Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!
Last post 2022
2 years ago
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Some House pics
Today was an interesting day. Happy Birthday to Joseph and Renae, by the way.
Russell has outgrown his church shoes. They have been difficult to get on his feet and he complained that they hurt the last few weeks. I intended to get him some new ones last week, but forgot to do it. So, I set out this morning determined to get him some new shoes for church. We decided that we'd also get him a Halloween costume while we were out. We headed off to Target. Well, they only had one style of shoe that would work and Russell said they hurt his feet. So, we got his costume and some other stuff. He picked a Spider Man costume. He's never seen any Spider Man shows or read any related books, but he likes Spider Man. He even chose this over Buzz Lightyear, Woody, The Incredible Hulk (which he seriously considered), AND Thomas the Tank Engine. I thought for sure he'd want Thomas, but he wanted Spider Man. It's one of those ones with the padding to make fake muscles. Despite not finding the shoes we wanted, we managed to spend a full two hours at Target. Russell was looking at everything and having a great time.
Well, we headed over to WalMart next. I had great hopes that they would have some good shoes for him. I have gotten some there before. They had two styles of dress shoes. Russell said they hurt his feet. So, off we went to another store.
Part of the problem we have with getting shoes for Russell, particularly dress shoes--they tend to run narrow, is that he has very wide feet. We reach the point of not being able to get his feet into them before they are too short. This makes sizing a little difficult. Well, I went over to Kohl's. I lucked out. They had about 4 or 5 styles of dress shoes. Not a fabulous selection, but better than I'd seen. And they carried them in wide sizes. And the shoes are not lassoed together, so Russell could actually walk in them when he was trying them on. At first he said they hurt his feet, but I suspected at this point that he was just saying that because he was having fun trying on shoes. I had him run up and down the aisle a few times to try them out and he thought that was great and then said his feet felt fine. I lucked out because they were having a semi-annual shoe sale, too. Then I wandered around the store for a bit just to look around since it's been about 5 years since I've been in a Kohl's. I found this really awesome collage picture frame that is just perfect for the wall by my front door. All the frames were half price so it was only $20. I couldn't resist.
Well, by the time we got home from Kohl's, it was time to go get Ruby. Russell wanted to show Ruby his costume, so he insisted on changing into it to pick her up. I figured there was no harm in it and you can get away with running errands dressed as Spider Man when you are three. When you get into your 30's it's a little problematic. So he wore his costume and loved it. As we were walking past the play ground, some of the older kids were out there doing PE and they were yelling, "Spider Man! Spider Man!" as we walked by. Russell loved it. I asked him if he thought Ruby would think he was Spider Man. He said, "No. She will think I'm Russell in a Spider Man costume." He took his mask off and thought he had ripped it because there were holes in it. He was just too cute for words. I explained that the holes were for his eyes and nose so that he could see and breathe. He thought that was a good idea. He just came in from playing outside, so I snapped a picture of him in his costume to include. Those are blue rain boots he's wearing with it.
I finally finished the project of re-carpeting my front porch. The carpet was totally worn out and had worn through to the wood on the bottom two steps. I did it on Friday and Saturday. I did the steps Friday and then did the porch itself on Saturday. Ruby managed to draw on the carpet with a red sharpie even before I finished laying it. Argh! Oh, well. I'll have to get creative in what goes on that spot. So, now that the porch is done, I put up a couple of fall decorations and took a picture. And, when I was uploading those pictures from the camera, I noticed that Ruby has taken some pictures of her room, so I'll go ahead and include those.
The Front Porch
Just for Fun
Ruby's Room--Bear in mind that Ruby took these pictures.
Russell likes to hang out in there, too.
Russell likes to hang out in there, too.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Jackpot!
Okay, maybe I didn't really hit the jackpot, but it sure felt like it today.
Today was the day I was supposed to help in Russell's preschool class. Part of the requirements of the program are that I help in the class twice a month. Well, due to sicknesses and stuff, there were only 3 kids today. So, they said I didn't have to stay. I asked Russell if he wanted me to stay or leave and he said, "You leave!" That's the answer I was expecting. Jackpot!
I now had a couple of hours without kids and I thought, "What should I do now?" And I thought of Charles and how nice it would be to go out to lunch without the kids. So I called him up and he was able to do that, so we went to Chili's for lunch. I had their yummy Quesadilla Explosion salad, which I only managed to eat half of, and we split a dessert. It was so nice!
After I dropped him off back at work, I still had some time before I had to pick up Russell. So I decided to hit the mall and get some new walking/running shoes. The ones I bought last fall were in pretty sad shape and I learned last year that I really need to have good shoes with good support for all the walking I do. I drove to Oakridge Mall, which is the one nearest our house and has an Earning for Learning program that supports Ruby's school, not really knowing where the Footlocker would be or even if they had one there. I just looked for a parking area convenient to a mall entrance. By the time I got there I had to go to the bathroom, too. I walked in the entrance to the mall and there was a bathroom right there. Jackpot! Then I walked in toward the stores and I was right next to a Footlocker. Jackpot! I went in, but they only had a small selection of women's shoes. I talked to the sales guy and he said, "Have you tried Lady Footlocker?" No, where is it? It was about four doors down. Jackpot! I walked in and was helped immediately. They had exactly what I needed for a reasonable price. I bought my shoes and some cross trainer insoles and wore my new shoes out of the store. They are very comfy by the way. Jackpot! I went back to the car and got to Russell's preschool right on time.
