Our Family

2012-01-14T08:25:00.001-08:00

I'm thinking about it... (I'll be back!)

Star for Life (not on your Life), going on 39

2011-06-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Today is the day I brag on my son. He is great. Sometimes a little cranky, but what pre-teen isn't, right? (Or any of us, for that matter.)

Bryce is a Boy Scout, and a very determined one at that. He is 12 (and a half, that part is very important for this brag post). He is a very determined Boy Scout. So this is already very confusing. This post has 2 parts to it. It is most definitely all about Bryce, but I'll just get right to it. First off, Bryce had a court of honor on June 1st, and was awarded his Life rank, which he earned on April 27th. That makes him eligible to earn his Eagle Scout rank as early as October 27, 2011. (Eligible, is the key word.) He could quite possible pull it off! Now the 12 and 1/2 part that I told you was so important... Bryce won't turn 13 until December. So, if he does pull off earning his Eagle at his eligibility date, he will EARN (I am a firm believer the term earn, versus given... another rant for another day) his Eagle Scout Rank before he turns 13. So early you ask??? (You are not the first...) We'll get to that in a bit.

Second. Bryce also EARNED 16 more merit badges. This brings his total up to 39 now. (A Boy Scout only needs 21 to be eligible for Eagle.) Bryce has put in A LOT of hard work for each of these merit badges. He has earned 3 with his troop and all the rest on his own. He has not been to scout camp yet. Bryce has set the goal for himself to earn all of the merit badges that are currently offered. Right now he can earn 130, so we'll see where he is at when he turns 18. So that kind of brings me back why would he want to get his Eagle so young? If he can get his Eagle when he is still 12, AND he stays active in his troop until he is 18 (among other things), then he would be eligible to earn 20 Eagle Palms. There is a time requirement for each Eagle Palm, thus the time crunch. At this point he seems committed, we just have to keep him on the right path, so we'll see how long it lasts!

This is a list of the Merit Badges that Bryce has earned so far (in the order that he has earned them):

First Aid*
Swimming*
Tracking (2010 only)
Pathfinding (2010 only)
Cycling*
Music
Communications*
Signaling (2010 only)
Carpentry (2010 only
Lifesaving*
Law
Family Life*
Personal Management*
Fingerprinting
Electricity
Citizenship in the Nation*
Reading
Leatherwork
Basketry
Snow Sports
Aviation
Insect Study
Space Exploration
Scholarship
Sports
Computers
Genealogy
Citizenship in the Community*
Citizenship in the World*
Astronomy
Salesmanship
Golf
Soil and Water Conservation
Environmental Science*
Oceanography
Automotive Maintenance
Art
Coin Collecting
Public Health

With all of that out of the way, he has a few more merit badges that are in the completion stages and then he'll be taking a break for a while. Bryce has 3 more required MB's that he has to do before he can qualify for Eagle (one almost finished, one that he'll be doing in July, and one that he won't finish up until after Scout Camp). Right now he is focusing on his Eagle Project which he is in the final stages of approval on. He is a great kid with lots of ambition. Way to go Bryce!

Here is a picture from the Court of Honor:

3rd Annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Marathon

2011-06-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday May 28th, 2011, we had the 3rd annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Half Marathon. What a smashing success! Thanks to everyone who helped out this year. We had a great time, and thanks to everyone who came out and participated. We had 54 recorded finishers. Great job everyone. A special thanks to Doug and Connie Asay who came out just to help, and Dave Burton to helped with the aid stations as well. We couldn't have done it without your help! Now, I only have one picture to post, sorry! That is what happens when I participate. It is of the wisest of the bunch who finished (way to go Grandma!) and one of the youngest (almost), great job as well, Chase!

I am not going to take the time to sort the times by first to last, so just scan down the list to find your number (if you remember it) and your time. Just remember, these were bikers, walkers, and runners mixed in. Next year I'll try to keep track of who did what.

