Ashlie's Dance Recital

Well, the big finale has come!!! Ashlie spends all year going to dance classes for her one night of glory!!! She loves the dance recitals and the costumes. She was in three dances this year: tap, jazz, and ballet. This is a picture of her in her ballet costume with flowers from her some of her fans!!! Flowers are also another highlight of the dancing season!!! She did a great job!!!

It's Summer!!!

So we celebrated the beginning of summer vacation by doing one of our favorite family activities - swimming and the drive in movies!!! Well, actually, I didn't even attempt the swimming, I stuck my toes in and that was enough for me. Craig actually changed into his suit and then decided against it. It didn't affect the kids at all though. The girls swam and swam. Tyler swam for a bit and then when he could no longer feel his toes decided he was done. Craig turned the heat on in the hot tub and so Tyler got in there and hung out for a bit. Then we all went in and got changed and headed off to the movies. They closed the drive in down in Visalia so we have to go to Hanford about 30 minutes away. But we figured out the cost of gas, the admission cost, and snackies and for all 5 of us it cost less than $40. A few weeks ago we all headed out to the movies at the theatre and for tickets and popcorn for the 5 of us we spent $90. I think we'll keep driving to Hanford. We saw Speed Racer (again) and had a blast. The weather was perfect for a sweatshirt. We folded down the back of the car and the kids hung out in there and Craig and I had our lawn chairs right in front of them. Tyler enjoyed being able to run around in the back of the van and then he could climb out and over to Craig and I saw he thought that was pretty cool. We had lots of fun and are already planning our next movie!!!

I can't believe it!!!

I thought you all must know that I woke up this morning to an email from my english teacher. He accepted my paper, although he didn't say why, and gave me 17/20. Life will go on in the Dixon house!!!!

English Vent

Okay, so I don't use my blog as a vent very often but I felt like I needed to share a little. If you don't want to read just skip! I'm so bummed. I started my online english class last week and my teacher is pretty strict. He took the same work you would normally do in a 4 month semester class and condensed it into a 5 week summer class. So I have assignments due every 2-3 days. I'm spending hours (5-7) a day working on my english homework. So my 2nd assignment was due Tuesday at midnight. I managed to get it all done and even a little early. I had an extra assignment to do because we each have to take a turn doing the summary of our group discussion. I got to go first so I worked about 6 hours on it yesterday and about another 3 on it today to get it done. I did all of that on top of the regular assignment that is due tomorrow night. So I just went to email my teacher the assignment and I realized that it was due at noon today and not midnight. If you refer to the beginning where I discuss how strict the teacher is, in the orientation he specifically said that since this is such a fast moving class the assignments are due exactly at the time specified. Not one minute later. And if they come one minute late he will not accept them but just delete them. ugh!!! So I'm in tears. After working so hard and for so long and the silly paper is worth 10% of my grade!!! So I just dropped to a "B" in a heartbeat! I'm so frustrated. I still emailed it to him and we'll see I guess if he accepts it or not. It is so confusing when the times are different for different assignments. Try telling him that!! So, I guess that is my vent. Sorry you had to take part.

Ashlie's Pool Party

Ashlie came home from a month or so ago and informed me she had invited some friends over to swim and she gad given them my phone number so they could call when they were on their way over. After talking to her a little bit we decided that instead of just inviting friends over individually (they are only 7 and 8) that maybe we could just have a pool party. So the planning began. We ended up with 9 little friends here on Friday night. We barbecued hot dogs and had chips, cookies, jello and lots of capri suns. The kids had a great time and many of them left their phone numbers so we could call them to come back again. Most important, Ashlie had a great time and it made her feel really good to have a party with her friends. Since Sari is older it seems that she is always the one having the parties and having friends over. So it made Ashlie feel good to be big like Sari. Here is a picture of Ashlie with a couple of her friends.

