Carnival

Rides, Games, Food & Prizes.

 Fun evening at the annual Back to School Carnival.

The Wizzer! It made me dizzy just watching.

A Mid Summer Night's Storm

Late last night a storm rolled in. Downpour of rain, deep rolling thunder and lightning bolts that lit the entire sky! We lost power twice but only for a few minutes each time. It was amazing.

Week at a glance

Lots of fun and exciting things going on this last week.

 Here's a few fun things at a glance:

1. Our favorite summer dinner has been grilled fish on the BBQ with herbs from my garden and fresh slices of lemon. 2. First day of school this week for both kids. 3. We are getting back in the swing of things with our after school routines. 4. With the kids home from their Dad's for the summer, it's back to chores also. They are loving fewer chores with another person around to help out. 5. I've always wanted to make my own salsa! I bought two bags of tomatoes from the farmer down the street and it turned out delicious! 6. Just being having fun and being silly. 

Purple Belt

Thursday night, Jackson was promoted from an Orange Belt to Purple Belt. Which means he will be sparing at the next tournament, along with doing forms. Sparing has always been the part Jackson was nervous about, but he's doing great with what he's learned so far.

At the promotion, the students got to show off some moves the have been working on. Jackson performed the First Chuck Form using his nun-chucks along with attacking and self defense moves. After proudly receiving their new belts, they were adorned during a special ceremony which celebrated their dedication and determination to keep moving forward.

Great job Jackson, Congratulations!

Thankful Thurdsay

Of the many blessings I have; I am thankful for:

• Summer rain storms that cool everything down
• Something unexpected to brighten my day (like the note Rusty left in my purse after I had gone to bed)
• Solar power - We finally put the lights in the yard that I bough a year or two ago
• Jackson's dedication to karate
• Ashleigh staying drama free - especially compared to what her friends are going though
• Milk and dunking cookies into it
• The two bags of tomatoes I bought from the farmer down the street - yum!
• The new candles I bought this week - Fresh Bamboo & Cherry Blossom, they both make my house smell amazing
• Tea - organic green tea, early gray & constant comment - such a great way to start or end my day
• A safe place to live

Rise & Shine

Ahh, mornings. Birds chirping.

 The sun peaking over the mountains.

 Don't we all feel like this when our alarm goes off in the morning? I know I do.

NOT!

 I think it's more like this little guy most mornings.

 It's ok buddy, I know how you feel.

I need a magic remedy to change from a night owl to a morning person. Staying up until midnight and getting up at 6:30 am is catching up to me. It's not as simple as going to bed early when your natural sleep pattern is to stay up late. The sleep deficit is growing and I don't have time to be tired.

So far, I've decided I need something to look forward to when I get out of bed in the morning so it's not such a dreaded affair.  I am willing to bribe myself. Maybe some good coffee or tea or something delicious for breakfast.

 I figure, getting up early to visit with Ashleigh as she gets ready for school doesn't have much merit to it if I am half asleep and wishing I would just go back to bed. I'm going to leave you with some inspiring morning pictures and you can leave me any suggestions you might have.

 

Namaste

2011 - 2012

 First day of school

Both kids had a good first day! Ashleigh is in 8th grade this year and Jackson is 3rd. Thanks to everyone who texted/called the kids to wish them good luck or to ask how their first day went.

Ashleigh was happy to have friends in every one of her classes and have the same lunch as her.  She is taking multiple honors classes so she will have her hands full this year. (First therm classes: Science, Math, Spanish, Health, Art, Drama, English, History)

Jackson likes school so he's been ready to go back for about a month now. After breakfast, we were talking about how he wants to do his hair for the first day and he told me, "I just want it straight. I don't want to be a chick magnet" Hahaha. He was pretty excited this morning. In fact, he could hardly even sleep last night, I was worried about him being tired today because of it, but he was fine. Although, he fell asleep in about three minutes tonight!

Late

It feels like the whole world is sleeping and it's just us. 

Nothing else maters right now but what's in our family room.

 Listening to music that washes the stress of the day away. Speaks to me. Relaxing. 

Rusty & the kids are playing a game. 

The kids are taking turns & Ashleigh is making a friendship bracelet between turns. 

I'm spent. It was a long day. But I don't want to go to bed yet...I don't want to miss this. 

Smiles. Laughter. Just simply enjoying each other's company. 

Thankful Thursday

Of the many blessings I have; I am thankful for:

• Love
• Summer grilling on the BBQ
• Bug spray (apparently it's spider season)
• When I look at the clock and it's earlier than I thought it was
• The Mac Rusty bought because I get to use it
• Shooting stars
• Only waking up a couple times during the night; curses for being such a light sleeper
• Projects not taking as long as I thought
• All the help around the house; I actually had time to finish the book I've been wanting to read & about to start a new one
• Jackson being so excited to start school on Monday and Ashleigh's ambition to take all advanced/honors classes this year

Garden update

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul."

