Graduation & Mother's Day

After 2 1/2 years of hard work, I went to the commencement ceremony for the University of Phoenix on Saturday - Bachelors of Science in Business/Marketing! I still have 3 months left of classes, but walking definitely gave me the energy I needed to finish. The strange thing is that when you see so many around you that kept going to get their Masters degree, it makes you feel like you shouldn't stop - if they can do it, so can I! Of course, I would need a break because I cannot go non-stop, but I think maybe I should keep going... :-) Aaron was adorable and was so proud - he bought me the camera that I have been obsessing over, a new Canon EOS Rebel XS/1000D! I love it and have been taking pictures nonstop. I would love to take a class to know how to use it better, but I will wait until after regular classes end...

Mikel kept talking about how proud she is of me and it just completely melted my heart. That girl is so sensative and so aware of feelings and emotions that she just makes me want to cry. She is truly amazing!

Sunday was Mother's Day, so the kids made me breakfast in bed: pancakes, coffee, and some sort of apple tart dessert thing with extra sugar and marshmellows that I couldn't bring myself to try. Their cards were amazing, though, and I love those the most. Conner is turning out to be quite the writer and he wrote the best poem:

"The breaks, the bruises, the scratches, the cracks

The kissing them better, and doing all that

The stealing our noses, the putting it back

The making us happy, the making us laugh
We've made you smile, we've made you proud

We've made you upset, we've made you frown

To the chef of gourmet 30 minute meals

To the patient, loving heart we steal

Today you only need one thought

We all love you forever mom"

I got all teary when I read it. Of course, Nik's signing the card was, "I am handsome and you are pretty." He is such a ham! Mikel made a great Mother's Day magazine at school and included tidbits like, my mom is a great cook, takes good care of me, gets her exercise by running up and down the stairs, and loves to shop at DSW. SO CUTE!

Then the whole fam came over to the house and we had pork carnitas tacos and magaritas. Food was AMAZING and of course company couldn't have been better.

I am so lucky to have the wonderful family I have...

New Year's "Resolutions"

So, every year we talk about things that we want to change from the previous year, but there was actually a lot I loved about 2010! Aaron and I got started with all of our remodeling work on the house and I really love that it is starting to take shape as a place that feel like home. No one has had major health issues (except that Nik got his tonsils out), we still have our jobs, and the car that is paid off lasted another year! :-)

That being said, it was a difficult year with Baylee - 13 is a tough age for girls and it makes it worse when you have a split family and are hearing different messages from both sides. As for her ADD, we increased her medication closer to the suggested dosage which has helped some, and moved her into a charter school; extra face time with teachers, increased accountability for her actions, and being able to carry her backpack to classes has been incredible so far. But she is still so sneaky and deceitful, which is hard to deal with. Anything we tell her not to do (going into our room, taking our things, eating in her room, etc.), she automatically tries to sneak around and do. No idea how to stop that, but at least she is really bad at it so we always know when she has been at it!!

As for 2011, these are things that I would like to accomplish:
I would like to finish school. I would like to start taking better care of me, by exercising regularly (by myself if I have to), and by calming down, de-stressing, and not taking it all so seriously. I would like to spend more time doing fun stuff with the kids, including taking our first real family vacation. And most of all: I would like to make my relationship with Aaron a bigger priority - a great start would be reinstituting date night and not letting anything get in the way of our spending that time together.

Summary of Christmas 2010

This year was great for so many reasons! Conner was home for Christmas Eve and day, so everyone was together; I was able to surprise Aaron with his gift; all the kids seemed truly grateful for what santa brought them; and we got to spend a lot of time with family.

As kids get older, it is funny to see their gifts get smaller and fewer while the bills get higher and higher!! Con and Bay didn't have as much to open this year as Mikel and Nik did, but they were very patient and realized what was happening. Bay's "big" gift was tiny, so it was fun to watch her open slippers and books while everyone else got fun stuff, and then when she hit her stocking, BINGO! There was her new iPod. Mikel was expecting her DS so that was not a big reaction, but when she opened her Ivie and Bean books, WHOA! It was so funny...