Don't you just love it when things work out perfectly like that?
Today was the day I was supposed to help in Russell's preschool class. Part of the requirements of the program are that I help in the class twice a month. Well, due to sicknesses and stuff, there were only 3 kids today. So, they said I didn't have to stay. I asked Russell if he wanted me to stay or leave and he said, "You leave!" That's the answer I was expecting. Jackpot!
I now had a couple of hours without kids and I thought, "What should I do now?" And I thought of Charles and how nice it would be to go out to lunch without the kids. So I called him up and he was able to do that, so we went to Chili's for lunch. I had their yummy Quesadilla Explosion salad, which I only managed to eat half of, and we split a dessert. It was so nice!
After I dropped him off back at work, I still had some time before I had to pick up Russell. So I decided to hit the mall and get some new walking/running shoes. The ones I bought last fall were in pretty sad shape and I learned last year that I really need to have good shoes with good support for all the walking I do. I drove to Oakridge Mall, which is the one nearest our house and has an Earning for Learning program that supports Ruby's school, not really knowing where the Footlocker would be or even if they had one there. I just looked for a parking area convenient to a mall entrance. By the time I got there I had to go to the bathroom, too. I walked in the entrance to the mall and there was a bathroom right there. Jackpot! Then I walked in toward the stores and I was right next to a Footlocker. Jackpot! I went in, but they only had a small selection of women's shoes. I talked to the sales guy and he said, "Have you tried Lady Footlocker?" No, where is it? It was about four doors down. Jackpot! I walked in and was helped immediately. They had exactly what I needed for a reasonable price. I bought my shoes and some cross trainer insoles and wore my new shoes out of the store. They are very comfy by the way. Jackpot! I went back to the car and got to Russell's preschool right on time.
Don't you just love it when things work out perfectly like that?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Photo Highlights of the last six months or so
This was one of those days when the kids were playing a little too well. I went to investigate and Ruby was hiding under my bed. When I convinced her to get out, this is what she looked like. She said, "I'm a cat!" All I could do was bust out laughing.
And again, a couple days later....
This picture is classic Russell. All smiles and covered in his latest snack. He didn't get so tall by skipping meals.
Ready for Rain!
Russell, after sampling the chocolate fondue fountain at a friend's wedding reception.
Ruby and her Uncle Jacob after her kindergarten play last spring.
And with some of her classmates after the play...
The kids decorating an Easter house from Granny Spud
Ruby got a citizenship award at school last spring
Ruby and...Ruby. Ruby's class made cutouts of themselves for the school open house in May. Ruby is saying, "I liked when we made lemonade. I liked when we went to see Beauty and the Beast." I loved this cutout because it looked so much like Ruby.
Russell poses with his sister
At a field trip to Pizza My Heart. Russell got to tag along. All the kids got to make their own pizzas. It was an awesome field trip. And it didn't cost a dime!
Russell snuggles in his sister's blanket
Ruby took a picture of herself.
Ruby and I with Mrs. Viau on the last day of school.
Ruby and Mrs. Viau. We miss her!
Ruby pushes Russell on the swing at the park behind the library.
This year instead of having a traditional party, Ruby chose to have the family go to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday. Here she is blowing out her candle. Russell wanted that cake so badly. My dad hid it and told Russell that he ate it all and Russell just about punched him.
Just before swim lessons
After the last day of swim lessons. We passed this park every day on the way to swim lessons. The kids really wanted to go there. I told Russell that we could go there on the last day if he did his lessons without crying. And he did! If only I had figured this out the first week instead of half way through the second one.
Charles, Ruby and Russell at our timeshare in Vegas.
This tub was one of the children's favorite features.
And again, a couple days later....
This picture is classic Russell. All smiles and covered in his latest snack. He didn't get so tall by skipping meals.
Ready for Rain!
Russell, after sampling the chocolate fondue fountain at a friend's wedding reception.
Ruby and her Uncle Jacob after her kindergarten play last spring.
And with some of her classmates after the play...
The kids decorating an Easter house from Granny Spud
Ruby got a citizenship award at school last spring
Ruby and...Ruby. Ruby's class made cutouts of themselves for the school open house in May. Ruby is saying, "I liked when we made lemonade. I liked when we went to see Beauty and the Beast." I loved this cutout because it looked so much like Ruby.
Russell poses with his sister
At a field trip to Pizza My Heart. Russell got to tag along. All the kids got to make their own pizzas. It was an awesome field trip. And it didn't cost a dime!
Russell snuggles in his sister's blanket
Ruby took a picture of herself.
Ruby and I with Mrs. Viau on the last day of school.
Ruby and Mrs. Viau. We miss her!
Ruby pushes Russell on the swing at the park behind the library.
This year instead of having a traditional party, Ruby chose to have the family go to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday. Here she is blowing out her candle. Russell wanted that cake so badly. My dad hid it and told Russell that he ate it all and Russell just about punched him.
