What in the World?

A Redesign of the Fridge

2010-01-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

Steve and I have been working to loose weight. For Christmas we got the Wii Active game, which by the way for us who tend to be lazy is quite the workout. We have started it out on low intensity for the first "30 day challenge" and it kicks our butts and we feel it the next day. In addition I'm trying to get all of us in the house to eat more healthy. It's not that we eat junk its that we don't eat enough fruits and veggies. We have them, they just don't get touched in the bottom drawer of our fridge. So that brought me to the idea of redesigning the fridge the way maybe perhaps it should be to get everyone to choose fruits and veggies over other things in the fridge.

So here it goes:

top THEN milk/drinks/yogurt NOW veggies/fruit

middle THEN eggs/left overs NOW milk/juices/yogurt/eggs

bottom THEN some veggies/fruit and whatever else NOW leftovers/whatever

veggies & fruit on the top :)the top meat drawer is now pre-cut veggies and fruit to snack on

(meat and cheeses are now where the veggies use to be in the bottom drawer hidden away)

Whoo Hoo!

2009-12-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

I have lost 1 pant size! I'm down to a size 12 which I haven't been for a long time. Although I haven't lost any weight I'll take a smaller pant size. I must be doing something right. Trying to watch calorie intake and getting into exercising has been helping hopefully this will be the start of many pounds lost to come. :) My exercise routine is a few sit ups, leg lifts, squats, jumping jacks, jump rope, and the dreaded push ups. For aerobics I play Dance Dance Revolution for at least an hour. The game says I burn about 300 calories in an hour. I'm trying to work harder to burn more calories in an hour. Well we will see what happens in the next month or two.

Can't Believe It Worked!

2009-11-19T22:17:00.000-08:00

I was looking on the Internet for ways to fix scratched DVDs and Cd's, most things I found sounded absolutely ridiculous and there was no way I was going to try them. Then I came across cleaning your DVD or CD with toothpaste. Still sounded ridiculous but I had about 10 DVDs that the kids had overly loved and needed to be fixed or replaced. So I gave it a go. What you do is put about a pea size amount of toothpaste on the DVD and rub it in like your buffing it, then rinse and dry. It worked so far on every DVD I did this to. We had some really bad one that would play for 5 seconds then skip play for 5 seconds then skip. After doing this I watched the whole movie to make sure it worked and they all played like new with not a single skip. If you have scratched DVDs I would give this a shot, so worth the time!

Lets Talk About Drugs

2009-11-17T06:25:00.000-08:00

Last night for family night we sat down with the kids and talked about drugs. We started by asking them what they knew about drugs. Sable said cigarettes, and how they made a promise to their PE teacher to never smoke. Lyndall listed off cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine. So scary to hear those words from a 9 year old mouth. He didn't really know what they were just that they are bad for you and you shouldn't do them. We asked if he knew how they made people react and behave and he said they do stupid stuff. Then I asked if he knew what an addiction is. He said yes but he couldn't tell me, so I the way I explained that was that when your addicted to a drug you feel that you must have it and you'll just go crazy if you don't, that's when you start behaving really bad and doing things like beating people up for money and selling your most prized possessions for money like your XBOX and PSP. That did the trick, sell his video games to feel stupid on drugs NO WAY!

Now all that was great for drug talk but we were not done, we went over the difference between illegal and legal drugs and things that aren't drugs at all. Its the legal drugs and the things that aren't drugs that scare me because they are easier to get a hold of in any one's house. We asked him if he knew some legal drugs, like Tylenol, aspirin, and cough syrup. He asked why we give him those, and of course we told him because they are OK if you follow the directions otherwise they can be just as bad as cocaine or meth. We continued to ask him about non drugs, I gave him hint of smelling. He guessed it, he said how kids were talking about sniffing sharpie markers. We talked more about spray paint, and other huffing and what it does to your body. Steve talked about how it suffocates your brain. We also reminded the kids why you don't take stuff from strangers including stickers.

To seal the deal we showed the kids these pictures of drug users, yes we showed Sable too. I wanted a vivid image to be printed in their head to remind them not to do drugs. We also told the kids that they can come and talk to us about drugs anytime. Lyndall's response was, "I thought I would get in trouble if I talked about drugs." WHAT???? NO NO NO YOU WILL NEVER GET IN TROUBLE FOR TALKING ABOUT DRUGS WITH US! PLEASE ALWAYS COME TO US ANYTIME YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR CONCERN.

http://www.crystalrecovery.com/Pages/MethUsers.html

http://www.joelmackey.com/entertainment/shocking/methmouth.html

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! We started by carving the rest of our pumpkins...

This is Sable's 3 eye 2 nose 1 mouth with 1 tooth pumpkin

Her cyclops pumpkin

Lyndall's pumpkin

The pumpkin he painted, it had froze and thawed, the top was getting mushy so we didn't want to open it up

Here are mine that Steve had gutted for me

Now to the costumes...

