The Grandkids and Christmas

What would Christmas be without family? I was very lucky to have all the family spend some holiday time with me. I had Krishele take some pics with her new fancy camera of me with all the precious little ones. It was rather tricky to try to get some many wiggly bodies to sort of look at the camera and kind of smile all at the same time. With moms and dads behind the cameras making all sorts of noises and faces, we actually got quite a few cute pics.

Back row: Kaytlyn, Molly, Rebecca, Gramma B., Emma

Front row: Andrew, Rylie, Annie, Brooklyn

Vacation to Disneyland

Heather & Brittany and their families and I went to Disneyland & California Adventure for Thanksgiving. We stopped in Las Vegas on the way and made a little side trip to San Diego to Sea World. The weather was extra warm and beautiful (a little chilly at night) and we had tons of fun. We had Breakfast with the Characters and Lunch with the Princesses. Disneyland was lit up for Christmas, even though it didn't feel like the holidays temperature wise. We're certainly not used to shorts & t-shirt weather at that time of year. It was so fun to see all the little girls experience Disneyland for the first time. After the parade, the Castle lit up like it was covered with ice and snow, all the lights across main street and on the huge tree changed from colored to white and it began snowing right there on main street. It was absolutely magical!

Rylie Adams - My Beautiful New Granddaughter

She has arrived!!! Heather carried this beautiful baby much longer than expected - just over 38 weeks. This cute little bundle of joy arrived at 9:01 pm, Tuesday, August 4th. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long with lots of black hair. Heather had to have a c-section, but did well and is on her way to recovery. We are counting our blessings - the cord was tied in a knot. If it had tightened, we would not be celebrating. Instead, our hearts are full of love and thanks for a healthy, beautiful, little girl and her healthy mom.

Rylie's sisters, Becca & Brooke are very excited!! They can't seem to get enough of her, at least for now:-)This is my 7th granddaughter. I have one cute little grandson and another due in January. It is wonderful being a grandma to Emma, Molly, Annie, Kate, Andrew, Becca, Brooke, and now Rylie!

Busy Summer

I know, I know, I need to post new info to my blog.  I've been busy!  

Krishele came and stayed a week with her kids.  We went places, we did things, and we had lots of fun with Heather and her girls, and Brittany and her girls. (pics are coming).  Then Krishele went to girl's camp the next week and I got to tend Kate and Drew. It was really nice to bond with them.

We are waiting the arrival of Heather's new baby.  Lots of contractions, but not progressing.  This is the longest she has ever been pregnant - 37 weeks!  I get to go in for her C-section and get my first glimpse of baby Rylee (spelling not confirmed).  Then I get to tend Becca and Brooke while Mom is recovering.

We found out this last week that Brittany is having a boy!!  (Now I'll have 2 boys mixed in with 7 girls!!)  Britt and Dan get to go to Colorado for a lavish wedding and I get to tend Emma, Molly, & Annie while they are gone.

It has been a summer for grandkids.  They are lots of work, but I love them all!

My deck is still a work in progress, but it is functional and beautiful.  Nate had to take a break and finish their office, so they could make a baby room out of their existing office.  Poor boy, he never gets a rest.

I really am going to post some great pics soon. TTFN.

What A Day!

It's been sort of a crummy week - I've been sick, Mansie has a hurt leg, Izzy was throwing up one day, and it's been raining, raining, raining!  Good news is my new deck is done - well almost.  It needs a railing on the steps and a roof.  It is big and nice and I will enjoy it immensely. Poor Nate has worked a lot in the rain, but has done a fantastic job.  I was suppose to go to a wedding open house last night, but didn't make it.  Here is my attempt at humorous reasons why.  All of them are true and were not too funny at the time, though.

