CBEST

For those of you who don't know, this past weekend I took the CBEST. It is the test I should have taken right after I graduated from college, but didn't. If I passed, I can now register to do some substituting in the schools and eventually, head back to school to enter the credential program. I have decided that what I want to do when I grow up is spend my time with kids! The test consisted of 3 parts-math, reading and writing. I realized quickly that I really needed to brush up on my math--I had forgotten a lot. I bought a book and studied--a lot! The reading was harder than I thought it should have been. I had hoped that I would simply be finding answers in an essay, but instead there were a lot of questions about assumptions, analyzing the authors opinion, etc. I also had to write 2 essays. We were given 4 hours to complete the test--I used most of it. I wasn't the oldest person in the class, but I was certainly in the upper 5%--yikes! I do think I did pretty well, but I guess it will be a few weeks before I know for sure. I won't actually try to enter the credential program until Abigayle has started kindergarten. It is a little scary to think of moving on from my very comfortable job, but I am excited! There is a 3rd grade teacher who is planning on retiring in 4-5 years. She would like me to be ready to split a contract with her for a year or two and then take over her class. It is a perfect opportunity! Wish me luck!

Halloween

I am playing catch up today! The kids are off for parent-teacher conferences today and I have had a few extra kids to watch, but nowhere to go, so I figured it was about time! Halloween is my least favorite holiday ever, but this year ended up being more fun than in the past. Maybe it was because it was on a Friday and I didn't feel like we had to hurry home and put kids to bed! We started out at the church at the trunk or treat. It had been pouring rain the day before and off and on that day, so the turn out was not great. The kids didn't manage to fill up their buckets, but still had a good time. They still had plenty of candy for themselves, just not enough that they didn't notice mom was sharing! After trunk or treat we went to my sister in laws church for their fall carnival--that was fun, but interesting. We then headed to Sue and Vince Dunlap's to finish off our trick or treating.

Cole spent his first Halloween away from us and went to Chico with a friend and his family. It was strange not to have him with us, but he had a good time. I have to get used to his being old enough to go with friends once in awhile.

Cole cooks dinner

Cole had the chance to cook an authentic spanish dinner for his Spanish class last week. He did very well and we enjoyed eating tacos, quesadillas and Spanish rice. He made quite the mess, but we had fun! We may even let him cook again someday!

Toothless!

Braden has had teeth practically jumping out of his mouth the last couple of weeks. He has lost both of his top teeth, one on the bottom and one other on the bottom is almost out. There is nothing cuter than a toothless smile!

Abigayle's Haircut

Well, it has taken me a very long time to get these pictures posted, but here they are. We had Abby's hair cut a couple of weeks ago and love it! No more crying over brushing and ponytails! We simply spray, scrunch and go! Who knew she had wonderful curls? The only down side is that she looks so grown up! Isn't she adorable?!

Tough Week!

This will be a boring post, without pictures or really any exciting news at all! I think you will probably appreciate the "no pictures" part. The 24 hour flu has been making itself comfortable in our house this week. Abigayle was fortunate enough to get it on Monday. She ran a high fever and complained that her head hurt. She didn't have an upset stomach until about 5 seconds before she threw up all over my wonderful van. Poor baby! My van got a thorough cleaning and has never looked better. Today Braden and Cassidy are suffering through it--we are staying out of the van! Braden has spent a lot of time on my lap today--I hope I am not next!

Cassidy has been invited to attend an advanced ballet class. I immediatley decided no, I didn't want to add another class($$), but then her teacher told me that only 2 girls from Paradise were being invited to attend the class and that this class is the one that worked into Point, which is what she has been working towards for the last 5 years. We will give it a try. I have decided to start charging all my "free babysitting club members". It may spoil my reputation, but I am ok with that!

Rob has been working long hours this week and I am glad to see it end. he has put in about 75 hours and I am sure tomorrow will involve a lot of napping!

See--I told you not too exciting! Sorry!

Abby's First Day of Preschool!

Today my baby started her first day of preschool! This is the same preschool that the other three have attended and they have been telling her all about it for awhile now! She couldn't wait to go! She loved the playground and the snack table, she sat quietly for circle time and played with play dough with the other kids. I think her favorite was dressing up in the dress up room! She didn't quite make it to the project tables--too much to do. There is plenty of time for that! I finally have all four kids in school--even if it is part time! Abigayle had a fabulous first day of preschool! She can't wait to go back next week for more fun!

