August 2008

We continued the fun of summer all the way through this month.  Since Ethan was off his ADHD medication this summer, he gained a whole 15 POUNDS since June!  We were tickled pink!  Just in time for back-to-school shopping, we bought him a whole new wardrobe.  Tristan was delighted to get his own back-to-school clothes, lunchbox, and new tennis shoes.  Frankly, he was just delighted to think about anything having to do with "big school!"

Ethan turned 10 on August 10.  He got money, Denver Bronco's shirts, and his very own set of engraved scriptures for his birthday.  He's absolutely growing up into a young man right before our eyes, and it's nearly impossible for us to believe that it's already been 10 years since we welcomed our first bundle of joy into our home!  What an adventure it's been!

Chris, Dallin and I got our own little present for Ethan's birthday - we went to a Weird Al Yankovic concert!  Having grown up listening to Weird Al, all 3 of us were totally psyched to see Weird Al live!  Of course Dallin's a big concert goer, so he'd already seen Weird Al, but this was our first time.  We started off by buying concert T-shirts & hats - White & Nerdy, of course!  The concert itself was literally 2.5 hours of hysterical laughter therapy!  He played every song we wanted to hear - all his hits, including "Fat," "Yoda," his Star Wars American Pie parody, "Amish Paradise," "All About the Pentiums," "White & Nerdy" and even more - all in costume!  At one point, he even sang a love song to the audience members, and went out into the second section of the audience singing to people!  Between songs while he was changing costumes, he showed clips of "Al TV", which were all pretend interviews with celebrities.  He skewered Madonna, Eminem, Michael Stipe, and even Kevin Federline.  It was completely hilarious!  His encore was to perform "Albuquerque", his 20 minute song - and he did an extended version!  Every time he comes back in concert, I want to go!  I highly recommend it to any Weird Al fan! 

Thanks to Kathy, I discovered Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.  Yes, I know, I'm extremely late to the dance.  Many of the readers of this blog have probably been fans since her first book, but I just didn't pay attention to the latest info.  I have repented, though.  I read every book of the Twilight series plus The Host in the first half of August.  I went sleepless some nights, because I simply couldn't put the books down!  I bought the series for myself, because I know I'll need to read them again.  I haven't experienced a voice like Meyer's before, and she was refreshing and enthralling.

And then, August 25, 2008, there was school.  My big guy is in 5th grade, and that is just amazing, but even more so, my BABY is in full day kindergarten!  He was lucky enough to get Ethan's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Parman, as his teacher too.  She's an angel with those children - so patient, so loving, and so perfect to help usher them from toddlerhood into elementary school.  We know he will be in excellent hands.  We met Ethan's teacher Mrs. McDaniel, and she is a lovely, sweet, intelligent woman who will help Ethan navigate through his school year quite effectively.  He already loves her.

The night before, Chris gave each of the boys a father's blessing.  The strength of the words he spoke moved us all.  Every time the boys receive priesthood blessings, I feel the strength of their incredible spirits.  It's always emotional and humbling for me to know that we have been entrusted with such remarkable children.  What gifts!  

Chris took off work for the first day of school, and we walked to school together.  We dropped Ethan off first, and after a brief hug and a quick word with his teacher, he sent us on our way.  When we took Tristan to class, we were surrounded by tearful parents and tearful children.  Everywhere we turned there were camera flashes and videos being taken.  Mrs. Parman kindly posed for all the pictures and comforted the crying children and adults.  The Campbells were all smiles, though.  Tristan was so ready & excited, and we knew he would be delighted with this new experience.  I knew I would miss him, but I was more excited for him to experience this new phase of his life.  

Chris and I did enjoy that first day of school together.  We went shopping, went to lunch, and even went to the tech support department at the Apple store to have my iPhone replaced because it was malfunctioning.  It was remarkable that at the end of the excursion, we didn't have to write a check for a babysitter!

