A Tea Party

Isabelle has been asking for months to celebrate her birthday with a tea party. We started working on it, but I didn't get the invitations out.  Things were very busy with the end of school.  I decided it would be better to wait until after school got out.  She has mostly played with her cousin who lived up the street, but sadly they have moved and will soon be on the other side of the country.  Especially with kindergarten starting in the fall, I thought it was important for her to make stronger connections with some of the neighborhood kids.  Unfortunately several ended up being out of town and one was sick.  We only ended up with one of the neighbors and the rest cousins.  They still had a lot of fun though.


The preparations began in the morning we cleaned the house and made sure everything was ready.  We made sugar cookies for them to decorate.   The dough was not cooperating.  we would cut out the cookies, but they would mush when we tried to transfer them to the trays.  Finally I rolled the dough out on the trays so we didn't have to transfer them.  It worked out well.  I don't have a tea set, and I thought about buying one. Then I had the thought that I had all those snake trays we had inherited.  What is the point if they just sit in the basement?  The neighbor girl was amazed that I was letting them use glassware.  My two nieces (the ones who were moving) came over early and the older one helped my cut up fruit and wash the trays. 

 

Finally everything was reading and all we needed were guests.  I was a little worried when it was ten after and no one had shown up.  I knew ahead of time that not everyone was coming, but there were a few I hadn't heard from.  As they showed up they went down into the family room where they danced to music from The Little Mermaid.  When everyone had arrived we returned to the kitchen where they picked out flowers to make hair bows similar to the one I made a few weeks ago.  While I glued the bows, the girls colored princess pictures. 

We then played games, which I found on a birthday party website.  We played "Kiss the Frog."  I had made a poster of a frog and while blindfolded they placed their kiss (a sticker) on the frog.  They thought it was a lot of fun.  Next we played "Find the Pea."  I had pillows placed in a circle.  Under one was a pea (a golf ball.)  A "real princess" would know they were on the "pea." This was repeated several times.  Also lots of fun.

 

After the games we returned to the kitchen for the tea party.   They decorated their cookies and had grapes, cantaloupe and punch.  Then we got out the cake and sang happy birthday.  Everyone enjoyed the snacks.

The cake was made by my friend Liz.  She  recently started decorating cakes and has done some pretty fun things.  Check out her blog here.

After they were done eating everyone was given a bracelet and a bubble wand, which they went outside to play with until parents arrived.  I thought that it went fairly well.  Especailly since this was my first time hosting a friend party.  I think that I enjoy hosting, but I always get really stressed out.  I also don't get into the whole decorating thing.  I don't think that the kids minded though.

Hawaii Update

It is funny the way things work out sometimes.  I think that I mentioned in my last post about how I had been trying to post about Hawaii for a long time, it was posted five months after we went.  I also mentioned that the biggest negative impact on the trip was losing my dad's GPS,which was not the start, but the big drop off for my emotional roller-coaster, which I couldn't get off of.  I think that the trip would have been much better if that hadn't happened.   Thomas and I both prayed that it would show up and that we would find it, but it never turned up.  We spent several hours of our very short trip looking for it.  We both felt like the answer we got to our prays was not to worry about it.  What kind of an answer is that?  Obviously I couldn't just let it go.  Even after we returned and we bought my dad a new one, I stressed and fretted about it and what had happened to it.  Five months later, I finally get my post written and posted.  That night I am watching television when Thomas walks in.  He has a funny look on his face and something hidden behind his back.  He pulls it out and I just stare at him.  I don't know what it is; then it hits me.  It is the missing GPS.  I had never truly felt like it was stolen because we still had the mount and the cable.  If I was a thief I would take the whole thing.  We had looked everywhere though.  We search the rental car multiple times.  We search Thomas' camera bag.  It wasn't anywhere.  I still had unrealistic hopes that it might show up. I expected a package in the mail, or a call from the temple.  Where was it I ask?  He shrugs his shoulders and says "In my bag."  He was looking for batteries, and there it was.  He had apparently put it in upside down, so it blended in with the bag, and then it slid so that it was underneath multiple dividers.  I still don't understand it.  I remember taking everything out of the bag and having it lying all over the hotel bed. How could we not find it in an empty bag?  Why were we not directed to it when we prayed if it was right there!  It bugs me a little bit, but I think that mostly I have moved on. Maybe there was a reason, even if I can't see it.  The plus side is that we now have our own GPS.  (Although the activities we would have done instead of searching would have been cheaper.) 

Hawaii

It has taken awhile, but I am finally getting some Hawaii pictures posted.  Sometime near the beginning of October, Thomas' sister got engaged.  We were very excited for her.  She had said since she was small that she was going to get married in Hawaii, and she stuck to that. 

