Highs & Lowes

Schools Almost Over!

2010-05-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ha ha! I now have only two days left of school. Hooray! This is funny, because of my last post and it being awhile since I last posted. It might have something to do with me signing up on face book and me sharing my life there. Anyway, it's been a long school year and I'm so happy that it's almost over!

Only Two Days Left

2009-08-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the dreaded days are just about here. School starts for the oldest two on Thursday and the youngest two on Monday. I've decided on the worst part of school - it's how your schedule becomes very busy. School hasn't even started yet and my calendar is full this week. I will admit that school will be nice for one reason. Once my house is cleaned (or at least one area) maybe it will stay clean longer than a few minutes now that all my girls will be in school.

Church Fireside

2009-08-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

One of these days I'll post pictures, but for now I wanted to tell you of an amazing guy who spoke to the youth in our church. He had received a mission call and was working to earn more money for his mission when some large boards fell on him and paralyzed him. He can move his arms and a little of his hands, but not his legs. What is so amazing to me is his positive attitude. Instead of feeling sorry for himself he had such a great outlook and strong testimony of the church within just a day or so after the accident. Eventually he was able to go on a mission through connections to the mission president in North Carolina even though he was told he wouldn't be able to go on a mission. He really impressed me with his attitude of his affliction being minor compared to others' afflictions we can't see and his testimony of Joseph Smith and the awe he has for Joseph Smith and the trials he went through.

We've Got One!

2009-08-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

One of our Red Star chickens laid our first egg yesterday. Isn't it such a beautiful brown color? It is about the size of a medium egg. Can't wait to eat it, but you can't eat much when you have to split it six ways so our other chickens better start laying soon:)

Family Trip

2009-07-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

We were gone this last week on a family trip. We headed to Utah with a stop near St. George so we could visit Zions on Monday. It was of course awesome to see such beautiful creations. On Tuesday we went rock hounding with My Love's brother at Topaz Mountain near Delta. The first three days I couldn't understand why I couldn't get very much energy to climb the mountains and go rock hounding. I attributed it to the heat, but on Wednesday I came down with a terrible sore throat, so I must have been sick, because when it was gone a couple of days later my energy was back. On Wednesday I was able to see my friend that I've known since I was two. She lives in Washington and we were both visiting family this month. It was great to see her and her cute 3 1/2 month baby. We visited My Love's other brother and his family that evening. Thursday we visited the Oquirrh Mountain temple and the girls were thrilled to be able to see inside it. It's a beautiful temple, but aren't they all? Thursday through Saturday we went camping with my family. We left for home this morning. It was strange having only two kids in the back of our Explorer. AC is staying in Utah for Especially For Youth a church program that she'll attend for a week and then she's staying with cousins for an extra week. AR talked us into letting her stay an extra few days too. We have a travel voucher she is using and she'll be home on Wednesday. The girls had fun playing with and "hanging out" with cousins from both sides of the family this trip. Camping was fun, except my least favorite part of sleeping on the ground. I'll post pictures of the trip soon if they turn out okay. I accidentally dropped our camera in the lake. After drying it out, it now turns on and works, but the screen is a little damaged. M was saying our family prayer tonight and she said something cute that almost made me burst out laughing, "Thank you that no one was eaten by a bear." I say amen to that.

Sweet 16!

2009-07-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

My oldest baby turns 16 today! Now she can begin dating! She's at girls camp this week, but we're going to surprise her with a visit tonight and take her cupcakes, flowers and a balloon. My beautiful girl.

Notice that you can see her cell phone through her pocket. A common sight. She now has one of those that makes it easier to text.

Gotta love this picture. She had a joke with her uncle about tree-hugging so she had me take this picture last year.

Dress she wore for a choir concert for the song "Masquerade".

Did anyone notice that she likes to wear a lot of green? It's her favorite color.

More Pictures from Our Visit to South Dakota

2009-07-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a sweet picture.

K shows the dress-up she designed and G'ma made for her.

Putting flower pedals on a spider's web.

Fun at the Beach

2009-07-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

We visited a beach along the Missouri river when we visited G'ma and G'pa. The girls had fun swimming, building a sandcastle with me, and skipping rocks.

Digging a hole.

K as a mermaid.

Dad and Mom L.

Sitting in the shade to cool off. M is burying G'ma's feet.

AC attempts to skip a rock.

I love My Love! Everywhere we go he's checking out the rocks. Here he's showing one to his mom.

Since I posted a picture of everyone else, I decided I should post one of myself.