Excitement on our way to Hearst Castle

Well, any of you who know much about California have surely heard of Hearst Castle. It is this spectacular mansion (castle) built by William Randolph Hearst who was this huge newspaper publishing guy back in the 20's and 30's. It is located over on the coast near Morro Bay. Sari's class went there for their field trip this year and I got invited to go as a chaperone. So after much work I was able to secure a babysitter and get my schedule cleared so I could spend the day with Sari at Hearst Castle. We met at the school at 5:30 in the morning and finally got on the road around 6am. All of the 5th grade classes went so we were in 3 different chartered buses. We were about half way there and our bus driver pulled the bus over to the side of the freeway. We were in the lead and had just merged onto a new freeway so we thought she was just waiting for the other buses to catch up. After a minute she merged back onto the freeway and about 30 seconds later she pulled back off to the side of the road again. She immediately stepped up and told us she wanted us all to get off of the bus and follow the teacher to a road sign a few hundred feet away from the bus. We then noticed that there was big black clouds of smoke billowing up from the back of the bus. The kids all remained very calm and we were able to get off of the bus and down the freeway to the road sign. It was then that we turned around and saw the flames coming from under the bus. Indeed, our bus had caught fire while we were driving down the highway. Luckily we had just come into a town and so within about 2 minutes the highway patrol and the fire department had already responded and they were able to quickly put out the fire. The bus driver and the firemen were able to get all of our belongings off of the bus. Luckily, there were a few children who hadn't been able to go on the trip so we had extra seats on the two remaining buses, enough so that we were able to all fit on the other two buses once we split up. The whole incident only put us about 45 minutes behind schedule and Hearst Castle was able to split our touring groups up so we were all able to get through the tours and were able to get back on schedule. After the Hearst Castle tours we were able to take the kids on a tour of Cal Poly, a well known 4 year college located in San Luis Obispo. Sari found this especially enjoyable because it is very close to Cuesta College where Craig went through nursing school which is also in San Luis Obispo. We got back to the Visalia about 7:30 that night without further incident. It was funny while we were all standing on the side of the road watching the firemen work on the bus the only thing the kids were talking about was their games, cd's, mp3 players, etc. that they had left on the bus. No mention at all how lucky we were that we all got off of the bus without any problems and that no one was injured at all. Funny what matters most to 11 year olds. Unfortunately, I left my camera on the bus and so I was unable to take pictures of the fire or of Hearst Castle. We were unable to get to our belongings until after Hearst Castle when we finally had time to sort things out, :(

We did it!!!

Well, our college semester is officially over!! We both managed to complete Statistics with better than "just passing" grades. I ended with an A in the course and Craig got a B in the course. A little unfair I think because I worked my behind off to get my grade and Craig just cruised along not studying or doing practice assignments and still got a B. Oh well, maybe it's better he didn't work at it because I would of been bummed if he hadn't gotten a A easily. Oh well, we are both very happy with our grades. I am still waiting to find out my final grade in Psychology. I think I did good but I still feel in limbo until I see the final grade posted.

We have a busy week coming up with the end of the school year. Plus I'm starting a summer course this week too. I get to go to Hearst Castle with Sari on Wednesday as a chaperone for her field trip. Ashlie is having a pool party at our house on Friday for all of the kids in her class. I will keep you posted on all of the fun stuff we are doing.

This is for Chris!!!

A: Attached or Single: attached
B: Best Friend: Cragi
C: Cake or Pie: Cake with lots of yummy buttercream frosting.
D: Day of Choice: Any day Craig is off
E: Essential Item: cell phone
F: Favorite Color: blue/yellow
G: Greatest Accomplishment: ??? Surviving married life?
H: Hometown: Visalia, CA
I: Indulgences: ???
J: January or July: January, I love cold!
Where did K go?
L: Life is Incomplete Without: friends
M: Marriage Date: June 23, 1995
N: Number of Siblings: 1 sister
O: Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P: Phobias or Fears: little black dogs and balloons in ceiling fans
Q: Quotes: "Mothers of little boys work from son up til son down"
R: Reason to Smile: My kids
S: Season: Fall. Halloween.
T: Tag Four Friends: Anyone who wants to answer
U: Unknown Fact about Me: My fingers swell at night
Very Favorite Store: Target!!!
W: Worst Habit: Taking on too much
X: X-ray or Ultrasound: ultrasound, i like the cold jelly stuff
Y: Your Favorite Food: lasagna
Z: Zodiac: Scorpio

Life is Crazy!!!!

