good news

Last week before the kids got out of school for Spring Break, I had their teacher conferences and got their report cards. And they were awesome!

Libby earned a 4.0 for the trimester-we were all really excited for her! She has been working super hard at school and it has paid off. Bailey did an excellent job as well, earning A's in all of his classes except for math [B]. Which is silly, because he is actually very good in math [unlike his mathematically challenged mother]. He didn't hand in some assignments at the beginning of the trimester, but soon wised up and started getting it done. And Julia, who is scored with E's [for excellent] and S's [for satisfactory], earned lots of E's and S+'s. Plus she's reading at an Independent 3rd grade level [or above, since they only test up to 2 grades higher than their current grade-whatever]. She has really made a huge jump in her reading over the last month or so.

Plus, this past Sunday Bailey played a hymn solo [from the hymnbook] in Sacrament Meeting. He did a really great job. Our ward music director heard he was playing in Priesthood and at Mutual and wanted to give him some experience playing in front of a larger group. I missed out on seeing it, because I actually got sick while getting ready for church and didn't make it. It was a good thing I had sent Bailey to church that morning with Owen at 7 am [for Owen's early morning meeting] to practice on the grand piano in the chapel, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get him there in time. I also missed Owen's talk in church that morning, but heard that went well also.

science fair 2007

I've only had this video done for about two months now, so I finally decided to get my act together and post it for everyone to see!

In case you've forgotten, back at the beginning of school, all three kids had science projects due. Julia's class was only submitting collections [since they're so young], but Libby and Bailey each had to create a full-blown project to submit to the science fair. Here are some photos of their projects, of them working on their projects, and how they fared in the final judgement!

fog day

Some areas of the United States have snow days in the winter, where school and other events are cancelled due to an excess of snow that creates dangerous driving conditions. Here in California's Central Valley we have fog days. On fog days you may not even be able to see your neighbor's house across the street, even if you don't live in the country. Fog hovers over the ground in thick, unrelenting blankets, reflecting an eerie white cast on everything. On fog days you don't want to get in your car unless you really have to.


Yesterday we had a fog day. We awoke to a world bathed in white when we got the first call at 6:30 am to tell us that school was delayed for 2 hours. At 8:00 am another call came informing us that classes were now delayed 3 hours. And then again at 10:00 am came the final call to cancel school for the day.

Needless to say, the kids were thrilled! By ten o'clock they had already done their piano and instrument practice, finished their morning chores, and done the homework that they already knew was expected of them for that day, so they enjoyed plenty of free time. The kids read books, played games, did educational [and not] games on the Wii and DS, and in general had a nice, easygoing day. Fortunately for me, all of my kids have good imaginations and know how to use them, so it never seems difficult for them to find something to do. Which in turn helps me enjoy the day as well!

As for me, after I finished reading with Julia, I spent the day working on my knitting, piano, and getting busy in the kitchen. I made lemon bars using the first crop of lemons from our backyard tree [yes!] and whipped up some more of my gluten-free mixes that I use regularly to have them conveniently on hand when I'm in a hurry [which is nearly always]. All in all, a productive yet relaxing day for everyone. Of course, we have to make up the fog day at the end of the year when the weather is oh-so-pleasant, but I'm not going to think about that right now.

what we did during vacation

A few of the fun things we did during vacation, in addition to reading [we always do lots of that], playing outside, and mastering the video games!

Libby stirs the fudge up to soft ball stage. Yes, it does take forever! Julia, Libby, and Aisha all took turns stirring. But the end result was so worth it!

Julia has fun with her paper doll set. Julia and Libby have since spent HOURS with these adorable paper dolls and their accessories. Good call, Grammie!

Bailey experiments with origami and makes a star box to show off. He's also made several different birds and a funky color wheel. Again, props to Grammie!

Knit one. . .purl what? Libby poring over this great Klutz knitting set I found on closeout for about $6 at a local educational toy shop. And since Libby has been asking for ages to learn how to knit, so I thought it would be a wise investment.

