studying to be a "warrior"

For Father's day our ward prints a book with the kids answers to questions about their dads.

If your Dad was a Superhero who would he be, and why?
Callie: Tickler Super Hero-because he always tickles us.

What does your Dad call your Mom?
Callie: Addie or LaDuke.

Where did your Dad meet your Mom?
Callie: They were at a show somewhere, she was wearing a black dress.

What does your Dad want you to be when you grow-up?
Callie: Mother / Swim teacher

What is the funniest thing your Dad does?
Callie: Silly Jokes

What nick name does your Dad have for you?
Callie: Cal

What does your Dad do at work?
Callie: learning to be a warrior.

What does your Dad doe in his free time?
Callie: Plays Basketball

What is your Dad always saying?

What do you love most about your Dad?
Callie: When we eventually moved, we still have our trampoline.

"Forgever"

Avery:

"We are waiting for the aligator" (elevator or escilator)
"I want to wear my capri suns." (capris)

"Happy Birthday Avery. You are such a pretty little girl."
"I not a little girl I a big girl I wear panties and poop and peep on the potty."

"Forgever." (forever, which she combines with together) This is my new favorite word.



Callie:

"Mom I think we celebrate mothers day and fathers day because we love our families so much. How come we dont have a grandma or grandpa day or what about a sisters day?"

"Today Thomas gave me a nice note in school. (Dear Callie, You are nice. You are fast. You are my friend. love, Thomas) See Mom I knew he was being mean to me before because he really likes me." -we should all have such confidence.

Callie if you practice your gymnastics skills you can get really good. "Mom, I am really good."

Odds and ends

With Kindergarten as a new stage in our lives the whole family has had to make a few adjustments. It is an end of blissful time of freedom for Callie and the family. No more waking up at 8:00. We all get up at 7:00 and eat breakfast then Callie has a list of chores. 1. brush teeth 2. get dressed 3. make bed 4. empty dishwasher 5. read scriptures 6. say prayers. We have a good little routine and it has worked well for this first month of school. We have enjoyed having her home for the first 5 years of life. Letting her go for 6 1/2 hours a day has been hard. Avery no longer has a constant playmate, and Callie all of the sudden has many new things to learn and responsibilites to apease. I think both Cameron and I have had moments of sorrow as we realize this is just the begining of a long life where she will spend may hours away from home, learning how to make her own decisions, and how to cope with life and the influences of the world. Avery and I really miss her during the day. I know this sounds dramatic but really once you start school at 5 you have 13 more years of school. If you are Cameron you turn that 13 years into approx. 26 years of schooling. Just as Cameron is finally growing up and moving on past his school years. Our little girl has started her own journey of learning.

When asked what do you want your teacher to be like? Callie said,"I hope my Kindergarten teacher is nice and smart and knows everything. You have to know everything to be a teacher." Then we asked what are you most looking forward to in school? Her reply was "Doing math." I think she feels she has conqured reading so bring on the numbers.

When we drive to school in the morning Avery puts on her back pack too and says she is going to school. When Callie gets dressed Avery has to get dressed too. When I fix Callie's hair Avery pulls out her hair do, and insists on having the same thing done to her hair as Callie. She really looks up to her sister and has had the hardest time adjusting to this change.

For Callie so far it has been a breeze. She loves to make friends and she loves to learn. I think she loves the structure that I she has not always had at home. She has jumped right into school and has not looked back. She has 5 little friends from our church in her class. Pretty lucky considering there are 6 Kindergarten classes in her school.

Changes

Avery:

How was swimming? "I cried." Did you kick and do monkey walks on the wall? "Yes, I scared mom."

When getting a red ring from the bottom of the pool. "I don't like it, I wana noder one. I want pink." this is accompanied with tears.

Do you want green or red? (licorice at the end of swimming) "I want purple."
"Mom I need the pink becwuz it is my faveowit."
"I wub pink becwuz it is my faveowit."
"mom, I wub you."
"Fix it fix it." (her pony tails I fix about 400 times a day)
"Hold me hold me." (after crying that the pony tail got loose again and I did not fix it right)

Avery is a very determined little being. She wants to do everything herself. Dress, brush her teeth, potty train, load a movie, open the garage door, drive the car. We typically get into battles of the will vs. moms good judgement. Morning battles usually start with the hair. This morning she brought me an orange rubber band and said, "You fix it, fix my hair." "How would you like me to fix it, with a pony on top or one in the back?" "No, two ponies two ponies." "But Avery there is only one orange rubble band. I have two white ones can I fix your hair with two white rubber bands." "No orange, orange. Two ponies." There was no reasoning with her. After several tears and screaming fits I put her in time out until she could understand that mom would not do two ponies unless the rubber bands matched. She finally decided on one pony with the orange rubber band "on the top." After this matching pony battle I gave in to her demands to wear a yellow tank top with white pokadots, shorts that were pink, blue and green plaid, and her purple patten shoes. But at least her rubber band was orange.