We got in to Hawaii at about 11:00 and it took a while to get to the hotel and get settled, so that first day didn't really count.  All we saw was the Alamo rental station and the hotel.

Day 1 was the wedding.  We had planned on going to session at the temple before the wedding, but due to me being sick on the flight the day before and Thomas feeling a little bit nauseous that morning, we didn't leave quite early enough.  We still left fairly early, but we took our time and didn't rush.  One of my favorite things about Hawaii was coming out of the tunnel that separates the South and North sides of the island.  It was amazing to be back in the sunlight with a view of the ocean and excessive amounts of green everywhere.  Since we were early, we stopped at one of the small beaches that line the road.  It was a small cove with no one else there.  When we got to the temple it was still really early, so we drove a ways up the North Shore. We felt overdressed for the beach there.

The Wedding was beautiful.  Everyone was amazed that we all came so far to support the happy couple.  The sealer shared several little known stories about the temple and how it came to be built. 

After the wedding we went to Papa Ole's Kitchen.  We took the food to the beach, where we did some additional photos. 

On the way back to Honolulu we realized that we had lost my dad's GPS that we borrowed.  We had been really careful with it, but there was some confusion on the way into the temple and we couldn't remember if we had taken it off the dash.  We either forgot and it was stolen, or it was dropped somewhere.  I was sick about it a good portion of the trip.  We spent a couple of hours the next day retracing our steps trying to find it.  Unfortunately it never showed up.  The good news was, the day we got back was Black Friday.  I got an identical one for about $40.00 less than my Dad had paid. 

After returning to the hotel that first night we decided to go for a walk.  We were about two blocks from the Waikiki beach.  We strolled down the beach for about 6 blocks and then came back through the shops.  It was a nice walk, but when we got back we realized we didn't have a key to our room.  The lady at the front desk was very helpful. 

Day 2:  We spent the morning at Pearl Harbor.  It was very interesting.  There was so much to see there and we only had a couple of hours.  We did go over to the Arizona memorial.  It was sad, but also... I am not sure how to describe it.  You see all those names of men who died before they even knew what was happening.  You see the oil still bubbling up after nearly 70 years.  I would definitely like to have a change to go back and learn more. 

After Pearl Harbor we headed back to Leia to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We were a little unsure at first how it was supposed to work, and what we were supposed to do.  There are seven different islands represented at each one they do a presentation at a specific time.  You have to follow the schedule, which we didn't realize at first.  My favorite part was the Canoe show.  They do traditional dances from each island on a canoe.  We also splurged on some really good ice cream.  In the evening we went to the Luau for dinner. I didn't like most of the food.  I did however enjoy the purple poi rolls.  After dinner was the big show.  Fire dancing is always fun.

Day 3: Thomas got up and went snorkeling.  I did not go.  I was worried about being cold and misserable. I really don't like being cold.  This was actually my birthday.  My brother and sister in-law invited me down to thier room for some birthday cake they had bought.  It was very nice of them.  After that I headed out to do some shopping.  I got some ornaments for the christmas tree.  I also got a couple of surongs and some makadameina nuts.  Once Thomas returned we checked out and headed to the Dole Pinaple plantation. Thomas loves pineapple, so this was a must see on his list, or rather it was a must taste. We ate lunch in cafe, which was fun.  I had a terriatky burger.  It was pretty good. I wasn't that impressed with the main part of the plantation. I don't know that the train ride was really worth it.  The botanical garden though was gorgeous.  It was fun to see so many exotic plants growing natuarlly.  They also have a giant hedge maze there that I wanted to do, but we were short on time. 

Besides being my birthday it was also Thanksgiving.  I was a little sad about missing the big day at home.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  I really like turkey.  Everybody met up dinner at a place called Chuck's Cellar.  After a small emotional incident while waiting for everyone to show up, Thomas and I headed down to the beach.  I felt bad that we hadn't really gotten a chance to just hang out on the beach.  I played in the surf while Thomas took pictures of the sunset.  After the sun set, we headed back to the restaurant.  My pants were wet, and it was a little cold, but I felt better.  I enjoyed the dinner, although it was the first time I had ever had fish for Thanksgiving.  Following dinner we did a bit more shopping then headed back to the rental car place and the airport. 

Despite a few momments it was a nice trip.  Definately too short.  It just means that I need to go back again.  I think everyone needs a little bit of tropic in the middle of the winter.

Hair Bows

I don't know if I have ever mentioned it before, but Isabelle is a girly girl. She loves dresses and nail polish. From the time she was little with only two boy cousins as models, she would carry around purses.  I don't know where it comes from.  I am definately not that girly.  I know that part of it comes from her princess obsesion.  She has lost or ruined all of her hairbows.  While I was at the craft store, I bought some of those flowers so i could make her some new ones.  I completely forgot about it until I was cleaning. I set them aside where Isabelle found them.  She wanted to know what they were for.  After I told her, she kept aking me when we were going to make them.  Did I also mention how persistant she is?  If you say you will do something later, she won't let you forget.  I ran up to my sisters to borrow some ribbon.  Got out the glue gun, and put a couple together.  We had some difficulties, because she would put flowers together and then we couldn't convince her that they didn't match.  She definately has her own sense of style. 

