Christmas at the Blethen's 2007

We are going to see this house tonight!

How cute is this little boy????

MY friend sent me this video on Youtube... I don't know who this little boy is, but oh my is he cute!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

This is great! A must see this Christmas!

Keep On Loving You

From my Senior year in High school...

Bee Gees - Midnight Special 1973

So, last night I caught part of an infomercial about the Midnight Special, now on DVD!
What memories! We used to watch the Midnight special every week. Either at my house or Lisa's. There has never been another show like it.

Christmas With a Capital

Great Video!

scary Elves!

Check this out!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9638018433

and this one..

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1130573973

Down to two...

So, we have pretty much ruled out the BIG public high school. I have been to several meetings about the charter school and a parent meeting about St. Joe.... This is what we are going to do.. PRAY. Along with that, I will turn in the application for Orcutt Academy today. Her getting in is dependent on a lottery system, so God can certainly close that door if he chooses. Then Hannah will also attend all of the Pre-St. Joe stuff. They have a day for her to come to school. They have a dance with the 8th and 9th graders to get to know each other. They have a night time walk around school and see the classrooms. She will take the entrance exam in January. The charter school lottery is in February and St. Joe acceptance letters go out in March. So we will attempt both schools and see what happens. Again, God can certainly close doors here. If both doors remain open, then we will still need to choose...

Here is what our Pro and con list boils down to now.

Orcutt Academy: Pro- Small, Free, No religion Classes, opportunity to be involved in the FIRST graduating class
Con- no track record, facility is pieced together, little opportunity for sports.

St. Joe: Pro- Small, feels like home to us, GREAT proven history, every sport offered, lots of clubs
Con- EXPENSIVE, Elitist attitude, religion classes (not a HORRIBLE thing, but not a pro either)

Right now, Hannah is saying she wants to go to Orcutt Academy. I don't know about any of her friends. So, now we wait...

eeny, meeny, miney, mo....

So, Hannah is an eighth grader. That is stress enough... but WHERE will she go to High school???? THAT is the question of the year!
So, I am going to use my blog as a pros/cons place. I will write my pros and cons for the 3 choices. Hopefully it will help me to see it in writing. Please feel free to give any thoughts or advise... we need it all!!!!! Keep in mind, Hannah loves drama, music and such...

Pros-
Righetti HS-

• Public (read FREE)
• lots of activities and elective classes (lots of drama, choir, band, arts, etc)
• most of H's friends will go here
• lots of sports

St. Joseph-

• Familiar (I used to teach there, Tim coaches football there... we know the faculty and admin.)
• Small (650 students grades 9-12)
• closed campus
• very academic.
• Lockers
• Rich history of traditions
• All the sports offered... big sports school... I think that they require students to participate on at least one team.

Orcutt Academy-

• Public Charter (read FREE)
• brand new (H's will be the first class... they get to set the traditions, chose the mascot, colors etc. First graduating class)
• small 125 students per grade
• closed campus
• Very Academic
• Supposed to offer band, choir, drama etc... we will see
• Will incorporate the International Baccalaureate program... pretty inovative and rigorous higher level classes

Cons-
Righetti HS-

• HUGE 2500 students grades 9-12
• open campus (they can leave anytime)
• easy to get "lost" in the system
• some gangs
• no dress code (NONE, you should see what some of those girls are wearing or should I say NOT wearing!)
• you can get a good education but nobody is paying attention or pushing you
• No lockers- you have to carry everything all day

St. Joe-

• EXPENSIVE $7000 tuition plus books and everything else
• time committment for parents (bingo, working games etc)
• Cliquish and snooty (rich people's kids: kids getting brand new car for 16th birthday etc)
• Strict dress code (girls have to wear collared shirts.. those are not easy to find, etc)
• Religion Classes required (not that we mind them SO much, but we don't nessessarily want to pay for classes in Catholosism when we aren't Catholics)
• No classes offered in Music, drama, etc.

Orcutt Academy-

• NEW (I know that I said that was a pro, but they are also just working out the bugs... would the first class be a guniea pig class?)
• pieced together campus (sharing with the Jr. High the first year at least... no estimate on when they would have their own facility)
• Lottery to get in
• Dress code is unwritten so I will put it here until we see
• less offerings of sports and clubs etc in the first few years

So, that is what I have so far... I will continue updating as I think of things...

Halloween... and other stuff!

