Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are back in Texas for Thanksgiving and have had a really good time so far! We came in early (Saturday evening) so we would have a chance to visit everyone and help with all of the preparations for Thanksgiving dinner. Gracie wasn't a great traveler this time around though. She has made every trip with us since she was a puppy, and this was the first time we ever had any trouble with her. She had her comprehensive snout to tail check up the day before we left and ended up having to have 8 teeth extracted, so I guess that is why she was so fussy. She whined the whole way here, and that is something that she has never done. There was another dog on the plane and he was so good. I told Gracie she needed to take notes! Hopefully, she won't be crabby on our way back home.

We were here early enough to spend my birthday with all of the grandmas too. We ended up going to Copeland's and had the best dinner ever. We of course got the onion mum, and I got my First Kiss martini and the garlic fillet with a potato and banana's foster for desert. It was AMAZINGLY good, and so was Bouke's creole and his Crash and Burn. The only Copeland's left in Texas is in South Lake at the Marriott, so we had a little bit of a drive. It was worth it because it was SOOOOOO good, and the hotel was already decorated for Christmas. Bouke and I had our traditional margaritas at Mexi-Go the first night we got in, and left the kids with Nana. We ate at the Prairie House and La Finca as well, so our tour of food has been complete. Mom and I have been cooking all day, so we have decided we are doing take out tonight, so Bouke and I are heading over to the sushi place for some creamy shrimp and california rolls.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and everyone will be over early. We are anxious to see Aunt Kathy, Uncle Larry, Granny, Jennifer and Madolyn and I am sure that it will be a nice day. I still have to make the creamed corn, but I don't know if I will be doing that today or tomorrow. I was planning on making some crab dip as well, but I am sure we will have enough food, but I love cooking so much, that when we start doing all of this, I just keep going!

Well, Cameron is now a rank higher in martial arts. We are getting ready to enroll him in black belt training, and he is very excited about that. He will get the black uniform too, and he is excited about being very ninja! Alyssa and Mikayla are wrapping up their quarters at school when we get back and Alyssa will have her finals right before Christmas break. They are all growing up so fast, and continue to amaze us every day, we are so proud of them!

Well, that is about all that is going on in our world for now. Bouke is heading to Canada to meet up with his business partner when we get back to CO, and his business is rocking and rolling right along! I will write some more later, but until then..........HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Fall Is Here!!

I am so happy it is finally fall! This is absolutely my favorite time of year! The air is cool, the sky is a beautiful blue, the mountains have snow on the tops, and the leaves are changing color.

In true Hale form, things have been crazy busy around here. School started and the kids LOVE their teachers and classes. Alyssa is adjusting to high school very well, and Mikayla loves having the entire middle school to herself. Cameron is 'king of the hill' being a big fifth grader, and he is looking forward to the 5th grade trip at the end of the year to Snow Mountain.

Mikayla is anxiously awaiting volleyball season as she has decided to only play that sport this year, rather than that and basketball. I was a little surprised to say the least, but she has decided she likes playing that better. She loves her art class in school and just found out that her art teacher is having her first baby. The whole class is excited about it, and they are all offering help and advice to their teacher. She is really growing up, and it is hard to believe that in a few months, she will be a teenager too. Time sure does fly.

Cameron has been Mr. Ninja in his martial arts class! He just had his 2nd test, and is now a full yellow belt. He was SO good during testing, and is doing an amazing job in class. In fact, he is doing so well, that his instructor (and 3rd degree black belt in 4 different types of martial arts) has invited him to enroll in black belt training. This is by invitation only, and we are super proud of him! He is also doing very well in school this year. Last year was quite an adjustment for him coming into such a demanding school, especially after what he had experienced in the past, but he has found his groove this year and is doing very well.

Alyssa has just had her first Homecoming of her high school career. She had a total blast all week! She participated in each spirit day, helped to decorate the hallways at school, went to movie night, the game of course, (they won 17-0!) and the dance. Her dance was a masquerade them, and she said it was the coolest thing she has ever been to! She looked absolutely beautiful in her dress too. I cried, naturally, because she looked so gorgeous! She ended up going to the dance with several of her friends and danced the night away. She spent the night with all of the girls after the dance, so it was a great end to a great week.

Bouke's business is doing very well and getting busier and busier. He and his partner will be going out of town for a few days next month to finalize some new deals and get some new business. He says he isn't looking forward to going, but I know where they are going, and I can't imagine it being a chore!

Things are going well for my new business as well. I have been on several networking sites, have been working with new clients, and gaining more interest from women from across the country about the program. I missed my conference in NYC in September, which is okay, but there is another one coming up next March in California. I am planning on going to that one.....it isn't New York, but it is closer!

The kids are looking forward to Halloween and their fall break from school. They have already started asking us about going to the Spirit store to look for costumes and decorations. They are sure to be something scary and gory again this year, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with! They are also looking forward to Paranormal Activity 3 coming out in theaters next month, and they want to go to a midnight showing. The girls are also looking forward to Breaking Dawn part 1 coming out in November, and are already planning to have a group of friends join them at Southlands for a midnight showing, and yes, I will be with them!

