I have a breaking point when it comes to clutter and mess and I reached it this morning in my kitchen. It has become a heaping pile and needed serious intervention. I also have my two boys home and in and effort to keep them from playing video games all day, I have had to get pretty creative with our little projects. So this morning I decided we were going to overhaul the kitchen and clean it from top to bottom. We took everything off the shelves, cleaned the shelves then moved them to a better location in the kitchen. We worked our way around the wall until all had been rearranged. We even took the blinds down and scrubbed them because I am pretty sure they haven't been cleaned since this house was built 11 years ago! Yuck!
The boys were not thrilled about our little activity this morning and let me know it with every passing minute. I told them they should be thankful they have a mother that teaches them how to clean the blinds in a house. They will have blinds one day and they will need to be cleaned. They weren't overly grateful for the lesson. I am not sure I will get a call one day thanking me for teaching them this particular skill either.
Now that the kitchen is finished, it looks twice as big as before! It is amazing what rearranging will do for a room. Now if I could only make time to finish sewing the last curtain. We have only lived here for 2 years now. I suppose I should finish it. I have so many projects that are 75% finished it is ridiculous! Time to finish them finally.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Best Kids Ever!
My kids crack me up. I am continually amazed at how they choose to describe their world. Alan and I went to the movies last night-Inception, it was incredible!- anyway, so Jacob was kind enough to babysit for us. Sarah usually gets scared right around bedtime and she will call in the middle of the movie with her little emergency and need us to come home immediately. We of course tell her no, her brothers are there and she has nothing to be afraid of and usually she is asleep by the time we get home.
Last night there was a slight departure from the routine. When we got home we went upstairs to find Jacob sitting on a stool in the hall outside Sarah's room, reading a book and all the lights were on up there. Sarah's door was open and she was asleep. We asked him what he was doing and he told us Sarah had asked him to guard her door for her so she wasn't scared of any bad people. So he did! I have no idea how long he had been sitting there but he loved his little sister enough to sit there and guard her door so she wouldn't be scared -until we got home. He really is a wonderful big brother!
When we turned our attention to Daniel he was still awake and very irritated about the "lady next door". We have a new neighbor as of a week ago and she is a lovely single woman that seems to be a wonderful neighbor. Well, Daniel started railing about how much noise the "lady next door" was making and he couldn't get to sleep because of all her carrying on. Alan and I couldn't believe this nice woman was such a partier! So we listened some more to Daniel's account of the disruptions only to discover he was talking about Sarah! She lives in the room "next door" to him. After we stopped laughing, we kissed him good night and went to bed ourselves.
This week has been so busy. I am the chair person for "Surplus for Shannon". Myself and others in our community are trying to raise money to help a family in our ward with their daughters medical bills from cancer treatment. We have had so much support and are excited to finally be able to have a program get off the ground. We tried doing a bake sale earlier this summer but the county shut us down before we could even get started. Our new idea was to collect surplus garden produce from neighbors and sell it at the local farmer's market and give the money to the family! We have had very positive response and hope the momentum will continue and we will be able to raise $1000 for the Johnson family.
Daniel and Sarah started school recently but we are withdrawing Daniel tomorrow and I am going to enroll him in an online public school and work with him at home. He needs some help that he just can't seem to get in the public schools because so many other students have greater needs. He has been asking me for a while if I would homeschool him so we finally decided to try it. If he is asking then he obviously feels he needs more than he is getting in school. So we'll see how it goes. It sounds like a pretty good program. The biggest draw back for me is that I will have to stop working in the temple. But, that gig was going to end in a few months anyway when they close the temple for remodeling. So I am on to a new adventure!
Last night there was a slight departure from the routine. When we got home we went upstairs to find Jacob sitting on a stool in the hall outside Sarah's room, reading a book and all the lights were on up there. Sarah's door was open and she was asleep. We asked him what he was doing and he told us Sarah had asked him to guard her door for her so she wasn't scared of any bad people. So he did! I have no idea how long he had been sitting there but he loved his little sister enough to sit there and guard her door so she wouldn't be scared -until we got home. He really is a wonderful big brother!
When we turned our attention to Daniel he was still awake and very irritated about the "lady next door". We have a new neighbor as of a week ago and she is a lovely single woman that seems to be a wonderful neighbor. Well, Daniel started railing about how much noise the "lady next door" was making and he couldn't get to sleep because of all her carrying on. Alan and I couldn't believe this nice woman was such a partier! So we listened some more to Daniel's account of the disruptions only to discover he was talking about Sarah! She lives in the room "next door" to him. After we stopped laughing, we kissed him good night and went to bed ourselves.
