Train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it ~ Proverbs 22:6

Polar Express

2008-12-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

The kids got a special treat this past Thursday night. All they were told was that they were to wear their new PJ's and get in the truck. They didn't know until we got their that they were going to ride the Polar Express. Jace and Linly just before we left town.

Boarding the train. Boy, Jace forgot to smile I think.

Both kids got to see Santa since he came to visit each child individually.

Just like in the book each kid received their very own special bell. What a treat!

Princess Tea

2008-12-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

Linly and I went to a Princess Tea at church. It is held once a year and is a time for little girls to get to dress up.

Cassie Jo and Linly Jo (friends)

Finished look

2008-05-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Is this a beutiful face or what. She loves her new cut. I didn't even cry (at the salon). While we were at Sonic I had a little moment, but the fact that she likes it makes it all ok.

I was about ready to rip the scissors out of the ladies hands cause the back kept getting shorter and shorter. Just when I didn't think I could handle it any more she stopped. It is short, but it will be nice for summer. Linly was not happy when we told her that it would grow back. :)

Locks of Love

2008-05-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Here is how long her hair was.

We got a picture just before the big cut in a pony tail.

Here goes! No turning back now. I felt a little lite headed watching this, but I promised I wouldn't cry.

Here is the first comb through. She loves it! Whew - what a relief.

She is not looking too happy about this right now. I think it was the water bottle that was not pleasing her.

Family camp out at Garner State Park

2008-05-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

This was a family camp out at Garner State Park with Indian Guides. As you can tell it was extremly hot. We played in the Frio River but it wasn't nearly frio enough.

This is Jace's photography. This part of the river was very low. Of course the deepest part was only a few feet deep anyway.

Linly before the Pow Wow

Jace before the Pow Wow

Linly made friends with these geese. She had a pancake and they wanted it so they went after her. She promptly threw the pancake at them and climbed up the side of Rick. She wanted nothing to do with them. On the other hand Jace couldn't seem to leave them alone.

Guess he got what he deserved! They attacked him any time he was even close.

Still tantilizing them.

Beauty Sleep

2008-01-04T22:24:00.001-08:00

Linly got a new make-up set for Christmas from her MiMi and PaPa and one of the items inside was a blindfold or eye mask. When I put her to bed tonight I noticed that she had it in bed, but thought nothing of since she seems afraid of the dark. Well, she decided to use it tonight. As I was getting ready to go to bed this is what I found. What a hoot!

Been a while

2007-12-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been awhile since I have updated this. Life got extremely busy once school started back and many things fell to the side in order to make it. Unfortunately this was one of those things. I intend to do better this next semester and at least put up dates about our activities. I like to put pictures but may not have the time.

This last semester has included many activities. Rick has been so busy with work. The oil and gas business is very good right now as you might expect. He has traveled to several destinations to take care of his customers.

I have started a new job this year. I am the assistant principal of a local elementary school. This is a much more time consuming job than I realized, but I love it. I work with the greatest people and am learning so much every day. The challenges are endless, but I try to learn from every situation.

Jace is in First grade this year and is doing great. I always thought that reading would be difficult to learn - boy was I wrong. Once he realized those letters made sounds and the sounds made words he was off to the races. He is leaps and bounds where is should be in reading. Math is right on target. Sure is nice to not have to worry about that. Jace is also doing Upward Basketball this year and loves it. He is getting better and better - although he tries hard I think he excels more in the academic areas :) I think he got his mother's athletic skills - Sorry Jace!

Linly is in pre-school this year and thinks she is big stuff. She makes us laugh so much. She doesn't know a stranger and will talk your ear off if you will let her. She and Jace are in gymnastics this year. They are both doing amazingly well with this. They love it and the best part is that they are both in a class at the same time. This sure helps with the transportation issues.

As for the coming year we plan on surviving the next semester, going skiing in February, and doing something during spring break. This summer we will travel to Kansas for a family reunion and then on to part undetermined right now. We look forward to seeing some of you when we get a chance and reconnecting with many others.