Bouke and I have found an awesome local restaurant that is by Cameron's martial arts studio. I love it because they have great sushi and bento boxes for lunch, and Bouke likes their satay, and their peanut curry chicken. I can usually talk him into a lunch date every week or so, so I can get my sushi fix! It is really good, and it is a nice place to go for a quiet lunch. It really helps break up the day!

Well, that is about all of the news from here in Hale world. I am sure things will continue to be hectic, especially when volleyball season comes around and Cameron is going to karate three nights a week! Guess I better rethink drinking coffee in the mornings!

It Is Back To School Time!!

The kids are all checked in to school, and it is official. We now have a 5th grader, a 7th grader, and a (sigh) freshman in high school. This summer seemed to fly by, but it was one that will not be forgotten. The girls spent a lot of time with their friends this summer hanging out at The Southlands shopping with friends, hanging out by the pool talking, or seeing all the summer's newest movie releases. Then of course was our trip to DisneyWorld and the beach in July.

The kids had so much fun and we even took in a character breakfast with Donald, Goofy and Minnie Mouse. You would've thought Mikayla was eating with Taylor Lautner with the way she reacted to seeing Donald Duck. She about jumped out of her seat. I thought she was going to tackle him if he didn't come see her. We spent a day at Hollywood Studios and the rest of the time at The Magic Kingdom and the beach. It was hot and humid (of course) so it did take a lot out of us, especially coming in from Colorado, but it was still so much fun. The fireworks at Cinderella's castle and their new "Wishes" display and the Tinker Bell fly over was also very cool to see!! The kids had a lot of fun at the beach, and really enjoyed jumping in the waves and the temperature of the water was awesome as well. We all got some good sun, and had a lot of fun in the water.

Cameron has had his back to school night and met his teacher and he seems to be excited to start a new year. He found out he has some friends in his class from last year, so it will be a good transition for him. We even got to stick our head into his old classroom from last year and see Ms. Williams. We sure are going to miss her this year, but are sure he will have just as good of a connection with his new teacher as he did last year.

Mikayla found out she has friends in her classes and she is happy about that as well. She has decided that she isn't going to play basketball this year, and will only play volleyball. I was surprised to hear that, since she had always really liked playing basketball, but I guess volleyball has taken first place in her mind. She is excited about having 3D art this year, so I am sure she will be making some awesome things. She has heard that her homework load will be heavier this year, and I think she is worried about it, but I am sure she will do fine.

Alyssa has freshman orientation this coming Friday. It will be an abbreviated day, but it will allow her to run through her schedule so she will know where all of her classes are when school starts for everyone the following Monday. I really like that the high school does that and offers so much support to their students, both incoming and current. She has dance and french as her electives this semester, and she is excited about both of them. She is nervous, but excited and she also has friends in her classes and that will help ease her mind I'm sure. I think most of it is fear of the unknown, but I am confidant that she will do fine.

I know it has been all summer since I posted anything, but things have been so busy with running the kids around, to their friends being over, to going to Florida, to getting them ready to go back to school, I haven't had much time to blog. Hopefully this short entry will catch everyone up on what has been going on in the Hale world. I will keep my entries more regular now that school is back in session.

P.S. One last note, we now have a higher ranked martial arts man in the family. Cameron took his first belt test the Saturday we returned from Florida and did excellent! He received his higher rank, and has his next belt test at the end of September. Way to go Cameron!!!

End Of The (School Year) Update!

School is out for the girls and Cameron only has 2.5 days left! Alyssa's 8th grade year ended with a dinner and formal with a "Evening in New York" theme at school. She looked B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L in her royal blue dress, and from the second I zipped it up for her and she turned around, I started crying. I can't believe that my little boo boo bear is going to be a freshman in high school next year and is turning into such a beautiful young lady. She had a ball at school and even danced with her social studies teacher with a group of friends. They taught him (he is a whopping 24 years old) how to do the reject and how to Dougie. She came back from the dance on cloud 9 and ready for their 'senior' trip to Elitch Gardens (six flags) Monday. The entire 8th grade and all of the teachers went for the day. They didn't get back until almost 7:00 that night and bless her heart, she was exhausted! She had a lot of fun, and it was a good thing for her to do, she even got on the big roller coasters with her friends (texting her sister the whole time). It was a great weekend for her and she is still talking about it.

Mikayla wrapped up her first year in middle school with a presentation in her drama class. She did a pantomime with some of her friends in the class to demonstrate some of what she learned during the quarter. It was a really cute play, and they all did a great job. It was fun to be able to go up to her class and see what she has been learning. Drama was always one of my favorite classes, so it was a lot of fun watching her. She doesn't seem to happy about being in the 7th grade next year because she doesn't like the 'new' 8th graders. I think things will be okay, and we are excited to see what amazing teachers she will have next year.