First Day of School!

I have survived the longest, yet shortest summer ever! Yippee! the three oldest kids started school today. Cole headed off to the high school with his friend, Joey this morning. It was a little hard not to actually drop him off or walk him in--that 's a first. I realized I only have 3 more "first days" with him. He didn't seem nervous, but I guess I am nervous enough for both of us! He has my friend, Cris Dunlap for Spanish and the regular freshman classes--Algebra, PE, English, Keyboarding and an art class. He will do great!

Braden and Cassidy headed off to Ponderosa for 2nd and 4th grade. Cassidy has Mrs. Waring. Cole had her and she is amazing. Cassidy will have a fabulous year. Braden has a teacher that I met for the first time this morning. She seems really excited and haas a great class. Braden was excited to see most of his good friends in the same class. I am sure this will be a good year for him as well.

Abigayle will start preschool on Thursday. She will only go two days a week, but we are both looking forward to it. I love this preschool--the other 3 have gone there as well. The other kids are a little jealous that she will be able to go for two years. Each of them only did one! Just one of the benefits of being the youngest child! There really aren't that many when you consider all of the time she spends watching them play sports or driving around picking them up and dropping them off.

This morning has been busy! I have washed loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, been to the store and played Hi Ho Cherry-O! I love the school year!

Marriott's

Sunday evening we traveled do San Jose and stayed overnight. Monday we got up, ate, went swimming and then spent the day riding the rides at Marriott's! We all had a great time! Cole and Cassidy loved Flight Deck, The Grizzly and The Demon. Braden missed the height requirement by a hair and rode the smaller rides with Abigayle. Rob and I took turns! The weather was perfect and we had a great day!

Happy Birthday, Cole!

Cole celebrated his 14th birthday on the 23rd! It is so hard for me to believe that he is actually old enough to attend church dances and youth conferences! It is going so fast. It was a quiet day--he had a friend over and we opened presents at home. We had lasagna for dinner and brownies instead of cake and then he was off to scouts. I am having a hard time thinking about sending him to high school in a couple of weeks and knowing that he will be around less and less and then in a few years off on his mission and on his own! Happy Birthday, Cole! We love you!

Happy 100th Birthday, Grandpa!

I am a little slow at keeping caught up, but hope to do a little catching up today! A couple of weeks ago we celebrated what would have been Grandpa Hagberg's 100th birthday. We celebrated at the church pavilion with food and a slide show created by Summer. It was fun to see everyone who came and I look forward to grandma's 100th in 5 years!

McDaniel Family Reunion

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we attended a McDaniel Family Reunion in Gridley with dad's side of the family. Some of my aunts and uncles that I haven't seen for 10 years or more came, as well as Andrew and Ashly and family. We ate, visited, played some games and ate some more! It was wonderful to see everyone and wish that more had been able to make it out! My kids had a great time with Andrew and Ashly's kids, as you can see from the smiles. This weekend we will enjoy the Hagberg side of the family as we celebrate what would have been Grandpa Hagberg's 100th birthday! More pictures to come!

LONG WEEK

This will be a rather boring post, but it will help explain why I haven't had anything to say for awhile. Last Saturday afternoon we had a series of dry lightning storms come through our area. Since then we have been surrounded by fires and mostly smoke. There are 31 fires in Butte County, hundreds throughout the state. Governor Schwarznegger has declared our county a disaster area and is applying for federal support. There are firefighters from as far away as Colorado trying to help put the fires out. The problem is that the smoke is so thick there is low visibility. They are unable to use any helicopters or tankers and the fires are in tough terrain to get to on foot. The air quality hit a "dangerous" level this afternoon with a number of 340. This morning it was rated as hazardous and was measured between 500-600. It is normally about 10. Needless to say it is ugly outside and they are recommending indoor activities only. Swim lessons were cancelled for my kids this week as was summer school. It is hard to entertain kids inside when all they want to do is go out. Chris Dunlap and I took them to Chuck E. Cheese on Tuesday and we have had friends over and gone to friends' houses. I painted the kitchen last night, but had to keep windows closed. Cole has been at encampment. He was supposed to come home on Saturday but we just got a call that he will be home tonight--they are packing up early! The scout camp at Butte Meadows where they usually go had to be evacuated on Tuesday--about 400 boy scouts! We have fires here every summer--job security for Rob, but usually not until August or September. There is a new evacuation in Magalia tonight which is just up the Skyway above Paradise. This will be a long summer!

