WA Mozart - Sonata K 331 (1st & 2nd movement) Paul Badura-Skoda masteclass

Working on my Suzuki Certification and wil be playing this song through an audition in the next 8 weeks.  Attending a ECC class in Austin, next weekend!  I am So Excited!   I love the Suzuki program!  This is not me by the way, but found it on youtube and thought her interpretation of Mozart good and wanted to keep track of it!



WA Mozart - Sonata K 331 (1st & 2nd movement) Paul Badura-Skoda masteclass

David's Tooth! No Sorry - Teeth!!!!

So David lost a front upper tooth on Sunday and then Monday lost the other front tooth.  Needless to say, scripture reading was really fun on Tuesday morning.  David tried to read the word "sufficeth" and it was really hard not to laugh.  He is just so cute.  So now we can snuggle him because he has no teeth, like an old man, but has a six pack on the stomach.  Rare comination!

Too Fun!

So when you are sitting around the house on a Saturday night, with 8 in the family, things tend to become weird and creative.  Here are couple of shots of Gabby and Mia in disguise.  (Mikayla's idea)

Also a shot or two of Andrew's Science Project, (Due Mond. Feb.5th)  We spent a lot of time on this puppy, for sure!  He had better get a 100%.  I think I would cry if he didn't!  Sweat and Tears on this one!       
                                                                         

                                                                     

A moment of inspiration!

The Church website is our home page and as I logged on this morning and it came up I felt the spirit prompt me to go through some of the Mormon Messages and when I came to The Women in our Lives I felt so inspired to be a better wife, mother and sister.  I have seen this before and always feel that it buoys me up and makes me want to achieve more.  So click below and feel inspired again and again with what you can accomplish while on this earth. 

The Women in our Lives

A Picture I Found!

I just had to add this to our blog.  This is a picture of Mia and Gabby On Wayne's birthday last year.  I just love it and before we know it, they are going to be all grown up and I will miss kissing those yummy cheeks and snuggling little ones!  Don't let a day go by without letting your kids know how much you love them!

Careful or Casual?

Okay, so it has been a bit since we last wrote, but life seems to fly and then when you get a new computer it is a ominous thing to have to redo everything and that takes time to make the new computer feel good like the old one did!

School is buzzing, piano is moving and we are all thinking that time is swirling like the speed of light. This past year flew by and when thinking upon it, I feel like more things in my life have needed to be accomplished. New goal - we are going to make this year a better year for service to others! That is our main family goal this year!

We have a new saying (as of today) in our home! Are you being careful or casual (refer to Henry B. Eyring talk). We had a Great family discussion on this and since we have adopted BYTS ( Be your True Self) our next level of knowledge will be this Careful or Casual) Careful is where we are focusing on those things that will draw us closer to the our Savior. Casual is becoming light-minded in All things, even down to "Are you really listening in family scripture study? " These little sayings seem to really work with our kids and have helped our home become much more unified and helped our older four children keep gospel perspectives in their everyday lives, whether at school, home or with friends! Wayne and I get these blitz of enlightenments that are amazing and we feel so grateful to the Lord for blessing us with these small but powerful gifts to teach all concepts of the gospel to our children.

Ankles are a tenuous thing! They are supposed to be quite flexible and in reality, they are. Brianna's ankle growth plate broke and so now we are in a series of Dr. visits and X-rays and Ct Scans and the works. She has been up and down in her moods, but seems to be much better since she received a fiberglass cast. She is crawling all over the floor and having a great time today! She is a trooper, for sure! We love you Brianna! We are really glad that you already were baptized a few weeks before this happened!

The weeks just fly by. Mikayla just finished her 5th grade Completion Ceremony last Friday! It was amazing. I felt like I was at a high school graduation! Mikayla has accomplished so much for only being 11. Please remember that I am printing these blogs out for my own journal entries!