Trip Up To South Dakota on 6/26

2009-07-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

We visited G'ma and G'pa in South Dakota last weekend. I'll be posting some more pictures, but here are some from on the way up at a stop at Fort Cody in North Platte, Nebraska. M wouldn't get her picture taken on the pony.

K unaware of her sister being eaten by a bear.

Such interesting things to see, like this two headed calf that only lived for two days.

A Thief Strikes Again

2009-07-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about special days in my life, but they must be jinxed. Some ~~idiot~~ person decided to steal my bank card information and used it for some purchases. Thankfully my bank caught it, declined a larger purchase and notified me. I had the hassle of putting claims in at a couple of places and canceling my bank card today. Such fun!

17 Years!

2009-07-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today marks 17 years since My Love and I were married. Our marriage gets better and better all the time! I am so grateful to my husband for putting up with me and making me feel good about myself. He's a wonderful husband and father and I am so glad I married him! My Love I'm looking forward to spending eternity with you! Love Ya!

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

My Love turns 39 today! I'm not going to post any pics, because I'm not sure if he'll appreciate it or not. Anyway, even though you're not thrilled about your birthdays I hope you have a wonderful day My Love! LOVE YA!!!

Last Day of School!

2009-05-27T07:49:00.001-07:00

Yay!!!! Today is the last day of school. No more running kids to and from school. No more worrying about homework, getting kids ready for school, and getting to school on time. Now I don't have to worry about getting to various school activities and volunteering. I can spend more time on getting my house organized, because the kids will be helping with the cleaning. I can also spend more time with them.
Okay, maybe this is wishful thinking. The kids will be home, so there will be more messes. I may have to play referee a few times, and yes in a couple of months I may be ready for them to return to school (All of them will be in school next year! My babies are growing up!) I usually, but not always dread the first day of school, because I usually love having my kids home; even if it gets chaotic, noisy and messy at times. Anyway, I'll let you know in a couple of months if my feelings have changed. For now, I'm going to enjoy a less stressful schedule and spending more time with my family.

Roxborough Park with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-05-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

I'm finally posting pictures of when my parents visited on May 1st through the 3rd. We visited a state park that is about 20 minutes away from our house while they were here.
We saw five deer just sitting in a meadow. We also saw a beautiful black fox.

Neat rock formations.

The girls posing for their dad to take pictures of them.

More Pics from Africa

2009-05-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

My Love did have a couple of pictures on his camera. Here's another beautiful sunrise.
He was lucky to see a lioness with four cubs.

He says there are lots of baboons lining the side of the road. This one is scratching his head with his back leg.

South Africa Continued

2009-05-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

I found out that the backpack was most likely stolen when My Love was at a gas station. The person he was with did not completely close the back door of the car when they stopped, even though My Love locked the door (Can I slap the guy for his stupidity?). When they came out of the station a guy was standing next to their car and said "Oh, sorry." My Love now believes the thief was going back for another bag or two or his camera and other stuff that was in the front seat.
My poor husband is feeling pretty low right now. He had to travel one and a half hours to go to the consulate, because the person at the embassy near him was on vacation. He did file a report at the police station, so that insurance will hopefully cover some of the stuff.
I'm still hopeful that the thief will not be able to access information on the laptop. This whole thing is frustrating. On the bright side, at least My Love was not mugged.
Edited to add - He got a temporary passport so he can come home this weekend! I think he's feeling a little better.

More of South Africa

2009-05-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to post some more of My Loves African wild reserve pictures. Unfortunately I will not be able to. Some South African now has them. I was very angry with this person for taking them, but I am slowly finding forgiveness and peace over the situation.
I knew that South Africa has a high crime rate, but I guess I really didn't think that it would happen to My Love and especially to the extent that it did. His whole back pack was taken from the back of his car. It held his laptop, ipod, passport and some souvenirs. He wasn't aware of it being gone until his rental car broke down and he looked for it in the back seat to get some paperwork from it.
The worse part is not being sure of the situation. We do not know if his computer will be hacked into and get some important information. I'm not sure how or when he'll get home without a passport, although I'm sure it will be fine, he just needs to contact the embassy. This is the second ipod to go missing and I know he's frustrated to lose all of his music. Like I said before, it's frustrating to lose the pictures he took, because I'm sure they were awesome. I just hope he had put all of the family pictures he had onto our computer.
Sometimes life is not fun!

South Africa

2009-05-15T11:35:00.001-07:00

My Love is in South Africa. He left on the 8th and will return on the 23rd. It's more difficult having him gone this time, because he can't skype or call as much as he usually does. I'm envious that he gets to see all the animals in their natural habitat. I think maybe if he goes back I may go with him. Beautiful Sunrise

Exciting encounter with three bulls.

