The end of the year brings summer.

The end of this year was full of fun times, watching our kids graduate not only from their current grades but in life.  Both graduating kids becoming more mature and more capable.  The end of the year also came with lots of tears as we see our babies grow before our eyes and of course as we watch Kyle graduate himself, from a loved job of 10 years.  It's hard to capture all the emotions, I suppose some really great song could be born out of it.  We should probably capture those creative juices and make something great, but for now I will just share a little tribute to each of the Kivetts that graduate on to something new.

Sarah Ann Kivett

This year when she started school I left her many days in tears, scared to go and really missing me.  The bus was always a struggle, causing her GREAT panic and me GREAT embarrassment. In fact you can scroll back to my old blogs, look in the September/October area to find a whole blog on our worst bus day ever.  Now she is happy, a monkey bar queen, always wants to go to school, LOVES to run ahead of her brother to the bus, leaving me on the porch waving them off.  She has made tons of friends, and even a special best friend.  She won the heart of her teachers one telling me she wasn't at all the same little shy girl that started school all those months ago.  She can read, do math and makes amazing pictures and crafts.  She is about to start the adventure of piano lessons but does not want to be known as a first grader until September.  She has made that very clear.  I think over all, a hugely successful year.  And the extra special bonus is that she talks freely about Christ and what he has done for her, she LOVES her Bible and I hear her singing songs from church all the time.  Love that girl!

Here are some pictures from her end of the year program.
Here is Becca her "best" school bud.
Mrs. Croser and Sarah, this was Sarah's teacher this year.

Alexander Allen Kivett

A boy that's been described as someone with "big feelings" by his first grade teacher.  The kid that told his teacher we were "going through a divorce and he had two houses", that was awesome considering we are about as far away from that as possible, he wanted the attention.  The kid that went to the principles office more than once for spanking Will, oh boy.  But he is also the boy that loves whole heartedly, that sympathizes with our trials, that has a new semi passion BASEBALL, and that is usually willing to lend a helping hand.  He managed by the end of the year to get the principles award for good behavior choices, not allowing his "big feelings" to control his every move.  He is reading like a champ, getting really good at math and is concerned about such things as "germs" and "what to do in case of a fire".  He wants to be a police officer, or a guy that fights in a war.  He also is about to start a new adventure, guitar lessons with daddy.  He always wants to have his Bible at church and likes to even reads it on his own.  Love that boy!

Here he is celebrating his summer  birthday the last week of school.
Alex and his teach, she was so awesome with him.
Alex and his best "bud" Will.
Rm.  22 - what a great experience he had there.

Kyle Alexander Kivett

Graduating is a bit more difficult for this man that I love so much.  We have both struggled with saying goodbye to Gladstone.  Most of you know why, but in short we love the people there and the opportunities this job provided for our family.  We have cried lots of tears over this and I have grown to respect my husband even more.  Seeing the outpouring of love and support - they are throwing a benefit concert in the hopes to raise enough money to cover his salary - has made me realize that he is truly living out Christ's love, even though he can't officially talk about it.  It's clear that the kids and parents in Gladstone know what is most important to Kyle, and that they feel loved for, cared for, worried about and educated by this amazing man I get to call husband.  I love that man!

Rehearsing for his last graduation at Gladstone.  So serious!
The whole band on the stage right before graduation.
Crying his eyes out as his kids throw a fair-well concert on his last official day at work.
Conducting those kids one last time.
The standing ovation, which was followed by gifts and several hours of signing year books and giving hugs.
Just a couple of the students that have added to the difficulty of saying so long to that job.
Some of the die hards that lasted the 4 hours.  Some actually waited that whole time just to get him to sign their books.
Kyle and Mandy, my new friend, a.k.a. the choir teacher.
We had to go back one day this week to clean out all his junk, and here are the kids playing like monkeys in the storage units of his brand new band room, that he only got to teach in for a few months.  Boo.
I love all my graduates, and our life is taking a new turn in a lot of ways.  We are trusting God, finding peace in His promises and trying to still enjoy the summer, even if it has meant the beginning of unemployment for our family.  Thank you God for the love we share and how awesome my family is.

