Sunday, June 22, 2008
Did I mention that I was feeling frazzled?
This morning in my rush to get off to a church meeting I failed to see the pile of bricks sitting in front of my car for a landscaping project we are working on (Even though I KNEW they were there and I ran right over them denting the front bumper and wheel well of our car! This did not start my day off well...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Feeling Frazzled?
I don't know if any of you are familiar with this scene from Cinderella. But it describes how I am feeling perfectly. I've got too much going on and not enough time or energy to do it all. I have lots I want to blog about and hopefully I will soon, but for now I need to figure out which "teacup" to focus on!
Monday, June 9, 2008
First Camping Trip of the Summer
Well, it wouldn't be as good of a story if there weren't some mishaps along the way, right? Overall it was a fun overnight trip and mainly that's because we tried to keep a positive attitude throughout it.
We were all set and ready to go. We had the camper packed, clothes and food ready, all that was left was to hook up the camper and go! Aaron went to work in the morning and we were set to leave by 3pm to go to Tinney Flats. When we hooked up the camper however, the brake lights and turn signals weren't working on the camper. We tried everything we could to get it to work and still no luck--which was strange because it all worked fine when we brought it home. What could be the problem? We tried for 3 hours to get that thing working and then our neighbor, Dan, came home and we thought we'd ask for his help cause he's very handy with fixing up vehicles and he thought that maybe there would be a separate fuse on Aaron's car for hauling lights. (We had already tried all the fuses on the trailer) Dan was over for about 15 mins and it was fixed--which reminds me that I have some brownies to make...
So we were off finally! We set off toward our campsite and arrived there about 40 minutes later. It was a high climb in the mountains and Aaron's car got heated up a lot. So hot that his transmission fluid popped(?) He lost it all all over the ground. His car was smoking and leaking. I thought hmm... maybe we weren't supposed to come on this trip afterall. But we kept our spirits high, a friendly camper helped us with the car and we set up camp.
By the time we got everything set up and dinner cooked, it was past 10pm! It was really cold up there but it was OK cause our little camper has a heater that kept us warm all night.
In the morning we woke up to rain mixed with...SNOW! Yah! That's how cold it was! I told Aaron that next time we go camping this early in the season we will go to southern Utah! (he agreed) He ran down into town to get some transmission fluid for his car while I fixed breakfast. And it seemed to run just fine to get us home.
The kids had fun and we did have fun too. We played some games and the kids rode their scooter and rip-stik around the camping loop.
But I came home and got really sick. Probably a combination of the bad weather and eating too much junk food.
We learned some valuable lessons and can't wait to go again! We are already planning our next campout!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Free Krispy Kreme!
I just thought it was really important for people to know about this. It is a good thing to do with kids in the summer. Although once you get to Krispy Kreme you will probably have paid for your free doughnuts and then some for what you've paid in gas to get there! But still, I am not a donut lover but I love Krispy Kreme. Just like I'm not a hot dog lover but I LOVE J-Dawgs! That's how good they both are!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Weekend Recap
Thursday was the last day of school! Tessa is now done with preschool and will go to Kindergarten next year! It will be strange for my kids to not be going to Teacher Lynda's preschool anymore! We have been going to her every year since we moved here 7 years ago!
Every year we take our kids out to lunch or dinner to celebrate the end of school. We reserved seats in the trolley part of the Trolley restaurant. It is the first time the kids have ever been able to sit there so it was kind of fun.
We spent the weekend making sure that everything on our tent trailer was working properly and stocking it for our upcoming camping trip! The kids are so excited. They were very helpful with every part of cleaning and stocking the trailer. I am so glad to see them so excited about this and hope we have lots of fun camping experiences together.
Aaron and I went on a date to see "Esperanza Rising" at BYU. I have read the book and I really like it a lot. But, as what normally happens, the play did not live up to the book. They also threw in a lot of Spanish asides that were often good for laughs for the audience except for those of us (me & Aaron) who don't speak Spanish. Oh well. We enjoyed our evening together nonetheless.
Every year we take our kids out to lunch or dinner to celebrate the end of school. We reserved seats in the trolley part of the Trolley restaurant. It is the first time the kids have ever been able to sit there so it was kind of fun.
