Day 2 - Winter Break

Thursday of our break was very busy! Mommy had a full agenda as we needed to conquer Christmas prep before we made our trip back to Dinetah.

First, mom ordered and picked up more Christmas cards for our family to send. Then we stopped and got a bite to eat since Layla and Zackery wouldn't stop bugging mom with their pleas of hunger. So as Zack ate the "Make a Funny Face pancake" and Layla enjoyed her "Rooty Jr.", mom worked on addressing the rest of the cards.

Then we drove across the way for the post office and bought some stamps and Layla helped with putting the stamps on. Zackery just merely got in his sister way. As soon as all our cards were addressed and stamped, Layla and Zackery took turns putting the envelopes in the mail box for official mailing. They really enjoyed putting the mail in the box.

As soon as we were done with that task, we drove across the city to Chandler to get Zackery a hair cut. He definitely needed one! He is becoming such a big boy as he sat there as still as a 4-year-old could be and repeatedly asked for his lollipop until the very end. He looks a tons better! He even remembered that he got a key and ran to put it in the slot for his second surprise, a toy!

We then made our way to local department stores for some Christmas shopping! Mommy definitely waited until the last minute to get the gifts she needed. Layla was an excellent helper! Zackery, not so much! Luckily, Dad came along and helped with wrangling the pre-schooler so Mom could finish up.

We concluded the shopping with a Birthday Lunch at Benihana. We used Mom's special birthday certificate and we were all so happy to get a huge table to ourselves. We all enjoyed the food we ordered and Mom even enjoyed the sushi Dad ordered as an appetizer. Our chef, Allan was awesome and even practiced his Navajo on us. For one of his tricks--spinning his spatula around his finger--he lost the spatula and it almost hit Layla. We all laughed in the end because her reaction was so delayed and she made the funniest of faces. Zackery took out his chopsticks and pretended to be the chef. When the crew came out to sing for Mom, Zackery tried his best to sing along, which sounded more like mumbles. We all rolled out with bellies full and raced back to our home to get ready for our trip.

Day 1 - Winter Break

The day didn't bring much excitement. Layla and Zackery merely enjoyed staying in their pjs for a majority of the day, playing inside and outside with their toys. I was simply pleased that they were entertained without relying on the television and wii.

I was busy cleaning the kitchen and organizing the mountain of mail that awaited me. I'm happy to report kitchen is 80% completed.

Then the afternoon brought a tiny car ride to a colleague's home to pick up our order of egg rolls. The kids were happy to take the ride.

The best part of the trip came on the way home when a storm of laughter erupted from the backseat of the car from the two of them. I looked in my rearview mirror to find them sharing the Itouch and watching an episode of Hannah Montana. Their laughter came from the bellows of their bellies. BIG HARDY LAUGHS that put a huge smile on my face. My heart beamed a 1000s times over and I made a conscious decision to lock this memory into my brain. Forever the image of the two of them conversing and laughing as brothers and sisters do.

As for our evening plans, we drove across the city to Chandler to enjoy the Christmas Lights extravanganza at another colleague's house. We made small diversions thru the streets to see other light displays to hear the "ooohs and aaahs" from Layla and Zackery. When we turned the corner to Dr. Idso's house, the squeals of delights were louder and Layla exclaimed, "Oh My God, this is crazy!!! You weren't kidding?! This is just so crazy!"

It took a few momentsf or her to catch her breath as she squealed in delight over the huge display. She was more blown away when we got out of the car to see the display up close and personal and were met by the man, Dr. Idso, himself carrying a huge bowl of candy canes.

His firepit was already blazing and chairs surrounded his car port. He had a table of goodies set up with hot cocoa, marshmallows of various sizes, graham crackers, chocolate, hot dogs--all good for roasting over the pit.

What a night of fun enjoying the treats and chatting with co-workers on Winter Break. Layla and Zack enjoyed time with the other "teacher kids" eating the sweets and investigating the lights more closely.

It is definitely a sight to see and I'm so happy to make this a Christmas tradition for our family!

Zackery's Holiday Crafts

The best part of preschoool, Zackery coming home with all his creations! They are absolutely darling! Zack, of course, is so passe about it. But mom and Layla run for his backpack on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays to swoon over what he made!

He'll only be in preschool once in a lifetime and those crafts will be put in a safe place for him to show his children one day.

Celebration Time

We received a very important letter from Mesa Public Schools on Friday. When we opened it up, we saw a blue paper addressed to the parents of Layla Boye.

What did we find? Layla won a brand new bicycle and helmet for her great attendance and acaedmic achievement in reading and math. We were so happy!

It was a grand conservation between mom and dad about pulling her from Salt River Elementary and letting her venture into our neighborhood school. We worried about her fitting in with her peers. We worried if SRE was pushing her to the limits academically and if she would be prepared for her new school. This letter only confirmed that we made the right decision for Layla and not only did she meet our expectations. She continues to exceed them!

CONGRATULATIONS GURLY!

Sunday Bliss

Layla was kind enough to help with dishes on Sunday. For the first time ever, she did it with a huge smile on her face. Not once did she complain. *CHEERS*

She did manage to splash herself with some water and bubbles and had a good laugh as she finished up her chores.

