Here is what I spent some time on last night:
It was fun considering the stressful start to the morning!! I loved making some cards too!
Now, I'm off to the Post Office!!
Friday, March 16, 2007
A Fun Way to End the Evening!
Getting some Good Mail ready!!
Here is what I spent some time on last night:
It was fun considering the stressful start to the morning!! I loved making some cards too!
Now, I'm off to the Post Office!!
Here is what I spent some time on last night:
It was fun considering the stressful start to the morning!! I loved making some cards too!
Now, I'm off to the Post Office!!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Long Day!
It's been a long day already and the day isn't over yet!! I go in every Thursday and help out first in Alyssa's class and then in Kyle's class. I bring Tyler with me. After we are done helping out (for about 2 1/2 hours) we get Rilyn from Preschool and come home. So, we did the usual today but it was not as enjoyable as usual. For one, I have a gazillion things to get done at home and wasn't looking forward to losing my morning. But also, Tyler was being a mischievious little monster! He wouldn't sit still or even stay in his seat. He was wanting to run the halls or play in the drinking fountain or disrupt the kids' during their reading by running his cars over the page.
It didn't help that Alyssa's teacher, Mrs. K., had me read with the boys (it's her low reading group and they are all boys) the SAME story that we read LAST week again and then we did a short 2 page worksheet on homophones. It isn't easy to listen to s.l.o.w. readers anyway but this particular story was extra long and the fact that we were reading it for a second time made it even longer!!
It also didn't help that Kyle's teacher, Mrs. B., had me doing copies and making up booklets because of the way Tyler was acting, he wanted to be horsing around with the phone, the computer, the copier or the drinking fountain!! I thought I was going to pull my hair completely out by the time I was done if Tyler hadn't beat me to it (Yes, he kept pulling on my hair too -- whenever I would pick him up and take him out of whatever trouble he was getting into)!!
I finally got over to the Preschool classroom to pick up Rilyn. It is a modular trailer that sits next to the school. I was the last parent there to pick up my child!! I always hate that, because I don't want them waiting on my account.
Anyway, we got home and I returned a couple of phone calls and both of them I had to leave a message for. I hate that, because I never know if when they do call back if my house will be too noisy to answer or if I will be in middle of a project or at a good stopping point. Maybe I'm the only one that feels that way though?
But, I did manage to do several loads of laundry, paint a couple of closet doors, talk to my sister on the phone and make up some cards today too!! But I can't help but hope for a less stressful day tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Fieldtrip Wednesday!
Rilyn's Fieldtrip and our visit to Daddy's work!
Rilyn standing next to an open area overlooking a dinosaur skeleton.Today Rilyn (4) had a fieldtrip to the Musuem of Natural History in Downtown Denver. I originally wasn't going to go but then I had second thoughts and signed up at the last minute to go. I'm SO glad I went. I also brought Tyler (2) along.
We saw a lot of displays about various types of habitats for birds in different areas of the US and even other countries like Africa. It was fun to read about birds and habitats in the Desert, specifically the Superstition Mountains, since we used to live near there.
Tyler checking out these birds.
Rilyn and the bird display.
An eagle with it's prey. Unfortunately, it's prey in this display is a little kitten.
I was amazed at how big some of these birds such as eagles and California Condors are, they are easily bigger than my little 4 year old and 2 year olds and I'm afraid they could swallow me up a little too easily also!! We also saw some huge alligators and snakes.
We saw a couple of entire rooms on Benjamin Franklin and Mummies, but Rilyn's favorite section was the Dinosaur's!! She knows lots of facts about dinosaurs since they have been learning all about them recently at school.
Her favorite dinosaur is the triceratops. She says triceratops kill people with their horns. She also was able to brag a little with some of her new found knowledge to some of the workers in the museum. Once she told the museum worker that Tyrannasaurous Rex's are meat eaters, or carnivores. The worker was showing us a cast of a real T-Rex tooth at the time and found Rilyn's knowledge quite impressive!
We met up with several friends there who also have children in preschool. It was fun to see them all and chat. Rilyn is especially fond of McKenna and Lexi, too bad McKenna is in the afternoon preschool class and Rilyn is in the morning!
Tyler and Rilyn checking out the dinosaur display.
McKenna, Lexi and Rilyn at the Dinosaur Exhibit.
The girls and some other kids listening about how dinosaur eggs are hatched.
After we were done at the Museum, we ate a sack lunch and then we drove over to Laren's office in downtown Denver.
McKenna, Lexi and Rilyn eating lunch together at the Museum.
He works in one of those huge skyscrapers on the 21st floor and my kids always think it's so great to ride the elevator all the way up 21 stories! Plus, aside from seeing Daddy midday they love to get candy from his candy dish and the receptionist desk right when they get off the elevator!