Here is my Top 10 List of why I couldn't make it to the open house  :-)

10. I have a bad head cold.

9.  My cold has gone into my lungs.

8.  I have a nasty cough.

7.  I don’t have much of a voice.

6.  I either have a cold in my eye, too, or I have pink eye.

5.  I was helping put the rails on my new deck (yes, in the rain).

4.  I still had “people” at my house.

3.  I didn’t have time to take a shower & get cleaned up.

2.  I hadn’t been to the store yet for a gift.

1.  My granddaughter had just mixed and spilled (?) multiple samples of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, first aid ointment, and aloe (all in a variety of colors – blue was the most noticeable), two new bottles of nail topcoat and polish adhesive (luckily clear – the bottle of pink French manicure polish was open but not yet mixed in), and two containers of jewelry cleaner (one of them with a red tint) on a large area my new bedroom carpet and we were frantically cleaning it up.  She had already been wiping (smearing) it up with a towel.

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Good news is that since we had to rent a carpet cleaner, not only the mess got cleaned up, so did all the rest of my carpet!

Yea, it's Summer!?

Holy smokes, I feel like I live in Seattle.  It has rained buckets full (literally) of rain lately.  Ever since school let out, it has been rainy and cold. Crazy. Makes it difficult to spend much time outside - especially tough to get any sort of tan!

Yes, school is finally out and I can have my life back for a couple of months.  I get to do some crafty stuff, post more to my personal blog instead of just my school blog, spend time doing some yard work, and delving into some in-depth cleaning.  As Jeff Foxworthy says, you might be a school employee if you have no social life between August and June!  Sometimes I feel as though I have no life at all with the exception of school.  It is nice to have a break, although I may want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work from 8 to 3:30 and have summers off."  I didn't make those up, they belong to Jeff Foxworthy.  Those and many others were shared and applauded at our end of the year lunch.  The rest of the list is quite noteworthy, especially if you are a teacher or know someone who is and have heard their stories.  Here is the entire list.

Jeff Foxworthy on School Employees:

You might be a school employee if . . .

. . .you believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick.

. . .you want to slap the next person who says, “Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off.”

. . .it is difficult to name your own child because there’s no name you can come up with that doesn’t bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.

. . .you can tell it’s a full moon or if it’s going to rain, snow, hail…anything!!! without ever looking outside.

. . .you believe ‘shallow gene pool’ should have its own box on a report card.

. . .you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, “Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.”

. . .when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children yu do not know and correct their behavior.

. . .you have no social life between August and June.

. . .you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

. . .you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce.

. . .you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the ‘lounge’.

. . .you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are willing to donate the U-HAUL boxes should they decide to move out of the district.

. . .you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

. . .you can’t imagine how the ACLU could think that covering your students’ chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public.

. . .meeting a child’s parent instantly answers this question, “Why is this kid like this?”

. . .you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference.

. . .you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons…and desks and chairs for that matter!

. . .the words ‘I have college debt for this?” has ever come out of your mouth.

. . .you know how many days, minutes, and seconds are left in the school year!

The Swine Flu with Pooh & Piglet

The Swine Flu or Piggy Flu as I like to call it has become something of which we are all aware - especially as a school teacher.  I was told about this cartoon and the funny comment from Winnie the Pooh so I searched and found it (the edited version).  It was definitely too funny not to share.  I also decided this was a better place to put it than just an email.  With this I can go back, look, & laugh again when this scare is all gone away.

Little Red Hen

I've been doing so many things and haven't had time to post to my blog about them, but I have to tell everyone that I've become the Little Red Hen!!  I bought a new Vitalmill.  Then I bought a couple of 50 lb. bags of white wheat.  Next, I put it to work.  I ground my wheat (it grinds it fast and fine) and made the most delicious bread ever.  My old Braun mixer was so hot when I finished, it burned my hand, so I bought a new Bosch mixer.  I made bread again, and it turned out great, too.  You would never know it was whole wheat.  It is very soft and yummy.  I got a neat little gadget so I can slice the loaf in nice even slices before I bag it.  I used to make bread years ago, but not whole wheat.  I have the coolest recipe that you just add the yeast right along with everything else, and voila!  It only takes about an hour to rise and makes 4 fabulous loaves. It is so fast and so easy. Obviously, I'm very proud of my accomplishment.