She also wants to do everything her sister does. Callie who has always been a little cautious and timid when it comes to some physical things, finally on Monday jumped off the diving board in her swim lesson. Actually she dived (which I think would be scarier) but she thought it through enough to realize that she is a good swimmer, her teacher is right there to catch her and she has never seen another kid get hurt jumping off the diving board in her class. So at 5 1/2 years old she was finally ready. Well Avery just started swimming classes with Miss Allison too. She has had 4 tearful classes, and though she is my dare devil she needed some coaxing to jump off herself. Well, today about halfway through her lesson at only 2 years old she jumped all by herself. Ha, only one lesson after her older sister. She also ended the class with smiles and now thinks she is a mermaid.

She is also a little prankster. Even when she is in trouble she will try to joke with me. "Avery do we hit?" "Yes, I hit it is funny." "No, Avery we do not hit. If you hit it makes people sad, and it makes you go in time out." "I pinch?" with a smerk on her face. "No, Avery we don't pinch either." "You pinch Callie?" "No Avery nobody hits or pinches without getting in trouble. Are you going to hit again?" "Yes!" big smile. At least she is honest. "No Avery you will need to stay in time out longer until you give me the right answer." "I need to get out!" screaming as I leave the room. Moments later I come in , Avery do we hit? "Yes." Big smile. Are you going to hit again? "No, I sorry. I get OUT!"

Callie:
"I gave blankie a ride to the kitchen."

"Mom whats going to happen tomorrow?"

"When do I go to school?"

"What else can I do today?"

"I want to play barbie.com."

"Mom, watch this I can dance like the waves."

"Grandma I was in a dance recital I thought it would be scary but it wasn't it was fun."

"Avery if you get squashed by a car you could be with Dorothy again." (she was not trying to tempt her, she was just stating the facts after Avery attempted a run for the street)

Callie reads this book called Mixed up Princesses and she does voices for all the different princesses. It is so cute I love it. My favorite is the pirate princess who sails the seven seas in her swashbuckling boots. She always laughs at herself when she does the voices. Several of the books that she reads she acts out and does voices. The monster at the end of the book. The Old Lady who swallowed a bat. She loves to perform. She will do the Hookie lau for anyone that I ask, as well as any of her recital dances. Avery likes to follow along. Callie had her first real dance recital in May. She had 4 numbers. "Just around the river bend" a ballet dance. Arabian Nights a tap dance. "Hi Ho" an opening number. When you wish upon a star a closing number. It was a huge production. I think she is the best in the class. She had her dances memorized the fastest and all the kids look to her to see what comes next. Now for summer she is in swim class again and she has overcome her nerves on the diving board. She can swim freestyle and backstroke the length of the pool, and she looks so cute in her goggles. She looks forward to swimming and I think she has very strong arms and legs. She could be a powerful swimmer if she wants to stick with it and get all the strokes down well.

Addie:
Planned a threw the best graduation party ever for Cameron. Managed all the packing and unpacking of our move to Chandler. Rewired and painted the girls chandelier. Sadly it does not work. But it is very cute. I feel like I am barely surviving the heat. I really stay indoors for most of the day until swimming at 2:00 then I load everyone in our solar oven car (no tinted windows) and drive to swimming where we sit outside for an hour. I feel bad for the girls because their seats get so hot. Avery's is black. I bet in a few years they will start giving tickets for child abuse to people who put their kids in these hot cars like mine to go anywhere when there are excessive heat warnings outside. . Usually on these days I am wiped out when we get home. I do my errands early in the morning or after the girls are in bed. I can not stand the heat.

Cameron:
Graduated from Law School in the top 20% of his class. Working on studying for the bar. Did all the heavy lifting for the move. Lost almost 40 lbs. and weighs less than 200 lbs on a good day. He now has very nice muscles. Managed to finally get a tan on his upper body while in Hawaii. Well it is only his back and it is in stripes from a bad sunscreen job and horrible burn. His chest is impenetrable from the sun. If he were a superhero we think he would have the power to live on the sun and not get burned on or even tanned on his chest and legs.

Taking the Road

Have you ever driven somewhere and on the way you realize you don't remember anything significant for the last 10 miles of your trip? When I do this I think how did I get here? Was I paying attention? Thank goodness I got here safely? It is like my brain is in auto pilot. It knows how to follow the road, obey all the traffic laws, and keep a safe distance from the other cars around me. Some how my mind is really somewhere else. I guess I have been in auto pilot lately, when it comes to my blogging. Somehow I got here April 27th! But, do I remember much of what I missed in my reporting. All I know is that I got here safely and I have lots of pictures to show for it.

We have been very blessed on the way. Have I reported this blessing not really. In January about 6 months from the loss of our baby, my blood finally returned to a zero. There no longer is HCG in my system and has remained so even today. I still have at least another 3 months of tests until I may get pregnant again, so I am learning to be patient. We have found a house in Chandler to rent, Cameron is graduating, and Callie is finishing preschool, and Avery and I are trying to survive her curiosity. Here are pictures of January through April. Enjoy.