Saturday, August 28, 2010
Another First Day Of School
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Zoe's New Room
Remember this?
So I finally finished Zoe's room redo. Now I can retire my paintbrush again for a good long time.
Before it was Isabella's and Zoe's room. I loved the pink room. I believe everyone should have a pink room at one time or another. If I was single and I had enough space I would have a pink room just for fun. Okay, I think I may have liked the pink room more than the girls did!
But time marches on and Isabella has her own room now and Zoe has a new and improved room of the purple variety:
So I finally finished Zoe's room redo. Now I can retire my paintbrush again for a good long time.
Before it was Isabella's and Zoe's room. I loved the pink room. I believe everyone should have a pink room at one time or another. If I was single and I had enough space I would have a pink room just for fun. Okay, I think I may have liked the pink room more than the girls did!
But time marches on and Isabella has her own room now and Zoe has a new and improved room of the purple variety:
I Cut My Hair Again
Did it myself. Cutting my own hair is always a sure sign that something is a little off for me this month. Some sort of expression of self loathing at the moment. That and it needed it RIGHT THEN and where am I going to find someone to cut my hair on a Sunday night? And no I couldn't wait until Monday morning when I had nothing specific going on. I shouldn't even mention this because now the few people from my neighborhood who read this blog are going to see me out and about or at church or one of my twenty trips to walmart each week and they will know I did this to myself. Instead of thinking, "That poor woman, she really got a butcher job there." And now I will have to keep my self haircut for the next month. I can't possibly go to a salon for a month. I have to let it grow out a little and blend in so I don' have to go in there, hang my head and shamefully admit I did this to myself. Let the punishment fit the crime I guess. Plus I'd have to get shaved bald if I were to go any shorter. Maybe I can pull off bald though?
Monday, August 2, 2010
One More
A fun part of the Ben Folds concert last month. I found it on youtube so it's not me or Brent you hear singing up close (wouldn't let anyone hear that.)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
A Sink In The Woods, You Say?
Insanity is washing your hair at 5:30 in the morning in a dirty shallow sink in the woods with ice cold water and a bar of soap. It was Dove soap though-with 1/4 moisturizing cream. So it worked pretty well.
Yes, it was time for the annual family camping trip. I can't sleep camping. I wake up fifty times hearing sounds in the woods, usually bears I'm certain. However, the first night I, we all, slept great in our tent. I think it was because conditions were optimal. I went to bed at a proper time (midnight, usually it's to early). The air mattress was inflated properly. I didn't sleep on the wrong side of Brent as I usually do camping (I usually take the side closest to the kids which isn't the normal side at home). I had plenty of blankets so I didn't have to wake up from dreams of sleeping in a meat locker sandwiched between two large slabs of frozen beef. So it all worked out amazingly well the first night. The second night was another story. This time I was too hot and nearby campers had a small child that kept howling in the night. At five I was hot, sticky, grubby, tired of lying awake, and felt it was probably the ideal time to go get my self clean with a towel and a bar of soap in the restroom (this campground is awesome for it's flushing toilets and sink with running water). So that is how I ended up washing my hair with a bar of soap at 5:30 in the morning. I did because I was there, the soap was there, the sink was there. That is all. Oh, and the towel was there, of course.
Other than that it all went great and we had a great time. Brent's mom, Cathy, joined us in her little RV so that was new and fun. We saw a moose, or moosette rather. And then we saw her again, making her way through the campground. Missy the Moose, we named her. We took a vote and everyone said Aye, in favor of Missy. Some said Missy wasn't a very Moosey name but they didn't offer any alternative suggestions so Missy the Moose it was. We hiked, played in the shallow part of the creek, the kids were happy 90% of the time, it didn't rain like the weather said it likely would. Good times at campout 'oh-ten!
Yes, it was time for the annual family camping trip. I can't sleep camping. I wake up fifty times hearing sounds in the woods, usually bears I'm certain. However, the first night I, we all, slept great in our tent. I think it was because conditions were optimal. I went to bed at a proper time (midnight, usually it's to early). The air mattress was inflated properly. I didn't sleep on the wrong side of Brent as I usually do camping (I usually take the side closest to the kids which isn't the normal side at home). I had plenty of blankets so I didn't have to wake up from dreams of sleeping in a meat locker sandwiched between two large slabs of frozen beef. So it all worked out amazingly well the first night. The second night was another story. This time I was too hot and nearby campers had a small child that kept howling in the night. At five I was hot, sticky, grubby, tired of lying awake, and felt it was probably the ideal time to go get my self clean with a towel and a bar of soap in the restroom (this campground is awesome for it's flushing toilets and sink with running water). So that is how I ended up washing my hair with a bar of soap at 5:30 in the morning. I did because I was there, the soap was there, the sink was there. That is all. Oh, and the towel was there, of course.
