I love birthday week!
So far cheez-its and a family card game on my pillow and date night was to see Shen Yun, a classical Chinese Dance company. Which was fabulous. A little hokey, like old martial arts movies, but really impressive and fun at the same time. And beautiful dancing.
and did I mention Cheez-its?
08 March 2015
19 February 2015
My little ponies..
Conversation on the way home from the orthodontist yesterday:
Milla- 'I can't WAIT for the next MY LITTLE PONY episode! It's going to be AWESOME!!!'
Mama- 'Oh yeah? How so?'
Milla- 'It's about BETRAYAL and the IPAD of EQUALITY and...COM-MU-NISM!'
Mama- (Waahhh?) 'This is not the My Little Ponies of the '80's......'
So you think I ought to actually sit down and watch a few episodes?
(Oh- and *spoiler alert*- Milla's braces are coming off April 1st! She's so excited)
Milla- 'I can't WAIT for the next MY LITTLE PONY episode! It's going to be AWESOME!!!'
Mama- 'Oh yeah? How so?'
Milla- 'It's about BETRAYAL and the IPAD of EQUALITY and...COM-MU-NISM!'
Mama- (Waahhh?) 'This is not the My Little Ponies of the '80's......'
So you think I ought to actually sit down and watch a few episodes?
(Oh- and *spoiler alert*- Milla's braces are coming off April 1st! She's so excited)
15 February 2015
February
I think I might as well just label all of my posts by month as I don't seem to get around to writing any more often than that. Might even be time to switch to 'season'. But I'm going to stick to 'month' right now, showing my unending optimism.
So in January, we decided to begin our 'Christmas 2015' season with getting a snowbuddy: a program with Volunteers of America where you are paired with someone nearby that is in need of snow shoveling assistance. It took a couple of weeks to get the background checks done, forms filled out, etc, but we were finally paired with Ms. Barone. Since then we have been consistently enjoying 50-70 degree weather. But the skies did open up on February 1st and gave us a good 6-8 inches so with our 1 snow shovel, 1 large broom and 1 flat bottomed regular diggin' shovel we had Ms. Barone's driveway and front walk cleared in no time. The sun came out and shown 60 degrees the next day and melted off all that we may have missed. Consistent with my aforementioned optimistic spirit, we purchased a second snow shovel the next week so that more of the family could participate next time.
For February, as well as continuing with our snowbuddy, we decided to focus on Family History and have a goal of 24-48 hours of indexing by March 15 (we are about a half month off). Milla has been enjoying the challenge of learning to read cursive (you all know that cursive is kind of a thing of the past? My kids have still been introduced to it in school, but Milla has said that her teachers usually ask that they just print -- or type ofcourse--as appropriate).
As this is my 'February' post we mustn't leave out Valentine's Day! We've made it more of a family affair as Brandon and I will have Anniversary fun on Monday. Following a relaxing morning of taking it easy, we headed out to our nearby Cherry Creek Reservoir and spent an hour walking and exploring with Henry and the family. They have a great off-leash area that is HUGE and, along with the meandering paths, is lined on one side with a river/stream. It's nicely edged with rocks and sand (so you don't get muddy!). A lot of dogs were jumping in. We were a *little* concerned that Henry might follow suit and we'd have to go in after him, but luckily at almost 7 years old, he has wised up to the fact that a gimpy 1+ foot tall basset hound would probably drown in 18 inches of water. Nice to be out on a gorgeous day. Afterwards we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a couple of missing items from the 'heart' menu the kids had planned out and then went home to make dinner!
Seans strawberry lemonade
Catherine's fruit pizza (okay-you know Rin better than that, right? She did the sugar cookies with me, but everyone decorated their own 'pizza's' and hers was, true to form, covered in chocolate and marshmallows)
Sean and Catherines hearts shaped cantaloupe
and
Milla/Papa/Mama's spinach cheese and sausage basil raviolis
We watched one of our favorites, 'Return to Me', while eating dinner and then finished with evening off with an emotional round of HERO QUEST. (thanks again, Lys!)