Mom and Dad always come down for a visit right around Halloween. The kids love having them around so they can see the costumes and everything. Bekah LOVES for Dadad to play games with her and for Mimi to do crafts with her. She gets things all ready for their visit, and practically has their time planned out from the moment they hit the front door. This year, I witnessed something that I never thought I would see... she got Dadad to play John Madden Football on the gamecube! So of course, I had to take a picture of Dadad playing video games...

This year, the girls carved pumpkins... no help from any adults again this year...


This is Hannah's masterpiece...

This is Bekah's Jack-O-Lantern...


Costumes this year were interesting... Hannah was going t0 be a pirate.. then a dead prom queen, then just a purple person... she finally decided on a "bad Fairy" she bought purple wings that were battery opperated and "flapped" and then put the rest together from what she owned. She did a pretty good job, I think.
Being an 8th grader, she didn't want to have anything to do with our festivities... she and her friends went Trick or Treating by themselves, so the only pictures that I have with her are the "before" shots... then I remembered that I needed pictures of the wings, so I got a shot while she was walking to the car!


As you can see, Bekah was a "Clone Trooper" from Star Wars... She found the costume and never looked back... I tried to talk her out of it, because I knew she wouldn't like wearing the mask... but she was determined to be a clone trooper... so, here she is...
We had the Ryver Family over for Chilidogs and went Trick or treating... here is the Whole crew.. Matthew Flores, Bekah, Austin and Andrew Ryver...

Our evening always winds up at the "Pumpkin Man's House" . A neighbor carves the most wonderful pumpkins.. about 20 each year. We have to go see them. (Hannah missed out this year... ) Here is Bekah's favorite of the year...


And here are some of the others...


And here is a picture of the Girls With Mimi and Dadad last night... They left early this morning to drive to Phoenix to see Aunt Dee.
The house seems very empty this morning... The kids don't have school today (a genius move on the school district's part, I must say.. they always schedule a teacher inservice day on November 1st.. that way, the teachers don't have to deal with the Overtired, sugar hangover kids!)

My Baby's growing up!

Hannah got her hair cut last night... it is so cute, and yet grown up and sophisticated too!

I should have bought more...

Man, am I a slacker when it comes to my blog!

School is underway. Hannah is enjoying being an 8th grader and being "upper class woman". She has some really great friends. Tonight, she and Sammy are at a drug free party, sponsored by several businesses in town, just for Jr. Highers. She has become the sleep over queen, and spends at least one night at someones house most weekends.
Bekah is a fourth grader, and so far this year has been 1000% better than the last one! Her teacher this year is a great man who is very soft spoken. (when I said to someone that he was quiet, Bekah said "he isn't quiet, he talks all day long!"... so we had to explain that I meant Soft spoken...) Last year her teacher was a yeller...so this is a good change for Bekah.

Football has started. So we spend fridays going to games. The kids reall enjoy it this year. And they spend the game time with their friends hanging out which means that I can enjoy the game too!

Soccer is underway and the girls are doing well. Today we got back the soccer pictures for Hannah. I never buy pictures because they are not usually great. We get 1 individual picture, one photo button, and one team picture with our registration, so that is all I usually need... well this year, Hannah's pictures are DARLING! I wish I had bought several... oh well, I guess that is what a scanner is for. Several of the parents are upset that the photo company chose this picture for the team picture... it isn't "Serious" enough or something... I think that it portrays this team very well! They are a bunch of goofballs and are having so much fun being on the same team, I LOVE the picture!

End of Summer.... bummer....

So, summer is coming to an end at the Pettey household! We have started soccer practices and Football practices... the girls and I took a quick trip to our friends, the Hoffman's, in Fresno to swim in the pool...

We had loads of fun! The weather was warm but not extremely hot (low 100's).

Then Sunday evening, we headed to Pismo Beach... You know, we live so close but we have never stayed there as a family... so we decided to play tourist in our own neck of the woods. The girls LOVED being able to walk out of the hotel and down to the beach. We never moved the car, we walked a mile down the beach to our favorite chowder place, Splash Cafe, for dinner. We walked across the hotel's parking lot to Marie Calendars for breakfast, we ordered lunch from Marie Calendars and I walked over to get it... we had a great time. Bekah swam in the pool for hours! We walked on the beach and found these little bitty crabs and 3 unbroken sand dollars. We played in the waves... it was wonderful!! There is a HUGE brush fire that is just south east of us, that has been burning since July 4th... the smoke makes for some amazing sunsets!









We came back today and now have to get ready for school to start Thursday... sigh... I love summer. I am bummed that it is over.

2:26 am................

