Nighty-Night

I always thought Joseph was the smartest and cutest baby in the world...now I know it. (Of course I'm prejudiced. :-)

He was playing with random toys on the floor and then crawled into the hallway. I followed him into his bedroom where he went straight for the crib, pulled up on it, and started fussing. He wanted in! So of course I obliged, put him in his crib. The second he touched the matress he reached for his blanket, started sucking his thumb, and closed his eyes. He was ready for a nap.

Now how many one-year olds will do that? I think we're going to take the railings off and turn it into a toddler bed to see how he does.

Now, if only they all would take naps, or at least go to sleep at bedtime, that easily.

Busy Life

So, things have been busy lately, or at least it seems that way. Mostly I think we've just been feeling a little under the weather. If Aaron isn't sick, the kids are taking turns. Then my back started acting up in the last couple of weeks so I actually went to the doctor. That's where we were yesterday.




I picked David and Carissa up early from school and we drove up to Grand Prairie (the city Aaron works in). the kids were very well behaved while we were in the office. Even Joseph. That is until I got on the table and turned onto my stomach so the doctor could try to do some work on my back. He started screaming and crying. I couldn't believe it. Ah well. I guess he's just at that age.


After the doctor's appointment we met up with Aaron and had dinner at Cici's pizza. It was a nice break. We will probably have Joseph's cake on Sunday after the ward potluck.



Let's see, what else is new...not much. We went to the baptism of a boy in David's primary class and it made me start thinking about his baptism later this year. If any of you are thinking about paying us a visit this year, mark your calendars now. It will probably be September 6th and we would love to have our family and friends with us for such a special day.

I'll just leave with this picture. It's Carissa wearing the cute sweater Aaron's mom made for her. She LOVES it! She wore it all weekend.

I'll try to write more often. It's just there's not much to tell right now.

Not a Baby Anymore...

Well, I think it's official, or at least almost official. Joseph is no longer a baby-baby. Yesterday he turned 1! I didn't blog then because we had kind of a crazy day, but I guess time doesn't stand still and he had a birthday anyway.

Joseph Samuel was born one year ago weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Now, he is much bigger. He has his one-year check-up next week and I'll post exactly how much bigger then.

He is a daddy's boy like none of our other kids have been at this age. He is always excited to see Aaron or talk to him on the phone. The other day Aaron took David and Isaiah shopping and as they went out the door Joseph let out a scream! It wasn't a scream of separation anxiety or anything. It was a scream that said, "I want to go too!" He sure does love his Daddy.

Joseph reminds me of the way David was as a baby. He has always been very observant, independant, eager, and (if I do say so myself) a little bit advanced in his development. Some of his favorite toys are balls, books, and cars. He loves to eat. He is taking several steps at a time now, and would take even more. The trouble is, he isn't trying to walk, but run. And his upper body gets a little bit ahead of his legs. He is quite the little monkey and loves to climb on the furniture and down from the furniture. I expect him to be climbing out of his play yard soon.

First the baby spoon

Then the grown-up fork

Forget the silverware...I'm using my hands

Joseph isn't talking alot yet, but he sure does make noise! He loves to giggle, clap, and squeal, and yes, he sometimes even screams. He especially loves to make noise with the bigger kids. They play alot and he is always squealing or giggling when they play. He loves to play "chase" with them and will turn and run, looking for them over his shoulder. It will be fun to see them when Joseph can keep up with them even more.

I am so glad Joseph came into our family when he did. He is a wonderful baby brother and son. I will be sad when he really isn't a baby anymore and I have to start calling him my little boy. We love you Joseph! Happy birthday!

Spoke Too Soon

Well, I think I cursed myself or forgot to knock on wood or something. At around 10:15, right when I was taking a shower, my cell phone rang. It was the school nurse. Carissa had thrown up in class and I needed to come pick her up. So, I got dressed, got the kids to the car, and drove back to the school to pick her up. I went ahead and picked up David, too since it was a shortened day anyway and I didn't want to make yet another trip into town.

Poor little girl. At least she got her testing done. So now she doesn't have to worry about it anymore. Get her to keep some food and liquid down, rest up, and she'll be just fine. In fact, when she woke up from her nap she said she wanted Pizza. I managed to convince her that cheerios would do for now.

2009 Getting to Know You

My sister-in-law, Michelle, had this up on their blog so I thought I'd go ahead and fill it out as well...

Welcome to the 2009 edition of getting to know your family andfriends. Here is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be lame andspoil the fun. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Thensend this to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times; that just means you havea lot of friends. The easiest way to do it is to hit 'forward' so youcan change the answers or copy and paste. Have fun and be truthful!

