Fun Fridays June 28, 2009

Our summer schedule got off to a late start because of our vacation, but we are all organized now.  Katie and I met last week and came up with a pretty good plan for the summer.

Yesterday was our first “fun friday” and we spent it at the zoo.  Katie’s sister in law, Chelsea and her little girl joined us.  All three of us are pregnant and we were feeling very sleepy as we crept up all those steep hills, but other than that it was a fun day.  My kids really like seeing the animals. 

As for the schedule, if anyone…..and I do mean anyone… would like to join us for any of our activities, let me know.  I’d be happy to email you a copy of our schedule.  The more the merrier, I believe.  So…..please join us when you can!!

Mondays-  clean and do chores day (boring)

Tuesdays- Movie Club day @ Layton Hills Mall- lunch after

Wednesdays-  Swimming @ my house- bring a lunch

Thursday- Service Day @ SDRH- free lunch at the school

Friday-  Fun Friday!  See Schedule

We’ve also scheduled one pot luck park night with husbands and a couple drive-in movie nights!!

Service Day and Free Lunch June 28, 2009

 

We decided to make Thursdays our “service” days ; to  spend time with kids with severe disabilities on the third floor of the South Davis Regional Hospital.  One of my students is currently residing there and I thought it would be nice to visit her.  I had them both pick out books to take to them and read. 

Because my kids spend a lot of time around people with severe disabilities, they weren’t really too shocked by what they saw at the hospital.  Tessa, especially loves to talk and play with the kids.  She was most taken with the really young kids.  She wanted to shake their hands and asked what they’re names were.  Both her and Nate were happy to take pictures with a few of their new friends.  I would love to post some of the pictures, but I don’t have permission from any of our friends.  We plan to take copies to the hospital next week and then make a scrap book.

After the hospital visit, we went to Washington Elementary for free lunch.  It was corn dog day…their favorite.  They LOVE to get “school lunch”….and I like to get FREE lunch. 

It was a very enjoyable day and I was so proud of my kids for being so willing to befriend others.

A Farewell to Mandt June 28, 2009

Mandt is a course on learning how to manage people in escalated states. As some of you know, I’ve been a Mandt instructor for nearly 12 years, and have been trained in it for about 15 years. 

Well, the time has come to say goodbye to good old Mandt and hello to Safety Care.  The school district has decided to save some money and go with this new program. 

Although I was getting a little tired of Mandt, I still hate change.  It was very hard to learn a new way of doing things and it will be even harder to actually “do” and teach the new stuff….but I guess I’ll have to get over myself. 

On the last day of the instructor training, my fellow Mandt-ers and I wore our Mandt t-shirts that wer tie-dyed with love by our leader, Glenn.  On the back of our t-shirts it read, “Building Relationships…one hug at a time”.  Well, so long, Mandt.  I will miss you dearly. 

T-Ball June 28, 2009

This is a picture of Nathan just after he hit his very first ball at his very first game.  Even though everyone was screaming “run, Nate, run” he just stood there watching everyone for awhile.  When he finally started to run, he took the bat with him.  He did well and made it to second base on the next hit, but when it came time to go to third, he got a bit confused and just ran straight into the outfield instead.  It was very cute.

The next time he came to bat, he did much better.  He is aware of all the bases and their placement.  He also dropped the bat.  Good job, Nate!

My Secretive Sister June 23, 2009

I have never been able to keep a secret.  Even my own.  It’s been a problem for as long as I can remember.  I just hate keeping secrets and having secrets kept from me.

My sister Katie is the exact opposite when it comes to secrets.  She has always been able to keep secrets for long periods of time…..and I HATE it!!!

With all three of my pregnancies, I have called everyone that I knew within 24 hours of the discovery.  I just can’t hold it in or I’m afraid that I’d explode.

Katie, on the other hand, waits for a very long time and then shocks the crap out of me.  With Max, I actually discovered her secret because of the preg test she left in her bathroom, but she didn’t TELL me until long after. This was of course long after I’d told everyone else that I knew.  With Paige, she leaned over just before a baby shower was about to begin and said, “by the way, I’m pregnant”….after she’d already announced to everyone else at the party.  And this time, with her third pregnancy…..yep, that’s right, her THIRD pregnancy…..she decided to wait an entire month and a half to tell me that she’s having a baby 11 days before me!!!  She actually just stuck her ultrasound picture in the father’s day card for my dad. Her due date is December 16th!!!

I am really quite amazed that she was able to hold that in for so long.  Even after I asked her for old baby toys and to borrow her boppy pillow.  Does anyone have a boppy pillow I can borrow?

Happiest Place on Earth June 18, 2009

Joey and I have been wanting to take our kids to DisneyLand since before we even had kids.  We are both big fans of the place.  I remember standing in line to ride the train at EuroDisney and watching the cutest little blonde girl in front of us.  We both envisioned her as what our little “Tessa” would look like.  We imagined how fun it would be to take her there. 