Just before swim lessons
After the last day of swim lessons. We passed this park every day on the way to swim lessons. The kids really wanted to go there. I told Russell that we could go there on the last day if he did his lessons without crying. And he did! If only I had figured this out the first week instead of half way through the second one.
Charles, Ruby and Russell at our timeshare in Vegas.This tub was one of the children's favorite features.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Back to School
Okay, okay. I know school started a few weeks ago. But Back to School Night is tomorrow, so I'm not too late.
We've been adjusting to life at a new school. We transferred from a school that had a lot of really involved parents to one where they are desperate to get people to help. I guess my experience at Trace will be put to good use. I've already agreed to be the escrip coordinator for the school. Mainly because I know stuff about escrip. It's terribly underutilized at the moment. We're going to try to get people to sign up for it tomorrow at BTSN. I also volunteered for the School Site Council. They need two parents for it. There are three of us on the ballot. And I'm going to be helping out in Ruby's class for an hour every week while Russell is at preschool. And I'll be helping in Russell's preschool class twice a month. I have a feeling I'm going to be busy this year, especially since I'm now the secretary for our ward Relief Society, too. It's good, though. I definitely won't be bored.
Ruby had the stomach flu last week. Now it's Russell's turn. Cross your fingers that Charles and I don't get it.
Ruby's school sent home a fundraising packet today. Some of the stuff in it is pretty nice. One thing that I like is the option to purchase online and have things shipped directly to you. This was an option last year, too, and worked out very nicely. It lets relatives who don't live nearby participate in the fundraiser. One thing that I also thought was cool is that you can order stuff from them all year and still have the school get the credit. It's just that purchases only count for prizes for the kids during the fundraiser period. If any of you are interested in getting something for this and I didn't send you an email about it, drop me a line and I'll get you the link.
I replaced the flooring in our bathroom last week. It looks really nice. Of course now the baseboards look terrible next to it. Hopefully a nice coat of paint will take care of that. I used an awesome product called Allure. It's made by Trafficmaster. It's resilient vinyl flooring. It comes in planks with sticky edges that overlap on each other and it's waterproof. It's really awesome stuff and was very easy to lay. I did our dining room and the masterbathroom by myself. Charles did help me lift the toilet back into place when I was done in the bathroom, but that was about all the help I had. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The floor totally looks like wood. I was a little concerned about how it would wear, especially with dining chairs scooting across it. At our last two apartments, the dining chairs made grooves in the linoleum. But this stuff actually feels like wood underneath us. The chairs slide smoothly and ther are no worries. I'm thrilled with it and heartily recommend it. We opted for the wood look, but they also have ones that look like stone tiles.
I made freezer jam this weekend. I was making strawberry jam and then I had enough strawberries left for about half a batch and I had some blueberries that needed to be used, so I pureed them and between the two kinds of berries had enough for another batch. The mixed berry stuff actually turned out better than the plain strawberry in my opinion. I love freezer jam. It is soooo yummy. It's easy, fast, and tastes like fresh fruit. I made a yellow cake yesterday and I spooned some of the jam over the top of it when I ate it. Ooooooh, man! It was delicious!
I just found my camera and my USB cable at the same time and discovered that I had about 6 months worth of pictures on my camera! Perhaps I'll post some.
We've been adjusting to life at a new school. We transferred from a school that had a lot of really involved parents to one where they are desperate to get people to help. I guess my experience at Trace will be put to good use. I've already agreed to be the escrip coordinator for the school. Mainly because I know stuff about escrip. It's terribly underutilized at the moment. We're going to try to get people to sign up for it tomorrow at BTSN. I also volunteered for the School Site Council. They need two parents for it. There are three of us on the ballot. And I'm going to be helping out in Ruby's class for an hour every week while Russell is at preschool. And I'll be helping in Russell's preschool class twice a month. I have a feeling I'm going to be busy this year, especially since I'm now the secretary for our ward Relief Society, too. It's good, though. I definitely won't be bored.
Ruby had the stomach flu last week. Now it's Russell's turn. Cross your fingers that Charles and I don't get it.
Ruby's school sent home a fundraising packet today. Some of the stuff in it is pretty nice. One thing that I like is the option to purchase online and have things shipped directly to you. This was an option last year, too, and worked out very nicely. It lets relatives who don't live nearby participate in the fundraiser. One thing that I also thought was cool is that you can order stuff from them all year and still have the school get the credit. It's just that purchases only count for prizes for the kids during the fundraiser period. If any of you are interested in getting something for this and I didn't send you an email about it, drop me a line and I'll get you the link.
I replaced the flooring in our bathroom last week. It looks really nice. Of course now the baseboards look terrible next to it. Hopefully a nice coat of paint will take care of that. I used an awesome product called Allure. It's made by Trafficmaster. It's resilient vinyl flooring. It comes in planks with sticky edges that overlap on each other and it's waterproof. It's really awesome stuff and was very easy to lay. I did our dining room and the masterbathroom by myself. Charles did help me lift the toilet back into place when I was done in the bathroom, but that was about all the help I had. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The floor totally looks like wood. I was a little concerned about how it would wear, especially with dining chairs scooting across it. At our last two apartments, the dining chairs made grooves in the linoleum. But this stuff actually feels like wood underneath us. The chairs slide smoothly and ther are no worries. I'm thrilled with it and heartily recommend it. We opted for the wood look, but they also have ones that look like stone tiles.
