Another School Year Gone.

It is always amazing to me how fast the school year goes by.  All my kids did great in school this year and we feel very blessed for having kids that have close to zero problems with their learning abilities.  Tristan had some issues being lazy for a while but nothing a few talks couldn't fix.  Victor got a little overexcited about being in the trashcan band at school that he left his gifted and talented project on hold for about a month which he regretted greatly and Shayna had a rough start keeping up with homework but it was tough just for a few weeks and ended the year with no problems at all.
I am gonna write a little bit about each of the kids just to remind me of the adventures they had at school this year.
Tristan finished 1st. grade and had a great start with his teacher until she got sick again (she had been battling cancer for a few years).  Eventually the teacher left on medical leave and sadly she passed away a couple of months ago.  The rest of the year was fine, I never go tot meet his new teacher which I thought was kind of weird but as long as he was doing great in school I rather just skip the whole "visiting the school" thing since I always end up fighting with the front desk people.  He is an awesome reader and he kept progressing til the end, his entire class nominated him for the "Best Reader" award int he classroom, he also got a math award and his report card was excellent.  He recently lost a tooth at school and was happy to bring home to us, the tooth fairy sadly never came to visit because she has been kind of busy and sick the poor thing.  At the end of the year Tristan was able to go with his school on a field trip to the zoo, he had a lot of fun.  The only thing he needs to work on is his handwriting, it is very good when he sits there and takes him time but when he is in a rush it is all weird and can barely understand it.  He is always in a rush that guy.  During the last month of school I finally felt confident that he could ride his bike all the way to school, so we got him a new bike and a new lock, he was the happiest boy on earth and enjoyed it a lot.  I think Tristan did a lot of growing this year but I still see in him a little bit of baby every once in a while, he still kisses stuffed animals while watching TV and loves all things soft, hugs a blanket when he has the chance but at the same time he is all grown up.  Last Sunday he gave another talk in primary and on that same day he had the desire to go share his testimony with everyone during sacrament meeting (on fast Sunday of course) and did great.  He is growing fast and looking forward to his baptism day, coming soon that's for sure.

Voctor just finished 4th grade and once again was a great student.  He brought a lot of As all year long, with the exception of the one B that he got and I think he was harder on himself than I was.  He hates not being number one.  This year they split his class into two and had two teachers.  Miss Lee from last year and Mr. Asher who mainly taught them Math.  I do not like that set up but what can you do.  He quickly got enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Project and was really looking forward to it all year, he also got involve with a Trash Can Band that seemed to be the highlight of the year, he was at every single rehearsal and if he ever missed was really upset about it.  We saw him a couple of times, once at school and once at the  Lone Star College. He did great and really enjoyed being part of something like that.  He is not very musically inclined, at least not with singing, he doesn't show any interest in playing the piano either so we wont push that on him.  He says he wants to play the drums in the future... we shall see.  He got his awards last week, he was super excited about them and again we felt very proud of him.  He procrastinated on the GT project but in the end it turned out really great and we were happy to go see his display at the Atascocita High school.  Only three kids represented the 4th graders this year. He is still a very strong reader, he is still a very shy boy too.  His only friend Zoleen is the only one that will hang out with him at school.  I am hoping he will come out of his shell a little bit more next year.  He was asked to be in the school patrol for next year and that means he will be staying a little bit longer after school.  Of course he is way excited about starting 5th grade.

