I am almost 1/2 way thru my first semester back at school since taking a 10 year hiatus. And all I can say is: I LOVE IT!!!!! I am taking 13 hours and so far I am loving every minute of it. My fave class is my ASL 1 class. I love learning to use all the signs I’ve taught myself. (Thank you Signing Time!!!) And what’s more fun is I take Tristan with me to the ASL lab I am required to attend. It’s at a coffee house where other ASL and some deaf people come hang out to chat. It’s not “Deaf Coffee” at Starbucks. This is about 95% students trying to learn to converse in ASL. The other day Tristan and I chatted with Hector for about an hour. I suck at reading finger spelled words and he was so patient. Right before we left he asked us our names and if we had “sign names.”  We didn’t have a sign name yet since usually (not always) a deaf person “gives” you a sign name. Some see it as almost an initiation or a welcome into the community. However you see it I was feeling extra cool when Hector said he would like to give us sign names! He asked Tristan his hobbies. First he was trying to make a sign with “T” and something with football. When that didn’t work I mentioned Tristan likes to draw.  So, Hector gave Tristan the sign of “DRAW” with the handshape of a “T.” Then he asked my hobbies. I said “playing basketball and watching my kids play sports.” He thought a little while. Then he asked Tristan if I always laugh a lot– like I do when I am trying to sign. haha Tristan said that I do, definitely, laugh a lot. So, my sign name is now “LAUGH” with a “T” hand– with one hand, not both. Hector even asked the head professor there, who is also deaf, if our sign names were ok and he agreed and signed our sign names to us. Now when we introduce ourselves, we will fingerspell our names and then sign our sign names.  I am STOKED! So is Tristan. I am so glad I get to do this with him.  Next year Alec is also taking ASL. Yay!! Oh- and just to brag… I made a 98 on our last test– the highest in the class.

I also have 2 other classes on campus and 1 online. All 3 of them are almost the same thing: Family Economics, Family Financial Planning and Family Resource Management. To be honest I haven’t read more than a few paragraphs out of my books. Most of the stuff discussed I already know just from living life. Even when taking a test I know the answer before looking it up because I’ve been managing my family’s economics and resources for years and years. I have a ton of projects to do in 2 classes and I actually really like doing them. I had a group project the other day about food comparisons. We had the class taste test Kool Aid and Kroger brand drink mix, Dr. Pepper and Dr. K, Kraft Deluxe, Velveeta Shells and Kroger Deluxe Mac and Cheese. They didn’t know which was which and voted on faves. I was surprised to see that the Kroger brand drink mix and Mac and Cheese won by A LOT of votes!! Dr. Pepper won over Dr. K though. So… Kroger brand can rock! (Smiths is Kroger in Utah…) Interesting!!

So, over all  I am loving school. I have straight As so far, which is something I haven’t done since like 6th grade. I like being on campus. I like planning my future. I am positive I am in the right field of study the more I learn about it. I cannot wait to work in some kind of victim’s advocacy. Oh– and just to add to the excitement: My campus was on lockdown the other day. Some people were freakin’ out. I just made a plan in my head what I was gonna do if someone came in my classroom.  I wasn’t going down without a fight!

On a sidenote… Isabel’s basketball team is undefeated. They have their final tournament this weekend. Isabel leads in points, steals, and assists. She is doing amazing and I am so proud!! My dad is coaching her for the 2nd year in a row and I just LOVE watching him coach. He loves it.  I feel bad that I’ve run out of kids for him to coach for a couple of years– Taj isn’t sure he wants to play.  He is taking gymnastics and I think he’s in love with it. He is excelling. We are lucky because he is the only kid in his class, so it’s like private lessons each week. Livie is in tap and ballet. She loves dancing. She loves the tutus. She loves it. Period. Tristan has decided to concentrate on football. He’s great at it. Alec has decided to concentrate on basketball. I think he is going to get taller because I just bought him freakin’ size 11 shoes– he’s a size and a 1/2 bigger than Sei and Tristan, yet shorter than both. I hope he grows into those boats! I love my family. <3

In January the family got to go see NUCLEAR COWBOYZ at the American Airlines Center. It was a fun show with pro-motocross athletes performing. The music was great although the dancers were kinda corny. But the tricks were pretty awesome. We’d watched motocross on TV, but seeing ATVs and motorcycles flip like that in real life was crazy!!! We had a really great time as a family.

January 25th was Livie’s 5th birthday. I still cannot believe my baby girl is 5. This was the 1st time she had a “real” birthday party with friends. She had a “princess party” planned last year, but that’s when Alec got sick, sick, sick with mono and strep.  So she’s been talking about her “big birthday party” literally for a year. So, she finally had her party. She invited 16 people and I think at least 12 were there.  She wanted a “Tangled” party based on Disney’s new Rapunzel movie.  I had Isabel, my sister, my mom and a friend’s exchange student “daughter” do hair and nails of the little princesses. They decorated crowns, played “Pin the Nose on Flynn Rider” and colored pics. It went amazingly well. I think everyone had a really fun time. It was fun decorating. We had a long “braid” of streamers coming up the stairs and I even had a long, golden braid hanging out the front window of the house so people would know they were at the right place. Livie loved it all and still tells me she “loved her party.” YAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIVIE!!!!