Hippos cause Africa's most deaths from animals.

Happy 14th Birthday!

2009-04-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

AR turns 14 today and will start high school soon! We went on a walk today and I enjoyed talking to her and remembering when she was born and when she was a baby. I hope I don't get in trouble for posting any of these pictures. She did approve some of them.

Building a snowman with M.

Pie eating contest with other young women from our church.

Laser tag.

Doesn't she look spooky? She took this picture of herself in the mirror on Halloween.

Also on Halloween.

Feeding the geese at the park.

With Louise our French foreign exchange student.

Again with Louise on a hike.

Another picture she took of herself and changed the color. Maybe she could be a model?

Happy 5th Birthday!

2009-04-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

M turns 5 today. I can hardly believe it! In just over four months she starts kindergarten. Here's some pictures I picked out from the past year's activities.

My Little princess asleep.

Rock hounding

Water fountain at the park.

Below, she's at the zoo. I love the way this picture shows her reflection.

Running at the children's race at a 5K.

Preschool.

Natural Science Museum.

Historical Farm Museum.

Looking at the Chickens from the historical farm.

Cliff dwellings.

More cliff dwellings.

Yes, she fell asleep here.

Finally Posting Some Pics

2009-04-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

Been lazy lately, so I'm finally posting some pictures we've taken.

Spring Break

2009-04-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

My Love took a couple of days off for spring break. We were supposed to visit G'ma and G'pa in South Dakota, but because of the bad weather and roads being closed we stayed here. We took three free tours. Here are the girls at the Hammonds Candy factory.

AC with her tour hat and sticker.

M being silly with the hair net she wore for her Celestial Seasonings tour. (I'd show you pictures of us all with the hairnets on, but I want to live for another day). The place makes both herbal and regular teas and when you go in the mint room it clears out your sinuses and makes your eyes sting. It was the best tour, because we could be down on the factory floor. It felt like walking right into a Mr. Rogers film. Do any of you remember those from Picture, Picture?

The last tour we took was of the Denver Mint, but pictures aren't allowed. I last went there over 18 years ago and it had a lot more production going on then. It was still neat to see again, though.(Sorry, I can't figure out how to make it so the words aren't on the right side of the picture.)

Chicks

2009-04-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here's our chicks when we first got them. The red heat lamp we have to use in their cage makes the picture look weird. From left to right we have Star (M's), then D (AC's), the yellow one in front with its head down is Peepette (AR's) and is actually sleeping standing up. They did that a lot at first and it was so funny to watch. The other two are Mo (mine) and Aspen (K's).

My Mo is to the right. Isn't she so cute?

Here's M with Mo. It was before we bought her Star. Her chick is the most tamest, because she is always wanting to hold it.

K with Aspen. The poor thing's beak is now deformed. The bottom seems to have not grown correctly, so it has a cross bite. It seems to be doing okay, but it is skinnier than the other two Auricanas.

This picture shows the colors of the chicks better. Notice how intently Tala is watching them. She really wanted to "play" with them.

In like a Lamb, Out like a Lion

2009-04-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

K on the tire swing that AR bought and put up in warm weather the day before.

The girls enjoyed having spring break start a couple of days early due to two snow days.

Just a couple of weekends before on our hike.

Snow Day

2009-03-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

We're expecting a blizzard today so school was cancelled. Why is it that on weekends and on snow days the youngest two get up earlier than on regular school days? I usually have to go in a couple of times to wake them before they actually get up. Not today; they were up and going a half an hour earlier :)

Hospital

2009-03-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

AC spent time at the hospital today. I took her to the dr's earlier in the day, because a pain in her side was getting worse. Her dr thought it had a possibility of appendicitis and wanted to error on the cautious side. The CT scan she had showed only some extra fluid in the area. There wasn't even cysts, which was another possibility. AC is getting frustrated by dr's that can't seem to figure out what is wrong with her. (Some of you may recall that she had a constant headache for 7 months of last year) Hopefully this pain will get better on its own and soon. I don't think she wants to endure any more tests. She really didn't like the IV she had today.

Old Mac Donald had a farm EIEIO

2009-03-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our pet story is still not over. One of AR's mice died because it seemed sick from the beginning. We still had a day for its warranty, so we took it back and received a refund. We also took back its cage mate because AR decided she didn't want it due to it not letting her hold it.