Other than that it all went great and we had a great time. Brent's mom, Cathy, joined us in her little RV so that was new and fun. We saw a moose, or moosette rather. And then we saw her again, making her way through the campground. Missy the Moose, we named her. We took a vote and everyone said Aye, in favor of Missy. Some said Missy wasn't a very Moosey name but they didn't offer any alternative suggestions so Missy the Moose it was. We hiked, played in the shallow part of the creek, the kids were happy 90% of the time, it didn't rain like the weather said it likely would. Good times at campout 'oh-ten!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Oh, Man!
I made a stop at Victoria's Secret a while back. I'm married, I'm an adult, and this wouldn't be announcement worthy. But I have a reason here. I paid with my credit card and I DO NOT recall just giving them my address. So yesterday I get a mailer addressed to our address with the name Cynthia and no "S" like my last name should have. First of all, of course, my mind automatically drifts to what it would be like if I was actually named Cynthia with no "S" at the end of my last name...Hmmm...what would I be like? Would I be different? Mysterious?
Digressing here. So now I'm on Victoria's Secret's list. I know what it's like to be on their list. Back in the early '90s, before I was married, I bought some clothes from a catalog of theirs that showed up at my dad's house addressed to my step mom. A cute, long sweatshirt and leggings to go with it. Incidentally, a roommate of mine later stole the sweatshirt and I saw her wearing it around the house. I was stunned, who steals another persons clothes and then wears them in front of them? So I never said anything to her (she also owned the house, maybe she would evict me for calling her a thief?) I actually ordered the sweatshirt again. I know, what a chump. Weird story. Not nearly as weird as the time I made all the power go out in Magna, Utah though. That's a story for another day.
Anyway, back to being on their list. I then received their catalog at least once a month for the next six years or so. Finally, when half a decade went by without ordering anything they removed me from their list. I also had heard something about them streamlining their mailing list to weed out the pervs who weren't ordering stuff. So I guess I didn't make the cut. Not that I'm a perv or anything. So now I'm going to be receiving their mailings with emaciated teenagers posing in their underwear, showing off their fake lips and fake other things. Coming to my mailbox where my children occasionally like to get the mail. I'm gonna have to send some emails, make some calls I guess. Oh, man!
Digressing here. So now I'm on Victoria's Secret's list. I know what it's like to be on their list. Back in the early '90s, before I was married, I bought some clothes from a catalog of theirs that showed up at my dad's house addressed to my step mom. A cute, long sweatshirt and leggings to go with it. Incidentally, a roommate of mine later stole the sweatshirt and I saw her wearing it around the house. I was stunned, who steals another persons clothes and then wears them in front of them? So I never said anything to her (she also owned the house, maybe she would evict me for calling her a thief?) I actually ordered the sweatshirt again. I know, what a chump. Weird story. Not nearly as weird as the time I made all the power go out in Magna, Utah though. That's a story for another day.
Anyway, back to being on their list. I then received their catalog at least once a month for the next six years or so. Finally, when half a decade went by without ordering anything they removed me from their list. I also had heard something about them streamlining their mailing list to weed out the pervs who weren't ordering stuff. So I guess I didn't make the cut. Not that I'm a perv or anything. So now I'm going to be receiving their mailings with emaciated teenagers posing in their underwear, showing off their fake lips and fake other things. Coming to my mailbox where my children occasionally like to get the mail. I'm gonna have to send some emails, make some calls I guess. Oh, man!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Belated Anniversary Weekend
Man, I miss the days when I could write a good blog. Where have you gone, inspiration? Well back in May, Brent and I celebrated fifteen years of marriage. Crazy, I know. At the time we were busy with end of the school year stuff and such and we didn't have any money to go on a proper trip to celebrate since we'd just gone to California with the kids a few weeks prior, thus we didn't do much. So we arranged to go on a weekend getaway this past weekend. The kids went to spend some quality time with Grandpa Richard and Grandma Karen. (Thanks guys!) I guess Noah entertained himself and anyone else he could when he went to church with them. He decided to spend his time staring down everyone he could who was sitting up on the stand in front of everyone. I guess he got a twelve year old boy who was going to give a talk to start laughing, and the Stake President came down and shook his hand after the meeting closed. That's my boy.
