Here's Ashley and Jacob's instructional video on "how to skate". The kids kidnapped the camera and took it out to the garage and made this. Notice the messy garage and the kids wearing pj's at like 2:00 in the afternoon. Thank goodness for Sunday afternoons.
I'm not so sure we would've let them skate around the garage with the camera if we knew that's what they were doing. Crazy kids:) Can't wait to see what they come up with next.
Unfortunately you'll have to follow the link to see it since it gave me an error when I tried to upload it (maybe it was too long) Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw0DXPNQAkM
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Good Stuff
It's the end of another week and the rest of my family is in bed so I have a quiet moment to update our blog. So some good stuff from this week.
At the beginning of the week I was mailed 2 Family Fun magazines. (I order a subscription on-line so either I botched it up and ordered 2 or they sent me a free copy and I didn't need to order anything after all.) I didn't even remember the idea I had sent in that they wanted to publish so I turned to the page it was on and found this...
$100.00 for the 3 sentences in the pink box..."To get our kids to express written gratitude, we make thank-you note writing into a family night. The notes are much more fun to work on together. After we're finished, we play a game and have dessert."
Pretty simple I know. I remember it was about this time last year that I had done a family home evening for all our post-Christmas thank you note writing and we sat around the table with the thank you cards and each wrote a little something in them. Last year with my writing for children class I tried submitting various writing samples with no success. All of them had recieved rejection letters so who knew that our simple family home evening idea submitted on-line would be a "big idea" and actually get published after I'd given up trying. Another instance of a blessing for trying to live the gospel.
I don't have a picture of it but Taylor had to do a brochure on Japan for his History class with Mrs. Stearns this week, (his favorite teacher:). He worked hard on it and even used Google translator to translate his Haiku's into Japanese. Needless to say his hard work paid off and his teacher complimented him on his work in front of the class. He has stepped up his effort in her class and she has shown more willingness to praise him and offer encouragement. He came home saying that he's starting to respect her more and even like her some. It was thrilling to hear. That's what life is all about to take tough situations and try and make it better and learn what you can out of it. I was proud of Taylor.
This week Jacob finished his 3rd Harry Potter book for a book report. We have found that Reading charts work the best for Jacob. Here's what he's been working on for the last 3 weeks...
He passed his reading quiz and made a cereal box as his display for his book report. He named his fictional cereal Firebolt Fruities and has a boy with fire coming out of his mouth on the front of the box saying "Awesome".
At the beginning of the week I was mailed 2 Family Fun magazines. (I order a subscription on-line so either I botched it up and ordered 2 or they sent me a free copy and I didn't need to order anything after all.) I didn't even remember the idea I had sent in that they wanted to publish so I turned to the page it was on and found this...
$100.00 for the 3 sentences in the pink box..."To get our kids to express written gratitude, we make thank-you note writing into a family night. The notes are much more fun to work on together. After we're finished, we play a game and have dessert."
Pretty simple I know. I remember it was about this time last year that I had done a family home evening for all our post-Christmas thank you note writing and we sat around the table with the thank you cards and each wrote a little something in them. Last year with my writing for children class I tried submitting various writing samples with no success. All of them had recieved rejection letters so who knew that our simple family home evening idea submitted on-line would be a "big idea" and actually get published after I'd given up trying. Another instance of a blessing for trying to live the gospel.
I don't have a picture of it but Taylor had to do a brochure on Japan for his History class with Mrs. Stearns this week, (his favorite teacher:). He worked hard on it and even used Google translator to translate his Haiku's into Japanese. Needless to say his hard work paid off and his teacher complimented him on his work in front of the class. He has stepped up his effort in her class and she has shown more willingness to praise him and offer encouragement. He came home saying that he's starting to respect her more and even like her some. It was thrilling to hear. That's what life is all about to take tough situations and try and make it better and learn what you can out of it. I was proud of Taylor.
This week Jacob finished his 3rd Harry Potter book for a book report. We have found that Reading charts work the best for Jacob. Here's what he's been working on for the last 3 weeks...
He passed his reading quiz and made a cereal box as his display for his book report. He named his fictional cereal Firebolt Fruities and has a boy with fire coming out of his mouth on the front of the box saying "Awesome".
