Holy Cow!!! It's been a while since I updated our family blog. Isaiah, Kelsey and I got involved in performing for the Dicken's Festival. Rehearsals started back in September and the performances were the first weekend in December. Kelsey did a great job as Tiny Tim and Isaiah was, in my opinion, the cutest orphan you ever saw. All three of us had a great time.

Next came the last two weeks of the semester for me, so I was busy writing final papers and studying for finals. I ended up with straight Bs. I would have preferred As, but at least I don't have to repeat any of my classes.

After finals, I had a week before the kids got out for Christmas break... AAAAAAACK! So, I had to decorate the house, get all my shopping done and still manage to keep from going insane. I succeeded, barely.

Now we are into January. The kids went back to school on Monday, and I started the new semester as well. This time I am taking "Elementary Astronomy" and "Understanding Movies"... both will help with the requirements for my Associates degree.

Well, I will have to write more later. At least we have updated a little bit.

ER Excitement

WARNING... if you are sqeamish, you may not want to look at the pics!

Yes, you are reading correctly. We spent the afternoon in the emergency room. By we, I mean Kelsey and I. My friend Luella watched the other boys for me. I was on my way to pick up Kelsey and Isaiah from a birthday party when I got a call from the other Mom. She said, "Your son has broken his arm." Of course, I automatically thought it was Isaiah. But nope...




I was only a couple blocks away, and when I pulled up all the other kids were around Kelsey who was just laying on the ground. When I got up next to him, it was obvious it was broken. So we called our pediatrician, who met us within 10 minutes, right around the corner from home. He decided to have us meet him at the ER for an xray, and to get someone a little more specialized. I think Ben's cousin Kelli would have to say we got the cutest doctor available. (Thanks Ed!)



Dr. Prince, and Dr. Nielsen were great. And, Kelsey didn't even cry. They numbed his arm up pretty good in order to "reduce" it. Kelsey said it didn't hurt while they were working on it, and I never saw any look that told me otherwise until I took a good look at the pics. Ha Ha Ha!!!



It took the doc a while to work the arm back into place. After trying it manually a few times, and with a couple of extra hands, Ed decided to use a "lever" and hope it worked.




Luckily it did, and then they were able to put the cast on. As of 10:00 pm, his arm is hurting a bit, but he doing well. Now he's finally sleeping, and seems to be comfortable. And I am ready to get some rest as well.

Back To School

Well, Shaea has officially started school again. This semester I'm taking Math 1050, English 2010, Nutrition, and Human Development. I think it will be interesting.

The boys are doing well so far. They did DRAs for the beginning of the schoolyear. Kelsey's teacher said he did well in everything except for writing. And we all know he can do it, he just won't. Isaiah's reading scored were really high. Level 28... the highest they allow for 2nd grade. This concerns me a little, because it doesn't seem like they have left much room for growth. Reas loves PreK and has enjoyed taking stuff for show and tell.

Well, that's it for now!

Honk! is coming to an end.

Well, it's almost here. Kelsey and I only have a few performances left of Honk! It's a good thing too. School started last week, and this week we are going to have a hard time balancing homework and the show. Hopefully Kelsey will be able to get it done though. As for me, school starts next week, and I am looking forward to the new classes. Another math class, and some of my other Gen. Eds. Isaiah is excited, he got the teacher he wanted, and he seems to like all of the other students in his class. He is only sad that his best friend/cousin Morgan isn't in his class this year. Reas started pre-school last week too, and he loves to go play with his best friend McCray. We are having fun, and looking forward to the next few weeks as we get settled into a regular schedule of activities and school. Gotta run for now!

"Honk!" makes it into the newspaper!

Kelsey and I were pretty excited to open the newspaper today. There was a small picture on the very front page and a full page article in the LIFE section about the show. Kelsey is in the main photo that they used, just to the left of "Ugly". How fun to have this for our scrapbooks!

Here is the link:

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200808010455/LIFESTYLE/808010329

Counting Down!

Kelsey and I are counting down to opening night for Honk! We start the performances on Friday the 25th, and we will continue on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday until the 23rd of August. We hope that all of you local yokels get to come see us! Just call me and I'll let you know whether or not the understudy is performing or not. See Kelsey's post for some pics of him in the show, and my post for other pics from the show.

(I'm the one in the blond wig, and Kelsey has his back to me.)

By the way, we are looking for some creative ways to get Reas interested in using the potty. Email me if you can help!

