3rd Grade - Here Comes Clark

Clark started school today!!! I don't know who was more excited, mom or Clark! He was up way before he needed to be and was all dressed and ready to go. (Except he hadn't practiced his piano yet :) He has been home for more than a half-an-hour and has talked about his day nonstop. (And is still telling me stuff.) I am so glad that he likes to learn and enjoys being with people. His teacher seems really great and I think they will be a good fit for each other. And as a added bonus for Clark, there wasn't even any homework today since it was the first day! He is growing up!

Forgotten Pictures

I was pulling pictures off of the camera this morning and realized that I had forgotten to post some ones from this past month, so here they are.

It was great to see Elise and her family (twice, actually in a month) but here are the pictures from the first visit. Aren't the kids so cute?

Bella asleep? During the day? Yes, she was sick for a few days and this was a major clue that she wasn't feeling well. She is fine now and back to her normal, almost-two year old destructive self.

Twilight Saga Complete!

I have finished Breaking Dawn so with it the Twilight Saga. I have to say overall I was pleased with the ending. I really don't think the last one is a great one for teens - glad I don't have a teenage girl that wants to read it! In someways I wish it had just been Twilight and I could have imagined my own little ending, but it wouldn't have been even close to the next three elaborate and inventive books so I guess that is why I read them and not write them. Now I can go back to my normal life and not have to wonder about the crazy world of the supernatural!

Mom (according to Clark)

Cami had this on her blog, so I let Clark answer the same questions.

1. What does mom always say to you?
Clark: "Do your piano." (Why did he miss the word, PRACTICE?)

2. What makes mom happy?
Clark: "If I clean up."

3. What makes mom sad?
Clark: "If someone in the family gets hurt."

4. How does mom make you laugh?
Clark: "Tickle my foot."

5. How old is mom?
Clark: "30, almost 31."

6. How tall is mom?
Clark: "5'5" (He is kinda into stats.)

7. What does mom like to do?
Clark: "Talk to her sisters."

8. What is mom's job?
Clark: "To clean the house."

9. What is mom's favorite food?
Clark: "Never really thought of this before....salad."

10. How do you know your mom loves you?
Clark: "You care for me; I don't know"

Little Surprise

A few weeks ago I went to K-Mart (not my favorite store, but I don't have too many choices that are close to our home :). As I was going in I noticed the little carousal going but no kids were on it. You know, those little rides they put outside stores to torture both children and parents; children because they ALWAYS want to ride and parents because the kids are ALWAYS asking to ride them. Anyway, I am kinda a mean parent who doesn't want to ever let my kids ride because if I do it one time I am supposed to let them every time and if they do ride and are happy for 2 minutes when it is over they have forgotten that I let them ride and cry because it is over. Anyway, this one was going and no one was on it, so I thought, I can be a nice mom and put Bella on it to ride until it is done, she might like it. So I stick her on a little horse expecting it to go for another 30 seconds or so, if we are lucky. But to my surprise, it just kept going. After 5 minutes I finally took her off (and she cried) and went into the store. When I came out it was still going. Amazing. I am sure they have since fixed it so they can keep gouging parents, but it was kinda fun, I guess.

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!