I've been getting a lot of gray hairs lately. They make me very sad. They wouldn't be that big of deal except that they are really noticeable when I pull my hair back at all and they are so coarse that they don't lie flat like the rest of the hairs, they stick out and call attention to themselves. This is the first summer in a long time that I haven't chopped my hair off when it gets hot. But with the humidity here I at least needed to get an inch or so cut off so it wouldn't feel so heavy on my neck. Anyway, after getting the trim I decided I should dye it too! I did it this morning and I don't see much of a difference except that it did seem to cover up the grays.
I don't actually mind getting older, it's just looking older that I mind. When I was a teenager people always thought I looked older than I was, so does that mean I still do? I just don't think it's fair to have zits and gray hair - come on!
And in case anyone thinks I'm totally shallow and appearance-obsessed, I really don't think I am. I spent like 8 bucks on the hair dye and it's only something I do when I'm feeling particularly depressed about my looks and dying my hair is the easiest, most convenient change to make (easier than clearing up zits and losing weight!) And yes, the gray hairs do bother me, judge all you want! I'll let my hair go gray when I'm a grandma, but until then I'll probably keep pulling them out or coloring them.
But I really should work on the losing weight thing too. Sigh.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Resourceful
I've been trying to make a switch to whole wheat products. I do most baking with half white flour and half whole wheat flour and I'm starting to slowly make it completely whole wheat. We've switched to whole wheat pasta and we've always used wheat bread. (Some day we'll use a healthier, whole wheat bread when it gets a little cheaper or I start making my own) We'll probably never switch to whole wheat tortillas unless they find a way to make them tastier!
At my sister Katie's house they had whole wheat pancake mix and I decided that when we moved I'd make that switch. Well, I've looked all over the place in all the grocery stores and can only find one brand of whole wheat pancake mix and I've tried it before and didn't like it. Then I realized that I could make pancakes from scratch. But first thing in the morning is not a good time to try to measure flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, etc. So I looked up a "homemade pancake/waffle mix" and found one I'm going to try out. I just mixed up and I will try it tomorrow morning. I did a 60/40 mix of whole wheat flour and white flour to try to get Rae a little more used to the change. (She kind of balked at Katie's pancakes) If this works out I'll be so glad! No more buying pancake mixes!
Here's the recipe:
HOMEMADE PANCAKE MIX
10 c. all-purpose flour (3 lbs.) (I used 6 cups whole wheat, 4 cups white)
2 1/2 c. instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking powder
2 tbsp. salt
TO MAKE PANCAKES OR WAFFLES:
2 c. homemade pancake mix
1 c. water
1 egg
2 tbsp. oil (waffles - 3 tbsp.)
I'll give it a try for breakfast and let ya know how it turned out. (Hopefully they are good because I just make 13 cups of it!)
At my sister Katie's house they had whole wheat pancake mix and I decided that when we moved I'd make that switch. Well, I've looked all over the place in all the grocery stores and can only find one brand of whole wheat pancake mix and I've tried it before and didn't like it. Then I realized that I could make pancakes from scratch. But first thing in the morning is not a good time to try to measure flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, etc. So I looked up a "homemade pancake/waffle mix" and found one I'm going to try out. I just mixed up and I will try it tomorrow morning. I did a 60/40 mix of whole wheat flour and white flour to try to get Rae a little more used to the change. (She kind of balked at Katie's pancakes) If this works out I'll be so glad! No more buying pancake mixes!
Here's the recipe:
HOMEMADE PANCAKE MIX
10 c. all-purpose flour (3 lbs.) (I used 6 cups whole wheat, 4 cups white)
2 1/2 c. instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking powder
2 tbsp. salt
TO MAKE PANCAKES OR WAFFLES:
2 c. homemade pancake mix
1 c. water
1 egg
2 tbsp. oil (waffles - 3 tbsp.)
I'll give it a try for breakfast and let ya know how it turned out. (Hopefully they are good because I just make 13 cups of it!)
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Random tourism: Burger King in Columbia, MO
On our way here from Charlotte, we just had to stop in Columbia to see the largest indoor Burger King playground in the world. This is a composite of 15 photos, which is why it's slightly distorted near the ceiling, but it gives you an idea of the size of the structure and the room that houses it. That's Blaise there on the right.
Trying to catch up
I just cannot figure out where to pick up from. So I'm not going to catch up, at least night right now, maybe later.
As for this week, we spent most of it unpacking, buying dressers and bookshelves, almost getting the toy room all set up and we even had a little fun. :)
Monday we went and checked out the city pool. It's really great. They have a little pool all by itself with a few little fountains. It's enclosed by a 2 foot wall, so it's a little harder for your kid to just run off. The kids spent most of their time in there, because there's a big bucket of toys to play with. And then there's another pool that slopes down like a beach and gets about 3 maybe 4 feet deep. That one has a floating frog slide and log boat to play on and a couple more fountains. Then they have a bigger pool with a slide and a diving board. They also have an indoor pool, but it's mainly for lap swimming and exercise classes (which I really want to check out one of these days) We had a lot of fun there, and are definitely considering getting a year pass.
On Thursday we went to Nauvoo,IL for the pageant that they put on there. On our way we realized that Carthage was really close, so we were going to head there too. Well, we got a little lost on the way and ended up in Carthage! That was great because it saved us on some extra travelling. We toured the Carthage Jail (the kids weren't very reverent, but they weren't too bad). It was a really neat experience. Seriously people, come visit us, there are so many cool things up here!
Then we headed into Nauvoo and planned to go on a covered wagon ride, but it was closed for the day by the time we got there. We walked around a little and saw a few cool buildings and then tried to find something to eat for dinner. Man, Nauvoo doesn't have much! We finally found a buffet restaurant, and although it cost a lot more than we had planned to spend, it was really tasty.
We got back to the pageant site just as the "pre-show" activities were starting up. The kids got to do some crafts, play games, watch a puppet show, and walk on stilts. It was way less crowded than I thought it would be (I was picturing the kind of crowds that are at the Mesa pageant). We were parked really close, so we went back to the van and put PJs on the kids and got our blankets and went and found a spot to watch. They had chairs set up and then they had one hill where people could sit on blankets. We got a nice spot and settled in. We borrowed some bug spray from a nearby person and got some popcorn from the snack shack. We thought the kids might go to sleep but they were too excited. They were really good though and Rae actually watched most of the play. Blaise fell asleep at about 9:30 and Rae fell asleep a little bit after that, but I woke her up towards the end because she wanted to see the "temple" be built (and I wanted her to walk back to the van instead of carrying her!). We left Nauvoo around 10:30 and the drive home was a little tricky. Blaise kept waking up and screaming and then would go back to sleep. And the rode is really curvy and there are a bunch of one car bridges, which is all a lot trickier in the pitch black darkness! We were pretty much the only car on the road. I made a mental note to never go to the temple at night when I'm driving!
Anyway, it was a really great trip and I hope we are around to do it again sometime. And I'd love to be able to volunteer to do something next year! And I'm looking forward to going to the temple sometime (we didn't even actually go up close to the temple) and seeing more things on my own. And if anyone wants to come next summer and see it all, you are welcome to! (if we are here)
Our goal tomorrow is to get all of the recent pictures (I'm sure there are hundreds of them) on Shutterfly and we'll send that out instead of trying to post them here. I'll post the link to that here. Or maybe we'll start using Photobucket, since my sister wants all of the reunion pics pooled together on there. Anyway, pictures to come soon!
As for this week, we spent most of it unpacking, buying dressers and bookshelves, almost getting the toy room all set up and we even had a little fun. :)
Monday we went and checked out the city pool. It's really great. They have a little pool all by itself with a few little fountains. It's enclosed by a 2 foot wall, so it's a little harder for your kid to just run off. The kids spent most of their time in there, because there's a big bucket of toys to play with. And then there's another pool that slopes down like a beach and gets about 3 maybe 4 feet deep. That one has a floating frog slide and log boat to play on and a couple more fountains. Then they have a bigger pool with a slide and a diving board. They also have an indoor pool, but it's mainly for lap swimming and exercise classes (which I really want to check out one of these days) We had a lot of fun there, and are definitely considering getting a year pass.
On Thursday we went to Nauvoo,IL for the pageant that they put on there. On our way we realized that Carthage was really close, so we were going to head there too. Well, we got a little lost on the way and ended up in Carthage! That was great because it saved us on some extra travelling. We toured the Carthage Jail (the kids weren't very reverent, but they weren't too bad). It was a really neat experience. Seriously people, come visit us, there are so many cool things up here!
Then we headed into Nauvoo and planned to go on a covered wagon ride, but it was closed for the day by the time we got there. We walked around a little and saw a few cool buildings and then tried to find something to eat for dinner. Man, Nauvoo doesn't have much! We finally found a buffet restaurant, and although it cost a lot more than we had planned to spend, it was really tasty.
We got back to the pageant site just as the "pre-show" activities were starting up. The kids got to do some crafts, play games, watch a puppet show, and walk on stilts. It was way less crowded than I thought it would be (I was picturing the kind of crowds that are at the Mesa pageant). We were parked really close, so we went back to the van and put PJs on the kids and got our blankets and went and found a spot to watch. They had chairs set up and then they had one hill where people could sit on blankets. We got a nice spot and settled in. We borrowed some bug spray from a nearby person and got some popcorn from the snack shack. We thought the kids might go to sleep but they were too excited. They were really good though and Rae actually watched most of the play. Blaise fell asleep at about 9:30 and Rae fell asleep a little bit after that, but I woke her up towards the end because she wanted to see the "temple" be built (and I wanted her to walk back to the van instead of carrying her!). We left Nauvoo around 10:30 and the drive home was a little tricky. Blaise kept waking up and screaming and then would go back to sleep. And the rode is really curvy and there are a bunch of one car bridges, which is all a lot trickier in the pitch black darkness! We were pretty much the only car on the road. I made a mental note to never go to the temple at night when I'm driving!
Anyway, it was a really great trip and I hope we are around to do it again sometime. And I'd love to be able to volunteer to do something next year! And I'm looking forward to going to the temple sometime (we didn't even actually go up close to the temple) and seeing more things on my own. And if anyone wants to come next summer and see it all, you are welcome to! (if we are here)
Our goal tomorrow is to get all of the recent pictures (I'm sure there are hundreds of them) on Shutterfly and we'll send that out instead of trying to post them here. I'll post the link to that here. Or maybe we'll start using Photobucket, since my sister wants all of the reunion pics pooled together on there. Anyway, pictures to come soon!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
INTERNET!
Woo hoo! We have internet! (Ugh, internet we actually have to pay for) Being without internet and cable the past week has been good for us. We got the dishes done every night and got a ton of stuff unpacked. At this time of the morning I would usually be unpacking and taking advantage of the kiddos not being bored yet, but instead I'm on the computer. It's hard to blog after getting so far behind on everything. I don't even know where to begin. Plus, our keyboard cord isn't long enough for the keyboard to fit onto the desk (we got a new desk from our neighbors) so we have to have the keyboard on our lap until we get an extension for it. It's really annoying to type on your lap. And now Blaise is being really annoying, so I better go.
