . . . just a little card and the bragging rights.

I found Austin's application letter the night before it was due. It was the same night that he had run a meet and had a lot of homework. It was the same night that I layed into him about not applying for it. It was the same night that Austin wrote his essay and applied for the NHS.

They had a nice ceremony and the parents put a sash on the inductee. I totally missed my hug in public because I was trying to get a picture. DANG!


The big girls watched the little girls during the Cross Country meet (they came with us last time & I decided it would be better for all concerned if they stayed home this time!). When we came home I looked out the window and this was the sight I beheld . . .