Shayna finsihed 6th grade and is looking forward to start 7th. One thing I can't forget to mention about Shayna is that all year long she worked really hard on not missing a single day of school, she did great until about 3 weeks ago when she got strep.  She had to miss 2 days of school and she was devastated.  It wasn't until the award ceremony that I understood why it was a big deal.  They gave out an award for 100% attendance and only 3 or 4 kids got it.  The award ceremony was a big deal, only the parents of the kids who were getting awards were invited (makes sense).  Shayna got 3, that day.  One for excellent performance in Math, for Spanish and one for having all As and 1 B all year long.  She got an extra one on the day of her band concert.  She seems to be really good at playing the French Horn and she got an special award for it.  She made Honors Band for next year and is really excited about it.  She also went to perform a couple of solos at school and got a couple of medals.  Since I never attended school here or played an instrument I am not really sure what that's called but all I know is that she was really happy about it and I was happy for her.  Dan took his little box of memories out an shared with her all the medals that he got while he was in band.  I twas kind of neat to see them both looking through that box and for Shayna to learn more about her Dad.  She really didn't struggle that much at school and I see that as a great blessing, her report card always showed us what a great student she is.
I can tell that she had some struggles at school with friends and trying to figure out what people to hang out with.  In the end she is not with the popular girls, but I think she understand that there is a great deal to give up in order to stay with the cool kids.  I think she really knows who she is and the choices she is expected to make or she know what kind of person she wants to be.  She needed a little help from us and a couple of talks but I think she did great.

I can't wait to see what next year will bring for all of them and specially for my little Aaron.
Aaron and I had big plans but we could not really stick to them.  We tried doing the preschool that the school district provides around here but after my mom left we stopped going.  We did somethings here and there at home but he really does not want to spend more than 30 minutes doing it.  When he tries and pays attention he can show a lot of progress and I am confident that he can start reading soon.  He recognizes a lot of words but it is so funny to see him do the same thing my other kids have done.  I know he will get it eventually.  He is really excited about Kinder and so am I.  Kahlan of course did not go to school or will go for a long time, but that little fire cracker is going to be the death of me.  She learns so fast an picks up on a lot of things.  We are trying really hard to stick with the Spanish this time and she is doing great.  Understands a lot of it and since her siblings speak to her in English she picks up on that as well.  This week the new word for her was "Comer" (eat).  She goes to the kitchen and stands in front of the fridge and stats screaming, yes screaming the word "comer" and wont stop until you give her something to eat.  I had never had a screaming kid like that or at least not at such early age, so I am having a hard time dealing with it.  We are teaching her that is not OK to scream when she wants something so we take her to crib to cool off for a few minutes and when she is done she can come out and she is an angel again.
She loves her pink cowgirl boots and begs me to put them on almost every day, she loves all shoes actually.  She also loves to go bye bye, runs to the front door with her little cup and does a little dance which involves stomping her feet and screaming something at the same time.
She is our little rocker, loves rock music, any music and will dance for a long time trying to twirls which is really funny to see because she can't do it all the way.  She is such a cute person with a oh so very unique personality.,

Now we are on summer time schedule and trying to get organized to the days wont go by being all lazy and playing video games.  We have a list of chores to be done every day, craft days, pool days, picnic days and reward times for them to cash in their points earned.  My plan?  To keep them as busy as I can, learning and working hard, being nice to each other and help each other out.  Will it get done?  Probably not, but we can sure try.  I am really trying to stay positive even though it started rough today but I have faith in my kids and know they will try really hard.

