The Floyd Family

Camping and Boating Weekend!!!

2009-06-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

We had our first real family camping trip this last weekend. Some friends invited us to a lake about 2 miles away in Missouri. Clifton and I took off Friday afternoon and pulled down the waverunners and Mike and the big boys met us that night. We had a fabulous time! There was unlimited water sport activity, beautiful scenery, yummy food and great company! We stayed untill Tuesday afternoon and hit our only storm as we drove home.

The boys loved riding the waverunners. Clifton was mildly terrified at first, but as long as we went pretty slow, he liked the ride too. Clifton loved to play in the dirt and rocks with his trucks. He insisted on wearing his baseball hat at all times. He threw a fit if we tried to get him to wear any other type of hat.
Mike was in heaven on the ski and wakeboard. I think he's trying to figure out a way to justify and finance a boat... maybe in a few more years.

Henry loved the kneeboard. He was a little scared to get on his knees and hold the rope, but he loved surfing in the water.

But he did it!

He even tried getting up on water skiis, but they were too big for him and he couldn't controll them.
Somehow I managed to get up though...

And fall down.
George was an animal. He had absolutely no fear. He was a natural on the knee board and was crossing the wake, turning backward and trying to jump.

One of the guys on the trip was a competitive wakeboarder and he took George out on the wakeboard with him and gave him the ride of his life. They jumped the wake and had a great time. George was just disapointed Hayden didn't try to do a flip with George. (I wasn't.)
Needless to say, George insisted on wakeboarding by himself, and after a couple attempts, he was up and did pretty well. (Better than his mother did!)Tammy and I took a turn on the tube durring some choppier water. I was more sore from that tube ride than anything else. My neck is still hurting!

The boat bug has certainly hit the Floyd home. Now if we could just get Mike through his training...

Great Strides Walk at Wheeler Farm

2009-05-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

I had been trying to figure out a way to make it to Utah for the Salt Lake Great Strides event. Unfortunately, Mike was on call all weekend, and no one was available to trade. Plane tickets for 4 of us to spend 1 day in Utah were out of the question, as was driving. So I had conceeded the fact that this year I just wouldn't be able to make it.

On Wednesday morning (May 13), right after I had droped George off at school, Mom called and told me that Grandma had passed away. I then began to plan our trip out west. Fortunately, Mike was able to find someone to trade with and was able to get off of work for a couple of days. We packed up the car Wednesday night and left for Salt Lake at 4:30 am Thursday morning.

The boys were great, and we made it to Mom and Dad's at about 9:30pm SL time. It was wonderful to be with the family. Saturday, we were able to participate in the Great Strides event (a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation). The kids had a wonderful time, and I got to see a number of friends and family who came out to support our family. (Many of whom I hadn't seen in a long time!) Thank you to all of you who came out!

I'll post more photos from the walk and more on Grandma's services when I download the photos.

Easter and Woodchucks

2009-04-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Easter 2009

George's 1st grade musical The cheering section
Henry loved being able to go to the play.
George preparing for his solo

(in case you were wondering, he was a wood chuck)

George's solo

He sang a couple of lines.

Anyone ever tried to find a woodchuck costume?

Apparently there isn't a huge demand in early april, and none of the major retailers were carring them.

George and his best friend Travis

Travis got to be a farmer.

The entire 1st grade participated.

Friday Night Aprons!!!

2009-02-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

So my little sister is amazing. She makes the cutest stuff in the world, and her new buisness is the perfect example. I feel privlidged to have one of her first works of art. She's selling the most amazing aprons. Watch her video to see how awsome they are!

My Montage 2/2/09

They make a great gift for a birthday or mothers day!

It's that time again!!!

2009-02-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For those of you who don't know, my nephew Elliot (Alta's baby) was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis last year. It is a terrible disease that has no cure. There has been alot of research and development in treatments in the past few years and today, the life expectancy of a cystic fibrosis patient is about 39. Our dream is that Elliot will be able to live much longer than that and enjoy a healthy life.

This year our family is really excited about the Great Strides event that raises money for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for research and treatment. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has been absolutely amazing in the help and information it has given Elliot and his family. You can learn more about it at http://www.cff.org/.

Last year we had an overwhelming show of support for both the Kansas and Utah walks. This year we want to do even better. The Great Strides walk in Utah is on May 16, 2009 at Wheeler Farm starting at 10:00 am. It is a great family event.

You can register to walk or to sponsor Elliot at http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/AltaHales.

We also have made a new video telling Elliot's story. Please watch it and share it with your friends and family. One of the other goals is to educate people about cystic fibrosis.

Thanks for all of your support!

2008-12-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

Daddy and his boy watching the train under the tree.
Henry's candycane he made at preschool.

Clifton and his candy.

Christmas cupcakes!

The boys loved playing with the geotrax train under the tree.

All ready for Santa

Christmas morning waiting to see if Santa came.

