Update

Ok so there have been some complaints about my lack of updates on my blog. This will be quick as I am heading out for a final review. Our family is doing great. We are gearing up for the Holidays. We already have our tree and decorations up, which if you know me at all you know that is a miracle in and of itself! The girls can not wait for Christmas. Abby made it into the school musical "The Wiz" she will be a munchkin, a slave, and a tornado dancer. Hope is testing for her yellow belt on Saturday. My pinning ceramony is on Friday and I just can not wait to celebrate with all my friends and family. More updates to come!!!

Soccer....who knew?

Let me start by saying neither Cody or I know much about the game of soccer. Abby played (if you can call standing on the field twirlingwith her hair playing) a couple of seasons but after a bee sting while playing goalie called it quits. Hope, our very active child, already takes dance once a week and karate once a week, decided she just had to play soccer. If you know Cody or I at all, and yes I am a little more guilty of this than him. We never tell our kids no to an activity. While this makes our lives a little crazy, it provides great memories and expierances for all of us.

Hopes first game was last night. The weather was perfect! She did pretty well for never having played before. Cody has been practicing with her this week and I think it payed off. She got right in there and was kicking and chasing the ball. I will have to video tape her running because I can not really describe it but it does show she is quite girly. We will have to see how the "sport thing" plays out with this one. She did not really enjoy her time as goalie because as she said; "my team is so good I didn't get any action while I was there, it was boring" I have the pic to prove it. Anyway, Cody, Abby, and I enjoyed watching as much as she enjoyed playing. Good job Hope!

Little girl all grown up

Last Thursday was the end of a countdown for Abby and quite an exciting day. She got her pointe shoes! For any of you reading this who are not dancers this is like a comming of age! You are finally a real ballerina! After taking lessons for a little over 8 years, she is ready! She had a little countdown in her locker, it was cute to watch her be so excited. Of course I was dying to go expierance the fitting and buying (well, maybe not the buying part) when I found out it would be on a Thursday...YIKES! That is the day I work. Well a very sweet co-worker took the end of my shift so I could meet Abby and Cody at the store. Cody was so proud and excited for Abby. He is such a great dad to these girls, gushing over all the princess and ballerina stuff! We lucked out and since Abby has a pretty narrow foot she only had to try 3 pairs on, the second were a perfect fit. They are the Russian Pointe and in the mid price level! Yea me! Here are some pics of the fitting and of the first class which was Monday. Christie (her teacher) taught them all about breaking thier shoes in ( thats the pic of Abby looking shocked) and tying them, etc. It is so bittersweet to watch your baby grow up, 12 years ago seems like yesterday.

So grown up

So I hopped on the computer this morning to get a little homework in and there was a document left open. It was an assignment for Abbys English class. It was a little letter to the teacher about each student, a getting to know you type of assignment. I thought it was very interesting what Abby had to say about herself. She really is quite grown up!

9911S. Electra Lane
Sandy, Utah 84094
August 26, 2008

Dear Mrs. Hales,

My name is Abby McCallister; I would like to tell you some things about myself. My favorite hobby is dance; I have been dancing since I was three years old. I have one mom and one dad. I also have one little sister and one little brother, my little brother passed away when I was only six years old. I have a lot of friends, all of them are funny and kind, something funny about me is that I tell very funny jokes, or at least my little sister thinks so.

This summer I went to Henderson, Nevada. My Grandma and Grandpa live there. While my sister and I where there, their where about two flash floods! We went shopping a couple of times, I love to shop! We stayed in Henderson for about two weeks; we had a fabulous time while we were there. If you have not been to Henderson, Nevada you should go their, it is a beautiful place and it has an excellent ampha-theator!

I went to Alta View Elementary school. My class in sixth grade was a fifth/ sixth split. I liked that I had the same teacher for both fifth and sixth grade; I was in a split class both years. I did not like all of the drama in sixth grade. In my sixth grade year I had a teacher named Mrs. Foltz, she was the best!

This year, I am looking forward to all of the new students that I will meet, who are just as scared and excited as I am. I can’t wait to decorate my locker! My locker is not hard to open at all, can you believe that? I am so excited to meet all of the different teachers; I hope that all of the teachers are willing to give all of their attention to the students so that it is easier for the students to learn! I am also happy about the extra lunch choices!

In the next ten years I would like to get straight A’s! I would absolutely love to complete high school. I want to write at least three excellent poems and get them published so that other people can enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them! Another one of my goals is to become as good as or even better than my dad at playing the electric guitar. Now you know about; me, some of my hobbies, my family, my goals, and my most recent summer.


Sincerely,
Abigail McCallister







Language Arts, second period

Abbys Birthday

We had quite a busy weekend. Saturday Abby had nine friends over. Cody and I took them to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Cody is such a good sport). We came back to the house, had a b.b.q. , cake and ice cream and then went swimming for an hour. They are all such good girls and we all had a fun time. Hope had a "party" with Grammie while all this was going on so she would not feel left out and Abby could have some time with just her friends.












Then on Sunday, her actual Birthday Cody, myself, and Hope took Abby to Boondocks for a day of fun. Then we went to the Spaghetti factory for dinner.










Now its back to school for the three girls in the house. Life is always a little overwheliming this time of year. Also, the girls and Cody took me to see Sheryl Crow on Monday night, the tickets were my Mothers Day present. We had a great time. We were all very tired yesterday but it was fun to share one of my favorite singers with my family. Hope was belting out all the songs from the Detours CD, how cute!