We are thinking about going to Nauvoo today since the pageant is still going on till tomorrow. It's a lot of work to go, and I don't know how well the kids will do and whether they will sleep during the actual show, but this might be our only chance to go and I'd hate to miss out on that. But then again, there is a chance that we could be here next summer, so maybe we should just take that chance. I have to decide in the next hour or so. We could always go tomorrow too, but it's closing night, so it might be more crowded. Anyway, I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
We are thinking about going to Nauvoo today since the pageant is still going on till tomorrow. It's a lot of work to go, and I don't know how well the kids will do and whether they will sleep during the actual show, but this might be our only chance to go and I'd hate to miss out on that. But then again, there is a chance that we could be here next summer, so maybe we should just take that chance. I have to decide in the next hour or so. We could always go tomorrow too, but it's closing night, so it might be more crowded. Anyway, I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Bloggin' from McDonalds
We don't get internet until Wednesday and we needed to pay a bill online, so we are using the internet at McDonalds. I thought I'd give a quick update. Most of the house is unpacked and we are adjusting nicely. Although our apartment is overall bigger, there's not as much cupboard space in the kitchen or storage space elsewhere, so unpacking has been kind of tricky. We are headed to walmart right now to buy a dresser and hopefully some shelves. I'll blog more on Wednesday or Thursday when we get internet.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Alive and well....
....just busy! We got to our apartment here in Kirksville! We arrived this afternoon and are trying to settle in but our stuff won't be here till Thursday. We made a run to Walmart and got a ton of necessities and I think we'll be okay the next two days using our air mattress and paper plates. :) We like our apartment - nice, clean, newer than our last one, washer and dryer, dishwasher,central air, garbage disposal, mormon neighbors...what more could a girl ask for? We got a little bit of rain this evening and Roy was delighted to discover fireflies outside our door! He was really hoping there'd be some here.
Tomorrow we'll run a few errands around town and start shopping for a couch and dining room table (we left them behind) and maybe even hit a park, since they do wading pools during the summer. Poor Rae, we'll be unloading the truck on her birthday! It's okay though, because we've celebrated it twice already! We are using a neighbor's wireless right now and we'll hopefully get our own, legitimate internet set up this week. And maybe someday I'll have time to write all the stuff I want to write about!!
Tomorrow we'll run a few errands around town and start shopping for a couch and dining room table (we left them behind) and maybe even hit a park, since they do wading pools during the summer. Poor Rae, we'll be unloading the truck on her birthday! It's okay though, because we've celebrated it twice already! We are using a neighbor's wireless right now and we'll hopefully get our own, legitimate internet set up this week. And maybe someday I'll have time to write all the stuff I want to write about!!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Talent Show
YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes, so I had to split it into 3 parts and do some slight editing. Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
PS: Those of you who aren't Jeppsons may want to skip to our part of the show, at 2:00 in Part 3.
Part 2:
Part 3:
PS: Those of you who aren't Jeppsons may want to skip to our part of the show, at 2:00 in Part 3.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We're almost done!
So our whole moving ordeal is halfway over. :) Our apartment was cleaned quickly on Saturday morning thanks to a lot of help from friends from church (thanks again everyone!) and we turned in our keys around 1:30 in the afternoon. We stopped at a couple of friend's houses to say goodbye and then headed to the hotel.
**As a side note, at the last minute we realized it probably wasn't a good idea to put all of our important CDs in the trailer since it was going to sit in the heat for a couple of weeks, so we put them all in our van. Well, I hadn't counted on that much stuff and I spent Saturday morning competely stressed out trying to get everything to fit into our van. Eventually it all fit, but not very well and now we have a lot of stuff that we have to store at my sister's house while we are here. And I didn't have things as organized as I would have liked, so there are a few boxes with just completely random stuff - ugh, stuff like that really bothers me. **
The hotel was nice and the kids enjoyed swimming at the pool. Roy and the kids went to bed around 8, but I took myself shopping because I felt like I needed to do something besides moving stuff! I didn't get home till 9 or so and then I couldn't get to sleep till 10. We got up at 3 and the kids were surprisingly well behaved and reasonably happy. We made it to the airpot and checked in without any problem.
We were getting ready to board (going potty, changing diapers) when I realized that I did not have a SINGLE diaper! Oh my heck - I am never this disorganized or forgetful! So I just started saying a lot of prayers and looking for moms with a kid Blaise's size. No luck. So I got on the plane and hoped for the best. Rae had a window seat and I had the center seat with Blaise on my lap and a nice man sat next to us and before the flight started he noticed that there was an empty seat in the back so he moved there so that I could have more space (probably did it more for his sake than mine!) The extra room was a huge help! The kids were really good. Blaise pooped halfway through the flight and I asked one of the attendants if there happened to be any diapers on board. He checked really throughly for me, which I appreciated, but there weren't any. So I changed Blaise's diaper and lined his onesie with paper towels and just hoped for the best.
Our plane landed in Denver and we had about an hour before our next flight. So we walked around checking every gift shop for diapers and stalking mothers with young children. I even tried to get Blaise to pee on the potty! He peed in his paper towels so I changed him immediately but it had already soaked through to his onesie, so I had to take that off. I put a pantyliner into his shorts and once again hoped for the best. We were just about to board the plane when I saw a mom with a boy Blaise's age so I went up to her and asked if I could buy a diaper off of her. She was super nice and gave me one (no charge) and I quickly put Blaise on the floor and diapered him right there in the middle of the airport! Whew!
The man who sat next to us on the second flight was really nice too. Blaise fell asleep right after we took off and slept for about an hour and a half. Rae was really good. We bought a "mini-meal" snack box in the middle of the flight and the man next to us bought us an extra one for Blaise to have when he woke up. And he also gave Rae his applesauce from his box. Rae had to pee during this flight and she is terrified of the airplane bathroom, so I had to promise that I wouldn't flush the toliet while she was in there, and I had to threaten that we wouldn't go to Colin's house if she didn't go. Luckily that worked. Blaise pooped a few minutes before landing, luckily not any sooner! Chad was waiting for us at the baggage area and everything else went great!
We were so glad to get settled into Katie (my sister) and Chad's house and since the kids woke up at 3am Pacific time they were already ready for Eastern time and they went to bed around 8 without any problems. Yay! Everyone (my brothers and their families) came over for dinner and we had a lot of fun.
Yesterday we just hung around the house and then went to dinner at my brother Bobby's house. Afterwards we went to the airport to watch planes. All of the kids like that a lot. But we got home too late and got to bed way too late. And the kids didn't sleep in to make up for it.
The best thing about today was that Roy got here early! His trip went really well and since he didn't have anything to do but drive he just kept driving and driving. We weren't expecting him till late tonight, but he got here around 11 this morning. Woohoo! He and Blaise are napping now and then we are going to go swimming. My oldest sister arrives tomorrow afternoon with her husband two little girls and then my parents and little brother arrive early Thursday morning and my other younger brother and his wife arrive late Thursday night. And then my little sister and her little girl and husband get here Saturday and then the family reunion officially begins! It's going to be super crazy and super fun, I'm just glad I get a few days of peace beforehand to prepare and get to stay a few days afterwards to recover!
Oh, and I've been tracking our ABF trailer and it's already in Missouri and is ready to be stored till we are ready for it. That was fast! Hopefully they will get it to us really quickly when we are ready for it. I'm anxious to be finished with this move, but I'm glad I have a break in between to catch up on some sleep and tv. :)
BTW, this blog has turned into more of a journal for me so that's why there are so many random, un-important details that most of you are probably not interested in. I like to write these kinds of things down and if I don't do it within a week of it happening then I never will. So, I'll still try to write other stuff and post pictures more often, but there will be a lot of these long, boring posts with way too many details! I hope you are still willing to read it!
**As a side note, at the last minute we realized it probably wasn't a good idea to put all of our important CDs in the trailer since it was going to sit in the heat for a couple of weeks, so we put them all in our van. Well, I hadn't counted on that much stuff and I spent Saturday morning competely stressed out trying to get everything to fit into our van. Eventually it all fit, but not very well and now we have a lot of stuff that we have to store at my sister's house while we are here. And I didn't have things as organized as I would have liked, so there are a few boxes with just completely random stuff - ugh, stuff like that really bothers me. **
The hotel was nice and the kids enjoyed swimming at the pool. Roy and the kids went to bed around 8, but I took myself shopping because I felt like I needed to do something besides moving stuff! I didn't get home till 9 or so and then I couldn't get to sleep till 10. We got up at 3 and the kids were surprisingly well behaved and reasonably happy. We made it to the airpot and checked in without any problem.
We were getting ready to board (going potty, changing diapers) when I realized that I did not have a SINGLE diaper! Oh my heck - I am never this disorganized or forgetful! So I just started saying a lot of prayers and looking for moms with a kid Blaise's size. No luck. So I got on the plane and hoped for the best. Rae had a window seat and I had the center seat with Blaise on my lap and a nice man sat next to us and before the flight started he noticed that there was an empty seat in the back so he moved there so that I could have more space (probably did it more for his sake than mine!) The extra room was a huge help! The kids were really good. Blaise pooped halfway through the flight and I asked one of the attendants if there happened to be any diapers on board. He checked really throughly for me, which I appreciated, but there weren't any. So I changed Blaise's diaper and lined his onesie with paper towels and just hoped for the best.
Our plane landed in Denver and we had about an hour before our next flight. So we walked around checking every gift shop for diapers and stalking mothers with young children. I even tried to get Blaise to pee on the potty! He peed in his paper towels so I changed him immediately but it had already soaked through to his onesie, so I had to take that off. I put a pantyliner into his shorts and once again hoped for the best. We were just about to board the plane when I saw a mom with a boy Blaise's age so I went up to her and asked if I could buy a diaper off of her. She was super nice and gave me one (no charge) and I quickly put Blaise on the floor and diapered him right there in the middle of the airport! Whew!
The man who sat next to us on the second flight was really nice too. Blaise fell asleep right after we took off and slept for about an hour and a half. Rae was really good. We bought a "mini-meal" snack box in the middle of the flight and the man next to us bought us an extra one for Blaise to have when he woke up. And he also gave Rae his applesauce from his box. Rae had to pee during this flight and she is terrified of the airplane bathroom, so I had to promise that I wouldn't flush the toliet while she was in there, and I had to threaten that we wouldn't go to Colin's house if she didn't go. Luckily that worked. Blaise pooped a few minutes before landing, luckily not any sooner! Chad was waiting for us at the baggage area and everything else went great!
We were so glad to get settled into Katie (my sister) and Chad's house and since the kids woke up at 3am Pacific time they were already ready for Eastern time and they went to bed around 8 without any problems. Yay! Everyone (my brothers and their families) came over for dinner and we had a lot of fun.
Yesterday we just hung around the house and then went to dinner at my brother Bobby's house. Afterwards we went to the airport to watch planes. All of the kids like that a lot. But we got home too late and got to bed way too late. And the kids didn't sleep in to make up for it.