I hate the S word

Surgery... what did you think?  I know from what I have talked to other people about my upcoming surgery that it is not a big deal, well guess what?  It's my life it's my body and it is me the one that is going to end up on the cutting table so allow me to be scared and make a big deal out of it.  There.... I feel better now :)
It's just funny that every time someone asks me about it they start telling me how this is not like other surgeries since I will be going home the same day just a few hours after it is all done.  I get that, believe me and I am glad it is nothing major but I still can't get this horrible feeling that I am going to be there on a table asleep and anything could happen, specially after I signed the waver for the doctor in case something goes wrong like malfunction of the instruments??? I don't mean to sound like my 10 year old boy but "what exactly does that mean?"  I am praying that I wont be that 1% that has to find out about it.  Anyways I am not thinking that I am going to die or anything like that, it is just the fear of the unknown and the fact that there is going to be a lot of pain, constant pain.  I HATE pain and don't like dealing with it at all.  I really hope the recovery is as fast as they say and that I will be able to feel better after the 2 weeks because summer is just starting and the surgery happens to be on the first day my kids will be home from school.  They were so looking forward to going to the pool everyday on the first week off school and now they will have to just stay home and pamper me (I wish).  I do have to be grateful for all the help I have been offered and think that will be taking them up on their offers.  My SIL Amber will watch my kids on Monday while Dan and I go together to the slaughter house I mean to the hospital and some people are bringing over dinner that night so that helps a lot. Most of all I am thankful that Dan will be there for me on Monday, for a while we thought we were going to have to reschedule or maybe get someone else to come with me.
So now I am just getting ready for next week, getting some laundry done, tomorrow I will deep clean the bathrooms so they can smell all nice and clean (for a couple of hours right?) and also taking care of things that I wont be able to do  while recuperating. 
I know some day I will look back on this day and laugh at myself for making such a big deal out of this but for now I think nail biting and worrying is on the menu.  Thank you all for your words of support and encouragement, sorry they did not make feel at ease :)

Sewing is fun!