Hey Everyone!!! I know it's been awhile since I've posted. I haven't forgotten I promise. Life has just been so crazy!!! I'll give you a short glimpse into my life the past month. First of all my sister and I took on this crazy idea of making tiles with the vinyl craft lettering and selling them at my dad's bookstore and also entering craft fairs. So we spent most of the month of April making tile after tile after tile. So far we've done 3 craft fairs and we've done okay. We've got 3 more on the books, one this Saturday. So I've eating, sleeping, dreaming vinyl!!! We also carry them on the bookstores website so you can go check out our work if you'd like. It's www.zionbooks.net. On the left is a list of categories and we are at the bottom under Vinyl Craft Lettering Products.

I have also been trying to keep up on my school work. On top of my regular weekly classes and homework I had a powerpoint presentation on a Psychological Disorder due this week for my psychology class. I chose ADHD. I'm not sure what my grade on that is yet. Stressful!!!! In my statistics class I had another test last week (97/100, yes!!!) plus we have a huge research project due next week. I'm still in the middle of my survey for that one. It is so scary to go up to people and ask them questions. I'm trying to find out how happy peoples marriages really are. Funny for me to be doing that I know!!! So I've been soliciting all of my friends help trying to get this stinkin' survey done so I can get my paper done. After I finish the survey I still have to do all of the work to figure out the statistics on it and figure out how to get it in this paper! Yikes, I'm stressed can you tell?

Then, I still have the regular "mommy" stuff. Tennis for Sari (we just finished, whew!), dance for Ashlie (in overload right now getting ready for recital), Tyler is general is a handful, plus all of the kids extra activities they have going on getting ready for the end of the year. Assemblies, field trips, extra projects, reward parties. Then Ash springs it on me a couple of days ago, she invited a bunch of friends over for a pool party. She did tell me though that she told them to call before they came. Lol!!

So, as you can see, I've been a little busy and while I've had lots of stuff to put on my blog I just really haven't had time. Plus, I'm sad when I can't put a picture on cause I think it's fun. So that's why this one is just plain old boring :( I'll work on that.

Sari & Ashlie Make the Cut Again!!!

Well, I found myself at the assemblies once again for more awards!!! The month of March both girls were recognized at the assembly. Ashlie got an award for creative writing. Actually it was a letter she wrote to the Easter Bunny, lol!!! Sari got an award for her reading points. That girl, she has already made the millionaires club and she is over half way there again. She had the most points for books read in her entire class for the month of March. It's wonderful how much our girls love to read. Of course Craig always has a couple of books he is reading so they come by it naturally. Good job Sari & Ashlie!!!

Statistics Test #2

Well, I thought the first time was just a fluke, so when I aced the second test of the semester in my statistics class I felt it was blog-worthy!!! These scores did not come from sitting back and not doing my work, I have earned every point given on every assignment!!! So, pat myself on the back and I can go to sleep happy tonight :)

Just in case you can't see the scores clearly enough, Test #1 was 115/120 +2 bonus points and Test #2 was 138/140 + 2 bonus points!!!

I've Been Tagged

THE RULES:
Write your own 6 word memoir
Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you like
Link to the person who tagged you in your post
Tag 6 more blogs with links
Don't forget to leave a comment on the blogs you tagged inviting them to play along

MY MEMOIR:

Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow, Live Today!

I Tag:
Jenny
Aisha

Sorry guys!!!