We spent the weekend making sure that everything on our tent trailer was working properly and stocking it for our upcoming camping trip! The kids are so excited. They were very helpful with every part of cleaning and stocking the trailer. I am so glad to see them so excited about this and hope we have lots of fun camping experiences together.
Aaron and I went on a date to see "Esperanza Rising" at BYU. I have read the book and I really like it a lot. But, as what normally happens, the play did not live up to the book. They also threw in a lot of Spanish asides that were often good for laughs for the audience except for those of us (me & Aaron) who don't speak Spanish. Oh well. We enjoyed our evening together nonetheless.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
100th Post!
I read somewhere that it is proper blog etiquette to make a list of 100 things on your 100th post. So here are 100 little known or perhaps even common-known facts about me. Enjoy!
1. I watched the entire Twin Peaks Series up to the resolution of who killed Laura Palmer in 7-10 minute increments on YouTube last year (2007.) I had a friend in high school who loved it and a college roommate who got me hooked on the music from Twin Peaks by Julee Cruz. It has always intrigued me. I am so glad I watched it. Now I know what I was missing.
2. I am the youngest of 7 children.
3. I have lived on 3 continents. (North America, Europe & Africa)
4. I got a BA in Art Education from BYU—graduated in 1997. I was pregnant with my first child when I graduated. There were no boring speeches at my graduation ceremony. We got to watch student films and the MDT students perform a little number.
5. Have I mentioned that I LOVED being an art major?
6. My favorite medium is watercolor.
7. I have eaten frog legs
8. I have eaten horse
9. The first time I had oysters was as a grocery store sample in Lille, France—why don’t they do those kinds of samples in the US?
10. I have eaten escargot.
11. I LOVE frogs legs and horse ( I know completely un-American) , but I don’t care for the oysters and escargot.
12. I have tasted champagne. . .once. . .I was a missionary. . .my mom was sitting right next to me.
13. I have five children. The age difference between my oldest and youngest is 5 years, 3 months!
14. Right now, my favorite color is pink.
15. I met my husband in France.
16. In high school, I ate a Twix bar with lunch every day. I was trying to win some contest. I can’t remember what the prize was.
17. I didn’t win the Twix contest, but I am a very lucky person. I win things all the time. I read somewhere that people who think they’re lucky tend to actually be lucky and people who don’t think they’re lucky aren’t. So I’m all for the odds being in my favor on attitude alone!
18. I took piano lessons for 7 years and have nothing to show for it. Oh sure I can plunk out a tune S-l-o-w-l-y and I am teaching my kids to play. But please don’t expect me to play well. I have a goal of trying to become better in this area.
19. I really want to learn how to play the guitar.
20. I took an underwater basket weaving class at BYU.
21. I tried out for cheerleading and poms every year since 8th Grade. I never made it. In hind site I am SO glad that I didn’t.
22. When I was little I always wanted to break a bone. I finally accomplished that at age 34 and it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
23. I used to be barefoot virtually all the time, now that I’ve broken my foot, I wear shoes most of the time and have purchased multiple pairs of 3 inch heels. Is there something wrong with me? I think I’m going for a twisted ankle next!
24. I love crème fraiche and wish I could find a place that sold it in the USA.
25. I wish we could find an excuse to move to France and live there for a few years.
26. When I was in High School I had the entire movie of “Some Kind of Wonderful” memorized. (I can still pretty much quote the good parts from memory)
27. I used to crawl out my bedroom window and read books on the roof of my house as a teenager.
28. I am scared to death to climb on the roof of the house I live in now.
29. I was an unwilling accessory to an unsolved firecracker incident one year at youth conference.
30. My 4th year, I tiptoed around girls camp in nothing but a towel in the middle of the night.
31. I have canoed the boundary waters.
32. By the time you finish reading this you will know everything about me because I am already starting to run out of material!
33. I have been rappelling and rock climbing. I loved them both.
34. I have lived in Utah for a total of 17 years (this includes college!) How did I end up here for SO long?
35. I have only been down hill skiing once.
36. I made a reproduction Tiffany stained glass lamp. I started it my senior year in high school and finished it about 3 years later.
