ummmm yeah

Okay so I really really really want to blog about American Idol but I know I would feel totally guilty if I take the time to say how I feel about this year's contestants without first updating the more personal side of my blog so.....
Here is Allias playing in the Johnston County Honors Band. He didn't want to try out but the band director and some of the kids talked him into it. We got this video camera from my parents for Christmas and we love having it! I typed this up days ago but I seriously tried to load the video straight from my computer to the blog several times even leaving it over night once but it would never finish loading. I finally gave up and just posted it on youtube. My next post will be some sweet video of Tyler snowboarding for the first time. Stay tuned.

I know I promised......

pictures of Tyler's graduation and Allias performing but we couldn't take pictures at the graduation and Allias was sitting too far back during the concert to get any good pictures and then our camera battery died so we didn't get any after the concert was over. SORRY!!!!

To make up for my broken promises here are a few consolation pictures and videos!

The first one is from the Smithfield Christmas parade which seriously was the lamest parade I have ever seen in my life and I froze and West didn't even really play but Kailyn still managed to look totally precious!
Here is Tyler in his cap and gown. They are supposed to be mailing me a picture of him getting his diploma and I will scan that in when I get it.
Home!!!!

And as an added bonus that hopefully will make you all forgive me for not keeping my word here are some adorable pictures of Kailyn. Travis put her hair in curlers. What a sweet daddy!!!!!


Taking them out- she wasn't quite sure what she thought at first



adorable drama!!!!
Here are a couple videos of the West Johnston High School Band Christmas concert. You can see Allias' feet if you look really really hard. LOL- this performance made us totally realize why Allias plays the air clarinet all the time.



(oh and in case you care about my SYTYCD opinions- I didn't love the finale- I like it better when it is only four finalist and every body dances with everybody- and I hated that there were no solos!!! I voted for Ellenore- she has been on my favorites list since day one. After Ryan and Ashleigh danced I told Allias- "guaranteed one of the judges are going to say they had more chemistry with their other partners-and sure enough it happened- so annoying")

Update?

It has felt weird to not blog everyday- I loved doing the 30 days of thankfulness and there were SOOOO many more things I could have included.

Tyler graduates on FRIDAY! We are sooo proud of him and excited to have him home. I promise we will take lots of pictures and post them asap!

Allias is getting ready to march in a few Christmas parades and then the band will have a Winter Concert next week. He is also helping Travis and Ralph Keaton coach a 10U basketball team and he loves it. He has also taken it upon himself to organize and help coach a church basketball team as well. When this kid gets something in his head he gets pretty zealous about it. I promise to take lots of pictures and maybe even a video and post them asap.

Kailyn is plugging along with school and growing up way to quick. She has made some great friends in the neighborhood so it has been really nice for her to have someone to play with on the weekends.

Travis is working two jobs so we love it every time he is home. He is going to take a few days of vacation this week and next so we are super excited!!! We also just volunteered to be a Ma and Pa on the Pioneer Trek the youth are going on this summer!!! I can't wait. Now I just need to find a house/pet sitter!

I have continued to exercise and eat better. It has been really great to realize that I can make the time to get in shape and stick with it. After one month I have lost eight pounds!!! My waist is two inches smaller and I have lost two inches off my hips as well. The crazy thing is I am really eating more then I ever have. Just more of the right foods and getting myself MOVING! I feel really great!!! I am using a website called nutrimirror.com to journal my food intake and exercise and it has helped a lot. (Thanks Maren for sharing it with me!)

I promise to take lots of pictures in the very near future but in the meantime here are some pictures of Allias and the loaf of banana bread he baked last night.

(I took a bite out of it before we took the picture- sorry)

I think this face means he liked it

Here is one of the adorable socks the Judd girls (and their mom) bought me to wear to Seminary! They also got me a pair of totally adorable penguin toe socks! I love them!!!!
Thank you guys!!!

Kailyn "working" on her school work with Molly

I am Thankful Day 27

I have totally loved Allias being in the marching band this year. Watching him and the rest of the band perform and compete all year has been awesome!!!! If Allias decides to stick it out I am totally looking forward to three more years.