Easter Day

It was fun waking up to excited girls to see what the Easter Bunny had brought them. Down the stairs we went, me first with the camera!!! Sari obviously has a hard time smiling early in the morning and Ashlie obviously had a rough night in bed (we were told that sometimes Princesses do), Tyler decided to sleep in and we've learned it is better to leave a sleeping Tyler asleep. So he didn't enjoy his Easter Basket until about 15 minutes before church. That is why he is already dressed!!! We heard several times this was their best Easter ever, I'm sure it was the new toothbrushes!!!

Coloring Easter Eggs

After our train ride and a 3 hour nap we attempted coloring Easter eggs!! Things went fairly smooth and the kids really enjoyed themselves. Tyler's favorite part was throwing the eggs in the dye. We ended up with several cracked eggs thanks to Tyler, it was funny watching the girls be so careful and Tyler just doing whatever.

Train Ride with a Terrible 2 Year Old

Well, we woke up Saturday to a phone call with the suggestion of a train ride. Feeling glum about the prospect of vacation laundry and statistics homework I decided to go for it. Craig was working so me and the three kids got ready and off we went! Things seemed to go pretty smoothly and normal until we got to the train station in Hanford. I've learned a trick about buying our tickets, if I wait until I get there I can get a commuter ticket for all of us and it saves tons of $$. So my mom and I head up to the counter where we battle 2 two-year olds (Tyler and my nephew Ezra), at one point they were both screaming so loudly that neither my mom nor I could hear the clerk. Finally I figured out he was telling me that we couldn't do a commuter ticket because it was a holiday weekend (duh!!!) and the train was almost full. So 15 minutes, 2 two-year old temper tantrums and $60 later we had 2 adults and 4 childrens train tickets. Things went pretty smoothly after that. We boarded the train and amazingly enough even with a full train we found seats all pretty close together. All of the pictures are of the trip to Fresno. Once in Fresno we walked to a little Mexican Restaurant a block away and attempted lunch. That is when everything went downhill fast. The first incident was Tyler throwing the whole basket of tortilla chips all over. Okay, two year olds can be ornery, we can deal with this. Not 2 minutes later the stuffed animals start flying around the table. I decide at this point I need to be sitting by Tyler. I get the stuffed animals stowed away and clear the table of any debris that could be thrown by little hands. Throughout the ordering and waiting process he attempted numerous tries to climb under, over and around the table, but I was able to maintain control and keep him seated by me. Then the food arrived. He never eats his meal when we order him his own, he wants ours, so we just share now. Of course he wanted nothing to do with mine. Ezra was nice enough to share his quesadilla! It wasn't 3 minutes into the meal when he decides we need some excitement, so in one whoosh of his hand he sent Sari's full soda cup flying across the table showering all within the vicinity. It was dripping from tables and chairs, luckily no one got too much on them personally. We try to keep the swats on the bottom to a minimum so when they get them they mean something, needless to say, I swatted his bottom. It took all the napkins on two tables and 4 adults to get the mess cleaned up. He pretty much had decided from that point on he wanted nothing to do with food. So he sat there for the rest of lunch pushing every button I had. He has this shrill scream that just pierces your ears, so he would sit beside me and scream so everyone in the restaurant would look. I would try to cover his mouth and muffle the sound but you can only do so much. Finally, I was able to get him contained on my lap until he figured out all he had to do was straighten his legs and push backwards and he could send his head flying into my mouth and chin. After nearly biting my tongue off, I decided that wasn't working either, so I decided to pull out the big guns and start threatening! "You are going home and straight to bed and you aren't getting up until your Dad gets home from work!" I don't really think it phased him too much but I felt better after saying it :) Luckily, I think the waitress knew it was time to pay so we were able to get out of there without too much more of a commotion. The train ride home seemed to be without incident and he fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. After that kind of a day I think it might be a while before we attempt another train ride without Dad!!!

Our Week at Disneyland!!!