Collin bent over his coloring book. He takes his art very seriously!

Some things I have been working on:

• mastering My Word Coach for Nintendo DS. Insanely addictive, I love it. Because I love words.
• a couple of days before Christmas I got an early Christmas present from our ward primary-a change from nursery leader to primary secretary! I've spent much time over the last couple of weeks updating and organizing records, gathering information, and in general acclimating myself to the job. I think I can get used to not being in the nursery!
• new piano music! I used a gift card Owen and the kids gave me for my birthday to purchase some music from several of the Jane Austen films. Because I love to feed my Jane Austen addiction.

a merr-wii christmas

At last! Libby, Bailey, and Julia finally in possession of the coveted Wii! They were, in a word, excited. Bailey was the first one up Christmas morning at 5:00 am [not including when I told him to get back to bed after I heard him creaking down the stairs near midnight] and the rest were up at 6:00. They were allowed to explore their stocking fare, but the family rule is that we open gifts all together. Bailey and Libby had already scoped out a box that they thought might contain a Wii [we had told them we might not have it in time for Christmas, just to keep them in suspense]. Just as soon as it was opened, it was out of the box and Owen was getting it set up. They spent most of Christmas day taking turns playing the various games they had selected.

Here Libby practices along with High School Musical, with Julia wielding a Wii remote to perform the background percussion for her. She's getting pretty good at the songs now! I think I will have them all memorized myself before too much longer. Maybe when the kids go to bed I'll have to take over the mike and see how I fare. Actually, I will most likely have to wait until Owen beats the current Wii game he's playing. It was hard getting him to take his turns like everyone else yesterday! And when the kids went to bed he kept playing until bedtime. Fine by me-it finally gave me a chance to try out my new Nintendo DS [from Owen] with a really fun vocabulary builder game that Santa slipped into my stocking.

the annual cousin photo shoot

We have a tradition in our family. Every Christmas we gather all of my siblings' children [including our own], dress them in coordinated clothes provided by Grammie, and have a photo shoot. This year we have The Big Twelve--12 cousins, all of varying ages ranging from just a few months to 12 years old. It's always an interesting event to behold, as the two and three year olds generally provide the most frustration and amusement! This year we had 3 two-to-three year-olds [Ruby, Barrett, & Collin], so the fun was, as you might suspect, non-stop.

Collin [3], Libby [9], Bailey [12], Julia [7]

We started things off with sibling groups, just for fun. Here's my favorite of our bunch. Isn't Collin quite the little man in his suit! [While he was getting dressed that morning, he kept talking about wearing his "soup." Well, at dinner time he's not too far off the mark!] We did everyone's families separately, then gathered the whole lot of them together for the Big Group Shot. And that's when things predictably started falling apart!

I was taking candids off to the side-the kids are looking at Grammie's camera. Everyone looks good here except the two little boys! They finally buckled under the pressure of the paparazzi and just couldn't take any more. They sobbed throughout most of the group shot [they're on either end]. Hopefully Grammie got some better ones than I did! I did manage to get Ruby [in the white dress] in the shot just before she ran off again. She was in and out the whole time-it was pretty funny trying to get her to stay put for long!

Over the years we've just learned that there's nothing we can do, so we just focus on the fact that we're just keeping things real by capturing them as they are.

Plus, there's always next year!

thanksgiving by libby

After dessert I took a break from the kitchen and took advantage of the opportunity to hold baby Sammy. While he fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair, Libby got a hold of my camera and got some amazingly good candids of the family! I thought they were certainly worthy of a post a la Libby.

Barrett finds a haven on the floor and in between the gamers.

Anthony gives Libby a sweet smile for the camera!

Libby catches Bailey in usual form.

Uncle Jubba[aka Jeff]-like a deer in the headlights! Seriously. The flash was really blinding everyone.

