Ok, so I haven't been here for a while...
I will be posting some video of Kaleigh's band concert and Cole's part in his Christmas Play! I am praying that the kids stay well enough to do both!

Ack! Stress! Need a massage or something!

Preschooler's Answers to If I were a....

In my class of 4 year olds, I have a class book that I make called, "Community Helpers".
Basically I ask the kids which community helper they would like to be and why. Of course most of them usually say Firefighter, but I offer some others as well. This year with only 8 kids, I anticipated that most would say firefighter. I was not disappointed.
There were a couple others...but firefighter won, hands down.
For example..it goes like this, "If I were a firefighter, I would... Put out fires-one twin.
"If I were a firefighter, I would...Put out all the fires-second twin.
"If I were a firefighter, I would...Spray water out of a hose-M.
"If I were a firefighter, I would...Help People-K
"if I were a doctor, I would...give shots-M2
"if I were a doctor, I would...make people breathe in and out-A
"If I were an animal doctor, I would...make all the dogs better-A2
"If I were a mail carrier, I would...put mail in the mailbox-L

Now I don't know about you but those sound about right. Pretty simple right? It was tough trying to give them other ideas about what to be. The other options were, Police Officer (which surprisingly got no takers), Teacher, Dentist, Librarian, Nurse, and Garbage man.
I put initials for the kids names since I don't want to put names to the photos that I sometimes post. Then they all get to dress up in their community helper gear, I take a photo and that goes along with the words in the book. Neat book, fun to put together. At the end of the year each child gets to take home a class book. I always have about 13 books to make sure everyone gets a choice instead of having to take the last one book if they are the last to pick.

The Twins...

So far my class is wonderful! A very sweet group of kids including these two! They are twins and the girl is just 8 minutes older than the boy. She is very talkative and he is quiet, she is into her own thing, and he is curious about everything and everyone! She is helpful, he is timid...wow totally different! They all seem to be at the same approximate developmental age which for me is a huge plus!

Last year I was not so fortunate!

But this year seems to be shaping up pretty well...of course tomorrow is only the second day so...

Meet Your Teacher Day!

So, today was "Meet Your Teacher Day". Kaleigh and Cole went with their Dad to theirs and K has her friends in her class and a good teacher, not the one we were hoping for but as far as I can tell, all the 6th grade teachers are good! Cole has a great teacher, one of my co-worker's daughters. My co-worker retired so that she could take care of Cole's teachers baby! I am happy that it worked out that way. Cole also has his two best friends in his class! Good news for Sacramento! They have an overnight trip and hopefully one of his friends will share the room with him and Carl. Of course that is if the hubbys can get off work!

Anyway, they had a good day!

I am always very anxious about meeting the new kids coming into my class. I had a pretty rough year last year and so understandibly I was nervous! I knew one of the kids from the three year old program from working extended care. Two others were also from our school but they were in the tu/th schedule so I never saw them. Then I had 5 completely new kids! Ack!

But I have to say, after meeting them all, I seem to have a very sweet and nice class. So far...I only have 8 and that means they can add anyone at any time. My main concern is a little girl with Cystic Fibrosis in my class. The mom seemed very nice and even gave me a booklet on what CF is and what to expect as a teacher. I appreciated that because I had no prior knowledge of the disease. It isn't as severe in little children as it is in older children and adults. My biggest worry is the enzyme supplement that MUST be taken before eating. I am not the best at remembering myself to take vitamins or any other kind of medication on a regular basis! We have snack at school and I will probably remember for that but for special snacks and parties? I just don't know what problems arise if they don't take it when they should! I mean is it an "oops!" or is it a "OMG!!!" Hopefully it is the former and I will learn as I go! I have to talk to the parent and our office to see if the little girl can actually bring it with her snack so we both remember! I don't think it is harmful to anyone if taken so maybe they will allow them to bring it with snack.