If all chores could be done like this, mom (I) would never have to touch another dish again!

Lazy Saturday Morning

It's been a pretty lazy Saturday for the Boye Family.

Mom: You look like you're enjoying your lazy Saturday?

Layla: I am! This week was hard!

Mom: How so?

Layla: I mean, I've been so busy with division. Division takes a lot of my brain power. I needed this. (being lazy)

Top 10 Reasons December 8, 2011 was Funtastic

10. Zackery and I rode on a plane at 6:15 a.m. The sun wasn't even out yet and Zackery was very happy that the flight attendant offered him pretzels and apple juice for our flight. Plus, the flight was NOT full, so we got a row all to ourselves. We even managed to take a 20-minute nap.

The ride home was a full flight and Zack instantly made friends with the adult male next to us. We encouraged him to become an organ donor when he asked, "So what brought you to L.A. for the day?" It's always amazing to see the special sparkle in someone's eye when they see a miracle sitting/standing in front of them.

9. Zackery met his mom's long-time friend, Cassandra and her husband, Alvaro. They were kind enough to navigate L.A. traffic for us and drive us to Zack's appt and back to the airport afterwards. We are so thankful for their help!

8. Grandpa Lloyd and Grandma Max took our family to dinner to celebrate my (Tiara) birthday! The ribs at Famous Dave's were tasty and the company well-enjoyed! Layla was such a piggy diving into the ribs before anyone else. Her face was covered in bbq sauce; you couldn't get in her way of eating those ribs.

7. Walking through Westwood on a Thursday afternoon searching for pancakes was fun. Most of the restaurants were closed until 11 a.m., so Zackery had to settle for chicken nuggets from BK. He also scored a BK crown. Oh yes, we also found a doughnut shop and got a Simpson's donut for Zackery to enjoy.

6. L.A Weather - It was a nice day! Great for walking!

5. Jumping! Zackery enjoyed climbing on all the ledges and quickly leaping off. Up and down, up and down. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

4. Successful Blood Draw - Zackery was a champ---he had drama-free blood draw and required ONLY one poke. He's getting so big. By the next visit, he might be able to sit himself on the chair and only need to hold my hand. I'll be so sad the day he asks me to go wait in the waiting room for him.

3. Stickers - For his success, Zackery earned himself around 15 stickers. We ran to the elevator to get checked in and when I turned around, Zackery was covered in stickers. He was so proud of himself! He even let me have one of his Jessie stickers.

2. Diddy Reise Ice Cream Sandwiches -- I celebrated my birthday by purchasing a self-created ice cream sandwich. Two Chocolate chip cookies with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in between. YUMMY! All the yumminess for only $1.50. Zack also had one and we just sat there, people watching, eating our treats.

1. TWO THUMBS UP FROM DOCTORS -- Zackery impressed another one of his doctors, Dr. Vargas. His doctors continue to praise how healthy he is. There were no changes to medications as his blood draw showed healthy numbers. He is now down to two medications, the ones he'll be on for the rest of his life. We got to see our usual nurses who checked us in and beamed at how much Zack has grown. We were just a tad sad that we didn't see our favorite - Dr. Venick. But we'll be back in June. At the conclusion of our check-up, Zackery was able to select a very festive hat for coming into UCLA for the day. We <3 Our Hospital!

*Thanks Family for helping us with making this trip a success*

Zack's Latest Craft

While time is going by everyday before my eyes, it seems funny to realize how far we come as family. Layla is blazing a trail thru school with awesome repertoire among the teachers and the grades that make me nervous 'cause she may definitely have her choice of college one day. I'm not a rich man nor do I have the highest paying job in town so I want to make sure she will get to pick her college of her dreams.....as long as its in-state ;) While college is still a long way off I can't help but begin to look into getting started on some preparation for her.

So where to begin? The amount of time to drive from work to home is about 45 mins. Great alone thinking time because what else is there to do in Phoenix traffic in the afternoon?. As I'm thinking whether to open a savings account, or start buying bonds; Some people say open an IRA or CD but cant help say WTF is that?. So while my mind is racing thru everything I can do to to get money like robbing a bank, becoming a council delegate, or finding some old rich cougar & take one for the team, I find myself at my son's daycare to pick him.

I walk inside and greeted by the world's unfriendiest little dog and my son. He is excited to leave and begins to collect his jacket and backpack. His teacher reminds him to get his craft for the day and he runs to grab his reindeer. He hands it to me and says "Look dad! my deer has a red nose...hahaha". His little craft and his little effort gave me peace of mind that a million dollars couldn't even touch. Instantly I'm pulled back to the moment where no problems exist. He reminds me that as long I stay in the moment with just a eye on the future I'll be just fine. We walk out to the car and he climbs in, he puts his seat belt on and sits patiently because he knows I'll let him play my Itouch on the way home. We're back on the freeway, I'm smiling. This guy will be amazing when he gets older. Just like his sister.........and dad :)

Back in Action

After a long hiatus, the Boye Family blog will be awaken. Derek and I have committed to improve our writing habits to share with Layla and Zackery's grandparents our weekly events to keep you in the loop with your grandbabies. We're going to try a weekly update trend to help build our posting. We hope you enjoy! Your feedback is always appreciated. This is for you!