The best thing about today was that Roy got here early! His trip went really well and since he didn't have anything to do but drive he just kept driving and driving. We weren't expecting him till late tonight, but he got here around 11 this morning. Woohoo! He and Blaise are napping now and then we are going to go swimming. My oldest sister arrives tomorrow afternoon with her husband two little girls and then my parents and little brother arrive early Thursday morning and my other younger brother and his wife arrive late Thursday night. And then my little sister and her little girl and husband get here Saturday and then the family reunion officially begins! It's going to be super crazy and super fun, I'm just glad I get a few days of peace beforehand to prepare and get to stay a few days afterwards to recover!
Oh, and I've been tracking our ABF trailer and it's already in Missouri and is ready to be stored till we are ready for it. That was fast! Hopefully they will get it to us really quickly when we are ready for it. I'm anxious to be finished with this move, but I'm glad I have a break in between to catch up on some sleep and tv. :)
BTW, this blog has turned into more of a journal for me so that's why there are so many random, un-important details that most of you are probably not interested in. I like to write these kinds of things down and if I don't do it within a week of it happening then I never will. So, I'll still try to write other stuff and post pictures more often, but there will be a lot of these long, boring posts with way too many details! I hope you are still willing to read it!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Making progress
Let me start out by saying that I am using Roy's new laptop to write this and I am not used to the layout, so there may be typos that I don't notice.
Anyway, things are going really smoothly here. Our ABF trailer was delivered yesterday at 2 and after taking a look at it and deciding how were going to load it we ran a quick errand to get some rope, a padlock and some new shoes for Blaise. Then our friend brought over dinner (it was SO GOOD Paola!! Thanks again!) and we were able to sit down and have a nice hot dinner with real food. Then our neighbor took the kids downstairs to her apartment and we started loading up the truck. A friend from church came and was a huge help. He took all of the boxes down to the truck and Roy started stacking them. When all the boxes were out we decided to call it a night. The kids had a lot of fun at the neighbor's house (thanks again Linnea!!) and even got pjs on at her house, so when we came inside it was bedtime. Roy and I stayed up and got all of the furniture ready to be taken to the truck in the morning and loaded up the rest of random boxes. We managed to be asleep by 11.
Blaise actually slept in this morning (he always does that when we have something we need to be doing!) so we didn't get up till 7 and we had people coming to help at 8. Rae didn't get out of bed till about 8:15 and I actually had to force her out of her bed so I could put it in the trailer! We had 4 guys come and load stuff up this morning and we were done by 9! I took the kids to another friend's house and by the time I got home Roy and one of the guys had completely finished the trailer and were closing it up. Woo hoo! Since the kids were gone we got a lot done around here. We took out the carpet (except for our bedroom because that's where we are sleeping tonight) and took down the mini-blinds, cleaned up all the random stuff that had been put in random places and showered. It was so nice! Then we went to pick them up (thanks again Diana!!) and got some pizza for lunch and went to Walmart for a few random things. We just got home and all we have here is the laptop, clothes, a few blankets, the air mattress, a few toys and the dining room table (since we are leaving it behind). The kids are supposed to go over to another friend's house in a couple of hours to play, so that will be nice. In the mean time I'll let Rae watch a movie on the portable DVD player and try to get Blaise down for a nap.
We are so blessed to have such great friends and such a great ward! Tomorrow morning we'll load everything up into the van and then some gals from Relief Society will come and help me clean. Tomorrow night we are staying in a hotel and I'm looking forward to relaxing!
This will probably be my last post for a while, just wanted to let everyone know that things are going pretty good and we're getting through this! Can't wait to see the family at our reunion in just a week! Yay!
Anyway, things are going really smoothly here. Our ABF trailer was delivered yesterday at 2 and after taking a look at it and deciding how were going to load it we ran a quick errand to get some rope, a padlock and some new shoes for Blaise. Then our friend brought over dinner (it was SO GOOD Paola!! Thanks again!) and we were able to sit down and have a nice hot dinner with real food. Then our neighbor took the kids downstairs to her apartment and we started loading up the truck. A friend from church came and was a huge help. He took all of the boxes down to the truck and Roy started stacking them. When all the boxes were out we decided to call it a night. The kids had a lot of fun at the neighbor's house (thanks again Linnea!!) and even got pjs on at her house, so when we came inside it was bedtime. Roy and I stayed up and got all of the furniture ready to be taken to the truck in the morning and loaded up the rest of random boxes. We managed to be asleep by 11.
Blaise actually slept in this morning (he always does that when we have something we need to be doing!) so we didn't get up till 7 and we had people coming to help at 8. Rae didn't get out of bed till about 8:15 and I actually had to force her out of her bed so I could put it in the trailer! We had 4 guys come and load stuff up this morning and we were done by 9! I took the kids to another friend's house and by the time I got home Roy and one of the guys had completely finished the trailer and were closing it up. Woo hoo! Since the kids were gone we got a lot done around here. We took out the carpet (except for our bedroom because that's where we are sleeping tonight) and took down the mini-blinds, cleaned up all the random stuff that had been put in random places and showered. It was so nice! Then we went to pick them up (thanks again Diana!!) and got some pizza for lunch and went to Walmart for a few random things. We just got home and all we have here is the laptop, clothes, a few blankets, the air mattress, a few toys and the dining room table (since we are leaving it behind). The kids are supposed to go over to another friend's house in a couple of hours to play, so that will be nice. In the mean time I'll let Rae watch a movie on the portable DVD player and try to get Blaise down for a nap.
We are so blessed to have such great friends and such a great ward! Tomorrow morning we'll load everything up into the van and then some gals from Relief Society will come and help me clean. Tomorrow night we are staying in a hotel and I'm looking forward to relaxing!
This will probably be my last post for a while, just wanted to let everyone know that things are going pretty good and we're getting through this! Can't wait to see the family at our reunion in just a week! Yay!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Found!
I knew we would find it when we moved! Roy just pulled out the computer desk in living room and my wedding ring was under there. I finally broke down a few months ago and bought a new ring but it looks like I should have waited!! I really like both of my rings though, and my new one is a little loose, so maybe it will be my ring for when I'm pregnant and chubby-handed. Roy lost his ring and watch a month or so ago, maybe it will turn up under the dresser or something. :)
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Love in a can
Hardcore snacking at the Wright house:
Blaise is so torn -- his tongue says "yes" but the rest of his face says "no no no!"
Blaise is so torn -- his tongue says "yes" but the rest of his face says "no no no!"
Early Birthday Celebration *Edited*
Since we will have just moved to Kirksville on Rae's birthday (the 31st) we decided to have a birthday party for her before leaving. It was all very last minute, but turned out great. We had it in the apartment complex community center, so I didn't have to worry about cleaning my house or anything, which was great. I've gone to lots of parties in the community center, but this was my first time reserving it. Wish I had done it more often!
When the girls (all girls, btw, no boys allowed at the princess party - besides, she doesn't have many boy friends and Abe moved) arrived I had princess crown door hangers (thank you Dollar Tree) out to decorate with glitter and stickers. They all seemed to enjoy that.
Roy whipped up a cute "pin the kiss on the frog" game, so we played that next and the girls got a kick out of it.
Then we had birthday cake. I'm not very creative with cake decorating, so I just used whatever I had in my "decoration collection" and left it up to Roy, and he did an awesome job.
After that we opened presents. Rae got a lot of good travel type gifts, I think everyone had that in mind when picking what to give her. I really appreciate all the great gifts and Rae is already having a blast with them!
After that we did the pinata (which cost WAY too much money, btw, and was NOT EVEN worth it!) And then the girls all ran around crazy and played with balloons and ate candy!
It was pretty fun, and very un-stressful for me, which is really the most important part! (Seriously, what is the point of stressing yourself out for a 4-year old's party. And I get easily stressed with things like this...okay, I just get easily stressed!)
Anyway, here are some picture for your enjoyment.
**I forgot to mention that Roy and I got Rae a digital camera for her birthday. It's one of those basic, 20 buck ones. She always wants to use ours, so now she has her very own. I'm a little disappointed in the quality of the "view screen" because it's a little blurry and Rae can't see what she's taking a picture of, but I think she'll get used to it, and she's still very excited. Her words: "Now I have a camera of my very own". We wanted to give it to her before our trip so she could take pictures along the way.
When the girls (all girls, btw, no boys allowed at the princess party - besides, she doesn't have many boy friends and Abe moved) arrived I had princess crown door hangers (thank you Dollar Tree) out to decorate with glitter and stickers. They all seemed to enjoy that.
Roy whipped up a cute "pin the kiss on the frog" game, so we played that next and the girls got a kick out of it.
Then we had birthday cake. I'm not very creative with cake decorating, so I just used whatever I had in my "decoration collection" and left it up to Roy, and he did an awesome job.
After that we opened presents. Rae got a lot of good travel type gifts, I think everyone had that in mind when picking what to give her. I really appreciate all the great gifts and Rae is already having a blast with them!
After that we did the pinata (which cost WAY too much money, btw, and was NOT EVEN worth it!) And then the girls all ran around crazy and played with balloons and ate candy!
It was pretty fun, and very un-stressful for me, which is really the most important part! (Seriously, what is the point of stressing yourself out for a 4-year old's party. And I get easily stressed with things like this...okay, I just get easily stressed!)
Anyway, here are some picture for your enjoyment.
**I forgot to mention that Roy and I got Rae a digital camera for her birthday. It's one of those basic, 20 buck ones. She always wants to use ours, so now she has her very own. I'm a little disappointed in the quality of the "view screen" because it's a little blurry and Rae can't see what she's taking a picture of, but I think she'll get used to it, and she's still very excited. Her words: "Now I have a camera of my very own". We wanted to give it to her before our trip so she could take pictures along the way.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Happy 4th
Our family looked really cute this morning in our matching patriotic shirts, but we didn't get a picture and now we all have various food items on our clothes from our ward's pancake breakfast this morning.
I'm on the Activities Committee at church, so I had to be there at 7 this morning to help set up. We cooked pancakes and sausage, and also had some muffins,fruit and donuts. It was great and everything went really well and was cleaned up by 10. This was my last activity and I just hope that when we move I can finally have a break from the activities committee! (I've been doing it for 3 years now, along with other various callings at the same time)
I don't think we are going to go see any fireworks tonight. Rae doesn't even know that there are going to be fireworks and it's so just late at night before they even start. I'm not sure it's worth having them tired and cranky. Plus, in Davis it's hard to even get any parking at the park where the fireworks are, and I'm sure it takes an hour to just get out of there, so I think we'll just stay home and enjoy an early bedtime. :) Plus, Rae's party is tomorrow and I don't want her to be too tired.
Anyway, Happy Fourth Of July to everyone! Have fun doing whatever you do today!
I'm on the Activities Committee at church, so I had to be there at 7 this morning to help set up. We cooked pancakes and sausage, and also had some muffins,fruit and donuts. It was great and everything went really well and was cleaned up by 10. This was my last activity and I just hope that when we move I can finally have a break from the activities committee! (I've been doing it for 3 years now, along with other various callings at the same time)
I don't think we are going to go see any fireworks tonight. Rae doesn't even know that there are going to be fireworks and it's so just late at night before they even start. I'm not sure it's worth having them tired and cranky. Plus, in Davis it's hard to even get any parking at the park where the fireworks are, and I'm sure it takes an hour to just get out of there, so I think we'll just stay home and enjoy an early bedtime. :) Plus, Rae's party is tomorrow and I don't want her to be too tired.