Cameron is heading into his final stretch of school as well. Since he had a 2 week fall and spring break, he has to go to school until the 15th. However, it hasn't been all bad. He had an all day field trip to AmeriTowne in downtown Denver and they all had a great time. He also had another full day field trip at one of the gold mines here and went panning for gold and visited some caverns. He had a blast and came home with a huge rock that he is convinced has silver and gold in it. His last day is a half day so he really only has a little bit of time left. His teacher, Mrs. Williams has been out on maternity leave with her daughter, but we were expecting her to come back for the last week of school. She was able to extend her maternity leave so she will not be back until the 15th, where it is just a half day. Cameron was pretty upset about it because he completely LOVES her. He has been writing her letters and even drew a picture for the baby. His teacher, her husband and their new baby came up to the school last Friday so the kids could meet Maddie. She was born on Mikayla's birthday and the entire class had been a part of the pregnancy along with seeing the sonogram pictures, helping to come up with names, and betting on whether she was having a boy or a girl. They all loved being able to meet her in person, and we thought that was very neat that she did that.

The kids have spent almost every day swimming since school has been out. Thankfully their new swim suits have held up with all of the washings they have gone through. We have grilled and swam and the kids are so tan, so they should be set to go to Florida in July. The weather has been really nice here so it has been great for swimming by day, and sitting by the fire pit and making s'mores at night. Mom and Memaw came up to visit us for a bit so they have joined us at the pool, the grill, and all of the kid's end of the year events. We have taken them for mountain pizza at Beaujo's and will be taking them for a cricket burger as well. They have made the rounds at Caribou and I think they are on their way to having all of the drinks on the menu.

Cameron has begun taking Martial Arts classes. He has his first test at the end of July for his yellow belt, and he is doing well. He needs to make sure that he kicks with the top of his foot when he does his round house kicks, but he is doing very well. We both thought it would help with his focus, concentration, and self esteem. The school he goes to had come to do a demonstration at his elementary school. I took him up to the school for a private lesson from their owner (a 3rd degree black belt!) who worked with him and awarded him his white belt at the end of the lesson. Cameron LOVES going. He goes twice a week, and I think if I would take him up every day he would be fine with that. We might add one more class when school is over, but he just loves it. He takes it very serious, pays close attention, and practices at home. He is doing awesome! I can't believe that next year will be his last year in elementary school; but let's not talk about that because I will start crying again!

The trip to Florida has been booked and the kids are really looking forward to it. They have been looking at all of the rides online and planning what they are riding in what order on the days we are at the parks. We teased them about getting matching family shirts to go to Disney like they have on the commercials, and the funny thing was they were okay with that! We are NOT doing that, but I was surprised they were okay with the idea!

That is the end of the school year wrap up! So as you can see, even though things are winding down, they are not slowing down at all!

13 Days Left.......

I can't believe that we are on the last stretch to the end of the school year. Alyssa has a lot going on for the end of 8th grade. She has a dinner and dance for the end of the year. The dinner is being catered and the dance even has a theme; "An Evening In New York" . Alyssa is wearing a beautiful royal blue dress, and we even found a nail polish that matches perfectly. We are going to get her a pair of shoes dyed to match and then head over to Charming Charlie's for some accessories. She is going to look absolutely beautiful! Not that she doesn't every day, but this will be extra special.

The following Monday she has her graduation ceremony and then she and the rest of the 8th grade will head off to Elitch Gardens for the day. She is very excited about hanging out for the day with all of her friends and teachers. I still can't believe that she is going to be in High School next year. It still seems so surreal.

Mikayla has been working on a project for her science class since January. She has to give a presentation for the entire 6th grade, the deans, the teachers, parents and the principal next week. She has to dress up for this, and that is the funny part. She can't wear jeans or shorts, she has to wear a dress, so we are heading over to Hollister this Saturday to get her something to wear. Thankfully she likes the dresses there, so this won't be such a fight. Mikayla isn't really the dress wearing type. She had her first volleyball game Tuesday night and she made two points for the team. They did really well, and we have another game tomorrow. She really likes playing on the team and is doing really well.

Cameron has to go to school a little longer. Since he had a two week fall and spring break, he has to go to school until the 15th. He is okay with that though, and hasn't complained too much about it. He did really well on his science fair project and on his animal research project on the red wolf. He is doing well in school and really does have a ton of friends. The last time we were at his school with the girls Alyssa was shocked at how popular her little brother is. I don't know why she is surprised, because all of her friends LOVE him, including hugging him every time they see him and texting him often. He will love that when he gets a few years older.

Bouke just returned from a business trip to Miami and has decided we need to take the kids to Florida this summer. We did some checking around and found that we could get some good prices on tickets, so we are heading to Orlando in July for a family vacation. We will have a slight layover in Dallas, so we can drop Gracie off with her Grandmas. We are taking the kids to Disney, Busch Gardens, Sea World and the beach. It should be a lot of fun and we both are really looking forward to taking the kids on this trip. They are super excited about it too, and once the countdown for the end of school is over, I am sure the countdown to Florida will start.

Nana and Meamaw are coming up for a few weeks next month and then we are going to head down to Texas again for a few weeks. The summer will be full, but it will also be a lot of fun!

