Since the beginning of this year I have been traveling WAY too much. I really love traveling. I do. But time away from the kids gets old, as well as taking time off from work, exhausting all my paid time off, and traveling funds anyway. Wait, I don't think I had any traveling funds to begin with. Oh yeah, debt, that is how that works!!
I went to Moab with friends and rock climbed, then I went to Oregon to train to be a Hypnobabies instructor, then I went to Montana to see a concert, then I went to North Carolina to visit an old friend. Next I went on a camping trip with my kids and family, then to Colorado for a business trip, then I went to Michigan for a wedding, then I went to Colorado for some more concerts and to Moab and Goblin Valley on the way home. Whew! I am tuckered out! Until next month..... he he he. I currently have no trips planned....but that is subject to change without much notice. I really want to take the kids somewhere on a weekend camping trip maybe late september, but have no idea where to go....
Let's see....other things I have been doing are rock climbing (a lot), gardening (not enough, you should see the weeds!) and trying to remember to eat dinner amidst the chaos. I am working on my certification for hypnobabies, should be done in the next two weeks, oh wait, HAS to be done in the next two weeks. I am also beginning the process of changing my name back to Jacob. Beginning another and very SLOW process of trying to pay off debt, I am grateful it is only how much it is....
I am grateful for my kids. Grateful to have a house I love and can afford, and a job I love (most the time) that helps me pay for it, gives me time off to travel and generally works with my schedule so that I can have shifts during day care hours. I am grateful for my health (my cat scan, MRI and ER visits for the year have all turned out to be nothing too serious or requiring any invasive procedures or surgeries). I am grateful for the health insurance I have that has covered my booty for all of that too. I am grateful every time I can pay a bill or buy food for my kids. I am grateful for all the traveling I have done this year and the wonderful and beautiful country we live in. I am super grateful for my digital camera. It kicks butt for a point and shoot. I am also grateful for my family, my sisters and brother and parents....and also my best friends Tina, Marci and Laura....who really help me through everything.
Okay since it sounds like I just won an oscar, I will stop.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Too busy!!!
I hate to say this, but there are much more frequent updates on my facebook page.
Here's the quick version of updates on the kids:
William just turned 5! I am amazed that he is so old. He is learning to read and write, loves letters and numbers and can tell you that 120 is bigger than 80 (thanks to pokemon). He counts to 100 and knows all his letters and sounds and can now spell words by sounding them out! He is obsessed with planets and snakes. He couldn't live without his Pokemon cards, Bakugan toys, and Transformers. He just started playing soccer in august and is quite good. His natural speed, strength and aggression help him in getting the ball away from other kids. He has been gluten free for four months now and is doing very well. His behavior and emotional roller coaster has slowed down and gotten less extreme, but he is still our very exciting and intense child. He started Kindergarten at his day-care, which is great because it is familiar and only has 8 kids in his class! He gets the individual attention he needs! William recently told me that "sunday" has 3 words in it: sun, day, and sunday! Wow. He also told Rowen that he thinks Rowen is a freak.
Rowen is getting close to 3. He is still in preschool and is having fun there. He has the silliest sense of humor. He can understand jokes that adults think are funny and play into them. He is so smart and so stinkin' funny! He recently had his first buzz haircut, and now looks much more like William. Rowen LOVES cheese. He also loves cars, monster trucks and Spiderman. When he grows up he wants to be a monster truck driver, Spiderman, a power ranger, or hmm....it changes every day. Every time we walk by the skateboard park (on the way to soccer practice for Will) Rowen asks me if he can do that someday, and I say yes, then he tells me that he'll need a helmet, and a skateboard. Rowen recently tried rock climbing for the first time and climbed really high! He is still an easy going delight to have around, assuming you have plenty of cheese on hand. Oh, and it must be cheddar. Yesterday he was having a hard time falling asleep because his legs were sore from running up and down a very big hill while watching soccer practice. He told me that his "legs are thirsty!" Oh, what a perfect description for tired muscles. Currently he carries around wherever we go a stuffed doggie or birdy, and a sticky spiderman (with suction cups on his hands).