Everyone tried them on. 

Doesn't Daddy look cute!  He is such a good sport.

Spring Break Comes to an End

My spring break is basically over.  I know I still have the weekend, but it is going to be very full with Easter stuff.   Hopefully this year I will even get some pictures posted.  I still have a partially written Easter post from last year that never got posted.  I seem t have a hard time getting the big things up here.  Like Hawaii.  I actually uploaded some pictures, they just aren't posted. Maybe soon.  I  didn't mean to ramble though I was going to tell about the rest of my break because it really was a pretty good week. 

Isablle had been asking for quite a while if she could go to the park.  Not just any park, but the castle park.  We had told her we could go sometime this week.  Wednesday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, so that is the day we picked.  I spent the morning doing some cleaning and then we packed up our lunches and headed out.  As anticipated the park was very busy.  My sister was bringing her kids as well.  Isabelle was anxious for her cousin to show up.  Even after they got there, they had a hard time focusing on their lunch.  They just wanted to go play.  Finally we let them go.  The castle park has some slides, but it is mostly walkways, ramps, and secret cubby holes. They had a lot of fun running up and down and around.   I spent most of my time in the kiddie area with Tristan.  He liked to swing and go down the "lide."  After about an hour we said it was time to go home.  We, the adults, were more than ready to be done.  The kids thought it was a tragedy to leave so soon.   I decided to stop at Grandma's house on the way home. It isn't very far specially since the road was closed and the detour took us down Grandma's road.  She wasn't home yet from getting her car fixed, so we got Tosha out and took her for a walk. I got her harness on all by myself.  I was very proud.  I was a little worried about pushing the stroller and holding the leash, but it mostly was fine.  I even got some help.  Tristan kept trying to hold the leash for me while he sat in the stroller.  It was super cute.  He didn't hold on very tight though and then I would have to chase the end out he the leash.  Isabelle spent most of the walk saying how tired she was and out of breath.  Curiously she wasn't too tired and out of breath at the park.  Grandma got home just as we finished our walk.  We stayed to visit with her for a little then headed home.  Thomas was supposed to be home by then, but he had some problems come up at work and was taking longer than expected.  His day off ended up being a 12 hour work day.   I did some more yard work while we waited for him.  Then we watched some Mary Poppins and headed to bed. 

I had thought Thomas only had off work Tuesday and supposedly Wednesday, but he had Thursday off as well. We had a game day at my mom's house.  Thomas went to go "exercise" at the pool.  Everyone was a little late getting there and things weren't getting started.  I didn't want to waste my day, so I finally got a game of Settlers of Catan going with the boys. The two oldest nephews are both going to turn 13 in the summer.  I can't believe they are that old.  I think that the other is about 11.  They are almost the same age as the kids I teach.  We actually had a pretty good game.  I would have won if I could have got four more roads.   After Thomas came we played a game called Wonders of the World.  I think it is kind of fun.  It is however a little bit compicated and I guess I didn't explain it well.  Both Thomas and my mom (who had played before but it had been a while and she didn't remember the instructions) were confused.  It ended up being a three way tie for 43 points and my nephew getting 44 points.  Then I realized that the score for my set of cards was supposed to be squared not doubled.  I had nine points for that section instead of six.  I beat him by two points.   Isabelle wanted to go home with her cousin.  When I went to go pick her up they wanted to have a sleepover.  I thought that would be fine.   She is so sad about her cousin moving.  They had gotten and offer on their house Thursday morning and my sister spent part of the day dealing with that.   We went home and got her stuff and sent her back.  At about 10:00 that night we remembered that we had a doctors appointment at 8:45 in the morning. 

