Saturday, April 23, 2011

Insanity...

Here are some of the things we have had going on since I last posted.

Every morning since The first of January we have been delivering the newspaper.  Either Ben, or I, or both of us, get up between 1:30 and 2:00 in the morning to go put the papers together.  Then we call Nate and come pick him up so he can help deliver the papers.  Sometimes I wonder why we are doing this, but then I spend an hour talking to Nate, about important things, or not so important things, or I listen to Nate proudly telling his friends about his job, and a little sleep deprivation seems worth it for the time being.  

Towards the end of February I had a sweet lady in the ward call and ask me if I would help her out.  She knew another lady that was moving to Florida unexpectedly and couldn't take her dog with her so could I take care of her dog until we could find her a home.  Well, long story short, I am a sucker.  We took care of Abby for almost a whole month and then finally, and thankfully, with the help of several ladies in the ward we found her a home.  She was a very sweet dog, but she was shedding all over my home and there is a reason that we have a hairless dog.  

Okay, now of the end of that story.  Two weeks after we found Abby a home her owner called.  She had not moved to Florida and had decided she wanted her dog back.  This was a big problem as, understandably, the people who adopted her did not want to give her up.  The original owner was very angry at us for adopting her dog out and even threatened to call the police on us for stealing her dog!  Who does that?!  Anyhow, finally, after several days and several angry phone calls between her and many of the kind ladies involved in this, with permission from the new owners she called them and they informed her that they were not giving the dog they had legally adopted back.  She threatened to call the police on them and they told her if she didn't stop harassing them that they would call the police on her.  We haven't heard anything else.

Now, having this extra dog in our house shedding all over everything was a pain in the backside, but it made me realize how much better behaved our dog is if he has a friend to play with, so after looking around for a little while for dogs that don't shed a found we a posting on Craigslist for someone that was adopting out their American Hairless Terrier.  We now have two little naked dogs instead of only the one we had before.

Our new dog is named Dobby.  He and Chancho seem to get along pretty well most of the time.  And yes, just to add to the insanity I made them clothes.  I am almost embarrassed to admit to what levels I've fallen.  In my defense, due to the fact our dogs don't have hair they tend to sunburn rather easily so putting clothes on them is the best way to prevent this.  Seeing as how dog pajamas cost $15 to $20 plus shipping I decided to go to the fabric store and buy a pattern, yes they make them, for dog pajamas.  I have now officially started sewing again, after about five years.  My next project of Easter dresses for the girls was much more admirable.  But I'll have to post about them at a later posting, which will be much sooner than this last one, I promise.

Also in February Gwen was student of the month.  As an awesome mom, I once again forgot to go to the student of the month assembly.  I felt so bad.  I had thought it was the next Friday and totally missed it.  But Gwen was alright and was pretty thrilled to get her certificate nonetheless.  
Here is what her teacher had to say about her, it was printed on the back of the certificate so she could keep it (and so slacker moms would know what was said in behalf of their children).  

"This deserving young lady is a joy to have in class.  She always puts forth her best effort and completes work in a timely manner.  she is attentive during lessons and has interesting things to say during discussion.  She is a kind and considerate friend to everyone."

On the day of her assembly, even though neither of us remembered it was this day, Gwen chose to wear a jumper to school.  When she came downstairs I noticed the tag sticking out of her dress right in front.  After informing her that her dress was on backwards she shrugged her shoulders at me and said, "Who cares."  And she wore it that way all day long.

Also in February Bonnie had played a piece on the cello for solo-ensemble.  She was the only person in her grade at school that attended and she did great.  I had never been to a solo-ensemble before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but they have the students go into a room with their parents and the judge and then they play just for the judge.  I was pretty nervous for her, but she didn't seemed to be bothered at all.  She played Yankee Doodle and she received a superior ranking, which is the highest you can get.
Bonnie with her strings teacher, Ms. Schrade.
This is a quick video of a school morning at our house.  Enjoy...


Also since we last posted we have had trips to New Mexico and California, spring break with Grandma and Grandpa Lamoreaux, pinewood derby, a couple of field trips, and some holiday celebrations.  I promise to post about all of these things soon. I have a goal to write more frequently, since this is the only type of journal that I manage to keep on a somewhat consistent basis.  Now that I have written this down as an official goal I will try even harder to be better at posting.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Half Marathon

Jen, me, Kallee, and Jamie
On Saturday I ran my first (and maybe only, we'll have to see) half marathon.  Some friends of mine convinced me that it would be fun.  Well, I wouldn't go right to fun in describing my feelings after the race, but I am glad that I did it.

Running across the finish line after 2 hours 20 minutes and 45 seconds

I was the last of all of us to cross the finish line, so everyone was there to cheer me on, including Ben and the kids.  I was really glad that Ben and the kids came out to Mesa to see me finish the race.




The kids were glad too, as while I was running they had a kids zone where they got to climb rock walls, jump in a bouncy house and do other fun activities.

