Summer vacation so far has been strange. Starting on May 24th, Zach went to Colorado for 2 weeks to stay with his friend Todd and Todd's family. He came to Breckenridge for the weekend with us so all 4 kids were together. When we left Colorado Nick stayed behind with his friends Gabriel and Ethan. Nick flew home last Wednesday, and may I add he was by himself and now he thinks that since he has a ticket every time he goes to the airport he can just get on a plane. Ben left last Tuesday with Jim's folks for a trip to Washington, Canada and Oregon and they should be home at the end of this week. Having only 3 kids at home has been strange. Last night Amelia spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa so it was just Zach and Nick at home that was truly wierd.

Zach is still going to summer school--and for those of you that I haven't told--it was his choice. He decided to take Algebra I over the summer so he can take geometry in the fall. Sometimes he has great initiative and other times...well I am still waiting for the trash to be taken out. I did find a school that we are going to try to get him into for the fall. It is called Treasure Valley Math and Science Center, he takes the test on July 7th. If he gets in, he would be bussed from Kuna Middle School in the morning for math and science and then back to KMS in the afternoon for all his other classes. This program starts for 7th graders through 12 graders it is very intense.

Can 9 year old girls suffer from PMS??

Their was a tragic and freak accident in Kuna last week. A family driving out by the dam had a 250 pound rock (I would call it a boulder) fall on their car. It killed the 6 year old in the back seat. It makes you appreciate your own children a lot more when you hear about the death of someone else's child. This family did everything right, and yet this tragedy still occurred. I have tried to imagine what they must be feeling, but I can't. The older daughter was admitted to the hospital a day or two later with ecoli. She was in intensive care for 2 days and is now out of ICU, but has not been released from the hospital. The funeral is tomorrow with a reception to follow at Kuna High School.

Enough tragedy. Our trip to Colorado was good, it was too short, but we crammed a lot in to a short amount of time. It was great to visit with family and friends. I did not make it to Aunt Nancy's burial on Friday as I picked up some sort of stomach bug and slept all day (okay, in between trips to the bathroom). The memorial service/BBQ on Saturday was really nice. The weather was warm and sunny and a lot of George and Nancy's friends and family came. Towards the end of the time we all sat and told our favorite Aunt Nancy and/or Uncle George stories. My favorite Uncle George memory was my first Thanksgiving in the Negomir family--I made homeade pumpkin pies, he took one bite and said they would keep me. Good thing they tasted good, I would've hated to have to leave. Sunday morning we woke up to 3 inches of snow!! Amelia had snow on her birthday...I am sure that this will never happen again. Pueblo was hot and dry. On Tuesday when we left it was 98 degrees 6 hours later in Rock Springs, Wyoming (my favorite place), it was 38 degrees and raining. I was so glad to get home, and I am finally getting over the sinus/cold thing I came home with.

Father's Day was a very pleasant day. The weather was great and we bbq'd with Jim's parents, my parents and some friends of Jim's parents. Of course we ate until we couldn't eat any more! imagine that.

Looking forward to summer vacation now that all the kids are on summer break...well except for Zach who decided to take Algebra I this summer so he can take geometry in the 8th grade. He goes to school from 8-1145 Monday thru Friday, but Jim drops him off and he takes the bus home.

Went to the curves in Kuna for a 30 days for $30 promotion. Very Clean and well run establishment. The first day my legs were so sore..I didn't expect my legs to be sore but ouch!! I thought my pansy arms would hurt the most.

Later!!

Genetics--A funny thing!

How is that 2 people can have 4 kids...same gene pool each time and they turn out so differently and yet so much the same?? I look at my kids and they are all so different from each other and yet when you look at the similarities they are so much the same. Amelia and Zach are so similar academically, and yet her temper is like Ben's. It takes a lot to push Ben over the edge, but she has a short dramatic fuse. Nick and Ben are so much a like stubborn, strong willed, opinionated but Nick got the throw yourself down on the ground and scream tantrum gene, and Ben got the walk off shaking your hands and muttering to yourself gene. I am awestruck sometimes at their personalities. I once had a teacher tell me "...and you wonder where he gets it from?.." I had to tell her "I have never wondered where he got it from, I know exactly where it came from." When Nick throws a tantrum, I sometimes think, "man I wish I could do that" but as an adult I guess that is socially unacceptable, at least in public. Their have been times that I have had a complete meltdown and Ben calls them my pschycotic episodes. He hates it when I have them, but I still find his dirty socks balled up in the middle of the living room floor. Thankfully for all involved I don't have to have them often. I look at the parents around me and I think wow I bet they don't have these problems and yet when you talk to them they have problems too some are the same and some are different. I have several mottos "if we are going to pay for therapy we should get our monies worth." or "if we are going to be on Oprah/Dr. Phil we should at least have something to talk about."
I took Ben and Amelia on a bike ride yeterday 4.5 miles today those 2 little bones that sit on your bike seat are sooooooo sore! with the rising price of gas, I am thinking that if they want ice cream this summer we are biking to get it. Of course we biked to my parents and go there just as the rain started. My dad had donuts for the kids--kind of defeats the purpose of exercise. I can't wait to be a grandparent!!
Our quick trip to Colorado is coming together slowly. I have 2 kids packed, realizing that 1 needs new socks and underwear and 1 needs new underwear. Does it ever end? Nick is going to spend 2 weeks in Colorado with his friends Gabriel and Ethan, he is so excited every day he asks is it time to leave yet. He is also excited to fly home all by himself. That ought to be interesting--Zach has flown by himself a lot and Ben a couple of times-- With the price of gas a 1 way ticket is less than a drive half way back to Colorado.
Later