301 Oakli Burton 1:49:08
302 Chase Burton 2:00:15
303 Bryce Burton 1:16:54
304 Ambri Burton 1:29:55
305 Kari Burton 1:48::45
306 Mike Dedera 1:55:55
307 Jodi Dedera 1:29:58
308 Maddi Dedera 1:23:55
309 Mya Dedera 1:28:58
310 Danny Dedera 1:57:53
311 Angie Dedera 1:29:13
312 Josiah Dedera 1:24:00
313 Lilly Dedera 1:29:13
314 Steve Farrar 1:54:12
315 Kris Farrar 3:04:16
316 Kraig Farrar 1:42:25
317 Joe Phair 1:42:10
318 Katie McGowan 1:58:28
319 Kyle Latimer 1:39:10
320 Goldie Burton 2:00:23
321 Jamie Stover 3:26:51
322 Raine Morris 3:26:47
323 Debi Burton 2:15:43
324 Jamie Pierce 51:36
325 Cody Bush 1:16:50
326 Garrett Burton 1:17:03
327 Jenna Burton 1:29:46
328 Sam Burton 1:39:28
329 Kelly Merrill 2:11:08
330 Sarah Merrill 2:11:08
332 Maria Burton 1:39:28
334 Tom Burton 1:39:30
335 Nathan Tolman 1:40:22
336 Nick Tolman 1:17:06
337 Satina Tolman 2:10:19
338 Tatiana Tolman 1:40:22
339 TJ Hafner 51:36
340 Heather Clark 2:05:42
341 Jason Hawthorne 1:28:09
342 Angela Smith 2:07:07
343 Bethany Marteeny 1:29:54
344 Doug Marteeny 2:28:39
345 Hannah Marteeny 1:11:08
348 Allison Parmenter 3:04:17
349 Jennifer Madsen 2:06:28
350 Rachel Madsen 1:21:01
351 Larry Sykes 1:18:57
355 Teresa Gardner 2:17:21
356 Rob Simmons 55:22
357 Andrea Simmons 55:22
360 Crystal Sublett 1:57:32
361 Paul Tappana 1:27:57
364 Brady Tappana 1:32:57
365 Ryann Tappana 1:27:57

If I have made any typo-s or left anyone off the list, please, Please, PLEASE, let me know. The list was very long this year (a good thing) and I could have made any number of mistakes. Feel free to pass the good news along to everyone who is on the list so they can check out their good work! I'd be happy to post pictures as well, if you would like to email them to me as well.

This is the logo that Bryce designed for this year's race. It was also on all of the finisher's medals. He did the design this year for his Art Merit Badge that he successfully completed after the race was over. Bryce is a Boy Scout and is now working on his Eagle Project. Awesome job Bryce!

Great job everyone, and thanks for coming out. We'll see you next year!

2010

2011-01-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

I definitely didn't blog much in 2010. I still blame it on the blog post a day for a whole month. (You can go back and find it if you are interested.) It pretty much killed me, but I did it. It was hard. But, here I am now. I don't really make resolutions, so don't expect me to say that I am going to blog more. If you see it, then you get it. BUT, I did figure I'd do a re-cap of the last half of the year (and maybe some stuff I missed) considering I didn't blog for the last half of the year. Don't expect any pictures at this point, that is asking a lot. Maybe I can update the sidebar pictures, what do you think about that idea? Maybe tomorrow. Maybe.

Where to start, I don't even know! I'll just jump in, so this may be a little random and crazy. I think I'll do list format, and then expound if I need to. That way my fingers (and sanity) will still be intact when I am finished, AND I'll still have a desire to do another post SOON.

Bryce - That kid, you just HAVE to love him! He is CRUISING through his scout stuff. He shot through Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class, and is now sitting pretty at Star (but only for a little bit longer.) He has earned about 15 merit badges so far, and is not slowing down anytime soon. Okay, maybe he will once soccer starts again. Wait, it never stopped. (I was supposed to be doing list format.)
Excelling at Piano (still)
Turned 12 and ordained a Deacon
Outgrew ANOTHER suit
We FINALLY Painted his room. It is an awesome Red and Black, with silhouette images of him (and Chase) on the walls in soccer action shots. There are also some cool quotes and other things. I'll try to get pictures posted (as soon as they clean it up!)
6th grade now, and "afraid" of girls
Academic All Stars for Science (this means he got the highest score on his science test, IN THE WHOLE SCHOOL!)
Student of the term for academics. (Bryce is not at all "nerdy" though, he makes being smart, cool.) He has gotten a few of his friends interested in reading, and is working on the Reading Merit badge right now.