Mikayla Anne Schmidt 5th grade Accomplishments: I did add in Taks Testing, as well!Picture of Mikayla and Mrs. Varner (Sandy Lake Park)

*Student Leader for Pirrung Elementary

*Video Crew Spokesperson

*Mentor Leader (Kindergarten Assistant)

*All A's Medal for all of elementary school career

*Outstanding Citizenship Award for Elementary Career

*Honor Choir Outstanding Student Award

*First Place-Sandy Lake Choir Festival - Soloist

*Mesquite ISD FutureQuest Essay Contest Winner 1st Place in the district- won both years (2008 and 2009)

*All-City Choir Honor Award

*Mesquite Children's Choir

*Mesquite Arts Festival Winner

*Reflections Program Excellence Awards (4th grade-2nd place in district in Art & 5th Grade Award of Excellence in Photography)

*Science Fair Honor Award

*Commended on Science and Reading TAKS(5th Grade)

*Perfect Score on Writing TAKS (4th Grade)

*Commended on Reading and Math(4th Grade)

*Commended on Reading and Math(3rd Grade)

*Fine Arts Festival for Art and Music Honor Awards

*Drill Team Competition 1st place City Division trophy with Mesquite Saints

Mikayla has been very busy this year and we are so proud of her! She is an amazing young woman and we love her dearly. We look forward to her accomplishments in the future. Mesquite School District consists of 5 high schools, 8 middle schools and 32 elementary schools!

Forever Ago!

Yes, it has been FOREVER since my last entry. School is almost out and we are so excited for Grandpa and Grandma Hawkes to come in three weeks. Brianna will be getting baptized and Mikayla will complete her graduation ceremonies for Elementary School. I am in charge of the decorations for the 5th grade picnic as well as the graduation decorations. Busy, busy for sure. Since the last entry, Andrew turned 9, Mia turned 2, Mikayla turned 11, Gabby turned 4 and David turned 6. That should make me feel horrid for taking so long to blog, but Hey, I am not a procrastinator, I just got into facebook!!!!

Mikayla and Brianna both had their Drill Team competition on Saturday, November 22nd. Both of their teams took First Place (City Champions) and Best Costume award. They worked so hard all fall season and it paid off for them. Many, many many countless hours were spent practicing their routines and We were so happy for them on Saturday night when they received their trophies. Here is a picture of them befor the competition began. I must admit, it was nice to have this football and drill season over. Until next year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brianna's Community Project

It is that time of year again for our third community project. The project has to be about something here in Mesquite only. Every 2nd grader in our home has had to do one of these and this year it was Brianna's turn. She decided to do Incredible Pizza, which is just an incredible place. It is a glorified Chuck E Cheese with go-karts, bowling, mini-golfing and a fairgrounds area. The food is pretty good and there is LOTS of it! Our kids love that place and it is a bit pricey but a lot of fun! This project took many hours and I am SO glad it is over! I slept great last night knowing it was over!

Halloween leftovers

We had a great Halloween. Brianna decorated a pumpkin for 2nd grade. Our traditional pumpkin contest we enter at Pirrung Elementary with whoever in our family is in 2nd grade. Mikayla did Mickey Mouse, Andrew did Batman, which I believe is shown in an older post from last Halloween and now Brianna decided this year to create Alvin the chipmunk. It was a very Heavy pumpkin and a lot of work. She won first place, which is also a tradition in our family.

Trunk or Treating was fun this year and we had a family picture taken by a sister in the ward. Wayne had been gone all week to Minnesota and we enjoyed spending Halloween with him. All in all it was a great night. Since then, we have been eating a lot of Halloween leftovers and enjoying the candy!

Football Season is almost over. I look forward to having more free time as a family, but we are a big football familyand enjoy watching our boys play as well as the girls cheering. Wayne and I loved watching the game last night against Texas and Texas Tech. What a game!

The Kids in their Saints Jerseys

Gabby and I took a quick trip last week to American Girl Place. We had reservations for Bitty Fun Day and our little date consisted of playing with Bitty Bear and all her friends, coloring a Bitty Bear Picture, playing a few games, a yummy little luncheon and Gabby Oooohing over everything at American Girl Place. She was in HEAVEN to say the least. It was a great memory that she and I made.

