Bethanie's teacher tells me at conferences that she had to restart one of Bethie's tests because the teacher couldn't proceed without laughing. This is what the teacher continues to tell me about the testing (Phonics).

Ms. L: "Bethanie, what does mud start with?"

Bethie: "Well... an 'M' (as she reportedly rolled her eyes)."

Ms. L: "No. Not the letter, the sound."

Bethie: "That would be 'Mmmm'. But it's an 'M' that makes that sound!"

Ms. L: "Very true. But we only need the sounds for this test." (Now laughing... even as she retells the story).

Bethie: "Fine."

Ms. L: "What does truck start with?"

Bethie: "Well... I guess you're looking for 'Trrrr'. But technically it's the 'Tttt' from the 'T' that goes before the 'Rrrr' of the 'R'."

According to the teacher, she was laughing so hard at this point that she couldn't continue. She had to start the test over to regroup. I guess Bethanie is a little more logical than most five and six year olds. LOL!

I'll close with some photos from Bethanie's "Barbie Birthday Bash".

What can we say, other than "we interrupt this blog for football season! That's right, it has officially started. And two games into his Junior season of high school football... Dalton has shown just how focused and talented he truly is. I'd say we're only being partial because he's our son, but he's getting noticed by other teams and the media too. He is a beast on the middle line and great at reading the opposing offense (courtesy of his devotion to watching game tapes, I'm sure). The MHS Eagles start the season at 2-0 after beating the top ranked team in the state last night!



While we try to put our photos and videos, I'll let you see the local news video clip of Dalton recovering the fumble last night. WHAT A GAME!!!

Today our family has another milestone that will be our last... Bethanie officially started school this morning. Our precious baby girl is now a mighty Kindergartener!

Over the years, we've now watched all four of our children make their way into grade school with a backpack and a smile!

Devin's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Dalton's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Emmalie's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Bethanie's 1st Day of Kindergarten

I can't lie. Some tears were shed this morning (by both Bethanie and Mom), but they were happy tears as Bethanie embarks on the next stage in her journey towards growing up. Plus, unlike with her three older siblings, Bethie has the added benefit of her big sister being right there to sit with Bethie and walk her to class each morning. Thank goodness for loving big sisters!

Should be an exciting school year ahead!

Let me start by being Captain Obvious as I state this fact...

The boys had birthday sleepovers many times, and I don't recall one time that there was as much drama as we experienced this past weekend celebrating Emmalie's 8th birthday.  I think we were a little naïve about things.  Of course, how bad can having a birthday slumber party really ever be, right?!  Well, let me share a little something to all you mothers of young girls... not only can some of these innocent, beauties cry at the drop of a hat... but some of them can be really mean trying to make the other girls cry.  WOW!  The good news is, we all survived.  (Well, the boys were smart and stayed over at friend's houses so they didn't have to suffer a night of Estrogen and hormonal tears).  I definitely must've forgotten what grade school girls were like.  And I'm even more fearful now about what middle school will be like.. UGH!

Seriously though... Emmalie's birthday party was a success and they all had a great time.  So good, in fact, that two of them cried and fought with their mothers about having to leave.  They had manicures, pedicures, facials, hairstyles, a fashion show, a talent show, watched movies and laughed A LOT! 

So, tomorrow officially marks the day we became blessed with our first daughter... Little Miss Emmalie Irene.  (Though she's not hardly the premature little girl any more).  Emmalie has grown to become a very intelligent, caring and kind-hearted young lady.  Her outer beauty is nothing in comparison to her warm heart and inner beauty.  We only hope that she continues to keep these wonderful traits and hold them dear as she grows older. 

THEN:  Emmalie was born at 35.7 weeks and weighed 5 lbs, 3 oz at 18.5 inches long.

NOW:  Em is among her taller classmates at just under 51 inches tall.  (She won't let me share her weight, but let's say it's two quarters + three pennies worth!).

THEN:  Emmalie made sure she was the center of attention by crying.

NOW:  Em makes sure she is the center of attention by singing.... NON-STOP!  (Good thing she has such a pretty voice when she sings).

THEN:  Emmalie's favorite foods were fruit and anything fruity... and anything that shouldn't go in your mouth!

NOW:  Emmalie's favorite foods are fruit and anything that tastes fruity (plus cake!).  Guess some things never change!

The last eight years have been a true blessing to us. 

