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!!