We unfortunately didn't get a close parking spot when we went to visit Laren so we had to park about 3 city blocks away in lots of traffic. But the blessing was hearing these wonderful bells playing as we walked the few blocks to his work.
This is the first time we had ever noticed those bells playing. Maybe it's because we usually park closer to his work and further from the church, or maybe it's because we had never been there at exactly noon before? Whatever the reason, it was a musical treat for our ears!! I recognized the tune being "Come Thou Font."
The Church was so amazing that I had to get a couple of shots of it on the way back since Laren was there to help me with the kids in the traffic. Otherwise it wouldn't have been possible. Luckily, because we were coming back from the fieldtrip, I had my camera in tow which is unusual for me.
It is a BEAUTIFUL rock church, and the music was absolutely amazing, more amazing than the building itself. It seemed weird to have a classic looking church juxtapositioned against a backdrop of skyscrapers and street signs and traffic.
It almost seemed even more incongruent to hear such a heavenly song competing with the noise of the traffic and the beeping sound of the nearby parking garage. I was so grateful for the music and since I heard it, I've been singing that song in my head ever since.
Laren and I getting a self portrait, much to his chagrin, right before I took off with the kids to get home for Tyler's nap.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Self-Portrait Tuesday II
I debated over which landmark to use for my self-portrait today. I wondered about using the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, or the Platte River that runs against the edge of town but instead I ended up going with this option.
This is the City Hall and the old courthouse in town. It is an old red brick building with these great pillars in front.
There are newer buildings the city now uses for most of their city offices and courthouse but I love the nostalgia of this great brick building and and the white pillars!!!
Here's a shot of the city hall from the front. It's a great old building and landmark in my little town.
This is the City Hall and the old courthouse in town. It is an old red brick building with these great pillars in front.
There are newer buildings the city now uses for most of their city offices and courthouse but I love the nostalgia of this great brick building and and the white pillars!!!
Here's a shot of the city hall from the front. It's a great old building and landmark in my little town.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Sunday and a Sleepy Monday
Yesterday we had the Missionaries over for dinner. They are always sweet enough to mysteriously leave us a Thank You note in our bathroom that we find after they leave.
We raced home from Church to have dinner on the table 45 minutes later. All I can say is Thank Goodness for Crockpots!! We had Chuck Roast (that we shred), baked potatoes and toppings, a green jello salad, broccoli, lemonade and a Mudslide Brownie Cake (leftover from Laren's birthday the day before) for dessert. Then the missionaries shared a scripture with us and we had a prayer and they left.
And then we took cookies around to 4 sets of neighbors and 1 set of friends who just had 2 back to back deaths in their family. So far, we are totally liking our neighbors and we had a really great time visiting with them. I felt bad though when we went inside to one house who has 2 kids who my kids have made friends with because the noise level noticeably went up a couple of decibels with my kids there and I could tell the Mom was not used to it.
Hopefully we kept our visit short enough for her and next time, I'm sure, she will think twice before she invites us in! We even hesitated to go in, because we know 5 kids can be overwhelming if you're not used to it. But they really wanted us to come in. We were invited into all the other houses we stopped at, but we only went in one other house and my kids were pretty mellow in there, but then there were no other kids around to play with so I bet that is probably why!
It was a lot of fun, all of it, though it made for a busy, busy day!!
My little Sunbeams were literally bouncing off the walls in class yesterday!! Our lesson was on "I am Thankful for Water," and I brought little little cups and a pitcher with water in it. Then, for an enrichment activity after the lesson, I brought a big bowl for a basin and we all washed our hands/lots of kids played in the water when they were supposed to be washing their hands in it. One little boy threw the towel we were using to dry our hands into the water!!
After Church I feel like I need a couple of hours to unwind after keeping 8 kiddo's corraled for 2 hours and my 5 kids underwraps for the first hour in Sacrament Meeting. Yesterday one of the little Sunbeam's Mom came into the class because he was having a hard time being away from her (well actually his twin sister is in the class too) and she kept asking me what she could do to help?
She is in the Primary Presidency and she probably thought the class was WAY out of control, which it definitely gets at times. Of course, it didn't help that there were some adults meeting in our classroom - even 10 minutes into our lesson time giving the kids a good chance to run the hallway and get even wilder before we went in. And everytime I tried to go and get my class set up in advance the room was unusually occupied by those same adults.
But I still feel like we got a good lesson in, despite the craziness of it all!! Next time, I will make sure we have the little chairs for the kids to sit in, because we only had the big chairs and because the kids have such a hard time with those we sat on the floor but the kids kept impeding each other's boundaries and added to the chaos!!
Today so far I have gotten my tired kiddo's out the door to school. I had to use my spare, spare set of car keys because even my "spare" set has disappeared -- thanks to Tyler and his fascination with carrying them off.