Sable was Little Bo Peep

Lyndall was Albert Einstein

My nephew Codie was Dracula and came trick or treating with us

Here was the Halloween snow man that the boys made

And Sable posing like a little ham next to it

Then of course the kids went trick or treating and brought home some good candy loot.

Snow Day!

2009-10-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

It all started on Tuesday night, continued through Wednesday where my kids school district was one of the few that did not close. But here we are on Thursday and its an official snow day. The kids are so excited to go play in the snow with all their friends.

Sable decided to start by laying in it... Lyndall found a huge icicle, I had to ask him to please stop licking it ewe...

Bernie couldn't wait to go run throughout the yard, he loves the snow...

Peanut was just as excited as Bernie but didn't last very long without her coat.

This is her pick me up, pick me up!

Good Job Sable!

2009-10-23T14:23:00.001-07:00

I'm so proud of Sable for getting a good citizen award! We missed the ceremony on Tuesday because of her being sick, oh well maybe next time.

6 Days & 2 Teeth

2009-10-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

So this past week and a half had not been the most fun. It all started on Wednesday the 14th. I had received a call from Lyndall's teacher that Lyndall was complaining about his head hurting and how he just didn't seem like himself and that he had been to the nurses office twice already and they sent him back to class both times, so I told her I would be there soon anyway to drop Sable off and then I could take a look at him. When I got there I asked the office lady if she could call Lyndall to the office for me, because he had called complaining about his head hurting. As I'm talking to her the nurse sticks her head out and says she already checked him he's fine and that his temperature was only 99* and that's why she sent him back to class. When Lyndall came in I looked at him and had decided that he needed to go home, his eyes were red and glossy, and of course mothers instinct kicks in and says ya he looks bad. He had also sat out for recess that day, he NEVER does this! So on Thursday he seemed OK so he went to school, but on Friday he was about to leave for school, I took one look at him and told him your not going to school go lie down. I took his temperature and it was 102.5*. By Saturday he was better, that's my Lyndall, never sick for long.

On Saturday we went shopping with my mom, about three hours into it I looked at Sable and said we needed to get home now, she wasn't looking so good. When we got home I checked her temperature and it was 102.9*. Later that night her temperature got higher and she was throwing up, coughing, and her throat was hurting. She only threw up the one night, but kept the temperature up and down between 101* - 103.9*. It hit 103.9* three times and that was the only time we gave her any Tylenol, and a half dose at that. Finally its Friday and her temperature is normal and she is going back to school for 1 day this week. She is so excited to do that. We have cookies for the class for snack being that her birthday is in 2 days.

That was the 6 day part, well during the 6 days she also happen to loose her 2 front teeth.

2009 - 2010 School Pictures

2009-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

National Pysical Fitness Award

2009-10-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

This is Lyndall's 3rd National Physical Fitness Award that he has earned while at Stukey. He is such a fit boy that this really doesn't surprise me, however I am happy all the same.

WoW!

2009-10-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I got a nice note from the teacher about Lyndall! Maybe there is still hope for the boy.

In Contact With Lyndall's Teacher

2009-09-02T14:48:00.001-07:00

This year I am trying something new with Lyndall and his teacher. We exchanged email addresses and now I know everything about whats going on at school with Lyndall's behavior. He always tells me how school was good and that nothing happened. Now when he comes home I say how was school and he looks at me to see if I have heard from his teacher. Like today, I asked how was school he says fine, I say oh really your teacher emailed me. Then he comes out with the truth. Which today was coloring on his chair and making a mess around his desk. Last week it was paper airplanes. He doesn't like the teacher email thing so much, I LOVE IT!!!

My New Joy

2009-08-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

Lately I had found myself bored while the kids were at school, so I signed up at the Stukey library to be a parent volunteer. I have been having so much helping out. I get to check books in and out, file the books on the shelves, straighten shelves, and cover books. I only go in for the time that Sable is in school, so about 3 hours. There is one more parent that comes in only on Mondays for 1 hour. I think its great to have the parent help out, it gives the librarian more time with the kids when they need help finding a book. I have helped kids find books too. Tomorrow is Sable's library day and I will get to help her class.

Grounded For A Week!

2009-08-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

I was sooooo mad at Lyndall the other day. It all started when we were leaving for my moms house and I couldn't find him anywhere. I saw one of his friends brothers and asked him where they were and he said they were in one of the alleys. I went over there and had Lyndall get in the car, I told him he was not suppose to be over in this area and that I had been looking for him and couldn't find him. I was about to leave when I could smell cigarette smoke, I asked him for his hand, I smelled them and sure enough he smelled like cigarettes. I called out to his friend and told him to come over here and I smelled his hands too. I told him he better get to his house because that is where I'm headed. When I got there we all talked and came up with grounding them for a week. Lyndall gets to do extra chores and the only thing he is aloud to do is read. Come to find out his friend stole the cigarettes from his parents and they were also lighting things on fire. I certainly hope that this will never happen again.