1. What is your occupation right now? mom
2. What color are your socks right now? white
3. What are you listening to right now? The little boys playing in the next room while watching Power Rangers.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Some fruit snacks
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes. But I think I still prefer an automatic.
6. Last person spoke to on the phone? Aaron
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes. the more I get to know about her, the more I like her. You should move to Texas, Michelle!
8. How old are you today? 28 years
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Football
10. What is your favorite drink? It depends on my mood. Currently it is Sprite.
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Only with temporary, wash-out dye. And that was way back in high school.
12. Favorite food? I don't know that I have a favorite. I like pasta, chicken, and chocolate desserts.
13. What was the last movie you watched? I can't remember the last movie I watched from start to finish. I think the last movie I got to watch was the last half of Day After Tomorrow.
14. Favorite day of the year? I don't know that I have a favorite. I love most holidays and birthdays. I like the summer.
15. How do you vent anger? I send off an email or something to my friend.
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? Probably legos. I read alot and played outside, making forts.
17. What is your favorite Season? Fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Sure
20. Who is the most likely to respond? Who knows
21. Who is least likely to respond? Whoever doesn't read it.
22. Living arrangements? Small 3-bedroom house that seems to get smaller every day.
23. When was the last time you cried? Can't remember.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? Clothes and some boxes.
25. Who is the friend you had the longest that you are sending to? Hmm...I don't know. I can't say who all will even read it.
26. What did you do last night? Some homework.
27. What are you most afraid of? Failure
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? cheese...but spicy can be good too.
29. Favorite dog breed? Small lab/German Shepherd mix...I'm with Michelle on whatever Puppers is (some sort of lab mix), but her puppies were even cuter I think.
30. Favorite day of the week? Friday
31. How many states have you lived in? 2
32. Diamonds or pearls? Actually, I think I like pearls better.
33. What is your favorite flower? Yellow roses

TPRI Test

So, I have yet another reason not to send the kids, or at least Carissa, to school next year...

All week her appetite has been low for her. I couldn't figure it out! She was acting normally in every other way though, so I didn't worry too much. Then yesterday morning she threw up and I knew not eating as much had finally caught up to her. At first she seemed to have some energy so I tried to convince her to go to school, but she would not get ready, so I gave up.

When I dropped David off I went in and told her teacher she was sick and wouldn't be there and her teacher said something about how she was going to test her that day. In Texas they have Kindergarten (through second grade?) take a state mandated test. The Texas Primary Reading Inventory test. Well, when I got to the car I told Carissa that it was too bad she was sick because her teacher was going to test her that day and she got this look on her face and it clicked...I asked her, "that's why you didn't want to even try to go to school today, huh?" and she just nodded her head. Poor girl! She had been so worried about this test that she hadn't been eating and made herself sick. I sent her back to school today and let her teacher know how anxious she was. I haven't heard anything yet, so hopefully she'll be fine. They only have a half day and a day off on Monday, so she'll have some nice relaxation time at least.

But, if she gets this worried in Kindergarten, can you imagine how worried she'd be when the tests really mattered, when she can't graduate if she doesn't pass?

A Birthday Wish and a New Semester

First off, Happy birthday Amber! (Aaron's sister) I hope you had a wonderful day.

Next, it is a new semester! If all goes well, it will be my last one. Hooray! I am taking 4 classes. I had taken all the required classes but needed 8 credits in order to have the required number of hours. So, what did I take to fill the empty space? 1)Family Management and Decision Making (the only course in my department I had not taken that was offered this semester) 2)Critical Thinking 3)The Old South (Southern history 1820-1861) and 4)New Testament Survey

All in all, it is a very interesting mix, I think. I registered a little later than I would have liked, so I had to take what I could. It seems like there will be a lot of reading, but it will all be worth it come May when I graduate.

The kids have also started the new semester. Yes, I am letting them finish out the year...I think that many people assume it means we are going to cease homeschooling. This is not the case. I just don't want to disrupt them any more. Plus, as long as they are getting the "school experience" then I want them to get the rest of the year in. I am not a close-minded individual and at the end of the year I can say we tried school and make a decision based on the comparison. For the record...we knew from week one that homeschooling is the better choice, for the most part, for us. And we will be continuing homeschooling come summer.

On the other hand, there are some benefits to a school. Isaiah has started to recieve services for his speech. He has trouble pronouncing many sounds and hopefully this will correct that. Right now it is once a week, half an hour each session, one-on-one. Apaprently he will be in with other kids here in a few months. They have him on a three-year plan and so we will probably have him do Kindergarten so that he can get the speech therapy and so if there are any other learning disabilities or delays then maybe they can be diagnosed as well.

I am happy he is finally getting the services he is eligable for. I'm just mad that Early Childhood Intervention (the services for birth through 3 years old) dropped the ball and didn't follow through with the things they were supposed to. I feel as if a whole year or more was wasted because of it. Oh well. I'm sure there is no permanant damage and he will catch up quickly.

Long Time Coming

Ok, here is the nice long post I promised...I know I won't get everything included and will miss some stuff, but hey, at least I'm getting something up.