That is all that is going on in the world of The Hale's. I will post pictures of the girls in the next update

Science Fair

Tonight is Cameron's science fair at school. He did the best job on his project. He took some old baby teeth that we had saved and placed one tooth into Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, Sprite and distilled water to see what the effects of soft drinks has on teeth. He did the whole experiment for a week and a half and the results were pretty disgusting! The teeth in the darker sodas turned black, the mountain dew tooth turned bright yellow, and the sprite tooth turned a chalky white and shriveled up. He had a lot of fun taking it into school on Monday. He said that all of his classmates were really grossed out by the experiment. He did such a good job on it and we are very proud of him. He has to explain his project to some high school students tonight, so he is a little worried about that, but he will do fine.

Mikayla finished up her project on Aztec human sacrifices and that was pretty gross as well. We learned several things about the rituals that were disturbing. She did a great job on it though and I am sure she will get an "A" on it. It was very colorful, and had a ton of facts about all of it. I never knew how many sacrifices the Aztecs performed, and to be honest, historians aren't even 100% sure of the number. It was an interesting project, however morbid it was!

Alyssa is getting ready for her 8th grade graduation/dinner/dance. We got her the most beautiful royal blue dress to wear. We have decided to dye some shoes platinum and I found some nail polish that was the exact same metallic royal blue for her nails and toes, so I am sure we will head over to the nail salon the weekend before. We will also head over to Charming Charlie to see what other 'bling' we can find to complete the outfit. She has been looking at hair ideas too. I have no doubt she will be amazingly beautiful!

That is all that has been happening in our world, I will post some more pictures on the next update!

Crazy, Busy, Beautiful!!

I can't believe that April is almost over and that May is just around the corner. Spring Break is over for all three kids and they are all now back in school. You would think that things would be a little quieter, but that isn't the case. Things are crazy and in full swing as we have headed into the last quarter of the year. The kids are in their last minute push for projects, tryouts and volleyball games. They have new enrichment classes this quarter, but they all seem to be enjoying them. Cameron's teacher is due to have her first baby next week, so we will miss Mrs. Williams for 6 weeks while she is welcoming her new daughter. She plans on coming back for the last few weeks of school, but we will really miss her while she is gone.

We ended up at the Cherry Cricket for hamburgers our first Friday back in Colorado from our trip. Mikayla really wanted a hamburger all week, so we honored her request with the best hamburgers ever! Speaking of Mikayla, her 12th birthday is in 10 days! I can't believe she is already that big, and I am so proud of how beautiful she is inside and out. She is gearing up for Volleyball season and I am sure she will do excellent and her team will do well too. Her basketball team was undefeated, and I am sure the same will happen with this team.

Cameron is finishing up his science fair project. He has taken real human teeth and placed them in different sodas to see the effect of the soda (and all the chemicals) has on your teeth. It is a totally gross project but it is also totally cool! We are having a lot of fun seeing what the effects are and recording the data. He also has an animal project due next month that he is doing on Red Wolves. He has to do all of the research, complete a book and do a power point presentation as well. He is doing a great job on that as well!! He also has a play based on the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs that the entire 4th grade has written and produced. He even has a few lines. They have also written the music, so we are anxious about seeing that too!

Miss Alyssa has been doing a clinic at the high school for the Poms team. She is trying out next week, and she is excited about it. I am super nervous about her trying out, because I know how much she wants this, but I am trying to act like I'm not. I can't watch her tryout, but I will be up at the school waiting for her, as she will find out that day. So I will be at the high school nervously awaiting the results. I know she is amazing and I know she will do fine, I just don't like worrying about it. It totally sucks when they get older and you can't protect them 24/7. So please keep your fingers crossed and keep her in your prayers.

Well, that is all that is going on with The Hales this week. We will keep everyone posted as to what is happening next!

Spring Break!!

We headed down to Texas for Spring Break to see all the family and had a really good visit. We got to see everyone, and Aunt Kathy looks really good. It was 87 when we landed on Saturday, which was quite different from our weather in Colorado. But, the next several days were cool and in the 50's. Since it was overcast and drizzly, it was nice. Thankfully it wasn't to hot.

We got our mexican food and margarita fix, and Bouke had some business to tend to down in Houston, so it was just me, the kids and the grandmas for a few days. We headed to buy shoes, and then we headed to Sam Moon to get some ankle bracelets for the girls and some bows for their hair. They also got to go shopping at Hollister for their early birthday gifts, and came home and modeled all of their new outfits.

Bouke got to go see an old friend for coffee, and catch up with him, and I was able to meet an old friend for dinner and margaritas. We had a lot of fun, and I was even able to meet her two lovely boys.

All went very well, until this morning as we were getting ready to leave for the airport. Bouke got a text on his phone letting us know that our flight had been canceled. I can't believe that they sent that message 2 hours before the flight was scheduled to take off. So we had to call our rental car company and extend the car for a day, and had to scramble to get on another flight tomorrow morning. I guess the good thing is the flight tomorrow leaves early so we will be home early, but the catch is we are expecting 5 inches of snow tomorrow, and all we have is short sleeve shirts and no coats. So that does totally suck. Hopefully, it will hold off until we get home.

All in all our spring break was really good, and we will still make it back in time for the girls to get ready for school Monday. Cameron has another week off, so he will get to sleep in and enjoy some time with his friends. Thank you again Texas for a lovely time, and we will see you again this summer!