The sad thing is Steve and I had quit smoking in hopes that the kids would never smoke. So much for that.

First Day Of School 2009

2009-08-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

I didn't cry and my mom kept me busy by shopping while Sable went to her very first day of school ever. Ruanne, my mother in law, and my mom came with me today to take Sable to her first day of school. Steve had to work so I sent him a picture. She went in the school like a real trooper, just just like her brother did when he started kindergarten. She came out as happy as could be. She tells me she loves school. After school her and Lyndall sat down together to do home work. She was very happy to have a conversation with him about school. She told him what she did and that she is going to music class tomorrow and can't wait. It was almost like she was trying to sound grown up talking to him. Lyndall told her about his great first day too. I must say kids do grow up way too fast, but I will continue to enjoy these moments as much as I can.

The Cast Is Off

2009-08-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

I took Lyndall to the doctors today to get his full cast off and to get the half cast on. After looking at the x rays the doctor decided that his arm healed up very nicely and he wouldn't need the half cast. YAY! However they did give him a wrist brace to wear while playing for the next couple of weeks just to ensure that he doesn't re break it. At least its off just in time for school to start next week, and I don't have to smell it anymore.

Kindergarten Assessment

2009-08-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

So today Sable went in for her kindergarten assessment. She impressed all the teachers and they could not believe that she never had a day of preschool and that maybe her parents are actually responsible for spending time with her. The test went great, so great in fact that they tested her a little further and discovered that she needs to be tested beyond what they had in the classroom. She to be tested again when school starts to see if she is ready for the first grade. Yes the first grade. I ask myself this question, now why wouldn't they let her start kindergarten last year? Oh ya they said because of her age, and that she wouldn't be socially ready, even though all her friends are 2 months older than her and started last year. So we will see how things will go next week.

Crumpley Campout

2009-08-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

We went camping for a couple days with Steve's family. The food was great, the kids played so well together, and the company was truly the best. I thought it would be crazy and out of control, but I think for the most part it went smoothly.

Sable wearing my hat, which became her hat.

The kids played hide and go seek.

We shot bow and arrows.

We played uncountable games of ladder golf, which has got to be one of my favourite games to play now.

More ladder golf.

They played in the dirt and rocks, this is their town with houses, a barn and some other stuff that they built.

We put together bug jars and hunted for bugs.

After searching for bugs we went on a scavenger hunt.

Grammy taught them how to play a card game.

Steve took care of the fires.

On Saturday night we sang songs, read funny stuff, and performed funny skits.

Gathering around the camp fire.

Rob and Ruanne taught us a song.

And of course there was a play ground that they played at on the last day before we left.

104th Bridge Demolition

2009-07-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Last night the Cub Scouts were invited to see the demolition of the 104th bridge over I-25. It was about 10pm but worth it, they had so much fun seeing how they take apart the bridges. One of the big tractors had fallen into a hole and they had to get it out. The kids got to wear a reflector vest and glasses. They got to keep the glasses. This went towards some of their engineering badge for Webelos.

Camping With The Cub Scouts

2009-07-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went to Jackson Lake and camped with the Cub Scouts. Only about half of the pack came, and it was a blast. I had never camped with a group of people before so this was all new to me. I think things went fairly smoothly with meal preparation, cleanup, pack time and family time.

Lyndall set his tent up with the help of Dad, I think Sable was supervisor.
Since Lyndall couldn't go swimming, we played in the sand..

...caught toads and went fishing.

Lyndall became a junior Webelos...

...Sable got her own pack shirt.

They performed a flag retirement ceremony with some of their flags and with some of the parks flags. A few park rangers had come to see this as well. This was my first time I have ever been to one of these. Lyndall was chosen to hold the scout flag during the ceremony, and I think that the whole thing kind of got to him, he looked sad.

Of course we had smores and...

A beautiful sunset.

The Cast

2009-07-16T17:44:00.001-07:00

Today was the day we went to get the cast on. He will have this one on for four weeks and then he will get a half cast for the last two weeks.

We decided to put some "tats" on it. I really need to learn to draw! LOL!

Broken Wrist

2009-07-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ah so today I prove I'm a bad mom. I take Sable, Lyndall and Kyle to the skate park at the Westminster Rec Center for some skate boarding fun (roller skate for Sable). Things were going great; Sable skated around on the side walk; Kyle was more into watching; and Lyndall was learning some awesome tricks for the other boys that were there. Well he was learning how to "drop in" the bowl, after about 15 times he fell hard and broke his wrist. I was proud of myself for not freaking out, but I knew it was most definitely broke.

So this is what he was doing when he broke his wrist, he broke it after about the 15th time.

Can you find the break?

A 9 year old on Morphine has got to be the funniest thing ever. He was a real trooper.

Lesson of the day: Being a kid is hard.