I am thankful the band parent's association finds so many ways to help parents raise the money necessary for their kids to travel and compete on such a grand scale. I am thankful for the time, talents and persistence of the directors and band staff. I am thankful for the kids and their willingness to work hard. The hard work pays off. West Johnston High School Marching Band is truly amazing. They made it all the way to Nationals and placed 19th in the nation. They were really hoping this would be the year they made it to the top 12 and finals but they should be super proud of coming in 3rd in their class (school size). And seriously 19th in the NATION is nothing to blink an eye at. Especially since they had over 60 Freshman!!!

We found out last night that Mr. Britt the head band director resigned on Friday. He didn't tell anyone his reasons only stated that they were very personal and he did not make the decision lightly. Allias was super bummed. He and Mr. Britt were pretty close and the kids didn't even get a chance to say goodbye (that could be good or bad really).

I think it will make it harder for Allias to want to stay in band but Travis and I are encouraging him to do so. We think it is such a great opportunity and a great learning experience. The devotion and discipline it takes will only help him in the long run.

Allias is in this picture. Second row from the back. Fourth Clarinet player from the left. (I think)

The theme for the show was "Modern Gothic- A Darkness That Needs Light. They had these cool pictures of Gothic windows that the color guard would change behind.

I couldn't decide which of these next two pictures I liked better so you get to see them both.

Isn't he so handsome? He looks so so so much like my brother in these pictures!

A group of parents made the props. Seriously talented!

Someone got a shot of Allias crashed out on the floor of the bus.

This is either on the way to or from Nationals. Totally reminds me of our road trips-

he will totally lay down on the floor of the van and just zonk out!

Camping out in Indie at Nationals.

I am sure every boy on the bus got a picture of the toilet.

The Colts Stadium where Nationals took place.

Mr. Cool (what I want to know is if he took this picture of himself LOL) Love this kid!!!!

The Mall.

Glamma!!
Allias and his friend Allison (yes she knows the bow is hideous!) In every mall picture he is carrying everyone's bags. What a gentleman!!!
Waiting on awards.

WAY TO GO WEST!!!!!!

Brace Face and Band Geek (or in other words catching up with Allias)

We have known for a few years that Allias would need braces at some point. Once he lost all but two of his baby teeth we took him to the Dental School at UNC to be examined. You have to be a learning case in order for them to accept you into the program. If you are accepted the cost is substantially lower then if you went to a regular orthodontist. They looked at Allias for all of five seconds that first appointment- it turns out he has a severe cross bite that will cause him serious jaw problems if not corrected early. He has had his braces for a week now and is starting to get used to them. Playing the clarinet causes him some discomfort and he couldn't really eat anything for the first few days but all in all things are going okay.

Here he is waiting to find out his treatment plan (this was our second appointment). He was really thrilled to be getting braces.
One side of his mouth. The orthodontist said that very back tooth is one of the strangest he has ever seen in his life.

Here is the other side. (probably not that exciting for most of you but I know my mom will like it). Allias went in the bathroom and pulled out his last baby tooth while we were at the appointment.

The pictures they took- they said his face shape and jaw line will change once he is done with his treatment plan- crazy!

Honestly I think he looks pretty adorable with or without braces but I am happy we caught the jaw issue early enough and it is being corrected.

Since school started and even part of the summer Allias has been crazy busy with marching band. I have loved every minute of it but him not so much. He would like to quit after this season and only do concert band next year but I am hoping by the time they go to march in the Indianapolis Colts Stadium for Nationals in November he will change his mind. I am not sure exactly what it is that he doesn't like but I sure love watching him march and perform. This weekend was one of the busiest he has had so far. Thursday was early release but the band stayed and rehearsed until six o'clock- ate dinner at the school and then performed during the half time show at the football game. He got home around 11.

(sorry the picture is a little blurry it is a snapshot from a video).

Friday was no school but the band had a mini camp all day- then up bright and early Saturday to march in the Mule Days parade-after the parade they headed back to school to rehearse- they were supposed to compete that night at Clayton High School but it was canceled because of rain. Allias was bummed they didn't get to compete. I was bummed too because most of the competitions will be out of town and I was looking forward to watching this one.

Allias is the cutest clarinet player for sure!!!

This horse stood perfectly still- even when the cowboy was cracking the whip!