The summer is half-way over already... WOW! It's been so fun and busy and just great! I absolutely LOVE making memories with my family. Devin came up to me the other day and said "Do you remember that summer we...?!" Hard to believe he'll be 21 yrs old next month. And to know that he remembers those summers we spent finding creating (and often inexpensive) ways to have fun with the kids makes a mother's heart melt! This has been another one of those summers...

We've made it through softball and T-ball season (even with me being the coach for one). Notice the stylish ways our darling duo decided to show up for softball. LOL! Definitely trend-setters!



We've made it through football camps, summer conditioning and officially into the Junior year of high school and all of the NCAA hoopla that comes with having a son that wants to play college ball.



We've made it through trips to the zoos and picnics in the park.




We've taught two little girls how to fish. (YES! They bait their own hooks, cast their lines and even throw fish back into the water. Now if we could just teach them to stop letting the 10-lb catfish swallow their hooks, we'd be in business!).




We've watched moves, played games, spent time with family, went for walks and even mustard up the guts to let one teenage boy go on a week-long vacation with a friend. (That was the longest week of this mom's life!).

I hope that everyone following our journeys as a family has been able to make some great summer memories too. Nothing is better than realizing how much those memories mean to our kids now that they are older. Now... on to the last half of our summer. Which basically means... school supplies, school clothes, haircuts, schedules and all that other not so fun stuff.

Until next time... :)

Tony has had a very busy year for his photography business and building his name up.  He's done Senior portraits, school portraits and a lot of event photography.  And if there is anything that I've learned from Tony about taking pictures, it's that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.  Here in our neck of the woods, there are a lot of aspiring and amateur photographers.  Some think it's all about a certain brand of camera.  Others think it's about the right posing.  But Tony has shown me that it's not really about either of these things.  In fact, his last Senior photo shoot went so well that everyone's started coming to Tony to ask him how he does it and where they can improve.  I have to laugh when someone approaches Tony for photography insight after they paid $90 for a five week class that barely taught them anything.

So, what is it?  What is one of Tony's biggest points of sharing?  Tony will tell you that alot of times is starts with just getting out there and playing around.  Tony has told everyone that asks him that it doesn't matter what camera you have.  It's more important that you go out and truly play with your camera to learn what it's capabilities are.  Capabilities for different lighting situations, action versus stabile subjects, etc.  As I've been told by my husband many times... "for every 50 photos you shoot, you can count on getting maybe three or four really good ones!".  The more familiar you are with your camera (and your subjects), the more good photos you can expect to get.

Here are some of Tony's most recent examples:

WOW!  We didn't realize that it had been so long since we posted anything on the blog.  It's amazing how busy the end of the school year and beginning of summer can be with four kids going in four totally different directions. 

So what have we been up to...  Well, we'll try to keep it short. 

• T-Ball practice and games with Bethanie.  Not to mention that we're coaching the team! 
• Kindergarten enrollment with Bethanie.
• The annual high school "Spring Football Cookout" to kick off the summer season with Dalton.  (Yes!  I'm still somehow helping head the parent organization).
• Summer football camps and conditioning are in full force with Dalton.
• Helping Devin with budget planning as he gets ready to apply to film school in Denver.
• End of the school year parties, games and field events with Emmalie.
• Softball practice and games with Emmalie.
• Swimming... work... housework... landscaping the front yard... :-/

The last of our major events to bring on the summer break happened last week.  Our precious baby girl had her official "first graduation" ceremony as she graduated from Pre-K.  It was a great day for her, but kind of sad for us.  That morning started like this...

Okay... so we've been slacking a little on the blog updates.  I know we promised updates on the kids, but there has been so much going on that is seems we run out of time at the end of every day.  So here is a condensed update for our faithful followers and family.

Tony & I:   We visited with the oncologist a couple of weeks ago.  Tony is the 0.05% of the population to have two separate tumors in the same location (one each - aggressive cancer and non-aggressive cancer).  The good news is the pathology report showed he caught it very early and the only treatment is continued tests and monitoring for the next 4-5 years.  No radiation!  No chemotherapy!  Just annoying doctor visits... I'm exstatic, but Tony wanted to just be called "cured" now and skip the visits.  MEN!!!

Devin:  Devin is in line for a promotion at work.  He has a very good work ethic and we're proud of his determination to work his way to the top (rather than try to have it handed to him for nothing).  Dev continues to write up a storm... hopefully he'll change his mind about being a high school literature teacher.  He's got a gift there.