Grammie hams it up for the camera!

giving thanks

Thanksgiving 2007! As has been the tradition for the last several years, we gathered together at our home to celebrate Thanksgiving and have a wonderful dinner [and desserts!]. Mom and Dad, Ana and Ian, and Ambika and Jeff, along with all their children, were able to attend. As usual, we had way too much good food!

After we got the children served and situated outside, the adults retired inside to enjoy their dinner in peace! The kids really enjoyed their Thanksgiving picnic and had fun playing outside with their cousins.

Table for two, although I'm pretty sure cousin Barrett never actually sat down to eat! Collin enjoyed his dinner, though.

A nice, peaceful Thanksgiving inside! The baby bottle is where Ambika was sitting, although Sammy didn't let her sit for very long. He was having a fussy day and would only accept his mom's attempts at consolation. She ended up eating at the counter so she could hold him and use a fork at the same time!

Later, Sammy takes a break outside with Grammie and cousin Libby. Here, Libby is marvelling at Sammy's enormous jowls. They really are quite the sight! After dinner I finished cleaning up while the adults walked the kids over to the neighborhood park to shoot off homemade rockets brought by Ian and Anthony. Apparently they soared to a height of about 3,000 feet! I'll have to take their word for it-I was elbow deep in soap suds! When everyone got back from the park, we served dessert and the cousins battled each other on the GameCube.

go elf yourself!

Last Christmas my sister-in-law Deana got me hooked on the OfficeMax "Elf Yourself" website. This year it's back and better than ever! Now I can have all four of my dancing elves on the same page! Check it out here for a good laugh! And if you make your own, you'd better send it to me, 'cause I want to laugh at yours, too! For even more laughs, click on this link to see actors from "The Office" getting their elf on.

coast getaway

Over Veteran's Day weekend we spent some time over at the coast. It was a pretty lazy weekend. We didn't actually get there until Saturday just before dinner, so after we unloaded our stuff, we headed into downtown San Luis Obispo to get some dinner. After dinner we made our ritual visit to Coldstone Creamery for a half gallon of cake batter ice cream and took it back to the condo to enjoy.

Sunday we took it easy. Collin woke up in a foul temper and we decided against taking him to church. Instead had a quiet spiritual message in front of the fire. In fact, we kept the stove burning all day and just lazed about in front of it. In the late afternoon, after Collin's nap, we headed over to explore the nearby Elfin Forest. It is pretty, but I was worrying so much about the kids touching the poison oak that surrounded us on all sides [in huge, overhanging bushes at times] that I was undeniably relieved when we headed back. I believe in the above picture that Owen is telling the kids [again, because it was constant] NOT TO TOUCH THE PLANTS. NONE OF THEM. AT ALL.



Bailey and Libby's conversation at a vista point in the Elfin Forest:

Libby: Bailey, come and play patty cake with me!

Bailey: No way! Do I look like a wussy boy to you?

Libby: Do you really want me to answer that?

Can't you just feel the love?

After we left the poison-oak-infested Elfin Forest [it really is pretty, just not much fun with little kids] we headed south to Montana de Oro. We went to one of our favorite spots, with the huge pebble beach and the many caves. The kids all had fun collecting rocks and pebbles and exploring the rocky hills and caves there. We stayed there until just before sunset, then went home and Owen put the kids in the shower while I put the gluten-free pasta bake into the oven for an easy, warm dinner.

Collin enjoyed throwing the many rocks at Montana de Oro back into the ocean. He looks pretty serious about it in this picture. Fortunately we never had a problem with him aiming his missiles at anything living. He was pretty intent on making big splashes in the water.

Monday morning we cleaned up the condo and spent some time in Morro Bay [walked around the Embarcadero and had lunch by the bay] and San Luis Obispo. The kids have a favorite toy store downtown called Tom's Toys. They have a lot of things that the kids really like, so they got to pick their favorite [within reason]. Then I got to hit Banana Republic while Owen took the kids for a walk--and even found a cute blouse on sale! We decided to head back early to avoid the holiday traffic, so that was the extent of our big weekend! It was nice to get away from the house for a couple of days and just hang out together. If we'd been at home we would just have been doing **GASP** chores and **DOUBLE GASP** yardwork!

halloween in the haunted orchard

the fearsome threesome

Bailey duels with Matthew

Collin in awe of the makeshift graveyard

I really liked this shot-it was just getting dark and tried a different setting on the camera

I'm really trying to get back into the blogging swing of things after my hiatus, so I have decided to start playing some catch-up!