Anyway, we weren't sure what to do for our weekend getaway until we accidentally stumbled upon news that Ben Folds would be performing with the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley Resort. After we found out it was kind of like, duh! Cause I'm like Ben Folds's biggest fan and all. So we headed to Park City and we decided we would also try our hand at mountain biking at Deer Valley. We rented our bikes and got our helmets and water bottles and rode two chair lifts up to the top (near the top?). There I received confirmation that once again I stink at all athletic endeavors. I cannot help it that I am tall and awkward and clumsy. (I probably tripped on my way out of the womb.) So I slipped and fell and walked my way down the mountain path, yelling out at certain points, "This Sucks!" Twenty minutes into biking on the easiest course we could find, I was resigned to walking my bike down the mountain for the next couple of hours. But then the path got a little less steep, a little less rocky and I traded bikes with Brent (because as a tall, awkward clumsy person I am a magnet for faulty equipment rentals) and I got used to the whole operation just a bit. We made it down the first trail, much slower than Brent would have without me holding him back, and I only fell once and I only almost started crying once. Not bad. Then we made our way down the second half and were on a path that was even easier than the last and even though it sucked for a while it was a lot of fun.
As a side note I'd like to point out to all of those bikers we had to pull over for and let pass us by that maybe if you're going to go out and buy the fancy, shiny mountain biker outfit with all the fancy, shiny gear, that maybe you shouldn't be on the easy, beginner course. And if you need to be on the beginner course then maybe you should hold off on the fancy, shiny outfits and gear until you're ready for the intermediate course. Just an idea.
So we conquered the mountain and cleaned up and got lunch and headed out to stand in line for the concert at around 4:00. I figured if we were going to sit in the non-reserved section on the grass then we better get a good spot up front cause I wasn't going to be stuck in the binoculars section with no binoculars. So I figured the best plan would be to show up three and a half hours before the concert started and sit in the 95 degree heat for three and a half hours. And that is what we did. It actually wasn't too bad, we brought water and games and even an umbrella and got a good spot about four rows of blankets back. The concert was great, of course. The symphony did a great job backing up Ben Folds. Fun, fun, fun. The funny part is that a lot of the people attending this concert were season ticket holders for the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley, many of whom are in their fifties and older. Possibly, some were a little surprised to be at rock concert. The people sitting next to us fell into this category. They were sitting there with their picnic basket and their wine (sophisticated folk) and we over heard one say it was the most entertaining concert he'd ever been to for someone he'd never heard of before. So who is this Ben Folds anyway? You may be asking. Because many haven't heard of him. Well the perfect combination of piano genius and obnoxious. It's fun music.
This isn't from the concert we were at. I couldn't find any good footage from our concert. Ignore the stupid advertisement at the end.
Great weekend and an awesome way to celebrate fifteen years of happy times together. Looking forward to the next fifteen!
Anyway, we weren't sure what to do for our weekend getaway until we accidentally stumbled upon news that Ben Folds would be performing with the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley Resort. After we found out it was kind of like, duh! Cause I'm like Ben Folds's biggest fan and all. So we headed to Park City and we decided we would also try our hand at mountain biking at Deer Valley. We rented our bikes and got our helmets and water bottles and rode two chair lifts up to the top (near the top?). There I received confirmation that once again I stink at all athletic endeavors. I cannot help it that I am tall and awkward and clumsy. (I probably tripped on my way out of the womb.) So I slipped and fell and walked my way down the mountain path, yelling out at certain points, "This Sucks!" Twenty minutes into biking on the easiest course we could find, I was resigned to walking my bike down the mountain for the next couple of hours. But then the path got a little less steep, a little less rocky and I traded bikes with Brent (because as a tall, awkward clumsy person I am a magnet for faulty equipment rentals) and I got used to the whole operation just a bit. We made it down the first trail, much slower than Brent would have without me holding him back, and I only fell once and I only almost started crying once. Not bad. Then we made our way down the second half and were on a path that was even easier than the last and even though it sucked for a while it was a lot of fun.
As a side note I'd like to point out to all of those bikers we had to pull over for and let pass us by that maybe if you're going to go out and buy the fancy, shiny mountain biker outfit with all the fancy, shiny gear, that maybe you shouldn't be on the easy, beginner course. And if you need to be on the beginner course then maybe you should hold off on the fancy, shiny outfits and gear until you're ready for the intermediate course. Just an idea.
