26 July 2008

About the Dunow Bunch

Welcome to the very first Dunow Blog. This all very new to me, so I'm very excited. I will go through our family and tell you a little about each of us.


Our very first child is Logan. He is almost 13 and very much acts that way! Actually he is a very good kid. He is about to start the 7th grade in August. Last year he kept a 4.0 grade point average the whole year. One of his favorite things to do is to read. When we ground him we take away his reading time. Most kids you have to force to read but with Logan he almost reads to much. The starting of school this year he will resume Young Marines. He made Private first class last school year and wants to continue to go up in rank. Lately he has become enthralled with military stuff. If he had is way he would like to go to military school. This past month he went to Camp Frank Rand for scout camp. Next year he gets to go back as staff where he will stay the whole summer. He is in his element when he is out in the woods hiking or camping. Currently he is the process of planing his Eagle project. We will keep you up to date on that project. One of his new things is to tease me because he is now taller than me. I have a feeling he will beat Troy's 6'6".


Our next child is Anna. She is almost 11 and will be gong into the 5th grade. Like Logan she loves to read, and her favorite books are about horses. She worked really hard in school last year and got fantastic grades. One of here big accomplishments of the 2008 is that she joined the Young Marine program. It was a little shocking that she wanted to join because she is so shy. Anna worked really hard and made Private. This summer she has helped me out with Olivia a lot. She is a good big sister and knows how to keep the kids busy. During Achievement Days she learned a little about photography and I think she would like to learn more. More than anything she is excited to get back into Young Marines next month.


Ella is our third child. She will going into the 2nd grade and turning 8 this fall. This is a huge year for her because she gets to be baptized. When having dinner with the Bishop of our ward recently she told him "I'm not going to cry when I have my interview with you." I found that so funny because Anna cried the whole way through the interview. (Anna is that shy) Ella loves to sing and dance and sometimes it is a little too much. She can hardly wait for High School Musical 3 to come out. Lately it has been all about Camp Rock. The girls put on their little performances all the time. It's so cute. Ella wants to be more grown up than she is and that gets her in to trouble sometimes. I really should not complain because she has been trying to potty train Olivia for me.


Soren is our 4th child and our most active, loud, busy, sassy,sweet child. He has almost wore me into the ground. Lucky for me he is going to be starting Kindergarten in August, and just in the nick of time. Actually I will be sad to have him gone all day. Olivia is going to miss her partner in crime. Nothing stops Soren. He climbs trees, rides his bike, and wrestles like he is a teenager. I will ask him where he learned to do something and he says"Cookie". Cookie is his imaginary friend. This summer Soren got to attend scout camp for a couple of days because Troy was up there. The staff loved him so much that they gave him an award of Jr. Staffer. Now he thinks he is all that and a whole lot more. Soren thinks life is so unfair because he is not old enough to be in scouts or Young Marines with Logan. Lucky for him he does get to attend a lot of camp outs because Troy is Scout Leader. Even though Soren is a very active boy he is very tender. He loves his little sister so much it makes me cry sometimes.


Our last child thank goodness is Olivia. She is our Little Miss Muffet as we call her. Olivia has brought to much to our home with her sweet little soul. Since she was about 5 months old she has had Breathing problems. She has asthma and sleep apnea. She had pneumonia about 8 times since she was born and just recently 3 times since December. We just recently found out that she has reflux and that may contribute to her asthma. I think she has really improved since she has started on medication for her reflux. One of the big things that has helped her is being on oxygen at night or when she sleeps. When she had her sleep study last December we confirmed my suspicions that she stops breathing at night and does not get enough oxygen. She has gotten a lot happier now that she sleeps better. I'm happier too because that means I get sleep! Olivia loves to play house like any typical 2 year old does. More that anything she wants to be doing anything that her big brothers or sisters are doing. That can get really scary. She always has some kind up bump or scrape on her. This fall is going to be interesting with her only at home with me during the day. I plan on getting her into some kind of swim class at the local indoor pool. She is a natural when it comes to swimming.


Troy is the father to all those ruffians. He works for Intel Corporation, but has nothing to do with making computer chips. He is the Regional Estimating Manager for New Mexico and is in charge of calculating all the construction costs for projects on the New Mexico site. He is very active in Boy Scouts and is working as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Crew Advisor. He has also worked on the District staff as District Commissioner and District Chairman. During this last school year Troy also volunteered to help out with the Young Marines and had a great time with that. Needless to say, his time is very busy with all these activities on top of trying to find time for his family.

I am the mother who cooks and cleans for all those ruffians. I turned 33 this summer and boy was that hard. What was even harder was having my 12 year old get taller than me. I'm a typical stay at home mom and could not be any luckier. Troy makes sure I get plenty of time off from my "job" so I stay somewhat sane. Some of my favorite things to do are to scrapbook and sew. One day I would like to go to school and study who knows what but is is a goal. I'm constantly busy with something and my life is never dull. With Olivia being so sick this past year it has been very emotionally draining but we all support each other. One of my big obsessions is music. specifically Michael Buble. Troy surprised me this last May with tickets to his concert. I took my good friend Marissa Pinon and we acted like lovestruck teenagers. We has row 2nd row seats on the floor and we were so close. Josh Groban, and Celtic women are some of my other favorites. I love to garden but have not been able to do a whole lot with Olivia being sick. Now that she is getting better I am hoping to do more now that she can be outside more. Living in New Mexico is proving to be difficult when it comes to gardening but I am determined to make it work.