WHY? WHY? WHY?

I don't understand WHY??? smoke detectors choose to announce that their batteries are dead at 1AM!!!

I woke up this morning at 1am to the BEEP BEEP BEEP of the smoke detector. It would not stop. I tried to ignore it. I couldn't.

Alyssa woke up and asked me, "Mom, what is that loud beeping sound? I can't sleep."

I told her, "That would be the smoke detector with dead batteries. If it bugs you, change the batteries."

So, she got a quick lesson in how to change the batteries in a smoke detector. I also told her that today, she could practice her new skill in all the other smoke detectors in the house so we don't have to do that again!

So much for going to bed early and getting a good night sleep! It took me untill about 2 to fall back to sleep. Gonna be another loooonnnggg day!

In other exciting news.....

I am going to use this family picture to post on my wall. It will be on canvas, with a vinyl saying. I am excited to finally have a decent family picture (it is not the best, it is just the best I had) to put up on the wall. Now I can start my family pictures wall. I am well on my way to a grown up house! :)

Last week, Brandon was building block towers with Alexandra. He is very good at blocks. He got them very tall. Sometimes he even let Alexandra help him.

Have a great Monday!!

I am tired!!!

Trying to stay warm in the rain!

YEAH!!! We won!!!

Yesterday at Auburn was an adventure! Lots of fun, excitement, and craziness!! I took Alyssa to Ferndale High School at 11am so they could warm up and get ready to go. Mom came over to the house right after that and we left (mom, Alexandra, McKenzie and I). We stopped at the Mt. Vernon Super Walmart. It is big. It reminds me of Costco. Some departments are bigger and some are smaller. The fabric, crafts, and office supplies that I like....smaller. Much smaller. Really disappointingly smaller. :( Our regular Walmart in Bellingham has more fabric & crafts than the Super Walmart. The food section was pretty cool. I may go grocery shopping down there one day. We shall see.

This is a movie (I think Alexandra took) of our Color Guard.

This is the first time I have put a movie on here, so I don't know how it is going to work. Let me know! :)

ColorGuard 2009 1st Place!!!!!

FHS Band & Guard - Best overall!!!

After we left Walmart, we continued on our way down to Auburn. The directions we got were not the best, and after taking the scenic route, going down a few dead end streets, and west instead of east, and right instead of left.......we made it! :)

We pulled up in front of the Auburn stadium and I got out to ask the police officer where we were allowed to park. He told us anywhere we wanted..."just go ahead and flip around and pull up behind that car over there. Just don't run over anybody crossing the street." OK! So....we flipped a U-ie (sp?) and parked in a no parking yellow zone. We got out of the car, packed our stuff up, waved to and thanked the very nice police man, and went inside the stadium.

CHEESE!!!

Once we got inside we decided we would find some seats. The stadium was covered, but Alyssa told us we needed to be tall enough up to see the whole show and low enough to be able to get good pictures! So we went about 2/3 of the way up. The stairs were STEEP!!! I felt like I was climbing the side of a mountain. Once we sat down, it started to rain. And rain, and rain, and rain! It rained most of the night. It was windy, cold, and wet. The bands did really good though. I was impressed. Sometimes you could hear the squish squish of the shoes marching on the very soggy astro-turf. The rain had stopped before Ferndale got on the field, but as soon as they marched on field, the rain started. It only rained lightly for a little while, but they got wet!

Marching on the field

GO GUARD!!!

We watched a lot of bands and guards. Some were FABULOUS!!! And some were not. There were lots of different divisions. We were AA. About 30 bands competed. Most of them competed in the rain. :) Ferndale won....Best ColorGuard, Best General Effect, and 1st place in AA Division. Go team!!!

For the final retreat, all the bands marched on the field. WOW!!! That was a lot of bands, a lot of kids!!! They filled up most of the field. It was crazy. Then they accounced the winners of each division.

I think other than Ferndale winning 1st place, my favorite part of the day was when BLUE THUNDER drum line played. They are the drum line for the Seattle Seahawks. They were AMAZING!!! After they were done, then the SOUNDERS came out and played. They are the band for the Seattle Sounders soccer team. They were really good also. After they played for us, they went across the field to were some of the bands were waiting and played for them. Those band kids were soooo excited! You should have seen there faces. They were jumping up and down to the music and shouting and singing along. They were HAPPY!!!

All in all, it was a wonderful day! I had a great time and will try to do it again next year....November 6, 2010!!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday! I am going to bed!

Auburn!

Today is the day we get to go to Auburn and watch Alyssa and the Ferndale ColorGuard and Band compete in State Finals! Go Ferndale!!!