Spring Break and Other Items

We are headed into the last few weeks of school before Spring Break. The girls have a week off and Cameron has two weeks off. We are headed to Texas for a week to see the Grandmas and the rest of the family. The kids (and Gracie) are excited about the trip and we are too. We haven't seen everyone since Thanksgiving, so it should be a nice visit.

The girls decided to get their ears pierced again a few weeks ago, so now they have an extra hole in their head. We took them to the mall and waited FOREVER for them to get it done. Apparently it was "let's get our ears pierced" day in Colorado, because we waited in line for close to 2 hours. It was so busy there that there were wall to wall people, plus there were some girls who looked to be about 5th grade doing a scavenger hunt in the mall, so they kept running in and out taking pictures on their phones. Poor Cameron and Daddy had a lesson in patience to learn. Once it was finally done though, the girls were happy and they looked good.

Cameron is now 10 years old! We celebrated his birthday at the Lego store and took him to Pei Wei for dinner. He also requested Cold Stone Creamery for desert, so he got a birthday milkshake. This is the only kid I know that doesn't like cake except the gluten-free chocolate cake I make, so we ended up with ice cream. As long as he was happy, that is all that mattered. He is up to his eyeballs in legos now, and has had a lot of fun building with them.

Alyssa has decided to try out for the dance team at the high school for next year. She is currently involved in a 6-week clinic to learn what they will be expected to do at the tryouts. She doesn't have the actual tryout until the end of next month, so keep your fingers crossed that she makes it. She is such an amazing kid, that I can't imagine her not being offered a spot, but I also know the competition is pretty fierce. They are a championship Pom's team so they can be pretty selective, but she is amazing!

Both girls are gearing up for Volleyball season after Spring Break. Alyssa plays first then Mikayla has her games, so we aren't running the risk of having to have each of them have a game on the same day. I am still trying to find a league for Cameron to play baseball in, but it is harder than I thought it would be, but I haven't given up yet!

Well it looks like spring is around the corner, our weather here has been beautiful, but I also know it can change in the blink of an eye here. We are supposed to be hitting 70* by the middle of next week, but I also know that can change and we can be looking at a foot of snow instead, so I guess we need to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.

That is all that is happening with The Hale Family here in the beautiful state of Colorado! My next update will be from The Lone Star State!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope that everyone reading this had a great Valentine's Day! Cameron came home yesterday after his class party with a very special Valentine that a little girl from another class gave him. She is convince that they are 'made for each other' ! I pulled it out of his backpack and read it out loud (with his permission) to his Dad and sisters. I don't think he had read it yet, because bless his heart, his face turned as read as his shirt! He ran into the other room saying "oh my gosh! I am SO embarrassed!" I did have to grab it from Mikayla who wanted to call this little girl, because she had given Cameron her phone number. Now, I know my son is very handsome, but he is 9 and I am NOT ready for this yet!! I was happy though because they were allowed to make a Valentine at their party for someone special, and I am happy to say that that Valentine went to me, so for now, I am still on top!! The girls came home with candy from their friends, but if they got anything from any boys, we don't know about it. Overall, I think they had a good day.

The girls were gone a lot this weekend. They had birthday parties to go to, and they found out that two of their good friends are moving at the end of the week. They were pretty upset about it, so they spent the night at another friend's house so they could hang out and spend some time together. I know they will miss them a lot, and they won't even get to see them at school, because they are going to a completely different district, so it will be hard. I am not sure what this weekend holds, but if the weather is as beautiful as it has been the last few days, I know they will be outside with their friends all weekend. It has been in the low 60's here, with bright blue skies and some wind, absolutely perfect! If they don't have parties or plans, we may have to take a drive up to the mountains, it is just too pretty to stay inside!

That is about all that is happening here. We are planning our trip to Texas for Spring Break still. It is a little strange, this time last year, we were planning our trip to Colorado looking to move here! What a difference a year makes!

Mikayla's B-Ball Game And All Of This Winter Weather!

Mikayla had her first basketball game of the season last night against the Liberty Middle School Eagles. She and her team won both games! Mikayla rocked it with some awesome plays, and and awesome shot scoring baskets for the Fox's. Their first game was supposed to be on Tuesday evening, but since it was so cold here, school was canceled. It got down to -20 for our low that night (yes, that was the actual temperature) so the kids missed school for 2 days due to the weather. It was a good thing that they went back to school yesterday or I would've been dropping them off at their Principal's house for some tutoring! It isn't like t doesn't get cold in Denver, so we were surprised that they closed school.

A few weeks ago, we headed over to the High School for Freshman night for Alyssa. Bless her heart, she looked so nervous when we got there. We were very happy with what we heard from the Administration and she found several clubs that she is interested in joining. In fact she has already received an email from the Fashion Club about being able to come to their next meeting. She was really excited about that when I told her. She is also thinking about joining the Pom's team and there is a 6 week clinic before tryouts that she is looking at attending. I think the nerves will subside with the more clubs she joins, and she has some friends that are interested in the same clubs as well. Her pre-registration is coming up soon, and I am interested in seeing the courses she will have.