Wow, we had so much fun!!! Of course the girls had a good time and rode lots and lots of rides, but real joy came from watching Tyler in awe!!! It is such an enchanting place anyways, but then to experience it with a 2 1/2 year old was almost magical. He was completely amazed by everything. Of course, his favorite ride was the train that takes you in a circle around Disneyland, which techinically isn't even a ride. He also enjoyed riding Casey Jr's animal train, we sat in the Monkey Car. Ashlie was finally tall enough to get to ride the roller coasters. Her favorite was the Matterhorn. She wanted to keep riding that one. Sari and Craig had lots of fun going on the Tower of Terror and California Screamin'!!! My favorite was watching Fantasmic and the Fireworks with the kids!!! We had lots of fun, ate lots of churros and finished our trip off with a stop by the Tiki Room and some Fresh Pineapple Whips!!! What a yummy trip!!! :)

Sari's Basketball Ceremony

Well, we've ended basketball! Sari had a great time and made new friends. It was fun because one of the guys Craig works with had a son on the same team, so we all sat and visited! After the 6 weeks of games they had a ceremony and each of the kids got an award. Craig and I had class that night so we didn't get to go :( but Papa went for us and took some pictures. Here are a couple. Basketball was so fun she decided to do tennis, so be watching for fun pictures of Sari playing tennis!!!

Train Show

There was a way fun model train show in Bakersfield the weekend of Sari's birthday, so we said what the heck, we'll go spend $150 on gas and food so Tyler can see some model trains. Yeah!!! We had so much fun. Chris & Jenny and Elizabeth went with us too. We had lots of fun and bought some fun trains for Tyler!!!

Party - Party - Party!!!

Fun, Fun, Fun, that is all Sari wanted. So we had a repeat of last year with better games!!! We did a hot tub party with chocolate fountain and everyone played DDR, pool, and air hockey!!! Lots of fun. The kids were all sad when their parents showed up to take them home. Sari had lots of fun and that is all that matters!!! Happy Birthday Sari!!!

Happy 11th Birthday Sari!!!

I can't believe that 11 years has flown by so quickly. Today is Sari's birthday and so we partied!!! We started out with pancakes for breakfast (we never have pancakes on a school day)!! We all got up early and made the pancakes then went up and woke Sari by singing Happy Birthday with a candle in her pancakes!!! Lots of fun. We got her a new bike and so we let her have it first thing this morning so she hurried and got ready for school so she could take her bike on a little spin!!!

Ashlie at Dance Class

This last week was viewing week at Dance Class. I forgot the camera on Monday which was ballet but I got some cute shots of Tuesday which was Tap & Jazz. Ashlie has been dancing for 4 years now and really loves it. I think mostly she loves the recitals with all of the pretty costumes!!!

Another Train Ride

Well, we found ourselves once again on the train. This time, along with Grandma & Papa, the Greats joined us. We had lots of fun once again. Everyone seems to have fun just seeing Tyler's enthuisiasm!!!

A Day in the Snow!!!