Monday, January 19, 2009
I'm thinking my blogging is becoming a once a week thing. I thought after I finished the Twilight series I'd get a hold back on my life and have more free time. (Those books sure were addicting, and more than one household chore got put off by me reading them!)
On Tuesday we were able to witness Jeff getting his beads at the beading ceremony for completing his Woodbadge training. Way to go Jeff!
Unfortunately Jeff went out in the hall with all the people that visited for the beading ceremony and he missed Taylor's pinning ceremony to recieve his Star. Jeff had the camera so we didn't get any pictures of Taylor. (I sent Jacob out to get him and he went around the building the opposite way of where Jeff was so they all missed it.) Way to go Taylor!
Wendesday was Ashley's birthday. She was very specific about what she wanted to do this year to celebrate her birthday. We didn't get to do everything on her list but in the end I think she still was happy. I brought in cupcakes but instead of the party bags she wanted I brought in valentines fun dips and bubbles. I didn't realize that the kids would eat the fun dips in the class (I thought they would bring them home). There was lot's of sugar on the desks and green fingers but I'm sure mom's were happier not to have them brought home. One of the kids said "I love these. My mom won't let me eat them anymore. She says I have to be outside." I saw why:)
That night we took her to McDonalds and met Jeff to open a couple of presents and eat dinner together.
On Thursday I went over to Heather's to paint her fireplace. She tried to describe what we were planning to do to Matt but without seeing it I'm sure he was a little worried. Luckily he like it :). I didn't get a picture but she says she posted it on her blog.
Friday I helped at the school in Ashley's class at the end of the day and then we came home to clean and get ready for her birthday party the next morning. Again she was very specific on what she wanted done at her birthday.
We convienently nixed the....
Karate fighting,
wearing pajamas,
and wearing costumes,
pillow fighting,
and the magic show along with a lot of other things that would've made the party 6 hours long.
We did get a pinata in there, the marshmellow game, dancing, playing eye-toy, face painting and make up (that was interesting), nail polish painting, and of course cake, ice-cream and lunch.
I was very grateful for Angie (Taylor's mom) who was able to stay and help since Taylor and Jeff were at the temple during the party. I would've been on my own with 11 girls! Thanks Angie! The girls were all great anyways it just would've taken another hour to get everything in. I'm sure Mom's were wondering what I had done to their faces. I did let them pick what they wanted painted on their face and some of the girls wanted hearts that covered their whole face. I'm sure that was fun to clean off.
That night Jeff and I had the opportunity to go to the Opera (my first). Someone gave us tickets the day before for free, because they couldn't go. It was a showing of The Magic Flute down in LA. Jeff was willing but a little unsure of how much he would enjoy it since it was all in German and from what he remembered of his opera experience in Italy it is very hard to understand what is going on. Well it was a lot of fun. Subtitles helped us know what was going on the our seats were in the 3rd row back so it was very easy to see. Definately a fun experience that we weren't expecting. He enjoyed it much more than he thought he would. I'm going to try and show the kids the DVD of the Magic Flute to give them some culture. Jeff's is thinking I'm crazy but I'll still try. He commented "You might as well put on conference for them." I'm curious what they will think.
On Tuesday we were able to witness Jeff getting his beads at the beading ceremony for completing his Woodbadge training. Way to go Jeff!
Unfortunately Jeff went out in the hall with all the people that visited for the beading ceremony and he missed Taylor's pinning ceremony to recieve his Star. Jeff had the camera so we didn't get any pictures of Taylor. (I sent Jacob out to get him and he went around the building the opposite way of where Jeff was so they all missed it.) Way to go Taylor!
Wendesday was Ashley's birthday. She was very specific about what she wanted to do this year to celebrate her birthday. We didn't get to do everything on her list but in the end I think she still was happy. I brought in cupcakes but instead of the party bags she wanted I brought in valentines fun dips and bubbles. I didn't realize that the kids would eat the fun dips in the class (I thought they would bring them home). There was lot's of sugar on the desks and green fingers but I'm sure mom's were happier not to have them brought home. One of the kids said "I love these. My mom won't let me eat them anymore. She says I have to be outside." I saw why:)
That night we took her to McDonalds and met Jeff to open a couple of presents and eat dinner together.