Here we go!

George's stash

Henry's stash

December Photos

2008-12-29T06:35:00.000-08:00

Annual Candymaking
Mike's Lighthouse Christmas Tree

George lost his first tooth and was so proud.

Decorating the Gingerbread house

More decorating

Clifton loves candy!

One of the attempts for a Christmas Photo

Halloween time photos

2008-11-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

Henry at a pumpkin patch
Henry in the Spiderman Costume.
He couldn't decide what he wanted to be so we went through several different costumes at different events.

Henry and Clifton watering the plants in the backyard.

Clifton refuses to look at the camera when I try to take his picture.

The candy eating dragon.

The final costume - a bat.

The boys waiting with Dad at George's parade at school.

The Jedi Knight. (note the super cool "jedi" boots)

Super Clifton with his scratched up face.

California Fun!

2008-10-26T18:31:00.001-07:00

We took a wild and wonderful trip to California with the Davis Family. We spent three days in Aneheim and three days in San Diego. It was a wonderful trip. Here are some highlights...

George was chosen to participate in the Jedi Training. It was the highlight of his trip! I think he told everyone about it three or four times!

Who's bigger?

It wasn't hard to keep track of 7 children age 6 and under...
Disneyland was all decorated for Halloween... Lot's of "Great Pumpkins!"

I spent my birthday at the Happies place on Earth, and then Dad took us all to see the dodgers in the pennant championship. If only they had won...

Grandma Floyd came and met us for some yummy fish to help celebrate my birthday. (I think she really wanted to see the boys and used it as an excuse - but can you blame her?)
Lots of fun at sea world!

Trying to get the whole family to pose for a photo... amazing patience on my Dad's part. We were less than cooperative.

We stayed right off the beach - it was perfect weather and absolutely beautiful.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Blood, Baseball, and War

2008-09-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

We had quite a wild and a wonderful weekend. It all began friday morning. The boys woke up right at 7:30 and were great about getting dressed. I sent George and Henry down to get breakfast. Clifton followed. I was getting dressed when I heard running and a crash. George began yelling franticly for me. "Mom, Henry pushed Clifton down, and he's bleeding really bad!"

I ran downstairs to find blood gushing from Clifton's forehead and down his face. Blood covered is shirt and was all over the floor. I picked him up and ran into the kitchen to get a clean washcloth. It took a little while, but I was able to stop the bleeding and inspect the wound. It was pretty big and rather deep.

I told George to call his friend's mom to see if they could take him to school. He called and I heard him franticly saying "Clifton's bleeding all over the floor and I need to go to school." Debbie came and picked George up and took him to school for me. I called the pediatrician's office and Mike. The pediatrician's office told me to take Clifton to the children's hospital near by. Mike said he would meet me there. I was relieved because there is not a plastics physician on hand at the hospital by us, and Mike is pretty good at suturing wounds. I wanted him to make sure the er guy was doing a decent job.

We made it through the whole ER thing - I won't go into details, but it was pretty tough to watch your child scream as he is held on a bed writhing around as someone tries to sew up his head.

Needless to say we were happy to leave. This is a photo from Saturday when he was looking and feeling much better.

After the ER I picked up Henry from Lori's house and we drove to the airport to pick up Grandpa Rick! The boys were so excited to see him. (So was I!)

We came home and Grandpa and Henry played till it was time to pick up George from school.

After school George showed Grandpa how to play lego star wars on the wii. Grandpa was very patient as George tried to teach him to play.

Grandpa treated us to a Royals game that night. We had a sitter watch Clifton and the five of us headed to the game. The Royals were pretty pathetic, but we had great seats and it was fireworks friday! We all enjoyed the game and the fireworks.

Saturday morning we had a slow start. Henry wasn't feeling great and slept in. We had a big breakfast then went to George's soccer game. He was really good at running, but not so good at knowing where the ball was when he ran. (or running toward the ball.)

After the game we headed up to Independence to thr Truman Library. They have a great exhibit and the boys even enjoyed it. (Though not as much as Grandpa, Mom and Dad.)

We finished in time to go to Jack Stack for dinner. It was amazing! (Nothing compares with their lamb ribs!)

Sunday we had another slow morning. Grandpa and the boys practiced baseball in the backyard. He taught them how to throw and catch the ball. Clifton ran around trying to eat dirt and play in the mud.

After all the baseball practice, it only seemed appropriate to go to a baseball museum. We headed downtown to the Negro Leauge Baseball Museum. I didn't realize what a gem it was. There were so many amazing stories there. They have all sorts of baseball memorabilia and gear.

After Baseball we decided to head to the WWI memorial and museum. I had no idea how much was there. The museum had so much information and history. It was one of the best museums I have ever been to and deffinately the best war museum I have seen. They had two great films explaining how the war began and then how the US was drawn into the war. They also had a huge timeline of the war that helped clarify when different things happened and why. I was so impressed and so moved by it. My next book will be a WWI book - The Guns of August.