The Band Parents didn't have it much easier. Thursday I was up at the school helping to set up and serve dinner for the kids then I helped clean up. Travis went to the game to watch Allias march and I came home to get some sleep but ended up staying up until they got home. Friday morning I was up by 5:30 making lunches and then Kailyn and I headed to Mule Days to sell t-shirts- came home briefly and then dropped Kailyn off at a friends and headed to the RBC Center to work at a concession stand (we get part of the profit to help pay for band travel fees). I got home around 11 and then was up again Saturday morning to sell refreshments on the parade route. Luckily they were fully staffed and I was able to just sit and enjoy and the parade although it was nothing like Apple Blossom.

Just for fun here are Cutie K and I waiting for the parade to start

There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness

Allias was asking Brittney if she and Bradley would come to his Spring Band concert. When she said that they might he told her not to be shocked if he looked like the total outcast because he was so much more attractive then the rest of the people in the band.

Kailyn was sitting at the table eating breakfast and told Brittney and I that pretty girls were jealous of her.

Month in Review

I am sure my family is wondering why in the heck I haven't posted any pictures of the kids lately. Honestly I haven't taken any. I am terrible about bringing the camera with me places. I promise that I will bring the camera to any and all events involving my kids in the month of February. (And there will be plenty, I can think of five or six off the top of my head)

But for those dieing to know here is what Travis the kids and I have been up to in January. This is going to be another long post. I promise to update more frequently in the future so you don't have to swallow so much information at once.

Allias and Tyler are both playing basketball. Allias plays on a city league team and both boys play on our church team. Travis is helping coach the church team and they are all having a great time. Travis is an excellent coach and role model for these boys. Tyler has been fantastic on rebounding and being a big guy underneath. Allias is really helping teach the younger kids and has even set up some plays for the team to try. He actually has even been trying to help some of the players on the girls team with some fundamentals. Tyler has been very supportive of the girls as well. He had all the 12 year old boys from the team helping him cheer on the sidelines. The girls were wearing yellow jerseys so Tyler was yelling B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!
The next game the boys had the yellow jerseys so we were yelling from the sidelines Go bananas go go bananas! Good times.

Travis and I are feeling very blessed that so far our jobs have been very secure and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon. Travis actually was even able to get a friend of ours a job when the company he was working for didn't have any work for him to do. We thought for sure we were going to have to pay taxes again this year but I did our taxes and we are going to get some money back. Woohooo! That was such a relief because Travis already had to take some of his vacation money (thank goodness we had it) to pay off our property taxes.

Potty training the puppy has been very difficult. For the most part she goes outside if I take her but I am still running into some obstacles. The first problem is for the first 12 weeks of her life she was never taken outside to potty so she has no aversion to going in the kennel. Second problem- when I'm not here the kids never remember to take her out. Third problem- her pee is about the size of a quarter so half the time I don't even notice if she has gone until way after the fact. She does really good during the day when I am working. She sleeps by my feet or in the kennel until I take my break. We go outside and then she runs around a little bit and then when I go back to work she goes back to sleep. She likes to sleep in my lap part of the afternoon. It is once the kids get home and she gets fed and we are all trying to get things done that things go downhill but we will get there I am sure.

Allias had a chance to try out for all districts for band. His band director has told him several times that he could make all states (a step up from all districts). He chose not to go. He said that it wouldn't do anything for him. The kids who didn't make all districts had a chance to try out for all county and a ton of people including me were encouraging him to go. Again he decided not to. He said he didn't see the point. He hadn't practiced the solos for either competition and so we just came home. I asked him if he would play the solos for me and he played them in the car on the way home. He played both pretty much flawlessly. I know he could have gone to all states if he had practiced and played in the all district band. Agency is such a pain in the butt sometimes. I hope someday he realizes what an amazing talent he has and really uses it. Maybe once he is in the High School band his attitude will change. We have our first parent meeting next week. Band is HUGE here and people are way into it. It costs like 1200 dollars for each kid to be in the HS marching band. That is for the base travel fees. They have to raise even more for big trips. This year the band was invited to play in the Macy's Day Parade so Allias is pretty excited for what trips and fun things he may get to be part of. He knows for sure they are going to Indianapolis for Nationals. They get to play in the Colt's stadium.

I made an appointment for Allias to get braces. It will be a little while before he gets the actual metal. They have to put some brackets on the inside of his teeth and wait for the last of his baby teeth to come out He isn't really excited but I know he will thank me when he is older.

