Braces

About eight months ago we decided it was time to take Korbin to the Orthodontist. We had been putting it off for a little bit (what can I say braces aren't cheap and we knew he would need them).

His first appointment went well. Dr. Allred was great and wasn't pushy about rushing into anything. He gave us the facts of the pros and cons of waiting and not waiting for braces. We decided to wait six months since it wouldn't make a big difference.

It took three different appointments to get his braces. The first two he liked, they weren't bad just spacers and measurements. After his third appointment he seemed ok. The braces weren't bugging him. It was an early appointment so I gave him some pain reliever took him to school and I hung out with some girlfriends from the ward for the rest of the day. We went shopping, had some lunch (got teased about my tiny coupon), came to my house for some dessert called FH’zzookie, we watched TV for a minute on Jason's new TV (sat on clean laundry while watching it- you know you like your friends when you can do that and no one looks at you funny) and then it was time to pick up kids from school. 

When I picked Korbin up from school he seemed fine. I had made him an extra soft lunch for him to eat that he really liked. The braces didn't start to bug him until around 5 that night. After 5, all we heard was moaning and groaning from him. It was so sad! We overdosed him a few times on jr. strength pain reliever for a few days after that.

I've seen a big difference in Korbin's smile already. I'm glad we finally did it. The braces look great on him. I felt semi bad about talking him into silver braces and not the gold braces like he wanted but now he doesn't seem to care and I'm happy every time he smiles. 

Siomara, RN

My little sister is now officially an RN! It has been a long journey for her to get there. Passing the Nclex (an exam nurses must pass to get a nursing license) test has definitely been a trial for her but she finally passed it in December.
In celebration of passing her Nclex test she came up for a little while to visit a few weeks ago. Probably the last visit she'll be able to take for a while and for a long period of time. I think the next time she comes up it will be more of a weekend trip. We loved having her here and I am amazingly surprise to realize she and I didn't argue and got along really well 98% of her visit. It was so nice! She even filled up my gas tank once. Touching, seeing as I had filled it up the day before so really the trip across town was what she filled up but who would remember that.
While she was here visiting we did a lot of fun things. One of my favorite things was...

taking pictures of them together. 

My sister is now back in California and we (I) miss her terribly. She's applying and interviewing like crazy right now.  Good thing I have a lot of goofy, fun, sisterly material friends around here to keep me entertained while she's away.

Snowball kids

Madison has been waiting for a good snow storm this winter. We finally had a storm in which we could call the snow, quality enough to play in. Madison was itching to play with friends outside. Thursday night a few neighborhood kids came over and played outside for about an hour.  They had fun! It was getting dark fast but they wanted to keep playing until the very last second. Before sending them home they had a warm treat of popcorn and hot chocolate.

  8 kids..a lot of wet snow gear. It was a task keeping track of everyones stuff. 

Basketball 2012

Korbin is playing rec basketball again this year. So far they have played 2 games. Our friends Travis and Tosha are coaching his team this year.
Jason misses coaching. He had a lot of fun with the boys last year even though teaching them a play seemed impossible and there was no attention span sometimes. :)
He'll have to take Tosha's offer and help coach when they need extra help. I don't know how/why Korbin picks being #2 in sports.

Arrow of Light

Our cub scout has earned many fun awards and patches in the last three years. We are very proud of him for his achievements. He's earn at least one big award plus a few smaller ones each year since he's joined scouts. In cub scouts every age group has a den they can participate in.

 When Korbin was eight he joined the Wolf den, he earned his Bobcat and Wolf badge.

I was lucky to have been his den leader for a brief period of time. It was a lot of fun. He then had Conner's mom be his leader. Wendy knows scouts stuff. When he was nine he joined the Bear den, he earned his Bear patch. 

Very cool! Malinda was his den leader and he did a lot of fun things.

 When he turned 10, he joined the Webelos den. Korbin was lucky enough to have his dad be his Webelos den leader. Korbin earned his Webelos badge a few months ago. 

As a Webelos you can also earn a distinguished award called the Arrow of Light. The Arrow of Light patch is the only award you can take with you as you leave the cub scouts and enter the boy scouts.

 It is special and Korbin has earned it!!!!!

He received his Arrow of Light award during January's pack meeting. 

He received it along side his friends Conner and Ben.  

It was a cool night of story telling by the other dens, a visit by a previous Cubmaster, three Arrow of Light awards and treats. 

Conner, Ben and Korbin each had a table full of fun things about each one of them. Each table had very similar objects. 

On Korbin's table he had a Lego set, A Harry Potter book, one of his Nerf guns, a Wii game, a picture and an All About Me page with a list of things he likes to do.

 Korbin has done a great job! Now he only has to wait a few months to go across the bridge and enter the boy scouts trail.