Scotty Loves

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Scotlyn sent a letter to a boy at school. His mom emailed me a copy of it since I had not seen it. It's starting already. Jared, get ready. . .

Shiver Me Timbers!

The Nashville area witnessed some severe weather and even some tornadoes today. The winds were so fierce that our house shook. I guess it was even strong enough to make one tree (the rotting, dead one) in our backyard collapse, which also broke our fence, which broke another tree that was already bent from another storm, and then landed gracefully on the neighbor's fence without making a dent. Jared had lots of fun with the chainsaw! He was all smiles! He's off to Home Depot as we speak to get some more fence slats!

Brooke Anna Banana

I miss my family. My niece, Brooke (my sister's daughter), just went to Prom on Saturday and sent me pictures. She is growing up so fast! She will be off to BYU in the fall. I'm excited for her but bummed that she's grown up. Brooke is a beautiful, spiritual, intelligent, bubbly person and she has a bright future! I love you Brooke Anna Banana!

By George I Think She's Got It!

More pictures of the big day!

For a while there Scotlyn thought she was really getting married. Gavin told her he didn't want to marry her but he had to because he was the one with a suit. Funny. It was a great opportunity to remind Scotlyn about temple marriage. I was glad to open up that conversation and why people get married. It was a funny way to do it, but gave us a chance to talk as a family about eternal families.

Hitched!

Today Scotlyn was the bride for her class "Q-U" wedding. Her groom, Mr. Q. and she was Miss U. It was to teach the children that "q" and "u" always go together. The whole thing was hilarious. The groom didn't really want to marry Scotty, he pouted the whole time. After they were wed, the "minister" said they may now hug and Scotlyn grabbed Gavin and gave him a HUGE hug. It was so cute! They all sang "Going to the Chapel". They had white snack cakes after for the reception. I have video of the event but I have no idea how to put a video on here. Somebody HELP!!!!!

We Are Marshall

Jared and I watched "We Are Marshall" (PG) last night. I enjoyed it very much. After a plane crash claims the lives of 75 members of the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff, young coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) and his assistant (Matthew Fox) try to keep the program going, despite the emotional weight of the accident and the concerns of the community. It was an inspiring flick and I highly recommend it. Being married to sports fanatic, I have watched just about all movies about sports known to man, and this ranks up there with "Remember the Titans" and "Rudy" as far as inspiring stories.

Bryn the Brain

Bryn is so smart. She got on Principal's List again (that means she has straight A's)! I'm so proud of her! She works really hard on her homework and other projects and always does extra credit when it's available! She really impresses me with her drive to excel in her education! Good job, Brynny!

Giggly Girl

I sure love my Brynny! She is such a help to me! Her giggle is contagious and she always has a joke to tell! She has brought so much joy to our lives! Thanks for being you, Brynnels!

Primary Peeps

We had our Primary Activity last Wednesday and I would say it was a huge success! Almost all of the primary children participated and even some of their friends! We had different workshops for them to discover a new talent and had yummy nutritious treats at the end!

Shore To Be Shore

The little leprecaun's came to our house for St. Patty's Day. The wee little lass's put their shoes out the door in hopes that they would get lucky! Shore to be shore they did--green candy and green shirts!

I Wanna Be A Supermodel

My lifesaver, Jill, took Coco to her house today so I could recover from sinusitus. Her daughter, Reagan, is so beautiful and she and Coco are buddies. Apparently they got into the lipstick and, as always, found dresses to try on for their impromptu photo shoot.

Daddy Daughter Day

Since Jared has been working really hard lately with revamping the website and whatnot, he decided to take a day off today to play with his girls. He started off by taking them to get Happy Meals from McDonalds, followed by a trip to see the ducks and walk around the pond. Then, we came back home and in true journalistic/editorial fashion Jared helped Scotty make a picture of the things she saw on our trip to the pond and helped Bryn write a story (I will share them both in another post). Coco played blocks with him. I think everyone had a genuinely good time and he even thought of me--I got pretty purple flowers out of the deal! Thanks, Jared!