They have won State at Auburn for the last 5 years in a row.....let's hope they keep it up! They have a lot of freshmen this year that haven't put in the work that is needed to be a top band, so we will see.

I am charging my camera batteries & emptying my memory card so I can take lots and lots of pictures! :)

McKenzie and Alexandra have been up since the crack of dawn......playing. They played soccer, pass, built a fort out of blankets, and eaten breakfast already. Now they have to get dressed (in really warm clothes, it is supposed to be COLD!!) pack a bag of things to do on the way down (and there) and maybe jammies for the ride home!

HAVE A GREAT SATURDAY! I KNOW I WILL!!

The play was a hit!

My little Pinehead!!

The play last night was great! All the kids did a great job! The other Pinocchio showed up, so Alexandra didn't have to play her part too. It was harder to take pictures in the gym from the far back, but I think I had a couple of good ones. After the play was over, we went to Dairy Queen for treats. Lots of kids did that last year also. This year we got there a little later and there wasn't as many kids as last year.

All in all.....it was a great night! Alexandra had a great time and had fun!! I see more drama in her future....I just hope we keep it on the stage!

Tonight is going to be an early night. We are coming home from work, having dinner, maybe watching Alexandra's Pinocchio on the tv, then going to bed!!! We may skip the movie and just go to bed...

Have a Fabulous Friday!!

(Thanks for working for me this morning mom!!! See you at 1:30!)

It's Thursday!

Tonight is the play! Alexandra has been practicing her lines all night last night. She was told yesterday that one of the Pinocchio's are still sick and asked if she could learn the lines and play the part. She has done pretty well.

Did you hear the news on the radio? Whatcom Middle School is on fire! It started around 1 this morning. Pretty drastic way to get out of a test. I wonder what is going to happen to the kids and teachers now. The roof was collapsing, so I don't think they will be using the building anytime soon. Where are they going to go?

On Saturday, Alyssa is having her Color Guard/ Band Competition down in Auburn. I get to go this year! I am pretty excited! I just hope they earn first again....or at least place really well. They have earned first place the last 5 years....let's try for 6 years!

Less than one month to Disneyland!!! I think it is 28 days!!! Should I start packing yet?

Well that was a random, pictureless post....

HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!

It is the day that Alexandra is in Pinocchio! It will be an interesting play.....we have had to do some last minute switching of parts because some kids are out sick. Really sick. So we will see how it all "plays" out. ;)

This morning, Alexandra (who was up waayyyyyy to early!) came out of her bedroom and said, "Mom! Did you see the sky? It looks so pretty!"

It was beautiful! By the time I got my camera out, it had lost a lot of its beautiful color, but it still was stunning!

Daylight savings time.....I don't like it! The last few years, it really hasn't affected us. My girls still get up close to the same time and go to bed about the same time. This year......not so much! Alexandra and McKenzie have been going to bed close to the same time they always have (about 8:30 or so...) however....in the morning, it is a whole 'nother story! They usually get up around 7 or so. THIS week....that means about SIX AM!!! That is tooo early! I told them that I think I will have to get them to bed earlier, to make up for that extra hour they are getting up. They were not very happy!

This is Alexandra reading her book before 7 am! They come out of their room tired and grumpy and snuggle on the couch with their blanket and book. They are pretty cute, but I bet they would be just as cute AFTER 7!!

Alexandra had her first indoor soccer game last night. I was only able to watch the first 5 min. because I had to go to AWANA. They did AWESOME! Alexandra said she scored two goals, both off of her knee! She didn't use her foot! The final score was 9 to 3. They were pretty happy. Last year, on their first game, they lost big!!! Indoor goes so fast. It is like pinball, with the ball bouncing off of the walls and going every which way. It is fun to watch.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

This is my 50th!!

This is the 50th post that I have written! Crazy!

I got most of my list done yesterday. Alexandra, McKenzie and I sewed the 9 vests together last night. So all I have to do today is tie the neck bow ties and glue on the trim. Pinocchio is on Thursday this week!!! I can't believe it is already here! Two more practices and then they will perform on Thursday morning for the school, and Thursday night for families!

Tonight Alexandra starts indoor soccer. She is pretty excited!

Alyssa had a Sudoku puzzle last night for extra credit math homework. She was having problems solving it so we photocopied it and Alexandra and I got to "help" her (ssshhhh....don't tell her math teacher :) !!). I have never solved a sudoku puzzle before. I have tried, I have come close, but I have never solved it. Last night, guess who solved it?????? YEAH MEE!!!! I was very excited! I told Alyssa not to get to used to me helping her with her homework though. I don't remember much about what I was taught in high school.

Have a great Tuesday! I promise pictures tomorrow!!