Anyway, the last week of my teaching, I had the students make "winter scenes" Well, the kids saw me preparing the pieces and they wanted to make some to. So, Aaron and I obliged and here are there products...

Can you see the mountain peaks and hills of snow?

The last week of school was lots of fun. We had pajama day on Thursday. It made me wish I could break out one of my Christmas presents early.

Friday was our Christmas party. That was lots of fun. I got sad though. At the end of the day the kids not only gave me a Christmas basket from the whole class, but they gave me a good-bye present. It was one of those bags with spots for photos and then a bunch of fun little teacher gifts. The one that made me saddest though was a scrapbook they had put together and each of them had drawn a picture and written a statement saying thank you or we'll miss you to me. Their pages also had their pictures. It was sweet.

The same day we got out of school we had our ward Christmas party. Here are the pictures of the kids with Santa.

Jacob just wanted to talk, talk, talk.

He was calm for a split second...Then it was all over.

One of the fun things we did this year was let the kids draw names and then buy each other gifts from the dollar store....The not-so-fun part of this deal....Isaiah pulling the fire alarm. I don't know what that kids' infatuation with fire alarms is, but it is going to drive me to change my name and move out of state! The firemen seemed to take an awful long time to get there. I was glad it wasn't a real fire. The bad part is that when they did get there, they couldn't get the alarm turned off. I have no idea how long it took, but I know they were having problems. Isaiah was terrified to go near them. I think that he knew he was in trouble and so didn't want to be in trouble with them. The ironic thing is that a couple of weeks before this he had said he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up.

Here is one Christmas present to myself. I love it.

And here is our mantel all decorated for Christmas. I love this every year too. Thank you, Cinthia (Aaron's mom) for making us the stockings. I love pulling them out each year and I look forward to it each time a new one comes along. Unfortunately, we need to try and find more of the stocking holders.

Christmas day was good. The gifts were all a big hit. For some reason though, everyone came out with red eyes in the pictures and since I don't like editing that much, I'll just pass on posting them here. It was fun though. Poor Joseph, who hadn't been sleeping well was so tired that he didn't open any presents and then crashed in the midst of all the excitement.

Here is one picture of Aaron and David captivated by one of the presents from Santa.

Even Joseph likes watching.

A few days after Christmas we had a storm front come in. Lots of wind and rain. I thought this was a cool picture of it rolling in.

Our vehicles had milestones over the holidays. Last Sunday, or maybe the Sunday before, our van hit 181,000 miles even as we drove into the church parking lot. We will be looking for a new van this year. Any suggestions? We want to upgrade to a larger one, I think. On New Years Eve, we had the first anniversary of owning the truck. As of today it has 19,538 miles on it. It had 12 when we bought it.

For New Years Eve we went out for pizza. That was fun, other than Jacob getting sick in the restaurant.

The next day we went to the park with some friends. That was fun. It was nice to get out and enjoy the company. The low point came when David got sick, too. Hopefully nobody else gets sick.

So, now it is the weekend before school starts again. We go to church at the same time. We all have new classes in primary, well, I have the same kids but a new class. Jacob will be a sunbeam and for the next six months the nursery will be without a Van Slyke child. This is the first time that has happened since David entered the nursery.

I haven't really made any New Year's resolutions yet. Maybe to be more patient with the kids and enjoy my time with them more?

Anyway, that is about all I have to say for now. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful new year!

A Bowl Victory

Well, football season for Wyoming may long be over, but as of last night it was still on for the Mountain West Conference. and all I have to say is.....GO UTES!

Did anyone else watch the Sugar Bowl last night? It was between 6th ranked Utah and 4th ranked Alabama. Utah was clearly the underdog going into the game. One of the announcers (on FOX) even went so far as to say that at that moment Alabama wouldn't take any of the Utah players on their team. They also kept questioning how Utah would do against Alabama's offense...

Well, I'll tell you how Utah did against Alabama's offense. They scored 3 touchdowns to nothing in the first quarter. Poor Alabama never could recover. The game would end 31 - 17. The Alabama quarterback was sacked 8 times and there were several more he was tackled at or just past the yard of scrimmage. Poor guy. It was no wonder he was eager to get rid of the ball by the end of the game. I'm sure he'll be aching for awhile.

I think the biggest thing that could possibly come out of this would be some changes to the BCS. Maybe (in fans' wildest dreams) it would even lead to a playoff...or at least an automatic slot to the Mountain West Conference. After all, Utah is now the only non-BCS team to have won two BCS championship bowl games.

Change is hard for people. Earning respect is even harder. Before the game the Alabama coach made the comment that "his club still was the only team to have an undefeated regular season in a “real BCS conference.”"

He's eating those words now. Maybe that will be the biggest change. Utah has definately earned the respect of those nay-sayers last night. And with that, the Mountain West Conference earned a little respect as well. Go Utes! Thanks for making us proud!

PS...I know I owe everyone a real post. It is coming soon. I think that after this weekend things should calm down. I hope.