First Day of School

Claire started her first day of kindergarten on Friday.  She had a great day.  She is making new friends enjoying being in kindergarten.

Nile had his first day of third grade on Thursday.  He had a great day.  He has lots of friends in his class and his teacher is nice.  So for the kids first day of school, I thought I would make them a special cake.  So I started making the cake and I was using some pumpkin to make the cake healthier and I sliced my thumb on the can.  Blood was gushing every where.  I was a little freaked out.  My friend Kim came over and took Brent to her house and I drove myself over to the Urgent Care center where I received three stitches.  I was in out of the Urgent Care center in record time, 45 minutes.  I drove home and picked up the kids from Kim's house and then finished making the cake. 

B is all Potty Trained!!!

After we got back from vacation, I decided to start the potty training process with Brent.  He was ready and is doing so awesome.  He decided  to pack up all of his diapers and gave them to his friend Jackson.  He told me he didn't need them any more because he was a big boy.  He has been my easiest child to potty train.

Breaking Dawn

Vampire Girls at Rainy Day Books

Kim, Trina, Jen, me, and Maren

I picked up my copy of Breaking Dawn at midnight on Friday night.  When Stephanie Meyer had come to town back in May I pre-ordered Breaking Dawn and also got a copy of the Host.  We were supposed to get a special gift, it turns out we got autographed copies of Breaking Dawn.  I was so excited.  I was able to finish the book yesterday.  I thought it was great and the best book of the series.

Hilton Head 2008

                                              Brent, Nile, Jason, and Claire
                                               me and my B
                                                       Scott with Brent on Dixie
                                                   Claire on Romeo
                                     Maddox Family at the nature preserve
                                   Scott and the kids at the playground
                                        Claire, Brent, and Nile at the beach

                                             Scott and Claire on their bike

We just returned from our family vacation in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  We had a great time.  When we got there we went to the beach first thing, Brent did not like the sand.  He walked on his tiptoes and wanted to be held.  Claire and Nile found a few sand dollars and seashells.  We had a couple of beach days.  The kids loved playing in the sand and boogie boarding.  Scott and my brother Jason got stung by a jelly fish one of the days at the beach.  It was quite a painful experience.  

Scott, Jason, and Nile went golfing a couple of times, once at Hilton Head National Golf Course and then at Heron Point at Sea Pines.  They also took some golf lessons.  While they were golfing, I took Claire and Brent to the pool.  We went on bike rides every day to the nature preserve and saw lots of alligators, turtles, lizards, snakes, birds, and frogs.  The kids loved going bike riding.  Jason babysat for us one night so Scott and I could go see The Dark Knight.  It was a great movie!  We enjoyed our date night.  We ate at the Crazy Crab which is one of our favorite restaurants.  Scott and Nile love the crab legs and Claire and Brent love the hushpuppies.    We also tried out a new restaurant the Sea Shack.  It was kind of a hole in the wall place but I had the best salmon I think I have ever had.  We will definitely go back there again next year.  We also enjoyed ice cream in Harbor Town by the lighthouse.  We climbed the lighthouse and while we were on top we saw a dolphin come right up to the dock. Claire and Brent also went on pony rides while Nile was at his golf lesson.  To finish off a long day of driving from Hilton Head to St. Louis, Scott got a speeding ticket in Illinois. We had a great family vacation.

Fourth of July

I finished my fourth of July quilt (before the holiday).  Here is a picture.  It is the biggest quilt I have ever made on my own.  My friend Amanda designed but then I put it all together.  We did it as an enrichment project.  

On Fourth of July we went to St. Louis.  We started the day at the ward flag raising and pancake breakfast with my dad.  Here is a picture of my dad and the grandkids.  Then we took the kids to Grant's Farm where Scott, Brent, Claire, and Andrew were all attacked by the goats while they were feeding them the milk bottles.  Scott and Nile went golfing with all of Scott's brothers and dad.  Then Scott, Nile, Craig, and Ann went to the Cardinals game that night.  It was a fun filled day.

On Saturday, Scott and I went to the temple and got to one of my best friends from college Kristen.   It was so good to see her and her family.  The kids went swimming with Grandma Maddox.   Here a few pictures from Sunday.  Claire cried when it was time to say good bye to nana she had a fun week staying with her.

Cleo

Last night Cleo was scratching at her ear so I looked inside and it was bright red.  Today, I took her to the vet and he said that she has an ear infection.  We hope she feels better soon.

US Open and Golf

Scott went to the US Open in San Diego this year.  He went with my dad and brothers Jason and Jonathan and friends Brian and Chase.   He had a great week.  He said he golfed his best game at a course they found nearby Torrey Pines.  

We signed Nile up for golf lessons this summer at a course by us.  He had a great time.  He was sad to have his last day.  I told him his uncle Jason is going to work with him one on one when we go to Hilton Head later this summer.  Jason is teaching golf to kids around Nile's age this summer.  Since it was his last day, they had a putting contest and Nile won.  He was pretty excited.  The coach gave Scott his card and recommended more individual lessons to help him improve the skills he already has.