So I am exhausted after all the mental worry and preparation of my classroom. I will be going in one last time to sort through a cabinet that has food in it and such...so a little more prep work and I am ready to start! Wish me luck...or pray...that is even better!

What a great Day!

Well, this ended up being a better day than what I thought it would be, barring a few little missteps! : P

After we got there, my friend Nancy took three of the family in and we waited for the next friend, Dave to come. He came and signed the other three in and at the same time told me that it was probably going to be a pretty quiet day with the park only having an estimate of 35, 000! Wow, that is great! I was expecting more like 65, 000! So Connie and family were able to get to everything they wanted to see plus more! They even got to go on one ride twice! So it was a good time!

I think the favorite of the day was Grizzly Rapids! They got drenched but that was fine since the day was rather warm! Most likely it was around 90!

They also got to see Captain EO! Very nostalgic for Connie!

So all in all, I would guess they had a great time!

Day Four...Disney!
All I am going to say for now...dropped the Johnson's and my two off this morning at 8:30! They got signed in by some very nice friends of mine and now they are in till 10pm. I completely forgot to tell them where we would pick them up...but I figured if we are right outside of the exit gate, we can't miss them!

So more to come!

Last few photos of the day with Byron!

The surf was fantastic and as you can see, we weren't the only ones who thought so!

This day was a blast! Thanks again, Byron!

More of our Boating day!

As you can see, Catherine drove wonderfully! The families in front of Ruby's (compliments of Byron), and more photos to follow! What a great day!

Day Three, On Byron's boat!

Today was I think one of the highlights for Connie and family...us too actually! It was awesome!

We got to where we needed to go at 10am and met up with Byron. We parked a couple blocks away and got on the boat. The kids were pretty impressed! We pulled out of the dock area and then Byron asked the kids if they wanted to drive! Wow, Mikael was the first and did a great job, Kaleigh drove, Aaron drove, Catherine drove and so did (at the end) Cole. They all did well...well, when they were paying attention! : )

We pulled up the the Fun Zone and rode the carousel, then we met Byron at Ruby's for lunch. It was just as I remembered it from about 30 years ago! Whew what a long time ago that was!

Lunch was delish and we all ate alot! Then we got back on the boat and rode around some more. Byron took us to the wedge where the waves were Gigantic! It was truly awesome to see! Then we got back in the boat and drove all around the area. The next blog will show some boats that have pelicans on them and Sea lions!

Tea for 2!

Well, today was our relaxing day! The kids stayed home and went in the pool a bit, watched movies, played legos and played some video games too! Connie and I were able to get away for an hour and enjoy tea and lunch. It was nice and relaxing and we enjoyed our teas! Connie had the Bora Bora tea (a blended black tea), and I tried the Bossa Nova (a blended white tea). Everything was yummy and we were able to just visit with no kids around! It was lovely!

Tomorrow is on the boat with Byron!

Day 1 of Connie's Visit!

So Connie and family arrived yesterday and they actually got here in really good time! So we visited, had dinner and then visited some more! There was a bit of a mix up with accomodations but no worries. So today was day one and we went to the beach! They kids had a blast and the adults did too! Watching the kids was a hoot! Aaron caught his first sand crab and Cole tried his luck at body surfing...kind of. We had lunch from our cooler and just relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather. No one really ventured out into the waves, they were huge! Carl says 10'!

So we had a great time and everyone got a little wet, except Carl. : )

On to day two!

Kaleigh's Room - After

Well, she isn't quite done yet. We are working on where to hang things but since she isn't allowed to hang anything like pictures above her head, she was able to start with her dots. Very cool looking, especially since she did the design all by herself! No help from Mom, (even though I really wanted to!) But so far she loves it!

Happy Birthday Diana!

Happy Anniversary, Lee and Tina!

I am so glad you are a family! You make each other laugh and you teach each othter so much! Love Ya!