You would think our pet story would be just about finished, at least for now; but oh no, it is not. I have always thought it would be nice to have a little farm. Mainly with a large garden, maybe a horse, some rabbits, maybe a cow, and some chickens. Well, at this point, we cannot move, but we are allowed to have chickens in the back yard. Soooo we just bought baby chicks! What started out as wanting two, has now turned into five, with each of us girls having our own. Mine looks like it has a mohawk on its head and is named Mo. It, K's and M's all are called Auricana and will lay colored eggs like blues, greens and pink. They're also called Easter eggers. AR's and AC's are yellow chicks and will be cinnamon colored when older. They are called Red Stars and will lay brown eggs. They are each suppose to lay about an egg a day when they reach about five months old. We won't get rich, but we can sell the extra eggs and get a little extra income and get our own free fresh eggs. We're guaranteed 100% hens on the Red Stars and 90-95% on the others. If we end up with a rooster, then we'll have to get rid of it, because it is against the law to have them within the city. Besides, we have our dog to wake us up in the morning :)

Hiking

2009-03-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was such a beautiful day with highs of 60 and a slight breeze. Perfect weather to go for a hike. Our family took a little 2+ mile hike with our dog Tala. Two miles is about right for M who had to occasionally get piggy-back rides. It was in an area that has a lot of eroded sand stone, so there were a lot of interestingly shaped rocks. We all came home a little tanned, but AC has lighter skin than the rest of us and ended up with a sunburn.

More Pets

2009-03-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

Before K's hamster died I had told her she couldn't get another pet until after it died. She wanted hermit crabs. When Snowball died she wanted another hamster. We went to the pet store and she decided she wanted a mouse instead. We read that they liked companionship, so we went back to the store and bought M a mouse too. AR has been wanting a baby mouse since she had a baby one for a few days that we tried to keep alive after her snake wouldn't eat it. She bought her own two so that she could have them in her room. So now we are the owners of four little mice. Their wheels go squeak, squeak, squeak all night long. I'm surprised the girls can sleep at all. I just shut my door and I can't hear them very much.
Here's the looooong list of pets we've had: One rabbit and her two babies, another rabbit, 3 dogs (one for only a week), 3 hamsters, 2 guinea pigs (for less than a day due to allergies), 2 rats (for only a month), the above mentioned baby mouse, 2 frogs, a tadpole, a turtle (for only two weeks), a skink, water dragon, gecko, gardner snake, ball python, tarantula and numerous fish. Half of the pets have belonged to AR and half of them have died in our care (not all AR's). The others we got rid of them because we were moving, had allergies, or various other reasons. We now have just one of the dogs, 4 mice and numerous fish. What can I say? I used to want pets all the time when I was younger so when my girls ask for them I guess I'm too easy to convince.

A Fond Farewell

2009-02-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

K's pet hamster died yesterday. He was very old and so we knew he could die soon. AR, K and K's friend had a funeral for him and buried him next to another pet hamster that died accidentally about 6-8 months ago. One of these days I'll have to make a list of all the pets we've had. It's a long list. Too long.

Beauty and the Beast

2009-02-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ac's High school put on the musical Beauty and the Beast. They did an awesome job! I was very impressed by all of the scenery, costumes, singing and acting. A professional group could not have done much better. We had a few girls in our ward who played main characters. One of which was Belle. AC loves musicals and so she helped with the props and costumes. She's been staying after school since the beginning of the year to help. The past couple of weeks she's been staying as late as 9:30. It will be nice when it is over and hopefully I'll see her more often.
Talking about beasts. M told me the other day "I love you as big as a giant". What a sweet thing to say.

Week of 2/18

2009-02-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy week. Tuesday I had Relief Society Enrichment and learned some awesome tips about coupons and saving money on groceries. The lady who taught the lesson spends only $40 a week on groceries and her two kids are in diapers! She has also managed to get a lot of her toiletries, cleaning supplies and groceries stocked up for the year on this budget. Just so you know, she went to culinary art school and loves to cook nice food, so she is not skimping on her meals. If anyone is interested in some of the websites she uses, then leave a comment or email me and I will send you a list of them.
Wednesday I went to the Temple with the youth while they did baptisms for the dead. I was finally able to go with AR. She had gone before when our youth went to Nauvoo, but I hadn't set up a time when our family could go. It's harder to find a time, now that you have to set up an appointment and My Love is gone frequently. AC is in tech for her high school musical and so she couldn't go with us this week.
Thursday was our ward's temple night. Our ward is trying to focus on getting our allotted time filled with our ward members and encouraged us to go at our 5:30 time, even if we had to make special arrangements. My Love went into work early and came home early and I made sure it was okay that AR watched the girl we babysit for about 15-45 minutes. They had us go directly into the endowment room instead of the chapel which was different. My Love came in after me and right after he sat down a worker came and talked to him. We were asked to be the witness couple. It made an awesome session even better! It was so neat to see the room filled with people we knew. I loved going to the Temple two nights in a row!
Friday, M's preschool had an art show and silent auction. She had fun showing us her masterpiece. We even won a few things in the auction. One was that My Love bid on some theater tickets and so we will be going to a play some time. I've been wanting to go for awhile. We also got some tickets cheap to go to Elitches, which is a place like Lagoon. We were planning on going sometime anyway, so it was great getting inexpensive tickets. One of these days I'll have to download my pictures so that I can actually post some pictures. I have one of M with her artwork and a few others.