We did not get up as early Friday and we meant to.  It ended up being a bit of a rush. We were only about two minutes late for the appointment and had to wait almost ten minutes still, so i didn't feel too bad.  Everything went well.   Both children are healthy.  Isabelle is 34 lb. and 19 percentile.  almost 42 inches and 37 percentile.  Tristan was 24 lb. and 17 percentile.  31 inches and 5 percentile.  For our kids that is really good.  Tristan especially has moved up a little.  The funny thing is despite being that low in weight and height, his head is 53 percentile.  After the doctors we went home and got ready to go back to Grandma's house for the day.  Thomas was working in the afternoon to close.  I had planned to scrapbook with my mom.  I paid for my younger sister to take Isabelle to see the new Chipmunk: Chipwreck movie.  They both really liked it.  I put Tristan down for a nap and we got quite a bit done.   I took last Thursday and Friday off of work to go to a scrapbook party at my great-aunt's house.  It was a lot of fun.  She had tons of supplies and didn't mind letting us use any of it.  My mom had a similar party back in October.  I didn't take off work that time, so I was only there for Saturday morning.  Before that I hadn't done any scrapbooking for several years.  I have gotten excited about it again.  Isabelle really enjoys looking through them and there aren't that many pictures of her. Most of the pictures are on the computer in digital format.  I kind of need to decide if I am going to keep making traditional scrapbooks or if I want to try something more digital.  Thomas is supposed to do one of the online books they print for his Africa trip.  It was his birthday present last year, but he still hasn't gotten me the pictures.  I also have points from pampers to do a book, which I wanted to do for Isabelle.  The day did not end as well as I had hoped.  I was planning on staying at my parents to watch a movie or something fun, but both the kids were having meltdowns. It was probably because of the shots.  We packed up and headed home.  Both kids were in bed and asleep by 8:30, which for us is really good. 

Productivity

Monday was not a good start to my vacation.  I was full of woe is me and self pity.  I hate it when I get like that, but I can't seem to help it.  I tend to worrry about things, and be overly critical.  The good news is that it didn't last all day.  The evening actually turned out quite nice.

Waiting to Begin

 Isabelle had found the egg dye in the cupboard and was anxious to use it.  Sunday we cooked eggs, but we didn't quite get to the coloring part.  We promised here we could do it on Monday when her daddy got home from work.  She has a very good memory and doesn't let things go.  As soon as he got home, she wanted to color eggs.   We got the dye ready, and then we colored eggs.  Thomas is really good at this (and anything else that has an artistic edge to it.)  He actually uses his drummel to engrave designs into the eggs.  They are really quite fancy.

Drummeling the Eggs

Working Together

I don't care about the eggs. Could you read me a story?

In the mail we got a flyer for Toys R Us.  They were having buy one get one half off on Legos.  I was supper excited.  That is a great deal.  We ran over to the Toy store.  Unfortunately our local store has terrible selection.  I had also looked online.  They were out of stock on three of the four sets I was interested in.  Not mush of a sale if you ask me.  We ran over to Target while we were out and found one of the Dino sets on sale.  I think it is sad that both Target and Walmart have better Lego selection than Toys R Us does.  I am very excited for Easter.  I do still need to get a couple of things, but it should be fun.




Tuesday was one of those days that I wish could happen all of the time.  I was productive, and I got stuff done.  I got things done I had been putting off for weeks.  It is spring break, and originally we were going to go on a little trip down to Dinosaur National Monument.  It didn't quite happen because the arrangements didn't  all get made, but we will probably still go sometime soon, and it probably was best that we were home.  I got up, well not early, but at least on time.  I decided to run the car over to get inspected.  It was actually due in January, but so were the rest of the cars, and mine ended up with a broken exhaust manifold.  So we waited.  Since it wasn't registered we didn't drive it.  A couple of weeks ago when I tried to take it it, it wouldn't start.  Apparently a battery can go dead from just sitting.  Anyway so I went to the store, and I got there just before the guy who opened the store.  I was going to read while I waited, but then I thought it would be a great time to grade papers, so I did.  I got most of the 9th grade worksheets done.  When I got home we made breakfast and got everyone dressed.  Then I worked on my resume.  (I really do want to do something different, I just don't know what.  Which is a problem.) Also, while I was working on that I called the a car place about the seat belt  that broke in my car about a month ago.  I still drive to daycare, but I haven't been able to go anywhere further than that.  I had a (hopefully) great idea.  We made several inquiries about the part, but the only one that responded is in Virginia.  It was going to cost about $10-15 for shipping.  The store is actually very close to where my brother-in-law is living.  I asked if he could just pick it up and bring it back on the plane with him this weekend.  I am still a little worried they won't want it in his carry on for some reason, but otherwise it worked out really well.

 By about noon we were ready to go.  We dropped the kids off at my moms for my younger sister to watch, and we headed over to LDS employment.  I have been trying to get Thomas to go for quite a while.  I am not sure the trip was as productive as I had hoped, but at least we both now have accounts and know how to look up jobs.  Our next stop was the tile store.  We picked the darker redish tile, which also was the cheapest.  It is now ready to install, except this weekend being Easter.  I could really use a Saturday as well as the Easter weekend.  We have three egg hunts all on Saturday.  While we were out, we also stopped at Walmart and got some Easter things.  We then headed home.

I had told my sister to feed the kids peanut butter sandwiches, but that didn't sound tasty to her.  Instead she served homemade Macaroni and Cheese.  It is one her favorites. There were leftovers and she very kindly shared them with us.  (Speaking of my sister, she has a job interview at Lagoon today, so we are praying for here and keeping our fingers crossed.  She really needs a job.) 