There are a lot of things that I like to do but sewing is probably my #1 thing.  Cake stuff comes easy just because I learned how to do it when I was younger and did it for years for my mom.  I do love both activities and they are both an outlet to my craftiness I guess.
Funny thing is that I hated sewing when I was little, I would not pick up a needle if my life depended on it which was the case when I was in school and I almost failed Home Economics because of it...
I always think back to when I was 19 years old and was working for our family business as the secretary, it was lunch time and I was reading the adds in the newspaper.  They had a particular add that was showcasing these beautiful sewing machines that looked a lot like the old fashion Singer ones, the price was ridiculously low and I thought to myself that it would be a good idea to buy one.  That same day I asked my mom for the money and promised to pay her back as soon as I got payed.  My brother took me over the place where they were selling them, it was a huge storage place, the company went bankrupt and needed to get rid of their inventory ASAP.  After what seemed like ages we got all the paperwork done and went home with a brand new sewing machine.  When I say old fashion I mean it literally.  It had the pedal on the bottom that you have to move with your feet so it can work, the faster you pedal the faster it will sew.  I had never in my life used a sewing machine before and had no clue how to use it.  Our neighbor next door was a seamstress and her husband was a tailor, she had done some dresses for me in the past and I asked her if she didn't mind teaching me how to thread the machine and how to make it work.  The husband came over and gave me a 10 minute lesson, he said that was all he was going to teach me because he didn't want me to become their competition.. yeah right. But that is all it took.  I spent hours mastering the art of sewing, it was pretty pathetic.  My sewing machine came attached to a table so it was very convenient and it had lots of drawers.  When I sat to sew and really get into it the table would move all over the place because we had granite floors and they are very slippery.  My mom always made fun of me and said that it looked like I was going to take off any moment.
I started sewing pillowcases, then I made my own bedding.  Got about 7 yards of some nice flannel with the smilie faces all over it, it turned out really cute.  My older brother liked it a lot and asked me to make one for him, then I made one for my mom and pretty soon some friends started to request some for them too.
I tried selling some things but I never have luck with that  and it went nowhere so I just did things for my family and friends for free. I was simply enjoying the experience and learning a lot.
My best friend at the time who was 6 years younger than me had a sewing machine that was way better than mine. It was a Singer, it worked with electricity and that was a whole new world for me.  She had the instruction book and I taught myself in a day how to make it work.  We wanted to use the button hole attachment so bad that we used one of my favorite skirts as a pattern and got some cute fabric, cut the pieces and put it together. The button holes came out pretty nicely and the skirt actually didn't look so bad, from far away of course.  I used to come and make use of her sewing machine as much as I could and really enjoyed it. When it was time for me to leave home one of the things that I really had a hard time leaving behind was my sewing machine.  I was just getting started and I had to leave it for ever.  After I got married I knew that buying a sewing machine was not going to be in the picture for a long time but I really missed it and one day Dan took me to a department store to buy a mini sewing machine.  It was more like a toy sewing machine but I did a lot of things with it too. Later on while living in WV I had a friend who loved making quilts and sewing all kinds of things.  One day she called me asking me to come help her translate a pattern she had bought at the store.  She was making the baby blessing dress for her daughter.  I had never seen a pattern before and I found it very interesting that they gave you step by step instructions on how to put it together, what pieces to cut, etc.  I wasn't much help because I didn't understand how to read the pattern so she ended up getting help from somebody else but that day changed everything for me.  My SIL had a sewing machine that she wasn't using so she let me have it for a while, a sister in the ward had some fabric scraps that she was going to throw away but thought I could use them to make a quilt, she even gave me a book on how to make a Log Cabin Quilt in a day.... everything landed on my lap so I just started working on it.  I was pregnant with Victor when I started working on that quilt and finished it for Father's day and gave it to Dan as a present.  I used a bed sheet as the backing, didn't spend one single penny and I was able to turn scraps into a quilt, funky looking but still a quilt.  When Dan and I got our first credit card he took me to Walmart and bought me a real sewing machine, a Brother.  With all kinds of stitches and attachments.  I LOVED it! It wasn't until I started working at Hancock Fabrics that I decided to finally try my luck at buying a pattern.  Got the fabric for a dress for Shayna and that's how everything started.  We were going to go to the Renaissance Fair and I wanted her to look nice so I made her a dress.  I liked it so much that I made one for  me and then my friend asked me to make one for her too.  They were not perfect at all but decent enough to wear them.  Then I made a dress for my niece who was in a choir and then her friend asked me to make one for her and payed me for it, that was exciting.
I had since then made my boys baby quilts, lots of dresses and all kinds of cute outfits for Shayna, Kahlan, Halloween costumes, dresses for me, outfits that were on display at Hancock Fabrics, backpacks, diaper bags, skirts for my friend, mended my friend's clothes, etc. etc.  I am not the greatest seamstress on earth but I do enjoy sewing.  Sadly my awesome Brother sewing machine died a couple of years ago when I let a friend use it.  Lucky fur me my husband had bought me a heavy duty sewing machine (Necchi) back in Utah so I still had something to work with but all the fancy stitches that I was able to use before were gone.  Last year I got my second Brother sewing machine, this one does fancier stitches and even does letters, I love it. 
So recently I decided to try something new.  Since I love sewing so much and I always have some kind of project I am working on.  I came up with some ideas and put some of my items on auctions.  Some sell and some don't but a few of the people that buy them come back and request for more items.  I am pretty excited about it and look forward to the auctions every week.  Shayna helps me to come up with ideas for the mini quilts that I make, one of them sold a couple of weeks ago and they requested another one.  I have been making lots of boy ties, reversible super hero capes, totes and chalkboard mats which seem to be a favorite to many.  I hope I can keep doing this because it keeps me entertained and makes me feel like I an doing something in my spare time.  I have the office half way set up with my sewing station and was recently given a desk and wall unit by a friend, I am using it to store my fabric that I have been collecting over the years and it feels like a nice working area.  I am really enjoying this experience.  I would love to find a way to get into a craft fair or something like that so I can go even bigger.  For now I am just going to keep doing what I am doing and keep enjoying it.  When it gets to be too much I can always take a break :)
Something else that I have been playing with is "up cycling", I have been using old clothing to make Kahlan and even Shayna new clothes, I have turned shirts and socks into leggings, shirts into vests, men ties into boy ties.  My next project is to turn some tops I got at Dollar General into dresses for Kahlan and I can't wait to see how they turn out.  I have so many ideas in my head it is crazy.  I have come a long ways since then and I still have lots to learn but yup, sewing is fun!

 A cute pioneer dress I made for one of my nieces back in VA

 At the Reconnaissance Fair back when we only had 2 kids.