 - The Koran

Thankful Thursday

Of the many blessings I have, I am thankful for:

• Getting a heartfelt, "thank you for dinner, it's delicious" 
• The entire day at home with the T.V. off because we are having too much fun doing other things
• Chalkboard paint
• A thankful heart
• Electric palm sander
• The crickets chirping outside my window right now
• My swamp cooler not breaking down once this summer (knock on wood) I was on the roof every couple weeks fixing it last year
• Coming home to the laundry done & dishes put away (thanks Rusty)
• A good job
• Comfy pajamas & a good book

This is what weekends are for

I got off work early on Friday, it's was a great way to kick off the weekend! The kids have been at their Dad's for the last few weeks so I was really looking forward to having my babies home and having a full weekend off work to spend it with them.

Friday night was a delicious home cooked meal of Swedish meatballs, red skinned mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans followed by board games around the dinner table for hours.

Jackson is in the middle of the downpour

Saturday was spent at the pool, and was so much fun! I packed up a picnic lunch and we went to the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center, not too far from our house. They have 4 outdoor pools and 2 indoor pools. We've been to some fun pools but this one takes the cake. There was two different playgrounds with water slides, levers and cranks to control buckets, nozzles and water cannons. A giant 1,000 gallon bucket that dumps over and completely drenches anyone close by. One of the pools had an obstacle course! There was also a big area outside with waterfalls and all sorts of fountains to play in. One of the outdoor pools was dedicated just to diving boards, high dives and diving platforms.  The indoor pool had a super fast water slide, whirlpool and fun water feature.

We bought an underwater camera and I cannot wait to get the pictures developed!

 Ashleigh's best friend, Kylee and her mom, Tiffany joined us at the pool. I had only planned on staying 2-3 hours but we had a blast all afternoon, and before we knew it, it's was 8 PM.

The highlight of the day was Jackson's first time on the diving board! He loved it, he even tried diving off the board. After a few times on the diving board, he wanted to try the high dive! I think I was more hesitant than he was; he climbed up the ladder and jumped off the board like he had done it a hundred time before! Jackson got in line over and and over again; I'm proud of him, I was terrified the first time I jumped off the high dive as a little girl.

After swimming, Ashleigh and Jackson both got to rent a movie and had a friend come over for a sleepover. We cooked burgers and hot dogs for dinner. I'm always happy see Jackson and his friends play board games, basketball,  and make up games using their imaginations, rather than just playing Xbox or Wii.

I made waffles for breakfast Sunday morning when the sleeping giants finally awoke from their late night.  Jackson had a birthday party later that afternoon for his best friend from Karate class. Ashleigh & Kylee walked up to the school and met a bunch of friends before walking back here to hang out for a bit. Rusty and I got some more yard work done including scraping the peeling paint off the trim around the windows and giving it a fresh coat.

It was the perfect combination of fun, relaxation and productivity.

When the house is sleeping

I've been awake for about an hour. The whole house is still sleeping. There is something so calming about it; everyone peacefully sleeping before the hustle and bustle of the weekend starts.


I opened the windows, and a gentle breeze moves the curtains as if they are dancing, there's an occasional bird chirping, but no neighborhood children playing outside yet, no sounds of traffic, it is so relaxing.


Sitting in the family room, working on a design project, I stopped for a moment to take everything in. This is my favorite room of the house;  big picture windows looking out to the back yard where it's lined with fruit trees, the 'art gallery', a wall filled with art work from my kids and family pictures, the green palm in the corner that's breathing life into the room, I love this room.


A home has different feelings through out the day, I don't think I could pick a favorite, although this tranquil, undisturbed feeling is quite nice.

Hopper Express

This little grasshopper, hopped himself onto the hood of my car while I was getting gas this afternoon. He stayed there as I pulled out of the parking lot, drove down the street, and got on the freeway.

The entire time I was thinking about a cute little movie the kids and I watched a while ago called, Bee Movie.

There's a couple funny scenes about bugs smashed up against the windshield of some vehicles, not because they are dead but because they are hitching a ride somewhere. It made me chuckle.




Towards the end of this movie trailer, it shows a little part of the windshield scene.

Thankful Thursday

Of the many blessings I have, I am thankful for:

• Not getting caught outside in the hail storm this afternoon
• Great sales on school supplies (even got pens & boxes of crayola markers totally free)
• Having this weekend off work & my babies being home to share it with
• A great book to read
• The amazing massage therapist they brought in at work
• Documentaries
• A good cup of coffee
• Looking at the surface of the moon with my brother's amazing telescope tonight
• The new trax line opening right down the street from our house
• Sneaking in an afternoon nap

Unplug

     "God has no blackberry, but is my favorite contact. 

He does not have Facebook, but is my best friend.

He does not have twitter, but I still follow Him. 

And even without internet, I am always in contact with Him!"

I saw this tonight and wanted to share; I thought it was clever. I love that the writer used terms from social networking, and funny that I read it on Facebook.