Here are some of my favorite pictures of the kids from this past Halloween. As you might have already noticed, we had some fun with hair color this year! I figured that since we told the kids that we weren't buying any new costumes this year [meaning they were to use their creative noggins and come up with costumes from items we already owned], I supposed we may have overcompensated by getting the colored hair spray to make things a little more interesting!


Collin started out as a pirate, but ended up looking more like a punk headed for a club! He decided not to wear his pirate hat or eye patch, so I ditched the sword as well, added the glow sticks, and sprayed his hair extra purple. There is actually still a faint purple color on the head area of his car seat from that night!


Libby is a veterinarian. Or maybe Stephanie from "LazyTown" dressed up as a veterinarian! She wasn't sure about the pink hair at first, but then she really got into it! Julia dressed in the same outfit as last year-the black dancing cat! I'm amazed she still got into it with as much as she's grown, but I'm sure this will be the last year as the dancing Halloween cat. Guess that means we'll have to get more creative next year. And I'm still not sure what Bailey was supposed to be. All I know is that he was to be some video game character and that he had to have blue hair. Come to think of it, Bailey was the instigator for this whole hair thing! We're really good at finding reasons to blame Bailey for everything around here!


Bonus: This is the first year the kids were at a school that allowed them to wear Halloween costumes to school, so they had fun doing that. The school even has a parade in the afternoon where each class takes a turn walking around in front of the school to show off their fun costumes. It really was a lot of fun.


Halloween night was spent in our bishop's walnut orchard, where they kids enjoyed carnival-type games, trunk-or-treating [at the tree trunks], going through the haunted spook alley put on by the Young Men, and had root beer and chili in front of the bonfire. After we got home, Owen put the punk to bed and I took the rest around the neighborhood for some old-fashioned trick-or-treating.

ghostly cake

Tonight for family home evening, I decided to stop being a slacker mom and make something really fun for dessert. So, we had a [gluten-free] double-layer chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting, with a host of Peeps ghosts haunting a mellowcreme pumpkin patch. The kids were thrilled. I even busted out the old cake decorating kit and did a border around it in chocolate frosting. I made them wait to have some until after we'd finished making our Halloween crafts [pumpkin magnets and furry spiders left over from the Oriental Trading Company order I placed like two years ago]. Fun was had by all, and no one even got burnt by the hot glue gun. Not even me, which is somewhat suprising.

what we did last summer

A slideshow of summer highlights!

project

Collin and I went to Lowe's yesterday on a hunt. Our mission was to secure a variety of inexpensive seeds for Julia's science project [which is actually a seed collection]. On our way into the store, we went in through the garden area and I was immediately sidetracked by all the beautiful flowers. Camera in hand, we wandered down the outdoor aisles, looking for the most winning prospects to photograph. My favorite turned out to be this one. Aside from the delightful color and shape, I am really into those perfectly curled stamen! Nature creates the most awesome details.

We did actually get to the seeds, but not before Collin was sidetracked by the Christmas display set up inside. [I know. Christmas. In October. I just can't get into it.] Anyway, there was a train set up that was moving along a circular track through a tunnel in this Christmas mountain that Collin was just fascinated by. He adores trains. It's such a sweet little boy thing. So, we sat and watched the train go around and around for awhile before we selected our seeds and made for the checkout.