Well, little Nater came before the little Tessa did, but we finally made that trip and had a WONDERFUL time.

Much to our delight, Jason, Katie and Averi were able to come with us and we all drove down in my pimped out van. It was fun to be able to go spend time with them and the kids were VERY cute together.  We stayed in Primm, at Buffalo Bills on the way there and the way back which was a nice little break from driving.  In California, we stayed at the Ayres Hotel in Orange.  It was a really nice hotel that served a full breakfast each morning and had free shuttle service to the parks.  It all turned out really well.  We went to the parks for five whole days and then spent one day at the beach. 

 

 

Tessa found absolutely EVERYTHING about DisneyLand to be absolutely wonderful.  She was terribly delighted with everything she saw, especially the characters and princesses.  She just ADORED  ”it’s a small world”.  She was so stinking cute and not a bit afraid of anything.  It was so much fun to spend time with her there and to see so much excitement in her face.  In California Adventure, she even had the opportunity to talk to “Crush” in “Turtle Talk”.  It turns out that Tessa’s turtle name is “Tubular Tessa”.

 

 

Nater was such a trouper the entire trip.  He walked and walked and walked and NEVER once complained or asked to ride in the stroller.  At the end of one day, I asked him why he had been such a good boy, to which he replied, “I just really enjoy DisneyLand”.  He went on every single ride that he was only afraid of one of them:  Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride….but this was the first ride he went on.  Once he saw that it wasn’t so scary, he settled down and had a blast on all the other rides.  Nate also had the awesome opportunity to participate in “Jedi training” in TomorrowLand.  He was chosen and he was so dang cute up there….fighting Darth Vader. 

 

 

Averi was scared of many of the rides and with me being pregnant and not able to ride the good ones, spent a lot of quality time with me.  It was fun to ride a bunch of the “tame” rides with her.  We all got a lot of small world.  I think that Averi’s favorite part of the trip was getting to eat lunch with Ariel and four other princesses at Ariel’s grotto.  When Jasmine came out, Averi stopped drinking her drink and stared at her.  She quietly leaned over and told her mom, “She’s so pretty, I can’t drink”.  Nate wasn’t very excited about the princesses, but he put up with it and even posed for a few pictures. 

 

All of the kids also had a GREAT time at the beach, playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean.  They were COVERED with sand, and I’m still finding sand in strange places.  It was overcast in the beginning, and we didn’t put the sunscreen on it time.  All of the adults really got burned, but the kids made it out ok. 

 

 

 

 

All in all, it was a FABULOUS vacation!  I can’t wait to go again….when baby #3 is 40 inces tall. 

 

 

For Sale June 18, 2009

 

Thanks to the help of our family and friends we were BARELY able to pull off all of the projects that we needed to get done to put our house on the market.  We still have a few minor things to get done, but it is officially listed. 

Shout outs to:

Jason Dalton- for his AWESOME drywall skills to help us fix the hole in our ceiling and re-texture the entire upstairs.  He is truly gifted and amazing with the mud.  If you are in need of drywall anyone, he’s the one to get!  On top of the drywall, he also helped with some yard work as well.  Thanks Jason!

Jeremy Holmes- my handyman cousin for hanging several doors for us!  He really did a great job and we appreciate the terrific deal that he gave us.  If you’re in need of a handyman, he’s a great one!  Thanks for your help, Jeremy!

Katie and Trevor Bailey-  for helping us rake and a haul A LOT of crap out of our back and side yards.  We surely would not have finished it all on our own!  Thanks for taking time to come help us!

Kris & Bob Geier-  For helping us start our front rock project and for other yard work projects.  I know that we can always count on Kris to jump right in to help us, she’s never afraid to get her hands dirty.  They also bought us some awesome hanging baskets for the front yard.  Thanks!!

Anne Allred-  my good friend, for taking a few hours to help me weed our back planter and scrape the wall for painting.  Even though she was just getting over a terrible illness, she still came down to help me.  I really appreciate her willingness to help us out.

Even if we don’t sell it, the house is looking great!  We will definitely have to have a few pool parties this summer.

shoulder to the wheel June 18, 2009

The Koldewyn side of my family gathered together on Memorial Day to help week Grandma’s yard.  With all of the help, it didn’t take very long at all.  Afterwards, we had a BBQ at Aunt Connie’s.  Even though I was tremendously busy trying to clean up and fix my own yard, it was rather nice to take a break and  congregate with my extended family. 

Above, you’ll see my cousin Becky’s rear end.  I acutally have photos of everyone’s back sides, but I thought that Becky would really appreciate it the most.  She once mooned me in Vegas and seemed to be quite proud of it. 

Below, you can see a great shot of my Aunt Connie and Uncle Phil.  When we saw this pitch fork, we just couldn’t resist.