We left the museum as it closed and headed back home.

Monday morning we took George to school, then Henry, Clifton and I took Grandpa to Deanna Rose Farmstead - one of our favorite places. It was a cool damp day, and we had the place to ourselves. We then headed back to school to have lunch with George in the Cafeteria and then to drop Henry off at school. Before I knew it, it was time to pick up the boys and take Grandpa to the airport.

We were all sad to see him go.

George's Baseball Game

2008-08-27T18:35:00.001-07:00

George played his first real game this week. It is so fun to watch these cute little boys and all of the dads coaching them. The boys all played really well. They cheered for eachother and were good little sports. George was thrilled to hit the ball twice (each time up at bat) and didn't seem too disapointed that he didn't score a run. It was so fun to watch them!

The Playground

2008-08-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

One of the boys favorite activities is to meet friends after school at the playground. The second day of school was extra special because it was George's best friend Travis's Mom's birthday! After walking George to school, Henry asked me if Miss Debbie was having a party, so Henry and I decided to plan a suprise party on the playground. We made chocolate cupcakes and had a great time playing and celebrating!

Miss Debbie, Angel and Clifton

Henry and his best friend from school

Julia (the beloved), Payton, Henry, Travis, George and Clifton

First day of School

2008-08-27T17:23:00.001-07:00

Reindeer and the Promised Land

2008-08-21T09:01:00.001-07:00

My kids kill me sometimes.

Henry picking up a stick as we start walking him to school. "Look mom, this stick is part of a reindeer!"

Me "Oh, does it look like a reindeer's antler?"

Henry "Yes. Did you know reindeer are made of sticks? Jesus Christ finds sticks that look like antlers and glues them on the reindeer."

George comming downstairs for the third time after being put to bed "Mom, I need to tell you something."

Me "Okay, tell me something."

George "Mom, this is the promised land, and in the promised land you have to keep your promises."

Me "George, if you are not in bed by the time I count to three I promise you will get spanked."

Since school doesn't start till Monday...

2008-08-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

My friend Denise had this on her blog and I thought it was a fun idea.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog.

So... all of you who check my blog regularly (there has to be at least one person...I hope) see what you can come up with. (Stories about Mike or my kids count too!)

I'm packing as fast as I can...

2008-08-04T10:36:00.001-07:00

So we've had a wild past couple weeks. On Wed. July 16th at about 11:30 pm, Mike and I decided we better head out to Las Vegas to see Mike's dad who was in Hospice after a fall and not doing great. We packed all night and woke the kids at 4:00 am to load them into the car and head up to the airport. We took the first flight out that morning. Upon arival in Las Vegas, we learned that Don's condition had deteriorated overnight. It was clear that he did not have much time left.

We spent Thursday and Friday with him. The boys were angels. Mike's brother Todd made it down Friday morning. We were all able to say goodbye on Friday, and Mike decided to spend Friday night with his Dad. We got the call from Mike at about 3:30 am Saturday morning that Don had passed away.

Fortunately, my family was in Cedar City at the Shakesperian Festival. We called them and my Dad offered to come pick up the boys so we could make all of the arangements. It was so nice knowing that the boys were able to play and relax while Mike, his brother and Mom were busy making arangements.

We had to wait till Monday to take Don to Salt Lake for the service and internment. Mike and Todd drove Don out. It was quite the adventure. We didn't get in until about 4:00am Tuesday morning.

The graveside service was Wednesday. I was amazed at how many family memebers and friends had traveled long distances to be there. It was a beautiful service.

Mike drove back to Vegas with his mom on Thursday and flew back home on Friday. I stayed in Salt Lake for an extra week to spend some time with my family.

The boys loved spending time with their grandparents,cousins, aunts and uncles.

We took George and Henry to Lagoon. Clifton stayed home with a babysitter. They had a blast! George has no fear. He rode everything, including Wicked. (I think it was a little too intense for him, and he didn't want to ride it again later.) Henry just loved it all. He was a trooper!

One of the best parts of the trip though was that my wonderful friends planned a dinner with the girls. These are my dearest oldest friends, some of whom date back to kindergarten. The best part of seeing them was that it was almost like nothing had changed. We were all still silly 14 year old girls. It was wonderful! We missed those of you who live far away or couldn't come!

