Firsts

Yes, it's true...in all my 30 years, I have never changed a tire...until last Friday!
We were on the way to Seattle when WHOOSH- Blow out!! Seriously, the tire was shredded! Thank goodness my mom was with me! She has changed more than her fair share of tires in her life...including once when she was pregnant! Anyway, the changing actually went pretty smoothly, so mom and I hoped in the car feeling pretty proud of ourselves--until we turned the key and learned the battery had died! Why the double whammy?? So I stood on the side of I-90 waving my little arm, looking as pathetic as possible until someone stopped and gave us a jump-- Thank you nice person whoever you are!

For months now I have blamed every snotty-nose, grumpy-mood, and constant drooling on the idea that Hailey must be teething...and well, that's all it is, an idea! Hailey still has 0 teeth! I guess this is weird to me because Addison got his first two at 5 months, and Laynie had almost all of hers by 7 months, Hailey will be 10 months next week and is still sporting her shiny gums! But she is the cutest tooth-less wonder you have ever met- and silly!

I've been contemplating what I could write in the category of 'firsts' for Laynie. She can be my best helper and the sweetest sister, it just depends on what kind of mood she's in! Yesterday she and Addison were doing a puzzle and out of the blue she said " I love you Addy." Melt your heart moment! Some of her other funny quotes lately are when she's mad: "I'm so MEAN at you!" (I think that's- "because you're being so mean, I'm mad at you" all wrapped up in one) and my favorite of late "I'm just so wiggly, oh, I have to use the potty!" We love this girl!

Kelly took these pics on the beach in Seattle- the lighting was so cool!...Kelly is really getting good at this whole photography thing!

Speaking of Kelly, he took the scouts to Mt Spokane for an over night camping trip. His 'first' can be that he slept in an igloo! Actually it was a blessing that they found the igloo because there were 3 leaders, and one 2-man tent...the igloo was bigger than the tent, so it made for a more comfortable situation for everyone! They took a bunch of crazy pictures in their snow shoes... you can tell from this picture what a serious scoutmaster he is!

Addison had his 100th day of school last week! They counted A LOT of different piles of things up to 100, they wrote out all of their numbers up to 100, and they made a fruit-loop necklace with 100 fruit-loops! He loves school. His 'first' is that he received his first report card last week. Seriously? We give report cards to kindergartners? The wording makes me laugh too- You get a '4' if you are above grade level, a '3' if you are at grade level, a '2' is you are "approaching grade level", and a '1' if you are "beginning to approach grade level." Aren't they positive at Addy's school? NO hint of any negative words whatsoever! But really, we all know what a '1' would mean don't we?