Before:
After:
After:
I made freezer jam this weekend. I was making strawberry jam and then I had enough strawberries left for about half a batch and I had some blueberries that needed to be used, so I pureed them and between the two kinds of berries had enough for another batch. The mixed berry stuff actually turned out better than the plain strawberry in my opinion. I love freezer jam. It is soooo yummy. It's easy, fast, and tastes like fresh fruit. I made a yellow cake yesterday and I spooned some of the jam over the top of it when I ate it. Ooooooh, man! It was delicious!
I just found my camera and my USB cable at the same time and discovered that I had about 6 months worth of pictures on my camera! Perhaps I'll post some.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Why I Love Being a Mom in the Summertime
There are so many things I love about summer. Swimming. Long days. Popsicles. Ice Cream. Watermelon. Corn on the cob. There are a few things I don't like, mainly involving heat and too much sun, but the things I like outweigh the things I dislike about summer. Summer as an adult is different from summer as a kid. But when you get to be a mom, some of summer's childhood greatness comes back. As I think back to the great memories from my childhood, they mostly revolve around summer and Christmas--the two highlights of the kid year. As a parent, I get to try to give my kids some of those same great memories and traditions. And it kind of brings back the kid in me. I get to participate in all their fun summer kid stuff.
This is the first summer that my kids have taken swimming lessons, but it has brought back a flood of memories for me. Swimming lessons were always the highlight of our summer (along with our trip to Morro Bay). I don't know how my parents afforded to put all 5 of us in swimming lessons every summer, but we had them. Now, unlike my kids, we did not have a pool readily available to us. We had some neighbors with a pool who sometimes let us swim in it and then there were the Hunters around the corner who let us swim in their pool. But for the most part, swimming lessons were our pool time in the summer. We looked forward to them with great enthusiasm.
This started me thinking about other great summer things and I thought of Thrifty's ice cream. We used to go in there sometimes to get an ice cream cone. My dad routinely bought the great big boxes of their ice cream to keep in our freezer. Every summer when we went to Morro Bay, we would ride our bikes from the campground into town to the local Thrifty's. We'd all have a big triple scoop cone for lunch and then we'd ride back to the campground. Today I got a hankering for a Thrifty's ice cream cone and wanted to share that with my kids. Thrifty's got bought out several years ago by Rite Aid, but the stores that used to be Thrifty's still have the counter for ice cream cones and I think they pretty much all at least sell the ice cream in the freezer section. I decided that Thrifty's cones would be a great treat for after swimming lessons today and I checked where the nearest Rite Aid was, crossing my fingers that they'd have the cones. Well, we lucked out. It's very close to us and has the cones. (Sara--this is the one right by your house.) The kids loved it and so did I. And I couldn't believe what a good deal it was. It's a far cry from the $0.30 single scoops of my childhood, but is still a pretty good deal. We got double scoop cones (and these were pretty good size scoops) for $1.69 each. A single kids scoop at Baskin Robbins is $1.99. The kids decided that the double scoops were a bit large for them to eat, so tomorrow they are getting single scoops (at their own request). I had a double scoop of Pecan Praline, which is absolutely wonderful, and Chocolate brownie, which is also very good. Ruby got chocolate brownie and vanilla. And Russell, not quite sure how to decide on more than one flavor, got two scoops of strawberry. I love the scoops they use there. I wish I could get an ice cream scoop like that.
A fun tradition that I started with the kids and would like to keep up is the summer road trip. A few years ago I decided that it was dumb for me and the kids to be stuck home all summer just because Charles didn't have much vacation time. So, I decided to pack the kids in the car and take a two week trip to Utah to visit some friends and relatives. I had my cell phone and I used McDonald's online trip planner to figure out where all the McDonald's with play grounds were along my route and which exits I needed to take to get to them. I planned how far I would drive in a day and where I would spend the night and off we went. It worked great. Russell was still a nursing baby at the time, so we would stop and eat and I'd nurse Russell while Ruby played on the playground.
That trip was such a success that the following year we expanded it. We went for four weeks and visited Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. We had a fabulous time, but I was really ready to come home by the time the four weeks were up just because it was hard to be away from Charles for so long. And our last stop was at my mother-in-law's house in Idaho. I was already really missing Charles by that time and all the pictures of him at her house didn't help. Next time we'll fit her in earlier in our trip.