So now Julia and I have a science project to complete. All students at the kids' school do a science project [lucky me, we have three] but the kindergarten and first grades only have to submit a collection. Fortunately Julia's will be easy to complete. Between what I gathered around the house, those I received from my mom, and the ones from our foray into Lowe's, Julia has about 50 different seed specimens to display on her science board. I'm hoping to help Julia get hers done by Saturday night so that I can help Libby with hers next week. And then I get to make sure Bailey gets his done as well. Oh, the joy. How did my mother ever get through all this with five kids and still manage to hang on to her sanity?

sunrise, sunset

I was organizing our digital photos on Picasa today when I came across some photographs taken back when Collin was born. This particular photo was taken the day after Collin was born, a little over three years ago. I am simply amazed at how much our kids have grown since Collin joined our family.

For instance, look at Bailey. Bailey was 9 years old in this picture. And now look at him! Amazing what three years will do. He's on the cusp of adolescence [much to my dismay]. Libby was 6 years old and less than a month away from starting first grade in this picture. And now she's this totally capable 4th grader. And little bitty Julia-3 years old here. How much she has grown, especially in just the last six months or so. Little Collin went from 0 to 3 in what feels like no time at all.

Many years ago someone told me [it may have been my mom] that once the kids start school, the years just fly by. At the time I didn't fully appreciate what that meant, perhaps because Bailey wasn't in school yet. But now I feel as if the years have really been getting away from me. How can it have been this long since Collin was born and yet it feels like hardly any time has passed? Maybe being so busy with the daily needs of a family has rather dulled my sense of time. It has really made me take pause and try to better live in the moment with my family, since the moments are so fleeting. [This must be what getting old feels like!]

Enough philosophizing. Aren't they cute!

animal farm

Meet Wesley [L] and Laverne [R]

The girls hanging out with the rabbits in Dad's workshop

In case you're in doubt as to whether or not I've officially lost all my [remaining] marbles and gotten more pets for the kids, please rest assured that we are only babysitting Wesley and Laverne!

Animal surprise #1. Here's the deal: Friday night Owen and I decided to get Japanese takeout from our favorite place. Once we'd settled down with our spicy shrimp rolls, miso soup, and teriyaki salmon, we put in a movie that Owen had rented. Now, when Owen rents movies, chances are that I'm only interested in about, oh, say one out of every five that he brings home. He'll watch just about anything within our rating parameters, but I'm a bit picky about movies. I guess I'd just rather read than spend time watching something I'm not that into. Tonight's Blockbuster pick was "Deja Vu" with Denzel. From what I'd remembered from previews and from looking at the DVD case, it looked like another exploding-cars/shoot-em-up type movie. So not my thing. I had already decided [to myself] that after I had finished dinner, I would just bring my book in and read on the couch by Owen as he watched the movie. A good compromise. But the movie took a different turn than I expected and I found that I was actually enjoying it.

So, we're watching Denzel in action when at 9:30 the phone rings. Someone in the ward was calling to see if we could take in a couple of box-trained house rabbits that night. A family in our ward had to move out of their apartment because they found black mold in the wall. Owen says that we can do it, and after he gets off the phone, we look at each other. Box trained house rabbits? Do we know what we're doing? Owen then explains to me that they also have a "playpen" that can be set up, and we decide to set the rabbits up in the laundry room in the playpen. The husband can't meet Owen to turn over the rabbits until he gets off work, so at 11:30 pm Owen goes over there to pick up the rabbits. We set them up in the laundry room, but when we realize that this setup basically renders the laundry room useless, we decide to move them out into Owen's shop for a week or two. So far that seems to be working out well. As you can imagine, our kids were thrilled to wake up Saturday morning to find two rabbits in the house! They're helping to feed and water them, pet them, and brush their fur. It's all very exciting.

Animal surprise #2. That same Saturday morning, after we had moved Wesley and Laverne out to the shop, Julia was in the laundry room where we keep her hamster cage. I was on the phone when she rushed up to me and exclaimed that there was a worm in Mini's cage. Still on the phone, I go in to investigate. Sure enough, there is something pink and squiggly in Mini's cage. But it's not a worm. I quickly hurry Julia from the room and close the door, explaining that we'll worry about it in a minute. Because I was having a "duh" moment. For weeks we had watched Mini get rounder and plumper. I just thought she was hitting the hamster food really hard and was growing. Alas, no. Mini was preggers!

