Where have I been?

I got an email from my Mom and she mentioned she had missed hearing from me. So here is what I have been up to the last month.

A Funny!

We recently rented Evan Almighty to watch toghether. For those that have not seen it, part way thru "God" appears to the main character Evan. God happens to be played by the fabulous actor Morgan Freeman. Scott, our 8 year old was sitting next to Jim on the couch. A few minutes into the scene he turned to Jim with a quizical look and asked, refering to the actual God, "He's Black?"

Happy Birthday Kamrie

My little girl is Six today!! It amazes me how quickly time can fly by.
I was going to list all the things I love about her, but there are just too many.
She is amazing, and love watching her everyday!!
Happy Birthday Kamrie Jo!!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to all you November Babies!!!!

Logan, Michael, Addi, Kait, Kauner, Peter.

We all wish we could celebrate with you!!

Love ya!!

This Boy of Mine!!

My Zac is a unique, amazing, frustrating young man. He always seems to do the right thing, I rarely worry about him. In fact a friend of mine that he babysits for once asked if I could bottle what ever I did with him, so she could give it to her boys. I quickly responded, that he just came that way. Another of Zac's qualities, I sometimes refer to as his blond side. He sometimes makes comments that leave us speechless, if you know what I mean.

The frustration comes in when school is involved. He is sooooo smart, but has struggled forever, with remembering to turn work in etc. We have pretty much known that he has ADD (attention deficit disorder) since about first grade, but we have tried to "deal" with it. Well, I have decided that we need to maybe do more. After his last grades came in, and emails and phone calls from teachers who can't understand what is going on. They too recognize that he is very intelligent, but not working up to his capabilities. Soooooo. . . I had him try his brothers medication on Sunday, he didn't act any different, he complained of a stomach ache, but he didn't have breakfast. For those of you not familiar with ADD, the only real way to know if your child has it, is if the medication works. (there are a lot of things that take place before this final step)

This is what I have been leading up to - today when he got home from school, he sat himself down at the table, and started doing his homework, then organizing his binder. I didn't know he had taken another pill this morning. Then, in classic Blond Zac fashion he says -
"You know what's weird about that medicine, it makes it hard for me to focus on more than one thing at a time"

PLEEEAAAASSSSSE!!

So this morning I tried to make a purchase on line. I got an email from the vendor saying my debit card had been declined! This was in instance that I knew there was plenty of money, so what is the problem. I called my bank and they informed me a new card was being sent, so the expiration date was now wrong. She couldn't just give me the new date, but wanted me to have the company call in for verification. I went to the website and used the "Live Chat". We went around the long way but finally got them to call. Here is the conv.

My name is Dianne. How may I assist you today?

Amy: I tried to order, and my bank refused payment. I called them and they need you to call them for verification. Apparently, I have a new card in the mail, and it has a different exp. date. That is why it isn't working.

Dianne: Good morning,.... do you know the new exp date? Newegg does not call for payment auth....

Amy: no, then why do you ask for the phone number?

Amy: I will try to use paypal again. The first time I tried that I got an error page.

Dianne: Would you like to me request a manual payment auth?

Amy: What is that?

Dianne: A supervisor will call the bank's auto verification...it's an automated system that can verify your card info

Amy: That would be what I asked for, so yes please do that.

Dianne: Hi, Amy...sorry for the delay..

Dianne: I have submitted the request..your bank will be called soon..you will receive an email later this a.m......Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

Amy: No, Thank you.

Dianne: My pleasure, Amy...have a great day!

Dianne: Bye!

Could somebody please give me back the 10 mins. I just lost!!!

Just for Fun!

My friend Mandee had this on her blog and I had to try it too. I don't know how accurate it is, I did get different results with different pictures.

The New Look

Thanks to one Suzanne Hart, for the great instructions on sprucing up my blog. And Shabby Princess for the free "papers"

My "NEW" Computer Monitor

So how many times in the last 15 1/2 years of being a mother, do you think I have said:

"Don't throw things in the house! You are going to break something!"

Well, last Saturday I came home from a nice date with Jim to find my flat screen monitor broken. There was a spot where apparently something had hit it, and from that spot lots and lots of colored lines spreading across the screen. The boys thought it would be fun to throw pencils at each other. Zac was sitting at the computer and Tyler threw a pencil at him. He of course missed Zac and hit the monitor. Geniuses!! So now I am using this lovely monitor that takes up the entire desk!

So the moral of this story - Listen to your Mother!

Gotta Brag!

My daughter is great!! When we moved here she made fast friends with Christian. He the son of our friends, and was born with spina bifida. She never treated him any differently than any other kids, and that always made me smile.