So now, as I write this, they've completed their first week.  Ethan's still happy about school, although the homework and projects have already started.  He will take a bit of adjustment to get back into the swing of things, but he'll do just fine.  This is the first year we've walked to & from school instead of driving, so that's a bit much for ALL of us right now, since it's still in the high 90's, humid & muggy outside.  We'll enjoy the walk much better when we're not miserable with the heat!  Tristan's had a bit more adjustment to make.  Before school started, he was a bit standoffish from me, and unwilling to sit for even a moment.  He was full of energy all the time.  Now, when he gets home from school, he curls up right next to me and rests his head, content to just sit, or to do something calm.  He's worn out!  He's been a bit more emotional in the afternoons, too.  I think he just wasn't expecting it to be so much!  But he's doing very well.  He's excited to show us that he's able to read some of the words he sees as we read books & signs and such.  I predict he'll be reading within a month.  We're a family of bookworms - he can't escape it!

So that's August!  Who knows what September will bring!  Can't wait to find out!

July 2008

There is no other way to put this.  July 2008 was the party month.  We partied so often, we got used to it.  Now, there really is no other way of life for us except to party as often as we can.

It started with Independence Day.  Mom & Dad were in Framingham, MA with Clark & Guinevere helping them remodel and move into their new home near Clark's new job at Bose.  So we had Dallin and my good friend and bookkeeping client Susan over for a cookout, games, and to go in search of fireworks.  Susan brought her dog Socks, who is the dearest dog ever.  He is huge - 100 lbs - and is part German Shepherd and part wolf.  Sounds intimidating, but he's actually the most intelligent, kind and loving animal I've ever had the pleasure to know.  

The food was awesome, the company was excellent, and fun was had by all.  We introduced Susan to Apples to Apples, our favorite family game.  We drove to Plano to see the fireworks display from a nearby parking lot, and Susan and I got stuck in some eeeevil traffic on the way back to Allen.  We enjoyed ourselves, though, jamming out to some awesome tunes and laughing the whole time.

Two days later, I turned the devastating age of 35.  I don't know why I've had such a hard time reconciling myself with this age, but it just seems so.... milestone-ish.  Like, "old" being the milestone.  We decided that the only solution for feeling blue about getting older is to go have a heck of a good time, so that's exactly what we did.

On Saturday, July 5, we took the boys to Main Event and ate pizza and played video games for a couple of hours.  That place is great for us, because it has something for everyone in our family to enjoy.  Once we got home, Chris and I got all gussied up for a night on the town.  We drove to Addison, TX to make our dinner reservation at The Melting Pot, which is one of my favorite restaurants in the world.  We always get the Big Night Out when we go there, which starts us off with a cheese fondue of our choice, accompanied by different breads, vegetables and apples to dip into the fondue.  Then we go to the salad course, and they feature scrumptious specialty salads to choose from.  Then our main course is a selection of meats, chicken, seafood and vegetables which we cook in the boiling herb-infused broth.  The food is so tender, moist and flavorful when it's cooked in that broth, and they bring out a selection of about 10 different dipping sauces to really kick it up a notch.  Then we finish with the crowning glory of the night - the dessert fondue.  They have several different chocolate fondue selections to choose from, and they bring out the items to dip into the fondue - cheesecake, marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, rice crispy treats, and pound cake.  Even describing it makes my mouth water, and I'm not even hungry right now!  So that was just incredible, and I felt totally spoiled.  We then zipped over to a local movie theater and giggled our way through Get Smart.  So fun!

Sunday July 6, my actual birthday, we had Bob & Kathy over for dinner, birthday brownies, and ice cream.  I got a couple of delightful surprises:  Bob & Kathy gave me a jewelry box and an iTunes gift card for my gift, and I found out that Chris' gift to me was the reason for the iTunes card:  I'm finally getting an iPhone!  The new generation of iPhone would be released that Friday, and I'd get to go camp out for it! LOL!  Then I got a phone call from Boston.  Mom started out singing the first line of Happy Birthday, Clark joined her in harmony on the next phrase, Guinevere joined on the third phrase, and Dad finished out the last phrase.  It was absolutely the most beautiful Happy Birthday serenade I'd ever had, and I was moved to tears.  I have the best family ever!

