Thank you for humoring my addiction

- Posted from my iPhone

Collin in Christmas stockings

This was awesome. He was singing Christmas songs over and over. I blame the tree.





- Posted from my iPhone

A new TOY!!

We have long been planning to purchase a camcorder this Christmas for our upcoming adventures. We have spent a lot of time at Bestbuy talking with salespeople, looking up reviews online, and asking around. We had narrowed our purchase down to two cameras, either a non-HD, or an HD camcorder. Jodi had convinced me to take advantage of the sale on the non-HD camcorder ($200), but come Black Friday, she gave in and said I could get the HD camcorder ($500). Well, as you can see, we didn't purchase either! We spent two hours at Bestbuy on Black Friday morning looking at NICE cameras that also take video. We made a big jump from our little Coolpix camera to this, which has the best of both worlds: great pictures and HD video! Needless to say, it was a lot more expensive than our other options, but hope it will be worthwhile!

(Our Christmas)

(Our newest family photo taken with our new camera!)

BYU wins!!

It was another one of those nail-biter rivalry games. The tale end of the story is that we were 20-20 heading in to over time and won the game 26-23. Yes!

Justin was there too, but left early to go to the Jazz game with my brother. Poor him, right?

We had a little wager on the game. I predicted 32-27 BYU and he predicted 32-24 BYU and the winner gets back rub. We're having a debate about it - who wins?

Thanksgiving Smiles

We are starting to really enjoy Jaime Lynne's more interactive nature (this has been a while in the coming, and still coming). We are grateful for this little joy bundle and her beautiful smiles.

Addiction

I am now more than ever addicted to my iPhone.


















- Posted from my iPhone

Chloe with Calvin and Hobbes

Now that I know it works you will be seeing more posts from me.







- Posted from my iPhone

Cool picture

Let's see if this works.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Christmas Carol

If you haven't seen it, consider yourself lucky. It was very well made and very SCARY. I was appalled by the movie. I was even scared at times. I wondered how they could rate a movie like this PG and recommend it so highly for kids. It then dawned on me how likely it was this movie didn't scare lots of kids. I had an interesting talk with Joe about how much kids now are desensitized to the spirit. Yes, it scared my kids. Chloe had no desire to sleep alone tonight. We begged their forgiveness and had a good lesson about inviting the Spirit back in through prayer. So, while our family home evening didn't turn out quite as we had planned, a good lesson was still learned.

Totally Awsome

Well, I know that Marquie is telling everyone about Honor Choir personally by phone. So, while some of you are waiting for your phone call, I will tell you that it was perhaps the best High School Choir I have ever had the privilege of hearing. Marquie did an outstanding job and loved the experience. Mom and I loved being there and sharing it with her.

Photo Friday

The surgery was a success. Both teeth came out as well as can be expected. Not only that, but Jaime successfully took a bottle twice in a row, allowing me to pump and get rid of the spiked milk.

I'm on drugs now, which seem to make me tired. But mostly I'm just hungry. Somehow being restricted to a diet of near liquids isn't very filling. Go figure. My total intake today has been small amounts of yogurt, runny refried beans, applesauce, pureed beef stew, and homemade peach smoothie.

Duh.

Happy belated birthday Justin. Forgive me, I pretty much forget everything now. I hope it was wonderful!

Because it's friday

I am so glad it is Friday. Young Women in Excellence is over and I can just be tired without worrying about anything. Until next week of course. Enjoy the pics.

Wisdom Teeth

Just letting you all know that I am getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow! I am NOT looking forward to it. I only have two wisdom teeth (does that mean I'm half as smart as the rest of you?) and while one of them is very ready to make its debut and will be easy to extract, the other is much more shy and will require some extensive digging (shudder). Usually, people are wide awake for wisdom tooth extraction, but I will be sedated for the procedure. The doctor warned that the extra digging at my gums will make me quite swollen. Wooopie!

But, the worst part of it all for me is that Jaime will need to learn to eat from a bottle fast. The doctor said I will need to pump ahead of time (done) and then pump once afterward and throw the milk away because it will be contaminated with drugs. I've only tried to bottle feed Jaime once before and she hated it, absolutely hated it. We're going to practice again tonight with Justin feeding her instead of me, and see if it makes a difference.

