What Jane Austen Character are You?

Take the Quiz here!

I love Jane Austen. Actually my favorite book of hers is Pride and Prejudice, but apparently I am more like Elinor of Sense and Sensibility and Elinor is "practical, circumspect, and discreet. "Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see." Is that all true?

I haven't read a good book in a while...I need to find more time to read! I am thinking of reading Persuasion by her. Have you read it? Let me know which character you are!

The LAKE

So now I am getting to the vacation of the summer! Ryan's family came from far and wide across the US so we could all be together and we went up to the lake.

It was really fun. Before we get to the great part, no trip is complete without the traveling story. Can we go on a car trip without one of our children chucking in the car? I have never been car sick before and this concept is really weird to me, but anyway, this time it was Bella. We were almost to the lake and driving through a windy canyon to get there, Bella was asleep, and she woke herself up by throwing-up all the Nilla Wafers she had eaten during the drive. What a mess. Of course there is no place to pull off on this nice windy road, so we have to go a few miles before there is a small spot to get off and I can kinda clean her off. We were really close to the lake, so we opted to not take an hour and just do a quick wipe so we could get there and then throw everything in the washer! Clark spent the rest of the drive with his head hanging out the window! But HURRAY we made it!

We had a really great time. The first day we were there Bella liked the sand and had fun filling buckets and playing in it.

The next day we went, she wouldn't put her feet on the sand AT ALL. She spent the whole day going from the mat to the beach towel, unless we were holding her. Crazy girl!

Bella and Clark both liked the rides on the Sea-Doos as well. Clark wasn't sure on the first trip that he loved them, but decided they were alright after all and had a great time riding them. I didn't get a picture of him riding (opps) but here is one of Bella.

We called her our little sumo with all that flotation! There was also a boat that was lots of fun. Clark especailly loved getting pulled on the tube behind the boat. Ryan and I took a turn as well but between the two of us there was a lot of mass (mostly his :) that got jurked around as we bounced over the wake of the boat. I was SO sore the next day but would do it again!

The place where we stayed was great and the kids had a good time playing tennis and swiming in the pool with their cousins.

Well, we really loved being together and had a great time. Too bad we all don't live closer together!

Bella the helper

Many of my posts have been about Bella and the trouble she manages to find. Although this is very true, she also can sort of be helpful - putting things away, and throwing things in the garbage - sometimes. The other day she was rather upset that she wasn't allowed to sweep, so here is her attempt.














Good thing there wasn't too much stuff left on the floor!

Time to Catch Up

We have had a busy and fun July and I need to post some stuff about it! It was great to see the Brubakers who came for a visit. I should have gotten more pictures, but here is one of Clark, Kalani and Kawika playing the Wii. They had a great time and we loved seeing our friends! Clark had a great time with the boys and Bella loved the 'little girl' time. Thanks for coming to see us!!

Dancin' Queen

Bella is a great little dancer and today we finally got a great movie of her dancing to her uncle's rock-n-roll guitar music.  She loves when he plays!  Pause the blog music at the bottom of the page so you can hear the great guitar.

Happy Birthday America

So it is a little belated but we did celebrate America's holiday and here are some pictures to prove it.

America's cutest patriotic girl. This was before the evening festivities began.

Is is just me, or does it seem like it takes forever to get dark on the 4th? Clark kept asking, 'Is it time yet?" and Bella was really tired. I tried to take this picture of the kids waiting at least four times and this was the best we got.

YEAH! The fireworks finally started and Bella actually sat and watched them! I think Ryan is smiling more because his little girl was just laying in his arms than anything else.

Here are the fireworks we did in our neighborhood. Clark looks a bit worried about these sparklers that he is doing with his friend down the street. I guess I will just be glad that he isn't a pyromaniac.

Bella liked the fireworks but not as much as the ones in in the sky. I love living here in America and it is fun to celebrate with family and friends!

It happened again...

This time it was lipstick. Really I count myself fortunate that the make-up has only been on her face and clothes (and headband that is around her neck) and not on any walls or floors. The problem is that the bathroom drawers here are at a regular bathroom height and our old house they were at a kitchen counter height. It of course doesn't help that the bathroom door is always left open...

Baseball

I am trying to catch up on a few items of note over the past few weeks. Clark has finished another successful season of baseball. This year was machine pitch. By the end of the season, Clark was starting to really get it. I told him this and he said that he knew about it the whole time and didn't think that was much of a compliment but rather an insult. Really, he is understanding the game better and did a great job. The first game it was snowing and by the last game it was in the 90's. What crazy spring weather!

Z-Pah

As we were getting ready to eat dinner tonight, Bella kept saying something and we couldn't figure out what it was - it kinda sounded like zebra but why she would keep saying over and over again, I didn't know. Finally we figured out that she was trying to say pizza but for some reason the syllables just weren't in the right order. So tonight we didn't have pizza we had z-pah!

Buddies

I never posted these really great pictures of Clark and his friends. I know they are a couple months old but they are fun ones and I wanted to get them posted. He really, really misses his buddies!

Model House

Ryan made it through his first term of college and was happy to be done with those classes. The big project he had was to build this model home for his construction class. He did a great job and so did I (if I do say so myself)! Notice the really lovely windows, copper topped chimney's and fascia (I worked on those).