37. I went to 4 different elementary schools, 2 different Jr. Highs, and 1 High School.
38. I dislike sewing.
39. I love fruit smoothies.
40. I believe in fairytale romance.
41. I have dined in the presence of a real princess.
42. I love the ocean in Winter.
43. I really would love to live back East somewhere.
44. As a child, I took tap, jazz, ballet and gymnastics but never stuck with any of them.
45. When I was 8 or 9, I really wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader!
46. I got to do a flapper dance in a stake performance.
47. Please don’t call it exercise or I won’t want to do it! I prefer “bike ride” or “dancing.”
48. One of my fondest childhood memories were one-on-one outings with my dad. I wish we had done more. I make my husband do more, because they mean so much to me and the kids!
49. My Mom can do everything (including speaking French!) I always thought I was just like my mom, but I am nowhere near as amazing.
50. I only applied to ONE college—BYU. I am so lucky I got in.
51. A foreign exchange student from France was living with us the summer before my mission—I refused to speak French with her (despite the fact that I had taken 7 years of French in school.) She came back to live with us the summer AFTER my mission. I refused to speak English to her.
52. I served in the Belgium Brussels (French speaking) Mission.
53. I was an Indian Brave in a 5th grade production of “Peter Pan.” My line was “Uga Wugga Wig Wam.”
54. I really wanted to be Wendy.
55. I was in a singing group in 5th grade called “Kadence Kids”
56. I participated in Mural Club in High school.
57. One of my favorite foods is homemade beef stew. mmm
58. I miss Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque in Hoffman Estates, IL. I wonder if it still exists.
59. One of my college room mates and I would have loud “fake fights” with the windows open so that our neighbors could hear us. Then we’d roll on our beds and laugh. It was very cathartic.
60. I ditched High School as a freshman. It was boring. Nothing remotely close to Ferris Bueller’s Day off!
61. The last time I took a math class was Algebra II as a junior in High School. I got a D+ (my teacher liked me-that’s why I got the plus.)
62. When my sister and I went out dancing, people would ask us if we practiced at home because we were so good (and humble too.)
63. I work from home and I love that flexibility.
64. I am married to a sensitive new age man. He is totally romantic and ideal for me.
65. It is awesome being married to someone who is such a good friend!
66. In the winter I used to go out with my hair wet and it would freeze because it was so cold!
67. I learned to drive on a stick shift.
68. Crunchy Peanut Butter, Please
69. I love Ferraro Rochers
70. When I was about 3 years old, I got lost in St. Peter’s Square in Italy.
71. I miss dancing in the warm Chicago rains.
72. I asked my husband to help me with this list—He said to add that I am babe-a-licious!
73. I am glad that he still thinks that 13 years and 5 kids later!
74. I traded entire my entire closet of clothes for my best friend’s closet for about a week or so while I was in college! It was awesome to have all new clothes even if for a short time.
75. My family had pet snakes when we lived in Louisiana
76. I had a French Lop rabbit named Dolli.
77. We currently have a pet frog named Darth Sidious.
78. I love music
79. I love buying music on iTunes
80. I rely on music to remind me of various stages of my life.
81. I feel calm and comfort whenever I am near my husband.
82. Motherhood is more difficult than I expected.
83. Whether I am filling up the sink full of soapy water to wash the dishes or only have one dish to wash, I use the same amount of dishwashing liquid!
84. Before I had children I was certain I would never let the TV be a babysitter to my children.
85. Ha! Ha! Ha! Then I had children and needed to take showers!
86. I breastfed all my children.
87. I finally figured out how to do it without any painful adjustment period on my last one!
88. I was an EFY counselor.
89. I am much more comfortable with small intimate gatherings than large parties with lots of people.
90. I would rather go on a vacation where we visited one spot and relaxed and enjoyed that one place than tried to see EVERYTHING and feel spent by the end.
91. I saw the Lion King for the first time in French at a theater in Valenciennes, France.
92. I bought my husband a DSLR camera for Christmas and I use it more than he has!
93. I love learning how to use the camera and taking pictures of my kids!
94. I am loving digital scrapbooking.
95. I love blogging, because I am documenting our family events finally!
96. I also love it because I have reconnected with long lost friends!
97. My favorite seasons are Spring and Fall.
98. I am currently a huge LOST fan!
99. I also love the Twilight series—even though I am totally embarrassed about it because it seriously overtook my thoughts for about 3 months and I re-read the books over and over and over! Pathetic!