So we conquered the mountain and cleaned up and got lunch and headed out to stand in line for the concert at around 4:00. I figured if we were going to sit in the non-reserved section on the grass then we better get a good spot up front cause I wasn't going to be stuck in the binoculars section with no binoculars. So I figured the best plan would be to show up three and a half hours before the concert started and sit in the 95 degree heat for three and a half hours. And that is what we did. It actually wasn't too bad, we brought water and games and even an umbrella and got a good spot about four rows of blankets back. The concert was great, of course. The symphony did a great job backing up Ben Folds. Fun, fun, fun. The funny part is that a lot of the people attending this concert were season ticket holders for the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley, many of whom are in their fifties and older. Possibly, some were a little surprised to be at rock concert. The people sitting next to us fell into this category. They were sitting there with their picnic basket and their wine (sophisticated folk) and we over heard one say it was the most entertaining concert he'd ever been to for someone he'd never heard of before. So who is this Ben Folds anyway? You may be asking. Because many haven't heard of him. Well the perfect combination of piano genius and obnoxious. It's fun music.
This isn't from the concert we were at. I couldn't find any good footage from our concert. Ignore the stupid advertisement at the end.
Great weekend and an awesome way to celebrate fifteen years of happy times together. Looking forward to the next fifteen!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Let's Start Here...
I guess I've been taking some sort of blogging vacation. Well, it is summer. It has been busy. I spent the month of June working like crazy to get projects around the house done. You should have seen the pile of junk I took to the D.I. (a store like Goodwill run by my church). When I was done I had an organized storage closet in the basement that was a thing of pure beauty. I also once again had a walk in closet that I could actually WALK INTO. No longer do I trip and break things when I try to find some pants to wear. I found those sneaky little extension cords that are always hiding out, never to be found when you need them. I found things that were needed for other projects I was working on that I didn't even know I needed yet!
We also had a broken dryer so I spent some quality time either dragging baskets full of wet laundry to the laundromat or hauling it all to the backyard pioneer style and hanging it up wherever I could find a spot. I love crunchy laundry. Thankfully a dryer-less home is once again nowhere to be found here.
The best part of my project list was finally getting Isabella's new room done. She'd been wanting her own room for a while so I agreed she could have the guest room this summer. So we decided to redo the whole room. That led to deciding to redo Zoe's room too and some minor changes in Noah's room as well so he wouldn't feel left out.
Before: Rarely used Guest Room
and...
After: A really cool, fun room for a soon to be teenager! She's still got plenty of room to add her own posters and what not above her bed there. She picked the bedding and we picked the paint together. (I'm trying to get over my control issues here.) I love the molding and the white paint at the top, it makes the low ceiling feel higher, I've done this in all the kids' rooms now. I love the desk! $25 from Ikea! Funny thing, though not surprising, she actually misses Zoe a little. Actually she doesn't anymore, we moved Zoe's bed in there the other night until I finish painting her room. Which I've admittedly started to get a little lazy on but it will be done before summer is over, hopefully before July is over!
Now, Noah...
Noah's Room Before
and...
Noah's Room After! Not a huge change, got some things moved around, got a bigger table and got the girl's bunk bed. I figure someone should enjoy the bunk bed while he is still young enough to have fun with it. What boy doesn't want to sleep on top of a bunk bed? (And the ceiling is low enough that he can't possibly comfortably try to jump off the bed. :)
We also had a broken dryer so I spent some quality time either dragging baskets full of wet laundry to the laundromat or hauling it all to the backyard pioneer style and hanging it up wherever I could find a spot. I love crunchy laundry. Thankfully a dryer-less home is once again nowhere to be found here.
The best part of my project list was finally getting Isabella's new room done. She'd been wanting her own room for a while so I agreed she could have the guest room this summer. So we decided to redo the whole room. That led to deciding to redo Zoe's room too and some minor changes in Noah's room as well so he wouldn't feel left out.
and...
Now, Noah...
and...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
These Kids of Mine
It's been one of those weeks where you just look back and think, Dang I love those kids!
First of all, Noah. Noah uses his foot as a break for his bike. His bike has a couple of perfectly functional breaks so I cannot be blamed for this. Unlike so many other traumas in my children's lives. This time he was unfortunately wearing his flipflops and it all ended in bloody hysterics and Noah later hobbling around like a spazy old man.
Big bandaged toe there on the left foot
Zoe had her end of year piano recital. She struggled and it was touch and go there for a minute but she didn't quit and she ended up doing quite well. She was a trooper and I was a proud mama.
Isabella graduated from elementary school! I can't believe she is off to Jr. High in the fall. She has worked so hard and I'm so proud of her.
First day of kindergarten
Last day of sixth grade and elementary school. Ready for Jr. High. Help us all!