Kaleigh's Room - Before

Ok, so this is Kaleigh's room before the design makeover...well, it is a photo of the getting started part of her room. I missed getting a full room shot before we started. For example the curtains to the left in the photo are new. They will hang with black curtains behind them and will have tie backs to secure them when open. She used to have cute Ladybug valances that went with the walls and the blue curtains were kind of cut and sewn together poorly...these are the ones hanging behind the white curtains. Her room is being painted with primer today and then with "Cool December" white paint tomorrow. Her colors are black and white with red accents, but no ladybugs...well, maybe one : )
She is very excited about the room and we got the low odor paint which is amazingly true to its name! I have the room open still but there is really no smell at all! It is about 3-4 dollars more per gallon but it is worth it. Kaleigh is still spending two nights away just to be on the safe side. Then hopefully we will finish her room.

Later photos to follow when we are done.
Bye bye ladybugs!

My Call to 911

Ok, for those of you who really know me, you know that I don't freak out at every noise that I hear in the night. Especially Tina. I wasn't one for being afraid in the night other than when I had a nightmare or something. I was more scared of supernatural things as a child then of burglars or whatever. My problem now is that I have two children whom I love very much and although I am normally not afraid in my house, Carl was gone this weekend up north at a gaming weekend with his online buddies. I don't like being alone with the kids in the house, I don't really know why, it is a somewhat irrational fear since we have never had any break ins or threats...really. There have been break ins near us, but usually they are relationships gone bad or something like that. So Saturday night (last night in fact) I went to bed late as I usually do to insure that I am tired enough to actually fall asleep. When Carl is home, a lot of the time I put in ear plugs because he snores or the kids are moving around and I hear it. I am one of those people that sleeps VERY lightly. Crunching dirt out side will wake me and we have a lot of raccoons and stuff that like to run around at night. I do not wear ear plugs when I am alone with the kids so that if something happens I do hear it and can take care of them...hopefully. So I got to bed around midnight and probably fell asleep close to 1am. At around 2am, something woke me and I was about to go back to sleep when I heard a very distinctive sneeze. Outside...by my window...I froze. Then I quickly got up and turned on the light. Then I went to the front door and turned on the porch light. Then to the back door to check it and to maybe...oh, I don't know...turn on the back porch light? I wasn't about to go outside! But maybe I would scare whoever it was away by doing so...I flipped the switch and heard movement... Not the slapping of feet on concrete or anything, but enough to really scare me and I decided to call 911. I told the girl on the phone that I thought there may be someone in my backyard and that I was alone with my two kids. She said she would send someone. I held onto the phone and waited...and then waited some more...after about 14 minutes a police car drove up and I saw flashlights so I opened the door and they came through to the backyard. They did a really thorough search but of course found nothing. I am sure they figured I dreamt something or heard something different. They were nice enough but I got the feeling they didn't believe me. Well, I thanked them for coming out and I left the porchlight and a kitchen counter light on and went back to bed. I didn't fall asleep until about 4:45, when I check the front door again and saw the paper deliverers tossing the papers out. I figured, okay, there are people out and about, I think I can get to sleep now... I slept till 7:30. Now I am waiting for Carl, who is stuck in traffic about an hour away at 11:00pm hoping and praying that he gets home soon, so I can go to bed and sleep.

My New Bike!

My kids are a little cautious, as some of you are already aware. They were not very physically active at a young age, and definitely were not wanting to learn how to ride bikes. Carl cycles a lot and enjoys it for the exercise as well as for fun. I have not had a bike since, well...I think it was my late teens. I rode around the neighborhood and sometimes even to the beach with Tina.