A Sad Goodbye

2008-07-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

Donald Joseph Floyd

1935 - 2008

Las Vegas, Nevada

Don Floyd, age 72, passed away peacefully July 19, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada.He was born Aug. 2, 1935 in Raton, New Mexico to Merritt C. and Audrey E. Curran Floyd. He married Catherine Robb Floyd March 17, 1977 in Salt Lake City Utah. Don is survived by his wife Cathy of Las Vegas, Nevada; and children: Todd and Christie Cannon Floyd of Herriman, Utah; Michael and Amanda Davis Floyd of Overland Park, Kansas; and four grandsons. He is also survived by his brother Merritt C. Floyd, brother Phillip Floyd, sister Thelma Floyd Elliot and children Todd Floyd and Lisa Floyd from a previous marriage. He was preceded in death by both parents. Graveside services will be held Wed., July 23, 2008 at 12 Noon at Larkin Susnset Gardens 1950 E. 10600 S., Sandy, Utah where friends may call from 11-11:45 prior to services. Online condolences at www.larkincares.com Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 7/22/2008

Fourth of July Photos

2008-07-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood has an annual 4th of July bike parade that goes from the elementry school to the neighborhood pool. All the kids decorate their bikes and ride smiling and waving to anyone who will look at them. It was a beautiful day and the boys all had a great time.Henry was so excited to be able to ride his bike this year!Clifton rode in the wagon. George thought it was a race rather than a parade and was one of the first people to the pool. There were popsicles at the pool for everyone.
Clifton was so excited to go swimming.
He loves to jump in from the side. It can be a little frightning because he has no fear and will jump even if there isn't anyone there to catch him.

Baseball, BBQ brisket, bathingsuits and the Beattys!

2008-06-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

So crazy and wonderful things happen in Kansas! Yesterday was one of those crazy wonderful days!

I tried to be a good mom and took the boys to the pool in the morning. They had a blast and were really good. (Even my wild 1 year old!) We came home just in time for lunch, and after I had the kids settled in, I checked the phone for messages. I noticed that my dear friend Denise had called but left no message. I quickly called her back to find out they were in St. Louis heading west and wanted to meet for dinner.

I insisted they stay here so the kids could play and swim. They reluctantly agreed. At about 4:00 that afternoon they rolled in. We were so excited to see them. Mike even managed to leave work early! Denise and I took the kids to the pool while Mike and Troy picked up some BBQ for dinner.

It was so great to see them! Denise is one of those people who never ceases to amaze me! Even with her six kids, she accomplishes so much! She is the scrapbooking queeen! She sews the most amazing Halloween costumes for the whole family and she is a great cook! (I also love that she gave up a law career to stay home and raise her kids!)

It was so fun to catch up with her family and to finally meet little Katie. What a doll! My boys were in heaven with so many fun kids to play with. Mike loved spending time with Troy. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner from Oklahoma Joes - great stuff! (Thanks Troy!)

I abandoned them though to go to a Royals game. One of my cute friends called earlier in the week with an extra dugout seat right on first base because her husband hadn't wanted to go. We had a great time at the game and the Royals even won!

Troy decided he wanted to get an early start for the drive the next day. So at about 2:30 am he began loading the van up. By 3:00 am the kids were loaded in and they were on their way west. (And I thought 5:30 was getting up early!)

It was too short of a visit, but I'm so glad they came. Maybe next time I can bribe them to stay longer... any ideas?

Henry's Birthday

2008-06-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Henry's 4th Birthday. It was a great family day. Mike only had to go in to the hospital for a couple hours, and was able to be home for the birthday party! Here are some of the highlights... Henry's Pirate Ship cake.

Mike and Clifton set up the slip and slide for our home made water birthday party.

4 year olds really don't expect much when it comes to party activities. A slip and slide, a sprinkler and a slide with a hose seem to be plenty!

The play set was the pirate ship.

Hot dogs, cake and Cheetos were the perfect accompanyment to a chocolate pirate ship cake!
That evening we took the family to the Royals game. It was a great game. The Royals beat the Giants and there was a great home run in the 7 th inning so we got free ice cream sundays!

The Truth...

2008-06-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

So It's time I come clean.

I bought a wii for Mike for father's day. I bought a star wars lego game because I know he loves playing it at my parents house. I also bought him guitar hero. I told him it was because I was sure he would like it and it has lots of music he likes on it.

I lied.

The real reason I bought it was for me.

I've never been much of a video game person. I only beat Super Mario Brothers once and I used cheat codes to do it. (That was back on the original nintendo.) But now I'm hooked. I can't stop. Mike even begged me last night not to completely disrgard our children all day while I played. (I only play when the kids are in bed.)

I feel much better now that I have this secret off my chest.

Why I love Kansas

2008-06-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

So tonight was our first tornado warning here in Kansas. It was pretty exciting. Mike and I took the boys on a walk to drop of some brownies to Scott Morris. He helped me with George's birthday party - another post for another day... It is about half a mile to the Morris home. The boys were on their bikes, Mike and I were walking, and Clifton was in the backpack.

The sky looked a little ominous and we knew that there was a storm comming in tonight. It was warm and incredibly humid. We dropped off the brownies and began our walk home.

As we began walking the tornado sirens started going off. For those of you who have never experineced a tornado siren, they are incredibly loud high pitched almost wailing sound. There are numerous towers throughout the area from which the sirens are broadcast.