First of all, Noah. Noah uses his foot as a break for his bike. His bike has a couple of perfectly functional breaks so I cannot be blamed for this. Unlike so many other traumas in my children's lives. This time he was unfortunately wearing his flipflops and it all ended in bloody hysterics and Noah later hobbling around like a spazy old man.
Zoe had her end of year piano recital. She struggled and it was touch and go there for a minute but she didn't quit and she ended up doing quite well. She was a trooper and I was a proud mama.
Isabella graduated from elementary school! I can't believe she is off to Jr. High in the fall. She has worked so hard and I'm so proud of her.
Last day of sixth grade and elementary school. Ready for Jr. High. Help us all!
That's All
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Vacation
Last week we went here:
And here:
Oh, and we saw a lot of this:
Isn't that just a beautiful picture?
Yes it was time for another vacation not to Arizona (by the way, Arizona, I think it's your turn to come here) and we decided to see California, and as much as we could of it in one week. So we headed to San Francisco first. I don't know why, but every time I head anywhere in the Northwest I just feel at home. (Is San Francisco considered part of the Northwest?) Maybe I do know why a little. Maybe because the coast is so beautiful up north and the architecture is great, the people seem so nice and laid back, yellow isn't the primary landscape color, environmentalism isn't a dirty word. (I could go on and on about how impressed I was with the environmental measures taken in the hotels in San Francisco and Cambria and how San Francisco must be the Prius capital of America.) I've just had this thing for the Northwest since my first trip to Seattle in the early '90s. Maybe someday...
So we had a good time exploring San Francisco for a couple of days. The girls decided somewhere in western Nevada that the car game they would play would be Count the Obama bumper stickers. So they kept that up all through San Francicso and down to Los Angeles. Apparently San Francisco is more Obama friendly territory than in these parts. Ha ha. The final count was 17. We took a boat tour around the bay and the kids were all very disappointed we weren't going to take the tour of Alcatraz. I should have listened to Brent I guess. Here are some more pictures of the first leg of the trip. Too bad I still don't know how to put pictures on here in a better way:
Alcatraz
After San Francisco we drove down the coast and stopped in San Simeon to see the Heart Castle:
We also ran into a beach full of elephant seals. There were hundreds of them hanging out on this beach where they are protected.
Next came Southern California. We are now well acquainted with the infamous traffic of Los Angeles after three hours of freeway driving and three more through the city while trying to see the sights. But it was still a great time. Disneyland lived up to it's reputation for the kids, we all had a great couple of days there and we are even considering returning some day. Not bad for people who aren't die hard Disney people. It was a great week away with the family. Now if we could somehow move the east coast a little further west so we could explore that region next time around.
A few more pics (okay a lot more):
And here:
Oh, and we saw a lot of this:
Isn't that just a beautiful picture?
Yes it was time for another vacation not to Arizona (by the way, Arizona, I think it's your turn to come here) and we decided to see California, and as much as we could of it in one week. So we headed to San Francisco first. I don't know why, but every time I head anywhere in the Northwest I just feel at home. (Is San Francisco considered part of the Northwest?) Maybe I do know why a little. Maybe because the coast is so beautiful up north and the architecture is great, the people seem so nice and laid back, yellow isn't the primary landscape color, environmentalism isn't a dirty word. (I could go on and on about how impressed I was with the environmental measures taken in the hotels in San Francisco and Cambria and how San Francisco must be the Prius capital of America.) I've just had this thing for the Northwest since my first trip to Seattle in the early '90s. Maybe someday...
So we had a good time exploring San Francisco for a couple of days. The girls decided somewhere in western Nevada that the car game they would play would be Count the Obama bumper stickers. So they kept that up all through San Francicso and down to Los Angeles. Apparently San Francisco is more Obama friendly territory than in these parts. Ha ha. The final count was 17. We took a boat tour around the bay and the kids were all very disappointed we weren't going to take the tour of Alcatraz. I should have listened to Brent I guess. Here are some more pictures of the first leg of the trip. Too bad I still don't know how to put pictures on here in a better way:
After San Francisco we drove down the coast and stopped in San Simeon to see the Heart Castle:
We also ran into a beach full of elephant seals. There were hundreds of them hanging out on this beach where they are protected.
Next came Southern California. We are now well acquainted with the infamous traffic of Los Angeles after three hours of freeway driving and three more through the city while trying to see the sights. But it was still a great time. Disneyland lived up to it's reputation for the kids, we all had a great couple of days there and we are even considering returning some day. Not bad for people who aren't die hard Disney people. It was a great week away with the family. Now if we could somehow move the east coast a little further west so we could explore that region next time around.
A few more pics (okay a lot more):
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