Have a great 2008!

Mayhill

2007-07-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

Burning the pit at Mayhill. This was a big job, but so needed now that it is wet up there.

Linly with the fish she caught. She wasn't too sure about this.

Jace with his fish. He caught 6 and Linly caught 2.

Proud of their fish.

Papa trying to teach Linly how to roast her hot dog. She just didn't get it. She kept wanting to laying it on the fire.

2007-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

4th of July in Alamogordo, NM watching fireworks. This place was nuts. People were shooting in off in parking lots, driveways, and on the roadside. Apparently there are no restrictions there.

During the Mitchell family reunion the kids got to go to the Space Museum and ride the train in Alamo.

Are they having fun?

Linly is 3

2007-07-13T10:08:00.001-07:00

This year the theme was purple. Linly choose a castle cake and I made it. Not bad for my first attempt. The house was covered in purple for the day.

Linly loved for everyone to sing to her and blowing out the candles. Thanks Mario for the tip on where to put them :) We then had cake, snacks, played and then present time. Linly had to get up and go tell everyone thank you right away. It was a great party.

Showing off some of her goodies.

FEAST Retreat

2007-07-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

This around the campfire on the first night. What a treat for the kids.

This was at the end of our hike. It was a beautiful hike with lots of lady bugs, wild strawberries and even mysterious falling trees :)

This was at Flying J Ranch. Linly loved the horse ride.

Jace was a good shot with the pistol.

Here are all the guys with their targets. What a fun night this was. The trip home was even exciting with hundreds of massive elk. They were incredible to see.

Kara Elizabeth Ann

2007-07-13T09:39:00.001-07:00

My niece was born this June. Linly and Jace are infatuated with her and just can't get enough of her.

Jace was especially in awe. He thought he was suppose to hold her all the time. He loved her little ears :)

My sister Tina and Kaylee (the Big Sister) and Kara

Mimi and Papa with Kara right after she was born.

Kara Elizabeth Ann Dipprey

Jace's Surgery

2007-07-13T09:33:00.001-07:00

This was a day or so after Jace had his tubes, adenoids and tonsils done. I have to say that I didn't realize how hard it would hit him. He took a full two weeks to recoup. I know that I never want my tonsils taken out after watching him go through this. It was awful.

First lost tooth

2007-07-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day 2007

Jace lost his first tooth. He was so proud. The tooth fairy even came that night. We are having to keep him from trying to pull more teeth right now because he likes the tooth fairy part so much.

He LOST it

2007-05-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Jace lost his first tooth at 12:15, Memorial Day 2007!!!

He is sooooo excited

Recital

2007-05-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! A two year old in a dance recital is SOOOO cute. After seeing the older girls though - I'm not so sure it is cute the older they get. In fact, after seeing what we did we have decided that Linly is going to enjoy being in gymnastics from now on. But, for now we are having fun with the recital and all the attention from it. She loved every bit it. The make-up, the stage, the audience, the flowers, the gifts and of course the glitter.

We are waiting to go on stage with the ballet.

What a cute smile and look at the hair. I can't believe it stayed all night long.

This is her "shake" as she calls it.

Linly showing how to point

This was one sleepy girl. We didn't get home till 10:00 and still had to eat. She was a good sport though. It was a long recital, but so much fun to see her perform. Jace did as good as can be expected sitting through the recital. Lucky for him he was allowed to take his game boy in and play it a little.

Graduation

2007-05-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

These are pics from our trip to my graduation. I graduated with my masters in Educational Administration from Grand Canyon University. It is about the same size as ACU. We went to the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, and Grand Canyon. These are only a handful of pictures just because of limited time and space.

How cute are they?

The Grand Canyon

Family pic with a Saguaro cactus. I love these cactus. They are very cool looking.

Right after graduation with my Mom and Dad

Look Mom

2007-04-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

Linly was so proud of herself today. She grew "fallers" at school this week. She wanted a picture with them so bad. See how excited she is :)

Just thought her face was funny on this one.