I suppose just as March's post will contain the last part of February, it is okay to include some of January here. The next two pics are the only time I remembered to take out my camera in January. It was quilt washing day and I had my white bed quilt soaking in my tub when Thomas came in and said, 'You know that big thing in your bathtub? I really want to jump on it!'. I thought, 'why not? needs some agitation after all'. So in he and Catherine went. And out came the water. We had about 5 towels out soaking up water by the end
 |
| they were getting pretty creative with ways to coordinate their movements so that geysers of water would shoot up into the air |
 |
| by the end of quilt 2, Catherine was a little worn out and was showing me here how she could trap air in the quilt and make a little pillow for herself. |
03 January 2015
New Year's Thoughts
As Brandon and I were driving home from the temple yesterday, we flipped on the radio and there was a discussion going on with the announcer and people calling in about a mother that had let her children know she was leaving them for a different life via text message (or something...didn't really catch the back story). The discussion, though, was about how many mothers (often secretly) regret having children at some point in there lives. One caller was expressing her views when the announcer responded something to the effect of, 'No doubt most moms still love their kids, but they often regret that they had to give up....THEIR life. (their own goals, bar hopping with their friends- yes he actually said this, etc)'. Although I get what he was, inarticulately, trying to say, (there are many sacrifices parents make), I'm saddened by this perspective on parenthood. What is MY life, but a collection of experiences, both sought out and given? One's life doesn't begin or end with a career, with children, with mastery of a certain skill, with reaching a certain income, or with having sufficient time to play. It is enriched by the good and the hard. Although I am having to decide what priorities to focus on while I raise my children and try to strengthen my marriage, I am growing and becoming with them. Not despite them.
So what experiences am I going to seek out this year? What challenges will come? I guess I can only plan out the former question and do a lot of praying and listening about the latter. Our family has begun discussion of 'Christmas 2015' which is something I have been wanting to do for several years, but which we have actually decided to DO this year. I am just calling 'Christmas 2015' what is actually intended to be a yearlong experience. In lieu of present buying this year for Christmas, we are going to focus on community service and then use present money and any money the kids have earned and chosen to give for donating to where we see a need. Every month we will sit down and discuss what needs we see and decide what ways we want to serve that month.
The other major change I have decided to pursue is going back to school to get my BSN (nursing). I am planning to apply to the UC-Denver nursing program in the fall of 2016 (2 yr program), but have to redo some science pre-req's first (I can hardly believe I've been out of school for 16 years!). So to ease myself back into college life, I am taking just 4 credits (via BYU-i online) of Anatomy and Physiology starting on Jan 5th. That was my favorite class at BYU, but I am feeling really terrified at the moment. So we'll see how that goes! I've learned thus far in life, that most things don't work out the way that I originally imagine them, but that all my experiences have led to growth and blessings. So here's to growth and blessings! and sweat and tears and satisfaction (and probably a lot more tears, in my case ;)
Happy new year!
So what experiences am I going to seek out this year? What challenges will come? I guess I can only plan out the former question and do a lot of praying and listening about the latter. Our family has begun discussion of 'Christmas 2015' which is something I have been wanting to do for several years, but which we have actually decided to DO this year. I am just calling 'Christmas 2015' what is actually intended to be a yearlong experience. In lieu of present buying this year for Christmas, we are going to focus on community service and then use present money and any money the kids have earned and chosen to give for donating to where we see a need. Every month we will sit down and discuss what needs we see and decide what ways we want to serve that month.
The other major change I have decided to pursue is going back to school to get my BSN (nursing). I am planning to apply to the UC-Denver nursing program in the fall of 2016 (2 yr program), but have to redo some science pre-req's first (I can hardly believe I've been out of school for 16 years!). So to ease myself back into college life, I am taking just 4 credits (via BYU-i online) of Anatomy and Physiology starting on Jan 5th. That was my favorite class at BYU, but I am feeling really terrified at the moment. So we'll see how that goes! I've learned thus far in life, that most things don't work out the way that I originally imagine them, but that all my experiences have led to growth and blessings. So here's to growth and blessings! and sweat and tears and satisfaction (and probably a lot more tears, in my case ;)
Happy new year!
24 November 2014
So I came home from work on Thursday to find Thomas hard at work building snowmen (with what snow hadn't melted yet). After 2 hours work he was up to 6 snowmen and Catherine and her friend Lily came out and added one of their own- 'Olaf'. He took time to show me his method of using a 'starter' snowball and rolling it, collecting snow as he went.
 |
| Thomas later added carrot noses and tennis ball hearts. |
 |
| Mustache man-- kind of reminds me of a muppet |
That evening I went out with Brandon to the store and saw that the front yard was completely leveled. What! I was pretty steamed about the mean neighborhood kids that knocked down all of Thomas' work. Brandon was like, don't tell Thomas tonight, he'll be too upset. 'We'll talk about it when he sees the massacre tomorrow'.
Well, kept my mouth shut for about 10 minutes and then secretly asked Catherine if she saw what happened to all the snowman. She was like, 'oh that. Thomas went out and demolished them all with his swords after he finished building them'. Really!! Brandon said, 'How Buddhist of him'.
So the next morning, I asked Thomas to show me HOW he demolished them. He demonstrated on my storage buckets. We had a great video, but after 8 tries at downloading it to no avail, I have settled on these pictures.
You get the idea:)
19 November 2014
My fixer/finder
So I've always been pretty in love with Thomas. His sweet hugs, coy smile, bug eye silly face. We've always been buddies. But recently this gem of a kid has come up with a new way to please me. He's become my fixer/finder. When I get to my whits end in frustration over one thing or another he'll say, 'What's wrong mom?'