Junior High

It's official, I am the mother of a junior high student. WOW, how did this happen so fast. Life seems to speed by and memories of all the cute baby and toddler things fade far to fast. It was a little like deja'vo last night while Abby was terrified of this new adventure and crying. I tried my best to give the strong, positive pep talk while inside I wanted to sob. Boy, this is way harder than Kindergarten. Today was just a little orientation day, I was one of only a few moms that stayed the whole time but I think it was better that way. Abby said she would have got lost if I was not there. So her first class is Beginning Theater and we walk in and the teacher asks if my name is Amber. Well, we went to junior high together (we would have gone to high school together also but for those of you who know me I skipped that adventure in my life) So that was weird and then Abbys counselor taught band at my junior high. OK, small world, kind of creepy! The day went well, although she is still struggling with opening her locker. I am so proud of her and know she will be a complete success!

Shout out to Cody!!

I am so proud of Cody right now that I had to share. After Zachs accident he found it deifficult(to say the least) to continue his career as an electrician. He has been out of work for a bit now and made a difficult decision to go back to dong electrical work. We spent the last week buying tools and books so he would feel prepared. I know this causes much anxiety and I just wanted to give a shout out and say I am proud of you. It takes a lot of courage to walk through those kinds of emotions and it just shows how much you love you family. You rock!

Breaking Dawn, update

This will be short, as a few of my friends are still reading and I would never give it away. Breaking Dawn was terrific! No mixed reviews here. I really enjoyed it. It is similar to the other books in the series as there are parts where you feel like saying move along already. Overall a great esscape! I started the Host yesterday and am fascinated! It is really interesting and a little more of an adult read. So far I would reccomend. If anyone has any suggestions for another read let me know. I have another week before I go back to school so I am sure I will finish the Host and atleast one more book. We are off to the skating rink.

Schools out!!! Breaking Dawn!

I really did not drop off the earth this last month. The girls went to visit relatives in Vegas in July. They had a blast. Game night with thier Aunt and Uncle. Dog sitting, swimming, frozen yogurt, shopping, and a date with Grandpa to Indiana Jones. Can you say spoiled?! While they were away I had school but Cody and I made it to a movie (Batman, opening day...GREAT!) and a BEES game, lots of fun. The girls got back on the 23rd of July and we all went to the BEES game on the 24th and saw the fireworks. It was hot, but we all had a great time. A friend from school let me know about a charity event a couple of weeks ago for the Christopher Reeves foundation, it was a car show up at Brighton Ski Resort. It was a nice drive up the canyon and it felt good to get involved with the foundation since it is something we believe strongly in supporting! The cars were cool and the girls enjoyed checking them out. So I took my last final for Summer semester yesterday and I am thrilled to say I have two weeks off. So the big news is, I opened up Breaking Dawn yesterday. I am about half way through, what a great read!

Swimming Fun!

Officially summer equals swimming at our house. We have been to the pool at least every day sometimes two and three times a day! I love it! The great thing is the pool is across the street from our townhouse. The cousins have also been enjoying fun in the pool during thier visit from Texas. I can not believe what a good swimmer Hope has become. This makes me very happy since they will be off to Vegas soon to stay with Grandma who has a pool in her backyard!

Happy Birthday Zach

Our sweet angel Zach would have been the big 9 on June 29th. As always we went to the cemetary and had cupcakes, sang happy birthday, and whispered a secret in his favorite colored balloons and sent them off! Hope thought I was silly when I asked what to do for his birthday and said "duh mom, have little cakes and give zach balloons". We were lucky this year not only to have our little family and my mom come but my sister from Texas and the cousins, who always make me smile even on a sad day! I sure miss you Zachy! Love Mom!

Thanks!

I am at work today but I am "training" a new person today so I have a little down time as she is at the end of her training. So I just was sitting here thinking about my terrific family. I definitely need to give a shout out to my fabulous hubby! I have been quite a stress case this summer and I am sure very hard to live with! Cody, thanks for all the dinners, errand running, and locking me in my room for study time!

Whats so important about the heart?

So today in class we learned(or tried to learn) how to read EKG strips. The comments whispered around the room ranged from can I drop out of nursing school to I hate the heart. This seems like it will take a lot of practice to really understand and be able to look at the strip and know what it is. I am not sure what our school is thinking because we have a test on this in 6 days. Yes, you heard me correct 6 days. A little stressful!!! On the bright side, Abby did great last night and both girls are preforming tonight. And on an even brighter note. My sister and her 4 great kids just got to my house from San Antonio. I am so happy to see them. It really does not motivate me to study!

It's recital week

Here are some pics of Hope today at rehearsal. Unfortunatly I was at clinical and unable to video or take pics of Abby at rehearsal. I will be posting more throughout the week. This week could not be crazier, but it is all worth it to see my girls in their beautiful recital. I always get a little teary watching how they have grown every week! I will be watching Abby tonight, both the girls tomorrow, and Abby again Thursday. Thursday will be Hopes first time as an audience member, we will see how it goes.

Abbys business

I have to brag that I think I may have the cutest 11 and 1/2 year old! She loves to babysit so she decided this summer she would start a business. She made flyer's. She then decided to become very innovative and made herself a website! She has done this all on her own with zero help. She is pretty awesome and I wanted to publicly give her kudos and thanks for all the great babysitting she has done for us this summer. Hey Abby YOU ROCK!!! The link to her site is http://www.isisers.com/ check it out if you have sec, its pretty cute!

Disney Princess?

Which'>http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354">Which Disney Princess Are You?Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Last day of Girl Scouts

Well Abby is sure growing up. Her last Girl Scout event was Wednesday. We all went to Boondocks. They had so much fun, Hope wanted to go back the next day. A boy asked Abby for her number....YIKES! I am so not ready for this!