I got all signed up to go on Rilyn's fieldtrip to the Natural History Museum on Wednesday, washed the car and then came home and washed the china dishes that we ate on last night (because they have to be hand washed and we were not home long enough to take care of it last night before bedtime) and cleaned the kitchen!! And I'm gearing up for more of a busy, tired Monday. But I am loving the time change! I love the extra hour of daylight in the evening!!
We raced home from Church to have dinner on the table 45 minutes later. All I can say is Thank Goodness for Crockpots!! We had Chuck Roast (that we shred), baked potatoes and toppings, a green jello salad, broccoli, lemonade and a Mudslide Brownie Cake (leftover from Laren's birthday the day before) for dessert. Then the missionaries shared a scripture with us and we had a prayer and they left.
And then we took cookies around to 4 sets of neighbors and 1 set of friends who just had 2 back to back deaths in their family. So far, we are totally liking our neighbors and we had a really great time visiting with them. I felt bad though when we went inside to one house who has 2 kids who my kids have made friends with because the noise level noticeably went up a couple of decibels with my kids there and I could tell the Mom was not used to it.
Hopefully we kept our visit short enough for her and next time, I'm sure, she will think twice before she invites us in! We even hesitated to go in, because we know 5 kids can be overwhelming if you're not used to it. But they really wanted us to come in. We were invited into all the other houses we stopped at, but we only went in one other house and my kids were pretty mellow in there, but then there were no other kids around to play with so I bet that is probably why!
It was a lot of fun, all of it, though it made for a busy, busy day!!
My little Sunbeams were literally bouncing off the walls in class yesterday!! Our lesson was on "I am Thankful for Water," and I brought little little cups and a pitcher with water in it. Then, for an enrichment activity after the lesson, I brought a big bowl for a basin and we all washed our hands/lots of kids played in the water when they were supposed to be washing their hands in it. One little boy threw the towel we were using to dry our hands into the water!!
After Church I feel like I need a couple of hours to unwind after keeping 8 kiddo's corraled for 2 hours and my 5 kids underwraps for the first hour in Sacrament Meeting. Yesterday one of the little Sunbeam's Mom came into the class because he was having a hard time being away from her (well actually his twin sister is in the class too) and she kept asking me what she could do to help?
She is in the Primary Presidency and she probably thought the class was WAY out of control, which it definitely gets at times. Of course, it didn't help that there were some adults meeting in our classroom - even 10 minutes into our lesson time giving the kids a good chance to run the hallway and get even wilder before we went in. And everytime I tried to go and get my class set up in advance the room was unusually occupied by those same adults.
But I still feel like we got a good lesson in, despite the craziness of it all!! Next time, I will make sure we have the little chairs for the kids to sit in, because we only had the big chairs and because the kids have such a hard time with those we sat on the floor but the kids kept impeding each other's boundaries and added to the chaos!!
Today so far I have gotten my tired kiddo's out the door to school. I had to use my spare, spare set of car keys because even my "spare" set has disappeared -- thanks to Tyler and his fascination with carrying them off.
I got all signed up to go on Rilyn's fieldtrip to the Natural History Museum on Wednesday, washed the car and then came home and washed the china dishes that we ate on last night (because they have to be hand washed and we were not home long enough to take care of it last night before bedtime) and cleaned the kitchen!! And I'm gearing up for more of a busy, tired Monday. But I am loving the time change! I love the extra hour of daylight in the evening!!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Happy Birthday Laren!
Happy 36th Birthday
36 Things about Laren:
1.)He is a hard worker. He is not one to come home and sit down in front of the TV after work, he eats and gets busy doing his various projects around the house. He seems to never run out of projects!
2.) He’s a perfectionist.
3.) He will only let me cut his hair. It used to be, when we were first married, that he would only let his Aunt cut his hair. She was a professional beautician and worked at a Salon. I tried to convince him that I had practice cutting my brother's hair and that I could save us a lot of money by him allowing me to cut it. Finally, one day he gave in and now he will let it get much longer than he likes it waiting for me to get around to cutting it!!
4.)He is conscientious. His decisions are usually well thought out.
5.)My kids think it is the best treat to have him carry them up, one by one, to their bed at night!! He is a good Dad!
6.)He is a Civil Engineer and designs roads for a living.
7.)He is intellectual.
8.)He is quiet by nature.
9.)He is the only boy and the youngest child in his family.
10.)He still wears the same suits he wore on his mission, along with a new one we bought for him a year ago at Christmas time.
11.)He likes to run for his exercise.
12.)He has become money conscious.
13.)He likes to listen to Dave Ramsey, a financial guru.
14.)He looks to the future, trying to save for retirement.
15.)He is the Jack of all trades. He can fix anything. And he does fix everything around our house.
16.)I can count on 2 fingers the number of times we’ve had to take our cars into a professional to get them worked on and one of the times wasn’t when we needed a new engine in one of our cars, he did that himself with my Dad’s help.