Wish me luck!

An Epiphany

Is that how you spell "epiphany"? Oh well...

As you know, I have been unemployed for a while now. 7 months actually. I then dawned on me. Why not apply to be a substitute teacher. So by wedsnesday morning I will offically be a substitute teacher for District 200 in Woodstock IL. In fact, they weren't taking any more applications but the District Superintendent saw my qualifications and made an exception. They called me back within 2 hours of my first call to them. That was a pick me up if I ever needed one.

Well it's Friday, isn't it??

Where are the pictures people????? my goooooodness.

Here are mine:

this is honors choir music. (next week)

and these are photos i've printed (and taken) :)

love you all have a great weekend!

I have a full time job!

Now that I think I have thoroughly confused Jodi on facebook I thought it might just be best to post my good news for all to see and clarify. :)

As you might know I teach for three different schools as an adjunct instructor. Adjunct means that I am a part-time employee that is hired contractually to teach classes. They can give me classes or not there is no permanent agreement. This is good for both parties but is limited and leaves instructors very disconnected from the schools.

I always make sure I show an interest in being a full-time instructor (online only, of course) but one school does not have full time online, the second only hires full time if you have a phd which I obviously do not and the third mentioned last year that there might be an option of being full-tim next year. So, as next year rolled around and as I had a class canceled because I had reached the max for an adjunct I again mentioned that I was interested in teaching more. I just happened to mention it the day before he got word that he was going to be able to hire two full time math instructors. I do my job well and so we had an 'interview' the following week and we both agreed that it would be a good move. I love that interviews have become a chance for both of us to really discuss if it would be a good fit without the games! He submitted my name to the dean and from there it is was just a matter of making sure I didn't have a shady past. :) And yes, I mean that literally as he verified that before he submitted my name. He also verified that my Bachelor's degree was earned in the US. Interesting? The questions in interviews are getting stranger and stranger.

Well, today he e-mailed and said that all was a go as soon as the proper paperwork is filled out! Yippee!

So, what does this really mean? That is a good question and I am glad you asked. ;) It means that I will get benefits (and hopefully reduce how much we are paying for medical insurance--by A LOT), bonuses (this might be my favorite part), and I can teach fewer classes at one of the other schools I teach for--you know the one with the chats. Between my ability to drop a class and a change in their policies I will go from teaching 6 chats per week to teaching 2! That means when I come to visit I will be much more fun! And that is the best part of all! So, there is my good news which I am very excited about and now you can be excited with me and hopefully it makes a little sense. :)

Gone, Gone, Gone

Thanks to Marquie's inspiration, April's hair was finally long enough. She was very excited to donate it to Locks for Love.

Validation

Justin has been working really hard on validating my feelings. He learned the concept during education week this year and learned a trick - to repeat the "feeling" work that I used in his validating response.

As you might expect, he's taken this a little bit far. He validates everything I say, feelings or not, and uses my exact words back at me. Today, when I told him that I saw a gray kitty in some autumn leaves that I thought was really cute he said, "I'm sure it was really cute." Later, when I told him that I don't like to have a full email inbox he said, "Good for you, for not liking to have a full email inbox."

Now, we are working on validating feelings only, and doing it in a more inconspicuous way. I asked him to try saying something simple like "I bet it was" or "Sounds like it." Shortly thereafter he said "What was that line you told me to say again?"

We're still working on it :)

I just wanted to say...

I LOVE YOU!!

Money, Money, Money...