Last year she was allowed to be in a Pre-K class at school. This is a special ed class, and she was the Typical Peer. This is a child without any disabilities or learning delays, that is in the class. She was also the only girl. She had a great time, loved her teachers, and became friends with the boys.
So this year she is in Kindergarten and three of the boys from last year are in her class. She walks with them when they go for speech or back to the special ed class, and makes sure they are involved.
SO - there is a new program at our school, initiated by the guidance teachers. It is called Shining Stars. Each month teachers can nominate students who exemplify the word of the month to receive this award. September's word was RESPECT. Kamrie came home with this last Thursday. I was impressed and proud of her. Then I talked to her teacher who went on about how much she deserved it, and was a little emotional about it. This peaked my interest and I asked if I could get a copy of the nomination form for her scrap book. I was even more impressed when I got the form. She had been nominated for her "kindness and respect for children with disabilities". When I asked her about it she was very casual, "you know, Joseph, he doesn't walk very well, and sometimes he drops his books. I always help him pick them up and carry them for him." I think this is something the teacher pointed out in class when she got the award. I am so happy to have a child that has such an excepting heart, and desire to help others without being asked.

By the way, you can see in the picture a star for each child that received the award, there are about 30. Our school has over a thousand students.

GUILT

So, there are times in life when I let my guilt get the better of me. Like when I was at back to school night, and Kamrie's teacher says, if anyone would like to take this old ugly puppet theater home and refurbish it! I feel guilt because ever since I started doing daycare I am unable to help in the classroom. I am sure there are a lot of Mom's that don't help and don't feel any guilt. Lucky for Mrs. Garrett, I do. This project started out a very old ugly chiped red. I wish I would have taken a before picture. After a lot of paint stripping, and sanding, and more sanding, and even more sanding, this was the final product. She loved it, and today Chad's teacher mentioned she has one that is very plain!

Brightening Your Day!!!

My friend Jill sent me this video, and it made me so happy. I don't think there is anything that brings more pure joy, then a baby laughing. And this baby can laugh!!

Boys

For those of you that have boys, have you noticed that you have to be very specific with them. I KNOW this, yet sometimes I forget. I wanted to share an example of this with you. It was few months ago and involves Scott, shoes, and piano lessons.

I was babysitting and it was getting close to time for piano. I told my kids to get there shoes on (Tyler and Zac were both gone during the week this happened) I got the two little ones ready. I had planned on just sitting in the van during the lesson and letting the kids watch a video. So we get in the car and head off. About half way there I notice Scott does not have shoes on. (yes, he was sitting in the front seat)

Me: Do you have Shoes? (notice the generality of this question)
Scott: Yeah (with a little Duh attitude)

So I keep driving. We get to the lesson, Scott gets out of the car, still no shoes.

Me: Where are you shoes?
Scott: I couldn't find them.
Me: I asked you if you had shoes!!!
Scott: I have shoes, but I couldn't find them.
Me: #$%&^($&#*(%)#&*@* (in my head, using every ounce of energy to not strangle him right there on the side of the road)

So even though I thought I was being clear about him having shoes with him, in the car, apparently I was wrong.

I could probably come up with a dozen of these stories, but that would only show I should have figured it out by now.

Chad's 10 Years

A Decade

What can I tell you about Chad - if I had to choose one word to describe him it would be endearing. I have always been a little protective of him. Maybe it's the middle child thing we have in common. I always tell my big boys, "I know what it's like to get picked on by older siblings, so I am not going to let you do it." (I am sure that my older siblings may say this didn't happen, selective memory)

Chad is extremely intelligent and very creative. He loves to draw, and even though he doesn't like people to know, he has a beautiful singing voice.

I thought I would share a story he wrote at school this week. I believe the assignment was to write a story using their spelling words.

Me and the Man From the Moon

When I was walking home from my friends house, a man started floating down from the sky and said, "I am the man from the moon." I asked, "Do you have a name like Billy or Fred?"
"I never thought of that. I was here in search of a bed and now I am in search of a name.

The next day we went to the store with my Dad but he was too tall to fit in the car so he said he would follow us. I asked how fast he could fly?

He said, " A hundred miles an hour."

When we got there, we had people vote on his name. His name was Bob. He flew away and gave me a moon rock.

Here is a sampling of what Chad is drawing now.

I've Been Tagged!

I am not sure about this, but Jaime "tagged" me, so I guess I am supposed to answer the following questions!!

1. Where did you meet your husband?
We met for the first time at Kathy Gabbitas' 16th birthday party. He has no memory of meeting me. He was 19 I was 14. (I was actually very interested in his brother Jeff at the time) We met again, thanks to Kathy, at BYU.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
I really don't remember. But Kathy invited him and his friend to my dorm for brownies, and they brought ice cream, I think I said something about him going to the store on Sunday.

3. Where was your first date?
Dollar movie in Provo, we saw Lean on Me. This is a movie with Morgan Freeman, he is a principal of a pretty bad high school, and helps turn it around.