Slide show of the fire

http://www2.chicoer.com/olextras/slideshows/20080616HumboldtFire/index.html

Here are a few pictures of the fire from the local paper.
http://paradisepost.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?searchstr=&searchin=&event=538743&thisPage=1

Firestorm 2008

We had an exciting couple of days in Paradise, that I hope we never have to repeat again! Wednesday at noon a small fire started off of Hwy 32 and Humboldt. It started with just a tree and didn't seem to be much of a threat. Unfortunately, the conditions were perfect for a fire--low humidity, gusty winds and hot weather! By Wednesday night it had burned about 6,000 acres. Thursday morning the fire jumped the Skyway and it was downhill from there! At about 2pm on Thursday I was out on the back deck and could see huge clouds of smoke. I knew it was moving quickly, but still didn't think we were in danger. The power went out a few minutes later and I calmly asked the kids to get a backpack with at least one change of clothes and things that were the most important to them. Braden grabbed his sports trophies and his box of change he is saving to buy the new Indiana Jones Lego's--how cute is that? I began gathering insurance policies, birth certificates, social security cards, property deeds and pictures! I gathered everything in the dining room "just in case". Within a few minutes, "just in case" happened. My friend, Dawn called. She is a dispatcher for the Town of Paradise and let me know that they would be issuing a mandatory evacuation for our area within the next 20 minutes. I loaded up the dog, the kids and my stuff and headed out to Gridley. Traffic was awful with only one road out open. As we got down to Highway 70 all I could see in the rear view mirror was thick, black smoke. At about 7pm, Aunt Anne called and let us know that she had just heard on the news that they didn't expect any homes on South Libby to survive the night. I started thinking of all the things I should have grabbed and hoped for the best. Rob drove in at about 9:30 pm. He had been able to get back to the house and get a few more things, but now all roads in were closed. We didn't sleep well and were relieved in the morning that the winds had changed in our favor. Long story short--we still have our home. 74 other homeowners were not as fortunate and over 23,000 acres burned. We have three families in our ward who lost homes. We were able to come home Friday night to a deserted neighborhood and yellow crime tape tied to the front coach light to mark that no one was home. I guess just after I left the Sheriff came through with a bullhorn telling everyone to leave and there were two reverse 911 messages on my machine. I am so thankful that our family and our home were safe! I feel bad for those who lost their homes and businesses. Today we donated clothing and toiletries--it was amazing at how full the school cafeteria was of donations from people who wanted to help! The fire fighters were amazing! It is unbelievable to see the black, charred ground and a house standing in the middle of it. Firefighters came from as far as Nevada and Oregon--4000 in all. The fire was declared a stage 2 disaster on Thursday night--Katrina was a 5. I will be better prepared for the next one. This experience has made me really think about what is really important! These are pictures of the smoke from off our back deck at about 2 pm.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

June 7th was Cassidy's dance recital. She was in two dances, a ballet and her favorite, jazz. They have been working on these pieces since January and it was so fun to see the finished product! She has great teachers and they choreographed amazing dances! The ballet was pretty and graceful while the jazz was technical and fun! Of course, Cassidy was by far the best performer of the night(says a slightly prejudiced and proud mom), and received her 5 year award. We have purchased the DVD for any who would like to see her in action! Cassidy does not take after her mom--she loves being on the stage and is not shy at all. She is also a very good dancer! It was fun to see her perform. In the pictures she is with her firends Talia Rempel and Brianna Dunlap and her jazz teacher, Danielle. Go Cassidy!

Kitchen and bathroom are finished--almost!!

After a few months of work and a lot of long weekends, the kitchen and bathroom are finally finished--almost! We have brand new granite countertops in the kitchen and bath, new tile in the shower and on the kitchen backsplash. We hung a new vanity and lights and have moved the kids out of our bathroom for good! Dad and Rob did most of the tile work--I did the grout and painting and wrote the checks! It looks fabulous and we are ready for visitors! Who's first?

Cole is a freshman!

