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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

Tonight is the night...

...that "The Office" returns! Am I pathetic or what? :)

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!) :(

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.

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?

What do you think?

I'm getting tired of my current hair style. I don't want to go short like I usually do when it starts getting warm out. I just want something more interesting and flattering. I'm thinking of just doing some layering but keeping the length I have right now. But I'm also considering bangs. I know that bangs can be bothersome, especially when you want to grow them out, but I really need a change to my look.

So, give me your opinion on this look:

There is no Arizona...

...no painted desert, no Sedona...

That's right, Roy did not get the job at ASU. I am heartbroken, but I'm getting over it. No offers from anyone else so far. We'll just keep praying and waiting!

Gotta get one!

USB pregnancy test. Oh man. It also doubles as a fertility monitor.

So behind

I'm behind on everything - pictures, updates, witty things I thought of to blog about. Sigh. We will be sending out our Shutterfly pictures tomorrow or Monday, so if you don't already receive those from us and would like to, let me know. That will show you what's been going on around here. The kids are really growing up and we've captured some cute things they've been up to. So, seriously, you'll want to see these pictures!

What else is new?

Roy - Just got done with winter quarter. The class he TA'd had a final this morning. He finished grading the papers this afternoon and now he just has to enter the grades on Monday and then he doesn't have anything going on till next Monday! Woo hoo! We thought about going to Blythe, but there's a lot going on here and making a trip is probably too much right now. I'm bummed, but oh well. Anyway, I was taking about Roy...umm...oh yeah, he's going to be teaching a class spring quarter.

Ashley - I've been busy with church stuff. I'm on the Enrichment Committee and the Activities Committee and both groups have been busy. We had a big Easter picnic today. It was a huge success (right, you guys?) and a ton of fun. And for Enrichment, I was in charge of a swap meet last week that was a lot of work. There was a TON of stuff and now I have to find a way to get it all to Deseret Industries. It took quite a few hours just to bag/box it up and put in the stage in the cultural hall. Whew. And then coming up this week we are having a big "quarterly" Enrichment that I'll be helping out with. It's good to stay busy though.

Rae - Just finished her first ballet class. It was only four classes long and she missed one class when she was sick. She had fun with it, but she said she didn't want to sign up for more. Which is okay with me - that's 30 bucks we save! :)
She is starting speech therapy in a few weeks. It's through the school district and I really really like the teacher that will be working with her. I'm really excited about the whole thing - especially that we'll be able to understand her better! I took her to Supercuts a few weeks ago and got her hair cut kind of short. It's cute and it's a lot easier to do.

Blaise - Man oh man, this boy is starting to talk so much! He mimics most of the words we say, and is pretty good at telling us what he wants. He's so cute! He's sleeping well, eating well, playing well. (Doesn't always nap so well though. Well, if you can get him to go to sleep, he'll stay asleep - but it's hard to get him to settle down!)

I'm starting to not be able to form sentences! I think it's bedtime! I'll post stuff about Easter tomorrow!

Oh Yeah...

One more: "Tales From the Crib" is doing one of their "freebies". Go and make a comment and you are entered into their drawing.

Yum

Just saw this on Slickdeals - sign up for this Black Angus Prime Club and get a free dessert. You also get a free dinner for your birthday. Too bad mine is not till Dec!

Bryce-a-roni

So my baby brother isn't a baby anymore. He's 18, just had his Eagle court of honor and just got accepted into college! Way to go Bryce! Next week he'll sell his last pig for 4-H - good luck with that! And a year from now he'll probably be off on his mission! Maybe I'll try to have another baby before he leaves so he doesn't have too many new nieces and nephews to catch up on when he gets home!

You're an awesome guy Bryce - keep up the good work!

Ashley:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West   Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Roy:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Ducks and naps

We have a couple of nesting mother ducks right outside of our apartment (kinda like last year). Yesterday Blaise decided to charge one of them, and by the time I got to him, she had made him regret his insolence:


As for today, this is what happens at 6 PM when Blaise hasn't taken a nap:

P.S.: We are really behind on sending pictures out. It's on the to-do list.

Arizona

I suppose it should be mentioned, for those who don't know, that I visited ASU Polytechnic last Monday through Wednesday. It was great, except that I had severe vomiting on Monday night and Tuesday morning. I think the hiring committee members were understanding, though. (Also, I never actually threw up in front of them, which is a plus.)

On a lighter note

Take this quiz...it's fun. I don't if there are that many people that read my blog that haven't already seen this on my sister's blog but I wanted to post it anyway.