Happy Fathers Day Weekend

2009-06-22T13:02:00.001-07:00

This Fathers Day we decided to skip out of town and go spend the weekend in Colorado Springs. The First day of our trip we went to Cave of the Winds. Lyndall and Sable out side Cave of the Winds waiting to go in.Family pic, we were in the clouds.The Canyon behind them.While we were waiting we let the kids go "panning" for precious gems. Inside the cave.
Sable crawling out of a little tunnel.
Daddy and Sable standing by really large stalactites.

Next we drove up Pikes Peak. The kids loved watching out the windows as we went up above the clouds.
Above the lake.

The kids thought it was so cool to play in the snow in June. On our way back down it was actually snowing on us! After staying at the Crown Plaza we went to Seven Falls. Where Steve got in for free for Fathers Day

Kids in front of part of the water fall.

In front of the tee pee, we were able to see some Native American dances too.

Stave with the Kids.

At the top of the Eagles Nest. We let Sable buy a stuffed wolf, she calls"woofie" it has yet to leave her side.Then it was off to Manitou Springs where we tasted some of the spring water.

I just love the look on her face, it really does say it all.

Lyndall agreed.

And again, EWE!

Lyndall thought this one tasted ok, I didn't.Our last destination was Garden Of The Gods. It was so beautiful.

Sable climbed on everything she could when she could.

Lyndall in side a little rock cave.

Lyndall was holding up the huge rock.

Sable took her turn too.

Lyndall completed the Junior Ranger Book and became a Junior Ranger. He received a certificate and badge. He was so happy.

Just a pretty picture.

And another one.

They did some rock climbing.

Steve and Lyndall ventured on...

...while Sable and I did smaller scale rock climbing.

She loved the big red rocks.
On the way home they crashed, of course.
Good night.

What The Hail?

2009-06-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well here it is, June, we haven't had a summer day yet. It feels more like what other states might consider spring. All though here spring was in the 70's and 80's. Now for June it has been in the 60's to 70's and then it storms in the evening. These are not normal storms either, they consist of HEAVY rain, thunder, lightening, hail and tornadoes. Tornadoes? Oh well that's Colorado for ya.

The hail wasn't very big, but there was a lot.

This is Lyndall's hailman.

Cub Scout Day Camp (Day 1)

2009-06-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

We signed Lyndall up for Cub Scout Day Camp, and Sable for the mini camp. This goes on for 1 week, I hope I last. I found today to be rather disorganized, strange their motto is be prepared, so this was rather a shock. Other parents have told me that the rest of the week will be better and that the first day is always crazy, I hope so.

For sports he played Lacrosse and Ultimate Frisbee.

In nature they learned about how to take care of trees, why they are important and then they made a pot and planted a tree in it.

For games they played a couple of different ball games.

He was so excited that he got to shoot a B.B. gun.

For scout skills they learned about the ten essentials for camping and hiking.

There was a parade of the mini campers.

At crafts they made an inchworm out of pony beads.

Hiking At Chautauqua Park

2009-05-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a hike at Chautauqua Park in Boulder. It was supposed to be a 1 mile hike in a small loop, however I let Lyndall be the leader. When we were at the half way point of the loop the kids decided that they were not ready to go down just yet and they wanted to go up more. OK, so up we went. We ended up taking a 3 1/2 mile hike straight up. The trail was steep and rocky.
Lyndall wanted to go under the rock, Sable thought it was going to fall and she did NOT want to go under it.
This is now the background for my computer, a pretty wild purple Iris.
On the trail.

A crevice in the rocks that Lyndall wanted to go in, once again Sable said no.

Snack and water time. I made the kids each carry their own backpack full of water and snack.
Sable on Bluebell Trail. Those are all the blue flowers in the back.

They were smelling the trees, they said that they smelled sweet and like sugar, they were right!

Lyndall was checking out the moss on the rocks...

...and picking up any trash he found on the trail.

The kids loved this spot, these were rocks that people stack up everywhere, they said they looked like houses.

So, getting close to the top we realize that Sable lost her coat.

Just a great view of the Flatirons. (not zoomed in)

Group picture, only 1/2 mile to the top.

This is the Royal Arch at the top of this trail.

Looking through eh Royal Arch onto the city, absolutely gorgeous.

The kids were happy that they had made it all the way to the top of this trail.

On our way back to the car we found Sable's coat YAY!

1st Day Of Summer Break

2009-05-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

Today we had great fun, we started out by making homemade mini pizzas. The kids love to help make the pizza they do the cheese, sausage, and pepperoni. I do the sauce and rolling out the dough.

After we ate our pizza we were on our way out the door to go play when the neighborhood kids came over. We asked if they wanted to go with us, so we talked to their parents, Maria across the street decided to come with us since she was babysitting 3 kids and didn't want to leave them behind. So there was 12 of us who ended up going. We went and hung out next to the Denver Museum, there is this huge water works place where it shoots water up into the air. It sounds almost like fireworks when the water goes up. When we came home we finished the day by having strawberry, kiwi, banana shakes with cheese its.