Here's the quick version of updates on the kids:
William just turned 5! I am amazed that he is so old. He is learning to read and write, loves letters and numbers and can tell you that 120 is bigger than 80 (thanks to pokemon). He counts to 100 and knows all his letters and sounds and can now spell words by sounding them out! He is obsessed with planets and snakes. He couldn't live without his Pokemon cards, Bakugan toys, and Transformers. He just started playing soccer in august and is quite good. His natural speed, strength and aggression help him in getting the ball away from other kids. He has been gluten free for four months now and is doing very well. His behavior and emotional roller coaster has slowed down and gotten less extreme, but he is still our very exciting and intense child. He started Kindergarten at his day-care, which is great because it is familiar and only has 8 kids in his class! He gets the individual attention he needs! William recently told me that "sunday" has 3 words in it: sun, day, and sunday! Wow. He also told Rowen that he thinks Rowen is a freak.
Rowen is getting close to 3. He is still in preschool and is having fun there. He has the silliest sense of humor. He can understand jokes that adults think are funny and play into them. He is so smart and so stinkin' funny! He recently had his first buzz haircut, and now looks much more like William. Rowen LOVES cheese. He also loves cars, monster trucks and Spiderman. When he grows up he wants to be a monster truck driver, Spiderman, a power ranger, or hmm....it changes every day. Every time we walk by the skateboard park (on the way to soccer practice for Will) Rowen asks me if he can do that someday, and I say yes, then he tells me that he'll need a helmet, and a skateboard. Rowen recently tried rock climbing for the first time and climbed really high! He is still an easy going delight to have around, assuming you have plenty of cheese on hand. Oh, and it must be cheddar. Yesterday he was having a hard time falling asleep because his legs were sore from running up and down a very big hill while watching soccer practice. He told me that his "legs are thirsty!" Oh, what a perfect description for tired muscles. Currently he carries around wherever we go a stuffed doggie or birdy, and a sticky spiderman (with suction cups on his hands).
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Cute Little Hiking Dudes
We went hiking to Lisa Falls the other day. It's beautiful and raging at this time of year. A wonderful cool little hike for the kids, from house to falls and back takes less than an hour. It's a very short trail, we'll have to work up to some longer ones....stay tuned....but for now, enjoy the super cute little guys.
Update to Ode to May....
Okay nevermind, I digress. It isn't cold enough that not so many snakes are out. Because, well, a couple weeks ago, I nearly (nearly=4 inches max.) stepped on a little guy like this:
This is the closest I have ever gotten to one of these scary terrible creatures. I didn't see him, he didn't see me, until I nearly smashed him with my sandals (read: bare ankles and lots of easily accessible flesh). He rattled at me and started retracting and I yelled "rattlesnake" and ran.
So, I figure that I've lived in Utah about 20 years, and it's taken me this long to see this lovely little slithery deadly creature up close and personal, I guess I have another 20 years until I have to see another one. I wish it worked that way. But I can keep telling myself that it does.
This is the closest I have ever gotten to one of these scary terrible creatures. I didn't see him, he didn't see me, until I nearly smashed him with my sandals (read: bare ankles and lots of easily accessible flesh). He rattled at me and started retracting and I yelled "rattlesnake" and ran.
So, I figure that I've lived in Utah about 20 years, and it's taken me this long to see this lovely little slithery deadly creature up close and personal, I guess I have another 20 years until I have to see another one. I wish it worked that way. But I can keep telling myself that it does.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Ode to May
Okay, so instead of doing like the 10 days of my favorite things for Christmas....I thought I'd just let you all know that I am pretty sure that May wins. If all the months of the year had a contest, May might have them all beat.