Anyway, Happy Fourth Of July to everyone! Have fun doing whatever you do today!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
One week later
My wisdom teeth were removed one week ago (in case you missed the post). One week later and I'm FINALLY feeling normal again! Apparently the surgeon left behind some tooth! I noticed on Sunday or Monday and it just felt like a wiggly tooth like when you were younger and would wiggle your tooth with your tongue. But I wasn't quite sure if it was tooth material or just some skin that was supposed to be there. So I wasn't sure if I should mess with it. Tuesday night it was really driving me crazy and last night it started bugging me a lot and I decided to try to wiggle it a little everyday and see if it would come out. Well, this morning I was getting up with Blaise (at the crack of dawn) and it just fell out! I caught it and put it in a little zip lock bag and I'm going to take it to my follow-up appointment on Saturday. After that fell out the pain in my mouth reduced drastically! Seriously, last night I still couldn't open my mouth wide enough to eat normally and this morning I can open my mouth all the way with hardly any discomfort. I am so happy and relieved. I can't believe how much tooth was left in there - crazy!
In other news, we finally settled on a moving company and actually have our truck reserved. Whew. We are going with ABF U-Pack. They drop an empty 28ft trailer off at your house and you fill it with how ever much space you need (we have 10ft listed in our quote) and then they pick it up the next day. They fill the rest of the truck with freight material. They are going to store it for us (big chunk of money for them to do that for us, but we don't have a choice) and then deliver it to our house in Kirksville. This is what I wanted to do from the very beginning but I didn't think I could fit a 28ft trailer into the parking lot here. Well, the other day a neighbor was moving in and they did it with ABF, so I now know it can be done. And I got in contact with the City Manager in Kirksville and got permission to park it on the street in front of our new place. So glad that is all taken care of!
The other hold-up we had with deciding how to move our stuff was that we didn't have an answer from our landlord about when we could move in. Our lease says the 29th but he said that we might be able to get in earlier than that because the people living there now were thinking about leaving early. Well, apparently their plans changed, so we have to stick with the original date of the 29th. Which means we get to hangout with family in Charlotte for extra long and try to be good guests. Unfortunately it also means that we had to pay ABF 500 bucks to store our stuff. Oh well, moving sucks and it's so expensive and there's not much you can do about it. The other option was Roy driving a uhaul and towing our van behind it, getting to Kirksville, unloading our stuff into a storage unit, drop off the uhaul, and then drive to Charlotte for the reunion. It would been a little bit cheaper, but a lot more hassle and effort and stress, all of which I decided are worth a few hundred dollars to eliminate.
Anyway, I'm sure you all were dying to hear all of those details. :) Packing is going pretty good here. Roy takes the kids out in the morning and I get a ton done while he is gone. I realized that although I like making lists of what needs done, I work a lot better if I can just randomly walk around the house and pack whatever it is that I feel like packing and can work on several projects at once. Like, if I'm in the middle of packing their stuffed animals and find a puzzle piece, it's okay to drop everything and start packing the puzzles. I can do anything in whatever order I want, just as long as it's all done and organized before the kids get home. I've known this about me before with things like cleaning. (I'll often be cleaning the kitchen and stop to use the bathroom and then start cleaning the bathroom) Maybe that's why I don't clean very well with other people around. Hmmm.
Okay, time to get packing. We are having a late start this morning!
In other news, we finally settled on a moving company and actually have our truck reserved. Whew. We are going with ABF U-Pack. They drop an empty 28ft trailer off at your house and you fill it with how ever much space you need (we have 10ft listed in our quote) and then they pick it up the next day. They fill the rest of the truck with freight material. They are going to store it for us (big chunk of money for them to do that for us, but we don't have a choice) and then deliver it to our house in Kirksville. This is what I wanted to do from the very beginning but I didn't think I could fit a 28ft trailer into the parking lot here. Well, the other day a neighbor was moving in and they did it with ABF, so I now know it can be done. And I got in contact with the City Manager in Kirksville and got permission to park it on the street in front of our new place. So glad that is all taken care of!
The other hold-up we had with deciding how to move our stuff was that we didn't have an answer from our landlord about when we could move in. Our lease says the 29th but he said that we might be able to get in earlier than that because the people living there now were thinking about leaving early. Well, apparently their plans changed, so we have to stick with the original date of the 29th. Which means we get to hangout with family in Charlotte for extra long and try to be good guests. Unfortunately it also means that we had to pay ABF 500 bucks to store our stuff. Oh well, moving sucks and it's so expensive and there's not much you can do about it. The other option was Roy driving a uhaul and towing our van behind it, getting to Kirksville, unloading our stuff into a storage unit, drop off the uhaul, and then drive to Charlotte for the reunion. It would been a little bit cheaper, but a lot more hassle and effort and stress, all of which I decided are worth a few hundred dollars to eliminate.
Anyway, I'm sure you all were dying to hear all of those details. :) Packing is going pretty good here. Roy takes the kids out in the morning and I get a ton done while he is gone. I realized that although I like making lists of what needs done, I work a lot better if I can just randomly walk around the house and pack whatever it is that I feel like packing and can work on several projects at once. Like, if I'm in the middle of packing their stuffed animals and find a puzzle piece, it's okay to drop everything and start packing the puzzles. I can do anything in whatever order I want, just as long as it's all done and organized before the kids get home. I've known this about me before with things like cleaning. (I'll often be cleaning the kitchen and stop to use the bathroom and then start cleaning the bathroom) Maybe that's why I don't clean very well with other people around. Hmmm.
Okay, time to get packing. We are having a late start this morning!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Nummers
This post is mainly for my siblings, who will understand.
Know what I ate for dinner? A hot dog and cheese burrito. :) Roy was making quesadillas for dinner and I was making hot dogs for the kids, and first I thought of making a classic Jeppson pizza with a tortilla, ketchup (seasoned with Italian seasoning) cheese and cut up hot dog. But then I remembered my absolute favorite ghetto meal. You take a hot dog, heat it up. Then you put cheese on a tortilla and heat that up. Then you slap it together and roll it up. Totally unhealthy, but oh so good. Roy threatened to leave, but it's worth it even then. :)
Maybe tomorrow morning I'll make spaghetti eggs.
Know what I ate for dinner? A hot dog and cheese burrito. :) Roy was making quesadillas for dinner and I was making hot dogs for the kids, and first I thought of making a classic Jeppson pizza with a tortilla, ketchup (seasoned with Italian seasoning) cheese and cut up hot dog. But then I remembered my absolute favorite ghetto meal. You take a hot dog, heat it up. Then you put cheese on a tortilla and heat that up. Then you slap it together and roll it up. Totally unhealthy, but oh so good. Roy threatened to leave, but it's worth it even then. :)
Maybe tomorrow morning I'll make spaghetti eggs.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Me, me, me
I started blogging in August 2006. I didn't do much at first, but almost two years later I'm getting the hang of it. :) I was the first person in my family to start blogging and I don't take all the credit, but I do hope I had something to do with the amount of family members blogging now. My sisters all started blogs about a year after me and then my brother's wife and then my other brother and his wife. I have a few cousins that have blogs, an uncle, an aunt and the newest additions are my mom and her sister! I'm so excited. We don't get to see each other very often so reading each other's blogs helps us all stay in touch and I really enjoy it.
Just remember that I was ahead of you all in the trend! (although behind most people in the trend) I'm just glad we all got with the trend and I hope that when the trend wears off that we'll all keep going strong!
Just remember that I was ahead of you all in the trend! (although behind most people in the trend) I'm just glad we all got with the trend and I hope that when the trend wears off that we'll all keep going strong!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Other special occasions
I started this post last week and I'm gonna go ahead and publish it now...it's not really finished, but oh well.
This was a busy week for us! Last Wednesday my in-laws and mom arrived. We went to the Farmer's Market that evening, where the kids got to ride the ponies (twice!).
Thursday morning we went bowling and then Roy's graduation was that afternoon. We left the kiddos with some great friends (thanks again!) and got to "enjoy" the super long ordeal! Boring! But it was great to see Roy get hooded and all that stuff. And it got done earlier than expected, so that was nice.
Friday was our 6-year anniversary. We went to Vacaville, did a little shopping and went to Olive Garden for lunch. Not exactly a romantic night-out, but the inlaws picked up the tab, so that was nice! :) Then we went to the pool and had a lot of fun there.
Saturday morning we went to Ikea to pick up some things that you can only get at Ikea, which they don't have in Missouri! Then the in-laws left and we just lounged around the rest of the day. Sunday we were all sick (except for my mom, lucky!) so we stayed home from church and Roy didn't get much of a special day, but he's great and totally didn't care. Yesterday and today we've been trying to get a bit of packing done while we have an extra adult around (who just happens to be great at packing and cleaning - she even pulled out the stove and cleaned behind it- so awesome!) Tomorrow my mom leaves in the morning and I'm taking the day off from packing and just hanging out with the kiddos and trying to get completely better from my cold.
Oh, and if anyone has advice about moving companies, let me know! We're considering using ABF U-Pack. Oh, and did I mention that we found somewhere to live? We found a great 3 bedroom,1 bath duplex (well, 8-plex) for $550 a month. The price is a little above average for the area, but it's a really nice, new property that a couple of members of the church live in (I called someone there and she told me all about it) and it has a washer and dryer included and I really like the layout. And, everything for rent was filling up really fast and we had to just grab whatever we could get. And, this is one of the only properties that could let us in July instead of the 2nd week of August.
This was a busy week for us! Last Wednesday my in-laws and mom arrived. We went to the Farmer's Market that evening, where the kids got to ride the ponies (twice!).
Thursday morning we went bowling and then Roy's graduation was that afternoon. We left the kiddos with some great friends (thanks again!) and got to "enjoy" the super long ordeal! Boring! But it was great to see Roy get hooded and all that stuff. And it got done earlier than expected, so that was nice.
Friday was our 6-year anniversary. We went to Vacaville, did a little shopping and went to Olive Garden for lunch. Not exactly a romantic night-out, but the inlaws picked up the tab, so that was nice! :) Then we went to the pool and had a lot of fun there.
Saturday morning we went to Ikea to pick up some things that you can only get at Ikea, which they don't have in Missouri! Then the in-laws left and we just lounged around the rest of the day. Sunday we were all sick (except for my mom, lucky!) so we stayed home from church and Roy didn't get much of a special day, but he's great and totally didn't care. Yesterday and today we've been trying to get a bit of packing done while we have an extra adult around (who just happens to be great at packing and cleaning - she even pulled out the stove and cleaned behind it- so awesome!) Tomorrow my mom leaves in the morning and I'm taking the day off from packing and just hanging out with the kiddos and trying to get completely better from my cold.
Oh, and if anyone has advice about moving companies, let me know! We're considering using ABF U-Pack. Oh, and did I mention that we found somewhere to live? We found a great 3 bedroom,1 bath duplex (well, 8-plex) for $550 a month. The price is a little above average for the area, but it's a really nice, new property that a couple of members of the church live in (I called someone there and she told me all about it) and it has a washer and dryer included and I really like the layout. And, everything for rent was filling up really fast and we had to just grab whatever we could get. And, this is one of the only properties that could let us in July instead of the 2nd week of August.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Two things today
First of all, Happy Birthday to my nephew Nolan! He turned 6 today! Hope you had a fun day. He's the oldest biological grandchild in our family. His parents just adopted 2 kids older than him and one younger than him, so he no longer holds the "oldest grandchild" title. But he'll always be my first nephew!