On our way into the house the children were distracted by their bikes and strollers.  They thought they needed to be used., so of course we ended up going on a walk.  It was nice, except that Isabelle kept panicking about going too fast, so we ended up going at a snails pace.  When we got home our productivity lagged a little.  I think I played a round of Tetris while Thomas took a nap.  I then decided to join him.  Who says that napping isn't productive?  Unfortunately I tried to get the children to nap with us, but it ended up waking Thomas up.  He got up and I finished the nap.  I woke up a little while later to someone head butting me until I moved.  Toddlers can be so sweet.

 

The last thing on my list for the day was yard work.  We actually made some good progress.  We got several more of the flower beads cleaned out and some of the wood chips spread around.  (I might add more pictures later.  My camera ran out of batteries after I took the one of the wood pile.)  We then went in and I made potatoes and chicken gravy.  It was very tasty.  We wanted to watch something.  I had borrowed several family films from my Mother-in-law, so we decided to watch one of those.  We picked Mary Poppins.  Both of the children were enthralled.  I was surprised how entertained they both were.  even on the slower parts. It is long and kind of episodic, so we only watched to the end of their first outing.  The next night we watched through the outing to Uncle Albert's.  I think the next bit is when they go to the bank.  I am not sure where the chimney sweeps come in.

Like I said, it felt like a very productive day.

Frustration

I am feeling very frustrated today.  I should be having fun and enjoying spring break.  Instead I am bummed out and depressed.  I feel like everything goes wrong at once.  Of course it has all been building for a long time.    First off I am totally stressed out about what to do about kindergarten next year.  I can't find anyone to watch Isabelle and my schedule doesn't work.  I would have to drop her off a little over an hour early for Morning kindergarten and I would be about a half hour late picking her up from afternoon.  I have no idea about the rest of the day.  She could still do the daycare, but she would need a ride.  I was hoping to not pay daycare now she is in school.  Ideally I would just quite so I could be home and be involved with her schooling and spend time with her before she starts going to school full time.   Unfortunately it doesn't' seem like that is an option.  Especially with all of the unexpected expenses we keep having.  We have had to buy new tires for all three cars, plus brakes and rotors for Thomas' car.  We had the expenses from the windstorm in December.  The roof was patched, but the vents are still leaking and some if not all of it needs to be replaced.   The wood floor needs to be sanded and re-varnished.  We didn't do it when we moved in although some spots needed it.  Here we are five years later, and it really needs it, especially those spots.  Our dishwasher has been having problems, so I had some plumbers come out and give us an estimate.  According to them there is about $600 worth of work that needs to be done to fix the dishwasher and increase the pressure to the whole house, which is apparently really low.  There is an additional $400 worth of stuff which they said wasn't imperative, but probably should be done before something breaks.  I think I can get new toilets though for about the same price they wanted to replace the insides of them.  How is anyone supposed to have fun with their families if all you do is take care of emergencies.  If anyone knows of a management job that pays more than managing a fast food place let me know, or a part time job here in town that pays well let me know.  I know it isn't likely, but I keep hoping that perfect job will come around.  Part of Thomas' problem is that he doesn't know exactly what he wants to do with his business management degree.  He is too busy at his current job that pays him half of what he is worth to even look for something else.   I am tired of my job.  I enjoy teaching, and I enjoy working with most of the kids, but I am sick of planning, grading, discipline, and politics.   I hate having to spend hours of my own time grading papers, which the kids just throw away.  They don't even read the comments I made.   I just wish that things were simple. I know they never are.    There was that conference talk about not being jealous of other people because they received blessing that you didn't.  It isn't that I am not happy for them, but sometimes it feels like everything is working out for everyone else but not for me.  I know that their lives are probably not as perfect as they seem, but at least it isn't everything in their lives that is broken and defective.  It seems that everything is out of my control and there is nothing I can do to fix any of it.  You can't live on wishing things were better and different.  It wears you down.  How do I find happiness with where and who I am?

Hello Spring!

I was going to clean my house the other day.  I did start, but I then I got distracted...

There were these tulip bulbs in my garage.  I dug them up last fall, and never got them replanted.  Every spring they come up in these huge clumps and they needed to be spread out, but when fall comes I can't remember where they are.  I accidentally came across some of them last fall while digging up tree roots. Like I said I never got them replanted they were just in a bucket in the garage.  About a month ago they started growing.  Every time I get in my car, I can see them and I think "I should do something with those."  Well I decided it was the day to do something.  I was going to go outside, but I was sure it was colder than it looked.  I decided since I was going to try putting them in a pot I would just do it inside on the table.  I filled my pot, but there was still a whole bucket full of bulbs.
 