The rain had not yet begun and there was no wind - not a good sign in tornado country. We began walking faster, and the boys began riding their bikes faster. We had walked maybe a block with the sirens going before a 20 something guy driving an SUV pulled over. He asked if he could give us a ride somewhere. I thanked him and said we were close to home.

We then began jogging and the boys were flying on their bikes. About 1/2 a block latter, a woman in a mini van pulled over and told me that the funnel sightings were in DeSoto (about 25 miles away) so I had a little time. She also asked if she could help. I thanked her for the information and said that we were close to home.

We were still jogging when another woman in another mini van made a U-turn and pulled along side us. She asked if we were close to home and if she could help get us home. At this point we were only about a block away. I thanked her, and told her we lived just around the corner.

We hurried home and I quickly put away the loose toys and wiggle cars in the backyard so the wind wouldn't throw them around. Mike came out and told me to get inside. The boys were all down in the basement eating brownies and watching footage of a funnel cloud comming up I-35 - not too far from where we live.

Fortunately soon after, the National Weather Service ended the warning, and the excitement was over.

Now we have a wild and beautiful thunderstorm roaring overhead.

The most amazing part though was the genuine concern from the people here. I couldn't believe that three complete strangers would all offer to help us in less than 15 minutes. By helping us, they were potentially putting themselves in danger by being away from safety while transporting us.

There really is something amazing about the people here in Kansas...

Utah CF Walk!

2008-06-11T19:08:00.001-07:00

Alta made a video about the Cystic Fibrosis Walk in Utah and I think she did a great job. Here it is!

Great Strides With Elliot's Angels

It's summer time!

2008-05-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today was George's last day of school so summer is offically here! The kids in George's class had a water party after school and everyone had lots of fun and got really wet.

Now I need to figure out what we are going to do all summer to stay out of trouble!

The boys loved playing in the water. Henry was especially proud that he could get his frozen gogurt to stick to his wet shirt.

This is George's darling Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Fisher. George has loved being in her class. He has had the best experience this year. All of the kids in the class are friends and they all enjoy spending time together and help eachother. They've been wonderful to Henry too and include him in their activities. We will miss this class!

George is 6!

2008-05-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

How quickly time passes... It amazes me to think that it was six years ago when we first met our George. He's grown up so much.

We tried to make today his special day. Probably the best part was having his uncle Rick here to celebrate and play with him. We had pancakes with strawberries for breakfast, then George's best friend Travis came over to suprise George with crispy cream donuts. It was the cutest thing to watch these two little boys be so excited about the little suprise.

Uncle Rick walked over to take George to school with us, and George took all his birthday party invitations to hand out to his class. We have been so lucky with his school. There are only 13 kids in his kindergarten class and everyone of them are wonderful. So of course we had to invite the whole class!

I took icecream sandwiches over about an hour later for his special birthday treat. George was just beaming. He was so excited for it to finally be his turn.

After school his little friends Travis and Payton came over for a mini party. The boys played in the backyard and ran through the sprinklers. They had a blast!

Mike made it home for about 30 minutes to open presents. He gave George a legos X wing fighter. George was in love. Sometime I'll have to write about how legos came to rule the Floyd family.

We had a spagetti and meatball dinner per George's request, then all three boys wrestled uncle Rick till they were laughing so hard they were almost in tears. George, Henry and Rick started putting the lego kit together until bedtime. He thought it was a perfect day.

Here are some of my favorite more recent pictures of George that just make me smile.

San Diego with Grandma Floyd

2008-05-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to San Diego and met Mike's mom there. Everyone had a wonderful time. The boys (including Mike) loved playing on the beach, looking for seashells, and digging for sand crabs.

George and Henry loved to chase the waves in and then run away from them. Henry thought he could stop the waves by throwing sand at them and shooting them with his smash ball paddle. (Everything is a gun when you are a three year old boy).

We took the boys to the San Diego Zoo. I think their favorite part was the tour because they were finally able to sit down. George asked if we could ride the double decker bus from the moment we got there. Finally I told him that if I heard him say "bus" one more time, he wouldn't ever get to ride on it. Soon George was asking if it was time for the "B-word".

We spent two days at Sea World. George and Henry got to feed dolphins, pet sting rays, hold star fish and get soaking wet durring the dolphin show with Mike. Grandma and I were smart enough to sit outside of the soak zone.

The boys on their way out to the beach and the pool.

For Mother's Day we had brunch at the Del. It was amazing. I especially loved not having to cook or do any dishes. The boys loved it too. George ate two omlets and a plate full of King Crab legs, giant shrimp, strawberries and cherries. I couldn't get him to try an oyster on the half shell. He said they smelled funny. Henry focused on the crab and shrimp.

It was slightly wild with the three boys at the buffet, but they did pretty well.