Secondly, I did something horrible today. I had my wisdom teeth removed. Ugh. Our dental insurance options when we move won't be very good so I decided I better get it done while it's free. (Thank you tax payers) I called yesterday to make an appointment and they had a free slot today, which was a good thing because I didn't have enough time to talk myself out of it. (Although this morning I was back and forth about whether I was going to do it) I thought my teeth were fine and had decided to just get it done after the next pregnancy, but this week one of them started hurting again, so I just bit the bullet and did it.
The only dental work I've ever had done are x-rays, cleanings, and one small cavity filled (without any kind of numbing). This was a big deal for me. They just used local anesthesia and that was the worst part of it all. The shots hurt a lot. The numbing drove me crazy. The actual removal of the teeth was super quick and painless. It was very frustrating to not be able to talk with the gauze in my mouth, especially since we went grocery shopping immediately after and I couldn't communicate with my family! And then Roy and the kids got a pizza on the way home and it was torture to smell and see it and not be able to eat it!!
I finally stopped bleeding about an hour and a half afterwards and I felt a lot better with the gauze out of my mouth. But then the numbing started to slowly wear off and the pain was so intense! Roy got home with my Vicodin prescription just in time. I only took one and it didn't help, so an hour later I took another and now I feel fantastic! I'm definitely going to have to stay on top of the painkillers!
So far I've had a can of Slim Fast and some tomato soup. It feels fine to drink but I don't really feel hungry so I'm hoping this will be a good chance for some rapid weight loss! (Slim Fast and tomato soup are super Weight Watchers friendly)
I was going to post a picture of my cheeks, but they really aren't very big. My face just looks the way it looked before I lost weight. Maybe tomorrow they will be bigger.
Oh, and the dentist office was 20 miles away in our favorite town (Vacaville) so Roy and the kids dropped me off and went to Nut Tree and rode some rides and had fun while I got tortured. :) Then we all went shopping at our favorite store that we are going to miss so much: WinCo. By the way, have I mentioned how fantastic it is to have a husband home full time?? Well, most of the time it's great, sometimes I wish we could have more of a regular schedule, but on days like this I'm thrilled. He's been taking such good care of the kids and me today and will continue to until I'm all healed. Perfect timing, really, to get this done...I have time to heal before the serious moving stuff starts.
Anyway, just thought you'd all love to hear about my day. :) Hopefully if I stay on the pain medicine I'll keep feeling as good as I feel right now, because earlier in the day I felt like I was going to die! (I seriously felt as horrible as being in labor - in a different way, of course)
Oh, and I looked into Medicaid in Missouri and it looks like we might qualify. (Me at least for pregnancy when it comes along) I've also been looking at other forms of insurance too (thanks for the tip Andrea) and don't feel quite as stressed about it.
I guess that's all for now. I have a couple of draft posts that I've been working on for a while that I'm gonna try to get to this week before all the major packing has to begin. I gave myself this week to relax and hang out with the kids and stop stressing about packing and then I'm going to start back up next week.
Secondly, I did something horrible today. I had my wisdom teeth removed. Ugh. Our dental insurance options when we move won't be very good so I decided I better get it done while it's free. (Thank you tax payers) I called yesterday to make an appointment and they had a free slot today, which was a good thing because I didn't have enough time to talk myself out of it. (Although this morning I was back and forth about whether I was going to do it) I thought my teeth were fine and had decided to just get it done after the next pregnancy, but this week one of them started hurting again, so I just bit the bullet and did it.
The only dental work I've ever had done are x-rays, cleanings, and one small cavity filled (without any kind of numbing). This was a big deal for me. They just used local anesthesia and that was the worst part of it all. The shots hurt a lot. The numbing drove me crazy. The actual removal of the teeth was super quick and painless. It was very frustrating to not be able to talk with the gauze in my mouth, especially since we went grocery shopping immediately after and I couldn't communicate with my family! And then Roy and the kids got a pizza on the way home and it was torture to smell and see it and not be able to eat it!!
I finally stopped bleeding about an hour and a half afterwards and I felt a lot better with the gauze out of my mouth. But then the numbing started to slowly wear off and the pain was so intense! Roy got home with my Vicodin prescription just in time. I only took one and it didn't help, so an hour later I took another and now I feel fantastic! I'm definitely going to have to stay on top of the painkillers!
So far I've had a can of Slim Fast and some tomato soup. It feels fine to drink but I don't really feel hungry so I'm hoping this will be a good chance for some rapid weight loss! (Slim Fast and tomato soup are super Weight Watchers friendly)
I was going to post a picture of my cheeks, but they really aren't very big. My face just looks the way it looked before I lost weight. Maybe tomorrow they will be bigger.
Oh, and the dentist office was 20 miles away in our favorite town (Vacaville) so Roy and the kids dropped me off and went to Nut Tree and rode some rides and had fun while I got tortured. :) Then we all went shopping at our favorite store that we are going to miss so much: WinCo. By the way, have I mentioned how fantastic it is to have a husband home full time?? Well, most of the time it's great, sometimes I wish we could have more of a regular schedule, but on days like this I'm thrilled. He's been taking such good care of the kids and me today and will continue to until I'm all healed. Perfect timing, really, to get this done...I have time to heal before the serious moving stuff starts.
Anyway, just thought you'd all love to hear about my day. :) Hopefully if I stay on the pain medicine I'll keep feeling as good as I feel right now, because earlier in the day I felt like I was going to die! (I seriously felt as horrible as being in labor - in a different way, of course)
Oh, and I looked into Medicaid in Missouri and it looks like we might qualify. (Me at least for pregnancy when it comes along) I've also been looking at other forms of insurance too (thanks for the tip Andrea) and don't feel quite as stressed about it.
I guess that's all for now. I have a couple of draft posts that I've been working on for a while that I'm gonna try to get to this week before all the major packing has to begin. I gave myself this week to relax and hang out with the kids and stop stressing about packing and then I'm going to start back up next week.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sigh
So, I'm not trying to be a baby with this whole thing, trying to get someone to hold my hand and help me make a decision, but I do feel like the purpose of me blogging is to get some advice and input from people who have more experience than me and can give some insight to my decisions. (Man, what a run-on sentence!) It's been a long time since we've had to do the whole health insurance thing and I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around each plan and the benefits and drawbacks of both. I appreciate the comments everyone has left, and I was wondering if I could get more input if I put some of the specific numbers. (You know that commercial where the girl talks to everyone she comes across about her car insurance? Sorry, I'm going to be like that for a bit here)
Medical Rates
Plan A
Plan B
A few things to keep in mind. Besides well-child visits, so far Rae and Blaise have been to the doctor maybe 10 times. They've only ever had 3 prescriptions and no hospital stays. Rae went to the emergency room once, but not for a true emergency. All of this could change in the next year, so I don't want to have my hopes up.
As for me, I plan to be pregnant while on this insurance. Both plans have the same maternity coverage. I'm leaning towards Plan A, since they have the "co-pay" type plan. (except not for maternity if I'm reading it correctly) Roy would like to be able to go to the doctor a few times for checkups, since he hasn't been to one in like 5 years. Anyway, any input is helpful. Thanks.
Medical Rates
Plan A
Plan B
A few things to keep in mind. Besides well-child visits, so far Rae and Blaise have been to the doctor maybe 10 times. They've only ever had 3 prescriptions and no hospital stays. Rae went to the emergency room once, but not for a true emergency. All of this could change in the next year, so I don't want to have my hopes up.
As for me, I plan to be pregnant while on this insurance. Both plans have the same maternity coverage. I'm leaning towards Plan A, since they have the "co-pay" type plan. (except not for maternity if I'm reading it correctly) Roy would like to be able to go to the doctor a few times for checkups, since he hasn't been to one in like 5 years. Anyway, any input is helpful. Thanks.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Bleh
Trying to figure out health insurance is the pits. Roy will have decent insurance through the school and they have a dependent plan, but I don't know what type to choose. All I know is that my kids go to the doctor for well-child visits and not much else. They hardly ever need any medication and we have only been to the ER once (just because we were in Blythe and couldn't go anywhere else) But then what if something serious happens to them and I'm stuck paying some big ol' deductible the ONE time they actually need medical attention. And with me, man, I never go to the doctor, mainly because I hate making appointments. :) But I do know I want to have another kid soon and I don't want to have to pay a bunch of money every month for insurance and STILL have to pay my deductible AND my co-pay. I never realized how easy we had it on state provided insurance. Man oh man, the good ol' days of stealing other people's taxes! :)
Seriously though, any advice out there? High deductible, low monthly payment? Vice-versa? One thing I will mention is that with whatever plan we go with, the well-child visits and immunizations are completely covered, so that's nice (even though I guess now that Blaise is older he doesn't need them nearly as often, so it doesn't really matter) Anyway, what do ya'll think?
Seriously though, any advice out there? High deductible, low monthly payment? Vice-versa? One thing I will mention is that with whatever plan we go with, the well-child visits and immunizations are completely covered, so that's nice (even though I guess now that Blaise is older he doesn't need them nearly as often, so it doesn't really matter) Anyway, what do ya'll think?
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Family Reunion
Hey all you Blythe Jeppsons, I have a question for you! When are you coming to the family reunion, and when are you leaving? We are trying to plan a trip to see Roy's dad while we are there and want to figure out when the best time is.
I'll start: I decided to fly to Charlotte with the kiddos and Roy will be driving our van and meeting us there. I'll arrive Sunday the 13th in the evening and then Roy will probably get there anytime Tuesday-Thursday (not sure yet when he'll be leaving Davis) We'll most likely be leaving Tuesday the 22nd. And how about you Christie? And Lindsey? And Aaron? And mom and dad? Your answers are appreciated!
I'll start: I decided to fly to Charlotte with the kiddos and Roy will be driving our van and meeting us there. I'll arrive Sunday the 13th in the evening and then Roy will probably get there anytime Tuesday-Thursday (not sure yet when he'll be leaving Davis) We'll most likely be leaving Tuesday the 22nd. And how about you Christie? And Lindsey? And Aaron? And mom and dad? Your answers are appreciated!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Gross
I woke up to a lovely sight this morning. Thousands of ants in two trails from my balcony to my kitchen. I'm talking trails that were 3 or 4 ants wide, not just a small trail. One trail was focusing on the fruit near the trash can and the other trail was focused on the washing machine. Now, I know, you are probably thinking "hey, you should clean your house". Yes, I should. But it isn't even that messy. Yesterday I never got around to sweeping the kitchen like I usually do several times a day. And I didn't get around to vacuuming the living room, but it's not like it was that dirty. And yesterday was the first day in a week that we didn't do the dishes or wipe down the counters before bed. And this is the FIRST time this has EVER happened while living here. We often get a handful of ants in the bathroom, looking for water, but never in the kitchen! Ugh, so gross. Now my house reeks of bug spray (which it's lucky we even had - I hate to use it and I don't even remember when I bought it) which I wouldn't usually use, but how else do you kill a ton of ants before your son gets eaten by them??