Charles loves it when we go on these trips. Whenever I suggest that the kids and I might like to take a trip, he doesn't even hesitate to say yes. Sometimes he doesn't even let me get the details out. While we're gone he watches movies that I have no interest in and he loves that the house is in the same condition when he gets home as it was when he left in the morning. He does miss us, though. Last year, due to the extremely high price of gas, we didn't get to do the big trip. We just did a short trip to Utah with my brother for a family reunion. It was fun, but I can't say I liked the whirlwind pace of the trip. If I'm going to drive that far, I like to stay a little longer. This year, what with moving in the middle of the summer, we haven't gotten to take a trip either. I've been hankering for one since the weather started getting nice in the spring. I'm thinking we'll have to do one during one of the breaks from school. Like the "ski week" in February or during spring break. Maybe a weekend trip up to see my cousin Carolyn. School starts in less than two weeks and it seems like the summer just barely began. I'll have to plan a good trip for next summer. Maybe we can take off as soon as school gets out. I'm hoping that these trips will be cherished memories for my kids when they get older. I know I enjoy them. I need to go camping, too. It's been a couple years since I've been camping. Maybe I'll plan a short trip up the coast to see the big redwoods. That would be fun.
This is the first summer that my kids have taken swimming lessons, but it has brought back a flood of memories for me. Swimming lessons were always the highlight of our summer (along with our trip to Morro Bay). I don't know how my parents afforded to put all 5 of us in swimming lessons every summer, but we had them. Now, unlike my kids, we did not have a pool readily available to us. We had some neighbors with a pool who sometimes let us swim in it and then there were the Hunters around the corner who let us swim in their pool. But for the most part, swimming lessons were our pool time in the summer. We looked forward to them with great enthusiasm.
This started me thinking about other great summer things and I thought of Thrifty's ice cream. We used to go in there sometimes to get an ice cream cone. My dad routinely bought the great big boxes of their ice cream to keep in our freezer. Every summer when we went to Morro Bay, we would ride our bikes from the campground into town to the local Thrifty's. We'd all have a big triple scoop cone for lunch and then we'd ride back to the campground. Today I got a hankering for a Thrifty's ice cream cone and wanted to share that with my kids. Thrifty's got bought out several years ago by Rite Aid, but the stores that used to be Thrifty's still have the counter for ice cream cones and I think they pretty much all at least sell the ice cream in the freezer section. I decided that Thrifty's cones would be a great treat for after swimming lessons today and I checked where the nearest Rite Aid was, crossing my fingers that they'd have the cones. Well, we lucked out. It's very close to us and has the cones. (Sara--this is the one right by your house.) The kids loved it and so did I. And I couldn't believe what a good deal it was. It's a far cry from the $0.30 single scoops of my childhood, but is still a pretty good deal. We got double scoop cones (and these were pretty good size scoops) for $1.69 each. A single kids scoop at Baskin Robbins is $1.99. The kids decided that the double scoops were a bit large for them to eat, so tomorrow they are getting single scoops (at their own request). I had a double scoop of Pecan Praline, which is absolutely wonderful, and Chocolate brownie, which is also very good. Ruby got chocolate brownie and vanilla. And Russell, not quite sure how to decide on more than one flavor, got two scoops of strawberry. I love the scoops they use there. I wish I could get an ice cream scoop like that.
A fun tradition that I started with the kids and would like to keep up is the summer road trip. A few years ago I decided that it was dumb for me and the kids to be stuck home all summer just because Charles didn't have much vacation time. So, I decided to pack the kids in the car and take a two week trip to Utah to visit some friends and relatives. I had my cell phone and I used McDonald's online trip planner to figure out where all the McDonald's with play grounds were along my route and which exits I needed to take to get to them. I planned how far I would drive in a day and where I would spend the night and off we went. It worked great. Russell was still a nursing baby at the time, so we would stop and eat and I'd nurse Russell while Ruby played on the playground.
That trip was such a success that the following year we expanded it. We went for four weeks and visited Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. We had a fabulous time, but I was really ready to come home by the time the four weeks were up just because it was hard to be away from Charles for so long. And our last stop was at my mother-in-law's house in Idaho. I was already really missing Charles by that time and all the pictures of him at her house didn't help. Next time we'll fit her in earlier in our trip.
Charles loves it when we go on these trips. Whenever I suggest that the kids and I might like to take a trip, he doesn't even hesitate to say yes. Sometimes he doesn't even let me get the details out. While we're gone he watches movies that I have no interest in and he loves that the house is in the same condition when he gets home as it was when he left in the morning. He does miss us, though. Last year, due to the extremely high price of gas, we didn't get to do the big trip. We just did a short trip to Utah with my brother for a family reunion. It was fun, but I can't say I liked the whirlwind pace of the trip. If I'm going to drive that far, I like to stay a little longer. This year, what with moving in the middle of the summer, we haven't gotten to take a trip either. I've been hankering for one since the weather started getting nice in the spring. I'm thinking we'll have to do one during one of the breaks from school. Like the "ski week" in February or during spring break. Maybe a weekend trip up to see my cousin Carolyn. School starts in less than two weeks and it seems like the summer just barely began. I'll have to plan a good trip for next summer. Maybe we can take off as soon as school gets out. I'm hoping that these trips will be cherished memories for my kids when they get older. I know I enjoy them. I need to go camping, too. It's been a couple years since I've been camping. Maybe I'll plan a short trip up the coast to see the big redwoods. That would be fun.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Attack of the Five-Foot-Tall Weeds
Yesterday was a cool morning, so I decided to tackle the weeds in our front/side yard. We had gotten a notice about them last week. I hardly ever go on that side of the house, so I hadn't noticed how bad they were. Some of them were seriously about as tall as I am. I also pulled out some things that had died and some baby palm trees that had decided to start growing on their own. Some of these put up quite a struggle. A couple of the really big weeds had roots at least as big around as my thumb. I ended up having to saturate the ground with water and then dig out the roots. After filling by trash bin with weeds and such, I came to the conclusion that I need a yard trimmings cart. The park handles all our trash service so I spoke to them about getting one. I should have had one already, but apparently somebody took it.