This week has been so busy. I am the chair person for "Surplus for Shannon". Myself and others in our community are trying to raise money to help a family in our ward with their daughters medical bills from cancer treatment. We have had so much support and are excited to finally be able to have a program get off the ground. We tried doing a bake sale earlier this summer but the county shut us down before we could even get started. Our new idea was to collect surplus garden produce from neighbors and sell it at the local farmer's market and give the money to the family! We have had very positive response and hope the momentum will continue and we will be able to raise $1000 for the Johnson family.
Daniel and Sarah started school recently but we are withdrawing Daniel tomorrow and I am going to enroll him in an online public school and work with him at home. He needs some help that he just can't seem to get in the public schools because so many other students have greater needs. He has been asking me for a while if I would homeschool him so we finally decided to try it. If he is asking then he obviously feels he needs more than he is getting in school. So we'll see how it goes. It sounds like a pretty good program. The biggest draw back for me is that I will have to stop working in the temple. But, that gig was going to end in a few months anyway when they close the temple for remodeling. So I am on to a new adventure!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Jacob Scout Camp
Jacob went to Scout Camp a few weeks ago and had the usual fun that comes with dirt, fire and bugs. He was part of a very small group of boys that decided to try the mile swim. He did a great job and earned his patch. He said he had a great time!
Alan went with him for the first few days and since they camped up in Southern Idaho, he went through Preston, ID the home of Napolean Dynomite.
The Cuttin Corral is apparently real!
Summer Fun
We went to St. George and Cedar City for Pioneer Day last weekend and had a grand time. Alan had to work some so me and the kids stayed out by the pool on and off for about 6 hours. I read my book HOST, by Stephanie Meyers-pretty good by the way, and the kids just swam and swam. It was nice to be back in the heat and enjoy the pool. We haven't spent much time at the pool since we moved here and we miss it.It was fun to see Barb and Don while we were there too. Alan's grandparents live in St. George now so they are closer to us and we can visit them more often.
We headed up to Cedar City for Pioneer Day and stayed with Marlo and Wyatt. They are so nice to have us stay with them when we go. There was quite a crowd there and they took it all in stride. Annalee was even in Cedar City so she joined the party. We had an enormous BBQ and ate way too much. That night it was fireworks in their backyard, but the kids really went nuts when we pulled out the 50 pack of glow sticks.
It is amazing how well all of the kids got along. There were no arguments or fighting. They all just loved being together. We had a gathering Grandma Ada and Grandpa Bert would be proud of!
We headed back north on Sunday and stopped at Cove Fort on our way. It is such a neat place to visit. If you haven't been there before, check it out!
We headed up to Cedar City for Pioneer Day and stayed with Marlo and Wyatt. They are so nice to have us stay with them when we go. There was quite a crowd there and they took it all in stride. Annalee was even in Cedar City so she joined the party. We had an enormous BBQ and ate way too much. That night it was fireworks in their backyard, but the kids really went nuts when we pulled out the 50 pack of glow sticks.
It is amazing how well all of the kids got along. There were no arguments or fighting. They all just loved being together. We had a gathering Grandma Ada and Grandpa Bert would be proud of!
We headed back north on Sunday and stopped at Cove Fort on our way. It is such a neat place to visit. If you haven't been there before, check it out!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Back to School, in July! Seriously!!!
Daniel and Sarah started school today (see picture below). I know, in the middle of July?! This Saturday is Pioneer Day in Utah and it is a huge holiday here. The kids don't have school on Friday so they only have to go half the day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. I am pretty sure a monkey created the calendar this year because it is by far the dumbest scheduling I have every seen. I don't know one family that is going to be in town much this week because of the long weekend. The teachers are even irritated.
Starting a new school year after finishing the old one a mere two weeks ago is anti-climatic at best. We haven't done any back to school shopping. We haven't gotten new clothes. They just picked their stuff up and went back without much fan fair. There were more parents at school this morning however. Most of them were kindergarten parents though so I am not sure that really counts.
It is hot here finally and we have had our air conditioner on. I am not looking forward to that bill. I am sure it will be as fun as the heating bill we got in January. Utah is a weird state. It gets down to freezing in the winter and over 100 degrees in the summer. It is an odd thing.
Sarah was playing with our little neighbor the other day and it was so cute. She can't wait to be a babysitter and is so good with little people. I looked out the window to find her and saw her sitting in the wagon playing with little Paisley. Too cute!