Running through the water.

Lyndall in the water.

Group pic! (Sorry most of the kids are girls, and they all "love" Lyndall. LOL)

P.S. Total cost = gas, sunscreen, and water bottle.

Rain Gutter Regatta

2009-05-16T21:11:00.001-07:00

Lyndall and his boat that he made.Racing down actual rain gutters.

He came in 3rd place. This is his 3rd place prize, he also got a ribbon for building the boat.

Sable was happy to play with his boat at the end.

Gifts From Sable

2009-05-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

Very often we get "gifts" from Sable. Such gifts are usually found in the pages of our books, under pillows, on the computer desk, or she just gives them to us. These gifts are always wrapped or put into an envelope and include a note that says "Frum Sable" and to mom or dad.

Such gifts have been:
a screw
my necklace (given to me)
rocks
shells
pictures
pennies
paper clips
pencil
or just something she made

In other words I guess she is at least a very, very giving person. What can I say she loves us!

Pack 523

2009-05-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

Lyndall was so excited to had finally join Cub Scouts. He has a friend, Christopher, from class in it already. He will be going in as a Webelos for next year. I really wish that we had put him in much sooner. In his pack they start in second grade, oh well. This Friday he gets to participate in the Raingutter Regatta. He is so excited to do his first little project.

Field Day

2009-05-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today was Field Day at Lyndall's school, they make it more like a fun family event. They do the fundraising all year long for this and the kids always look forward to it. The school also gets a lot of sponsors to come out, such as: Chick Fillet, Texas Road House (both have a mascot running around and giving out free dinners) Gymnastics (they bring mats to tumble on) Karate, some Gladiator Fun Center Place, and a bunch more. They also have a free BBQ. Yum!We had face paintings, she got a "panda" I know it looks like an owl. The face painters are only middle school kids. LOL!

Lyndall on the huge blow up relay race thing. He lost to the little girl Colista who lives across the street, twice.

Sable in the relay race.

Lyndall being a gladiator, yes he won!

We had lunch.

Lyndall got to drive the police car. There was also a fire truck and ambulance.

Sable on the blow up slide. Over and over and over and over.....

Bouncing ball relay, glad he didn't choke on the candy ring in his mouth.

No More Training Wheels!

2009-05-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today Sable finally got on her bike with no training wheels, only took about a year and half to do it. I had quit running behind her a long time ago, she was always stubborn to learn to ride. She would go about 5 feet and tell me "See mom I can't do it" even though she was doing it. And now she can do it all the way down the sidewalk. Yeah!

Choir Concert

2009-05-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Lyndall's choir concert at school, boy its cute seeing all those kids sing. They sure do work hard.

They sang:

Weave Me The Sunshine

The Rainbow Connection

Shenandoah

Stand By Me

Swinging On A Star

Jessica, Mr. McGarry, Lyndall and Penny.

Adams 12 and Swine Flu

2009-05-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Lyndall brought home a paper from the school saying that, so far to their knowledge nobody in the Adams 12 School District has been tested positive for the swine flu. However they are sending kids home immediately that have any signs of illness and they are not to return to school for 24 hours. I thought that to be crazy, how do you know whether it is a cold, flu, or just allergies? It is that time of year now where people get allergies. I hope they are at least taking their temperature and what not first. If my kid gets sent home for a sneeze, when I know that he is not sick I'll be livid. On top of that the school made automatic calls to every parent in the school district saying exactly what the letter had said to try and make sure that everyone does receive the message.
I do realize that the schools are only taking very good precautions, I just hope they use their judgement well. Lyndall's class had 11 kids absent yesterday.

Lyndall's Awards

2009-04-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

Every trimester Lyndall get his usual Perfect Attendance Award. It comes with a bumper sticker, pencil, and the second award comes with free dinner at Mimi's Cafe. The prizes change a little here and there depending on who sponsors the school at that time. One time he got a bowling pass for four that came with free two hours bowling, free large pizza and pitcher of soda. Can't wait till Sable starts school then they will both get their prizes. Looking back Lyndall has only had one tardy, one sick day and sent home twice for half the day (once was a concussion) since kindergarten, all that in four years, not bad.

AAARRRRR!

2009-04-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sixteen kids were recruited as me shipmates today, they all lived and so did I.

Back row: Christian, Brenden, Uncle Isaac, Carley, Michael, Kyle, Lyndall

Front Row: Cousin Sean, Cousin Codie, Sister Sable, Cousin Eric, Colista, Lennon

Not Pictured: Trinity, Cousin Noel, and Ashley

We started out with getting tattoos, scars and bandannas, then moved on to a little sword fighting.
(Lennon & Brenden)

Then me shipmates guessed how many golden nuggets were in me pirate chest, Sean was the winner, he guessed 51 and there were 58!