 Hung and Linda Le

 Shayna with her first princess dress ever.

 Shayna with her pioneer dress.

 First fancy dress for a family picture.

 Reversible super hero capes, the other side has a Barman logo on it.
Below Aaorn and Tristan sporting their men ties turned into little boy ties.

 Above my first mini wall hanging quilt.

 A big order I had from a customer.

One of my favorite items, the chalkboard mat.

 Another mini quilt and a cute tote with ruffles.

My favorite quilt that already sold, the customer that bought it has been requesting many many more items and I am working on a big order for her right now.  She really likes my quilts and requested a toddler bed quilt for her nephew.

The perfect way to ruin a perfect day.

Oh the drama that goes on in my life.  I really could do without it for a long long time.  This week has been kind of hard to deal with because of  different reasons but the worst day of the week goes to Friday.  I was really excited about Friday since I was going to get together with a friend who is moving away and we were really looking forward to hanging out one more time.  Her kids and mine all had a wonderful time and we talked about all kinds of stuff.  I am pretty happy some of my friends are making changes in their lives for the better even though it includes moving away.  I am happy for them.  The morning was perfect, my little ones did great and we even stopped for some shopping on the way home. 
When I got home and decided to relax for a little while I got on the computer and found a couple of emails that just destroyed my day, won't go into the particular of the situations but let's just say that I had a tough time after that and lots of tears were involved. 
I hate getting into arguments with people but I think this time it was very much needed.  My feeling got hurt big time and I usually let people walk all over me but not that day.  I got a phone call after a little exchange of emails and we were able to discuss the situation. "The person who shall not be named" (so we don't get more drama) was willing to hear me out and I let some things out that were bugging me for a long time.  I guess it felt good to let it all out and for that person to see where I was coming from.  We all say things that hurt others around us and I know we don't mean it most of the time.... at least I don't.  I really hope I don't do that too often.  Anyways, it was a tough situation and for a while I thought oops... maybe I should not be saying all these, but I was told that my honesty was appreciated.  I am glad it happened though, maybe from now on we can have a better relationship.
One thing I have to say is that I might over react a whole lot about somethings but what hurts the most in these situations is that when I think that I am doing a good job or trying my hardest I am told about how badly I am doing or I am not appreciated for what I do.
The one good thing is that I was able to concentrate on getting out of my depressing mood.  Called my mom and talked to her for a while and was reminded that I am a good person and she knows how hard I try to please everybody around me. 
Later on we had been invited to a birthday party for a friend in the ward and I was really looking forward to that.  We had an amazing time with them and some other two families that were there.  I was able to forget about the bad things of the day and move on. 

The other bad part of the week is about my health issues.  I had been taking some medication to deal with a bacteria that I had, that's all done now but on Wednesday I went to see the gastroenterologist about my tummy pains and I felt pretty confident that he was going to tell me the pain will stop now that you are almost done with the meds... yeah that's not gonna happen.  He smiled and then said to me that I need surgery.  That "S" word oh how much I hate it.  He said my symptoms are related to my gallbladder so they need to take it out so there wont be any complications with any future attacks.  I am glad that there is a solution to my horrible pain and although going under scares me to death I am looking forward to never complain from that again.  He also recommended the colonoscopy and that will be done on May 29th.  Hopefully they wont find any polyps but he said if they do they will take them out and do a biopsy.  Let me tell you that getting old is not fun. 
Next week I have to be on a special diet, zero fiber.  I am going to detox my body and that should be a good thing.  I can't wait for all these issues to be resolved and then continue with a normal life, being a wife and mom without the stress of not knowing what is going on with me. 

What a pain!