Mike's mom loved spending time with her grandsons, and they loved being with her.

Great Strides Wallk

2008-05-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

We had a great turnout for the Kansas Great Strides walk. As a team, we exceeded our goal of $1500 raised. Thankyou to all of you who came and who supported us!

More spring break pictures

2008-04-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

Spring Break

2008-03-27T18:53:00.001-07:00

I made it back - to my blog that is. It's only been a really long time.

George had spring break last week, and Mike was able to schedule his vacation at the same time, so we had an adventure.

We drove nearly forever to go see family, but let me tell you it was worth it!!!!!

The boys were actually really well behaved in the car. We played games, watched movies, listened to music and just enjoyed eachother.

It was so fun to see our families. We have missed them.

George and Henry had a great time having sleep overs with their big uncles and playing in the snow. I loved having someone cook for me! Mike just enjoyed not having to be studying or working. Clifton enjoyed trying to walk and getting into mischief!

Mike and I decided that this was the year to teach George and Henry to ski. I have always loved skiing, and honestly don't remember not skiing. However, life after kids changes things. I hadn't been skiing since before George was born. So it was deffinately time to hit the slopes.

Now, let me say that I was scared to death to take a 5 year old and a 3 year old skiing. Even with Mike there, I was sure it would be a complete disaster and we would only last about 2 hours if we were lucky.

Well, we were lucky. The boys were great. They fell in love with skiing immediately. And I think it was the best day of skiing I have ever had. I have always loved powder and speed and challenging terain (not that I was good enough to do the really fun stuff, but I liked to think I was.) But I absolutely loved skiing most of the day on Easy Street with my boys. George could go on his own and snowplow behind me and do half decent turns. Henry needed more help, but by the end of the day was doing fairly well on his own. It was only when dumb Mom decided to take the boys on a "Big Hill" that things got a little ugly. We survived though, and the boys did suprisingly well. This will deffinately become at least an annual activity!

We also took George and Henry iceskating. I promised George that if he read 50 books on his book chart, I would take him skating. He made sure he did, and we went. It was interesting, but again, lots of fun.

My pictures are not uploading, so this is all I can do tonight.

Tag

2008-01-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

So I'm new to this Tag concept, but somehow Shelby got me. (See if I contact old friends again!!!!!) Here goes...

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago (Jan 1998) I had just returned from my study abroad in Jerusalem and my backpacking through Europe. I was trying to locate my Israel dishes I had sent home with other students. I had resumed school at the U and beginning my planning to apply for law school.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Fold the laundry (that would include finishing washing the dirty laundry on my floor by the washer)
2. Clean the house for Book Club here tomorrow night
3. Write thank you notes for Christmas gifts
4. Work on Clifton and Mike's Christmas stockings (no, they still are not done - maybe by Christmas 2008...)
5. make dinner (any ideas?!)

snacks I enjoy: Chocolate, Chocolate ice cream, chocolate dipped raspberries, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge brownies, hot chocolate and Carmel popcorn

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Hire a cleaning lady
2. open a quilt/chocolate shop
3. Buy a boat and water ski (so we could hang out with Dave and Shelby)
4. Take my family (siblings and parents included) on a river trip down the Grand

3 of my bad habits:
1. Eating Chocolate
2. Starting projects I'll never finish
3. tasting everything as I cook

5 places I have lived:
1. SLC, Utah
2. Overland Park, Kansas
3. Vienna, Virginia
4. Jerusalem
5. I'll let you know in about 2 1/2 years!

5 jobs I have had:
1. Soccer referee
2. Presser at a dry cleaners
3. Receptionist at a law firm
4. Stock girl at a Cummings chocolates - This may explain my slight obsession with Chocolate 5. Attorney

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I spent a night at an Israeli jail and was going to be charged with a felony (talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time!) This is what happens when a bunch of 19-23 year-olds wander cemeteries in foreign countries on Halloween in costume!!!!
2. I have always hated my nose.
3. I am terrified of bugs flying near my head. When I was in in College, I was walking home and a moth flew into my ear. It crawled all the way down against the ear drum and was flapping its wings. It was the most awful thing I have ever experienced. I had to have a doctor remove it by squishing it against my ear drum and pulling it out.
4. I love dishes - If I could I would have a different set of dishes for every holliday and every season.
5. I think I was born in the wrong generation - I should have been a flower child - I always wanted to be one. I love the music of the 60s, the power of the 60s and the passion behind all of the movements. (Actually, its probably a good thing I wasn't born then...who knows what trouble I would have gotten myself into!)

I tag Emily, Carolyn, Windybrook, Peggy and Marie

Baby Elliot

2008-01-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

Life comes at you fast.

We had a wonderful Christmas and I loved seeing many freinds and family. As we were heading home last friday, my darling nephew Elliot was getting results of some tests from the hospital. Although he was a full term baby, he had gained less than 1 lb durring the first two months of life. We have all been concerned about his growth.