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

My Love came home today from a trip to Canada. He is exhausted, but for Valentines day he still took me out to eat. That's why I love him so much. He puts up with me and does things for me, even when he is so tired. There are lots of other reasons I love him, but I won't mention them here. A great big "Love Ya" to my family and friends and thanks for reading my blog!

Northern Lights

2009-02-03T19:23:00.001-08:00

My Love was finally able to see the Northern Lights after many visits to the north. I love this picture. It is like the missing part of the swirl on the right is on the left.

More Driving Lessons

2009-01-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

When I was 16 and had my license for 13 days I was making a left turn onto an on-ramp, misjudged how much time I had, and a car hit me. The poor couple that hit me was getting married in a couple days and I believe their car had to be towed. It was my fault and I received a ticket for “failure to yield right of way”. My dad was so kind and went with me to a driving class that took some money off the ticket amount and some points off my record.

Yesterday I was sitting as a juror in a criminal case of “reckless driving that resulted in an accident which caused injuries” for a 21 year old who made a left turn in front of a couple and their two children. I was grateful that my ticket was so minor and could really feel for the defendant and felt sorry for him. We all make mistakes and here he was facing criminal charges against him. I’m not exactly sure why they were criminal charges, but I do know he did not have insurance (he said he thought his mom had it on him) and the couple that hit him did not realize they did not have uninsured insurance. If the defendant was found guilty then the victims could receive compensation for the car that they had saved up to buy and had $11,000 worth of damages.

The defendant had a spinal cord injury which really messed up the way he walks and a supposed brain injury that caused long and short term memory loss. This memory loss allowed him to not remember much about the accident, except that the light was green for him. The wife in the other car had injury to her knees and still has pain 17 months later and their son had a head injury too. The other 5 jurors and I found the defendant guilty. The judge was very nice and talked to us afterwards. She said he could get 90 days for reckless driving and a year for causing injuries, but she couldn’t see sending him to jail, so I’m not sure what, if any, punishment he’ll get, except restitution.

So this is what lessons I learned and relearned from being a juror on this case:
1. Drive carefully, especially when flustered and you miss the road you were to turn on
2. Drive defensively
3. Wear your seat-belt (I don’t know if the defendant did or not)
4. Have insurance
5. Have uninsured insurance
6. Do not immediately admit guilt if you are in an accident
7. Being on a jury is an interesting, educational process and really isn’t all that bad. I would love to do it again, as long as it wasn’t longer than a few days.

Mice

2009-01-26T19:16:00.000-08:00

I was making dinner yesterday and I could hear a noise coming from the corner cabinet area. "Great, another mouse". K had told me earlier that she thought she heard a mouse. She even told me how she wanted to make a trap to catch one alive. She went through all the details of how she would do it with a box and string and wood.
We've killed a few mice in this house. I won't go in the gross details of the one that was still alive and couldn't escape, because it was still attached to a trap, or the one that killed itself by gnawing on our dishwasher's electrical wire and we found it through its smell. We even had a baby mouse that was suppose to be eaten by a pet ball python. The snake wouldn't eat it for some reason, so we ended up nursing it with a syringe for 5 days until it died.
So back to the story of yesterday. I decided I'd better sweep the floor and take care of the bag of garbage on the floor that was waiting to be taken out and set out some traps. I cautiously grabbed for the trash can under the sink to put a new bag in it, because I didn't want to be startled by any mice that might be behind it. I didn't have to worry about that though. There was a mouse IN the trash can. I screamed very loud and the girls hurried downstairs. The poor little thing was so scared that it kept on trying to jump out of the can. Yes, they can jump pretty high for being so little. This freaked me out even more. It calmed down a bit. So I calmed down a bit, seeing that it didn't seem like it could jump out, or it would have jumped out before.
It is a young mouse and I think it must have somehow got into the trash can from crawling on the sink pipes. The girls were trying to convince me that we should keep it. I could just imagine all the diseases and germs that it had. I couldn't just outright kill it though. We gave it a couple drops of water, some food and put a mesh tank cover over the can. I decided that we'd take it to the field today and let it go. The problem is that after having temperatures of up to 70 this week, it quickly dropped to highs of 9 degrees the past couple of days. I just couldn't be so mean to a baby mouse and let it freeze, so for a couple of days, until it warms up a little, we have a "pet" mouse named Jack (in-the-box).