Good picture of them. They were watching all the birds in the backyard today. It was beautiful outside.

Look at those blue eyes! Like I said the birds were impressive and I was snapping away with the camera. Who wouldn't though with kids like this :)

Day late and a dollar short

2007-04-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

I guess it doesn't really matter when we do Easter Sunday, right? Well, since we were quarantined with the chicken pox for Easter (and it was snowing) then we did Easter Sunday last week. Here are the pictures of the Easter outfits.

Easter in Midland

2007-04-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this. Here we are in the middle of spring and enjoying 80 degree weather when winter decides it just doesn't want to go. We just HAD to get some pictures and share with everyone. How many times have you seen green trees and flowers in full bloom with sleet and snow everywhere. By the way the temp is suppose to be in the 80's early next week. Gotta love West Texas. The old saying if you don't like the weather then wait 5 min. is sooooo true.

Look at the size of these flakes!

It's official!

2007-04-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well it's official! We have the chicken pox at our house. How about that. Jace came in yesterday morning and raised up his shirt and asked what this was. My response - "a problem". Not sure how long this is gonna keep him out of school. So far it hasn't been to bad. Yesterday he had 14 pox and so far today he is up to 21. They are confined to his torso area right now. I am really hoping it stays that way.

I'm told that Linly will get it as well. Ugh! Right now she has one place that looks suspicious. Don't know if it will be the first for her or not. This sure messes up Easter weekend. Of course Linly's Easter dress would have been a little chilly since it is suppose to be snowing this Easter. Hopefully she will get to wear it next weekend.

By the way, for all you moms, I didn't realize that there are two shots to the chicken pox vaccine and the first is required and the second is only if the parent requests it. The kids getting the chicken pox right now are the ones with only one shot. Wish I had known sooner.

Spring Break

2007-03-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well Spring Break has come and gone and it was wonderful. This was a very fun Spring Break. We stayed in Galveston at a beach house with my parents, and my sisters family. We spent a lot of time seeing things and a lot of time just playing. We ended the week by heading to San Antionio and seeing a Spurs game - unfortunatly I don't have any pictures of that cause the camera came to an untimely end just before the game started.

Jace looking out into the bay at San Leon. My dad found this incredible restuarant there. Very out of the way, but very worth it.

Rick and Jace having a deep discussion I'm sure :)

Papa just fed the birds some shrimp heads and they came quickly. I don't know what Jace thinks he is gonna do to them.

Jace getting ready to throw a stick at the birds. That will scare 'em.

2007-03-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Jace at a bone exhibit

Petting sting rays at Kemah Boardwalk. This was really cool. Jace got to touch a lot of them, but Linly was too scared.

Jace at NASA in front of some part of a space shuttle. You can see I know a lot about it.

He was very impressed with the memorial for all the astronauts that have died while going into space or returning. He also really liked getting to see the real moon rock and walking through a shuttle.

Linly putting a puzzle together at a "Brain" exhibit. She LOVES puzzles. I thought we would never get her away from this thing.

Jace, Linly and Kaylee on some teeth at the Health Museum. This was a really neat place, just wish we had more time and less crowded time of day.

2007-03-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

Tina and Kaylee along our walk to the Museum of Natural Science.

Jace man

Geta and Linly

Linly in the butterfly exhibit. It is just amazing. You can't walk anywhere without have a lot of butterflies around. They are beautiful. Here one is landing on Linly's bow. She had them on her hair all day. They loved the pink.

I've never seen Jace wait so patiently for something. He loved having the butterflies land on him.

2007-03-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Jace going out to play

Papa and the kids - burying Jace

Notice the bowed heads - Here Lies Jace

What a sand castle

Linly flying her kite. Jace flew his for a second and was done. Didn't even get a picture of him.

2007-03-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

Rollin' in the sand.

Yummmm! Sandy hands in the chip bag :)

Momma, Linly, Daddy, Kaylee, Tina or otherwise known as:

Mimi, Bottomless pit, Papa, cousin Kaylee, aunt Tina

Family Photo

Rick and the kids

2007-03-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Jace found a friend that was hunting crabs so he joined in.