My Backyardigans

Yesterday we went to Charlie Daniels Park (named after THE Charlie Daniels who sang "The Devil Went Down to Georgia") in Mt. Juliet with some friends. The park was packed with people. The temps were in the 70s and people were just itching to get out since it's been so cold. . .for Tennesee anyway. After we went to the park we went to our friend's house and played on their trampoline. The girls had so much fun in the sun! Coco likes to bully her sisters when it comes to the trampoline. She doesn't want anyone jumping while she is. She pouts when she has to get off. It's so funny how possessive she is about the whole trampoline thing.

Matchy-matchy

This picture was taken at church yesterday. I thought it was cute how Brooke and Coco matched! Coco LOVES Brooke! By the way, shout out to Brooke for helping me with Coco at church last week during the baptism! THANK YOU!

Snowwomen

Snow fell once again late Friday night. The girls got to play in it on Saturday before it melted. Our friend, Melody, loaned us their boogie-board and the girls got to slide down our sloped yard a couple of times until the grass made it unslideable (is that a word?). Anyway, they had a good time with pops playing and drinking hot cocoa. I was sick with a cold inside but Melody made me some YUMMY chicken soup! Thanks Melody!

Careers

Jared was a presenter at the Career Fair at the girls' school. He did an outstanding job and really involved the kids. It was successful!

It's Here!

The new look of www.Newschannel5.com is here! YEAH!!! Jared has worked very hard the last few months on this project. Check out the story to find out what's happening: http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=7979484

If Friends Were Flowers. . .

These beautiful flowers were given to me from my wonderful friend, Jill. Attached to the flowers was a very thoughtful note that said, "Sandy, you truly are a rose among ordinary flowers!" How sweet is that? She was with me the night before when I had a less-than-positive experience and she wanted me to feel better. What an extremely great example she is to me! Jill, you rock!

Little Author

Scotlyn was one of 2 children in her class chosen to write a story and present it last night at her school's Writer's Night. She had to get up in front of everybody and read it aloud. She did GREAT! She was a little nervous, but she didn't show it. Good think we got the "googly eye" out first. . .whew! It was a marathon day! Good job, Scotty!

No school AGAIN

As Jill and I were leaving Book Club last night we saw snow all over and knew immediately that there would be no school today. I was thankful Jill was driving her big, safe Suburban because we made it home with no problems. It's not that it's a lot of snow, it's just enough that most Tennessee natives freak out and make mistakes. Turk, having never seen snow until we moved here (he was just a puppy) was growling at the snow and trying to chase it. Then, because he's such a pansy, whimpered at the door to be let in. He just keeps staring out the window. Coco is equally as stunned about each snowfall since she was only 16 months when we moved here and doesn't remember the state from whence she came and how it has the greatest snow on earth.

Girly-Girl

Everyday Coco's room has a pile of clothing laying in the middle of the room. While I'd like to blame it on her roommate, Scotty, so she can clean it up, I know that this is the work of my girly-girl. Coco insists on trying on several dresses each day. She will wear one for a couple of hours and then switch to another, and another. I am constantly tying, zipping, buttoning to suite her fancy. I know she feels glamorous each time because she twirls and asks, "how do look?".

Googly Eye!

I went to pick the girls up from school yesterday and as I'm waiting in the car line, Scotlyn's teacher comes up to the van window and tells me Scotlyn has (who later told me she was doing an "speariment") stuck a "googly eye" (commonly found on art projects) up her nose. Now, her teacher was a little panicked but, since I know Scotlyn's "speariment" history (she also stuck a glob of playdough up her nose once), I wasn't too concerned. . .until I couldn't see it in her nostril. I took her to the ENT doctor since her pediatrician didn't think they could get it out. It hurt her pretty bad to have them attempt to remove the "foreign object" and she wasn't going to let them until she found out that if they didn't she would have to have surgery to remove it. Thankfully, she complied and out came googly eye. Her "speariment" was concluded and her hypothesis was realized.

Little Sister Missionary

After church yesterday Scotty got a call from her non-member friend. They were talking about their day and Scotlyn said, "Listen, Kalaila, I just got home from church. . .What? You don't know what church is?? You know, it's where we learn about Jesus Christ." Her tone was exasperated and she used her hands (just like her mom) to emphasize. She's already becoming a little sister missionary! In fact, she also pretends that she's going on a mission by packing up a little bag and walking upstairs. When she comes down the stairs, she acts like she's getting off the plane and tells everyone how much she's missed them. We hope she keeps that goal of hers to go on a mission someday!