St. George

Brittany , Emma, and I went to St. George last weekend for Emma's 1st Dance Competition.  We had a great time.  It was nice and warm and we wanted to stay longer, especially since it was snowing at home.  We played, we ate, we shopped, we slept, Britt and Emma went swimming, and Emma danced.  She did a great job.  I created a little digital story about Emma's experience.  Thanks for inviting me to go along:-)

Kate's Birthday

I went to Idaho for Kate's 5th Birthday. What a funny little girl she is.  She wanted a dinosaur cake and a Tinkerbell DVD.  She is such a girly girl, and yet she likes dinosaurs and lizards. A unique little girl - just like her mom. Krishele did a great job decorating the cake and Kate was so excited she could hardly contain herself.

                                       

The party was at a gym - the place where Kate takes gymnastics.  There were balance beams, springboards, bars, pummel horse, trampolines, and a huge pit full of foam blocks.  The people in charge played games with the kids, helped them swing on ropes, and best of all, cleaned up the mess!

      

    A view of part of the gym      

  

       Kate in the foam pit

Kaytlyn walking on the balance beam                             

And finally the cake and presents!

Even the adults had a good time running, bounding, and jumping - especially Krishele.  I caught a picture of her in mid-flight after running down the runway.

 And there she is grinning in the foam pit after she did here mighty flip!! NOT!  It was a really fun day

Brittany's Day

Wow, I can't believe it has really been 29 years today since I welcomed Brittany into my life.  What a joy it has been.  There were a few years when she was little that she drove us crazy with her screaming, (now she has 3 spunky little girls of her own) and some times as a teenager that she was a little rebellious.  In fact, there wasn't a curfew in our home until Brittany.   Oh well, I love her anyway - her spunk and especially her tenderness.   Happy Birthday Brittany!

Heather's Day

Thirty one years ago today, my first baby girl was born.  Even though that day was misreable, it has since proven to be well worth the pain and very wonderful.  Heather is now all grown up, smart and beautiful.  She is married to the boy next door, has 2 cute girls of her own and expecting a new baby - gender unknown. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!!!

Life is Good? Despite Minor Troubles, Yes It Is!!

I know, I know.  It's been way too long since I updated my blog.  Shame on me.  But to my defense, I've been spending a lot of time with family with all of the recent holidays, which is high on my priority list.  All of the family came for Thanksgiving - noisy, but wonderful.  I stayed with Heather on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  Heather & Brittany and families came to my house mid afternoon on Christmas and spent some time playing and eating.  Everyone came again on New Year's Eve for dinner and fun.  Krishele and family stayed with me for a few days, which was lots of fun.  I can't think of anything better than being with family, especially during the holidays.  I will have to add some pictures later.

Then, I fell on the ice and hit my knee on the curb going into school on our second day back and was sort of laid up and just didn't feel like posting to my blog.  Luckily, I didn't break anything, but the bruising and swelling have been impressive - a positive way to describe it.  I was in a brace that kept it immobile for a few days and on crutches to stay off from it.  Now I keep a compression wrap on it from the toes up and still use a crutch. I'm not suppose to be on it more than 2 hours a day.  It's improving, but will take some time. I go to the doctor again on Saturday and maybe my mobility will be increased. I had been up to help and visit Krishele (Idaho Falls)  just before Christmas because she had her veins stripped. (Talk about awful wind and snow, but that is a story all in itself.) She had some great bruising, too.  Guess I was jealous of the attention she was getting and the myriad of colors on her legs and wanted to get in on the action:-)  Not to mention 3 ladies in our ward had fallen and broken wrists and arms.  I was lacking in attention being paid to me!!!

I also was asked to talk in Sacrament Meeting, so I spent quite a bit of time preparing for that. Even though I hate speaking in front of adults, I think I did a really good job.  I spoke on provident living and included my perspective as a single mother.  I had lots of compliments afterwards.

I'm back to the grind of school again, but it is rather nice to get back on a regular schedule.  I think my students were glad to be back.  They have been really good and very helpful with my inability to walk.