Well, it's official! I am old! Cole has graduated from 8th grade and I have a freshman in high school! EEEK! I am not quite sure how this happened, but it has and there is no use fighting it! It was a nice ceremony. He received an award for PE and attended the dance after spending the day at our house with a few friends and a lot of food and video games! I was informed that he hung out with his friends and played hacky sack at the dance--no girls involved! No sense in freaking out yet!!

Well, it's official! I am old! Cole has graduated from 8th grade and I have a freshman in high school! EEEK! I am not quite sure how this happened, but it has and there is no use fighting it! It was a nice ceremony. He received an award for PE and attended the dance after spending the day at our house with a few friends and a lot of food and video games! I was informed that he hung out with his friends and played hacky sack at the dance--no girls involved! No sense in freaking out yet!

Here are the girls and me on Easter after church. Abby was tired and didn't want to smile for the camera. I have been very busy with work and running the kids around to their activities and school. I look forward to the weekends when things are slower and am disappointed to see Monday come. Sometimes I complain about all there is to do, but wouldn't change a thing. I love what I do even if the pay is sometimes lousy!

Cole is finishing up the eighth grade. I can't believe he will be a freshman next year! I am scared to death and I am not even going! He is playing baseball again this year and is busy with scouts as well. The kids love to play with him!

Braden has enjoyed first grade this year and loves Mrs. Fairlee who will be retiring. She has been wonderful! He is playing his first year of t-ball and is on the Giants. He works so hard at everything he does and is always so willing to please. He is learning to read and loves it. He has gotten 100% on every spelling test this year. Go Braden!

Cassidy is a wonderful student and loves her teacher, Ms. Gaussoin. This is her diorama for her book report project. She is an amazing reader. She reads at a 7th grade level and hates to put down her book at bedtime. She got glasses last year and enjoys wearing them. She is always busy with something--dance, computer, reading or writing. She is fun!

I may have actually figured this out--nothing fancy yet, but it is a start! Be patient with me. I am a slow learner! Rob and I took the kids to the Jelly Belly Factory over spring break. The line for the tour was long and Abigayle enjoyed waiting it out on Rob's shoulders. Sometimes I forget how big she is until I see her in a picture. She is so much fun, most of the time. She has her stubborn moments-some lasting longer than others! She is starting to learn her letters and sounds and will be going to preschool next year 2 days a week. She is amazing!

Kitchen Remodel

We are in the process of updating our kitchen and bathroom--what a mess! The counters are in though and they are beautiful. We are putting in granite in an toasted almond color. I love them! The bar and backsplash come in tomorrow afternoon and then I hope I can have a few days without strangers in and out of my house and get back to my normal schedule! We started work on the bathroom about 6 weeks ago. We retiled the shower and floor and are finishing up with the vanity and new mirrors. I will be glad to have all of the rooms in my house functioning again. Sharing a shower with 6 people has not been fun. I am so glad we are doing it! I would send pictures but still don't have the cord. I suppose I should break down and get a new one!

The kids are busy with spring sports, which for us is baseball! I love to watch them play. Cole is playing in juniors this year. I think it is his 8th season. He loves it and is pretty good. He has a great coach and some team mates he hasn't played with before. Braden is starting his first year. He doesn't seem as athletic to me, but I think I may end up being surprised. His form is great and he is fast! His last game was the first they pitched instead of hitting off of the tee. He hadn't practiced, but hit it on the first pitch! I love to see him excited! Cassidy is busy getting ready for her dance recital in June. She has both ballet and jazz. I think she prefers the jazz. This is her fifth year dancing. Abigayle is busy doing whatever her brothers and sister are doing. She loves to play at the playground while the boys are playing their games. She also enjoys watching Cassidy's dance classes and loves to dance with her at home. I feel bad that she has to spend so much time in the van, but she loves to go and rarely wants to stay home if given the option! It is fun being a busy mom. I wouldn't change anything, but what I would give for a nap!

To say that I have no clue as to what I am doing would be a complete understatement, but I am willing to give this a try! I do appreciate Kristen's effort to move me into this territory that has remained a mystery to me! I also look forward to keeping in touch better and more often--don't expect too much--at least not at first! Thanks, Kristen!

Getting Started

My fabulous twin sister is starting this for me so that she can keep up with my family and see pictures of her nieces and nephews. Isn't she just great!!