Well, us Californians have to drive to get to the snow!! And it is considered fun to go "play" in the snow. So we spent many hours and many dollars gearing up for this fun day to play. We made sure everyone was equipped with snow boots, snow pants, snow gloves, snow jackets, thermals, hats, scarves, sleds, tubes, food, water & blankets and off we went! Part way up tire chains were required, that was Craig's first experience with chains. How funny he grew up in Eastern Idaho. We fumbled around a little but between the two of us got it figured out and made it all the way with only one minor mishap. Once there we started layering on our winter gear and an hour later we were ready to hit the slopes. I wasn't sure how Tyler was going to do so we got our little area set up with food, water and chairs and we each grabbed a tube or sled and headed up the hill. Sari headed down having a blast but Ashlie wasn't so sure. Her first trip down she crash landed halfway and so I wasn't sure she would be coming back up the hill. Craig put Tyler on his sled and they headed down. I watched eagerly for Tyler's reaction only to see him land at the bottom and get up to walk back up the hill. He was hooked!!! Ashlie decided to give it one more try before calling it quits. This time as she was getting on her tube she slipped and landed in her tube going down the hill. She didn't have much time to panic before she landed safely at the bottom and determined that it wasn't so bad after all!!! From there on we couldn't stop any of the kids from wanting more. So they spent the next couple of hours marching up the hill and sliding down. Fortunately for us, Tyler wanted to do most of his own walking through the snow, it took a while to get where we were going but that was half of the fun for Tyler. Part way through we walked back out to the parking area and met up with our ward from church for chili dogs and hot chocolate. Then back in we went and did another couple of hours of sledding. I made the last run of the day and decided to try the round disk sled we had brought. By this point in the day the course we were going down was pretty worn and slick so you were able to get quite a bit of speed. At the bottom there was a little hill that if you hit with the right speed and angle you could actually catch some air. So up I went to try it one more time. I certainly had some speed and hit the hill at the bottom just right and caught some air. As I was flying over I realized I was headed straight for where Tyler and Ashlie were playing in the snow so when I hit the ground I just started rolling so I wouldn't crash into them. If you notice in the last picture there really isn't a focus point. That's because it is Tyler & Ash playing and me rolling into them. All in all we had a great time playing. Craig and I came home a little red, we remembered the sun screen for the kids, just forgot ourselves. It was a lot of fun and we plan on going back soon since the kids all enjoyed it so much.

Ashlie Ready for School

Over the years I've learned many things from my children. The fact that Mr. Clean Eraser does not remove permanent marker from doors, drinking glasses can indeed be broken into millions of pieces and snotty kisses linger longer than clean kisses!! However, one of the greatest lessons I've learned is that they each have their own individuality, and who am I to tell them otherwise. Our darling Ashlie is the one who first helped this hit home with me. If you've ever spent much time with Ashlie at all you will know that she most definitely has her own sense of style!!! I often reflect on the time when she was about 2 and we went to the hospital to visit my mom who had had surgery. Her outer attire was very appropriate for the rainy January day that it was. Long winter coat buttoned all the way with rain boots, it was when she took off the jacket once inside and was wearing her swimming suit with nothing else that her fashion statement truly took hold!! I'm sure her idea on it was, swimming suits are for getting wet in, why not wear them in the rain!! She was quite the talk of the hospital that day, and for that matter has been the talk of many other conversations since. Just the other day she came into my room ready for school and this is what she had picked out. Who was I to tell her that none of the colors matched!! She did however inform me that her teachers favorite colors are orange and green, since he had been gone the day before she wanted to make him happy and wear his favorite colors. How could I argue with that. So off she went!! In the past before I came to fully understand this lesson being taught, I would have argued and pushed for her to change clothes. She would have gotten upset, crying & screaming, we both would have lost our tempers and neither of us would have been happy. I'm thankful that I've learned that this is just not that important to fight over. I pick and choose my battles and this is not one I will pick!!!

Sari is a Millionariare!!!

Sari has become a millioniare!!! Well, at least in reading. At her school to promote reading they have The Millioniares Club. After the kids read a book they have to take a little quiz on the computer. They have to get 70% or better on the quiz. Each book is worth a certain number of points depending on the difficulty of it, so the computer keeps track of how many points they've earned as well as how many words are in each book. Once they have read the books and passed quizes for a total of 1,000,000 words they become millionaires!! The younger grades don't have to read so many words to join the club, Ashlie in 2nd grade only has to read 250,000 words, still quite a job considering most books being read by her class only have 1000-3000 words. However, in 5th & 6th grade you have to read the full 1,000,000!!! And she did it!!! She received a new t-shirt that says she is a millionaire, a trophy and a gift card to Borders to buy more books!!! We are very proud of her. This is a big accomplishment!!! This is a picture of her holding her trophy (shirt was in the laundry)!!!