Saturday, September 20, 2008

Does 'No' mean 'No'? and Tagged!

Today was one of James' days off......surprisingly it was on a Saturday! Yeah! So, we decided to take the kids over to the Navy Base to go swimming. They LOVE the big pool and it is a great way to stay cool and wear them out! hahaha...Parker asked if he could bring and friend (Jose) and Kylee asked if she could bring a friend (Emily). They both were able to and were so excited (you would think that we don't ever let them play with their friends the way that they acted!). So, the rule at the pool is that you CAN NOT go down the water slides unless you swim a lap (25 meters) with no life jacket for the life guards. Parker, Kylee and Jose had already done that, but this was Emily's first time. She said that she sort of could swim (side note....can not swim) but was too afraid to swim it (I can swim in 5 ft deep, but not 12 ft!), so she was not able to go down the slides. Not to worry, there is plenty to do (rock climbing wall, diving boards, basketball, just plain swimming) but if you can't swim you have to wear a life jacket. The shallowest part of the pool is 5 ft deep. She was not thrilled about that! She kept asking me if she could take it off, and it went along these lines.....'This life jacket is choking me. Can I take it off?', 'I just want to get in the water a little bit so I don't need my life jacket, right?', 'I don't like this life jacket, can I take if off?'....a BILLION times! I finally said 'Emily, it doesn't matter how many times you ask me, you can not take if off. So, please stop asking me.' Well, she got out for a while and took it off, and then decided to test her boundaries with me. She started walking down the ramp (no life jacket) and I told her she needed to go and put it on. She looked at me and then continued down the ramp. I told her she needed to mind....no minding! I then started to count! She turned right around and then we had no more trouble! It made me laugh to think that kids think if they don't like the answer that if they just keep asking eventually they will wear us down and we will give in! Who knows? Someday it might work! I will hope so for my grandkids! hahahaha

List: 5 joys, 5 fears, 5 obsessions, 5 surprising facts, 5 people to tag.

Joys
1. My kids (most of the time!) and my dog! lol
2. My husband.
3. Talking to my mom and sister on the phone.
4. Reading a good book that I do not want to put down.
5. The beach.
Fears
1. I have a HORRIBLE fear of elevators. I am terrified that they are going to break and I am going to plummet to the earth. I have been in an elevator that dropped and it was horrifying!
2. I am afraid to be a passenger in a car. I am the worst. Everything that the drivers do scares me to death. I usually have a death grip on the door handle. It is so bad that it is easier for both me and James if I drive!
3. I have a fear that I will never leave El Centro! This might be the scariest fear of all.
4. Spiders (Hobo's especially), bugs, anything that creeps, crawls or flits around in the air.
5. Heights (climbing the stairs to go down the water slides scares me) and small, closed in spaces.
6. Okay, this is not five, but this is a big fear for me....that someone might take my kids or they might get lost. Parker has been lost in the forest (SO TERRIFYING) and the twins were lost in the apartment complex. Just so you know, I am not good under those circumstances. I become a sobbing basket case!
Obsessions
1. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes! A good pair of shoes doesn't have to fit, but they need to make you feel better in every other area! Love the shoes!
2. Chocolate (who needs to say more?)
3. Getting out of El Centro (again, who needs to say more?)
4. Trying to find a way to loose weight without having to exercise or change my eating! (don't think it will ever happen that way....sigh....)
5. Being one of the first people to be in line to pick up my kids from school. Otherwise I am in line for at least 30 minutes, if not more! Can you believe that?
Surprising Facts
1. I am shy.
2. I have a tendency to hang on to anger or hurt for too long.
3. I love the beach and the ocean, but I am terrified of it the whole time I am in it.
4. I get a migraine that last for the whole day at least 3-4 times a week.
5. I am a homebody. If I had to choose between going out with people or staying home, I would rather stay home every time.
People to tag
1. Katie Higbee
2. Maren Farr
3. Rachel Warner
4. Penny
5. Jules
Look forward to seeing what you all have to say! Have fun!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Sorrow and the Plan of Salvation