Nothing a little cuddle....

....and a lot of prayer can't help you through.  I am going to try and keep this post short, because I know after the week I will have a huge post full of pictures to share.  But, as I'm sure you all know, Kyle was let go from his teaching job last week.  This has been so sad for us, not to mention scary and confusing.  At the head of our emotions is the loss of that place, those kids, and what that job has grown to mean for Kyle.  We had all three of our kids while he was there, we grew up as a married couple, we suffered through losing Kyle's mom, and as a result so did his students.  He has counseled countless students who were hurting and been able to lay a foundation of trust that we have learned is so important when teaching, especially in today's world where trust is not always easy to build.  Then you add in the teaching, which he has gotten better at each year.  He has grown mountains in his time there.  It amazes me every year what he gets out of these oddly formed groups, as they frequently don't have the "normal" band instrumentation and he has to arrange and rearrange the music to work for them.  He also taught his kids a huge appreciation for quality music, not always easy when you consider what they listen to on their own time.  Not to mention all the things he learned to do for other teachers, other programs, and the school in general that had nothing to do with his job description.  And he did all these things with a happy heart, knowing that by doing them he was serving others.  

The outpouring of support has been amazing.  From our family, church family, and the community in Galdstone.  They are sad, and as shocked as we are over this decision.  We have been praying a lot, and know others are too.  We both feel strongly that God will take care of us, that this is His plan and that something better is in the wings.  But it's hard not to get nervous, especially when there are basically no jobs out there right now.  I am holding out for a huge contract from Disney for Kyle to do all their arranging.  A girl can dream right? :)

Yesterday our daughter tuned-in to the extra love her daddy needed.  She was his shadow, demanding long cuddles and never leaving his side.  If he walked to the computer, she did, if he sat down, she did, if he was outside, she was too.  It was sweet and I know made him feel extra special.  He'll never get cut due to budget from our family.  It's amazing how that security and love really goes a long way towards healing the heart.  But it will be a sad week, and there will be lots more tears for sure.  Pray for us and especially for me.  I want to hold him up, be his helper mate and we both want to be a living example of Christ's love for us.  We know his students are watching us closely right now, we want to encourage them and see a few seek Christ because of this.  Let this be a victory for Him not a tragedy for us.

I need a nack

Otherwise known as Snack!  This I hear rather often, well actually non stop.  Adam is the only one that actually says nack, has a hard time with those s's.  I never realized how hungary you get just being a kid, it's a hard job you know.  The unfortunate side effect of this constant need for food is that I really can not keep enough in the house.  I am always turning around and realizing that the kid snacks are gone, plus it costs a lot of money to keep these tummy's happy. There are two things that drive me especially crazy about this apparent starvation they are always feeling. 

1.  It never fails that twenty minutes after they eat dinn

er, or really any meal, they are STARVING!  So hungary are they that they can not even function, clutching their stomachs, doubled over in what they believe is a sincere near death experience.

2.  How can you be starving and think that a fruit roll, or a few chocolate chips, or really anything with no substance is going to do the trick.  Why is it the snacks I so cheerfully offer are always met with disgust and that, "I wouldn't eat that if it was the last morsel of food on the earth" attitude?

I know I'm not alone in these frustrations, just chalk it up to the long list of things people don't tell you before having children.  One of those little nuggets that grandparents hold back for the pure enjoyment of watching you battle it out.  And of course they ALWAYS have the good snacks, making true satisfaction at home just a little harder.  I guess I will just have to rejoice in the fact that they are growing, and that I occasionally get some fruit, or truly healthy snack in those little bodies.  I have to realize that a kid that can eat chicken nuggets, a hotdog, cheese and crackers and a banana for lunch (todays meal) probably does need a few extra snacks during the day.