4. Where was your first kiss?
At Jim's apartment.

5. Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
We had our first date on September 15, and we were engaged on October 14. Then we got married on March 3. 5 1/2 months from first date to wedding. You be the judge.

6. Where did you get engaged?
We actually got engaged on a plane. It has been said that I can be demanding. I mentioned to Jim that when he proposed it should be good. His room mate at the time Matt Morris had his pilots license and Jim had been bugging me to go flying. I really didn't want to. But one day he would not take no for an answer. So we went to the airport and Matt kept taking all these pictures, it was really bugging me. So we finally took off. We flew around for awhile and as we flew of Timpveiw High School I looked down on the football field and in great big letters it said "Will You Marry Me Amy". Some of his other friends had done that part. And the rest as they say is history.

7. Where did you get married?

Los Angeles Temple

8. How did the reception go?
It was good. A lot of people and we stood in the receiving line forever. The best part was the song Peter wrote and performed. The worst part, was we didn't eat anything. We actually ordered Domino's when we got home.

9. How was the honeymoon?
It was good. Thanks to generous friends we were offered condos in Mamoth and the beach. We went to mammoth first, and it was snowy and cold. (I hate the the cold) So we left and went to the beach.

Tag your it!!

Linda - come on you can do it (or Candice can)

It's Official!!!

With Kamrie off to Kindergarten this morning, all my kids are in school. It is hard to believe that just 6 short years ago we were awaiting the birth of this sweet little girl, and now she is out in the world. She told me she was little nervous this morning, but once we got into class she was fine. At our school they only go one day the first week. (So she will be home tomorrow) It is a nice way for the kids and the teacher to ease into the class. There were only four kids there today, and two were in her pre-k class last year. For those of you who know about that, I don't know how excited she was about that.



















We have no doubt that before too long, she will be running the class, and letting the teacher know how it should be. Luckily has as seasoned teacher that will be able to handle her.


Kamrie and her teacher Mrs. Garrett

Reality TV Junkies.

I will admit that I really love watching TV. I love to escape into another world. But I really love reality TV, and have taught my kids to love it too. Right now we are watching two shows, So You Think You Can Dance, and America's Got Talent. We have our favorites and watch each week to see if they will be moving on. (Yes we even vote). Here are a few links where you can see some of our favorites from both shows.

The first is Cas Haley and he is an incredible singer, and musician, he takes songs we all now and makes them his own with a reggae twist. Our other favorite from AGT is a ventriloquist, I know what your thinking, but this guy is amazing. His name is Terry Fator, and I would pay money to see him perform. He actually has his puppets do singing impersonations, and is incredible. The first audition he did Ella Fitzgerald, last week he did Dean Martin and Tony Bennet. (You will be blown away, I promise.)

So, my favorite on So You Think You can Dance has to be Sabra!! She is amazing and always does and awesome job. It is hard to pick a favorite of her performances but it is a contemporary she did with another favorite, a break dancer, dominic.

Mission Call

My Mom and Dad have received their mission call. Check out their site to find out where they are going.

Urmston Mission

My "Other" Kids

Many of you know that I babysit. By September I will have 6 that I watch at different times during the week. But there are two that we consider part of the family.


I have been watching Carlie and Colton for about a year and a half. Carlie was 1 1/2 and Colton was 3 months old when they started coming 3 days a week. Now they are here 4 days from 8-5:30. My kids treat them like a little brother and sister and we can't imagine them not being here.

July was CRAZY!!

So I think it worked out that my first post was a very busy month. The fun started with Jim's parents arriving on the 16th. Then my Mom and Dad flew in on the 18th. Two days later Jeff and Angela and kids arrived from Texas, and Erman and Jessica and kids from New Jersey. They didn't all sleep at my house, but it was a crowd. The main reason for them all being here was Scott and Ethan's baptisms which took place on Sat. the 21st.


Then on Mon. Jeff's family and Jim's parents headed off to Texas. We spent the day at the Memphis Zoo. The highlight would have to be witnessing the birth of a Bontebok.


We also went to Mudd Island. This is a scale model of the Mississippi river. You can follow it from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, taking a dip along the way. Then you can paddle boat in the "gulf". The kids love it, and the grown ups get to awe at the enormity of the river, or watch a barge making it's way.


On the 26th Erman and Jess headed back home, and we hit the road with my parents for Branson.


We spent Friday at Silver Dollar City, a fun amusement park. (Thanks Mom and Dad) We rode rides, saw a couple shows and had a great time. Saturday we did some shopping, the kids swam, and spent the evening staying out of the rain. We headed home Sunday. Mom and Dad stayed until Wednesday, it was a hard goodbye as they are going to be leaving soon for 18 months on a mission. We will miss them but are excited for them. I will try not to let my kids grow too much while they are gone. ; )
Now we will start getting ready for school!!!