Look at all of them they caught!

Linly helping Jace fish.

Jace and Papa working on the fishing pole.

Jace fishing

What a year!

2007-02-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

What an amazing year! This is the Junior League of Midland Provisional class of 2006 - 2007. I'm so proud to be a part of such a strong group of women and great friends.

A few of the girls at dinner Tuesday night. Aren't they beautiful?

What a good big brother!

2007-02-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

How patient do you have to be to let a 2 year old fix your hair. Obviously he doesn't look thrilled about it, but he was a very good sport for Linly.

Awww

2007-02-28T20:16:00.000-08:00

These make my heart happy. Cute isn't she?

Excellent Jace!!

2007-02-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

Jace did it!!! For the first time this year we had and Excellent week. He got an Excellent for everyday this week at school. To some this may seem silly, but this is a major hurdle for the entire family. Jace has struggled all year with finding a pattern and finally he has found one - thank goodness it is Excellent. While consistency may have been an issue, academics have not. He has flourished in school as far as that goes. He is continually reading and reading above his level. It makes my heart happy that he is happy. He told me last night as he was getting into bed "I'm proud of myself!" Mission accomplished!

We are headed out to celebrate with him tonight. IHOP (his request) and on to the movie (Bridge to Terabithia).

Princess Tea

2007-02-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

We were princesses from head to toe! Linly is still talking about it. We had a princess tea at church for all the preschool girls. We started out with tea and cupcakes. Then Snow White arrived to read a story about manners. The girls then got to decorate their very own jewlery box with jewels. A mom from church wrote their names on their wands and and on a ceramic crown for the moms. We ended with a special picture time. It was so much fun! I can't wait till next year. Hope I can still fit into that dress then - it was a tight squeeze this time :)

Aren't we lady like. This is Linly listening to the story from Snow White.

All the princesses

What a special time to have all the Mitchell girls together for this fun princess tea!

Working dogs Forum

2007-02-13T20:18:00.000-08:00

This is Jace's first bus ride. We are headed to a working dogs forum for his QUEST class. The teacher is really great! They have been researching service dogs, therapy dogs, and search and rescue dogs. They have found two sources and learned how to cite them and find information to answer their guiding questions. They have also learned about plagiarism since this is a research project.

This is Jace with one of the seeing eye dogs. This particular dog is retired, but was allowed to stay with the owner. The owner has another dog that she currently uses. She explained to the kids how the dogs help her and how she was trained. I learned so much today that I didn't know and I know the kids learned a ton.

This is actually the dog that she uses now. The dog was so calm and friendly. What a great dog. The owner was wonderful about allowing all the kids to pet him.

This is a reading dog. The owner is a teacher and this dog goes to school with her every day. If you look closely you can see that he is listening to the girl in corner read a story. He really sits and acts as if he understands. It is amazing. This dog is used for students who feel embarrassed to read to adults or other students. The little girl by Jace is the other QUEST student.

This dog was brought by a Vet. He was very friendly. The vet talked about what he does and dog safety.

This is the end of our day. As you can see both kids are tired and struggling to smile. We had quite a few fall asleep on the bus on the way back to our schools. They learned a lot and had a lot of fun, but they were sure worn out.

When I looked at the pictures I realized that I didn't get even one picture of Rick with Jace. Kudos to Rick for taking off the day before loan committee to come. I just wish I had gotten a picture.

Sleep tight

2007-02-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

Now this is a sleepy little girl. She just played too hard today :)

By the way - we just got her tap dance costume. Oh my goodness I can't even begin to tell you how cute she is gonna be. I told Rick that it doesn't matter what she does up there on the stage cause she is just too cute no matter what she does. Mark your calanders - Recital is May 10 at 5:00 at MHS!!! It WILL be the cutest thing you've ever seen.

Why haven't I posted in a while??