Here is one of my s'nacker, eating a lemon -  He loved it, weird.

A weekend of fun and a day to remember.

What a crazy busy weekend, but truly only full of fun things and special moments.  Most of this post will be told in pictures, because there are just way more then any one really wants to look at.  But I will say I got the pleasure of spending a couple of days with my "bestest good friend" and her kids.  We had no schedule, no events and no need to do anything but hang out.  That is SO rare.  We kept the kids busy and thus tired, which is not a bad thing.  Then on Monday the kids and I headed to Willamette National Cemetery where Kyle's band was playing for their Memorial Day ceremony.  As it turns out that is where my grandfather is buried, so after we watched daddy do his thing we headed on the huge search to find my grandpas grave marker. What an amazing place, and even if you have no one buried there it would be a wonderful way to spend the memorial day.  Your kids could really see a visual of the amount of people that give at least a part of their lives towards serving this country.  Not to mention there are jets and guys with guns and hummers.  Oh yeah!

Adventure #1 was the carousel and the park.  The kids had a blast riding these pretty horses, except Adam, who gets very nervous, had to ride in the wagon the first time and then practically jumped into my arms half way through the second ride he got so freaked out.  Hard to believe that kid has ever been to Disneyland.
A simply beautiful day.  Here they are checking out the water, they later got to wave at the river boat as it passed.  And the girls were so cute, holding hands and loving each other as we walked around the park.  Those two are just precious and they love each other so much.  Makes my heart so happy.
The boys really know how to relax.  
We of course had to have some water fun with this beautiful weather.  After some initial arguing over sprinkler does and don'ts they had a great time.  

I have a feeling we will have lots of pictures like this one of them sunbathing and the one of them below just looking so beautiful.  

Oh those silly boys, they spent some time poking around our creek.  
What weekend wouldn't be complete without the trip to the ice cream parlor?!  Clearly they enjoyed it!
Here are the jets that flew over at the beginning of the ceremony.  We barely made it up the hill and to the spot before they cam whizzing by.  We parked really far away and had to walk up hill to get there.  We never would have made it if this really nice couple had not picked us up in their truck and taken us the rest of the way.  What a nice couple they were.  The kids were the most excited for those jets and Sarah was actually crying at the thought of us missing them, phew we made it.
Here is Kyle's band playing the armed forces medley.  I was so amazed to see so many of his kids give up part of their day to be there.  It truly was an honor.  It's so neat to watch as each theme is played people that served in that branch stood up.  Brought tears to my eyes.  It was also very touching when they did the rifle salute and then played taps.  What amazing traditions that few people really get to witness.  
A couple of pictures of things around the cemetery.  The missing soldier, or is it fallen soldier, is always neat to see.
Sarah sitting in a hummer, the boys are in the front seat pretending to drive.
All the service guys were really nice and posed for pictures with kids.  It was really neat hearing my kids say thanks to these guys, for serving our country.  
Posing in a different Army vehicle.  
Just one of the many hills loaded with flags.  Every single marker had a flag, in the background you can see Mt. Hood if you look really hard.  It was a bit hazy out.
Here we are at my grandfather's marker.  Don N. Price.  He was on subs in the Navy during WWII.  He was also one of the most amazing men I have ever known and I miss him so much!  The kids loved the adventure of finding his marker, there are two Don Price's and the first time we were sent to the wrong marker.  They all have numbers in the corner and that is how you find them, as well as letters marking areas of the cemetery.  cc496 is his number.  I'm very proud of him for lots of reasons but serving our country is right up there.

At the end of the day Alex said he wanted to fly airplanes, or be on subs when he grows up.  But he could always fall back on his first future ambition.....mall cop!

1st Graders Know it All!