Yesterday my aunt Patrice lost her mother, Gloria. I am feeling so sad for her, my uncle and their kids. It is hard in this life to lose someone and my heart goes out to each of them at this time. One thing that I am so grateful for is the knowledge that we will be able to be with our families again after this life. I am also grateful that my family has this knowledge as well. As I was talking to Patrice we talked about how nice it is to know that her mom is now with her dad and how great that must have been for each of them. He is been gone for a long time and she has been lonely without him (and I am sure that he felt the same) and it must have been such a happy reunion for each of them. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who made it possible for us to be together as families forever. I am grateful to know that when we die it is not the end. I am grateful that Patrice will be able to see her mom and dad again and that when that time comes for each of us we will have that same wonderful blessing. The Plan of Salvation is such a wonderful gift for each of us and when we have to go through these times of sorrow it is so nice to have the knowledge of that gift.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Craziness and more craziness

It has been a while since I have been on to blog. Sometimes (most times) it seems like I don't have a lot of time to say what is going on or what I want to say. Last Saturday Kylee had her very first gymnastics performance. I am not sure why the boys did not participate, but they didn't. We had to be to the mall by 7:00...yes A.M.!!!! Yuck!!!! So, I not only had to be there at 7:00 but I had to get 4 kids ready and there as well. I tried to take pictures, but my battery ran out, so I only got a couple. I will post those. We were there for 3 1/2 hours before we left. It was still going strong, but Kylee had done all of her performances and I had to get home. She did so great! It was so much fun to watch her. On the down times she and Parker were jumping off of the springboard and flipping over the mat. It was a lot of fun. I also had my very first open house for Scentsy that morning. I have started selling these wickless candles. Anyway, this was my first attempt at it. I have asked several friends if they will host a party for me...many said 'yes', no one has committed to a date! lol So, I decided to throw my own. I invited a bunch of people from the complex and I thought that no one would show up.....fortunately I was mistaken. I have some very good friends around here who did show up and ended up buying some things! Yeah!!! I was so glad, it kind of helped me to relieve my worry about it. :) Now, I just need to get people to let me come in their homes!



Parker doing flips off of the springboard. Next to the uneven parallel bars and the high bar this is his favorite!



Kylee doing a flip!


Here she is before her performance. Sorry, but I can't figure out how to turn the picture!


This is Parker and Kylee warming up. sorry it is so dark!

This is the only picture I have of her with the group before my battery died!



Kearney before the show!
Ireland getting in some well needed rest!

The kids and I went to church on Sunday (poor James had to work) and as we were leaving a lady in my ward said 'I thought that there could not be a car that was dirtier than mine, but yours certainly is!'....HELLO! Okay, she was right, but still.....do you have to point it out? I have not cleaned is since we came back from Utah. :) It was sooooo hot when we left church. The kids kept complaining about it and asking when we were going back to Salt Lake. I want to know the same thing!

Now, here is one of the funniest things. First of all, I have to preface this story letting you all know how much Kearney LOVES dancing. Kylee was in ballet this last year and Kearney loved to watch her practise. At Kylee's one and only performance (it last 2 1/2 hours!!!!) Kearney was enthralled! She did not stop watching the dancers except to bust out some dance moves herself. This summer she loved watching 'So you think you can dance?' and would watch the whole thing and dance along with them. So, we decided that we had to put her in to dance class. We put Ireland in with her as well. We got the ballet slippers ($30 a pop....although we already had a pair left over from Kylee), dance leotard, etc. We went in on Monday for the first class. Before the class started they were twirling and dancing on their toes, you know, having a great time. Miss Nicole (their teacher) comes out and takes them in. The class is 45 minutes long. 25 minutes into it Nicole brings them back out and I say 'Is the class over?' She said 'their done' and I said 'What?'. Yep, they were tired of dancing! Come to find out that Kearney wouldn't even do what they wanted her to do! She did not want to stand in one place and just hold on to the bar, so she twirled around the room dancing her own dance and then kept repeating 'I want my mommy'. Needless to say, we unenrolled them and will try something else next year! I said to Kearney 'I am not taking you back' and she said 'Good, I don't want to leave home anyway!' hahaha..... She is leaving home though. On Friday we are starting pre-school with a bunch of women in the two wards. We are taking turns teaching and helping...3 week off at a time! Yeah! 6 hours to myself...although most of that will be in Parker and Kylee's classrooms!