100. I love my life!
1. I watched the entire Twin Peaks Series up to the resolution of who killed Laura Palmer in 7-10 minute increments on YouTube last year (2007.) I had a friend in high school who loved it and a college roommate who got me hooked on the music from Twin Peaks by Julee Cruz. It has always intrigued me. I am so glad I watched it. Now I know what I was missing.
2. I am the youngest of 7 children.
3. I have lived on 3 continents. (North America, Europe & Africa)
4. I got a BA in Art Education from BYU—graduated in 1997. I was pregnant with my first child when I graduated. There were no boring speeches at my graduation ceremony. We got to watch student films and the MDT students perform a little number.
5. Have I mentioned that I LOVED being an art major?
6. My favorite medium is watercolor.
7. I have eaten frog legs
8. I have eaten horse
9. The first time I had oysters was as a grocery store sample in Lille, France—why don’t they do those kinds of samples in the US?
10. I have eaten escargot.
11. I LOVE frogs legs and horse ( I know completely un-American) , but I don’t care for the oysters and escargot.
12. I have tasted champagne. . .once. . .I was a missionary. . .my mom was sitting right next to me.
13. I have five children. The age difference between my oldest and youngest is 5 years, 3 months!
14. Right now, my favorite color is pink.
15. I met my husband in France.
16. In high school, I ate a Twix bar with lunch every day. I was trying to win some contest. I can’t remember what the prize was.
17. I didn’t win the Twix contest, but I am a very lucky person. I win things all the time. I read somewhere that people who think they’re lucky tend to actually be lucky and people who don’t think they’re lucky aren’t. So I’m all for the odds being in my favor on attitude alone!
18. I took piano lessons for 7 years and have nothing to show for it. Oh sure I can plunk out a tune S-l-o-w-l-y and I am teaching my kids to play. But please don’t expect me to play well. I have a goal of trying to become better in this area.
19. I really want to learn how to play the guitar.
20. I took an underwater basket weaving class at BYU.
21. I tried out for cheerleading and poms every year since 8th Grade. I never made it. In hind site I am SO glad that I didn’t.
22. When I was little I always wanted to break a bone. I finally accomplished that at age 34 and it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
23. I used to be barefoot virtually all the time, now that I’ve broken my foot, I wear shoes most of the time and have purchased multiple pairs of 3 inch heels. Is there something wrong with me? I think I’m going for a twisted ankle next!
24. I love crème fraiche and wish I could find a place that sold it in the USA.
25. I wish we could find an excuse to move to France and live there for a few years.
26. When I was in High School I had the entire movie of “Some Kind of Wonderful” memorized. (I can still pretty much quote the good parts from memory)
27. I used to crawl out my bedroom window and read books on the roof of my house as a teenager.
28. I am scared to death to climb on the roof of the house I live in now.
29. I was an unwilling accessory to an unsolved firecracker incident one year at youth conference.
30. My 4th year, I tiptoed around girls camp in nothing but a towel in the middle of the night.
31. I have canoed the boundary waters.
32. By the time you finish reading this you will know everything about me because I am already starting to run out of material!
33. I have been rappelling and rock climbing. I loved them both.
34. I have lived in Utah for a total of 17 years (this includes college!) How did I end up here for SO long?
35. I have only been down hill skiing once.
36. I made a reproduction Tiffany stained glass lamp. I started it my senior year in high school and finished it about 3 years later.
37. I went to 4 different elementary schools, 2 different Jr. Highs, and 1 High School.
38. I dislike sewing.
39. I love fruit smoothies.
40. I believe in fairytale romance.
41. I have dined in the presence of a real princess.
42. I love the ocean in Winter.
43. I really would love to live back East somewhere.
44. As a child, I took tap, jazz, ballet and gymnastics but never stuck with any of them.
45. When I was 8 or 9, I really wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader!
46. I got to do a flapper dance in a stake performance.
47. Please don’t call it exercise or I won’t want to do it! I prefer “bike ride” or “dancing.”
48. One of my fondest childhood memories were one-on-one outings with my dad. I wish we had done more. I make my husband do more, because they mean so much to me and the kids!
49. My Mom can do everything (including speaking French!) I always thought I was just like my mom, but I am nowhere near as amazing.
50. I only applied to ONE college—BYU. I am so lucky I got in.
51. A foreign exchange student from France was living with us the summer before my mission—I refused to speak French with her (despite the fact that I had taken 7 years of French in school.) She came back to live with us the summer AFTER my mission. I refused to speak English to her.