Cameron is getting ready for his Valentine's Party at school next Friday. We have to make his box for him to collect his cards, so I guess we will be doing that this weekend. He has a birthday party to go to as well, so I guess we will be a little busy. Next year will be our last year with the classroom parties and valentines and such, so I guess I better enjoy it while I can. I can't believe that the kids are growing up so fast. It is just mind blowing.

We are planning a trip down to Texas for Spring Break to see the family. The funny thing is, this time last year, we were planning a trip to Colorado for Spring Break to look into moving here! How the tides have changed! The kid's breaks are a little different, Cameron has a 2 week break and the girls only have a week, so our visit will be a little short, but at least we will be able to see everyone and that will be nice.

That is about all that is going on here in the beautiful state of Colorado. It is still snowing today, but not nearly as cold thankfully. So in other words, excellent ski weather!

Happy New Year 2011!!

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything but things went from crazy to insane and are just beginning to settle back down. It was a lot of fun having the kids home from school over winter break. It finally snowed here again before New Year's Eve. We decided to try a new restaurant that we saw featured on Man vs. Food and headed into Denver to go to Duffy's Cricket Burger in Cherry Creek. Holy Cow! They are the BEST hamburgers ever! You can get whatever you want on them and Bouke and I are totally diggin' the cricket burger with cream cheese and jalapenos. The girls got theirs with smoked cheddar and grilled onions and Cameron had one like me and daddy. It was SO cold though the night we went. I think it was 3 outside and I swear even though we lived in Chicago for a while, I do believe that the cold is colder here due to the dryness and the altitude. We had fun though and then we headed home to watch the ball drop in NYC. It was a quiet NYE and that is okay. I did miss going to a party with Bouke, but it was nice to be home, warm and with the kids.

School is back in session and the end of the quarter was Friday. Cameron had a heritage day at school where he was supposed to bring a dish that reflected his heritage and wear something that also reflected our heritage. We are such mutts, it was hard to narrow it down, but what I ended up sending was something Italian. He told me the day before he wanted to take something Russian and the only thing we had here that was Russian was vodka, I didn't think that was appropriate. The kid's have a 3 day weekend in observance of MLK Jr. so they are happy they get to relax this weekend. They have new cell phones, so we have ventured out to find cases that are cool enough for them to like, but other than that the weekend so far has been quiet. Mikayla had a birthday party to go to last night so we were one short for a few hours. It is always strange when one of them isn't with us. We made up the family time tonight by making homemade pizza, and watching a movie just the 5 of us. It was nice.

The girl's have basketball and volleyball season coming up and I guess that will be our next big thing. We have to head over to the High School in a week to pre-register Alyssa for her freshman year. I can hardly believe that she is going to be in high school in a few months. It just doesn't seem possible. She has been thinking about colleges lately since here in CO, they gear their high school curriculum towards what major and University they plan on attending. She wants to study art and graphic design and is looking at Harvard and NYU. I told her I got to go to school with her if she chose NYU. I know she is getting excited, but I also know she is nervous too. I still think she plans on cheering and she is looking forward to trying out at the end of the year.

That is all that is going on with The Hale's at the moment. But I am totally sure that life will be going full speed again too. I like the moments we have some down time. Makes us all appreciate them even more!

Christmas Is In The Air...........

I can't believe that Christmas is only a few weeks away. I haven't even thought about shopping yet! Okay, I have thought about it, then I drink a glass of wine and go to sleep. LOL. We took the kids to a beautiful historical mansion downtown last Saturday to take their pictures for the Grandmas for Christmas. It was such a beautiful day and the sky was so blue. The pictures turned out great! We had a lot of fun with them and now I have to go through all of the pictures, upload them into a book and get them ordered. At least THAT Christmas shopping will be easy. I need to enlarge one of the photos to a 16x20 for us. The last time I enlarged a photo of the three of them to that size, they were in 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade! It has been a while! We took the photos, and I have to say, I am pretty impressed with us!

Friday I spent all day baking the Hershey Kiss Peanut Butter Cookies for the kids. The recipe makes 36, and by Sunday afternoon they were all gone! I guess they liked them! I have been in the mood to bake lately, but then again, it is Christmas, and that is what you are supposed to do! I do wish it would snow though. Here we live in a place where there is supposed to be all this snow, and there isn't any around at all! We drove around Friday night looking at Christmas lights in the neighborhood, stopped in at Caribou to grab a Ho Ho Mocha, and topped the night off with Jim Carrey in The Grinch, which is our favorite holiday movie! It was a great night, and we had a lot of fun hanging out with the kids. We still haven't put out the Christmas gifts from the Grandmas that we brought back with us when we came back from Thanksgiving. I think that would be a little too tempting for them. Not that I don't trust them, but I know it is hard for them, and they would be COMPLETELY bouncing off the walls more so than they are now!

Gracie is ready for Christmas as well. I found the cutest little collar for her, that I need to go pick up so she will be dressed for Christmas. I also found her a sweater with reindeer antlers on it, but I don't think Bouke wants me to get that for her! I think she would look adorable, but he just rolled his eyes at me. That is fine though, she has her Christmas sweater with the snowman so she is still fashionable! I will get around to doing her nails red, but I don't have any green this year. A few years ago when we were still in Chicago, the groomer we took her to painted her nails red and green for us for the holidays. Hey, a girl has to look her best!