Did you know that first graders know it all.  This is something that at least my first grader believes whole heartedly.  I thought this opinion of knowing more then your parents came after double digits.  Came with numbers followed by teen or at least being a "tween".  However I was horribly, painfully wrong.  And what is really scary to me is that my first grader is a boy, what will I do with this lovely girl God has given me.  I fear even greater, "man your dumb", eye rolling, argumentative moments from her.  In fact as I type this I recall just last night my sweet husband saying to her, don't roll your eyes, it's rude.  Oh Lord give us patience and help us not lock them in their rooms until they reach 25.  Now on the flip side, they may be early in the whole, "I'm gonna give you lip at every turn because I know better then you thing", but they still love to cuddle like they are babies.  It's really amazing to me that they still, even Alex, want to curl up on our laps.  That they can be anywhere in the house and hear if I sit down.  Before I know it they are curling up under the blanket with me asking if we can watch a cooking show together.  So sweet.  There are even times when they say, "cuddle with me", or "I need to cuddle with somebody".  That last one they just throw out to the room and hope that either Kyle or I will jump on it, and of course we do.  We are throwing punches and tripping each other just to get there in fact.  So, we will just keep praying - loving them- praying - cuddling them - praying-and teaching them to Love the Lord and that, believe it or not, God has placed us in charge of you not the other way around.  At least, not yet.

Playing Hooky

So I woke up on Friday for my early morning walk and was so happy to get my body moving and my day started.  Then for some reason between that walk and getting the kids up for school I thought "I want a random day of fun with my kids".  It was so pretty out and I thought they would enjoy taking daddy some lunch and then going to the zoo.  We have a membership there and we NEVER use it, so I thought why not.  I got them up at basically the same time and made a deal with them, if they cleaned the upstairs, which was in desperate need, then we could have this really fun day together.  Well they took the bait, worked really hard and at 10:45 we were off on our adventure.  It was such a great day.  Kyle recently had a brand new room built at school so we had fun checking that out.  Then lunch at Taco Bell and this really nice lady that came up to us there and told us we had a beautiful family.  So sweet, the kids were actually being really good and funny so I'm sure that didn't hurt our beautiful standings.  Then off to the zoo we went.  Kyle had to go back to work so I was on my own, but it went GREAT!  We were laid back and just went to see the animals we felt like seeing.  I had luckily packed a ton of snacks, the kids eat non stop these days.  They cleaned me out and wanted more.  We even rode the train, which used to be a longer ride but was still a blast to them.  The baby elephant was super cute and I really enjoyed watching them just have a fun day with me.  The worst part was of course the walk to the car.  It's all up hill out of that Zoo to get back to the car so I had to carry, in shifts, the two younger ones.  Alex begged me but he was where I drew the line, I wanted to live to see another day after all.

Now here are way to many pictures, as usual, for you to enjoy :)

Sarah took her video camera that she got for her birthday and shot a few of the fun moments.
They all loved finding where we were on the maps.  So cute.
Trying to take a  self portrait.  Hard with this many people.
On the train.  They thought it was great, but really not what it used to be.
A nice person took our picture, good thing because we were having no luck the other way.  We tried several times.
Elephant booty, see the cute baby.
The elephant museum was actually really cool.  We stepped in to address a serious boo-boo that Adam had gotten and ended up enjoying strolling through there and looking at all the cool stuff.  Especially this mastodon. (sp?) 
Alex LOVES bats.  Although he made a funny observation that they look just like our dog Padme'.  Scary.
We were all a little concerned about the Naked Mole Rats.  
Here is my little sweetie in the cutest mask.  These were actually pretty reasonably priced compared to most of the things there, but I could not convince anyone to buy one.  I thought it was cute and they had about 15 different animals to choose from.

A super fun day!

Blog Makeover!

I have been wanting to do a little blog makeover for a while.  I have time on my hands today, always a blessing, so thought I would just make that happen.  You will see I have included a new section - cooking tips.  I have had a few people request that I give some helpful cooking, especially baking, tips.  I love to bake, it's a hobby I enjoy greatly, and so I will pass on some of my favorite recipes and cooking tips.  I hope you all enjoy it, and let me know if there are any requests for specific tips or recipes.