I immediately put Oreo into his own little cage away from the mother and babies and got on the internet to find out all about hamster babies. I continued to check on Mini [while keeping everyone else out] because in my reading I learned that stressed hamster mothers often eat their young. You should have seen the look on the girls' faces when I told them that! [Let that be a lesson to my kids-if you stress me out too much, I might salt and pepper you and have you for lunch!] I had counted seven babies by that afternoon, but I noticed later that evening that I wasn't seeing as many. By Sunday morning she was down to two babies, and they seem to be thriving. I think that seven may have just been to much for her to cope with as a young, first-time mother. I can't really blame her. At least we never saw her actually, uh, getting rid of them. I don't think I could have handled that. And I pretty much kept the kids away because I didn't think they'd like to see it, either.

See that little pink blob, about the size of an uncracked peanut? Hamster baby!

So, according to my research and if all continues to go well, in about 5 weeks we will have two little hamsters needing good homes. Free hamsters, anyone?

free day

Bailey spies on Bijou from behind

I figured that the week wouldn't be complete without another hamster shot, so here it is in all its glory. The kids have the day off from school today because of the County Fair. They actually get in free to the fair today, but after you spend $15 apiece for the ride bracelets, plus my adult admission and spare change for eats, it's not so free anymore. So, we've just been laying low today. I scheduled annual physicals [with shots-ouch] for Bailey and Libby this morning, but after that we were home free. See what happens when we have too much time!

makeover

How do you get from THIS

to THIS?

Go to Face of the Future and find out! I found out about this website and had some fun playing around with it. You upload your own pictures and then choose a style to have them transformed in. The one above of Bailey was transformed in El Greco style. Pretty funny, right! I did pictures of all the kids and uploaded them to Flickr; you can click on my Flickr link to see all the pictures.

One problem I found when using the website: for some reason it wouldn't upload some of my pictures. I would try over and over to upload the same one, but it just wouldn't. But then I would try a different picture and it would upload with no problem. I'm not sure what the deal is, but just so you know. There are also some other options to play around with, like face averaging and face morphing. Just in case you had nothing else to do all day!

fun with hamsters

Julia's hamster, Mini, goes for a drive with the top down.

Collin enjoys his new hamster. He named her Dig. Very appropriate, since she does.

Collin and Dig check each other out.

Yes, I know. I really do! We are having way too much fun with these hamsters.

hamsta in da house!

This is Oreo, Libby's hamster. He is such a sweetie. And isn't he adorable? Julia's hamster, Mini, is buried under the pine shavings to his left. I'll get a better picture soon. We are officially down to three hamsters right now (including Bailey's hamster, Bijou) because I packed up Collin's hamster in a carrying case with food and water and had Owen take her back to the pet store today. We were just having way too many problems with her. She was very aggressive with the other hamsters-rushing at them, attacking, and intimidating them. She also bit. A lot. And hard, too. We noticed about a day after Owen brought them all home that Collin's hamster (I promptly named her Chopper) was actually missing her back left foot. We're not sure if she was born that way or had an accident, but we attributed her defensiveness to that and understood why she might behave that way. She was moving around fine and even ran on the hamster wheel in the cage. But yesterday I noticed that she was picking on the others unprovoked, causing much squeaking from the hamster cage. Since she's supposed to be Collin's, I figured we needed to find one that was gentler. He wasn't too excited about getting bit by her all the time-can't imagine why! So, we'll see what Owen brings home today. Fortunately there is no microwave involved with this fiesty hamster! [check out the comments on "high school musical and hamsters" for this backstory - sorry, Megan, I just couldn't resist]

Update: Owen called just after I posted-the pet store was happy to exchange Chopper for a timid little hamster that was just brought out from the back. Sure, keep all the friendly hamsters IN THE BACK! Anyway, we'll see how things go with the new one when Owen gets home from work tonight.