52. I served in the Belgium Brussels (French speaking) Mission.
53. I was an Indian Brave in a 5th grade production of “Peter Pan.” My line was “Uga Wugga Wig Wam.”
54. I really wanted to be Wendy.
55. I was in a singing group in 5th grade called “Kadence Kids”
56. I participated in Mural Club in High school.
57. One of my favorite foods is homemade beef stew. mmm
58. I miss Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque in Hoffman Estates, IL. I wonder if it still exists.
59. One of my college room mates and I would have loud “fake fights” with the windows open so that our neighbors could hear us. Then we’d roll on our beds and laugh. It was very cathartic.
60. I ditched High School as a freshman. It was boring. Nothing remotely close to Ferris Bueller’s Day off!
61. The last time I took a math class was Algebra II as a junior in High School. I got a D+ (my teacher liked me-that’s why I got the plus.)
62. When my sister and I went out dancing, people would ask us if we practiced at home because we were so good (and humble too.)
63. I work from home and I love that flexibility.
64. I am married to a sensitive new age man. He is totally romantic and ideal for me.
65. It is awesome being married to someone who is such a good friend!
66. In the winter I used to go out with my hair wet and it would freeze because it was so cold!
67. I learned to drive on a stick shift.
68. Crunchy Peanut Butter, Please
69. I love Ferraro Rochers
70. When I was about 3 years old, I got lost in St. Peter’s Square in Italy.
71. I miss dancing in the warm Chicago rains.
72. I asked my husband to help me with this list—He said to add that I am babe-a-licious!
73. I am glad that he still thinks that 13 years and 5 kids later!
74. I traded entire my entire closet of clothes for my best friend’s closet for about a week or so while I was in college! It was awesome to have all new clothes even if for a short time.
75. My family had pet snakes when we lived in Louisiana
76. I had a French Lop rabbit named Dolli.
77. We currently have a pet frog named Darth Sidious.
78. I love music
79. I love buying music on iTunes
80. I rely on music to remind me of various stages of my life.
81. I feel calm and comfort whenever I am near my husband.
82. Motherhood is more difficult than I expected.
83. Whether I am filling up the sink full of soapy water to wash the dishes or only have one dish to wash, I use the same amount of dishwashing liquid!
84. Before I had children I was certain I would never let the TV be a babysitter to my children.
85. Ha! Ha! Ha! Then I had children and needed to take showers!
86. I breastfed all my children.
87. I finally figured out how to do it without any painful adjustment period on my last one!
88. I was an EFY counselor.
89. I am much more comfortable with small intimate gatherings than large parties with lots of people.
90. I would rather go on a vacation where we visited one spot and relaxed and enjoyed that one place than tried to see EVERYTHING and feel spent by the end.
91. I saw the Lion King for the first time in French at a theater in Valenciennes, France.
92. I bought my husband a DSLR camera for Christmas and I use it more than he has!
93. I love learning how to use the camera and taking pictures of my kids!
94. I am loving digital scrapbooking.
95. I love blogging, because I am documenting our family events finally!
96. I also love it because I have reconnected with long lost friends!
97. My favorite seasons are Spring and Fall.
98. I am currently a huge LOST fan!
99. I also love the Twilight series—even though I am totally embarrassed about it because it seriously overtook my thoughts for about 3 months and I re-read the books over and over and over! Pathetic!
100. I love my life!
Summer Reading!
Every summer my kids and I get involved in various summer reading programs. We always do the local library's program, cause they do activities every week and the kids get prizes like free ice cream cones for reading. Last year we were introduced to Barnes and Noble's Summer reading program! Which means no matter where you live you can participate. It is for 1st - 6th graders. After your child reads 8 books they get to go in and "trade" their reading list for a book. They aren't cheap-o books either! They are books that your kids (and you) will want to read. And they span reading levels from simple to advanced. (We got lots of great books last year but for some reason the only one that sticks out in my head head is one we didn't get "Princess Academy" by Shannon Hale--I kept trying to talk one of my kids into it and they didn't want it, but I did!) Last year they let us do it 3 times. I'm not sure what the rule is this year. Any way my kids and I LOVED it and we will be doing it again this year. Going into a bookstore with my children can be very dangerous. We spend hours there! But it makes me happy that they want to spend so much time looking at books!
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