Unfortunately, the yard is planted entirely in succulents with a few actual cacti thrown in. The stupid plants kept stabbing me while I was pulling weeds. I've got scrapes all over my arms. I do plan to rip the plants out and put in something that actually looks nice, but I have to come up with a plan and present it to the park for approval first. Luckily, they are not likely to object to the removal of the existing plants. And yes, I had already planned to remove them before I was attacked by them.
The kids and I had picked up some plants at OSH last week and we finallly got around to potting them yesterday after I pulled out the weeds. They are mostly in front of the house now and I think they look nice.
I'm making progress on the house. I can actually sit on both couches and my rocking chair now. The dishwasher repair man is supposed to come fix our built in dishwasher today. It has taken much too long getting this fixed by Sears. Next time I'll get an actual GE repairman for my GE appliances. They actually have the parts on hand. The dishwasher was already broken when we bought the house and we got a credit from the seller to pay for the repair. In the mean time, we're still using my portable dishwasher from the apartment. I want to sell it, though, so I'm in a hurry to get the built-in working. The only appliance left that we need to buy is a dryer and my dad just found a used one at a flea market sale for $30. I figured it would be hard to go wrong for that price, so hopefully we'll have a working dryer by the end of the day. Woo Hoo! That'll make the mountains of laundry much easier to deal with.
I managed to find the camera this morning, so I'll be able to post pictures soon, just as soon as I get things straightened up a bit more.
Unfortunately, the yard is planted entirely in succulents with a few actual cacti thrown in. The stupid plants kept stabbing me while I was pulling weeds. I've got scrapes all over my arms. I do plan to rip the plants out and put in something that actually looks nice, but I have to come up with a plan and present it to the park for approval first. Luckily, they are not likely to object to the removal of the existing plants. And yes, I had already planned to remove them before I was attacked by them.
The kids and I had picked up some plants at OSH last week and we finallly got around to potting them yesterday after I pulled out the weeds. They are mostly in front of the house now and I think they look nice.
I'm making progress on the house. I can actually sit on both couches and my rocking chair now. The dishwasher repair man is supposed to come fix our built in dishwasher today. It has taken much too long getting this fixed by Sears. Next time I'll get an actual GE repairman for my GE appliances. They actually have the parts on hand. The dishwasher was already broken when we bought the house and we got a credit from the seller to pay for the repair. In the mean time, we're still using my portable dishwasher from the apartment. I want to sell it, though, so I'm in a hurry to get the built-in working. The only appliance left that we need to buy is a dryer and my dad just found a used one at a flea market sale for $30. I figured it would be hard to go wrong for that price, so hopefully we'll have a working dryer by the end of the day. Woo Hoo! That'll make the mountains of laundry much easier to deal with.
I managed to find the camera this morning, so I'll be able to post pictures soon, just as soon as I get things straightened up a bit more.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Yes, I'm still alive.....
Okay, I'm totally lame and haven't blogged in ages. I haven't been reading my friends' blogs either. I have a good excuse for the recent months, but before that, not really.
Here's the update:
Yes, I made that bacon explosion. I did a half recipe, though. And I did it in the oven because I don't have a smoker. Oh, and I substituted breakfast sausage because I had it on hand. It actually wasn't bad, though you only want to eat a little at a time.
Ruby had a flurry of field trips at the end of the school year, which occupied quite a bit of my time. She finished Kindergarten and then cried that night because she missed school. She always wants to send pictures to her teacher, who we both just loved. We have registered her for her new school, which starts on the 24th, and is just a short walk from our new house. She loves school and is really excited to start again, even though it will be at a new school. She keeps asking how many days until school starts.
We moved!! No more apartments for us! We are living in luxury in a three bedroom manufactured home. The yard is small, but it's a yard. The house is fabulous. The kids are loving having their own bedrooms. We painted Ruby's pink and Russell's is blue. We also painted the laundry room (yes, we have a laundry room!!!) a different shade of blue. All the other rooms, except the bathrooms (yes, that's a plural) have been recently painted and look nice so we didn't bother with them. Our kitchen has a breakfast nook, which we have turned into my sewing area. The dining room had carpet. I ripped that out before we moved in and put down resilient vinyl plank flooring. It is awesome. It looks just like a wood floor, feels like a wood floor when you slide the chairs on it and stuff, was super easy to lay (I did it all by myself), and it's waterproof! I'm also going to put it in the master bathroom, which is presently carpeted, but I'm going to deal with the boxes and stuff first. We're totally loving all the space we have--and the closets! Our whole apartment had enough closet space to make one mediocre closet. And we had virtually no cabinet space in the kitchen. Now both of the kids have good closets (with storage space above them) and Charles and I have a walk-in closet. And the kitchen is fabulous! We went from having about 834 sq. ft in the apartment to about 1290 sf now. We're loving life! One of these days I'll find my camera and I'll get enough boxes unpacked to actually take some pictures. The kids have made some friends here. There seem to be quite a few other kids on our street. And it's a private street, so there's not much traffic.
