The Ziggy Life: February 2010

Friday, February 19, 2010

A big day for Haylee...

Every month at Haylee's school they have an awards ceremony. They give out Citizenship & Scholar of the Month awards and also pass out goodies to kids who got caught being good slips and perfect attendance. Haylee has gotten Citizenship of the Month every year and we've always been so proud of her. She is so well behaved at school. We hadn't heard of any awards for her yet this year. Well Wed we got the letter that Haylee would be getting an award this Friday! I assumed that it would be for Citizenship. She's never gotten Scholar yet. Well when it was Haylee's teachers turn to announce her class she announced a boy for Citizenship of the Month. It was that second that I realized Haylee got Scholar of the Month! To say that we were happy is beyond words. Haylee's been struggling a little with Math this year but she's really been working hard. Her attitude with homework has been better and she's been working a lot with her teacher. Ms. Brewster was so proud of how hard she's been working, how determined and what a wonderful attitude she's been having about it that she felt she deserved the Scholar award this month! The surprised, immediate blush then pure joy and pride on her face brought tears to my eyes that I tried to cover! Ha! I'm so proud of her but more important she's so proud of herself. I always tell her hard work pays off and this is one of those times she realizes it. I'm so very thankful to Ms. Brewster for so many reasons. She's truly such a wonderful, caring and patient teacher. The kids adore her and so I do! She's very special to my heart! :O) After Haylee got her award I told Ms. Brewster thank you so much for having faith in Haylee and that her showing Haylee that she deserved this award was a huge boost for Haylee and her confidence! So today was a big day and a very happy day! I'm going to hang Haylee's award in a frame and put it up in her room so that she can always see how her hard work paid off.

So end of mushy mom moment and here are the pics I took throughout the morning. It was cold and cloudy outside but so worth it!

Lined up waiting for the bell to ring...

Silly girls...

That's Haylee's BFF on the left and don't ask me what's she's doing on the right...

So I was watching Lil Miss L today! She dropped all her Cheerios as you can see. She was trying to reach them to pick them up and couldn't. So she then stuck just one finger out and stuck it in the middle of one Cheerio and got it! I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Then sweet Lil Nugget waiting for the show to get on the road...

Nugget & Daddy hangin out...

Almost her classes turn...

I sadly didn't get any of Haylee's face when her teacher called her name! But what you can't really see in the left pic is that she's blushing like MAD! So cute! If you know Haylee you know her expressions. This is one of my favorites! :O)

And the best pics of the day! Look at how beautiful her teacher is! I love you Haylee and I'm SO proud of you!

So that was Haylee's big day! Thanks for looking and hope you all have a great weekend!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

New Years + camping + good friends = Good Times!

So better late than never right! :O) I took over 400 pictures while we went camping and edited 196! It was hard to narrow them down...which was my biggest hurdle. So it's a big post and part 1. There are only a few pics on the 2nd post!

Over New Years Eve weekend we went camping in Dove Springs. We had a blast and are actually going again this weekend! But I won't shoot nearly as much this time! Lol!

So the first afternoon is was just Eric, the girls and I. We stopped to load up on water & we stretched our legs. Avyree found a stick and was playing Harry Potter. She is usually Ron...

And I think Daddy was Hermione...teehee....

Haylee really enjoyed walking Lily around. I LOVE these pics...

Then once we got everything settled we headed out in the Jeep for a drive! Here are some of the sights we saw on the way. Notice the top right mountain...teehee...

We drove all the way up to the snow. It was a fun and very beautiful drive. We found a good place to stop so the girls could play in the snow...

Let the snow fun begin...

As you can see Eric & Haylee had fun but Avyree wasn't feelin the snow as much...

I wanted to test out the FPS on my new camera. Love these...

It was so beautiful, green and "MOIST" up there that I couldn't resist the moss...

On the road again...

My usual self portrait and Nugget in the mirror...

Our camp before everyone else got there...

Beautiful Lily. She was SO good the whole trip...

Haylee really loves Lily. More so now that she watches "Pit Boss" all the time...

Haylee, Nugget and I. Give a kid dirt and she can play in it ALL weekend...

Our sad pitiful attempt at a fire with the wood we found on the side of the road...

The sky was beautiful with the clouds over the moon...

Bina arrived while it was still daylight and Brian, Darlene & Kalaya arrived after dark...

The toys...

This shot is out of order, but you can see the start of our sad little campfire...

Brian playing on Kalaya's Quad...

The next day was beautiful outside and we had lots of fun. Eric getting ready for a ride...

Pete & Duane showed up sometime early in the morning and this is what we saw when we woke up. Apparently Pete isn't so GOOD with the 4 wheelin...

Lily locked in the 5th wheel watchin Chopper running around...

Bina...

Daddy & Nugget...

Kalaya, Brian and Chopper...

And cute, sweet crazy little Chopper who wasn't so fond of Lily. Poor Pit Bull. The 2 dogs she's met haven't like her even tho she loved them. Lol! So much for vicious Pit Bulls!! Lol...

Checkin out Brian's buggy...

The girls hard at play...

With the boys hard at play with their toys and the girls hard at play with the dirt, the big girls went for a walk. Bina & Dar and the nasty huge desert ants...

Thought this little green furry thing was pretty...

On our walk Brian roosts us with dust and we cover our cameras...

Then it was Eric's turn. I hid my camera under my shirt when he got close...

Pretty desert weed...

So of course Pete had to join in on the dust fest. The was the only time he rode his bike the whole time he was there and for maybe 2 minutes! Loooooooooser....

Haylee finally got the courage to try Kayala's Quad. Watching Kayala ride and seeing it wasn't that scary gave her the courage to try it. And she LOVED it. So we are now shopping Quad's for her. Then Kayala had to jump in to get a turn...

Dar, Chopper and Big B on Kayala's Quad...

Eric riding Avyree around like he used to with Haylee at this age. Avyree has a love/hate relationship with Daddy's bike...

Silly Haylee...

So as a typical man and dad, he starts doing wheelie's with Avyree and tells me to take pics. Look how hard he's laughing & the look on Avyree's face. Meany...