Well, hello. It's time for another update on "The Heaton Bunch".
Ben is still keeping busy cleaning windows, and not a whole lot has changed. He comes home every day around lunch time, and watches the kids while Shaea goes to school. He has been really supportive of Shaea and her schooling. Tomorrow, Shaea will take her last final of the summer, and be done with school until late August. Just in time for the play to get into full swing. (See Shaea's Dramatic Adventures for more info.) She is about ready to trade the kids for some puppies. Puppies might be easier to keep under control than the boys. (JK)
Kelsey has been pretty good, and been a great helper on most days. He has also been keeping really busy at rehearsals with Mom. Isaiah is tired of helping out around the house, and wants Mom to do everything for him. Sometimes I think his ears are broken, but I then I ask if he wants ice cream, and they work again real quick! Reas is happy to help with whatever he can, as long as it's in the morning after a good nights' rest. Once the afternoon comes around, he starts getting cranky, but he won't take nap. The he gets his second wind and becomes a tornado, leaving Thomas trains and tracks, and CARS scattered everywhere his path crosses.
This past weekend we went to the Ranch for a family reunion. It was really fun to see the family who was there, but it would have been nice to have even more there. We all enjoyed watching the kids do races, thanks to Uncle Jason. We got rained on a little bit, but it felt nice and cooling. A huge relief from the heat back at home. We also had fun with the guessing jars, and the kids were excited that Mom won a jar full of bugs. (Plastic, thank goodness.) Isaiah tried to share his "talent" of sounding like a goose, but he had done it so much during the day that he couldn't when everyone was watching. Oh well.
After we got home, Shaea and the boys went and picked up the new kitten that was waiting for them. After three days, we have finally decided to call her Snickers. She is a long-haired Calico type of cat, with a little white strip down her nose. I will post a photo of her later. So far, she won't hold still for very long, so all of the first attempts at pictures turned out all blurry.
Well, that's it for now. Keep an eye out for the promised pics in the near future.

Going Quackers!!!

Well, I've been back to school for a few weeks now. In I took my Final in my Education class yesterday. My Math class still has 4 weeks left. I've done pretty well in school. I work really hard, and I've managed to keep my grades all As and A-s. Every time I get straight As (that includes the A-) we all go bowling. This way the boys are more likely to let me get homework done.

In addition to school, I have been cast as the lead role on the musical "Honk!" Kelsey is joining me as part of the ensemble. The play is basically the story of the Ugly Duckling, how he gets lost and how his mother searches for him. I'm the Momma duck! The music is fun, the cast is small, and everyone is really fun to be around. Opening Night will be July 25th, a week after I'm done with school. I can hardly wait! (See my other blog, Shaea's Dramatic Adventures)

We have started a new point system for our chores. Ben & I came up with a list of chores that need to be done on a regular basis, and assigned each chore a point value. Each one of the boys has to do a certain number points every day, except Sunday. This seems to work really well. They don't have to the same thing every day, unless they want to. Isaiah really likes doing the dishes, and Kelsey likes laundry and toilets. Reas gets points for helping anybody with a chore, or using the potty without being asked, since he's too little to do much else by himself.

Well, that's the latest for us! I'll write more another day... Have a great day!

Mom's done with school... but not for long!

OK, so I am obiously not going to be the world's best at keeping up this blog. I can at least try to get on here as much as possible. So here goes:

Woo hoo!!! I'm out of school for a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure that I got straight A's. For a full load of classes, that's pretty good. I have been very tired, but I made it through this semester.

The boys only have a couple of weeks left of school, and my summer session starts the Monday of their last week. They have been really good about me being gone in the evenings. With my schedule, I was gone on Monday until after their bedtime, but the other days we still spent a lot of time together.

Ben is still as busy as ever, and me going to school has just made him squeeze it all into less time. During the summer we have scheduled it for Ben to be home in the middle of the day when it super hot, and I will be in class. It might be a little tight on our family time, but it'll work.

Well, I've gotta go for now. TTFN!!!!

Getting Started

Well, I am going to try this whole blogging thing. Hopefully I will be able to keep everyone up to date on what is happening with the Heaton Bunch. By the way, I chose the name Heaton Bunch, because we're all a little bananas... ha ha ha.

I would enter our most recent family photo here, but I can't seem to find it on this computer. I will hunt it down later, and post it.

Now, I need to go do my homework, so I won't fail my classes. Bye!