Next we played a game called "Sink Thy Ship", each team had to blow up the other teams ships by launching cannons at each other. This was the red team (Lyndall, Isaac, Eric, and Christian).

This was the black team (Lennon, Michael, and Brenden).

White team (Codie, Colista, Sean, Trinity, and Carley).

After a long battle we went in search of some treasure, where me shipmates learned some new pirate talk such as Grog, Jolly Roger, Davey Jones Locker, and Furner.
Me shipmates were starvin' so we had some cake and ice cream (no I didn't make the cake ran out of time, so sad).

Present time!!!!!

Over all we had a great day!!

Just Can't Believe It!

2009-04-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well today is Lyndall's birthday, and I just can't believe that he is 9 years old now. Time goes by so fast. I keep telling him to quit growing, but just like kids he won't listen. Happy Birthday Son!Daddy holding a newborn Lyndall in the hospital.

He use to sneak into Daddy's deodorant, he was 2 1/2 years. And don't forget about those curls!

His shirt says it all 4 x 4! He was five when he started riding the big four wheeler all by himself.

As always my little dare devil, almost 9 years.

Food Poisoning

2009-04-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent most of the day complaining that my stomach hurt a lot, and that I was full of gas. So last night I got to spend the night in the bathroom vomiting. Come to find out it was the lunch meat I had. EWE! It didn't seem bad when I ate it, but its the only thing I ate that Sable didn't. And now for a wonderful day of being tired while trying to entertain the kids.

April Fools!

2009-04-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

As everyone knows today is April Fools Day, what most people don't know it is our friend Shane's Birthday. Every year people from his work would buy him princess cakes or Blues Clues or some other kind of kid cake. We always have him over on his birthday for a birthday dinner and cake, the kids make him cards. This year was no different, except I didn't make a nice cake. I made a Kitty Litter Cake! LOL! Don't worry it was totally editable and absolutely delicious, that is if you can get past the look of it!

The cake is actually chocolate cake and yellow cake mixed with vanilla pudding. The topping is vanilla cream cookies crumbled and a third of them colored with green food coloring. The poop is melted tootsie rolls. We put it into a real (new & clean) kitty litter pan and used a (new & clean) pooper scooper to serve it. And yes Shane liked it!

March Blizzard

2009-03-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here is our normal March Blizzard. It's about the second real snow we have had all year. At our house we got about 16 inches. I stayed home with the kids ans stayed nice and warm, Steve on the other hand went to work only to be sent home early. It took him 2 1/2 hours to get home, its usually a 25 minute drive. But he made it safely.

The kids were begging to go play in the snow while it was snowing, I told them to wait till Friday when the sun would be out then they could go play all they wanted, but for Thursday it was a nasty blizzard and nobody needed to be out side.

Looking off our front porch during the snow storm.

The kids finally get to play in the snow. They made a 4 foot high cave and use the one side as a sledding hill. And yes those are the neighbor kids wearing just tee shirts, it was a nice day on Saturday after all.

Northglenn Through Trails

2009-03-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the family decided to go out on some of the trails around our house. A lot of them start at Webster Lake and split off into different directions. The kids and I have gone down a couple of them but not very far. So on Sunday Steve went with us. We started at out house, went pass Webster Lake and beyond the Rec Center, there is a tunnel that takes you under I-25 (one of the kids favorite parts) and out to the RTD Park and Ride. We went to Huron and 117th and then back to Webster Lake. From there we took a trail that follows I-25 almost to 104th, then we took the trail up to Washington and back home to 117th, grabbed my shoes and then we went over to Albertsons for some shopping for dinner, then back home. Over all it was a 5 1/2 mile ride. Not bad with the kids. Everyone was quite tired, the kids and Steve rode their bikes and I skated to keep up with them. At times I got stuck pushing Sable up the hills on her bike, whew what a work out. If its nice again this weekend we will try out some more trails.

The yellow is where we went, the pink is where I want to go next time. I know the map sucks.

Strange Sable

2009-03-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

My daughter has this strange thing she does, its watching movies in Spanish. I know this sounds weird but she really likes it. She laughs at the funny parts and still has wide eyes at other parts, so its like she understands, but she really doesn't. I think it's just because she has seen the movie many times in English so she already knows what is going on. But who knows maybe she'll teach herself Spanish, then we can take her to Mexico for vacation and let her do all the translating.
He He He!

My Strangest Fear

2009-03-17T11:32:00.001-07:00

I was tagged by Rosa because I read her blog.

I can't really think of a strange fear but I do have many regular fears. One of them is heights, I hate being up high with the wind blowing I always think I'm going to get blown off what ever I'm on. The next is my kids being kidnapped or my husband in bad car accident. I get very panicky when people are not here on time, I always start to think the worst and start making phone calls or going out to look for them. Maybe I'm a little paranoid. I just like to make sure that everyone is o.k.

If you read this then you are tagged.