Well, that is about all that is going on with the Hale family this week. We are hanging out and hanging on, and looking forward to 2011 and the new promises and adventures it brings!

Happy Holidays!!

Holy Cow, I can't believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK!

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week, of course that means that my birthday is too. I am getting to old, so I am opting again for my 15th Annual 21st Birthday celebration! But anyway, we will be heading back down to Texas for some Turkey and stuffing next week. We have decided to forgo the radiation and the molestation and will be driving down. We are going to pull the kids out of school a day early so we won't be so tired, and to miss the snow that is supposed to hit Colorado Tuesday and Wednesday. The kids are excited about seeing their grandmas and we are too, not necessarily the 13 hour drive though. Gracie of course will be going with us, and she is excited too. She has to get her beauty shop appointment over first before she goes. Can't take a stinky girl to see her grandmas!

We have been spending our time hanging out with the kids. Caribou Coffee is still one of their favorite places to go, and we really enjoy taking them for coffee, and talking to them. The girls have their first dance at their new school tonight. They have spirit week all week at school, and the dance tonight is 70's Neon. They are excited about it, and we are sure they will have a lot of fun. It is only for a few hours, but I am sure they will be talking about it all night. I guess Bouke and I will get a few hours with Cameron to hang out alone. We will have to find a movie on Netflix we haven't seen in awhile and pop some popcorn. That will be a lot of fun! We have a birthday party to go to tomorrow for two sweet little boys and that should be a lot of fun. We are going to the land of huge bounce houses, so I have to make sure not to give the kids a lot to eat before we go!!

All in all, it should be a fun few days; minus the 26 hours in the car!!

Back From Texas

Well, we spent a week down in Texas with all of the Grandmas. We had a good time visiting and catching up with everyone. As you can see, Memaw had a blast! Nana needed me to fix her a pot of jambalaya, so the first day we were down there, I headed out to the store to get the ingredients to make a pot. While we were at the store, Bouke and I picked up a bottle of our favorite Texas wine to have with dinner. Apparently Memaw liked it a lot too, because she got a little silly on it! The girls had a lot of fun teasing her about it too. We even posted some of the pictures on FaceBook, which made her VERY happy! Mom's new house is really nice and she is very happy there. Oma is getting ready to move into her new home as well. She is very excited about it, and we were able to help her get somethings ready for the move as well. Bouke got his mexican food fix at one of his favorite restaurants when we were down there too. We left in time though to make it back to Colorado for the kids to Trick or Treat. Alyssa decided to be a vampire cheerleader, Mikayla was a zombie, and Cameron was a skeleton. We did their make up and put their costumes together, and they looked great! They had a lot of fun trick or treating and ended up with a lot of candy. Bouke took videos of the kids and emailed it to the Grandmas. School started up again today and it was back to reality for them. Cameron didn't feel well though, so we had to pick him up from school this morning. He is doing better this afternoon though, so he will be back at it soon too. I can't believe that October is already over and that it is November with Thanksgiving right around the corner! Holy cow, where does the time go!

Almost Halloween!!

Well, it is almost Halloween! That is one of our favorite holidays, and we can hardly wait! The kids are still deciding on their halloween costumes, but I think they have it narrowed down. Cameron is going back and forth between Scream and Bumblebee from Transformers. Mikayla has decided on being a Gangster Girl and Alyssa has chosen to be a Pirate Princess. Their costumes are really cute, we just need to add the make up (for the girls) and we are ready to go! We are leaving tomorrow for Texas to see the grandmas. We are all excited about seeing them, and I know they are anxious to see us. We will be back in Colorado for Halloween, which is a good thing, because the kids have a lot planned for that night! One of our neighbors is making a haunted house for the kids, so of course we have to go over there. While we are in Texas, Bouke and I have promised the girls that we would take them to see Paranormal Activity 2. Bouke and I saw the first one in the theatre, but the girls didn't see it until it was out on DVD, not really the same. We saw the trailer with the girls when we went to the midnight showing of Eclipse, so we have been waiting ever since June. I guess we will have to leave Cameron with Nana, because there is no way he can sit through that movie!

The girls have finished their first quarter today, and their grades are really good. We are very proud of all of the progress they have all made, and how well they are doing. Cameron has been enjoying the first part of his fall break without his sisters bothering him. He has been playing hard with his friends in the neighborhood, but has yet to sleep in! He is still usually up at 6:00 in the morning!

I am really considering going back to school in the first of the year for my nutritional degree. I have learned so much about nutrition lately and I would love to teach people how to take better care of themselves through their diet and hopefully can get them off of all medications. We need to concentrate more on well care in this country and not so much on sick care. Okay, so that was my little political speech for the day! LOL Well, it is Friday night, so we are going out to dinner. I have been dying for Pei Wei all day! I will post some pictures from Texas at our next update and of course, the pictures from Halloween!!