I hate it when life gets int he way... there I was enjoying life (more or less) and then a horrible pain took over my life.  I have been dealing with some health issues for a while and hoped that they were going to go away but it didn't happen.  I kept trying to avoid it as long as I could but my dear husband kept nagging me about making an appointment to go see the doctor and just to get him off my back I finally made the appointment, lucky me I got it for that same day.  I do have to say that the clinic I am going to is way better than the previous one so that is a plus.  I went in because I have been having lots of abdominal pain and back pain, for some reason they always come together, I thought it was weird when I noticed that my belly was hurting more than my back and then one day there I was in tears thinking I was going to die.  I had seen a doctor before but all she gave me was pain medication that literally puts me to sleep for a couple of days.  I started taking them when my mom was here with me and she kind of took over for me but since she left I hardly ever take them.  So I just braved the pain whenever it came.  It is getting ridiculous now so I think it is a good thing I went to see the doctor.  I already had an ultrasound done and blood work, turns out my biggest fear (gallbladder stones) is out of the picture... yay! Instead they found I have Helicobacter pylori, a bacteria that most people usually contract when they are kids and the symptoms don't show up until adulthood.... I had never heard of it.  But it does scare me that you get it because of poor hygiene.  I wash my hands all the time.  If anything I am pretty sure I got it while living back home since even the water there is contaminated with all kinds of stuff.  
Anyways, they also referred me to a gastroenterologyst to rule out the possibility of polyps in the colon.  My brother recently had a colonoscopy and they found some precancerous  polyps and his doctor advised him to let us know about it and get tested because he is too young to have them, also since my mom had colon cancer we need to keep an eye on that.  So that will be fun, not! 
The saddest part of all this is that to treat the bacteria I have to take these strong antibiotics and I have to stop nursing Kahlan.
Here was my plan, I was going to nurse as long as she wanted to, because she is my last baby I was just going to enjoy our bonding time, our special time to cuddle and just look at each other and smile and do our silly little games.  I feel like I have been robbed of the most precious thing I have with my baby.  The longest I have nursed my babies is 14 months, so I guess we just went one more month with Kahlan.  This morning after the doctor called me and advised me to stop nursing I just lost it, went to get Kahlan up from her nap and had our last feeding and I told her how sorry I was for stopping all at once and asked her to understand and be a good baby.  That was it, no more feedings since then.  She did great all day, I know I will miss it more than she will, it doesn't make it OK for me still, I just hate it when things don't go my way.
She already has her regular meals and drinks regular milk everyday so I think she is already used to it, it was just nice that whenever she was crying or tired I was the only that could make everything all better for her.  
Tonight after she woke up from a little nap I was already set up with dinner and a sippy cup full of milk and she didn't even cry, she ate the whole thing, drank her milk and laid down next to me on the floor, she then went to Dan asking him to put some music on and dance with her daddy like they always do every night before she goes to bed. They stopped, she turned around and we said good night to each other and didn't even ask to nurse.  So grateful for her sweet spirit and for listening to me, she is being great and hope that it continues that way. 
I on the other hand will be in a lot of pain for the next few weeks and soon it will be a thing of the past, on my way to feeling better with my medication and hopefully life will go back to normal again.
So another chapter in my life story comes to an end, it has been a great experience to be a mother 5 times to had been able to nurse them all although some for only a few months but most of them for over a year.  Out of all of them Shayna was the best one, I really enjoyed my bonding time with her.  I guess the reason why it is so hard for me to stop is because it is the realization that this it it, the end, no more babies. My job as mom continues of course but I feel the difference already, I know I will miss being the source of life for another human being. It is a hard thing to know that that part of my life is done but at the same time I look forward to the new experiences I will have with Kahlan, with all of them.  It had to end one day, sooner or later.  Am I the only one that feels this way?  Is it this hard for everybody?  


