Let's all cheer for Football !!!!!

My nephew, Brad, goes to Humboldt State University and plays football there. He played last year at American River Jr. College and now he is on to a four year university. He left for Arcata at the beginning of August and our gang hasn't seen him since then. Well, we got the opportunity this weekend to go to his game at Menlo College in Menlo Park and we took it. We left Friday night and spent the night at a hotel. We stayed in the same hotel as the team, his parents, and my mom and dad. The Hay gang had a ball, and they were so happy to see Boppy aka Brad. They swam and had sleepovers in Auntie's room and Gram's room. It was a fun game, Humboldt won!!! This was their first win this season so it was a good day. Brad did really well. We couldn't believe how big and strong he is. He had a sack and some tackles. Yippee, Brad. The best part, to me, about Brad playing for Humboldt is that my dad played for Humboldt and I was born while he was a student player. He then went on to coach for Humboldt. My family lived in Eureka for 13 years before we moved. We are taking the gang to the Humboldt homecoming game in Oct. I'm excited because I get to show the gang where I grew up and maybe take them to the beach as well as getting to see Brad and his dorm room. It will be fun for the kids to see Brad in his new environment. I'm hoping that they see college as a place that they will want to go someday. It is never too early to start the college planning. :)

Jacks Fans!!!!

Pa, Brad's Nana, Gram , me, Henry, Tom, Ali's friend Ashley, Matthew, Uncle, Boppy, Auntie,

Thomas, Emily, Macie, Ali

Julia





Uncle, future Jack Matthew, Boppy

More Supervision Needed, Right?

Yesterday was the day Tom and I decided that the car needed to move back into the garage. For close to a year now we haven't been able to put the car in the garage due to us storing furniture for other people, moving beds in and out of the house, and using the garage as the cardboard dumping ground of the Hay House. We started work around 9:00 a.m. and set about putting things out front to sell to the traffic that passes by our house. We usually do very well at this, but yesterday we only sold one item. We must have some real junk this time. :) We then packed Tom's truck he borrowed from work full of dump items and he went to the dump. When he came home we packed the truck up with items to take to DI (a local second hand store run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and then back to the dump to dump a computer. While he was gone I rearranged the shed giving us more room, folded laundry and fed the kids. Then we cleaned the garage and the van finally moved back into its home. We can't believe that it is back there. In fact, someone at church today said that he thought we were out of town because he didn't see our van out front on his way to church. We showed him. :)

Anyway while this was going on you might want to know where the Hay Gang was. Well, they were out front with us picking up apples that had fallen from the tree, playing in the driveway and Henry was in the stroller. They were in the front and then in the back playing basketball, riding moving toys, and just being kids. When we came into the house at one point we found Matthew looking like this

We also found marking pen (supposedly washable) on the walls and tile floor. We got it off the walls and floor, but Matthew well, that was a different story. I dressed him today in a little suit and cute dress shoes thinking people would look past the war paint and focus on the cute little man. No such luck. He was noticed and he just smiled at everyone who snickered his way. What a little rascal. We are very fortunate that nothing more happened. The lesson learned? Never let a 2 year old know where the markers are kept. Anyway lucky us we have a car in the garage and a little boy with fading war paint. Oh, happy day!!!!!!

It Does Get Better

Another week goes by and nothing major has happened just regular Hay House stuff. I ended up working for my cousin, Melynda on Sat. and had a great time talking and working with her. We found out that the car will cost $1600 dollars so poor Tom has to put up with the Saturn a few more years. $1600 is a whole lot cheaper than buying a new car. He was thinking that now with the Saturn out of commission he might be able to get a good ole used truck but no such luck. Tuesday we had a visit from our adoption agency and I found out about it on Monday so we kicked into high gear around here. The house was very livable and the floors were no longer sticky, yeah. :) Julia started her new ballet class on Monday afternoons and had a ball, Matthew went to his physical therapy and had the speech teacher come to our home. On Thursday I went to a co-op pre-school and shared a lesson on sign language with them. I taught 3 little boys how to use their manners. We learned about "Magic Words", please, thank you, sharing, your turn, and my turn. These little boys are friends of Julia's and I hope that as I continue to teach them they can communicate more with her. She loves it when people attempt to sign with her.
There is a piece of news that we at the Hay House would love to share, we got our new Signing Time! DVD's and they are everything the gang had hoped they would be. Look for us at Birthday parties to sign Happy Birthday, party, candles, wish, and the all important cake signs. We can't wait for those party invites (we learned that word as well). :)
My niece, Emily, babysat for me today as I went and got Julia a new mattress for her bottom bunk, and I started the, shh don't tell the kids, Christmas shopping. I had a great time being out on a school day all by my self. Thanks Emily.
Well, the Hay Gang had a good week and it does get better, thank heaven.

Can it get any worse?