The Strawberry Patch

My Garden

The hill

 I ventured outside to look at some of the flower beds.  I discovered that my roses are getting leaves.  They shouldn't be leafing yet, I haven't pruned them.  And there were crocuses trying to poke through the mounds of dead leaves.  I started cleaning the bed.  I had to go to the garage and get some tools and on the way back I saw another bed in need of help, and yes there across the yard was another spot.  Oh and the poor strawberries are being choked out by grass!  I think that I ended up working on about 6 different flower beds.  I don't think that I finished any of them.  I just couldn't focus.    I spent two more days this week working in the yard.  Including yesterday.  It is starting to look better.  Last year we cut down a bunch of thorny trees and had them chipped.  The giant pile of wood chips is still sitting in the garden.  Since we never got it taken care of we didn't have a garden last year.  I need to get the wood chips spread out on the flower beds so I can get my garden ready for planting.  I don't do anything like my parents garden.  I think that it is too much work.  They spend a lot of time out there in their giant garden.  Mostly I like to do tomatoes and squash and peppers.  I might do peas, but I think right now is the time to plant them, and we aren't ready yet.    I think that we also want to get a tree to plant on the hill where the thorny ones were removed.  A nice tree instead of garbage ones.  Plus we have lost several of our scrub oaks in the windstorm.  We might still be able to see our back neighbors through the trees this year they are so much thinner.  Any suggestion of what kind we should get?  Isabelle wanted to go see the creek, but there is so much fallen wood I couldn't even get to the lower part of the path.  There is a good amount of water, but not as much as previous years.  although I think it is usually April when it hits its height. 

Did I mention I have a sliver from doing yard work.  And I can't get it out.  I also have several rose bush pricks.  I hope everyone is enjoying spring as much as I am.  (aside from the yard related injuries.)


Besides yard work we did get some things accomplished yesterday.  Thomas got our taxes finished.  They were almost finished before, but then we realized that we were using the online version of the program and not the download, which was causing problems.  We were almost finished and he basically had to start over, but it did transfer some of the information and everything else was already collected.  That is always the hard part of doing taxes.  There are always thing you need that you have to hunt for.  I was going to get the van registered, but we have been having problems with the battery.  When I left to get it inspected it was completely dead.  It  is weird because it is a brand new battery.  We have tested the alternator and it seems to be fine.  Thomas charged it and drove it to work.  Hopefully we can get it inspected this week and figure out what is going on with the battery. 

I did also get a little bit of housework done, but not as much as I wanted to.  I spent the evening with my sister.  She made dinner, which we kind of invited ourselves to.   I keep showing up at my mom's house just are they are doing dinner.  She has been kind enough to share.  My older sister is out of town and her kids are all at my mom's house, so my younger sister was already cooking for  a good sized crew without us.  It tasted really good, and I enjoyed visiting. 

We also went shopping for the bathroom tile this week.  WE brought home a couple of samples.  I am not sure which I like the best.  It needs to go with the carpet the cabinet and the wall, which is a turquoise color. 

And it wasn't just me who enjoyed being out in the yard.  The kids had a lot of fun too.  They are so excited to be doing things outside.  

Legos

So we have a new obsession at our house.  Some of us are more obsessed than others.  It all started a couple of months ago when I was shopping.  I was walking down the Lego isle when I saw a cute little house. It had a basketball hoop in the driveway and a satellite  dish, and I just thought it was cute.  But then next to it I noticed a cabin.  It was also cute, and I thought this would be the closest I would get to owning a real cabin for quite some time.  It ended up on my Christmas wish list.  I didn't end up getting it for Christmas, but Tristan did get several  sets of Duplos.  We had fun playing with them, but there wasn't enough of them for him and his sister to play together nicely.   I started keeping an eye out for Legos.  Being post Christmas, most of the stores had very little.  I even had a gift card for Toys R' Us that was expiring, but couldn't find anything.  We ended up getting some of the new Friends sets that I had seen on Legos web site.  I love them.  I think that they are adorable.  There is nothing that says that Legos are boy toys, but most of the sets are more boyish.  These new ones are designed for girls.  Isabelle got two of the small sets she is supposed to be earning by keeping her room clean.  About mid-January I was sick and a little out of sorts.  We had to get something at Wal-mart, I can't remember what, and we made a small detour down the Lego isle.  They happened to have my cabin, which I hadn't seen anywhere since before Christmas.  They also had a light house, which was perfect for Thomas.  He said it was the biggest set he had ever owned and probably doubled the number of Legos he possessed. We found a bucket of Duplos to give Tristan more variety, and Isabelle got another one of Friends sets, a stage with a grand piano.  We went home and had a family lego day.  It was really fun and not a bad way to spend a sick day. 