2007-02-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

I've asked myself the same question and then say I need to get that done. I am quickly whipped back into reality of life once I look at my calendar. I am amazed at the end of every month when I look back and see what we have accomplished. I am anticipating that March will slow down a little. I will still be working full time and coming home to be a full time Mommy, but I won't be a full time Grad student any longer, and I won't have a full time commitment to Junior League. Although I will still have Linly in dance, Jace in basketball or T-ball, and my fun stuff in there somewhere. I think that we may get some time at home and do that thing called fix dinner at home.

Summer is only a few months away. Then I will just be full time Mommy. That is what I really like.

Basketball Season

2007-02-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

Basketball season is upon us! This is Jace's first year to play. He loves it and they have a really great coach. We play every Saturday morning at 9:00. Ugh! I don't care for that part too much. I had much rather sleep in a little, but I guess we can do that after Spring Break.

We signed up for T-ball today. We will start that in March. Jace has already started asking for a new glove. There will be more pictures to come. I'm one of those crazy moms with the camera at his games.

By the way - check out the form on that shot!!!

Texas Tech vs. Kansas

2007-01-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

Texas Tech vs Kansas

What a game!

Linly learned real quick what she was suppose to do. She yelled like a Cheerleader throughout the game. She sure did like the cheerleaders too!

This is the effect of the win. Notice the people in the white shirts and khaki pants in the bottom left corner. Standing there like they were gonna keep people off the court. Ha - they didn't do so good a job.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2007-01-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Finally some snow to play in. We built a snowman earlier in the week, but I didn't have a camera to take a picture with. These were taken this weekend in Lubbock at our hotel. We were the first to get to step in this snow.
Linly did NOT like the snow flakes getting in her face.
Rick was scrapping ice and warming up the car for us. When we got out there he had a pile of snowballs ready for us. Ha Ha. Jace took off after him ready to play.
This is Jace paying Rick back with a snow ball of his own. Linly sure does look like she is in a dangerous place.

Crime Doesn't Pay

2007-01-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

To begin with let me say I am leaving parts out in order to make this as short as possible. As Rick would say this is the Readers Digest version.

I guess it was 3 months ago when I had a very strange encounter at school. I had just taken Jace to his classroom when I was returning to my room and caught a man coming out of my room. He didn't seem particularly startled, I asked if I could help him and he told me he was looking for the Gifted and Talented classes. Well, he was in the right area I suppose so I ask more questions trying to be the ever helpful teacher and improve those community relations. The whole time I had a very strange feeling in my gut. The guy finally tells me he has papers for my class in his car. I'm very confused at this point. He knows little English, he is not making sense in what he is asking for and when he says he will get the papers he heads off in the opposite direction of the front door. I immediately go to the office and ask what is going on and they had no idea (He told me that the office sent him to me). I am now even more suspicious. I thought about it all day and just didn't feel right.

The day ends and as I am getting ready to leave school I check my purse for money because I'm heading to the grocery store. Oh no where is it? Exactly! He took my cash ($200) and credit card. I let the office know and file a report with the police. Rick looks up the credit card account and he has charged over $200 on it. The credit card company froze the card at 11:00 because of suspicious activity.

One week later I get a letter in the mail from Midland PD. "No investigative leads" - whatever! It just wasn't important enough to try to find them. I let it go and figure that was the end of it. WELL - last week I see a Midland ISD police officer in the office and he asks if I've heard. "Heard what?" I say. "They caught the guy!" I'm thinking this is amazing! Get this he did it 6 other times with the same line. When they caught him he admitted everything. He's going to the pen for at least 5 to 8.

"How do you like me now Mr. Leyva?"

The NEW Wink Sink

2007-01-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

You may have hear a few years ago about this sink hole that developed just outside of Wink. Well, here are the up close and personal pictures. This sink hole has already "eaten" 3 fences. This sink hole started as a hole the size of a baseball and was discovered by an oilfield worker who saw it falling in and took off for his truck and left to get his company. When they returned it had already grown significantly. This sink hole is now 10 - 12 acres I believe. I can't remember exactly. My dad knows better.