I never get to surprise Aaron, but this year I got a gift card from work and was able to be sneaky and get him the PS3 he has been talking about for a year. And Aaron got me great jewelry this year - a garnet and quartz necklace with matching earrings and an AMAZING watch. He is so awesome :-) My boss also got me a gift this year which was so great - he bought me a Wii! I have been wanting one for a long time, but since I didn't know how often I would get to play it, didn't get it for myself...

Main gifts from Santa:

Conner - Electric guitar with amp & case

Baylee - iPod and docking station

Mikel - DS, Barbie Jet, EZ Bake Oven

Nik - TONS of Star Wars and action figures (Santa went a bit overboard) and a Mobigo

OH! Can't forget the dogs...Tyson Bear and Lucky Blue had a great Christmas too... :-)

Santa

On Sunday, we went to the annual Chirstmas Brunch with Santa at the country club. The kids look forward to it every year!! Santa and Mrs. Clause arrive in a helicopter to save the strength of the reindeer for Christmas Eve. Mikel is convinced that this is the REAL Santa, since he flies in, looks so great, and brings Mrs. Clause. All others are elves who are just helping out.

Conner and Baylee refused to sit on his lap this year (last year was a HUGE struggle), but they posed nicely for the picture. It is hard to see the kids getting older, but at least they play along nice for the little ones. As long as they remember that Santa represents the SPIRIT of Christmas, and that never goes away, then I am ok with them not thinking he comes down the chimney... :-)

ANOTHER addition....

So, we have been talking for months about getting a little friend for Tyson to play with; someone to get his energy out with and to keep him company when we are at work. We went back and forth about the cost, the mess, the time...but it kept coming back to what was best for Tyson.

Well, Aaron made up his mind when he saw an adorable picture of a half black lab/half Australian sheppard puppy. We took Tyson Bear over to meet him, and though we thought initially a different pup was right, Lucky Blue made his way into our hearts when we saw how great he interacted with Tyson.

Santa gave him to Mikel technically, but Aaron and Lucky bonded so quickly that they are pretty much inseperable! But don't tell that to Mikel - she is proud to have her first pet, and Tyson is having a great time with his new baby brother!

Lucky Blue was born Oct. 20, 2010 ad is 8 weeks old. Welcome to the Hooley Fam!

A NEW ADDITION

After months of pestering, Aaron finally gave in!! We have been searching for just the right puppy for our family, and it was no easy task. We thought a medium-sized dog would be great, but when we played with them, it just wasn't right. We have always loved labs, even though they are more work, and they are great family dogs. We found a liter in Lindon near Aaron's work and went to take a look. It was love at first sight, with ALL of them!! It took forever to pick out just the right one, but when we found him, we knew it was meant to be.

The kids were very excited when we picked them up from school. Mikel was not even scared like we thought she would be. After discussing many names, it was narrowed to Oscar, Lucky and Tyson. After a vote, our new member of the family was named Tyson Bear Hooley!! Birthday: November 2, 2009.

CHRISTMAS LISTS

We decided to write Christmas lists a little early this year because we have SO MUCH going on between now and then, and because shopping started in October and we wanted to make sure Santa was bringing the right gifts! :-) Baylee had mostly clothes on her list, with some DS games and a few odd things that neither of us had heard of (might have to look them up). Mikel had a big list, as usual, that included new clothes for her doll, more Barbies, Littlest Pet Shops, and a DS. Nik wants a Batman Cave, a race track for his cars, Transformers (especially Optimus Prime), GI Joe toys, and a new big boy bike.

It was a little strange making our lists without Conner this year. When he comes to visit, we will have to get his list as well...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Through our 7 years together, I have never been able to successfully surprise Aaron with anything!! This month, I finally pulled it off. Aaron turned 40 this month, so what better to mark the occasion than a surprise party. I was able to gather friends and family together, with the help of sneaky family members (thanks dad!) and the party was a huge success! Aaron's brother Troy was even able to fly in from San Fran, despite being a new daddy (thanks Tracey!) to bring the surprise to an even greater level.

Everyone had a great time and it was wonderful to have so many friends together. Hopefully we can all get together again soon...it was amazing to reconnect with everyone and to realize the love that we have for each and every person who was able to attend.