Potty Talk

2009-01-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

The other day M asked "What happens when you get flushed down the toilet?" I tried to reassure her that she couldn't get flushed down the toilet. I even showed her how in the toilet the hole was just too small. "But what if just your arm or leg gets flushed down?" I told her that it couldn't, because they wouldn't come off her body. I'm not sure she was convinced.

Class of 2022

2009-01-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

Today I had to go early to register M for Kindergarten. I wanted to get her in the A.M. class, so I made sure to get there right when they started at 7:00 a.m. When I arrived, there were people who had already filled out the paperwork and were standing in line to hand it in. They had obviously started a little early and I heard that people had been there since 5:30! I guess others really wanted to be sure they got a certain class. It's the a.m. and all day kindergarten classes that fill up first. We have open enrollment, so others come from other school boundaries, but they have to be put on a waiting list.
I also volunteered in M's preschool class today. It was fun seeing how they learn through play. They write and draw what they are going to do in a chosen center. They are already learning to separate the words and sound out parts of the words they are writing. I think when I was going to school we were just learning the alphabet in kindergarten! M loved being the line leader, because I was the volunteer parent and we had fun playing with the wooden train track and trains. I also had the "privilege" of having a little girl sitting next to me (not M) lean over and wipe her nose on my arm. Luckily I had long sleeves, but EWWWWW!!!!

Mia Maids

2009-01-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

AC was made the Mia Maid 1st counselor today. Actually 2 weeks ago she was, but today she was officially set apart. I also gave my first lesson today. I guess it went okay. It was titled "Jesus is the Christ". I read the last stanza of this Hymn, but I really like the whole thing. I often read through it during the sacrament.

Reverently and Meekly Now

Rev’rently and meekly now,
Let thy head most humbly bow.
Think of me, thou ransomed one;
Think what I for thee have done.
With my blood that dripped like rain,
Sweat in agony of pain,
With my body on the tree
I have ransomed even thee.

In this bread now blest for thee,
Emblem of my body see;
In this water or this wine,
Emblem of my blood divine.
Oh, remember what was done
That the sinner might be won.
On the cross of Calvary
I have suffered death for thee.

Bid thine heart all strife to cease;
With thy brethren be at peace.
Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be
E’en forgiven now by me.
In the solemn faith of prayer
Cast upon me all thy care,
And my Spirit’s grace shall be
Like a fountain unto thee.

At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful, evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be.

Hymn #185

Swimming again

2009-01-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

We went swimming again today, but as the whole family. We were having fun playing and such, but after just 50 minutes they made everyone get out and go to the locker rooms. The fire department was there and we found out it was because of high level of gasses in the pool areas. Probably chlorine or something. The youngest two were very disappointed, but we were able to get a rain check, so we can go back in the next little while for free. M said on the way home "I know why there must have been so much gas. Because too many people (passed gas)".

Calvin and Hobbes

2009-01-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

AR decided to re-enact a scene from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Here we have snowman #1 bowling with snowman #2's head

Close up of #2's head and the bowling pins.

Close up of snowman #1 and #2 looking for his head.

The next day, #1 had fallen over and his head was smashed a little. I think #2 pushed him over for revenge :)

More Birthday Fun

2009-01-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

I wanted K to still have some fun on her birthday, because we had already celebrated her birthday throughout the weekend. Besides being able to blow out her candle again and have leftover cake and ice cream, she invited two friends to go with her to the local pool. It has two slides (one for older and one for younger kids), water toys, and other fun things. I even braved a swimming suit. It was fun! Going home was only a little cold, because we made sure to bring a change of clothes and coats with hats. These are the only pictures that really turned out okay. I think it is interesting how the camera caught a drop of water in mid-air above K's eyebrow and you can even see the shadow of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2009-01-12T11:45:00.001-08:00

Presents and Cake

2009-01-11T16:39:00.001-08:00

K opened her presents and we had cake and ice cream early this year, because My Love had to leave on a trip today. She received some nice presents. From us she received a digital camera and an arrow holder (or whatever you call it) to go with the archery set Santa gave for Christmas.

Her sisters were so sweet and gave presents too. AC gave her a movie, AR a birthday barbie, and M picked out a littlest pet shop for her. She also got some money and a card from her uncle.

She received a dress and webkin clothes from G'ma and G'pa M, and a scripture case and money from G'ma and G'pa L.