That was our new Legos, but I was also obsessing about my old ones.  I got them out to show Isabelle.  I also borrowed my sister's old 1970's sets, which remind me of the new Friends sets.  Isabelle really enjoyed playing with them.   There was a website I had come across a few years ago that had the instruction booklets for old sets.  I tried to find it again.  At first I couldn't find it. It had moved and had a new name, but I did find it. They have almost all the sets. It was a lot of fun looking at different sets.  I did have problems finding my set.  I didn't know what it was called.  It had animals instead of the regular Lego figures.   The series was called Fabuland.  It  was made from about 1979-1988.  I had the town hall. They did have the instruction manual, but it is in German.  The sets were really cute.  I wished I had gotten more of them when I was little, but then I realized that I played a lot with my brother's Legos, and getting more of my own would have meant getting less barbie stuff.  I guess at the time I liked the Barbies more.  I was able to build my set, but I am missing a few important parts.  Probably one of the biggest problems with Legos is missing parts. 

                                           This is the set Isabelle wants for her birthday.

Where Did January Go?

So we made it through the holidays, but now we are stuck in the slow winter months right?  Well apparently not this year.  I can't believe that January is almost over.  I have so many things I have wanted to write about lately, and haven't had time to do any of them.  Maybe  I will get some of them done Monday. I am taking a "sick" day.  I have a dentist appointment first thing in the morning and then I will be taking some very needed down time.   I am still working on my Hawaii post,and I and planning a post about my latest obsession... LEGOS!  I know, its sad.  I also wanted to post about my New Year's resolutions.  Lucky for me most of them are still relevant despite it being the end of January. So here they are before we find out it is February.

First we had a few Family goals.

1. Keep the house cleaner.    This one has been going fairly well.  I especially wanted to focus on clearing the table after meals and picking up toys when we are done. There is still room for improvement, but it is definitely going better.
2. Share with Siblings.      This one was specifically geared toward the younger members of the family.   I am not sure what to say about this one since I had to pause in writing this to break up a fight over a toy.  I guess that is why we have a whole year to work on it.  
3. Have Family Home Evening   This one is also going well so far.  We have had a lesson every week but one.  We have also sang primary song, which I thought was a lot of fun.  We decided that we need another song book.  Thomas  needs it on the piano and I don't know the words as well as I once did. 

Then there are the Personal Goals:

1. The Relief Society in our ward challenged us to read the Book of Mormon 365 days this year. I thought it would be nice if Thomas and I did it together.  We have been reading about a chapter a night, and so far, we haven't missed.  
2. Another challenge we have been facing lately is finances.  The basement cost more than expected, we have been over spending in general, and there have been several large unexpected things.  We are trying to rebuild some of our savings by minimizing our expenses, which is a lot harder then it seems.  We don't have a lot of frivolous expenses.  There isn't much to cut out, which leaves things like going out to dinner and other activities.  It isn't much fun, but hopefully it will pay off.  
3. I don't know if it is really a goal, but I am trying to work through some personal issues.  I have not been very happy lately, and I need to change that.  Part of the problem is figuring out if it is because I am overstressed, just letting myself get rundown and in a rut, or if there is something physically or chemically wrong with me.  Right now I am trying to do two things. Reduce stress and be more positive.  I am also trying to monitor when I have my meltdowns. Is there a hormonal component? 
4. I also need to play more and spend more time with my children.  Isabelle will be starting kindergarten next year and it makes you realize how quickly they grow up. 
5. One last one, I would like to write more.  It makes me sad when I read other people's blogs and they have so many more posts than me.  Especially when there are things I want to write about.  Maybe my sister moving to the other side of the country will help with that.

I guess we will see how well we continue to work on these.  

Family Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2011

I was hoping to get this out early this year, but here it is two days before Christmas and I am still finishing up.  I hope that everyone has had a good year and great holiday season.  This year has been a lot of the same stuff with a few surprises thrown in.  As far as our jobs everything is mostly the same.  I am still teaching at Mueller Park Jr. High with 8^th and 9^th grade English.   This is the first year that I have not had a new subject; although the first little bit of 9^th grade felt new since I missed the first seven weeks of the year.  I did apply at the new junior high they built here in Kaysville, but my friend got the job.  Last year our entire English department was expecting.  I had mine in August before school started, the other two had theirs after the year ended, and neither came back.  The fourth teacher was the one who got the job at the new school. That left me as the sole returning English teaching. I had several other friends that quit or moved to the new school, so there have been a lot of changes. It has been a bit of an adjustment getting know and work with new people.  Allen is still managing the subway in Ogden.  Other than the constant influx of new employees not much has changed on that front. 