On Thursday I went over to Heather's to paint her fireplace. She tried to describe what we were planning to do to Matt but without seeing it I'm sure he was a little worried. Luckily he like it :). I didn't get a picture but she says she posted it on her blog.
Friday I helped at the school in Ashley's class at the end of the day and then we came home to clean and get ready for her birthday party the next morning. Again she was very specific on what she wanted done at her birthday.
We convienently nixed the....
Karate fighting,
wearing pajamas,
and wearing costumes,
pillow fighting,
and the magic show along with a lot of other things that would've made the party 6 hours long.
We did get a pinata in there, the marshmellow game, dancing, playing eye-toy, face painting and make up (that was interesting), nail polish painting, and of course cake, ice-cream and lunch.
I was very grateful for Angie (Taylor's mom) who was able to stay and help since Taylor and Jeff were at the temple during the party. I would've been on my own with 11 girls! Thanks Angie! The girls were all great anyways it just would've taken another hour to get everything in. I'm sure Mom's were wondering what I had done to their faces. I did let them pick what they wanted painted on their face and some of the girls wanted hearts that covered their whole face. I'm sure that was fun to clean off.
That night Jeff and I had the opportunity to go to the Opera (my first). Someone gave us tickets the day before for free, because they couldn't go. It was a showing of The Magic Flute down in LA. Jeff was willing but a little unsure of how much he would enjoy it since it was all in German and from what he remembered of his opera experience in Italy it is very hard to understand what is going on. Well it was a lot of fun. Subtitles helped us know what was going on the our seats were in the 3rd row back so it was very easy to see. Definately a fun experience that we weren't expecting. He enjoyed it much more than he thought he would. I'm going to try and show the kids the DVD of the Magic Flute to give them some culture. Jeff's is thinking I'm crazy but I'll still try. He commented "You might as well put on conference for them." I'm curious what they will think.
Monday, January 12, 2009
So Monday started off with lots of promise, but the gym didn't happen again until Friday, long story, but I have tried to eat better. I'm curious to see how that weight loss goal is working out. I resolved to only weigh myself at the gym once at the beginning of the week. So I'm hoping to go tomorrow because I'm run down with a cold today.
I've had doctor's appointments, sick kids, cranky kids, gotten sick myself but generally other than that it hasn't been too bad of a week. Thursday we went to the junior high where Taylor received an award for getting 5 A's. He actually didn't want to go and complained the whole time because he said he would've gotten 6 A's, another long story. But we forced him anyways and even went out to dessert afterwards to celebrate, which he didn't want to do either. We got to experience the earthquake while we were sitting in Chilli's eating ice-cream.
Saturday we took the kids skating like we promised them. (I think that's when I overdid it and pushed myself into a cold). All my pictures ended up blurry but I did get a video. The kids all got skates for Christmas so I brought them to a skating rink for the first time over Christmas break. Taylor and Jacob did really well right off the bat and Ashley tried the hardest I've ever seen laughing every time she fell and getting right back up again. Jeff was sad that he missed all the fun so we had to go again. This trip Ashley did much better. So proud of her.
So today is another new start. We got a white board for Christmas and the plan was to have daily chores and things to do for the kids. So far this is what it has been used for....
Today I got it all set up for real so the kids will get to come home and know exactly what to do with all their free time :) We'll see how that goes.
I've had doctor's appointments, sick kids, cranky kids, gotten sick myself but generally other than that it hasn't been too bad of a week. Thursday we went to the junior high where Taylor received an award for getting 5 A's. He actually didn't want to go and complained the whole time because he said he would've gotten 6 A's, another long story. But we forced him anyways and even went out to dessert afterwards to celebrate, which he didn't want to do either. We got to experience the earthquake while we were sitting in Chilli's eating ice-cream.
Saturday we took the kids skating like we promised them. (I think that's when I overdid it and pushed myself into a cold). All my pictures ended up blurry but I did get a video. The kids all got skates for Christmas so I brought them to a skating rink for the first time over Christmas break. Taylor and Jacob did really well right off the bat and Ashley tried the hardest I've ever seen laughing every time she fell and getting right back up again. Jeff was sad that he missed all the fun so we had to go again. This trip Ashley did much better. So proud of her.