Chris took the next day, Monday July 7, as a vacation day, so we extended the fun and partying even further.  He and I went to Hancock (my second time to see it) with Bob, and then we just had a great, relaxing, fun day with the boys.  I know I've mentioned this before, but I simply love having a birthday around Independence Day, because it seems like everyone's in the relaxed, fun mode that makes them a blast to be around, and everyone gets time off to celebrate all the good things in life, including freedom, independence, and getting older!

The fun didn't stop there.  Friday, I woke up before 4:00 am to get to my nearest AT&T store to buy the new iPhone.  I was so glad I got there as early as I did, because I was 23rd in a line of over 300 people by the time they opened at 8:00.  It was SO worth it.  I was deeply in love within minutes of activating my phone.

The love didn't stop there!  Once I got my phone all situated, I packed my bags and hightailed it out of town!  I went to Chicago, Illinois for the Pampered Chef National Conference July 16-19.  I'd never been to Chicago, but I absolutely fell in love with the town!  I was delighted to have regained contacted with a good friend and former college roommate of mine, Tara Ford, who is also a Pampered Chef Consultant.  So we roomed together at the conference, and hung around with my group most of the time.  Our first night there, we were fortunate to take an evening cruise along the Chicago River and into Lake Michigan.  I was absolutely floored at the beautiful bridges, landscaping and gorgeous skyscrapers.  We traveled up and down the river listening to the tour guide explain the history of the buildings and of the city, and then we sailed out into the Lake and were treated to the most phenomenal fireworks display I've ever seen, just 50 yards or so from our boat!  

The conference itself was really great.  We laughed and were inspired, and we also got to see all the new products being introduced in September.  I love Pampered Chef!  Tara and I really bonded, and I even got to meet her wonderful sister in law, who took us to a lovely steakhouse in Lincoln Park for dinner one evening we were there.  What a great trip!  I'm sure thankful to Mom & Chris, who covered the bases for me with the kids while I was away.  They were sure glad to have me back!

Ethan received a cool piece of mail shortly after I returned.  Because of his performance in his math classes over the past few years as well as his grades on the math portion of the Texas standardized test - the TAKS - he was invited into the Advanced Math course, which he will participate in during 5th and 6th grades at Anderson Elementary.  This course actually accelerates their math so that they are finished with 7th grade level math by the end of 6th grade, and therefore able to take Algebra early.  He doesn't usually say he enjoys math, but I think it may be because it's not challenging enough for him.  This year of school will certainly help us find out if that's true!

So, just in case that month of partying and celebration wasn't enough, we decided to add even MORE!  Mom had hired her brother Len to come down and remodel her kitchen during the month of July, and he was just finishing up toward the end of the month.  Once they had everything nearly complete, they invited Dallin and our family over for dinner to see the work.  It was certainly amazing to see the changes!  It's a different kitchen from the one I grew up in!  They replaced the linoleum with tile, the countertops with granite, the sinks with deeper ones of much better quality construction, replaced the vent hood over the stovetop with a built-in microwave (I think they replaced the stovetop too, I must check again next time I'm there!).  Len designed and cut a beautiful tile backsplash that really makes all the colors pop.  It's a truly beautiful kitchen, and Len does excellent work!

After dinner and the detailed inspection, we were idly talking, and I shared my plan.  See, one of my favorite birthdays of all time was the year I turned 10 years old.  My dad took me to Six Flags Over Texas for the first time - just he and I.  It was a big deal to me because with 2 younger brothers and 1 sister (at the time), there wasn't much time for us to get one on one time with our parents. Sure it was hot, and the lines were long, but I felt so special and loved, because I knew he'd really tried to create a special day for me.  I REALLY wanted to recreate that day for Ethan for his own 10th birthday.  It turns out that Len had really wanted to go to Six Flags while he was here.  So we went the next day, July 28, just the 3 of us!