'The password list is missing and has been for a week!' - that I have one copy of and is always in the desk and would be an absolute pain to recreate. 5 minutes later I have it in my hand.
'I cannot for the life of me get my bike lock open, why didn't I write down the combination!'. Literally 2 minutes later Thomas has the combo figured out and the lock open.
'Rin's glasses have been missing for 2 weeks. We've searched the house, the cars and the church over and under and they are no where to be found. Time for more serious prayer! If we don't find them this weekend, I've going to have to give in and get new ones.' Next day Thomas is the one to uncover them.
And this is just what comes to mind right now. Over and over this year he has saved me. Thank you Thomas!
'The password list is missing and has been for a week!' - that I have one copy of and is always in the desk and would be an absolute pain to recreate. 5 minutes later I have it in my hand.
'I cannot for the life of me get my bike lock open, why didn't I write down the combination!'. Literally 2 minutes later Thomas has the combo figured out and the lock open.
'Rin's glasses have been missing for 2 weeks. We've searched the house, the cars and the church over and under and they are no where to be found. Time for more serious prayer! If we don't find them this weekend, I've going to have to give in and get new ones.' Next day Thomas is the one to uncover them.
And this is just what comes to mind right now. Over and over this year he has saved me. Thank you Thomas!
In response to Priceless
So according to one of my sweet, slightly younger than me sisters, I am slacking a little in the blog department. It's true.
I am not a natural blogger, but I do value sharing a bit of me and my life with my family, so I will continue to try. Thank you Lys, for your encouragement.
Like Alyssa, we just got family pictures taken. at JC Penney's (I recognized her backgrounds!). Only for us it is not a biennial event. More like triennial, if that's a word. Or whenever Sean has grown another 8 inches. Whichever comes first. I did set an 11:40 appointment...a little wiser than Lys here. Although considering we also waited an hour to ACTUALLY get in to have our pics taken, maybe a 10:30 would have been best after all. And then just show up an hour late.
Anyhow, we saw many an unhappy child at the studio, but not us! One of the joys of having all children over 8. In our hour wait we went back out into the 10 degree temps and headed over to Sports Authority to get Sean a winter coat. Apparently I am the kind of parent that only does that every 3 years as well. Or whenever Sean has grown another 8 inches. Whichever comes first.
Then back at JC Penney's we still had some time to peruse the holiday section for ornaments white and ornaments sparkly and nutcracker frogs and cows and such (whose mouths, Thomas noted, were not aligned with the opening of the nutcracker. A great disappointment.)
Finally our time came, and I actually thought the kids were fairly cooperative. Even giggly at times. Then we got to preview the pictures. Sean!!! He had a near death stare in almost every pic. ("That's my smile!" He said in defense). Ah well. Luckily he's just a good lookin' kid in general. I will say that Brandon and I looked pretty awesome in every shot ;)
Only have the little emailed order form with really low resolution pics so far, but it will give you an idea of what you'll be getting in your mailbox come Christmas.
My favorite moment in the day was getting our purchase summary:
I am not a natural blogger, but I do value sharing a bit of me and my life with my family, so I will continue to try. Thank you Lys, for your encouragement.
Like Alyssa, we just got family pictures taken. at JC Penney's (I recognized her backgrounds!). Only for us it is not a biennial event. More like triennial, if that's a word. Or whenever Sean has grown another 8 inches. Whichever comes first. I did set an 11:40 appointment...a little wiser than Lys here. Although considering we also waited an hour to ACTUALLY get in to have our pics taken, maybe a 10:30 would have been best after all. And then just show up an hour late.
Anyhow, we saw many an unhappy child at the studio, but not us! One of the joys of having all children over 8. In our hour wait we went back out into the 10 degree temps and headed over to Sports Authority to get Sean a winter coat. Apparently I am the kind of parent that only does that every 3 years as well. Or whenever Sean has grown another 8 inches. Whichever comes first.
Then back at JC Penney's we still had some time to peruse the holiday section for ornaments white and ornaments sparkly and nutcracker frogs and cows and such (whose mouths, Thomas noted, were not aligned with the opening of the nutcracker. A great disappointment.)
Finally our time came, and I actually thought the kids were fairly cooperative. Even giggly at times. Then we got to preview the pictures. Sean!!! He had a near death stare in almost every pic. ("That's my smile!" He said in defense). Ah well. Luckily he's just a good lookin' kid in general. I will say that Brandon and I looked pretty awesome in every shot ;)
Only have the little emailed order form with really low resolution pics so far, but it will give you an idea of what you'll be getting in your mailbox come Christmas.
My favorite moment in the day was getting our purchase summary:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)