Whats New

2009-03-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

Movie Night:
We had movie night with most of Stephen's brothers and sister in-laws. We played a little Guitar Hero while waiting for everyone to show up, then we watched Serenity. I thought it was fun and we need to do it again!

Swim Lessons:
Lyndall went on to level 4 in swimming lessons, finished level 3 with all check pluses. He was excited. However Sable was not that fortunate to go in to level 2, they think she should repeat level 1 one more time and she will have a good hang on it.

Computer Club:
Lyndall was asked with 2 other students from his class to join the computer club after school on Fridays. He can't wait till it starts in April. Only the kids with all their work turned in were asked to join.

Stephen knew he wasn't a plumber:
On Saturday we got a stainless steel sink from a garage sale for $10 (I have been wanting one of these), and asked Steve to put it in. He said he would give it a try but he's no plumber. So it is Sunday night and he knows for sure that he is not a plumber and never wants to be one. He had to keep going to Home Depot to get more parts and then there were many leaks and he had to keep redoing everything. He thinks he has all the leaks taken care of this time, we will find out tomorrow. Boy do I love him!

Roller Skating

2009-03-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

Skating the Platte River Trail was out of the question today, it was just a little too cold for that. However we did still go skating, at Skate City. My mom and nephew Codie also skated with us. Stephen came but did not think he could skate so he watched us and kept an eye on our drinks. Maybe sometime I can convince him of skating with us.

Sable was thinking about having her birthday at Skate City, I know that is ways off but I guess we can still plan for it. I grabbed a brochure to check the price and I was rather impressed with how little it cost. They charge $115 per party. It includes: 2 hour admission for 13 skaters, a new pair of roller skates for the birthday kid, invitations, cake, ice cream, and drink. WOW! Best of all they clean up all the mess! So we might really consider it. However we are still planning for Lyndall's birthday which is right around the corner. I can't believe he will be 9!

Busy Having Fun!

2009-03-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we went to this place called Jump Street, it was one of Lyndall's rewards for behaving, and wow was that place fun! They have a bunch of trampolines placed together with pads and some of the trampolines are on the wall. Let me tell you bouncing off walls is harder than it looks, even for kids. We played for about an hour and a half when the kids started to complain that they were tired and ready to go home, I told them keep jumping for 30 more minutes. Needless to say everyone was tired when we left, and everyone had a good night sleep. Now as for me and Stephen we realized the next day that we were not in our teens or even our early twentys. Stephen knees and shoulders hurt, my shoulders hurt and they continue to hurt well into day three.

Wednesday we walked to Webster Lake and roller skated around the Lake then we had our self a nice picnic. We brought our neighbor Dee with us. She watched Sable play at the park while I went around the lake skating, that didn't last long. It was just too windy to go up the other side and a still hurt from the trampoline, now to add to it my thighs and hips. Boy do I feel old lately. Lyndall joined us after school and we played for a while.

Big climbing rock at Webster Lake.

We fed the ducks and geese.

Lyndall on top of some bars.

On Thursday I took Sable to the Thornton Recreation Center for some swimming. She really is getting better at it. Today we are supposed to go skating on one of the South Platte River Trails, we'll see if we make it today.

Parent Teacher Conference for Lyndall

2009-02-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was the parent teacher conference. Stukey does it a little different, its more like a student parent conference. This way the kids know where they are in terms of finishing the grade and what goals they need to work towards to do so. It also opens up great communication for the student and parent. The teacher is there in the class to help and explain things if need be.

Reading:
At the beginning of school he was at DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) level 40 (fourth grade 1st month) now he is at 50 (fifth to sixth grade). His Lexile level was 637 at the beginning and is now 700. This is a test they do on every book. It goes up the harder the book is, its more of a comprehension test. Fourth grade lexile for on or above target is 650 and fifth grade is 800. So I would think that by the end of third grade he should be at 800. The Stukey library only goes up to 1000.

Writing:
At the beginning of the year the teacher said that his writing was end of third grade writing. She said in order for him to be in Fourth grade writing he really had to improve that there was a huge difference from third to fourth grade. Well now all but one part of his writing is at the end of third grade. She feels that he will surpass this and go into the fourth grade level of writing early closer to the end of the year. He just needs to work on word choice.

Math:
He does wonderful in math and is at the top of the class, he just rushes through the math test and gets them wrong. His teacher says he has a hard time explaining how he gets the answer, he just likes to blurt out the answer that he knows in his head. This is also where he goes wrong on the test he doesn't know how to explain how he got the answer, he tells me "I just know it I'm smart like that."

Science:
He does even better in science. He is always asking about different science topics and checking out books from the library on science.

Homework:
All turned in and correct.

School work:
All turned in and correct.

Missing assignments:
None! So he gets to go on the field trip to the Denver Mint. Only half of the kids in his class gets to go. If a student is missing more than 5 assignments then they don't get to go.