It was super duper hot and humid that day.  I think the high was actually 104!  We drank tons of water, used tons of sunscreen, and went on every ride we wanted to!  Since we were there on a weekday, the lines weren't too bad, and it was awesome to be able to go on all the rides we wanted.  Ethan is a roller coaster junkie!  His favorite ride is the Titan, which is the tallest and fastest ride at Six Flags.  He even got to go on the Batman and Mr. Freeze, which he wasn't tall enough to ride the last time we'd been as a family.  After we had gotten our fill of Six Flags, Len suggested we find a Johnny Carino's restaurant to have dinner.  We were able to locate one a few miles away from Six Flags, and we are SO glad we did.  We had the most incredible Italian meal there!  We don't have a Carino's near our house, so now Ethan and I are plotting on when we can take Chris and Tristan on a road trip to experience the incredible food.  What a TOTALLY FANTASTIC day!

 To top it all off, Chris got a raise and a bonus at work in July!  He hasn't even been with First Command Financial Planning for a full year, but they are really happy with his work for them, and they showed it in his paycheck.  Hooray!!!!

Yay for an awesome July!!

June 2008

The biggest thing that happened to our family in June 2008 was that SCHOOL LET OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!  No more reports, projects, reading logs, homework, or studying.  No more 6:45 am alarm, no more grind!  Ethan ROCKED his grades this year, getting straight A's for the semester.  Yay smarty pants!  First thing on the summer agenda?  

TAKE IT EASY!!!!!

For 2 weeks, all we did was sleep in, eat, play video games, swim, watch cartoons, and play together.  We took Ethan off of his ADHD medicine since it restricts his appetite and he really needed to put on some weight.  We completely decompressed, and it was awesome!  It charged the kids' batteries for their fun times this summer.  There's something to be said for just "drifting" every once in a while!

The first big thing they did was to attend a Messy Fun Summer Camp at the home of a member of Allen 4th Ward.  Monday through Friday from 9 am to noon one week out of each month of June, July, and August, the kids went to the Thomson's home to do all sorts of fun, messy, incredible activities.  They put on a play, made costumes, clay sculptures, presents for Father's Day, painted, glued, cooked, jumped on the trampoline, played tag and hide and seek, and had entire days devoted to getting soaking wet with water games.  They came home completely filthy and absolutely exhausted every day, and they loved every minute of it.  Even if they had charged double the tuition for registration, it would have been completely worth it.

Then Ethan got to attend his second Cub Scout Twilight Camp.  They went to Erwin Park in McKinney from 4:30 to about 9:00 pm every day for a week.  It was very hot & humid, but they all wore hats, drank lots of water, and tried to find shade wherever they could.  Ethan got to bond with his friends, shoot BB guns and arrows, build stuff, and be a really good Cub Scout.  He loved it!

May 2008

To kick off May, Ethan had the most fantastic of awesome field trips.  On May 2, he got to school at 6:00 am to board a tour bus with the rest of his 4th grade class.  They drove 3 hours to Austin and had a special tour guide to educate them all about Austin, our State Capitol, the Governor, and other awesome Texas History details.  He took 2 disposable cameras with him, and took most of his pictures of his friends & teachers on the bus.  They arrived home about 8:30 pm that evening, triumphant and exhausted.  Hooray for the best field trip EVER!