In May you can still snowboard, if you want to, hike, climb, enjoy the mountains, watch some of the early wildflowers bloom, see your bare feet again, wear flip flops and shorts again, wear a hoodie or coat in the evening....smell a campfire for the first time of the year again (or maybe not the first time)....go to barbeques again. Go running in shorts and a tank top again, outside, at any time of day. Climb rocks till your knees are black and blue without freezing your fingers off. We get to enjoy beautifully warm and sunny wonderful weather, and some cold, snuggly thunderstorms. The best of both weather worlds. Peonies. They only are found for sale for about a month.....now. Wisteria and Lilac bloom and are gone again. Lilacs and peonies smell like heaven. Gardening. Oh, the smell of dirt. Dirt under my fingernails and embedded in my dry skin cracks in my knuckles. Watching my sons find bugs and worms and actually treat them nicely, most of the time. Seeing the cute, chubbier version of bare toes that is a toddlers foot, running in the grass again. The smell of tomato plants on my fingers. Sprouts of all gorgeous and delicious varieties of edible green goodness. Watching a snap pea wind its first tendril around a support stick. Choosing varieties of heirloom tomatoes and squashes to grow for this year. Watching the white tiny petals fall off the tight budding electric green that is the strawberry. The color of the first leaves on trees, so young and excited. The mountains, bright and exploding with life, and the rocky and still snowy peaks looming above them. Mountain goats enjoying the sun and melting snow on the cliffs in the canyon. Hiking up to one and saying hello. Cold enough outside that not so many snakes are out. Rivers flowing loud and beautifully, a greater sound to me than the ocean. The deep red of the sockeye salmon makes it's appearance again, gets soaked in soy sauce and brown sugar again....and finds its way to the barbeque with the flip flops and the hoodies.
You should immerse yourself in the sights and sounds and smells and activities and delights of each season each year. You have to endure them all anyway, whether or not they are your favorite, so you might as well live them or move to San Diego or Hawaii. Let your days be saturated with the full experience of them. And why not start with May? If you don't actually dive in to any other time of year, just do May. Or leave more for me. I won't mind.
In May you can still snowboard, if you want to, hike, climb, enjoy the mountains, watch some of the early wildflowers bloom, see your bare feet again, wear flip flops and shorts again, wear a hoodie or coat in the evening....smell a campfire for the first time of the year again (or maybe not the first time)....go to barbeques again. Go running in shorts and a tank top again, outside, at any time of day. Climb rocks till your knees are black and blue without freezing your fingers off. We get to enjoy beautifully warm and sunny wonderful weather, and some cold, snuggly thunderstorms. The best of both weather worlds. Peonies. They only are found for sale for about a month.....now. Wisteria and Lilac bloom and are gone again. Lilacs and peonies smell like heaven. Gardening. Oh, the smell of dirt. Dirt under my fingernails and embedded in my dry skin cracks in my knuckles. Watching my sons find bugs and worms and actually treat them nicely, most of the time. Seeing the cute, chubbier version of bare toes that is a toddlers foot, running in the grass again. The smell of tomato plants on my fingers. Sprouts of all gorgeous and delicious varieties of edible green goodness. Watching a snap pea wind its first tendril around a support stick. Choosing varieties of heirloom tomatoes and squashes to grow for this year. Watching the white tiny petals fall off the tight budding electric green that is the strawberry. The color of the first leaves on trees, so young and excited. The mountains, bright and exploding with life, and the rocky and still snowy peaks looming above them. Mountain goats enjoying the sun and melting snow on the cliffs in the canyon. Hiking up to one and saying hello. Cold enough outside that not so many snakes are out. Rivers flowing loud and beautifully, a greater sound to me than the ocean. The deep red of the sockeye salmon makes it's appearance again, gets soaked in soy sauce and brown sugar again....and finds its way to the barbeque with the flip flops and the hoodies.
You should immerse yourself in the sights and sounds and smells and activities and delights of each season each year. You have to endure them all anyway, whether or not they are your favorite, so you might as well live them or move to San Diego or Hawaii. Let your days be saturated with the full experience of them. And why not start with May? If you don't actually dive in to any other time of year, just do May. Or leave more for me. I won't mind.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Gluten Free Time!!