So, here I sit, at the computer... sounds from the living room confirm that the teenage girls here for a sleepover aren't sleeping. Why do I sit here still? Thinking that I can outlast them? Thinking that I might hear a bit of their conversation and get a feel for my daughters friends? Thinking that if I go to sleep now, I will oversleep and not be ready when their parents show up tomorrow? I don't know why, but here I sit.

My daughter turned thirteen yesterday. I am the mother of a teenage girl. I am really NOT happy about that! NOT! She is already hormonal and hard to live with, now I am going to have to start letting her be... just a little... on her own. Maybe that is why I am sitting here. I am not fond of one of the friends that is here, and there are two others that I barely know (in fact, I find it interesting that neither family came in to meet us before leaving their daughter here to spend the night! I would never do that! What if we were somehow deranged?) and I am trying to get a sense if my daughter makes wise choices in her friends... 2 of the 5 girls she invited, I think are pretty trustworthy... but the jury is still out on the others.

I am wondering if they will help my daughter clean the living room before they leave... there is confetti and starburst candies and m&m's everywhere... I think they were having a "food fight" with candy!

My 9 year old wanted SO BADLY to be one of the big girls... she stayed up until 2, but is finally asleep... I will not be happy if those shrieking, giggly girls wake her up! She wants to be 13 also, but I am glad that she is still in single digits!

So, it is now 2:37, the lights are back on in the family room... they are being noisy... WHY did we agree to a sleepover???? Did she catch us at a weak moment?? Was I not really paying attention??? I did this 2 years ago and vowed NEVER to do it again... but, here I am!

Heaven help me... I just went out to get a glass of water, and there was talk of "bases" and I am sure no one out there plays softball! I am SO not ready for the teenage years!! I have to trust that I raised her this far to be a smart, sensible, modest girl. I have to trust, because I am not always going to be sitting in the other room listening... and I am not ready to lock her in a tower... not yet anyway!

Well, It is time for me to go to bed I think... I can't outlast them, but I can trust that she is who I think she is... someone who will NOT be talked into breaking the rules... someone with an ounce (or more) of sense... someone who will look me in the eye tomorrow and tell me what all happened while I slept.

Moments in time...

Ok, so I have been challenged to record the next ten minutes of my life...
8:40pm- why would anyone want to know what I did for ten minutes? Really?
8:41pm- my head hurts! I have a sinus thing going on and the area behind my left eye is throbbing... it makes my eyes water... I wonder if the computer screen helps? hahaha
8:42pm- Hmmm... my husband will be walking in the door any minute... do I really want to be here on the computer? But I have to, I have 7 more minutes to go...
8:43pm- Why am I hungry? Maybe my sinus trouble has screwed up my hunger sensor in my brain... Or, maybe I just need ice cream...
8:44pm- Ok, so my life is pretty boring... did I tell you that we went up north to see Hannah's Birthmom Lauri this past weekend? Maybe I should blog about that, instead of my hunger pangs!
8:45pm- My house needs to be cleaned so that Hannah can have a sleepover party on Friday... why am I sitting here? It is like there are magnets in my rear that keep me from getting up... that and I have 5 more minutes to record!
8:46pm- Have you tried diet pepsi Jazz- Strawberries and cream? It is so good! The empty can on my computer tower can attest to that!
8:47pm- Bekah is out watching tv... the amazing thing is that she hasn't yelled for me to come and get her something or "watch this commercial cuz I want that toy" or anything... Hmmm... maybe I should go check on her!
8:48pm- wow, just two more minutes to go... Tim still isn't here, so that is good! I am going to go clean up the living room tonight... just as soon as I finish this blog post!
8:49pm- My head still hurts. It helps to close my left eye, but then my right eye starts to hurt...
8:50pm- well, there you have it, nothing earth shattering happens in my life! That is a good thing!

Ok, so that is over, let me share a bit of our weekend trip.
We went up north to visit Lauri, Cameron and Julie this weekend. Lauri is Hannah's birthmom, Cameron is Hannah's 14 year old half brother and Julie is Lauri's mom.
We all went on friday morning. We got to Julie's about 3:30pm. We had dinner with them all at Julie's house. Then Hannah, Lauri and Cameron went bowling. Tim, Bekah and I stayed and watched a movie with Julie. Then Hannah spent the night with Lauri and Cameron and we spent the night at Julie's house.
Saturday, we went swimming and I hit a scrapbook store. Then we drove home. It was a quick trip... but Hannah had requested some time to get to know Lauri a little bit better, and I think that was accomplished. Here is a picture of Hannah, Lauri and Cameron... remember, he is a year and 3 weeks older than Hannah...