Mail Time!

2009-01-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

With the title, I just can't keep the song from Blues Clues going through my head. The wonderful benefit of being a mom to a preschooler who's been watching a couple of tapes of it that I recorded back when K was her age.
AC and AR have both been waiting in anticipation for the mail this week. AC received her official drivers permit. She's been out a couple times with her temporary one, but she's keeping to the residential roads for now where she can go slower as she gets use to driving.
AR received an acceptance letter to a program at a high school that will be 25 minutes away. It is a new program that will hopefully allow her to go more at her own pace and give her the ability to do projects that interest her. It is up by My Love's work, so will only be a 10 minute longer commute for him to drive her there. She'll probably ride the city bus home, until she gets her drivers license in about 2 1/2 years.
K also received a card and a couple of packages for her birthday. It's been a nice week of mail for the girls.

Some Pictures from K's Year

2009-01-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

Because it is K's birthday in a few days, I thought I'd post some pictures of her from this year. I like the expression on her face in the picture below.

At field day. Yes, the tongue sticking out helps get more distance. (If you click on the picture, you can see it better).

She was STARR student at school. Students That Act Responsibly and Respectfully. They have a little award ceremony for different selected students each month.

Market Day at school. She designed and made snowmen and reindeer bookmarks and also made origami bows.

Oral interpretation with a friend. She came in third place in her age group for her school and went on to area oral interpretation.

Making a city to bomb with pop-its.

She loves rock wall climbing. She had to do it over and over again.

Piggy nose made from play dough. What a funny girl!

Strange Happenings

2009-01-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

3:00 a.m. I'm awakened by a little knock on the door. "Yes?" A little voice from M says " 'Night Mom". Me - "Do you have to go to the bathroom?". M- "No, I just wanted to tell you good night". Me - " 'kay, go back to sleep". What was she doing up at 3:00 a.m. telling me this? I thought maybe she was wandering around half asleep, so I had to get up and check on her. She had gone back to her bed and gone to sleep. I'm so glad that she wanted me (in her half asleep condition) to have a good night so that I then spent an hour trying to fall asleep, to then be awakened at 5:00 when AC got up to get ready for seminary. I then had to get up at 5:30 to take AC to seminary. What a strange "good night":)
So then today, M found AC's old cell phone that K was using to play with. I thought she was cute talking to an imaginary person and headed upstairs to tell AR that she needed to empty the dishwasher. AR came downstairs and found M having a conversation with someone who did not sound imaginary. She took the phone and I heard the end of AR's conversation. Something like "No, there is not an emergency. My little sister was just using my sister's old cell phone and must have hit the SOS button. ...No, there's not an emergency.... Thanks... Bye". M had called 911! The operator was trying to find out if M was alone, or if there was anyone else with her. So advice to you all. Do NOT let little kids use old cell phones, unless you take out the battery. They have an SOS button that can be used, even if they're not activated or have a Sim card. What fun four "and a half" year olds can be.

FHE

2009-01-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Madagascar 2 was at the cheap movie theatre, so we went yesterday for Family Home Evening. One last activity before school started today. We were the only ones there for awhile, because we got there 15 minutes early. Pretty empty after that too. I was a terrible mom and allowed the girls to put their feet up on the back of the row in front of us. M had to imitate her older sisters. She would crouch all the way in her booster and be practically on her back trying to reach the chair in front of us. This picture isn't the greatest, because it was taken by My Love's phone, but if you notice, M's feet aren't even reaching the chair for the photo.

More Pictures

2009-01-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

AC in the dress she wore for choir last year during Masquerade from The Phantom of the Opera in May. It was made by Gramma L.

I love this picture of AR next to a lake taken in 7/08. I call it Reflections.

These two pictures are of M at the historical farm and museum. We went there with her preschool class in Oct. She seemed to love playing in the play kitchen, so Santa brought her a play one for Christmas.

When our foreign exchange student Louise was here, we took her to the dinosaur park that has footprints. I love the picture below of K and M. It shows such sweetness of a big sister helping the younger down the road of life.

Changes

2009-01-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

After two years not being in Young Women's, I was put in today as the Mia Maid advisor. AC is relieved that she will be moving up to Laurels in 6 months and AR is excited that I will be with her when she turns 14 in four months. I didn't realize it could be such torture to have your mom with you at church activities, although I seem to remember that sometimes AC didn't want to go unless I was there. (Edited to add that AC said that she was just teasing me about being glad she was moving up and the reason she wanted me to go with her was because she was very shy back then).
K is so excited to now be in Valiant 9 where she is in senior primary and M is excited to be in CTR 5. She thought it was neat that she got a CTR ring and they both love their new classes.