Over all we now know where to help Lyndall improve on at home, to get him a great boost into the fourth grade levels. I think that the conference went well except I was disappointed to see that Lyndall did not have a desk, again. He was stuck at the back counter for talking and disrupting class, again. I still think that they just need to give him more challenging work to keep himself busy.

Refocus Sheet

2009-02-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Lyndall had brought home yet another wonderful refocus sheet. Actually the sheets are not wonderful, they are a pain in the butt and make my kid look like he's the worst student in the school. It seems he brings these home at least 2 times a month. Its a sheet that he has to fill out telling what he had done wrong that day and both the teacher and the parent have to sign it.

Usually the problem is his talking in class. The problem is not his, as much as it is a problem for other students. Lyndall has all work turned in and is not missing any work, he finishes his work easy and fast, then he talks to everyone else who is still struggling to finish whatever the assignment is. This has been going on since last year. The teacher says when he is done with his work he knows that he is to find something to do, such as read or catch up on missing work.

The problem again is not the missing work so he's to read. Read, read, read. Read after math, read after science, read after every subject and then come home and read for homework! Yes he like to read, but he gets tired of doing it that much. So here's the refocus sheet.

This Wednesday was different and stupid. He has had csap testing all week. They take away the extra recess to do extra testing. Then they send him to art. He got in trouble for throwing a piece of lead about 1/2 a centimeter long! Oh No! Why don't we just give him some sort of detention for doing such a terrible thing! I'm not saying that he should be throwing things, but when he gets to many of these refocus sheets he has to spend a day in "in school suspension", he's done it before. Why can't a teacher simply talk to him after class and say "hey lets not do that anymore OK?"

The school says that they try to work with him, they tell him to self reward. Does anybody really know what that means for an 8 year old? I don't think that most young adults know what that means. So I have been the one to reward him at home with good behavior that happens at school. I decided to that instead of punishing him at home with bad behavior at school, that's what I was doing and I hated it because he's good at home why punish him at home for school behavior?

For his reward system I made a weekly report card for him to take to school to have the teacher sign everyday for either poor, so-so, or good behavior. When he gets a good mark he gets to put a sticker on his chart and after 5 days worth of good he gets a prize, which we have made up with him., this way he looks foreward to his prize. Yes some of the prizes are little much, but believe me its worth him behaving for. We started this on January 14th and we have gotten 18 days of good. Its a start. I keep an on going goal sheet rather than making him be good all week for a prize because sometimes that is just impossible and I don;t want him to be discouraged. If hes not good one day he knows that his prize is delayed by one day. I do not give him anything for so-so day I just tell him to work a little harder. He knows what it is to behave he just has a hard time doing it when he's bored out of his mind.

Family Night

2009-02-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

Every Monday is family night for us. Tonight we decided to make some Valentines for some of our loved ones. We used those beads that you make a design with and then iron together. The kids always have fun making things with the beads, and they can't wait till Valentines day to give them away.

Swimming Lessons

2009-02-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

Well today was the last day of this session of swim lessons. Lyndall will now be going into level 3 and Sable is going into level 1. They just love having swim lessons and meeting new friends there.
On the last day they always pull out either this water snake or a big blue whale to play on. The kids always look forward to the last day. They still put the kids in life jackets, being that there are a lot of kids playing and jumping off of these huge blow up things, they have life guards of course but want to reduce injury and drowning.

This is Sable jumping into the water and just overall having a great time.

She's the one with the neon pink goggles.

Lyndall by the pool side.

Sable in Angelfish with her new friends.

P.S. Sable lost her two front teeth!

Magic Trick

2009-01-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

The other day Sable comes to me in a panic and says, "Mom I just dropped something in my ear!" I asked what it was and finally after going through a huge list of things that it could have been, we discovered that it was a popcorn seed. Oh great, a what? Popcorn seed. Why? She says, I was doing a magic trick. OK, so now what? Try to get the seed out, not as easy as it sounds. Its round, and in the canal pretty far, we don't want to risk pushing it in any further. Tweezers? No too round for that. Have her lay down on that side and hope it just comes out. Didn't work either. Ah yes, call Stephen and freak out. Stephen calls his mom and then we were on our way to doctor Grandmas house. We all looked and tried, however no luck. So I guess we schedule an appointment to see the ENT tomorrow and have them remove it. We got home and ate dinner. Still not satisfied at the thought that if you can see it, it should come out. I was not about to give up yet, lets google "popcorn seed in the ear" and guess what we were not the only ones who have had this problem. Many of these people tried the same things we did, except one person said that they had their husband suck the seed out of the ear and it worked. Well I was up to try anything to get it out and avoid a doctors visit. So Stephen was able to get it to come out enough that we were able to then roll it out with a toothpick. Woo hoo! We win! Except that it was a butter popcorn seed and caused a food reaction with Stephen and he lost his dinner. Poor hubby. Lesson of the day: Don't put stuff in your ears! (Now lets see if they learned)