 

Our Trip to 6 Flags

So having a husband who works all the time and also does school on the side is very tough.  We had an idea of what it was going to be like when he first started but soon discovered it was harder for us a family since we don't get to do as many fun things as we used.  Don't get me wrong we do go out as a family locally but long distance driving is out of the question. So when we started talking about a possible trip to San Antonio Dan got the brilliant idea of buying season passes for the entire family with the hope of going back at least one more time before they expire.  We had such a great time and made lots of new family memories for the kids.  We left on a Saturday morning really early and drove for a while before we had to make a stop for breakfast and potty breaks.  We got to 6 Flags at a decent hour but it took forever to get our season passes all set up.  I am sure next time it wont be so bad.  As soon as we got everything all set up then the fun began and Dan took the kids on several rides while I stayed with Kahlan most of the time.  I have to say it is a little stressful for me to go to places like 6 Flags because I am always thinking that we are going to end up missing at least one of the kids, but we were all safe.
We had lunch in the parking lot and then enjoyed some more rides and a few games where the kids all won prizes and left the park before they even closed.  We headed to our hotel for the night and enjoyed some pizza.  Dan told Shayna and me to go to the movies to see The Hunger Games, he knew how much we wanted to go see it.  So we did and we came back way too late but it was lots of fun and the movie was great.  They did a great job following the story line.  The next morning we got ready for round two at the park and it was more enjoyable for me since I got to do a couple of rides with the kids.  Shayna and Aaron really surprised me with their fearless attitude.  Shayna got on what seems to me the most scary ride ever "Scream", she did a lot of screaming too :)  I went on something similar years ago at Lagoon and I hated it so I am really impressed that she got on a even bigger version of that.  Victor and Tristan are more like me and prefer to go with the safer or non scary rides.  We had lots of fun and it was nice to have a safe trip and come back home and rest after our little vacation. 

I am grateful for the moments we get to spend together as a family and although there might not be a lot of them for a while we try to make the best out of them. 

Victor's Birthday.

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Victor's 10th birthday.  We have been so busy around here with all kinds of things but we managed to get together as a family and do a few things for Victor.  We took him to Denny's the previous Saturday to his birthday as it is tradition for our little family and he enjoyed a nice meal.  Kahlan made sure we got out of there fast with all her screaming but we all enjoyed ourselves eating good food.
We managed to wait until his actual birthday to open presents and decided it would be OK to skip on Scouts that day since nobody shows up anyways... bad I know but hey it was the big 10.   I made a special cake for him this year.  I know how much he loves chess and is always playing with Shayna, so I decided it would be fun to make a cake in the shape of a chess board and make all the pieces out of fondant.  When I make cakes like this is kind of fun because I am challenging myself to see what I can do and how to perfect my techniques.  I had to shape every single piece by hand of course and try to make them all identical and the hard part was to make them all the same height.  It really didn't take that much time once I did the first set and Victor didn't see his cake until he was back from school.  He was amazed by it and that right there made it worth all my hard work.  We let Victor and Shayna had a game before we ate the cake and sadly Victor lost but it was fun to see them play a game with the cake pieces... fun stuff.
He got lots of presents and I have to say it was a good year for me because I did most of the present shopping and he was very happy with the things I picked, I am not very good at buying presents, Dan usually does a good job.  He loves all his presents and has been enjoying them a lot.  Some of things we got for him were for him to use at Scouts and know he will get good use out of them.

I know he will read this some day and so I just want him to know that every year I am reminded of a very special day when he made his appearance in this world for the first time. Though it was a painful delivery the one thing I remember is how everything didn't matter once I heard him cry and knew he was OK, he is such a sweet boy and a good example to me many times.  He strives to do the right most of the time and is a good friend at school, great student and always giving me lots of hugs and I love the conversations we have one on one.  If you ever get to know Victor you can see that he is a very loving kid with lots of questions and LOTS of information to share, he is like a sponge and can tell you a lot about different topics.  I am so proud of him and all he does, I am happy to see him come out of his shell at school doing things that require him to be out of his element but he is enjoying greatly.  He has the best smile ever and I love how his cute little eyes disappear when ever he smiles. Love you Victor and hope you keep growing into a handsome young man :)