Okay, the girls started their school on Friday...not sure how it is going to work. Most of the moms think that 2 hours is too long for the kids to have a structured learning atmosphere! Hello!!! They are going to kindergarten next year and it is going to be much more than 2 hours once a week! So, I was talking to Jayci (she runs a preschool) and we/I decided that one day a week is not enough. They will forget everything by the next Friday (not to mention that most of the moms want to have 1 hour learning, 1 hour playing). So, I am going to have my own little preschool every day with the twins and keep them up to where they should be. They are excited to have two schools of their own!



Kearney and Ireland on their 1st day of pre-school!


Okay, another bit of craziness. On Friday there was a knock at my door at it was the mother of two kids that live by us. She is an interesting woman. She pretty much just lets her kids run free at all hours (last night I saw the just barely 4 year old wandering around the complex at 9:30 p.m. by herself). They start knocking on our door at 6:30 a.m. (yes, I did say a.m.!) and they could come in and she would not come looking for them until well after 1:00 a.m......just one of the many gripes I have with her. I digress....she was knocking to find out where Alexia lives. Alexia is a little girl (10 yrs old) that is friends with my kids and I am really good friends with her parents. I told her where and then I watched her stomp away. I looked at James and said 'She is sooooo mad!' and then looked up to see Alexia run away. Hmmmm.... So, being the nosy person that I am I watched out the window as Monica (crazy mom) talked to Yvette (Alexia's mom). Her hands were waving and her head was moving all over the place. Yvette walked out and down the stairs to find Alexia. I said to James that if anyone could hold their own it is Yvette. In fact, I would be afraid to confront her or cross her. I love her, she is soooo nice, but man, she would scare me! I am so not kidding! She doesn't put up with any nonsense! She is so great! So, a little later I see that Alexia is swimming so I said to James that she must not have been in too much trouble. Well, later that night Yvettes fiance Adam was talking to us and of his own volition (there was not questioning or prodding on my part!) he told us what happened. Earlier in the day Alexia was tickling Layla (yes, that is how they spell it). Later on Layla got mad at Alexia and said that she was going to get her in trouble, so she went and told her mom that Alexia had hurt her. Okay, quick side note...Monica once told me that Layla rules the house and that whatever she says or wants goes. I have seen this to be true. So, this is when Monica went up to Yvette's. They went down to talk to the kids and all of the kids said that Layla said she was just wanting to get Alexia in trouble but Monica said that Alexia shoved Layla. Yvette said 'I know my daughter and she would not do that'. Monica said she is your daughter, you take care of of. Yvette said 'Alexia, you can not play with her kids. Too much drama.' Monica took offense, started in on Yvette (this could be scary!). Yvette said 'conversation over!' and left! haha! Get me out of the apartment soap operas!!!!!





Okay, this little girl in the background is Layla (she is so cute) and her little bunny. Her parents just let her carry it all over with no adults. The poor bunny gets dropped all of the time. Also, they were shocked when she ended up pregnant (after being in the same cage as a boy bunny for a few days!)


Okay, Scott this is for you. I do not have any Halloween candy yet, otherwise I would be eating it! Here is a new post, just for you, and I will try to keep it updated more quickly next time!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Halloween

I love Halloween! Okay, it is not my favorite holiday, but it is right up there. I went shopping with Jayci this last month to buy some Halloween decorations before I came back home. In Gardner Village there is a store that sells Christmas and Halloween decorations all year long! How great is that?! So, I ended up spending way to much, and got the cutest things! Some of it was my birthday present from Jayci/Dann and my mom and dad (plus I added in James' birthday money from my parents as well...hehe). It was all so cute that I could not resist....yep! It is up in my house already. I have had it up for about 1 1/2 weeks. My poor husband! It is all very embarrassing for him, but he knows how much I love it. Now, none of you should be surprised if you know who my mom is! You know, Christmas up BEFORE Halloween?!

I was talking yesterday to a friend (Joann) and she was telling me that she saw the most amazing thing at Walmart yesterday. She said "Can you believe that they have Halloween costumes out ALREADY?!" I laughed and said "Yea, Walmart and the Erbs!". So, whether you are ready or not for Halloween, it will be here soon! Happy Haunting! Oh, by the way. I told several of you in the comments of my last pathetic post that I would be looking for good things here in Cali....here is one for you. When you are out trick-or-treating this year in the cold and sometimes snow (you know, wearing coats with costumes) we will be trick-or-treating in warm 90 degree weather....no coats! Happy Halloween!