Spencer's First Day!

I can't believe this day has happened! Our little Spencer now goes to school all day! Rob and especially me, have been excited and looking forward to this day, but as it got closer and closer, we both started getting a little nervous and sad. Spencer would be gone from 8 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon. 7 and 1/2 hours! he would be gone, in the care of someone else, interacting with other kids all day long, experiencing so many firsts without me or Rob. So anyways, I basically just tried to not think about it a whole lot, because Spencer was excited and I certainly didn't want to mess with that. Yesterday was the first day. The night before I showed him how to use his new alarm clock, we set out his clothes for the morning, went through the routine, and then tried to get him to calm down and go to bed. I think this took awhile as he was so excited! He woke up to the sound of his alarm, and I heard him turn it off and jump out of his bed. He got ready, I made him breakfast (yes, that's right, I don't do this a whole lot, but figured it was a special day, so I made him a hot breakfast with the hopes that he wouldn't get hungry until lunch.) He even did his own hair, which was just awesome, (so hard not to do it myself!) and we snapped a few pictures and then we were off.



I dropped him off at school, took him to his classroom, watched him find his seat and sit down and said my good bye. -I think I did well. I held it together, I left him with a smile, and told him to have a great day! As I left, and the more I thought about it, the more emotional I got. Luckily I didn't have a break down or anything, I just kept telling myself that everything was going to be okay. As people called or asked me about how I was doing, I simply told them that conversation was off the table, until I knew I wouldn't lose it when I talked about it. So, I did my grocery shopping, physical therapy, nap with Carter, even a little housework, until it was time to go pick him up. As I waited for the bell to ring, I was still a bit on end, but as soon as I saw him walk out, smile, come over and tell me, "it was so much fun!" all my worries, emotions, and anxieties went away. I wasn't sad, or nervous for him, and was just happy that he had a good first day. He is such a wonderful kid, and I know he'll do well in school. He has a few friends from his Kindergarten class with him, so at least he knows some kids already. He thanked me for his lunch, and told me all the cool things he did and how fast his day at school went. So at least for now, he still loves school, loves setting his alarm, getting up and ready in the morning, and even homework. We'll see how long that lasts.

Class of '98

I know this is going to be dorky, but I don't really care.
Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years since I graduated high school! I remember so long ago when my sister went to hers, and how I thought she was old then. Now I guess that I'm old, but I don't feel like it. I missed my reunion and everyone back in Sandy, so I thought it would be fun to listen to some of the music that I did back then in all my glory days.
I'm even missing a very fun girls night and I'm bummed, but I'm looking forward to all the pictures posted on everyone's blog from the reunion and to see who showed up, what they look like, and who's changed, who hasn't, and all those things you wonder about.

So here's a list of songs that brought back some really funny, stupid, and unforgettable memories.

Go Hawks!

Packwood Vacation

Trip to Mt. Rainier

We went on a family vacation to Packwood, Washington to see Mt. Rainier with Rob's friend Dallin, his wife Heather and their one year old daughter Lidia. It was a lot of fun. We arrived there on Friday, settled in and hit the local pizza joint, Cruisers. (super good pizza) Saturday, we hiked a trail to Silver Falls and then went to a nearby town, Morton for the local Lumbermen's Jubilee. This was the highlight of our trip. We saw some real burly men chopping, sawing, climbing, log rolling, axe throwing, and a real entertaining clown act. The world record holder for climbing an 80 foot tree was there, and he flew up that tree and down lightning fast. They even brought out this chainsaw that had a V8 engine and was all suped up, called the "Predator" that cut through a super thick stump in only a few seconds. *Needless to say, we were in red neck valley for sure. We managed to bring home a few souvenirs, a slice of wood cut off from the top of the stump the world record holder cut off, -pretty cool and some other random cut of wood that Spencer just had to have.
Rob went fishing with Spencer a few times, who caught a total of 3 fish. We walked through the Groves of the Patriarch, where the trees were soooo huge! Red Cedars and Douglas trees. Unfortunately we forgot the camera. We traveled up to Mt. Rainier and even caught a great view of the majestic mountain. We walked around the visitors center and stopped to see some sights on the way down. We played a lot of games, --one that was new called The Age of the Empire, or something like that. It was super fun, a great Christmas present (hint, hint, that is only found at Barnes and Noble). The Farming Game, Battleship, Go Fish, & Phase 10. I love playing games, so I was glad that Spencer and Dallin enjoy playing games too. Rob and Heather even joined us for a few.
The boys enjoyed running around and getting dirty. Throwing rocks in the river, eating lots of junk food, and all the fresh air. It was so much fun. We love going up there and staying at the shabby cabin that has it all for only $65 per night.

Our Guitar Hero Family

Haven't had much going on here except for rehabin' my arm, but as I haven't been too active, we've spent some serious quality time at home. I've been able to share my love of Guitar Hero with each member of my family. Spencer has recently started playing and does quite well. He loves to rock out on Easy, and Rob & I keep encouraging to move on to Medium because he's ready. Well my little red headed rocker asked me the other day if it would be cool if he played in a band when he got older. Of course I said yes, that would be awesome! Even Carter will grab the guitar, sit on the couch, hold down the yellow fret button and strum. They both have quite the rockin' moves, which I really need to capture on camera and post later. Carter moves his hands to the side as if he's playing a guitar (I think), then he stomps his leg to the beat, and curls up his face in a major pucker up kind of way. It's really hard to describe, so I'll have to post some pictures and footage later after I figure out how to put my digital camera footage on here.
As for me, I've added playing Guitar Hero to my list of PT exercises that I need to do and can play Medium to Hard, but not for too long. My wrist seizes up a bit, but I play through the pain. Things are coming along well. I have about a month left until I'm 100%, so can't wait till then!