My parents gave me some money for Christmas. I decided to take my family to dinner at the Magic Time Machine. This is a fun restaurant where the waitstaff dresses up as different characters. We got “The Roman Orgy.” That’s kind of like a personal buffet for just our table of ribs, roast, veggies, fruit… SUPER YUM!! We got to sit in the Dunce Cap with Lilo from “Lilo and Stitch” as our waitress. It was a lot of fun.

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New Years Eve was fun! We played “Minute to Win It” and shot off paper poppers. My sister, and sis-in-law helped my little sister get ready for a New Years dance. My kiddos went as well, along with 2 friends who I call my “kiddos” too. I love these kids!!! Sei had to work, which sucked, but counting down to 2011 was great! I was ready to leave 2010 behind!!!

To be continued….

January has been a fun, busy month for our family. I can’t believe I’ve barely posted this month, but then with how busy it has been it’s really NOT surprising!!! Sheesh- did I even talk about Christmas yet? I’m sooo behind. I am tempted to just say “Go read my sister’s blog. She’s updated more than I have…” But I won’t. I’ll just give super short, Reader’s Digest versions of everything… Lucky y’all…

Christmas was great. My sister and her family came down for the holiday which made my kiddos happy.

This pic is me with my AUTOGRAPHED bball– signed by none other than DIRK Nowitzki. My sister-in-law, Lissette, works for the Maverick’s dentist and got to meet Dirk last Sept. or Oct.. I was totally jealous that she was hanging out in an elevator with my fave Mav! Little did I know she had his sign a ball for me. I was so surprised and touched that she gave me such a sweet, exciting gift that I cried. You didn’t see that comin’, did you?

Livie started ballet and tap in December. Actually, she just started ballet, but she added tap this month. She smiles the ENTIRE class. She loves it!!!! I never thought I’d have a kid in dance, but she is in love with it. She liked gymnastics, but she talked non-stop about being a ballerina. I’m not sure where she gets it, but whatevs. Here’s a couple pics. Of course she’s MY daughter in that she’s wearing the funky colored stuff… No boring black and pink for her!

Ok… that’s all for today… More coming soon!!

Princess Wishes!!

• If you are in the DFW area Belle, Ariel and all their Princess friends will be visiting the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas during the Thanksgiving holidays!! Disney on Ice will only be here Nov. 24-28.
• I will be hosting a giveaway via Facebook soon!!
• Great news…there is a family discount that you can use and pass along: MOM
• When using the promo code MOM, the discount is $4 off Level 3 tickets … any performance.
• Here is the link to purchase tickets: http://www.gettix.net/concert/?event_id=3287

Here is a fun sneak peak:

I never posted anything from Halloween…

My 3 oldest were at the ex’s house so I don’t have pics of them. All 3 of them just wore white masks with black hoodies. They are too “mature” to really dress up, but they still want the candy… haha

Since Halloween was on Sunday, the kids went to a church “Trunk or Treat” on Saturday, as well as a trick or treat on Friday at some local businesses. They loaded up pretty well! I’m not one of those moms that spends all year sewing my kid’s costume or spends a lot of money on a costume. My kids have so many dress up outfits and my mom has a ton of stuff, so my kiddos are free to change costumes whenever they want. Taj went from Superman, to a pirate, to a ghost… Livie was a pirate and a dragon fly. I have a few pics. If I ever get the ones Sei took off his phone I’ll load those up as well.  They had a ton of fun!!

Princess Wishes!!

• If you are in the DFW area Belle, Ariel and all their Princess friends will be visiting the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas during the Thanksgiving holidays!! Disney on Ice will only be here Nov. 24-28.
• I will be hosting a giveaway via Facebook soon!!
• Great news…there is a family discount that you can use and pass along: MOM
• When using the promo code MOM, the discount is $4 off Level 3 tickets … any performance.
• Here is the link to purchase tickets: http://www.gettix.net/concert/?event_id=3287

Here is a fun sneak peak:

We’ve been busy here with football, gymnastics, scouts,… life.

Here’s a quick update:

Tristan and Alec are both playing football. They are having equally good seasons. Tristan plays starting right guard and is the kicker/punter. Basically if a kick is needed, he’s the one doing it. He really is great at it. One game they won 32 to 6 and he scored NINE of those points. He had 2 field goals and 3 points after touchdown. One of those field goals was about 40 yards. His name was even in the paper for it. I was so proud.