Thanks to their most generous auntie, the kids are taking swimming lessons this week and next. They just finished for this week. Ruby LOVES them and has made good progress, learning to do almost all the level 1 stuff. Russell, on the other hand, is not so thrilled with them. You see, his teacher wants him to actually move his arms and legs and--horror of horrors-- wants him to put his face in the water. He did fine the first day. The second day he got out for a few minutes until he saw the big floatie hippo all the kids were going to ride on. Then he got back in. Yesterday he got out crying about half way through the lesson. I let him stay out yesterday but told him he had to do his whole lesson today. Well, each time it was his turn to do the individual instruction with the teacher, he climbed out of the pool and tried running over to me. Unfortunately for him, I was unsympathetic and stuck him back in the pool each time. So, after about 4 attempts to get out of the pool, he finished his lesson. I told him he doesn't have to go back for three days. That is, not until the next session starts on Monday. Luckily, our mobile home park has a very nice pool so I can work with him and hopefully he'll be more open to the face in the water thing by next summer.
The only down side to our new location is that Charles now has an hour long commute each way. We're only about 11 miles from his office, but we only have one car and I am not giving it up. So, he gets to take the light rail. We're about a mile from the station and it's a bit of a walk between his office and the station he gets off at, so that's why it takes so long. It's cheaper than driving anyway. And he get excercise and some down time to read his scriptures on the train, so it's not really a down side. Just the part about seeing less of him is. We were spoiled by his previous five minute commute. The other thing is that I have to do all the shopping now. I can't ask him to pick stuff up at the store on his way home from work. I can live with that.
Well, time to stop procrastinating and get on with the unpacking....
Here's the update:
Yes, I made that bacon explosion. I did a half recipe, though. And I did it in the oven because I don't have a smoker. Oh, and I substituted breakfast sausage because I had it on hand. It actually wasn't bad, though you only want to eat a little at a time.
Ruby had a flurry of field trips at the end of the school year, which occupied quite a bit of my time. She finished Kindergarten and then cried that night because she missed school. She always wants to send pictures to her teacher, who we both just loved. We have registered her for her new school, which starts on the 24th, and is just a short walk from our new house. She loves school and is really excited to start again, even though it will be at a new school. She keeps asking how many days until school starts.
We moved!! No more apartments for us! We are living in luxury in a three bedroom manufactured home. The yard is small, but it's a yard. The house is fabulous. The kids are loving having their own bedrooms. We painted Ruby's pink and Russell's is blue. We also painted the laundry room (yes, we have a laundry room!!!) a different shade of blue. All the other rooms, except the bathrooms (yes, that's a plural) have been recently painted and look nice so we didn't bother with them. Our kitchen has a breakfast nook, which we have turned into my sewing area. The dining room had carpet. I ripped that out before we moved in and put down resilient vinyl plank flooring. It is awesome. It looks just like a wood floor, feels like a wood floor when you slide the chairs on it and stuff, was super easy to lay (I did it all by myself), and it's waterproof! I'm also going to put it in the master bathroom, which is presently carpeted, but I'm going to deal with the boxes and stuff first. We're totally loving all the space we have--and the closets! Our whole apartment had enough closet space to make one mediocre closet. And we had virtually no cabinet space in the kitchen. Now both of the kids have good closets (with storage space above them) and Charles and I have a walk-in closet. And the kitchen is fabulous! We went from having about 834 sq. ft in the apartment to about 1290 sf now. We're loving life! One of these days I'll find my camera and I'll get enough boxes unpacked to actually take some pictures. The kids have made some friends here. There seem to be quite a few other kids on our street. And it's a private street, so there's not much traffic.
Thanks to their most generous auntie, the kids are taking swimming lessons this week and next. They just finished for this week. Ruby LOVES them and has made good progress, learning to do almost all the level 1 stuff. Russell, on the other hand, is not so thrilled with them. You see, his teacher wants him to actually move his arms and legs and--horror of horrors-- wants him to put his face in the water. He did fine the first day. The second day he got out for a few minutes until he saw the big floatie hippo all the kids were going to ride on. Then he got back in. Yesterday he got out crying about half way through the lesson. I let him stay out yesterday but told him he had to do his whole lesson today. Well, each time it was his turn to do the individual instruction with the teacher, he climbed out of the pool and tried running over to me. Unfortunately for him, I was unsympathetic and stuck him back in the pool each time. So, after about 4 attempts to get out of the pool, he finished his lesson. I told him he doesn't have to go back for three days. That is, not until the next session starts on Monday. Luckily, our mobile home park has a very nice pool so I can work with him and hopefully he'll be more open to the face in the water thing by next summer.
