Cortney's Crew

So instead of a Thankful Wall this year, I printed this up and gave it to everyone on Tuesday.  They had until dinner on Thanksgiving to fill it out and then we talked about everything we wrote down.  So I'm just scanning them in so we have them to remember! Here is my list (you can click on them to make them bigger!)  Dean's list (He wasn't so good at following instructions!)  Riley's list  Alexandra's list (She's learning cursive this year - and the underlined words are words she thinks she may have misspelled - that's what they do at school.)  Scarlett's list (Grammy sat with her and asked her about each category that she thought Scarlett could answer.)  Grammy's list It was awesome!  I got the idea from last years December Ensign .

So this year has been rough financially.  We are currently having to put a new engine in the Tahoe and that is going on a credit card.  Let alone all the other stuff that has happened this year.  The Tahoe is kinda the breaking point though (and it still needs new tires).  So I had talked to my mom about how Christmas was going to be so much less this year then other years and telling her how I didn't think we could afford presents for them or any extended family.  At that time we needed to put tires on the van as well.  She told me to talk to the girls and if they were okay with not getting any toys from them, they would buy us van tires for Christmas instead of presents.  She also told us we could come and clean their house for them as a present instead (yay - so much more affordable!!!) So I had a long talk with the girls (Riley and Alexandra) and fortunately I have AMAZING children.  They are so understanding and not selfish at all.  We...

Last year Alexandra took the COGAT ( Cognitive Abilities Test).  They determined that she is Gifted and Talented.  So we had long talks with her teacher about what we should do with her.  She could stay at her school and have an ALP (advanced learning plan) there or we could move her to a center school where they have classes full of just GT kiddos.  We decided she would do amazing in a GT class so we put her on the waiting list for a new school.  We found out the last month of summer that they were opening up another 3rd grade GT class and she was accepted.  So we moved her over to the new school for 3rd grade.  As a mom you always worry about whether you are doing the right thing for your kids and this was even more of a worry for me.  She was going to a school where she wouldn't have her friends and she was going to be a year behind in some things.  (The GT classes study a year ahead in math and language arts.)  So the last 3 month...

Boy I suck at blogging - or at least I have the last year and a half.  Facebook has really become my blog, it's just been easier to type a little tiny funny thing then think about a blog post.  For those that don't know, I have suffered from depression since I was a teenager.  I finally got put on medication after Alexandra was born (thank goodness since people were seriously about to die).  I am horrible at remembering to take my meds and then when I get in that depression fog I have no desire at all to take my meds.  It's a horrible vicious cycle.  Plus then you add post-partum depression on top of it and yeah I'm a mess.  I have figured out it takes me about 3 years after each baby to return to my normal depression versus the whole post-partum thing.  Well it takes about 3 years before I feel semi-normal anyway.  And I've finally hit that 3 year mark - well 3 1/2 this time, but close enough.  I think it has to do with the sleep d...

One of Scarlett's new favorite song to sing is : She loves to sing it. But mostly she loves to have someone sing with her. The other night she asked me for Bumblebee and I'd sang it 3 times with her. Then when she asked again, I told her to sing it herself. She told me "I don't want to sing it!" So I asked her "But you want me to sing it?" "Uh-huh!" Also that song has 3 more versus that her sisters have taught her, but I didn't think you wanted to listen to the licking up, puking up, and sweeping up verses. And then today she was in the other room when I hear her calling "Mommy! Help! Help! Ayudeme!" (Which is Spanish for help me) Apparently she really likes her Diego books and videos. I love listening to her talk and pick up new words and phrases every day!

We were at the library yesterday for a program on science and to turn in our reading logs. I had taken Scarlett into the little kids bathroom to change her diaper. I got her down off the changing table and was packing up the bag when I hear a splashing. I turned around to see her with both hands in the toilet! She looked up at me and very sweetly said "Washing my hands Mommy!" UGH!!! By the way the science program was awesome! Alexandra, my little scientist, loved it. And now I'm gonna have to figure out a way to hide all the diapers because they did an experiment with polymers (I hope that's how you spell it) and then told the kids how they could do it themselves if they had any diapers around the house.

So yesterday we took the girls to the amusement park near us that gives out tickets for summer reading at the library. We'll get to go another time (if not two more times). Yay for 3 different libraries near me!!! We decided we would go and try with Scarlett to see if she would be okay on the little kid rides. The next time we go, we'll get a sitter for Scarlett and Dean and I will get tickets and ride the big rides with Riley and Alexandra. Scarlett loved it! Unless we put her on a ride that had any sort of up and down motion. By the 3rd ride that went up and down she started screaming, so we avoided those from then on. She loved the horses. She loved the boats - and yes Alexandra loves them too, even though she doesn't look like it. She sat like that for every ride and would ask to ride again. She loved the racing cars. She did not like the motorcycles (they had little up and down hills.) She liked the carousel. By this time we knew about the up and down - so we ...