We didn't even go to bed till midnight last night and Blaise woke up at 6 this morning - those ants are really fast!
And, if you are wondering, we spent the day doing far more important things than cleaning. For instance, I grumped around the house till noon and finally got dressed when Blaise went down for a nap and then we went to the river and came home that exhausted and dirty and fairly miserable. And after the kids went to bed I spent 3 hours packing and planning stuff. See, far too busy to clean. :)
We didn't even go to bed till midnight last night and Blaise woke up at 6 this morning - those ants are really fast!
And, if you are wondering, we spent the day doing far more important things than cleaning. For instance, I grumped around the house till noon and finally got dressed when Blaise went down for a nap and then we went to the river and came home that exhausted and dirty and fairly miserable. And after the kids went to bed I spent 3 hours packing and planning stuff. See, far too busy to clean. :)
Out of respect for my mother-in-law...
...I will respond to a tag, just this once.
5 things I did 10 years ago
1. Graduated high school.
2. Started college at Cal State Fullerton (mathematics major).
3. Almost got arrested for misuse of a laser pointer and a Geo Metro.
4. Went to my first LAN party.
5. Bred rodents.
5 things on my list for tomorrow (Ashley is dictating this to me)
1. Clean out my office (at school).
2. Take out the trash.
3. Bathe the kids, as usual.
4. Dishes.
5. Pack (maybe).
5 favorite snacks/food
1. Oatmeal
Instant oatmeal blended to a fine powder, then mixed with cold milk, peanut butter, cinnamon, and Splenda. This is also Blaise's favorite.
2. Quesadillas
Canned refried beans pureed to a fine mush, then mixed with Taco Bell hot sauce and shredded cheese between two tortillas, baked. Or sour cream instead of the beans.
3. Buffalo Chicken Strips with Bleu Cheese Dressing
Chicken breast meat processed to a fine pulp, then... just kidding.
4. Mushroom Pizza
Or, more specifically, Papa John's pizza with chicken and mushrooms, if I could afford it.
5. Olive Garden
Just about anything from Olive Garden.
5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Papa John's!
2. Free up enough time to write several books.
3. Get a proper bathroom with a bidet!
4. Have more kids.
5. I don't know, mostly donate it away, but very strategically.
5 bad habits
1. Reading blogs.
2. Getting behind on dishes.
3. Obsessing over things.
4. See #3.
5. See #3.
5 places I have lived
1. Flint, MI.
2. Anaheim, CA.
3. Argentina.
4. Fullerton, CA.
5. Irvine, CA.
People I tag
I abstain.
5 things I did 10 years ago
1. Graduated high school.
2. Started college at Cal State Fullerton (mathematics major).
3. Almost got arrested for misuse of a laser pointer and a Geo Metro.
4. Went to my first LAN party.
5. Bred rodents.
5 things on my list for tomorrow (Ashley is dictating this to me)
1. Clean out my office (at school).
2. Take out the trash.
3. Bathe the kids, as usual.
4. Dishes.
5. Pack (maybe).
5 favorite snacks/food
1. Oatmeal
Instant oatmeal blended to a fine powder, then mixed with cold milk, peanut butter, cinnamon, and Splenda. This is also Blaise's favorite.
2. Quesadillas
Canned refried beans pureed to a fine mush, then mixed with Taco Bell hot sauce and shredded cheese between two tortillas, baked. Or sour cream instead of the beans.
3. Buffalo Chicken Strips with Bleu Cheese Dressing
Chicken breast meat processed to a fine pulp, then... just kidding.
4. Mushroom Pizza
Or, more specifically, Papa John's pizza with chicken and mushrooms, if I could afford it.
5. Olive Garden
Just about anything from Olive Garden.
5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Papa John's!
2. Free up enough time to write several books.
3. Get a proper bathroom with a bidet!
4. Have more kids.
5. I don't know, mostly donate it away, but very strategically.
5 bad habits
1. Reading blogs.
2. Getting behind on dishes.
3. Obsessing over things.
4. See #3.
5. See #3.
5 places I have lived
1. Flint, MI.
2. Anaheim, CA.
3. Argentina.
4. Fullerton, CA.
5. Irvine, CA.
People I tag
I abstain.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day
Since I feel like I was a total slacker for Father's Day this year, I thought I should at least write a bit about some of the fathers in my life.
My pops always works so hard for his family and still finds time to be a great dad and grandpa! My mom has been here for a few days for Roy's graduation (oh yeah, I should post about that) but my dad wasn't able to come and we sure miss him!
Some of my favorite memories of my dad:
It always made me feel so good to know that he was such a good member of the church. He was in the bishopric most of my childhood, and having him on the stand being an example to everyone else always made me feel good. And it was comforting to know that he could give me priestood blessings when I needed them, and he often gave us "back to school" blessings.
He worked in the summer in the melon sheds (he was a HS teacher and with 8 kids we needed extra income in the summer) and he'd come home smelling like melons. Whenever I smell a cantaloupe I think of my dad!
He's supportive of decisions that I've made as an adult, but he also gives advice when he can see that it is needed.
If he lays down for more than 2 minutes he'll fall asleep....usually with the tv on. But if you try to take the remote control from him he'll wake up and say "hey, I'm awake".
And, my other favorite dad, the father of my kiddos! When Rae was born Roy wasn't quite sure what to do, but he was very willing to learn! He was even the one who changed her first poopy diaper! And now he's a diaper changing, getting kids baths and bed, kid chasing, wrestling dad that is so much fun!
By the time Blaise came along Roy had a pretty good idea of what he was doing, and he was much more willing to get Blaise down for naps and to sleep at night so that I wouldn't have to be a human pacifier. He makes Blaise's favorite food (oatmeal) better than I can and is quick to get him in the tub after he's smeared it all over his hair. Man oh man, I love this father and how much effort he puts into making our life happy!
Roy's dad hasn't really been part of his life but we've recently started talking to him and visited him last fall. We'll see him again in a few weeks and it's nice to know that he's there for us when we need him and is making an effort into trying to make up for lost years.
Roy's mom married a great guy a few years ago, and he's a fun grandpa and the kids really like him. When we got married I didn't have a father-in-law, so it's been fun to have this role filled!
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!
My pops always works so hard for his family and still finds time to be a great dad and grandpa! My mom has been here for a few days for Roy's graduation (oh yeah, I should post about that) but my dad wasn't able to come and we sure miss him!
Some of my favorite memories of my dad:
It always made me feel so good to know that he was such a good member of the church. He was in the bishopric most of my childhood, and having him on the stand being an example to everyone else always made me feel good. And it was comforting to know that he could give me priestood blessings when I needed them, and he often gave us "back to school" blessings.
He worked in the summer in the melon sheds (he was a HS teacher and with 8 kids we needed extra income in the summer) and he'd come home smelling like melons. Whenever I smell a cantaloupe I think of my dad!
He's supportive of decisions that I've made as an adult, but he also gives advice when he can see that it is needed.
If he lays down for more than 2 minutes he'll fall asleep....usually with the tv on. But if you try to take the remote control from him he'll wake up and say "hey, I'm awake".
And, my other favorite dad, the father of my kiddos! When Rae was born Roy wasn't quite sure what to do, but he was very willing to learn! He was even the one who changed her first poopy diaper! And now he's a diaper changing, getting kids baths and bed, kid chasing, wrestling dad that is so much fun!
By the time Blaise came along Roy had a pretty good idea of what he was doing, and he was much more willing to get Blaise down for naps and to sleep at night so that I wouldn't have to be a human pacifier. He makes Blaise's favorite food (oatmeal) better than I can and is quick to get him in the tub after he's smeared it all over his hair. Man oh man, I love this father and how much effort he puts into making our life happy!
Roy's dad hasn't really been part of his life but we've recently started talking to him and visited him last fall. We'll see him again in a few weeks and it's nice to know that he's there for us when we need him and is making an effort into trying to make up for lost years.
Roy's mom married a great guy a few years ago, and he's a fun grandpa and the kids really like him. When we got married I didn't have a father-in-law, so it's been fun to have this role filled!
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Zion, Zion, Beautiful Zion
Here it is...the moment you all have been waiting for! We are moving to:
Kirksville, Missouri!
View Larger Map
Roy will be starting in August as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Mathematics at Truman State University. It is a one year position but might be renewable for a few more years. It will be quite a change, but we are excited! More details to come, when we get everything figured out! :)
Kirksville, Missouri!
View Larger Map
Roy will be starting in August as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Mathematics at Truman State University. It is a one year position but might be renewable for a few more years. It will be quite a change, but we are excited! More details to come, when we get everything figured out! :)
Friday, June 06, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Cute picture
I found this picture the other day when I was going through boxes. These are most of my cousins on my dad's side of the family. I thought my family would enjoy seeing it! Anyone know what year this is? I'm guessing 97 or so?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Headed home
We've been in Las Vegas the past week. I'm in the airport right now, enjoying the free wireless (aren't you glad most airports have that now?). Roy took the kiddos for a walk. We've been up since 3:30 this morning to catch our 6:30 flight. Not fun. The kiddos have been super sick all week, so our "vacation" wasn't very relaxing. My in-law's new house is nice and big, so the kids had fun just running around. They started filling up their pool on Saturday, so by Monday there was enough water to swim in, but it was actually too cold to swim! Can you believe that? I definitely did not come to Vegas expecting "spring" weather. I even had to have Roy bring jackets and pants when he came a couple days after us. It rained on Friday and was windy the rest of the week. We swam a bit on Monday and Tuesday, but it was so cold!We probably aren't going to have internet for a while (long story), so that's why I'm blogging now. Roy had a crazy week last week with two interviews and one phone interview. And then he had phone interview yesterday too. Schools are in a hurry to hire people now, so everything happens a bit faster than earlier in the job hunt. He doesn't have many more weeks left for interviewing, so hopefully he gets something good soon. He did get one offer but had to turn it down because it wouldn't have been a good place for him. More details on that later. We are trying to be a little more discreet with everything now, so that we don't have to explain or justify our choices to anyone.
Anyway, the kids seem to be feeling a bit better each day, so hopefully they'll be back to normal by the weekend. We are looking forward to Roy being done with interviewing and school! Graduation is on the 12th and my mom and in-laws will be here, so that should be fun! We are putting in our 6-week notice today, so that gives me 6 weeks to start packing...I don't like to think about that though!
This has been a random post. Hard to focus in here. Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog while we are without internet.
(View from Baerbel's back balcony)Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Not so bad
Yesterday turned out to be a pretty decent day. Blaise never took a nap but made it till 6:30 without any "tired tantrums". Roy came home at 3 and helped me get the kids ready to go to the pool, but on our way out to the car I decided it was just way to windy and not warm enough. But our neighbor had set up her slip and slide so we went and played with her. Rae wasn't willing to get wet until I started getting wet first. That's right, I did the slip and slide! It was so much fun! I hurt myself the first few times, but then I became a pro and then Rae really got into it too. Blaise even liked it. It was fun to act like a kid! After we all got tired of that Rae played with the neighbor (who is a lot older than her - which I love, because they don't fight and she gets Rae to go along with her pretend games) and Blaise and I hung out on the grass.