Fall Break

Wow! I can't believe that the kid's first quarter of school is almost over! Cameron has his fall break from school beginning this Monday, and he will be off for two weeks. He has been doing such a good job at school, and we couldn't be happier! He has the most AMAZING teacher this year, and I just can't say enough good things about her. He has adjusted so well to his new school, and their very high expectations. He really does enjoy school and has a ton of new friends. The girls have one more week of school and then they are out for a week. They began school a week later than Cameron, so they have a slightly different schedule. Both girls are doing very well in school and we are so excited about their teachers and what they are learning. We FINALLY have them in a school where critical thinking is being taught. They are being asked to do a lot of great things; for example in Social Studies, Mikayla got to design her own island. She had an NBA themed island, and she did a FANTASTIC job on it. She had to have different physical features, name them, and then explain how the features impacted her island's weather, climate and population. She really did a great job on it, and we were very proud of her. She is also taking art this year, and is doing VERY well in it as well. She is changing so much, and really growing up. She is such an intelligent young lady and she is really shining this year in ways that we have never seen before!! Alyssa is also doing well in school. Being in 8th grade is definitely harder than she expected, but she is handeling it very well, especially with the very demanding academic school she is in. She has been put into the advanced reading book club that she has in her language arts class and has even had to read The Odyssey and pick out certain aspects of the story and be able to not only explain them, but be able to relate them to current situations in society. They are simply doing great, and we are both so very proud of them!

Bouke is going strong with his new addition to his business of stock trading and promoting. He is so good at picking successful stock picks and is really hitting the campaign hard with Twitter and Face Book accounts. I am so proud of all of the work he is doing, and that he is really enjoying adding a new aspect of business to his existing company. Now for the part of this update, that I am proud of. I am writing an advice article for the Dever area Examiner website. I am the relationship/marriage expert for the area. I write a new column almost daily, and really enjoy doing it. It has been great fun to really research and examine relationships and write about them to help people through difficult times. or simply show them ways to amp up their marriage and relationships. We are heading down to Texas while all three kids are on break to visit the family. It will be great to see them and spend some time with them. I am even not minding the drive down which is something that I usually can't stand! LOL That is about all that is happening here in the lovely state of Colorado with the Hale family; stay tuned for more updates and pictures!!

It Is Almost Time For A Trip To See The Family!

We headed to Mount Evans yesterday since we FINALLY had a little bit of snow on the mountains. And guess what, they CLOSED the freaking mountain!!! Ok, so they didn't close the mountain, but they did close the ranger station at the base of the mountain, which meant we couldn't even make it to Summit Lake. We did stop at Echo Lake at the base of the mountain, and it was beautiful. Well, this is Cameron's last week of school for the month of October beginning tomorrow. He has a two week fall break and will be home with us for a solid week without his sisters to annoy the mess out of him. The girls have two weeks of school left before their fall break, since they are finishing up their first quarter of middle school. We decided to head back to Texas for the week that all three of them will be off of school, but haven't confirmed with the Grandmas yet. We kind of want to surprise them. I think my mom could use the good surprise with all that she has been going through with my Aunt's breast cancer diagnosis. Hopefully, we can see the whole family while we are down there. We thought we would leave that Saturday morning early and drive straight through. We have to be back here in time for Halloween, so that would give us almost a full week down in Texas. It will be great to see everyone again, and I hope we have a good drama-free visit. Margaret is coming over for dinner next Sunday since she will be little man free, so I am planning on making her a big dinner to thank her for all that she has done for us. I am really looking forward to it. She hasn't been over for a few weeks, and I really like visiting with her. She is so sweet, and I love visiting with her. She and I should head out one night for a girl's night out, but this will do until then. Well, fall is definitely in the air here, I just hope it isn't hot and sticky when we go back to Texas. The kids are excited about the trip back, and so is Gracie, she has really missed her Grandmas! I will have updates and pictures from our trip as soon as we get back!

YEA!!! IT'S OCTOBER!!!

Fall is in the air, and it is our favorite season! We have been up to the mountains a lot lately admiring all of the beautiful color of the Aspen trees with their bright yellow leaves. Those against the mountains and the blue skies have ben SO gorgeous! We went to our favorite camp site a few weeks ago, but due to all of the dry conditions lately and all of the wildfires we have had this year, we weren't able to grill our steaks. So instad, we drove around and admired the scenery. We ended up brining our steaks and s'mores home and grilling them on our patio. We lit a fire outside in our fire pit and toasted marshmallows, made s'mores and just hung out with the kids and Gracie. We stayed up until midnight just laughing and telling ghost stories and stories about the past when the kids were younger. It was so much fun! Bouke and I really liked hanging out with the kids. The dive in the mountains was beautiful, and we all really enjoyed looking at the scenery. Next weekend is "Pugs in the Park" downtown, and we have been invited to bring Gracie to play with the other pugs and puggles in the area. They are even having a costume contest; so that means that I need to dig out Gracie's hot dog costume from one of the boxes. We HAVE to get her to the spa that they wil have set up and hopefully get her nails painted. We are really enjoying our life in Colorado, and we can't wait until the rest of the family come up to see us!!

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