Pictures

2009-01-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

My Love says that he's been checking a certain blog and it hasn't put anything new on, so I've decided that for the next little while I'll put pictures from the past year on when I don't have anything else to write about.

My Love and AR participated in a 5K that our ward had in October. K and M also participated in a childrens run. My Love also went along with M.

AC liked playing in the Young Women's basketball. I'm not sure if our ward ever won, but they had fun and were good sports.

Both of these pictures are at the zoo. If you can't tell, that is not a real elephant:)

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T08:39:00.001-08:00

Hope you all have a great, prosperous, and happy year! I stayed up until later than 1:30 playing the game Settlers with My Love and AR and waiting for AC to come home from a dance. (I gratefully didn't have to drop her and her friend off and pick them up, because it was 1/2 hour away, when you go the right way). K woke up this morning and was upset that she didn't get to stay up for the New Years. She has no recollection of us shaking her, standing her up and making her look at the t.v. It's kinda hard to stay up late two nights in a row. The previous night she had a sleep over with two friends. She was all excited that it was a "double sleep over and it wasn't even (her) birthday!" What is on their faces !?!?! AR loves playing with kids. She made a yogurt face cream for doing makeovers. Even M got in on the fun. The first picture is of her in the car yesterday. We were going into the mall and she insisted on wearing the hat. I asked her why she wanted to wear it. " 'Cause it makes me look cool". You can't tell she has older sisters that are corrupting her, can you? She already says she loves the Jonas Brothers and a couple other actors, and she even has the boy she wants to marry picked out. She gets upset when he tells her he's not going to marry her. Poor girl, already dealing with rejection. By the way, do you know what happened to the hat and jacket? Yep, I ended up carrying both.

Driving Fun

2009-01-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

AC(child #1) received her driving permit yesterday! Aaaaaaaa!! It scares me to have to drive with someone who doesn't know how to drive. She doesn't want to drive yet, either, until we practice more in the parking lot. She gets 6 hours with the driving school she went to, so I may have her go there at first so they teach her first on a car that has a second brake. In 6 months she gets to start dating too! She's growing up! Here's a picture of her in her choir dress from this year and a picture from last year when she still had her braces on.

On a second driving note, Colorado has, what I think, a very frustrating way of setting up roads. Say for example you are traveling down a road and you miss the road you are suppose to turn on. You could continue down the road looking for the turn off, finally finding the second road you are suppose to turn on. This road will not lead you to where you are suppose to go. You then turn around following that road back, thinking the first road you missed should be somewhere along that road. You then drive around for an hour, being lost, calling your daughter at home to see if she can figure out where you are suppose to be. She cannot figure out where you are on the internet map, so you finally stop at a gas station to buy a map. You quickly find where you are at and discover you were nowhere near where you were suppose to be. The problem is that roads in Colorado can start and stop all the way across the map. You cannot get to the place where you were suppose to be because there was a huge lake or park or something that broke up the road. This whole scenario makes your teen in the back seat grumble, because she and her friend you are driving to a New Years Eve Dance, an hour later than planned. This is all hypothetical, of course, but at least in this hypothetical situation they made it to their dance a couple hours before New Years.

More Christmas Pictures

2008-12-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

Individual pitures of the girls with our bear and a picture of all of them with Santa. Sorry, the one with Santa is a little blurry.

Crazy Hair Day

2008-12-30T12:06:00.000-08:00

Except for a huge windstorm this morning, we've had very warm weather, especially the past couple days. The girls have been playing outside and even I went outside to catch some rays while taking a walk. M's hair had static on the trampoline.

M said a cute thing yesterday. Let me see if I can explain it at the request of my three oldest. We were picking up a friend for the oldest two to go to the mall with. M wanted to know if we were going to "pick up that pokie girl from dad's work". HUH???? As I had visions of a lady with porcupine type hair, I got this translation thanks to AR(child#2) - M thinks one of her dad's works is at the airport, because he goes on trips often. The pokie girl is our French student we had over the summer. She and M would poke at each other. M remembers picking her up from the airport. It's funny how little kids see the world.

Christmas Morning

2008-12-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

The girls coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. The picture in the header (for now) is of them the night before after opening their pjs from Grandma L. It is a tradition to get their picture taken with our big stuffed bear. He was given to me by My Love when we were dating.

Intro

2008-12-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

I've started this blog to keep others up on what's happening in our family. I'm hoping to update frequently, but we'll see how that goes. First I've gotta figure out how to customize and such, so give me a little while before I actually post something.