Do you ever just feel trapped by your own inability to use self control. We went shopping this weekend...we totally shouldn't have done it...but it was totally fun. The fun is slightly masked by the blaring red that appears on my online banking page, but what do you do...? (Just kidding...I know the answer to that question. I just don't like to admit it.) We have been using an almost impossible cash system. I only say impossible because it's hard. We have only been successful with it one time, but ahhhh it was oh so satisfying when we reached the end of our pay period without using savings...better yet we had almost $100 left. That just doesn't happen. This time we got paid even a little extra and though we had some unforeseen expenses (like baby showers, doctor appointments, physical therapy, new shoes, Christmas presents, date night...all definitely necessities right....or...well...okay...maybe not all necessities...dang) we should have had plenty left over...so depressing. I didn't even fix my bald and bulging tires, change the oil in my car, or fix the oxygen sensors. Ask me if I paid off any debt...um NO! How irresponsible of me.
Let me just tell you however the shiny black twin lanterns from Ikea look awesome on my piano...until I look at them and think "I should take those back. I don't have money for that, but I like them so much. " Are any of you feeling my pain yet...I think we've all been there. Ahhhh (that is me taking a big sigh) Tomorrow is pay day and though I'm feeling bummed about my current inability to live wisely within my means, I am pumping myself up. I will not give up! I will try again. I will spend my cash and my cash only, because even if it's a hard thing I can do hard things...right?!

A few Photo Friday pictures

Just thought you might enjoy these. Our first time trick or treater and Marquie's 18th Birthday!

Better late than never!

Well, I must admit that making Halloween costumes is quite low on our list of things to do. So, on Saturday I dug through our clothing bins and found old costumes. We realized later that for some of these costumes this is their third year. Michael dressed up as Alma; Joshua was a leopard and Jacob is a giraffe! We did go trick or treating. How else would we get Christmas candy? Here are a few pics--enjoy!

Photos Friday

This is Jaime's passport photo. You haven no idea how long it took us to try and get a head-on picture of her with her eyes open and without a funny expression on her face. Oh, kids.

Because of her baby blessing, Jaime got to spend time with both of her grandpas.

She's already too cool for us :)

And finally...because Bryce and Michelle never post pictures.

My new Software. Wooo whooo!

Download it here for all you PC users.

Download

You really do not half to. It will require you to install the Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 sp1 from Microsoft's website.

This is facinating.

It is so interesting how so many of us jump to unprecedented conclusions.

Health Care Bill

What the Heck!

Is he throwing up or Eating?

A good day!

It has been a good day, so I just thought I would share! I woke up and ran 3 miles--not my favorite part of the day but good. Then, after breakfast we did our Book of Mormon studies. We started using Discover the Scriptures which I highly recommend! We have been studying the stripling warriors. There is a memory scriptures for most lessons and the one for today was particularly long but good. Well, it is not always the entire scripture but the parts that would have meaning for younger children. Joshua memorized this one that really impressed me . . . "They were exceedingly valiant for courage . . . men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted . . . for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God." Alma 53:20-21 He amazes me!

After scripture study we learned about magnets. We got a great magnet kit from Bright Futures. I love free educational toys! It was fun to feel the pull of the magnets and the boys loved playing with them!

Then, we played a dinosaur version of Monopoly for kids. I really enjoyed it! I would recommend it to all. Simple but fun and doesn't last nearly as long as the adult version.

Then, we ate lunch and did a chapter in Story of the World. We read about Hannibal's march over the alps during the Punic Wars. It is a great story and the boys thought it was awesome. Too bad he lost the war.

After lunch I was finishing up cleanup and realized it was silent. As this is not the norm as you might have guessed, I took a minute to enjoy and saw that Michael and Joshua were quietly reading and Jacob was playing quietly on the couch. It was a beautiful moment.

We then headed off to swimming lessons where both boys are now jumping off the diving board without their flotation belts. Home school swimming lessons are great! And we're making friends with local home school families--it just doesn't get better than this.

After lessons they played with friends outside. They have discovered the art of 'capture the flag.' And well, now we're just playing quietly and getting ready for dinner.

I love the good days!

Due to the Inability to post to the kitchen blog....

...I'm posting it here.

I had a lot of fun this morning. I made up my own muffin recipe for the family for breakfast. They were divine and full of flavor. And so, so simple to make.

Ingredients:

2 cups Krusteaze Pancake Mix
2 cups of Quick Oats
1/8 cup coffee creamer
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 cups of finely diced apples
2 cups of water
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp backing soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all items together. Fill greased muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. If you use a small muffin tin for bit sized muffins bake only for 6 min.

The kids devoured them. They are asking me also to try them with a different fruit in them.

Well good day to you all!