This past week, we had Homecoming for the Saints organization and Brianna was crowned Homecoming Princess. She was so excited and loved getting a bunch of extra "Stuff". I say, Football in Texas is like NFL Football. It can be really fun, but also very extreme. We are going a million miles an hour these days. Both Mikayla and Brianna are practicing for their Drill competition and the boys continue to practice super hard. David's little flag team have only won 1 game, but Andrew's team have only lost 2 the entire season. I think little Dave's team are just too cute and adorable for words. They are so little out there playing. It is so fun to watch. Andrew's team is just all tough and tumble. Andrew sure likes to sack when he plays defense or offense. He is a big guy for his age and loves to use his size to his advantage. His coaches have all told us that they wish every player was like Andrew, willing to work hard, listens and follows through with everything he is told to do. He delivers for sure! He plays Center, Tight End and Running Back positions, depending upon the play.

Wayne is in St. Paul Minnesota this week learning about products for his company. We miss him dreadfully. It will be a long week. We have a sister in the ward living with us right now. She had a stroke about seven weeks ago and is staying with us for a while. That has been pretty crazy, but we're adjusting, I think.

We had our Primary Program today and I am so glad it is over. It went really well. Those Saturday practices sometimes stress us leaders out more because we hope and pray the children act better on Sunday than they did on Saturday. All works out for the best though and the spirit was strongly felt during Sacrament Meeting.

I am Really Not With It!

You Know, I never wanted to be the kind of mom that lets things go, but I find that I am so overwhelmed some days that I let things slide. Writing on my blog would have to be the top of my list of sliding. I feel so guilty when I don't write, but feel that FHE, Church, Scripture study, callings, seminary, primary, high grades for each of the four kids in school, sports, scouts, meals, achievement, well things are getting a little nuts around here.

We are busy, but wanted to post to let you all know what is going on! Both Andrew and David are in Football again and Brianna and Mikayla are trying their hand at Cheerleading this year. It has been A LOT of work, but they are so happy. Mikayla, Andrew and I get up every morning and go running at 5:30 a.m. This is during the time when Wayne teaches Seminary! This has been very good for my old body and sore muscles and great for the kids.

I am tutoring two days a week and keeping busy during the school day with our two littlest ones at home. Gabrielle and Amelia are good friends and play together really well.

Wayne is working hard at his new job with Roma/Vistar and campaigning in the evenings for Mike Anderson, (Running for House of Rep. Republican - side)

Finally Home!

We just returned from a long vacation from the northwest. We, me and the kids, went to Idaho to be with Grandpa and Grandma Hawkes. Wayne stayed in Texas. We missed him, but not the Texas weather! We mostly played around G & G's house and swam in their pool! We did take a few turns around the valley to the Sanddunes, canoeing, and zoo, but mostly just relaxed with nowhere to go. It was a very nice change of pace compared to the busy hectic lifestyle of Dallas!

While we were gone, we had a few major changes to our lives. We sold our pizza store, brought on two business partners with us at The Bow Wow Wash and Wayne got a new job. Needless to say, our family lifestyle changed quite dramatically in the last month! It was an amazing experience. The Lord is always mindful of us. Wayne and I have been patiently learning faith over the past 9 months or so and things happened all at once! We should never doubt that the Lord loves us so much, but teaches us a great many things along the way that stretches us to our full capacity!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

I took the Challenge! Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Take the Quiz here!

Happenings in a paragraph!