It's a small world after all...

Ok, so sorry that you have that song stuck in your head (what is that called.. an earworm?) but it fits my ramblings...
The internet... it's called the WORLD WIDE WEB... but really what it means to me is that I have friends that I chat with from all over the world. People who share my interests (ok, interest singular... scrapbooking) and gift of gab. I have sent cards to women that I have never met IRL (in real life, for those of you who are not acronym savvy) but who needs cheering up (illness, tired from kids, just life stuff). I know their faces, their kids' names, their husbands names and what they do... I KNOW these women, without ever having met. We laugh together, we give cyber hugs when we are in need, we offer assistance when we can. I guess it is sort of like the pen pal of my youth. Someone out there who I really can get to know, without seeing.
Yeah, I know that because we have never met, some people may not be all that they seem...and I won't let my daughters get online and "meet" people...but when they are grown, and can discern people, I hope that they can form lasting friendships with people from all walks of life... people who would never cross paths with them normally, but who we can learn much from. People like my girlfriends on the internet.

Childhood Friends...

So I have been googling names of people I grew up with and went to college with... I am finding out lots of stuff! I got a college degree and then proceeded not to use it too much, but my friend Ron went on to get his Masters and Doctorate and is now the VP of a company in Portland and teaches at the University there. We used to hang out together trying to figure out Physics and Calc as freshmen at TVCC... I am so proud of him!
My friend, Lisa and I met in 7th grade...we were best buds in Jr. High and High school... she went on the get a PhD and teaches at a University. She studied Basque Dance. She was a beautiful dancer and I am sure she is just as graceful now. She taught me to say a sentence in Basque when we were in 7th grade... something like "shut up! Do you want a slap in the face?" I still pull it out.. at least what I REMEMBER it to be... to make my kids laugh, but I am sure that I am butchering that wonderful language everytime I say it! Anyway, Way to go LISA! You make me proud!
For the rest of you... beware... my googling is just getting started... I may run across your name soon!
Oh and by the way... if you google my name you will find out that unbeknown to even myself I am some sort of Health Safety Expert on the east coast!

I'm a BAD blogger...

I can't believe that it has been so long since I updated my blog! I have no excuse except for extreme business! It is graduation season, so my work load has increased dramatically. I find myself having a hard time being polite on the phone with customers who are panicky about getting their kid's cap and gown on time (well duh! They have been able to order since OCTOBER.. now you want to get a gown a week before graduation?!) My boss, Danny, says "their lack of planning does not constitute our emergency", but we do our best to get them what they need.
On the computer front, some of you know that I have had an issue with an external hard drive (long story short, I moved all our docs and pics and music over to it, and it died 3 days later!)... now I am trying to reinstall itunes and it keeps giving me a fatal error cuz it is pointing to the external drive that is no longer there! Maybe it is time for a whole new computer! Like I have that kind of money...
The kids have 2 more weeks of school... then we are home for a week and then on our way to Colorado. (Tim is speaking at Horn Creek Family Camp again) After Horn Creek, we head to Idaho for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. That means I have 3 weeks to lose 60 pounds... don't think that is gonna happen! It's not like I didn't know this event was coming, but I kept putting the diet off. Oh well. So, now you have been updated... I will try to get back to the DC trip pictures this week... really...

Procrastination...

So, I left you all wondering what happened on the rest of the trip... I will get back to that in the next post.

Hannah is learning a valuable lesson about procrastination (not that I EVER procrastinate... yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) tonight. It seems that the past week when I have asked her if her homework was done and she said she didn't have any... well she did! A big ol' science report, due tomorrow... so she was up until past 11 tonight doing her report and she needs me to get her up at 6 in the morning to finish before school. On her way to bed she said "Mom, if I tell you when my reports or projects are due, could you push me to get them done, so I don't have to do it all in one night again?" I think she's learning... now if I could just get my act together and finish posting those pictures!

Illumination Tour- Wednesday night

After dinner at the Old Post Office, we picked up our tour guide and started our Illumination tour. We started at the World War II Memorial. This memorial had two arch ways that represented the Pacific and the Atlantic theaters of the war. There were columns for each state of the union and then a pool in the center.

From this spot you could see both the Lincoln Memorial (starting to "illuminate" as the sun got lower)

And the Washington Monument... which we took some fun pictures of.

Next was the Jefferson Memorial



On our way back to the bus, I caught a glimpse of the Washington Monument, I dashed down to the water to take the picture, hoping that the bus didn't leave with out me. (Next camera I get will take a little better night time shots, but I think this turned out pretty good.)