Starting a new school year after finishing the old one a mere two weeks ago is anti-climatic at best. We haven't done any back to school shopping. We haven't gotten new clothes. They just picked their stuff up and went back without much fan fair. There were more parents at school this morning however. Most of them were kindergarten parents though so I am not sure that really counts.
It is hot here finally and we have had our air conditioner on. I am not looking forward to that bill. I am sure it will be as fun as the heating bill we got in January. Utah is a weird state. It gets down to freezing in the winter and over 100 degrees in the summer. It is an odd thing.
Sarah was playing with our little neighbor the other day and it was so cute. She can't wait to be a babysitter and is so good with little people. I looked out the window to find her and saw her sitting in the wagon playing with little Paisley. Too cute!
Monday, July 19, 2010
I could be a nurse, except I don't want to.
Sarah asked me once if I was a Doctor. I told her I was a mommy doctor and that was way better than a regular doctor. Mostly because I have the power to kiss things and make them better and I haven't met a doctor yet who could do that. Besides, they don't teach that particular skill in medical school. Too bad, it works every time.
Sarah, who is very sympathetic towards her brothers was crying a bit and didn't want Daniel to be mistreated or hurt further by the doctors. Jacob was at scout camp still so we didn't have him to take Sarah. So we all piled in the car and headed out.
Once we arrived the staff was very excited to see us. It was a slow night for them and a broken arm was just what they wanted. They hurried Daniel to the back for his x-ray and it was definitely broken. Then, he was seen by two Dr.'s. One splinted his arm and then the other came in and did it over. I guess he didn't like the way it looked. Daniel has a buckle fracture-pretty common-and he will be fine. We all got home by about 10:30pm and went to bed.
The next day we had many phone calls and visitors to see what the outcome of the previous night's entertainment was. All of our neighbors saw him fall so they were concerned. Daniel has been eating up the attention and doesn't mind at all being the center of it for now. We have the best neighbors in the world. They have all been so nice. Kenady even brought him a piece of pie with a get well note on it.
He is going to be fine and is thrilled to have his red, waterproof cast for all his friends to sign. I just feel bad because he is going back to school tomorrow and is going to be miserable trying to work. Luckily he broke his left arm-he writes with his right hand. Jacob laughed to see his arm broken and can sympathize with Daniel's situation. He has been good to talk to him about what to expect. It has been an emotional weekend!
Friday night I was called upon to don my mommy doctor robe and help Daniel. Our street was having an ice cream party and so everyone was out enjoying the evening. Daniel and his friend Kenady were jumping their bikes off the bike ramps they share while her father and I were discussing which of our kids would have to go to the ER that night. We were just joking around, but Daniel won! He hit his final jump great but turned his handle bars on the landing and biffed himself. The fall was very stuntman. He looked good going down. Coming up off the ground he was in shock however and I haven't jumped up that fast in a long time. I ran to him and he was hurting so bad he couldn't cry. He just whimpered and said he thought he broke it. We went inside and I held him for a minute and then Alan came in and we assessed the damage. Thankfully, for Daniel and Alan and I, we have seen this injury before. Jacob has broken each one of his arms in the past in the same place as Daniel so it was easy to see that we were going to Urgent Care. (I learned a long time ago that they do the same thing no matter where you go with a broken arm. So may as well find the cheapest route to x-ray and splint)
Once we arrived the staff was very excited to see us. It was a slow night for them and a broken arm was just what they wanted. They hurried Daniel to the back for his x-ray and it was definitely broken. Then, he was seen by two Dr.'s. One splinted his arm and then the other came in and did it over. I guess he didn't like the way it looked. Daniel has a buckle fracture-pretty common-and he will be fine. We all got home by about 10:30pm and went to bed.
The next day we had many phone calls and visitors to see what the outcome of the previous night's entertainment was. All of our neighbors saw him fall so they were concerned. Daniel has been eating up the attention and doesn't mind at all being the center of it for now. We have the best neighbors in the world. They have all been so nice. Kenady even brought him a piece of pie with a get well note on it.
He is going to be fine and is thrilled to have his red, waterproof cast for all his friends to sign. I just feel bad because he is going back to school tomorrow and is going to be miserable trying to work. Luckily he broke his left arm-he writes with his right hand. Jacob laughed to see his arm broken and can sympathize with Daniel's situation. He has been good to talk to him about what to expect. It has been an emotional weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)