So, the middle of the day was miserable, but it ended on a good note!
So, the middle of the day was miserable, but it ended on a good note!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Yuck
It's hot and WINDY today. I can handle the heat, because at least we can go swimming, but really strong winds make it hard to do much of anything.
And I even turned on my air the past two days. Ugh...here comes summer!
As I type Rae is setting up the "sacrament" on the bed behind me. Roy prepares the sacrament every week and she's seen the "behind the scene" a few times.
Here are a few pictures - some from the other day when she did this and one from today. She usually covers the bread with a towel after she breaks it into pieces.
And I even turned on my air the past two days. Ugh...here comes summer!
As I type Rae is setting up the "sacrament" on the bed behind me. Roy prepares the sacrament every week and she's seen the "behind the scene" a few times.
Here are a few pictures - some from the other day when she did this and one from today. She usually covers the bread with a towel after she breaks it into pieces.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Why I love this time of year...
...lots of yummy fruit! In our house at the moment we have a watermelon, 4lbs of strawberries (thank you Costco!) oranges, bananas, cherries (yay, they are finally in season and only 99 cents a pound!) and yesterday we polished off a cantaloupe. It's easy to eat healthy when you've got lots of fruit for snacks instead of other junk.
Now I'm looking forward to the plums, nectarines and peaches! We live in a great part of the country for yummy produce!
Now I'm looking forward to the plums, nectarines and peaches! We live in a great part of the country for yummy produce!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Birthday Aaron!
My lil' bro turns 23 today! He just graduated from BYU and is going to go to Law School now - pretty impressive resume for a 23 year old don't ya think? Happy Birthday!!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Duh
I can't believe I couldn't remember the other recommendation I wanted to make - it was the reason I wanted to write the post in the first place! I highly recommend the book:
1,2,3 Magic
Even if you don't want to follow the discipline plan that it lays out, it's a good book that gives a lot of good insights into a child's mind. For our current situation it is working really well. I think with all parenting you can't get too stuck on any one type of idea or method and you have to be willing to change it up when things are working.
But, for now, it is making life with Rae a whole lot easier. This is a good method for people like me who get way to emotional while trying to discipline and who tend to try to reason with their child which results in arguing and then yelling. Using this method you give no reasons and no explanations (unless absolutely needed). I don't know really how to explain it, but if you are feeling out of control with your child and you fight everyday, definitely read this book!
And, there's a second section about how to get your kids to do what they are supposed to do (getting ready for the day, doing homework, getting ready for bed, chores, etc) The other method is for getting your child to STOP doing what bad behavior they are doing, and the rest of the book talks about how to get you child to START doing good behaviors. I haven't read the second section yet. I'm really looking forward to reading it, because I get so impatient with Rae!
Anyway, the book is pretty short and is easy reading, so even if you don't think you need it, check it out and browse it a bit. (Oh, and it's for ages 2+)
Oh, and THANK YOU Rachel for telling me about this book!!
Happy parenting!
1,2,3 Magic
Even if you don't want to follow the discipline plan that it lays out, it's a good book that gives a lot of good insights into a child's mind. For our current situation it is working really well. I think with all parenting you can't get too stuck on any one type of idea or method and you have to be willing to change it up when things are working.
But, for now, it is making life with Rae a whole lot easier. This is a good method for people like me who get way to emotional while trying to discipline and who tend to try to reason with their child which results in arguing and then yelling. Using this method you give no reasons and no explanations (unless absolutely needed). I don't know really how to explain it, but if you are feeling out of control with your child and you fight everyday, definitely read this book!
And, there's a second section about how to get your kids to do what they are supposed to do (getting ready for the day, doing homework, getting ready for bed, chores, etc) The other method is for getting your child to STOP doing what bad behavior they are doing, and the rest of the book talks about how to get you child to START doing good behaviors. I haven't read the second section yet. I'm really looking forward to reading it, because I get so impatient with Rae!
Anyway, the book is pretty short and is easy reading, so even if you don't think you need it, check it out and browse it a bit. (Oh, and it's for ages 2+)
Oh, and THANK YOU Rachel for telling me about this book!!
Happy parenting!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
A few recommendations
Here are a few things I've been appreciating lately:
Huggies Overnight Diapers
Blaise used to nurse the entire night and would wake up sopping wet almost every morning. Now he drinks his water as he falls asleep and drinks it several times a night and used to wake up sopping wet. At Christmas my MIL gave me some Huggies overnights and we started using them recently (they are size 4, so he just got into that size) He has not had a leak since we started using them. He wakes up every morning with a diaper that weighs a ton but he never leaks! We only use them at nights, so they have lasted us a long time and when we run out we will spend the extra money to get some more - they are so worth it!
My mop. It's got a washable/replaceable head and it works really well. I don't mop very often (because I'm lazy, because the kids always spill something ridiculous right after I mop, and because my floor is crappy apartment floor that looks like the inside of a locker room and it looks dirty no matter what) and this mop can cut through all the grime and filth without a lot of effort. I really recommend it.
Immersion blenders. We use it for all sorts of stuff - pudding, soup, getting the chucks out of salsa for Roy, getting the chunks out of yogurt for Roy, getting the chunks out of healthy chunky spaghetti sauce (for Roy and the kids). It's quick to set up and quick to clean up. I got ours at Walmart for 10 bucks. Later on I found on on clearance with a few extra features, so I got that one for 15 bucks, and although the extra features were nice, it didn't seem to work as well, and now it's already broken. But our original one is still going strong! Love it!
Ugh, there was something else and now I can't remember!! I'll update later when I remember. Anyway, just some random stuff I was thinking about.
Huggies Overnight Diapers
Blaise used to nurse the entire night and would wake up sopping wet almost every morning. Now he drinks his water as he falls asleep and drinks it several times a night and used to wake up sopping wet. At Christmas my MIL gave me some Huggies overnights and we started using them recently (they are size 4, so he just got into that size) He has not had a leak since we started using them. He wakes up every morning with a diaper that weighs a ton but he never leaks! We only use them at nights, so they have lasted us a long time and when we run out we will spend the extra money to get some more - they are so worth it!
My mop. It's got a washable/replaceable head and it works really well. I don't mop very often (because I'm lazy, because the kids always spill something ridiculous right after I mop, and because my floor is crappy apartment floor that looks like the inside of a locker room and it looks dirty no matter what) and this mop can cut through all the grime and filth without a lot of effort. I really recommend it.
Immersion blenders. We use it for all sorts of stuff - pudding, soup, getting the chucks out of salsa for Roy, getting the chunks out of yogurt for Roy, getting the chunks out of healthy chunky spaghetti sauce (for Roy and the kids). It's quick to set up and quick to clean up. I got ours at Walmart for 10 bucks. Later on I found on on clearance with a few extra features, so I got that one for 15 bucks, and although the extra features were nice, it didn't seem to work as well, and now it's already broken. But our original one is still going strong! Love it!
Ugh, there was something else and now I can't remember!! I'll update later when I remember. Anyway, just some random stuff I was thinking about.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Life is good
Things are going pretty smoothly around here (knock on wood). No one is sick, the house is staying reasonably clean, Roy and I are continuing to lose weight, I'm starting to exercise more often, and even started riding my bike! I conquered my fear and hit the road with my friend's bike trailer last week and rode to the church for "music makers"! I am quite proud of myself. And then the next day I rode to a meeting at the church, and today I rode to my Weight Watchers meeting, which is twice as far as the church. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and I look forward to doing it again next week. Unfortunately, my friend with the bike trailer is moving this week, so that won't be an option anymore (unless I get one for myself) I probably should have jumped on the whole bike trailer thing when I first moved here, but I don't think I would have been able to do it.
Ummm, I got side-tracked and lost my train of thought. Here are some recent pictures:
Rae loves to read to Blaise. After a couple of times of reading a book she knows it well enough to re-tell it to Blaise. What a sweet sister.
We will often go into the kid's room to find them in odd positions. These two pictures were taken at the same time - weird kids!
Roy and I were in the bedroom and Blaise came in screaming and looking like this! Roy checked for cuts while I dashed into the kitchen to see what he cut himself on, only to discover he had gotten into some ketchup on the table (thank goodness) You sure fooled us Blaise, good one!
Ummm, I got side-tracked and lost my train of thought. Here are some recent pictures:
Rae loves to read to Blaise. After a couple of times of reading a book she knows it well enough to re-tell it to Blaise. What a sweet sister.
We will often go into the kid's room to find them in odd positions. These two pictures were taken at the same time - weird kids!
Roy and I were in the bedroom and Blaise came in screaming and looking like this! Roy checked for cuts while I dashed into the kitchen to see what he cut himself on, only to discover he had gotten into some ketchup on the table (thank goodness) You sure fooled us Blaise, good one!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
My love/hate issues:
1. I love our van. It's great to have extra space when we go on long drives and it's nice to be able to drive friends around. But sometimes I wish we still had our little car for the little everyday errands. Why? Because I spent $70 on gas today! And the tank wasn't even all the way empty! Ahhh! And it stinks, because all of the cheaper, better shopping is 10-25 miles away.
Which brings me to my next issue:
2. My neighbor found an old bike and enjoys fixing them up, so he fixed it up and gave it to us. Since then I've been wanting to ride my bike around town to run errands (especially now that I've realized how much gas is costing us!). But I'm terrified. Seriously scared to even hit the streets. And Davis is like "bike city of America", super safe and convenient to ride your bike, but I just can't do it. Today Rae saw that someone rode their bike with their bike trailer to "music makers" and she was like "that would be a lot of fun to come in one of those". And I've wanted to borrow my neighbor's bike and bike trailer, but if I can't even handle me on the streets, no way I can handle me and the kids. Sigh.
3. My hair. I like short, trendy, easy-to-deal-with haircuts, but they aren't as flattering on me as long styles, and I don't keep them trimmed and looking nice. I love my hair long right now because I can do a lot of things with it and it looks good. But, it takes a lot of effort to have it look nice. And now that it's starting to get warmer I find myself putting it in a pony tail more often. So what's the point of long hair if it's just in a ponytail? Oh, and sheesh, it's been so windy lately that there's NOTHING I can do with it. Which brings me to my next issue:
4. The weather. I love that it's starting to warm up outside. We've even been playing in the pool a bit. But most of the days it's pretty windy, which I've mentioned before that I cannot stand. But it's the wind that keeps it from being too hot. And when the weather is great we spend most of the day outside and never get anything done inside. When it's yucky outside I tend to get more done. I guess pretty soon it will be TOO hot outside, so we'll be inside more often. I guess I should just slap on some chap stick, pull my hair back and endure the wind!
I started this post like a week ago. I wasn't sure if I was going to even bother finishing it because it's so random and pointless! But here it is...no comments necessary, just venting.