This is a crack in the ground around the hole. There are hundreds of cracks around this thing. It won't be long and the left side of this crack will be gone. It is a very scary feeling walking on this ground. You can't help but think about what part is gonna fall in next.

This sink hole is so large that I could not even get close to getting the whole thing in one shot. Notice the piece of ground at the bottom of the picture. It is leaning in to the sink hole a lot.

Again, I can't remember the exact depth of this thing. But you can kinda tell that it is deep.

In this picture there is another large piece of land about to fall in.

These pictures show how much of a drop there is in the land. The land to the right of the crack will soon fall in. Notcie the pipelines and in the picture on the bottom there is a large corner post.

This picture gives me chills every time I see it. That is Jace in the green shirt standing right next to the edge of the piece that can fall at any time. My brother-in-law is the one further out. He was throwing large rocks and seeing if he could hit the water. It is harder than it sounds.

One last picture of a large crack. See our shadows on the other side :)

This explains a lot

2007-01-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that I knew it from the day he was born. Jace has always exceeded our expectations and amazed us. I knew he was "different" but I just didn't know why. He held his head up and looked around the day he was born, he crawled early, he was walking by 7 1/2 months, he was talking very well at a year old, he knew the sound for every animal God ever made. Yet, he challenged Rick and I to the limit every day. He has always amazed us with his imagination and creativity. I knew it was something special, but it seems to give validation when it is verified. We recently received news that Jace has been selected as a Gifted and Talented student. This means he is in the top 5% of all the Kindergarten students in MISD.

I have to say I'm not usually one to brag and brag about my kids, but this was something that I felt was important. That doesn't mean I don't think they are great, I do! My kids are fun, witty, have personalities that never end, and are handsome and beautiful. I know that, but I guess I just don't go on and on about it. Ya know the one thing that makes this even sweeter is that Jace has no idea what all this means. To him it just means that he gets to go to a special class where all he gets to do is research service dogs and find out all the information possible on them. Like I said he is "different". Jace loves non-fiction and thrives on learning new information on things (that he is interested in). Rick and I are extremly proud of Jace and just wanted to share our news with everyone else.

I understand how ya feel

2007-01-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

My feelings exactly. Tomorrow is my last day of "freedom". I start back to work on Grad school Monday. I certainly have enjoyed having the time off. At least I only have until the first of March. I can do this.

This picture of Linly was taken at the rodeo. She loved the horsies until calf roping came up. She was yelling at the horsies to stop pulling on the cow and to go to time out. Funny girl. The rodeo was a blast. We take the kids every year. Jace of course loves all the animals and cowboys. Linly really got into it this year. She did have a hard time keeping up with "her clown" though.

Check one thing off the list!

2007-01-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally done it. I finally have set up a blog account. Guess we will see how well this goes. I have never really been into journaling or that kind of thing, but who knows maybe this will be different. Hopefully this will at least keep my family up to date on our adventures. Yes, I said adventures. That is exactly what each and every day turns into for us. You are never really sure what you're gonna get when the Mitchell's come to town.

BTW - This is Jace at his school Christmas party. Loved the pic minus the busted lip :)

Train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it ~ Proverbs 22:6

Polar Express

Princess Tea

Finished look

Locks of Love

Family camp out at Garner State Park

Beauty Sleep

Been a while

Mayhill

Linly is 3

FEAST Retreat

Kara Elizabeth Ann

Jace's Surgery

First lost tooth

He LOST it

Recital

Graduation

Look Mom

Day late and a dollar short

Easter in Midland

It's official!

Spring Break

More

More

More

More

More

What a year!

What a good big brother!

Awww

Excellent Jace!!

Princess Tea

Working dogs Forum

Sleep tight

Why haven't I posted in a while??

Basketball Season

Texas Tech vs. Kansas

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Crime Doesn't Pay

The NEW Wink Sink

This explains a lot

I understand how ya feel

Check one thing off the list!