It has been some time since my last blog. I guess I've been busy enough that I fail in many endeavors. On a brighter note, Mikayla made Honor Choir at her school and then went on to make All-city choir. Andrew has been in his first PineWood Derby and got fourth place. Not bad for a first year scout. He is planning on attending twilight camp and getting lots of belt loops and arrow points while there. Maybe they made Twilight camp name after Twilight. I am really a pathetic fan! How droll my life must sound to outsiders. Brianna, the tomboy, had such a compassionate heart, gave a bunch of her pairs of socks to a girl in her class that had no socks and Brianna was so praised by the act of compassion that the principal even wrote a letter to us thanking us for raising such a sweet girl. The next day Brianna ended up visiting the principal's office for punching a boy in the face. Talk about bi-polar, even though she isn't, she can be very extreme. She is a perfect example of Dr. Jeckyle and Mr. Hyde. David is just David and thinks that boys rule the world. Gabby is now potty-trained and "No Binkies" trained. She was Very unhappy with her Dad about this binkie move, but she seems to be more grown up for the loss off binkies. Mia is just Mia. SWEET AS PIE and my little piece of heaven. Wayne stays busy between the Pizza store and the Bow Wow Wash. He works so hard! I am staying busy with the kids and am in charge of the children's choir for Stake Conference coming up in three weeks! We are excited about that !

Miss Mikayla and her artwork

Time has gone quickly as of late. We had spring break and my parents came out to spend time with us. The kids loved it and we were able to spend time fixing things up around the house! Wayne worked both the Bow Wow Wash all day until 8 p.m. and then went to work at the Pizza Store each night until close. This lasted for a week and he was completely exhausted each night. Bless his heart! I think I saw him at the house a time or two!

Mikayla and her talent in art is beginning to show! Her artwork done with the art teacher at Pirrung Elementary was selected to be placed at show at the Professional Building in the City of Mesquite. We attended a reception in her honor and I was very amazed to see something so abstract come from little Mikayla! It was Very Good! Then, within a week of that reception, she was notified that her Reflections art piece placed as Third in the District. This is amazing simply because there are something like 32 elementary schools in the district. She loves art and loves to write, Maybe she'll be an illustrator/author! She definitely has the talent for it!

Included are two pictures of Mikayla's B-Ball team at playoffs. They went in undefeated, but lost to a team from inner-city Dallas. I have never seen girls play so mean! Yikes!

Twliight Saga

Have you ever been into something so much that it emcompasses your thoughts in Everything you do? You analize it against all else. Well, that would be me as of late. My mom introduced me to the book Twilight about three weeks ago and sent me the three books out by Stephenie Meyer. It is a series of books about a human girl, Bella and a vampire, Edward. The author graduated from BYU, is a member of the church and the books are Great! If you haven't read them, you should! It is a fun read and I never imagined that vampires could be so cool. I am more the Jane Austen type reader, but I have now broadened my scope! The last and final book comes out August 2nd and I am finding it very difficult to wait that long, so I started over again with book 1 and will see what a missed the first time I read through them. The movie, based up the first book, will come out in December! It will be a great year for movies with Harry Potter #6, Twilight and don't forget about Indiana Jones in May. Holy Cow! I don't normally get so excited, but how fun to look forward to!

Political Junkies!

Could politics becoming too much of a topic in our family? Andrew informed Wayne on the way home from church yesterday that he would not be voting for Mike Anderson as state representative and would be voting for Thomas Latham. This statement surprised Wayne. I don't know why? Andrew is always Mr. Analytical and on the In with what is going on. Andrew's comments still surprise me too! Wayne and Andrew got into a big discussion on these two representatives and in the end, Andrew got frustrated with Wayne trying to be positive with both candidates. His statement ended with, "Well, I can't vote for another ten years anyway so I am not going to worry about it anymore!

Tuesday, March 4th, is election day! Thank Goodness! I am tired of election mail and phone calls with all this mess! I won't even comment on John McCain. I just end up hanging up the phone during the surveys because I just can't bring myself to state that I will vote for John McCain or Huckabee. Filling in a dot will be a lot easier than hearing my voice state that I can vote for anyone, but Mitt! What a blow this has been and not been easy for me to get over! It's been weeks and I am still depressed over it! When will it end? Probably oh, NEVER!