Which brings me to my next issue:
2. My neighbor found an old bike and enjoys fixing them up, so he fixed it up and gave it to us. Since then I've been wanting to ride my bike around town to run errands (especially now that I've realized how much gas is costing us!). But I'm terrified. Seriously scared to even hit the streets. And Davis is like "bike city of America", super safe and convenient to ride your bike, but I just can't do it. Today Rae saw that someone rode their bike with their bike trailer to "music makers" and she was like "that would be a lot of fun to come in one of those". And I've wanted to borrow my neighbor's bike and bike trailer, but if I can't even handle me on the streets, no way I can handle me and the kids. Sigh.
3. My hair. I like short, trendy, easy-to-deal-with haircuts, but they aren't as flattering on me as long styles, and I don't keep them trimmed and looking nice. I love my hair long right now because I can do a lot of things with it and it looks good. But, it takes a lot of effort to have it look nice. And now that it's starting to get warmer I find myself putting it in a pony tail more often. So what's the point of long hair if it's just in a ponytail? Oh, and sheesh, it's been so windy lately that there's NOTHING I can do with it. Which brings me to my next issue:
4. The weather. I love that it's starting to warm up outside. We've even been playing in the pool a bit. But most of the days it's pretty windy, which I've mentioned before that I cannot stand. But it's the wind that keeps it from being too hot. And when the weather is great we spend most of the day outside and never get anything done inside. When it's yucky outside I tend to get more done. I guess pretty soon it will be TOO hot outside, so we'll be inside more often. I guess I should just slap on some chap stick, pull my hair back and endure the wind!
I started this post like a week ago. I wasn't sure if I was going to even bother finishing it because it's so random and pointless! But here it is...no comments necessary, just venting.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Coupon
So I got this coupon in the mail for Shop Taste of Home (we ordered some cookbooks from there before). They have a lot of cool stuff, but nothing that we need right now (especially since we are moving soon and I don't want more stuff to move) and they have a lot of gadgets that I'd love but definitely can't justify right now. So, anyway, the coupon is good for 20% off your order and free shipping. It expires June 30th. If you go to the website and see something you want (maybe a good Mother's Day present) let me know and I'll give you the code. I just can't let 20% off and free shipping go to waste!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Rae's speech
Can you tell Rae's speech classes are really working?
Just kidding. She was just being silly. We really are enjoying speech classes and Rae seems to enjoy learning what words really sound like.
Just kidding. She was just being silly. We really are enjoying speech classes and Rae seems to enjoy learning what words really sound like.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Race for the Cure
I'm going to be participating in the Komen Sacramento Race for the Cure in May. I'm being lazy and just doing the 1 mile walk/run so that Roy and the kiddos can come but don't have to hang around forever while I crawl the 5k. Anyway, if you'd like to make a donation, just visit my page. Any small amount will be appreciated!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Stuff
"The Office" was great :) Too short though! I wish it was an hour long! I just started watching The Office in September (when I visited my sis - thanks Katie and Chad for forcing us to watch) so I watched the first seasons in just a few months and now it's going to be hard to wait a whole week for another episode. I did the same type of thing with "Heroes" and it's been torture not having it to watch now.
It's kind of windy here today, and I hate being outside in the wind, so I'm trying to think of somewhere we can go indoors. I feel like Rae and Blaise are at a good age and I can take them out for the entire day without going crazy. When Blaise was a baby and slept a lot we'd go out and spend the day going to different stores and stuff. Then when he got older and didn't sleep so much I stopped. Then when he got a little older and was fascinated by sitting up in the stroller or shopping cart, we'd do a bit more. But then he started walking and wouldn't sit still, so he hated the shopping cart. Now he still can't sit still, but he's more willing to. And Rae is doing better with not wetting her pants (we had a bad week last week) so I feel like we can just go out and stay out for hours. Maybe we'll hit a mall with a play area or something. Our Sam's Club membership expired last week or else I'd go there. We want to get Costco this time, but we need to make sure there's one wherever we move. All the good shopping is a good 20-30 minute drive, so I always have to hit multiple stores to make it worth while.
Anyway, ramble post. I was just thinking about how, as the kids get older, how much fun we can have. We can do more crafts and cooking now, and do more "full day" activities. Kinda makes me less anxious to get pregnant. I'm just enjoying our life being so stable and quiet and I don't want to throw pregnancy in there! But I also want Blaise to have a sibling that is fairly close in age. Anyway, I don't really like to share so much about our decisions to get pregnant or not to get pregnant, so I'm going to stop now. :)
Oh, Roy had a phone interview yesterday for another school in Georgia. This one is even closer to you guys in Charlotte! It's about 15 minutes from Atlanta. We'll keep you updated.
It's kind of windy here today, and I hate being outside in the wind, so I'm trying to think of somewhere we can go indoors. I feel like Rae and Blaise are at a good age and I can take them out for the entire day without going crazy. When Blaise was a baby and slept a lot we'd go out and spend the day going to different stores and stuff. Then when he got older and didn't sleep so much I stopped. Then when he got a little older and was fascinated by sitting up in the stroller or shopping cart, we'd do a bit more. But then he started walking and wouldn't sit still, so he hated the shopping cart. Now he still can't sit still, but he's more willing to. And Rae is doing better with not wetting her pants (we had a bad week last week) so I feel like we can just go out and stay out for hours. Maybe we'll hit a mall with a play area or something. Our Sam's Club membership expired last week or else I'd go there. We want to get Costco this time, but we need to make sure there's one wherever we move. All the good shopping is a good 20-30 minute drive, so I always have to hit multiple stores to make it worth while.
Anyway, ramble post. I was just thinking about how, as the kids get older, how much fun we can have. We can do more crafts and cooking now, and do more "full day" activities. Kinda makes me less anxious to get pregnant. I'm just enjoying our life being so stable and quiet and I don't want to throw pregnancy in there! But I also want Blaise to have a sibling that is fairly close in age. Anyway, I don't really like to share so much about our decisions to get pregnant or not to get pregnant, so I'm going to stop now. :)
Oh, Roy had a phone interview yesterday for another school in Georgia. This one is even closer to you guys in Charlotte! It's about 15 minutes from Atlanta. We'll keep you updated.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Happy Birthday Daddy-o!
Today is my dad's birthday! Rae wanted to make him a cake and drive to Blythe to take it to him. I told her we were just there and that it is a long drive and she said "but I will just play with my toys in the van and then when it gets dark I'll just sleep". Ah, if only that drive were that easy!
But I do wish we could make him a cake and take it to him. My dad is amazing and Rae just thinks he is the coolest papa in the world. We love you! Hope you have a great day! (I read your comment on Katie's blog, and I'm sorry you are sick!) :(
But I do wish we could make him a cake and take it to him. My dad is amazing and Rae just thinks he is the coolest papa in the world. We love you! Hope you have a great day! (I read your comment on Katie's blog, and I'm sorry you are sick!) :(
Monday, April 07, 2008
There's no Georgia either
Valdosta chose someone else. I'll probably be taking a "visiting" (2-3 year) position; it'll help build up my teaching experience, which is really where I'm weakest since I'm teaching for the first time right now.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Not so much with the blogging lately
I don't know if I've lost interest in blogging or if there are just things I'd rather do, or if I got so behind that I feel like I have to catch up before I can move on!
But blogging is good journaling for me, so I'm going to try to get back into the habit. When the kids do/say cute things I can't remember them unless I write them down. They've been doing/saying a lot of cute things lately and I want to share them!
Blaise talks a bunch! He repeats a lot of the words we say and rambles a lot. We went to the Stake Center this morning to *try* to watch conference, and Blaise was so loud and talkative!! It was happy jabber, but it wasn't making the people around us very happy. We made it through the first hour okay but the second hour was torture. We are defintely not going back for the second session! Maybe I'll try to listen to it in the bedroom. We need the BYU channel!
Rae starts speech therapy tomorrow. Someday I'll write about the specifics of her problems, but to sum it up: she needs to go twice a week because her problem is severe. It's weird because I can't imagine in my head the way she pronounces things. For example, how does she say cup? I hear it as "cup" because that's what I know she is saying. But, she actually says it "tup". So I didn't realize how severe her problem was, because in my mind it sounds right. But there are words I can't understand at all, especially when she has never said them before. But the therapist said her vocabulary is good. Her grammar isn't always very good but she thinks that may be because of her speech problems (she just tries to get everything out as simply as possible). Anyway, I'm hoping all goes well and we see some improvements in the next few months!
I haven't cut my hair yet. I'm still thinking about it and deciding how exactly I want it done. Thanks for all the advice you all gave me! Very helpful!
Here are a few pictures from Easter. I'll send the rest out on shutterfly (really, I will this time!) plus some pictures from our quick trip to Blythe. Again, if you don't receive those pictures and would like to, let me know!
Rae is so happy about her yellow egg!
Roy gets really creative when he colors eggs. I've learned to make sure that there are plenty for him!
Blaise just colored.
At our ward Easter picnic. Rae was great at flying a kite!
Our Easter egg hunt after church. All hidden so carefully!
You know - the obligatory family picture! Please ignore the un-centered pictures in the background! I was working on re-doing them and then got side-tracked and then decided we were moving soon, so what was the point!?
Rae got lots of cool stuff in her eggs. She's stylin'!
Hanging out in the grass after church.
There are lots of pictures of me in a tree - so why not Roy too?
But blogging is good journaling for me, so I'm going to try to get back into the habit. When the kids do/say cute things I can't remember them unless I write them down. They've been doing/saying a lot of cute things lately and I want to share them!
Blaise talks a bunch! He repeats a lot of the words we say and rambles a lot. We went to the Stake Center this morning to *try* to watch conference, and Blaise was so loud and talkative!! It was happy jabber, but it wasn't making the people around us very happy. We made it through the first hour okay but the second hour was torture. We are defintely not going back for the second session! Maybe I'll try to listen to it in the bedroom. We need the BYU channel!
Rae starts speech therapy tomorrow. Someday I'll write about the specifics of her problems, but to sum it up: she needs to go twice a week because her problem is severe. It's weird because I can't imagine in my head the way she pronounces things. For example, how does she say cup? I hear it as "cup" because that's what I know she is saying. But, she actually says it "tup". So I didn't realize how severe her problem was, because in my mind it sounds right. But there are words I can't understand at all, especially when she has never said them before. But the therapist said her vocabulary is good. Her grammar isn't always very good but she thinks that may be because of her speech problems (she just tries to get everything out as simply as possible). Anyway, I'm hoping all goes well and we see some improvements in the next few months!
I haven't cut my hair yet. I'm still thinking about it and deciding how exactly I want it done. Thanks for all the advice you all gave me! Very helpful!
Here are a few pictures from Easter. I'll send the rest out on shutterfly (really, I will this time!) plus some pictures from our quick trip to Blythe. Again, if you don't receive those pictures and would like to, let me know!
Rae is so happy about her yellow egg!
Roy gets really creative when he colors eggs. I've learned to make sure that there are plenty for him!
Blaise just colored.
At our ward Easter picnic. Rae was great at flying a kite!
Our Easter egg hunt after church. All hidden so carefully!
You know - the obligatory family picture! Please ignore the un-centered pictures in the background! I was working on re-doing them and then got side-tracked and then decided we were moving soon, so what was the point!?
Rae got lots of cool stuff in her eggs. She's stylin'!
Hanging out in the grass after church.
There are lots of pictures of me in a tree - so why not Roy too?
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