Dalton:  Dalton is 100% football.  Only six weeks to go until the annual Spring Football Cookout, then the official start with summer camps!  He did go ahead and give up baseball this year so he could focus on football all year round.  I think his favorite part of off-season conditioning is getting the opportunity to yell at the underclassmen while trying to help them get stronger.  They need it too... last season's freshman were pretty scrawny.  Dalton's grades are phenomenal and he's showing his new foods teacher just why all the ones before her loved having him in class.  He wants to be a chef and we've been told Dalton's knife skills are "excellent". 

Bethanie:  Bethanie is ... well, Bethanie.  She can hold a conversation with any adult and talks as big as a teenager sometimes.  She also tends to be a little sneaky sometimes (that smile hides a lot... and she's so very smart about it, too!).  Bethie has a grasp at reading and simple addition, and is pretty much ready for grade school.  She has been enrolled and will be going to all day Kindergarten in the fall.  We just have to get her through the Pre-K Graduation Ceremony the end of May.  (She's super excited about it already!). 

Emmalie:  Emmalie is a ball of spit-fire these days.  She had a group solo performance at her 2nd grade music program... so, needless to say, her confidence with singing has skyrocketed!  Tony and I are the lucky recipients of many serenades daily (but we wouldn't change it for anything).  She's reading at a 4th grade level and is a spelling wizard.  Her teacher says Emmalie can sound out words in her head and spell "just about anything".  She's also holding her own at the top of the math ladder.  Emmalie is definitely going to surprise us as she grows, I think.

Em just celebrated her First Communion this weekend.  So we'll leave you with a quick video clip of the highlights.


God Bless and hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

The year 2013 has started of with a BANG.  Much change and excitement exists in our house about what is to come.  It gives us a lot to look forward to!  In 2012, we had a lot of fun and family time.  We hope to continue the trend throughout this new year.

So, with minimal posts made by us last year due to hectic schedules... what kept us occupied?  Well...

Tony started ramping up his photography business.  He's still got some Senior photos in cue for this year and has started working on more photographic design elements.  If you haven't seen his website, which is still in development, check it out at AGH Photography. 

I moved from working at one Pediatric Clinic to another one in our health system to help work on some important "initiatives".  The most notable accomplishment, becoming an Asthma Educator and helping to start a new Pediatric Asthma Clinic.  I love project design and business development so, despite being time consuming, it was a lot of fun.  I also tried my hand at coaching youth softball last year... what a learning experience, and so very rewarding!

Devin is still taking his undergraduate college classes in business and working hard.  He still strives to go to film school when he can afford it... with over a dozen screen plays now under his belt.  He really missed his calling to be a HS literature teacher.  (But he says there is no money or appreciation in that).

Dalton is still our "Beast".  He had a stellar first HS baseball season and an even better HS football one.  When he started playing youth sports, the coaches called him "Moose" because he'd yell in the other players' faces as he went straight for them.  I think we saw plenty of that in the last football season.  Dalton played a lot of Varsity football and lettered as a Sophomore (one of only six).  He has now decided to workout in the off-season and only play football :-(  He also accels in the classroom and finished German II with an "A"... meaning he is on par to meet the state scholar requirements (which means more scholarship opps).

Emmalie is ever growing and learning.  She is still the household gymnast and absolutely loves doing flips and handsprings ALL THE TIME!  Em is a classroom leader in her 2nd grade class and has provided exceptionally high test scores to end 1st grade and start 2nd grade.  Her favorite past-times are reading and singing.... and singing.... and singing... !

Bethanie is eager to start Kindergarten and go to school with her big sister. She spent the last year telling us why we needed to "call the state" and get them to change their age rules because she's "smart enough to go to real school"!  Bethie is in her second year of Pre-K (due to her October birthday), but is also spending time with their Kindergarten class to keep her challenged.  She can read books with her simple site words and is a math logic wizard like her Daddy.  She will follow her big sister's lead... so she's been doing gymnastics, too!

Here is an overview of our past year...



We are looking forward to a great year to come...

• Emmalie's 2nd Grade Music Concert
• Emmalie's First Communion
• Bethanie's Pre-K Graduation
• Bethanie's First Day of Kindergarten
• Devin's 21st Birthday
• Dalton's Junior Football Season and Recruitment Video Producing

That's just a few of the great things in store for us in 2013.

Hope everyone is having a great start to the new year.  Peace, happiness and good health to you all.  Keep checking back for more news, updates and helpful information tid-bits!