Then, Clark and Guinevere had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to Paris, France on an International Business scholarship awarded to Clark.  They were gone for a week, and they flew to Dallas to drop Benjamin off for Mom to look after while they were away.  We were so excited to spend time with our little cousin/nephew!  Ben was about 16 months old, and was so adorable!  We went to Mom's house as often as our schedule permitted, playing outside and inside with toys and bubbles and frisbees and basketballs and climbing trees, and of course cooing at Dallin's doves which are staying at Mom & Dad's for the time being.  Ben's little personality is so endearing.  He absolutely LOVED Ethan and Tristan, giving them hugs all the time, playing with them endlessly, and always smiling pleasantly.  We hardly even saw him cry the entire time we spent with him.  When he had to leave, we wished we could spend more time with ALL our cousins and get to know each one of them better!

I've already written about a few other things that happened to us in May, including Tristan turning 5 (yay, 5!), our wedding anniversary (Yay 13!), getting a Wii Fit (which I still love & use all the time - Yay fitness!), and my appearance on Good Morning Texas (Yay TV!)!

We got a call from Ethan's Cub Scout leader at the end of May, inviting Ethan to join Webelos 3 months early.  Apparently they have so many boys in the age group younger than Ethan, they needed some of the older boys to move up early to even out the numbers.  This was the COOLEST for us, because we absolutely love to work on Scouts together, and this would give us all summer long to work on new Webelo achievements!

Also at the end of May, we celebrated the end of Tristan's first and Ethan's 10th soccer season.  Tristan learned a whole lot about being a team player and going after the ball, and Ethan continued to develop his skills as a defender.  They didn't win every game, but they both did their best and we couldn't be prouder of their efforts.

April 2008

So in April 2008, we had some pretty fun things happen!

Ethan participated in his second Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout. 2007 was Ethan's first year to participate, and Ethan & Dad built a camouflage-painted battle tank (complete with gun turret). It was so much heavier than the other cars, it simply flew down the track. He came in 2nd place! Due to being over-allocated with school and work projects this year, we decided to race the tank again instead of creating a new derby car.  We raced over to the competition after Ethan and Tristan had each played their soccer games in the chilly weather, so they were both wearing their warm sweats topped with their soccer gear.  Ethan didn't win the race this year, but we did have a ton of fun watching the race!

On April 19, Dad hosted a really cool event called a Fly-In at Best AeroNet's hangar located at Grayson County Airport.  Chris, Ethan, Tristan and I drove up to Sherman with Mom that morning to attend the event, dropping in quickly on Kate and Roger's garage sale in Anna to say goodbye to her, as they were moving all of their belongings to their new home in Florida.

We arrived at the Fly-In just as the airplane race was concluding, so we saw the winners zooming in to collect their prizes.  The hangar was covered with airplanes of all shapes, sizes and ages.  Many people had brought their planes to display and to sell, and it was fascinating to see them.  There were a few military planes on display, including some GIANT ones that I can't name.  There were lots of different types of exhibitors, helicopter rides, a bounce house, real military jeeps (with loaded guns included!!!), and an incredibly delicious catered lunch.  It was incredible, and next year we're going to invite our Cub Scout troop to attend, because it was SO educational.  I often reflect on how many unique experiences our family has because our dad is a pilot with an airplane hangar and a fuel company.  You're so cool, Steve!

So we were barely finished with that fun when the next experience happened.  Both Clark, my brother in the MBA program at BYU and our sister Staci, in the Psychology program at BYU, were graduating!  Of course, Mom & Dad would go up to Utah to see them, but we siblings who WEREN'T graduating decided that it would be fun to plot with Mom & Dad to plan a surprise for them.  

Individually, Dallin, Lana and I all spoke to Clark and Staci and gave our sincere regrets... we simply couldn't make it up to Utah for graduation.  Too many other commitments, couldn't get time off work, couldn't get babysitters, etc.  We shared our legitimate reasons for missing their walk across the stage.  Chris and I even sent emails to the family expressing our regret that we couldn't be there in person to celebrate their accomplishments.  But see, Dallin, Lana and I ALL had our airline tickets to Utah purchased & ready to go!  We weren't going to miss this for the world!