Alec is on the kick-off return team and starting safety. He has grown so much in the last year. He doesn’t look so tiny in the his uniform anymore. He is playing great and I don’t find myself stressing as much when he’s hitting someone. He also has straight A’s this 6 weeks. His grades have actually ROCKED ever since he had mono last school year and missed 3 weeks of school. Weird…

Isabel is in gymnastics again. She isn’t competing. She’s just doing tumbling and loving it. She just goes once a week for fun. There’s no 15 hours of training, no pressure. She’s doing back tucks and lay outs. It’s a lot of fun to watch her. She says she misses gymnastics- except for vault- but isn’t ready to dedicate her life to it again. I just want her to have fun. She will be playing basketball again this winter. She is in middle school this year which is still crazy to me…

Taj is also taking gymnastics. He just moved up from the beginner class to intermediate after 4 classes. I don’t know if he’ll stay with gymnastics because he’s mentioned the desire to take karate as well. Whichever he chooses we will let him do. He needs something for him, that HE enjoys, since the rest of his life is school and being dragged from football game to football game. He’s loving 1st grade and is our dog’s best friend. Indy whines at the door when he leaves.

Livie is our mini-gymnast as well. She loves picking out which one of Isabel’s old leotards she wants to wear. We have about 10 of them, so she hasn’t worn the same one twice. She is also in pre-k every day in the afternoon. I picked the afternoon session because there was no way I could get her to her school by 7:50 am and Taj’s to his at the same time. I am so thankful they will be in the same school next year. She LOVES pre-k and won’t even let me walk her to the pre-k door anymore. I have to watch from my car! Holy 4 going on 14!!

Seiuli is doing great. He loves his job which makes me so happy. He had the most DWI arrests last month. Have I mentioned he looks hot in his uniform? He just interviewed for a part time job during the week because he works weekends so he’s home ALL week which usually leads to him and me sitting on the couch watching HBO. Such a friggin’ waste of time!! He’s been wanting to get a PT gig, and this one kinda fell in his lap. PLEASE say a prayer that he gets the job!! We need this!! In our spare time we like to talk about our 10 year anniversary vacation we are going on next year. We are hoping for a cruise, but will probably end up in San Antonio. haha

I am doing the same ole, same ole. I play basketball a couple of times a week. I think I’m playing better than I was when I started up with these ladies. At least I HOPE I am!! I’m a little more confident. I have a hard time driving the lane because I’ve always been so short I was always an outside shot. I also always led in assists, so driving wasn’t my thing. I wish I could get over my fear of having the ball crammed down my throat. haha I am still a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. That is a lot of fun and a great way to earn extra money.  I enjoy it a lot! And it’s nice to make money even when I’m not doing anything. Oh- and I found out today that I have been accepted to return to Texas Women’s University in the Spring ’11. I’m not sure if I will start in Spring or wait until Livie is in kindergarten in the Fall, but either way I will be going back to school!! I am excited and nervous and… I need a new backpack. I put dental hygiene and secondary education as my 2 majors of choice. I need to meet with a counselor to go over my 106 hours I’ve already earned to figure out which direction to head in. I’m thinking education…

So, that’s what we’ve been up to around here. Busy as usual, but I like it that way.

Sei’s family reunions always consist of a family talent show. In the past Sei has rapped, Isabel has done her gymnastics routine or one of the kids sang a song. This year was my turn… I decided to take one of my hobbies and do something fun with it. I’ve been teaching myself American Sign Language on and off for a few years. I found a “glossed” version of Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” online and taught myself the signs.  I had so much fun learning this and I think everyone enjoyed watching it too. (Is Isabel just not SO cute!?)

We hiked the Y Trail.  We lived in Utah 7 years and never hiked it because I am scared of mountain lions. Well, Sei brought his duty weapon with him, so he could save us if necessary. It was a steep hike and Sei had to carry Livie quite a bit of the way. But we made it!!!

I also got to have dinner with friends!! Klin, Suzanne, Mikelene, and Gina all met me for dinner in Provo. Thanks Suzanne for taking the time to set that up!! It was so great to see them. It was my first time to meet Mikelene, so that was extra special!! Yep- I met all those awesome ladies online. So awesome.

The boys got to hang with their old neighborhood friends. I cried. Several times. Seeing them all together again and watching how they just picked up where they left off just made me happy and sad at the same time. I love that group of boys. They are all good kids. They used to hang out at our house. We carpooled. They went to church together. They are such a cool group of kids. And now I’m crying again. Boo.

Then came the long trip home… 1400 miles and 20 hours can make you go  a little mad…

It was a super great family vacay. We missed having Kelsea and Karlea with us, but we had a good time. Thank you to my parents who helped with hotels on the way there and back, Sei’s cousins Jasen & Joann for letting us stay with them and Sei’s parents for paying a chunk of our part for the family reunion. Love you all!