On Friday, Alta and Mike found out he has Cystic Fibrosis. It has been quite a blow for all of us. I feel especially helpless because I am so far away from all of the family. I'm not good at not doing something, so I began searching for a way to help.

I decided to organize a team to walk in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest fundraising event, the Great Strides Walk. There is one here near us on May 3 at 9:00 am. I would love to have anyone interested join my family. This foundation helps provides lifesaving medication to patients at little or no cost and also has been the driving force behind research for new and better treatment and hopefully a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

If you aren't able to join us, I'm also looking for sponsor's for the walk. You can find information about joining me or sponsoring me on the team website:

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/AmandaFloyd

Most importantly though, give your children an extra kiss for me, and remember Elliot in your prayers.

Gingerbread House!

2007-12-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

One of the boys most favorite activites durring the Christmas season is Gingerbread houses. They enjoy decorating them as much as they enjoy eating them. We made a last minute trip out to see Grandma and Grandpa Floyd over the weekend and the boys were thrilled to find a gingerbread house kit in the Garage.

Even Grandpa got in on the decorating action. It's hard to not get involved when you are talking about candy, sugar and cookies!

Henry managed to put on almost as many candies as he ate!

Clifton and Grandma were content to supervise.

The boys were proud of the completed house.

Haircuts

2007-11-18T17:05:00.001-08:00

One of the joys of motherhood with little boys (and husbands) is the constant need for haircuts. I try to put it off for as long as possible, but it got to the point where we couldn't find George's ears in his wild mane. Hence, Dad deemed tonight haircut night.

George volunteered to go first. (We believe that the promised lollipop upon completion had something to do with it.) We found his ears and he loved the new look almost as much as his dad did!

Henry was up next. He wasn't nearly as excited as George. We had some tears, but made it through.

Henry was pleased with the result, and proud to show all of the hair we had cut!

Clifton happily amused himself and I was grateful that he won't be joining in the haircuts for at least another 3 months!!!

Even Mike got in on the action!

Our little Pirate!

2007-11-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

Henry had his followup appointment for his eyes, and the decision was that the glasses were helping, but not enough. So now he has a new challange... the pirate patch. He's actually done really well with it. When people ask him why he has a bandaid on his eye, he firmly replies "It's not a bandaid! I have a patch to make my eye stronger." He's pretty cute about it, but his depth perception is way off, and sometimes he walks like a drunk. We still love him. He'll have to wear it for about 3 weeks and then we'll see how he's doing. Hopefully he'll be done then!

More Halloween Pictures

2007-11-09T05:51:00.001-08:00

Henry with his stash!

George with his loot!

Clifton in his Halloween PJs

Halloween

2007-11-02T17:22:00.001-07:00

Another Halloween come and gone... Fortunately this year was much more uneventful than last. No broken hips!!! The boys had a great day. Henry had a Halloween parade and party at his little pre-school. I droped him off and ran George to school, but didn't make it in time for his short (less than 3 minutes) parade. Fortunately Mike was able to run over from the hospital during his lunch break and got to be there. Henry had a wonderful time and brought the donuts he helped me make for the party. (He was so proud!)

George had a parade and party as well. I was able to make it on time for his, and he looked so spooky in his skeleton costume. (All of my pictures are on film, so we'll post them once I get them developed.) They had a big party in the classroom and even got to walk through a haunted house at school. He got to take his donuts to school as well!

Clifton was a trooper as always. He hung with mom all day without any complaints.

Mike and I took the kids to a friends for a fun Halloween dinner. We then hurried home for trick or treating. The boys were thrilled to have dad home to take them. I was thrilled to stay home with Clifton and greet the neighborhood kids at the house. The boys came home with quite the stash. They were thrilled.

Now I have to take down all the Halloween decorations.........

Henry's Halloween Parade

2007-11-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our favorite little Dinosaur!

Getting Old

2007-10-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday I turned 30. I don't remember a birthday where I felt so loved and remembered. Sometimes living a thousand miles from family makes special days harder or lonelier. That was definitely not the case this year. I received darling birthday cards on Saturday which just got things off to a great start.

Sunday was great too. One of the best parts of being in primary is hearing the kids sing. Thanks to the wonderful primary leaders (especially the music people) I was sung to by both Junior and Senior primary. (I even got to use the shakers twice!)

Mike was on call all weekend, and unfortunately got called in about 3:00 am on Monday morning. He kissed me goodbye and I didn't think I'd see him again till after work at about 6:00 for dinner. The boys woke up and came in and snuggled me. They got showered and dressed and were playing happily as I began preparing my CHOCOLATE birthday cake. The doorbell rang and a delivery man with a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my Dad. They still smell absolutely heavenly. We put the flowers in the Kitchen on the table, and went back to playing.