Yesterday, Friday, was a strange and crazy day. Matthew woke up at 5:00a.m. and I gave him Motrin and water. He was burning up. We think he is getting some new teeth. Tom got up with Henry around that same time and fed him. We got back to sleep around 5:45. Now, were not sure when it actually happened, but Matthew's nose started bleeding. He has been having bloody noses for a few months now, and we have seen the ENT and our ped. Dr. They have told us just to wait and see what happens. We woke up to blood all over the floor, sheets, and our bedroom door. I tried for 2 1/2 hours to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile I had to call a friend to pick up Macie and Thomas for school, put Julia on the bus, and feed Henry. I called and made an appointment with his Dr. and tried the ENT. Of course, on the way to the Dr. the bleeding stopped. I had dropped Henry off at a friends and I went to pick him up. Then I took the kids and went to K-Mart to pick up an outfit that I needed to wear because I was working for my cousin who owns a restaurant. I was going to help cater an anniversary party. Tom came home at 2:00 so I could rush up to Auburn to get to Strings by 2:30. Then it happened, Tom's car stopped with me in it on the Freeway. I was almost to Newcastle. I called Melynda and told her that I wouldn't be at the event. I was very bummed. The cars were whizzing by me while I was waiting for the tow truck. With AAA you can only be towed 5 miles well, it ended up being 9 miles to our automotive guy. I had to pay $36 for the tow. We still don't know how much the car will be. I got home and collapsed it had been a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Tomorrow can only get better. We rented a movie and made a good dinner and had an at home date after the kids went to bed. We saw Premonition and thought it was good, strange but good.
Anyway here's to better days. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya Tomorrow, you're only a day a way.

Don't forget to Vote for Rachel

Rachel Coleman has been nominated for Mannington's Stand on a Better World. Please visit the voting site and vote for her http://www.standonabetterworld.com/vote/detail/rcoleman.html
Voting ends on September 7, so please vote for Rachel.

Signing Time!

Caterpillar Dreams - This is my favorite Signing Time! song. It reminds me of Julia. She is our butterfly.

A Fun Day

We worked in the yard all morning and into the afternoon on Saturday. With the new baby and all we haven't been able to do much yard work or any clean up work for that matter. The last time the lawn was mowed was 2 months ago when my nephew mowed it as a surprise for us. We were very tired and hot when the work was completed. The yard and patio looked so great that we BBQ some chicken and then Tom filled up a little kiddie pool we had. It was a huge surprise for the kids. When they saw the pool they started jumping around and wanted to get in immediately, but we made everyone wait until after dinner. Tom had also gone to the grocery store before dinner and bought some ice cream which is a staple in this family. He made the gang milkshakes to drink out on the patio while playing in the pool. A big game of Simon Says was played and Julia was the grand champion. Of course, we had to play many more times to see if there might be anymore grand champions, but they didn't seem to do as well as the first time. Tom had to go through a lot of instructions before he got any of them the first time, but the times after he got them on the first try. Anyway, it was a fun filled day and Julia just kept signing swim over and over of course with the word now signed with emphasis. She can be very demanding. :) The Hay House had a fun family work day. Here are some pictures of the action.

Matthew looking cute and having fun in the backyard.

Henry kicking back and having his usual 6 ouncer.

The Simon Says game. Who will be out first? Uh Oh where's Thomas is he out? :)

Julia, the Hay House Simon Says grand champion.

Signing Time -

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Happy Birthday from the new Signing Time! Series 2. We can't wait untill ours show up at the house. You can pre-order the new series at Signing Time! Also don't forget to vote for Rachel for the Mannington's stand on a better world contest.

School's Here!!!!

Today is the first day of school and gang was ready to go very early. I made them a hot breakfast (I'm not so great at this particular task), and they were very shocked at finding eggs on their plates instead of bowls of cold cereal. I will probably be getting to cold cereal in a few days. :) They dressed in their brand new clothes and shoes and waited for the 1st day pictures out front. Of course, Matthew didn't go to school today, but he wanted to be in the picture. Macie is in 3rd grade and has Mrs. Flannegan, Thomas is in 2nd and his teacher is Mrs. Wallin, Julia is still in Miss Bonnie's SDC pre-school class. She got to ride the bus today, but the bus was late so I'm not sure when she actually got to school. The bus was supposed to pick her up at 8:03, but didn't come until 8:30. Hopefully it will be on time tomorrow. I was very happy to send them off this year. What with getting the new baby in June, this has been a very tiring summer, and the kids needed to get out of here and go have some fun. Here's to another school year!!!!!!

Macie showing off her new third grade apparel. She loves her new haircut and new High School Musical messenger bag.

Thomas and his new duds with a spiderman backpack. Looking good my man!!!!

Julia is all smiles. She can't wait until she sees Miss Bonnie. She picked out her new outfit all by herself. She even got new High School Musical shoes with Troy Bolton on them.

Dancing and Smokey the Bear and Rides oh my!