Bonnie trying the rock climbing wall

Nate at the top of the wall

Jared working his way up

Gwen giving the rock wall a try
Overall it was a good activity, except for the part where I came home and puked my guts out (I will not post a picture of that).  Apparently my body does not like eating anything after running that long, even sliced oranges and apples.  Oh well, I guess I learned my lesson if there is ever a next time.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Sweet Gwendolyn

I have two quick stories about my sweet Gwendolyn.  The first happened this morning (Tuesday February 1st).  At 6:15 Gwen came into our room to announce to us that she had pulled out one of her front teeth.  She was very excited about this.  About 45 minutes later she pulled out her other front tooth.  She was very excited to have pulled both of them out by herself on the same day.  Looks like the tooth fairy is coming to our house.

The second Gwen story happened a couple weeks ago.  Jared was walking down the street and around the corner to a friends house for a ride to scouts.  I told him that I would watch him until he got around the corner.  This is the conversation that I had with Gwen as Jared walked down the street.

Gwen:  Mom, you can't see all the way to Justin's house from here.

Mom:  I know sweetie, but we can see most of the way.

Gwen:  What if Jared gets hit by a car AFTER he goes around the corner when you can't see him.

Mom:  I think he'll be alright.

Gwen:  It could happen mom.

At this point Jared waved from the corner and walked out of sight.  Gwen then proceeded to tell me in a very sing-songy voice, "I think I hear a car coming."

How I love this little girl!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

When it Freezes in Arizona


When is freezes for a few days in Arizona your children may ask if they get to stay home because of a fog day.

When it freezes in Arizona your children may spend over an hour at the park next door being amazed by the ice, playing with ice, taking pictures of ice, taking pictures through ice, and bringing ice home for you to admire.




 

  And when it freezes in Arizona your neighbors may make sure their trees are tucked in warm for the night.


Yep we are officially Zonies.  There is no going back.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Christmas!

New Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve
Mom and Dad got some too
Waiting to come down to the tree.

Christmas morning, before opening presents

The aftermath of Christmas morning.  I'm pretty sure Christmas threw up at our house.

Bonnie trying on her new rollerblades

Gwen with her make-your-own chalk kit

Jared and Nate boxing

Dad and Nate boxing
Overall our family had a very fun and relaxing Christmas



Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Nathan

Nate at 2 months old
My oldest son turned 12 this year.  I have been in a little bit of a shock.  My first-born is not supposed to get this old this quick.  He is wearing the same size shoes as I am, and I do not have small feet.  I think he grows another inch each time I look at him.  He is such a good boy and such a good big brother. I am thoroughly enjoying watching him grow up and seeing the young man that he is becoming.

On his birthday we had a small family party.
Nate got a new bike for his birthday.  He was pretty excited.

The next day we let him invite some boys from church over.  We had nine 12-year-old boys over to play night games in the park next door, eat pizza, and watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice on the projector.  He has such a good group of friends.  I am so grateful that we live in this amazing ward.  

 He received the priesthood and was ordained to be a Deacon on the 19th of December.  I am so proud of him for making this choice and for being such a wonderful example to his younger siblings.

School Activities etc.


 The day before Thanksgiving the kids school had a Turkey Trot.  Their new school does it a little different than their old school.  They have a time limit and they see who can run the most laps around the field before the time limit is up.  Every lap around their teacher puts a new mark on their hand then they count up the marks at the end.  The first place runner in each grade gets a pie.  Well, apparently my boys are runners.  They both won for their grades.  Apparently after Jared finished his race the cross country coach hunted him down to see what grade he was in because they can start cross country in third grade.  She told Jared that she needed him next year.  Nathan ran two or three laps more than the closest boy in his class, that boy happens to be on the cross country team.  It looks like next year we will have another activity on our list of things to do.
My runners

Jared and Gwen participated in a Readers' Theater for their classes.  Jared was Agent 006 and Gwen was Linda the Good Fairy.  They did a great job.



I graduated from dental assisting school at the end of December.  The did a whole graduation ceremony and I was the speaker for our class.  It seemed a bit much to me for a three-month course, but it was a good experience.  I really loved school and I made a lot of friends.

We had an orchestra concert, a band concert, and a piano recital all in December.

Jared is playing violin and he got to play a solo during the concert
Bonnie is playing the flute and the cello in school this year.


Nate is playing the trombone in the 6th grade band.  His teacher had a challenge for all the students that if they passed off several pieces of music they would be able to play a piece during the concert with the 7th and 8th grade band.  There were about 7 students that did the challenge and Nate was one of them.  

The kids have all been taking piano lessons this year and they are doing so good.  We love their teacher and she comes to our house every Tuesday to give them all lessons.  It is so nice to not have to go back and forth with four kids for lessons.
The kids with their piano teacher, Amanda Leach

Overall we had a busy, and tiring, December with school activities.
Jared and Gwen during the band concert.