So, we had a test done on William's poop, and guess what? His body is actively producing antibodies to gluten. Meaning these antibodies (very very basic description which could be inaccurate....) can damage his intestines (and may have already) leading to nutrient malabsorption and damage to any and all of the internal organs. So....here we embark on a gluten free diet, well, not we, just Will, too expensive for the rest of us. This may just become a gluten free blog with recipes and stuff....ha ha yeah right, I will have less time to do that than I do now.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
catch up time....
I actually don't know who reads/checks this anymore....but I am a slow poke.
So, just a couple of highlights about my boys:
Rowen:
Getting SO big, 2 and a half! He speaks and understands like a 4 year old. He was adamantly telling me the other day (like 20 times until I got what he was saying) that "daddy lives in sugarhouse!" He told me yesterday, "Do you want to hear my story? Once upon a time there was a bad guy. I saw him. I fight him. I happy. The End." The other day Rowen saw me have a frustrating moment, and he asked me, "Mommy, you happy?" It made me melt. He is very in tune, very understanding and very forgiving. Also becoming a terrible 2. All of a sudden, my sweetest little guy ever, makes sure you know he means "no". Here we go. Oh, and tonight he wore underpants for the first time ever (for like an hour) and didn't have an accident! Yippeeeee!
Will:
William will graduate from the children's center preschool at the end of may. Just in time (no coincidence) for the fun summer program at daycare (more field trips, swimming lessons, etc.) He is learning how to handle his very intense emotions....telling me yesterday that he needed to go on a walk with me because he wanted to talk about being sad. HUGE breakthrough! Now we still need a huge breakthrough with potty accidents.....but someday it will come. Someday. Hmmm.....still into princesses and pink stuff, and transformers and killing bugs and stuff. But learning to be gentle with worms. He is very proud of his knowledge and excitement about the planets....he will gladly tell you that mercury is the closest to the sun and is the hottest. He is a smart smart kid, always wanting to know why I think something or why the world is the way it is.
That's the update! Let me know if you are reading this in the comments, so I know if I should try to blog a bit more. Thanks!
So, just a couple of highlights about my boys:
Rowen:
Getting SO big, 2 and a half! He speaks and understands like a 4 year old. He was adamantly telling me the other day (like 20 times until I got what he was saying) that "daddy lives in sugarhouse!" He told me yesterday, "Do you want to hear my story? Once upon a time there was a bad guy. I saw him. I fight him. I happy. The End." The other day Rowen saw me have a frustrating moment, and he asked me, "Mommy, you happy?" It made me melt. He is very in tune, very understanding and very forgiving. Also becoming a terrible 2. All of a sudden, my sweetest little guy ever, makes sure you know he means "no". Here we go. Oh, and tonight he wore underpants for the first time ever (for like an hour) and didn't have an accident! Yippeeeee!
Will:
William will graduate from the children's center preschool at the end of may. Just in time (no coincidence) for the fun summer program at daycare (more field trips, swimming lessons, etc.) He is learning how to handle his very intense emotions....telling me yesterday that he needed to go on a walk with me because he wanted to talk about being sad. HUGE breakthrough! Now we still need a huge breakthrough with potty accidents.....but someday it will come. Someday. Hmmm.....still into princesses and pink stuff, and transformers and killing bugs and stuff. But learning to be gentle with worms. He is very proud of his knowledge and excitement about the planets....he will gladly tell you that mercury is the closest to the sun and is the hottest. He is a smart smart kid, always wanting to know why I think something or why the world is the way it is.
That's the update! Let me know if you are reading this in the comments, so I know if I should try to blog a bit more. Thanks!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Snow is good.....
These are from oh, about a month ago or so....it was a super fun snowy day. No, my friend Tony is not doing that, just standing there....so you know. But it's a good pic to show the snow and the angle of the slope. I crashed on my face at the end of the day and was super sore and had to see the chiropractor. I had four ribs and a hip out of place. Ouch. Haven't been up since, not that I haven't wanted to, just too busy. :(
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