17.)He hopes to invent something someday. He has some ideas already.
18.)He has a close relationship with his Mom.
19.)He treats my family (of origin) well.
20.)He takes his time when doing a project, the payoff for not having to pay someone else to do it.
21.)He got his professional engineering license 2 years early by flying to California with a buddy to take the test. He didn’t hardly study for the test. His buddy did. Laren passed the test, his buddy didn’t.
22.)He likes to be outside.
23.)He grew up on a ranch until the age of 10 or so.
24.)Then he moved to Sugar City, Idaho where he graduated from High School.
25.)He did not attend Ricks College/BYU Idaho, even though it was in his own backyard.
26.)He had a scholarship to BYU, but opted to attend Eastern Washington University to live near his Dad and Stepmom instead.
27.)Ironically, we met at Eastern Washington University.
28.)He served his mission for our Church in Cordoba, Argentina.
29.)After 1 year of marriage living in Washington, we transferred to BYU in Provo where he graduated, in 1997.
30.)He is tall, dark haired and handsome – just as I always dreamed my husband would be.
31.)He is very loving and kind and often gives me foot rubs.
32.)He has a gentle nature about him.
33.)He is clean, he picks up after himself. If he is walking through a room and something is out of place he stops and puts it in its place.
34.)He likes tools.
35.)He is health conscious, except for when it comes to his nightly bowl of ice cream – his favorite treat!
36.) He loves me and it shows by his actions and his help around the house. He also demonstrates this by his kind words, I think he must tell me daily that I’m beautiful – even when it isn’t really the case and I’ve got my cleaning clothes on.
Happy Birthday Laren, I love you!!!!
36 Things about Laren:
1.)He is a hard worker. He is not one to come home and sit down in front of the TV after work, he eats and gets busy doing his various projects around the house. He seems to never run out of projects!
2.) He’s a perfectionist.
3.) He will only let me cut his hair. It used to be, when we were first married, that he would only let his Aunt cut his hair. She was a professional beautician and worked at a Salon. I tried to convince him that I had practice cutting my brother's hair and that I could save us a lot of money by him allowing me to cut it. Finally, one day he gave in and now he will let it get much longer than he likes it waiting for me to get around to cutting it!!
4.)He is conscientious. His decisions are usually well thought out.
5.)My kids think it is the best treat to have him carry them up, one by one, to their bed at night!! He is a good Dad!
6.)He is a Civil Engineer and designs roads for a living.
7.)He is intellectual.
8.)He is quiet by nature.
9.)He is the only boy and the youngest child in his family.
10.)He still wears the same suits he wore on his mission, along with a new one we bought for him a year ago at Christmas time.
11.)He likes to run for his exercise.
12.)He has become money conscious.
13.)He likes to listen to Dave Ramsey, a financial guru.
14.)He looks to the future, trying to save for retirement.
15.)He is the Jack of all trades. He can fix anything. And he does fix everything around our house.
16.)I can count on 2 fingers the number of times we’ve had to take our cars into a professional to get them worked on and one of the times wasn’t when we needed a new engine in one of our cars, he did that himself with my Dad’s help.
17.)He hopes to invent something someday. He has some ideas already.
18.)He has a close relationship with his Mom.
19.)He treats my family (of origin) well.
20.)He takes his time when doing a project, the payoff for not having to pay someone else to do it.
21.)He got his professional engineering license 2 years early by flying to California with a buddy to take the test. He didn’t hardly study for the test. His buddy did. Laren passed the test, his buddy didn’t.
22.)He likes to be outside.
23.)He grew up on a ranch until the age of 10 or so.
24.)Then he moved to Sugar City, Idaho where he graduated from High School.
25.)He did not attend Ricks College/BYU Idaho, even though it was in his own backyard.
26.)He had a scholarship to BYU, but opted to attend Eastern Washington University to live near his Dad and Stepmom instead.
27.)Ironically, we met at Eastern Washington University.
28.)He served his mission for our Church in Cordoba, Argentina.
29.)After 1 year of marriage living in Washington, we transferred to BYU in Provo where he graduated, in 1997.
30.)He is tall, dark haired and handsome – just as I always dreamed my husband would be.
31.)He is very loving and kind and often gives me foot rubs.
32.)He has a gentle nature about him.
33.)He is clean, he picks up after himself. If he is walking through a room and something is out of place he stops and puts it in its place.
34.)He likes tools.
35.)He is health conscious, except for when it comes to his nightly bowl of ice cream – his favorite treat!
36.) He loves me and it shows by his actions and his help around the house. He also demonstrates this by his kind words, I think he must tell me daily that I’m beautiful – even when it isn’t really the case and I’ve got my cleaning clothes on.
Happy Birthday Laren, I love you!!!!
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