Tyler got suspended for skipping class. Honestly I think it is the stupidest thing in the world to suspend a kid for skipping. They don't want to be in school so they skip and then you "punish" them by kicking them out of school. Makes no sense to me. If I was in charge they would go to school on Saturday for three weeks in a row or something. That would be punishment. The new semester just started and he says he is going to really work hard and try to improve his grades and what not. I am sure that has something to do with the fact I had just let him buy a cell phone the day before he got suspended. I found out the same day he got suspended that he was failing most of his classes. The cell phone came in the mail but it is put up for the next three or four weeks at least. The weird thing about Tyler is even though he can be a total pain in the butt and drive me to the brink of sanity he is still a nice kid.

Tyler has actually been fairly responsible when it comes to his job. I think he takes a little advantage of the fact the his boss is a friend of ours (calls her to help him find people to cover a shift etc.). He seems to really enjoy the job and a little bit of money in his pocket.

Kailyn has her first orchestra concert in a few weeks. I think she likes her cello but she hasn't really been practicing like she should. She finally the last week or so started practicing every night. She signed up with some other girls to sing in the Ward talent show and Allias actually agreed to play his clarinet- although he hasn't chosen a song or practiced.
Kailyn is loving having her own dog. She gets really mad at me if I come to school to pick her up and I don't have Molly with me. We finally got the piano set up and she is going to start taking lessons next week. She is incredibly excited. She is learning times tables at school and is doing pretty well. What she lacks in academic success she makes up for in being super well behaved.

On a sad note the trampoline that the kids got for Christmas from Travis' parents decided to take flight during a wind storm a few weeks ago. I was in the living room and all of the sudden saw it flipping through the air. It managed to bounce over one side of our four foot fence tumble through the backyard, take out one side of our fence, tumble some more and then landed on the top of our neighbor's six foot fence. It was pretty much destroyed. We were sooooo bummed. I didn't even get very many pictures of the kids jumping but they were out there every chance they got. Travis did get the store we purchased it at to take it back and we are going to be looking for something a bit more sturdy.

Between exams, holiday, snow days, teacher work days and a few days where no one in my seminary class had to be at school I only ended up teaching nine days in January. Even though I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep and being able to work in my pajamas again, I actually missed it. I can't believe what a blessing this calling has been in my life. I LOVE teaching. I actually love studying even more. I hope the kids are getting something out of being here. They are such great kids and I love each one of them dearly. I have memorized 16 out of 25 scripture mastery versus. I am currently working on Ephesians 4:11-14. This verse was definitely written for our day.
11. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelist and some pastors and teachers;
12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ;
13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith , and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of Christ;
14. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.


January was actually kind of a low key month but I just entered in all our appointments, basketball games and practices, birthday parties, parent nights and other random events into my calendar and February is going to be way way busy.

Christmas Concert

Allias had his Christmas concert last night for band. They did really fantastic and Allias played wonderfully. He is such a talented musician! I could totally pick him out from the rest of the clarinets. His school has a student teacher working with them from ECU- she actually plays the clarinet as well. She came up to me at the end of the show and was full of praise for Allias. She wants him to stay after school one day a week for private lessons. If we can work it into out budget we are going to do it. Both mine and Travis' mom said we should think of it as a college investment. Here are videos of the songs they performed. Sorry about my poor video taking skills! LOL! In this first song there are parts where the only clarinets playing are Allias and the 2nd chair girl. They have been the number one and number two since sixth grade. She used to get upset because she has been playing since the 3rd grade but they are good friends now.

The other lady you see playing is the student teacher. She decided to join their band for the evening. These videos took days to upload (I am not exaggerating they literally took days). Good thing I am at work and have nothing better to do. ENJOY

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

The little girl in front of me was getting restless and kept poking her head up out of her seat and talking. (her brother played clarinet too but was in the 7th grade)

During the fourth song the band director stopped them and had them start again. Allias was actually happy, he said he was thinking to himself "these people are not on time and it's messing me up" I tried for hours and hours to get the video to upload and it wouldn't! Again there were clarinet parts in this song where only Allias and the 2nd chair girl play. (the student teacher doesn't count LOL)
My battery died right as we started applauding- I am happy it held out for the last song. After the show was over I overheard the student teacher's family tell her they were laughing because she had a college degree couldn't even make first chair! She said that's because Allias is sooo good. We think so too!
I will try and get the video to load another day. Sorry!