So today is another new start. We got a white board for Christmas and the plan was to have daily chores and things to do for the kids. So far this is what it has been used for....
Today I got it all set up for real so the kids will get to come home and know exactly what to do with all their free time :) We'll see how that goes.
Monday, January 5, 2009
A new year
I woke up this morning ready to get back into life. After a couple of weeks of indulgence in food, entertainment and generally laziness it's time to get working again.
I have to admit it was hard getting up for my 7:00 am Sunday morning meeting after getting used to sleeping in but when I woke up today I was excited with plans of going to the gym and getting back on top of life.
Jacob and Ashley had a hard time getting going today. They both woke up saying they didn't feel good and they just wanted to lay around. I was thinking my plans were going to be in ruins but when I took their temperatures nobody had a fever. I gave them Tylenol just in case and sent them to school. I haven't gotten any phone calls so I guess that everything is OK. I have to admit the peace and quiet has been nice today.
So I was off to the gym along with everyone else to check out the damage.
My list of some of my goals for 2009:
Lose 10 pounds. I'm writing my weight on my calendar every Monday to see how I'm doing. I know nixing the mindless grazing will have to be a part of it as well.
Stop complaining. I think I tend to feel sorry for myself sometimes when I have a lot going on and I realize that this only makes me grumpy, makes life seem more overwhelming and probably isn't fun to be around.
Step outside of my comfort zone and be more welcoming and friendly to people I don't know. I admire this trait in others I would like to develop it more.
Get up to date on scrapbooking. It's a never ending thing but it's a worthy goal at least.
Help my boys more with their scouting stuff. The rest of life seems to keep getting in the way until your putting on their uniform and your realize how much you vowed you would do last time they put on their uniform.
Find a time that works for regular family scripture study. I think I'm realizing it might not include all the family with every session...
So now that my goals are out there I'm hoping I'll feel some more accountablility. So if you see me complaining, not going to the gym or not doing something else on my list your free to remind me of my goals.
If you don't mind sharing let me know a goal you have for this year and I'll help you keep on track too.
I have to admit it was hard getting up for my 7:00 am Sunday morning meeting after getting used to sleeping in but when I woke up today I was excited with plans of going to the gym and getting back on top of life.
Jacob and Ashley had a hard time getting going today. They both woke up saying they didn't feel good and they just wanted to lay around. I was thinking my plans were going to be in ruins but when I took their temperatures nobody had a fever. I gave them Tylenol just in case and sent them to school. I haven't gotten any phone calls so I guess that everything is OK. I have to admit the peace and quiet has been nice today.
So I was off to the gym along with everyone else to check out the damage.
My list of some of my goals for 2009:
Lose 10 pounds. I'm writing my weight on my calendar every Monday to see how I'm doing. I know nixing the mindless grazing will have to be a part of it as well.
Stop complaining. I think I tend to feel sorry for myself sometimes when I have a lot going on and I realize that this only makes me grumpy, makes life seem more overwhelming and probably isn't fun to be around.
Step outside of my comfort zone and be more welcoming and friendly to people I don't know. I admire this trait in others I would like to develop it more.
Get up to date on scrapbooking. It's a never ending thing but it's a worthy goal at least.
Help my boys more with their scouting stuff. The rest of life seems to keep getting in the way until your putting on their uniform and your realize how much you vowed you would do last time they put on their uniform.
Find a time that works for regular family scripture study. I think I'm realizing it might not include all the family with every session...
So now that my goals are out there I'm hoping I'll feel some more accountablility. So if you see me complaining, not going to the gym or not doing something else on my list your free to remind me of my goals.
If you don't mind sharing let me know a goal you have for this year and I'll help you keep on track too.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Christmas video
OK so this is my first attempt at a video mix. The music is cheesy and the splicing cut some stuff out but it was a good way to put my random flip videos of Christmas together. The program did it all automatically so I'll have to figure out how to edit myself later. Hope your having a great vacation!
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