Adjustments

There are always adjustments to moving and this one has been no exception for Clark. He and Bella are now in the same room where they were used to their own before. He was used to complete quiet when he went to bed and sometimes if Bella isn't very tired she will chat for a bit before falling asleep. Clark would come out every night, "Bella is making too much noise. I can't go to sleep." in his most pitiful voice. So, Ryan found Clark a great solution. Ryan's dad had a pair of shooting range ear muffs and they drown out all kinds of noise. Here is Clark after he has fallen asleep...we sneaked into their room to take this classic picture.

I am afraid this isn't going to be the last time

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Bella is becoming more and more mischievous (more and more cute too but that is besides the point). We have to keep an eye on that girl. Luckily I caught her before major damage was done! She is such a girly girl!

New Things I Love and Things I Really Miss

I guess when you are in a new spot you have to find all the new stuff that you like, so here are some of my new favorites:

Smart Cookie - a great little place where you get two fresh cookies and a huge scoop of Dryers ice cream in the middle for only two bucks! You can't beat that!! They also have other cookies that look fantastic...we will be back to try them.

Maurices - I have always loved this store, but I haven't been around one in many years. Seeing that we are now poor students again maybe I will just have to window shop. http://www.maurices.com/

Ok, but there are lots of things I miss:

Target - I live 17 miles from the cloest store. Wow. About the same to Costco, Old Navy, Michaels, etc. I guess I shouldn't be shopping that much, but sometimes it is nice to just get out and walk around.

My favorite scrapbook/paper crafts store. I know there are other ones here, but I just don't think they can compare.

Clark is now home from school, so I will have to add to this list later...

Hello Again

Wow! I am going to post again! Too many things to do in April. What happened to it?? The largest time consumer was of course the HUGE move. It took so long to get packed and ready to go and we couldn't have done it without the help of all our friends. (Isn't that a song?) But it really was true. I moved a lot as a kid and I thought it was difficult but it does not compare to moving as a mom - way more stress. And sad too. I cried all the way out of the neighborhood; I cried again the next day as we were leaving the state. Ryan was driving the U-Haul so he didn't have to see is wife falling apart. We are happy for this new adventure, but a little piece of me is stuck in our old state. Sometimes it would have been easier to have the kids ride on the bikes on the back of the car instead of inside, but really they did pretty well. Ryan and Clark are back in school and Bella and I live out of boxes. This is what Ryan's parents garage currently looks like:

Most of our big furniture is in the neighbors garage next door, since we didn't manage to fit here. (They volunteered the space because they are out of town for the next couple of months, so that worked out nice.) Someday I plan on unpacking boxes but I have to wait until there is some place for them to go. This is what our living room and dinning room currently look like:

Baseboards are in (I have give myself a little credit here since I helped to them all last weekend; don't mess with me; I know how to use a nail gun now :) and the shelves and closets are currently being installed. Next week the painter will start, then finish plumbing, electrical, cabinets, counter tops and carpet after the painting is done. Maybe by the end of May. Maybe. Hopefully we won't drive Ryan's parents totally crazy before then!

Happy Easter

I wanted to throw up this picture of Bella and I in our matching Easter Dresses. A friend gave them to us when Bella was born and I am so glad that she finally fits into hers so we could wear them today!

Spring Break Day 2

Today we had our visit to the Doctor (yesterday after the fountain we had our trip to the Dentist). I promised Clark that if he could make it through both appointments without breaking down (a really big feat) we could go to a Spring Training Baseball Game. We almost didn't make it through the appointment today when the Doctor said he had to get his chickenpox booster but he pulled himself together enough so that we could go to the game. It was supposed to be a beautiful day - low 70's and sunny. It was a nice day I guess but much hotter and when you are just sitting in the sun with no clouds or breeze you start warming up quickly. I put sunscreen on the kids but thought to myself, "Self, you will be fine." Now I am cooked. My arms are bright red and you can see the ring on my face around my sunglasses. Oops. Clark had a good time, except that he really wanted a player to come over and sign his baseball. No one came. Bella was almost uncontainable. We sat on the grass behind right field and she loved to walk around to our other neighbors blankets, see what was going on there, take her hat on and off (leaving other places), etc. We left early. Tomorrow we are spending the day at home!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

In school Clark learned about the tallest fountain in the world - it happens to be not too far away, lucky us. AND once a year on March 17th they turn the fountain green. So guess what we did on the first day of spring break - yes off to see the fountain. It was kinda amazing. It shoots 560 feet in the air at full force. We went with some of our friends and had a nice little picnic and the kids thought the green fountain was really cool.

Track & Field Day

Last Friday was Clark's track and field day. As always it was kinda crazy with K-2nd Graders all running around but the kids have a great time playing. The older kids do 50 yard dashes and 'track' races but the younger kids throw frisbees, hop in sacks, and do a little tug-a-war which is one of the favorite events! Here is a little video. The boys won - thanks to the dad that was pulling on the end of the rope!!





Bella had a great time watching all the adventures. After a while she wanted to join in the fun so we didn't stay too much longer! Here she was watching from the stroller. Cute hair huh? She wasn't hot - it was actually a windy day but it just curls up like that every morning with just a little water. It is so fun to do everyday!

Need a Break

I have lots to do, but after what seems like days of cleaning I just wanted to take a break for a minute, so I decided on writing a little something. We are busy getting ready for the big move back to school. The closer it gets the bigger the emotion. We are excited about many things but there are equally as many things we are going to miss. Our kids were both born here...the home we built...most of all we will miss all the great people we are friends with here. I have lived here longer than anywhere my whole life (just over 9 years) so it has really become home. Who knows where we will end up after Ryan is done with school but wherever it is it won't ever be quite like these years of our twenties!