But I did learn when I was about 5-6. Times have changed, where we used to ride around at an early age, I would not let my kids ride alone anywhere in any neighborhood. Together, maybe around the block. So when we bought some garage sale bikes and urged the kids to ride, we got a lot of resistance. They were just not interested. We waited a while and then tried again, still no go. Kaleigh even got a bike with some money she earned from a drawing contest, but she still didn't learn...too afraid of falling. Then this last Spring, Kaleigh got an offer of a bike from a friend at church for free, and we told her, "if you take the bike you need to learn how to ride." She agreed and learned pretty quickly to ride. She had so much fun that at the end of the school year, Cole decided he wanted to learn too. He had a small bike (which I thought would be fine for him to learn since he could touch the ground with both feet) and it took a few tries but he got it too. Now, ever since I told the kids they needed to learn, I have told them that when they learn to ride, then I would buy a bike and go riding around with them. So, they learned before our vacation and I said I would get a bike as soon as we got home. So...all that to get to this. Today we went and not only got my bike, the photo above, but we upgraded Cole to a bigger bike as well. So now we can ride as a family! Yay!

Canada Part 2
According to Kaleigh, the best day was our last, when we bought our souvenirs and then Connie and family went to the beach with us, and the kids all got buried in the sand. Then Connie and kids came over and played while Carl and I made dinner. Kaleigh got to spend a good chunk of time with her one of her favorite cousins, Catherine. Kaleigh also said that she enjoyed all the time with Omi in the swing and just being in Omi's big house. The kids played games on the grass, ate and then we had s'mores for dessert. One of my favorite photos is the one with all the cousins lying face up on the grass. Thanks Connie! We decided that we definitely did not have enough time with Connie and Omi and next time we will try to stay at least a couple days longer!

Canada Part 1

We had a very nice stay in Canada too! I helped my mom the first day, by going to the bank, the Doctor and the Grocery store. The next few days we went to the Water Center and Atlantis Water park. We were able to kind of hang out with Omi and Connie's boys, Cole enjoyed riding his bike and going to the park with Aaron. Kaleigh and I went to Opa's bench and enjoyed a little walk. We went to the mall, and to the City park. When Connie came home for the weekend, we (Carl, Connie and I) had a really nice dinner at The Kettle Valley Grill. Yummy.

Oops, almost forgot our Jetboat trip!

So, this was towards the beginning of our time with Tina. We took Lee to his sis and bro-in-laws to do some work for them and continued to go on the Jetboats on the Rouge River. The kids had never been so we did the two hour trip vs. the 4 or full day trip. They LOVED it! Cole was saying, "THIS IS SO AWESOME!", Kaleigh and I were very happy everytime the captain drenched us with the boat because otherwise it would be a little warm. But usually it was just at the right time that he dipped the boat or did a turn! Sorry no photos of the dips or turns, the camera would have gotten soaked! I was being very careful! We also ate at a yummy place at the entrance to the jetboat dock called the Taprock restaurant. It was pretty good! Thanks to Donna and Jim for recommending it to us!

Summer Vacation - Oregon part 4

At Last! Graffiti Cars!

We always enjoy the Graffiti cars when they come to town! We looked at them when they were parked downtown and then again when they had their "Cruise". It was peachy keen seeing all the spruced up old cars! Cole enjoyed it a little more this time and of course you can't look any longer than Carl! We all went ahead of him because he looks at every single thing on the car!

We left the cruise a little earlier too. He stayed behind and took more photos. All in all it was a cool time!

Summer Vacation - Oregon part 3

Cherry pickin' and the River were a blast. First Tina and Kaleigh and I went Cherry picking. We got there early enough and scoped out the trees, trying to find ones with cherries on the lower branches but we didn't really find any so we started moving a ladder around to get the higher ones. We picked about a bowl and a half or so and then decided to go since the weather was getting warmer. Just on a fluke we decided to drive around the far side of the trees and low and behold the farthest corner of the grove or whatever were a few trees that were pretty loaded. We got out and in five minutes pretty much gathered the second half of the second bowl. Took a lot less time and we got a lot of good cherries. Yum! Later, we decided to cool off at the river and enjoy the sunshine without the heat! The river was cool and the beach not too crowded. The kids enjoyed making a rocky home with Trevor for a crawfish and they splashed and stuff, then took a little time to go up to the park for a bit of fun up there. All in all it was a lovely time.