           

Annika is now four years old.  She is really enjoying being a “big girl.”  She is also generally a fantastic older sister; although sometimes brother “bothers” her.  They are both still at the high school day care.  Annika loves it there.  She is always excited to go to school.  I think that socially it has been a great thing for her.  She has learned a lot about being friends and interacting with others.  She loves to sing.  Her favorite song right now is “I’m getting nothin’ for Christmas.” We are getting a little tired of hearing it.  She is also obsessed with princesses.  She was a very pretty princess for Halloween. 

           

Aidan is almost 17  months .  He is a happy baby.  He is always full of smiles and mischief. At school he is one of the favorites. All the high school girls liked to hold him. He went 14 months without getting teeth and then got six all at once. That  did make him a little cranky, but he seems to be doing better now.  One of his favorite activities is to open and close things, especially cupboards.  He also loves his blankets (there are five of them.) He is always carrying one or more of them around.  He doesn’t always have to be holding it, but it must be on floor in close proximity.  He also loves to be outside.  I have never seen a child before who got so excited about shoes and socks.

           

Our first big surprise of the year was Allen’s opportunity to go to Africa with his uncle.  He was gone for two and a half week during July.  The rest of us kept occupied with camping trips and family reunions, but we missed him a lot.  He spent most of the time in Tanzania and Kenya.  At the end of the trip they flew down to see Victoria Falls as well.  He was his uncle’s photographer.  He “had to” get a new camera before he went and then rented a fancy high zoom lens (you don’t want to get too close to those lions after all.)  He took about 16,000 photographs.  You can see some of his favorites at www.flickr.com/photos/alyntopia/. 

I also have a flickr page, www.flickr.com/photos/wravenlockw/, my pictures are generally not as impressive as Allen’s.   The other thing I got into this year was blogging.  There were two blogs I started reading, which inspired me to start my own blog.  I have really enjoyed writing it;  although  I have not publicized it very much. You can read my posts about some of the other things we have done this year at: adventures-gretchen.blogspot.com. 

The other thing that has kept us busy this year is finishing our basement.  Allen started it in the summer, but he just didn’t have time to really work on it.  We ended up hiring help.  They have completed all the work but the painting, which Allen and I did.   It has taken longer than I expected, even with professionals. Right now Aidan is sharing a room with the computers.  It makes it hard because the best time to work on things is when he is sleeping and you can’t because the computer is in the room with him.  I am hoping that once the computers are downstairs, I will be able to do more with my blog, scrapbooking, and dealing with our family pictures.  I also am very excited about my new tub we installed in the basement.  I can’t use it though because it doesn’t have a surround.  All we have left to finish is the tub surround and floor in the bathroom.  That,  however, is on hold, because something else came up.

Allen’s sister told us in October that she was engaged.  That normally wouldn’t have been a big impact on our basement, but she picked the Laie Hawaii temple.  We had six weeks from when she got engaged until the wedding.  To complicate things the trip would be over Thanksgiving and my birthday.   It ended up being pretty good, although there were a few problems.  Aidan ended up being sick the day before we left, and then I was sick on the plane there.  It is never a good sign when you are nauseous before you get on the plane. The first day there was the wedding.  It was very nice.  The temple workers were amazed that we all came so far for the wedding.   We also got to spend a little bit of time at the beach.  The second day we went to Pearl Harbor and the Polynesian Cultural Center.   The third day there was snorkeling, shopping, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, some more beach, and fish for Thanksgiving dinner.  The waiter also sang me happy birthday. I got a piece of coconut cake.  It was very tasty.  We flew home that night at midnight.   It was fun, but short.  Mostly it helped us know what we want to do next time we go. 

We welcomed December with a huge windstorm.  We did have some damage.  One of our windows was broken by a flying shingle, the roof was not as well covered as it had been, and the plum tree in front of our house was gone.  We were saddened by the loss of the plum tree.  There were originally two, but we lost one in an April snow storm.  It was half dead and kind of ugly, so we didn’t mind too much.  The other was bigger and had a nicer shape.  Our house now looks naked without them out front.  I almost stayed home that day because I was so traumatized just driving up to the high school.  I got hit by a large tree limb and almost by a garbage can.  I was assured that school was on, so I braved the winds rushing through Centerville.  It was terrifying to drive down the road feeling your car sway in the wind and see semi after semi tipped on its side.  In Bountiful it was much calmer.  By the time I got to school the power was already out.  At the end of the first hour we were informed that we weren’t getting power back and we started sending students home.  Emergency evacuations are a huge mess.  I spent the morning as a runner going to get students out of their classes when their parents came.  By the time it calmed down at 11:00, I had over 6,000 steps for the day.  At that point I found out the daycare was closed and left to go pick the kids up.  Unfortunately I had left my lights on and my car was dead.  I had to have another teacher jump my car.  It was one of the most exciting days I’ve had in a while. 

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas Season.

Love the Widdison Family