All of a sudden I heard the garage door open. George has been especially fascinated by the garage door lately and loves to open and close it. (Bad activity!) I began hollering to George to come out of the Garage and leave the door alone. I turned around and there was Mike with a balloon bouquet. After apologizing to George, I was able to spend a few minutes talking to Mike as he ate breakfast and made a lunch for the day. The boys gave me tulip bulbs, and a paper towel holder. It was a wonderful surprise.

The boys and I had an enjoyable morning. The weather was beautiful. I love the crisp fall air. Both boys had school in the afternoon, so after dropping them off, my dear friend Janell took me to the most delicious lunch! We went to a seafood restaurant nearby and it was divine. I had a Sea Bass with roasted potatoes and asparagus with a delectable apple cobbler for desert. The company and conversation was as good as the food. Clifton behaved well, and I had a wonderful time.

After School, the boys helped me frost the cake and make dinner. Rich and Janell came to dinner and we had a nice relaxing dinner together completed with the chocolate cake.

On Tuesday my darling visiting teacher brought over lunch. She made Thai lettuce wraps and a pear strudel. It was delicious. Then that evening, a group of friends took me to dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant. We had a great time. I'm sure the management was thrilled when we finally left 3 hours later!

I had lots of wonderful phone calls and I truly feel loved by my friends and family! Thanks for making it such a wonderful day!

(I love how Birthdays are always filled with wonderful food!!!!!)

Bedtime for Boys

2007-10-15T18:52:00.001-07:00

One of the most enjoyable or the most frustrating times of day as a mom is Bedtime. It all depends on the day. The boys can either be wonderfully helpful and sweet, or as stubborn as mules. Fortunately we have many more wonderful days than frustrating days. (It always makes a big difference when Dad is around to help.)

It is so fun to watch my kids grow up and learn to do things for themselves. It's so nice when I can send George and Henry upstairs to their room to get their pajamas on while I change Clifton. They have become pretty good at brushing their own teeth and I can now supervise rather than having to help them as much.

They both love books and stories. We've been reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to George. It is a little beyond him, but he enjoys it and is excited to be able to watch the movie when we finish.

Henry loves picture books. He will read almost any book he can find. His favorite for the past couple of days is a pop up book called The Itsy Bitsy Spider. He loves to sing the song as we read the book.

Clifton is just my happy baby. He's figured out how to crawl. He does a great army crawl and can maneuver himself anywhere pretty quickly. I really have to watch him now when he's down. He also loves to eat. Today Janie took me to lunch, and I brought him along. He had quite a feast with us. He loved the Sea Bass and the yummy biscuits. He also had his first taste of ice cream (Don't tell Mike!!!!) We have yet to find anything he won't eat. (I hope it continues!)

George's Appointment with Dad

2007-10-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

Well, George had his appointment at the Opthalmologists last week. Good news - He has good eyes (at least for our family). He probably won't need glasses for another 5 or so years. We were happy to hear that. One little boy's glasses are hard enough to keep track of.

It was so exciting for George to see his dad in action. He wanted to understand everything that was going on. (He asked if they could take a picture of the back of his eye so he could see what it looks like too.)

The only hard part was getting his dialation drops. As you can see, it was a bit of a struggle for him. (George insisted that only Dad could put the drops in.

All in all, it was a good experience, and Clifton was an angel the whole time.

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday October 5th, the boys and I went to a pumpkin patch out by Lawrence. It was a blast! They got a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and found wonderful beautiful pumpkins. We found big ones and little ones. We had a great time with lots of our friends there, and our new pumpkins look great on the front porch!

Go Royals!

2007-10-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

We made our first family outing to Kaufman Stadium to see the Royals. It was a great night to go - friday fireworks, dollar hot dogs and great friends! Although it was a little loud for Clifton, the boys had a great time. They lasted the whole game and had a blast. We'll have to make this a more frequent event next year - maybe we'll even get to see a winning game!

Henry's new Glasses!

2007-10-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

How quickly things happen around here with these little boys! Mike is doing a pediatric opthamology rotation right now at the children's hospital near our house. We decided it would be a good idea to get an eye appointment for George and Henry while he was there so they could see Dad at work. Well, Henry had his appointment last week, and to our suprise, he had bad eyes! I took him shopping for glasses, and he was so excited! We found some at a wonderful little children's glasses shop, and he got them yesterday in time to go to preschool. We took some pictures of him at school with his new specs! Pretty handsome boy.

Next week it's George's turn. We'll see how that goes!

2007-09-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Clifton loves to eat real people food. He makes a great mess, but is a good little eater. We still haven't found a food he doesn't like. (Knock on wood!)

Henry's First Day of Preschool

2007-09-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today was Henry's first day of Preschool. He was so excited. He made sure to tell Mom that she shouldn't stay. He had a great time and said he "played with the dinosaurs and sang the letters song."