Well Friday we watched the High School Musical 2 movie, and everyone here at the Hay House had a great time. We loved all the singing and dancing. They also watched it on Sat and Sun nights. Julia loved Troy and Gabriella, Thomas loved the part where Troy sings Bet On It, Macie loved Sharpay singing Fabulous. Then on Saturday, Julia danced with her ballet class at the State Fair. She was terrific and loved being on stage. The whole gang had a fun time riding the rides and walking around. We stayed longer than we thought, but when you're having fun you just gotta go with it. Grandma and Pa, Auntie and Uncle came to see Julia and to hang out with us and have fun. Auntie and Uncle treated the kids to pony rides and Grandma and Pa treated us all to ice cream. We also had hand squeezed lemonade. Yummmers. Auntie and Uncle took the kids around the Smokey the Bear exhibit and the kids learned all about smoke alarms. They each got a free handkerchief for going through the exhibit.

Julia the dancing bunny

Julia, Matthew, Pa, Smokey, Henry, Macie and Thomas enjoying the Fair

The rides were fun, Matthew loved the pony ride, Julia was so happy to ride a pink elephant, Thomas dug the ponies, and Macie went for wild spinning rides.

The Fair was fun and we were all very tired when we got home. Now we can't wait until school starts on Tuesday.

Bye Bye Couch

Well, it finally happened. Our niece, Ali, has moved out on her own, and she has taken our living room couch and chair with her. Well, we did give it to her. She earned it two years ago when she babysat for us all season of the Music Circus. We paid her in couch and chair. I really didn't think it would stay with us for this long, but now the day came and went and we have no couch or chair. I didn't think I really used it all that much. It is (was) in the living room and we rarely go in there or so I thought. It wasn't 2 hours after we waved good-bye and signed (Julia) I Love You to the couch that the mail came and into the living room I went to sit and read the mail. Oops, I guess I have to go read it in the rocker in my room. I hope we at least have a new one by Christmas. This couch and chair were the first items we bought together after we got married. The couch

The kids found old favorites and a bunch of junk under the couch.

Bye Bye old friend. :)

Vote for Rachel Coleman

Hey everyone the creator of the Hay Family favorite DVD's Signing Time! has been nominated for Mannington's Stand on a Better World award. Please vote for her. She could win $10,000 for the charity of her choice which of course is the Signing Time! Foundation. To vote for Rachel use the link http://www.standonabetterworld.com/vote/detail/rcoleman.html You can only vote once so make sure to vote for Rachel Coleman. To check out the Signing Time! Foundation go to http://www.signingtimefoundation.org/ . Go Rachel !!!!!!

We can't wait!!!!!

The Hay kids are soooooo excited that High School Musical 2 is due out on Friday. We get to find out who their teachers are for next year on Friday also, but that doesn't even compare to the excitement over High School Musical 2. Yesterday the Music CD to High School Musical 2 came out and of course we were at the Wal-Mart buying it. We listened to it on the way home, and they somehow knew the words to some of the songs. Disney sure knows how to do the PR. They have "music videos" of some of the songs on their channel and have been showing them for a few weeks now. The CD came with a bonus DVD of some of the rehearsals for the new dances. We have watched that 2 times and have listened to the CD a number of times. I guess we will be ready for Friday night. Julia's favorite character is Gabriella, Macie loves Sharpay (I'm not sure why maybe all the fancy clothes and glitz), Thomas likes Troy and Chad. Matthew loves dancing to the music. So, we wait around here for Friday.

Donner Lake Picnic

We had a great day Saturday. We went to Donner Lake for Tom's company picnic. Of course, I had to pack as if we were going for more than just one day. We looked like 2 pack mules walking into the beach. Tom's company has been having this picnic every summer for the last 3 years. They provided us with food and drinks, games, hats, leis and fun. The kids wanted in the water so badly, but Donner is always so cold I wasn't sure they needed to get in. They were sure. So, they swam and played in the sand. We all took a break to eat the roasted pig, prime rib and the summer picnic mainstay hotdogs. The kids loved the fruit salad and dessert. Tom and I think that next year we will go up earlier in the week and camp for a few days at the Donner Memorial State Park Campground. My only requirement for camping is showers and yes, Donner has showers. We are looking forward to a family vacation.

Macie and Thomas were on a swim team this year so they wanted to show off their swimming abilities and swam out to a buoy. They had tons of fun swimming a little bit out on their own.Julia had a great time sitting on the beach eating all the candy she got from the pinata.

Matthew was very cold at the end of the day. He was shivering.

Henry hung out in his stroller most of the day. He also hung out in the front pack with me.All in all it was a great day. On the way home no one fell asleep. We couldn't believe it someone usually falls asleep. They were full of excitement from the day. When we got home everyone had showers due to the sand in hair and all over bodies. Then we served up sandwiches and the gang went to bed and were fast asleep. What a day!!