Our next stop was the Lincoln Memorial. This was probably the highlight of the Entire trip for me. I was very moved by it. I was taking the picture below of the Gettysburg address, when music started... something like angels singing... it was the Battle Hymn of the Republic... at first I thought that it was recorded, but I turned around and there was a choir of high school students (obviously just touring, not really performing) singing. It made tears come to my eyes. SUCH a beautiful moment!



When you are standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, this is your view.

We walked over to the Korean War Memorial. This was really lovely, but I wish we had gone during the day. The pictures on the wall were cool. The tour guide said that these were not pictures of people who had died in the war specifically. They were just random pictures gathered. He said that sometimes a Korean War Veteran will find his picture up on the wall.


We headed for the White house. We only ever drove by the South lawn (never stopping, I tried every time to get a picture, but never succeeded), but this was up to the front of the house (OK, as close to the front as you can get).


We got back on the bus and headed to the Kennedy Center for the Preforming Arts. See the Oregon Flag you Oregonians? Thought of you at that moment. (Even you traitorous Idahoans!)


After leaving the Kennedy Center, we dropped our tour guide off and headed back to the hotel. In bed by 11, Breakfast at 6:45.. have to leave early to try the Capitol Building tour again...

Washington DC- Wednesday April 11

Here we go, Washington DC!!!!!!! We drove into the city and got our first glimpse of the famous places in store for us. We passed the Pentagon.. I had NO idea that it was so close to major freeways! On 9-11, the plane would have come in right over all the cars. I can't imagine what that must have been like! We never stopped at the Pentagon, and I have a few just "ok" shots of it out of the bus window, so if you REALLY want to see it, let me know and I will email you a picture.

Our first stop this morning would be the Capitol building. You have to stand in line to get tickets to tour the Capitol. We waited in line for about 1 1/2 hours and they sold out before we got to the front. While we waited, we snapped some pictures.

Hannah and her friends. I really LOVE this picture. After much grumbling from the kids.. "We waited in line for nothing???", "That was stupid..." etc., we walked up the hill and went to the Library of Congress.

The kids may not have been excited, but I was BESIDE myself at the joy of seeing THE Library!

Let me say first in my defense of this picture, that I had already taken it, when I realized that it was not allowed...
A GUTENBERG BIBLE!!! I said, "Hannah, do you know what this is?" and she said, "Mom, its just a Bible... we have those at home." (OK, so the Page in me is coming out, she may not have said those exact words, but her sheer look of boredom expressed that sentiment) So, I explained the relevance of it to her, she was slightly more impressed, but not much. I, however, was thrilled! You can check out this link to see more about the Gutenberg Bible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible
I must say that the inside of the Library of Congress is perhaps the most beautiful building I have ever been in. These pictures just don't do it justice. You can't take a picture of a massive room like this and get the full effect. This is the great hall.

This is the ceiling of the 2nd floor hallway (which you see from the great hall). Really this is a STUNNING building. If we could have spent more time in any of the buildings we saw, this would be my choice. I could have spent hours in it.

Our next stop was the Supreme Court building (next door to the LOC), we actually ate lunch in the basement. This building was also impressive, but very "cold" feeling. We got to go into the court room, and they told us about the way things are done. It was interesting.

This is the ceiling of one of the hallways (actually, I guess it is the main hallway leading from the front steps to the courtroom itself) I noticed this flower motif, in several buildings. I thought it was pretty.
When we left the Supreme Court building, we are pretty sure we saw President Bush's motorcade. We had seen some other "short" motorcades and were told they were not the President, that we would "know" when we saw a Presidential motorcade. So this motorcade, was about 10 motorcycles, and 10 black SUV's long and the back SUV had its back open so the secret service to fire if needed. (that is how it was explained to us)

Next we walked down Constitution Avenue to the National Archives. Again, I was beside myself at the thrill of seeing what was inside! (For those who are interested, the movie "National Treasure" was NOT filmed in the building.)
We saw the Magna Carta, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, The Gettysburg Address, just an amazing assortment of documents. They had a room that had things from Presidents' schooling (report cards etc), and a room of letters sent to the Presidents' (there was a letter to FDR or Eisenhower maybe, from Fidel Castro when he was a kid... he asked for a $10 bill, because he had never seen one before...) It was a fascinating building.
After we finished there, we went to the Old Post Office for dinner (the Old Post Office is now a mall). We were looking forward to our "Illumination Tour" after Dinner, my next post will have all those pictures, but I didn't want to overwhelm you by having it all in one post!