The only down side to our new location is that Charles now has an hour long commute each way. We're only about 11 miles from his office, but we only have one car and I am not giving it up. So, he gets to take the light rail. We're about a mile from the station and it's a bit of a walk between his office and the station he gets off at, so that's why it takes so long. It's cheaper than driving anyway. And he get excercise and some down time to read his scriptures on the train, so it's not really a down side. Just the part about seeing less of him is. We were spoiled by his previous five minute commute. The other thing is that I have to do all the shopping now. I can't ask him to pick stuff up at the store on his way home from work. I can live with that.
Well, time to stop procrastinating and get on with the unpacking....
Friday, January 30, 2009
Heart Attack on a Plate
So, Charles sent me a link for this recipe: Bacon Explosion. It was forwarded to him by a buddy from work. I'm going to give it a try tonight, since I happen to have most of the ingredients on hand and my bacon and sausage are about to expire. I'll be cutting the recipe in half, though. I don't think our little family needs a four pound log of bacon and sausage. Two pounds is more than enough. I'm going to make mashed potatoes to go with it, and some veggies. I suspect it will probably last a couple of days. But Charles does like meat. And I have to admit to being a bacon fan. And a fan of BBQ sauce. If I only eat a slice of it, it shouldn't be too bad. I'll let you know how it turns out. Perhaps some of your meat-loving husbands would like it. All my brothers are drooling over the recipe.
So, my knee is finally doing better enough that I've been walking Ruby to school again. I started walking again on Wednesday. I was still wearing my leg brace thingy the first two days, but I couldn't find it this morning and did okay without it even though I was hurrying. I'm enjoying walking again. It is a huge stress reliever and I've noticed that I'm much more prone to back pain and headaches when I'm not walking. Also, dealing with the car and taking Charles to work and picking him up in the evening was getting to be a pain. I prefer not using the car unless I need it for something else.
Yesterday was our weekly trip to the library. Russell checked out a "Bob the Builder" DVD. He loves Bob and does this often, but we haven't seen this particular one before. Anyway it's a super cheesy western one and the kids think it's hilarious. There's this one part where Spud, the scarecrow, farts a whole bunch with super obvious sounds like someone blowing raspberries on their hand or something. The kids just laugh their heads off at this and think it is the height of comic genius. They're practically rolling on the floor saying, "Mom, Spud is farting!" Ah, to be young.
I think I'm going to skip the February trip to Utah. I'd like to do it because I think temple open houses are a good opportunity for the kids, but I prefer not to do whirlwind trips like that and I don't want to risk the bad weather. Perhaps the other temple being built in South Jordan will be finished and open to the public at a more advantageous time of year so I can take the kids to that one.
So, my knee is finally doing better enough that I've been walking Ruby to school again. I started walking again on Wednesday. I was still wearing my leg brace thingy the first two days, but I couldn't find it this morning and did okay without it even though I was hurrying. I'm enjoying walking again. It is a huge stress reliever and I've noticed that I'm much more prone to back pain and headaches when I'm not walking. Also, dealing with the car and taking Charles to work and picking him up in the evening was getting to be a pain. I prefer not using the car unless I need it for something else.
Yesterday was our weekly trip to the library. Russell checked out a "Bob the Builder" DVD. He loves Bob and does this often, but we haven't seen this particular one before. Anyway it's a super cheesy western one and the kids think it's hilarious. There's this one part where Spud, the scarecrow, farts a whole bunch with super obvious sounds like someone blowing raspberries on their hand or something. The kids just laugh their heads off at this and think it is the height of comic genius. They're practically rolling on the floor saying, "Mom, Spud is farting!" Ah, to be young.
I think I'm going to skip the February trip to Utah. I'd like to do it because I think temple open houses are a good opportunity for the kids, but I prefer not to do whirlwind trips like that and I don't want to risk the bad weather. Perhaps the other temple being built in South Jordan will be finished and open to the public at a more advantageous time of year so I can take the kids to that one.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Like my new background?
I snagged this background from my awesome friend Alison's template blog. She made it. If you'd like to check out her templates, there's a link in the sidebar.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Some new photos
Ruby & Russell decorate a gingerbread house
Ruby & her friend with Santa. Ruby was too nervous to visit him alone.
Russell with Santa. Russell wasn't a bit afraid of him.
Ruby & Russell at the Oakland Zoo in November.
Ruby & Russell show off the new outifts they got from Granny Spud for their Build-A-Bear toys.
Russell enjoys one of Baskin Robbins' 31 flavors on Halloween.
Ruby loves her Rainbow Sherbet.
Russell on Halloween. I don't know why the picture loaded sideways.
Ruby at school on Halloween
Ruby and Russell enjoy a ride at Chuck E. Cheese. We went there tocelebrate Russell's 3rd birthday.
Ruby and her Build-A-Bear, which she also named Ruby. Granny Spudtook the kids to make these when she was here in October.
Russell built a dog instead of a bear. This is Fluffy. Russell had taken a nose-divedown the stairs onto the concrete that morning. That's why he has the giant
band-aid on his forehead and a scraped up nose.
I love this picture of Russell, despite the scraped up face and the blue marker thatRuby drew on him with. Maybe I can photoshop it or something. This was taken
on The Carousel at Arena Green on Russell's 3rd Birthday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