Mom & Dad flew from DFW to SLC the morning of April 23, and Chris' mom Kathy gave Dallin and I a ride to the airport that afternoon.  Our flight was supposed to take off around 5:00 pm, landing us in SLC a couple of hours later and giving us plenty of time to get to Provo that evening to surprise both Clark and Staci.  However, our flight was delayed before we arrived at the airport, and delayed again once we checked in.  When we finally boarded the plane it was after 8:00 pm and there was a thunderstorm approaching.  They came over the intercom system at the gate and asked everyone to board as quickly as possible so we could beat the storm.  I have NEVER seen people so efficiently board an airplane!  We were ready and willing once we were in our seats, and then the pilot told us that our flight couldn't take off right away because they had discovered a mechanical problem in the pre-flight check.  We all stared at the rain starting to pound the windows of the plane and knew this wasn't going to be good.  About an hour later, every single American Airlines staff member on the plane got off and were replaced by an entirely new and fresh crew.  Somehow, we knew this foreboded a long wait.  They finished the work on the plane, but the thunderstorm had stationed itself directly over the airport.  We couldn't go anywhere until the lightning had stopped.

Every time we got an update from the pilot about how much longer it would be, I called Dad or Mom on my cell phone and delayed our arrival.  Poor Schteevie was the one planning on coming to Salt Lake to pick us up, and he was constantly "on call."  By the time it neared 11:00 pm in Provo, they decided to have Lana go surprise Clark & Staci on her own, since her flight from Mesa, AZ had arrived with no delays.  I was excited to hear all the details of her surprise, but I was so helpless and frustrated and disappointed that we couldn't be there all together.  After their third our fourth "delay announcement," I simply bowed my head and sobbed.  All in all, Dallin and I waited for over 4.5 hours parked on the tarmac in front of our gate.  We finally took off about 1:00 am CST, arriving in Utah at 3:00 am MST.  7.5 hours on the plane!  Our heads hit the pillows in Aunt Carol's basement guest room at about 4 am, which was 5 our time.  To add insult to injury, it turns out that all of our luggage was left on the tarmac in the rain instead of being loaded on the plane before the thunderstorm hit, so my clothes were literally dripping wet when I pulled them out of my suitcase.  *sigh*  Thank goodness we weren't staying in a hotel, and Carol & Larry were kind enough to lend their dryer!

It wasn't the best experience to kick off the trip, but we MORE than made up for it over the next few days.  We dropped in on Clark and Guinevere the next day, and Clark was appropriately surprised and thrilled to see us.  After a bit of time spent with them, we went to BYU campus to surprise Staci at her job in the General Studies counseling department.  They were having a reception for the graduates, so she was expecting Mom, Dad & Lana to join her.  When she saw Dallin and I with them, she burst into tears and hugged us so tightly.  It was the most fun surprise!

We proceeded to party and enjoy ourselves together.  We went to Staci's yoga class, we went to dinner at several awesome restaurants, we shopped and went to movies and picnicked in the park and played and laughed and celebrated.  Graduation was awesome, and of course being together as family was awesome.  I am so grateful to have such darling brothers and sisters and parents!  Congratulations again to Clark and Staci.  I am thrilled for you!

A Return From BlogAbsence

I have returned to BlogSanity after a long BlogAbsence, prepared to amend my BlogSlacking ways. My humble apologies for my BlogDisappearance, which can be attributed to many various and sundry factors, including but not limited to exhaustion, overwork, underpay for said overwork, kids being home all summer and needing constant stimulation and entertainment, and general laziness due to ridiculously hot hot heat. Oh, and sleeping late every once in a while, a luxury completely unavailable during the months of September through May.

Prepare yourselves, my dear BlogFollowers, for the onslaught of historical accounts of actual events, as I shall begin the BlogRecovery process of BlogUpdating in chronological order by month, culminating the crowning achievement of my life so far: both of my children are now enrolled and attending SCHOOL!

BlogEnthusiastically yours,

Erlynne