Ambri - She is still "Taylor Swift's Biggest Fan", and has every one of her songs on her iPod.
Turned 9 this year and started 4th grade
She loves school, and still wants to be a teacher, because of the great 3rd and 4th grade teachers that she has/had
Still doing soccer and piano
Student of the Term in June for Academics, which is very hard to do, because there are so many good students, and there are only 3 chosen for the whole school year!
Last year her "Rock Band" did a great recital in their music class. They Rocked! This inspired her to buy her own guitar and she is working on it again this year, with her awesome music teacher at school.

Chase - He had an awesome "Wings of Wonder" field trip at the end of Kindergarten, where they went to a Butterfly farm and saw all kinds of butterflies and got to go into the greenhouses where they fly around and live. Amazing!
Kindergarten graduation last year and thoroughly got into each and every song that they sang for the program. He has quite the personality.
Turned 6 over the summer and then started 1st grade.
Soccer
Chase is an amazing reader. He is challenged at school, and reads the scriptures very well.
He was Santa in his class play, and was hilarious!

Oakli - She also has been doing soccer. She turned 5 over the summer, got her shots, and zipped off to Kindergarten. She has waited for this day for SO long. She is loving every day of it, and she brings mom along with her 2 days a week to help out. She asks mom every day if she is coming to help out, just to see if she can talk Mom into coming a little extra.
Oakli was also student of the term, for the first term of Kindergarten. Way to go!

Doug - In June brought a new challenge for Doug, he was called to be the bishop of our ward. He has made some interesting changes, and we have been blessed as a family for all of our sacrifices.
We had a good wheat harvest this last year (17 acres) and then part of that land, Doug planted with more blueberries. The rest he put back into wheat for this coming year.
We made it through a strange flood in June, of all months, and the blueberry harvest was good, better than 2009, so that was a blessing.
Doug participated again, in the Newport Marathon in June, and finished again, just like he always does!
November took Doug and Kari to Santa Barbara where they did another marathon, hoping it would be warm. It was warmer than Oregon.
The summer found us at OMSI with Grandma and Grandpa Baxter, boating, water skiing (Ambri tried for the first time) Doug water skied with his own flag (hilarious, maybe I can figure out how to put the video up... you know when the skier goes down and you have someone hold the flag up? Doug skied with his own and held it up. So funny!) We also spent time camping, swimming, a little fishing, and time with cousins.

Halloween found us with 2 pirates, a rockstar, and a security guard. We had a wonderful Christmas that we got to spend with Grandma and Grandpa Baxter here for a whole week, what a surprise for us! All in all, we had a wonderful 2010! Here's to hoping for a great 2011.

January 6

2011-01-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

Today is my sister's birthday. I don't know how to contact her, besides e-mail, sad I know. So I decided that I'd do a blog post to say "Happy Birthday". (Okay, I admit, I did wish her happy birthday on Facebook, but since I don't spend half of my life there, I don't consider that really counting, plus everyone else gets a reminder for it, so that is cheating.) Besides that, I don't know what else I am going to type about. I guess I'll see how far I get until I have a child come in and see "what I'm doing". (Sadly, I probably won't get far, but here's to hoping... maybe that's why I haven't blogged much lately.) Someone came in. Here's hoping for tomorrow.

2nd Annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Half Marathon

2010-07-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Things have been so busy that I just haven't had time to do any blogging, sorry!

Our 2nd annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper half marathon was on June 19th this year. We started off with a shot-gun start from Doug:

Here are a few other pictures:

(starting line)

(Kari, Oakli, and Ambri)

Here are the results. This year we had 23 participants. Here are the finishing times, in no particular order:

Bryce Burton: 1:55:40 (bike)
Ambri Burton: 2:31:40 (bike)
Chase Burton: 2:16:50 (bike)
Oakli Burton: 2:41:00 (bike)
Kari Burton: 2:41:00 (bike)
Brent Baxter: 1:46:09 (bike)
Karen Baxter: 1:46:08 (bike)
Preston Baxter: 2:16:40 (bike)
Kaeli Baxter: 2:16:07 (bike)
Caiden Baxter: 2:16:10 (bike)
Kate Merrill: 1:48:50 (bike)
Kyle Merrill: 2:24:06 (running)
Goldie Burton: (walking)
Michele Burton: 3:31:20(walking)
Nathan Tolman: 2:03:30 (bike)
Nick Tolman: 1:55:40 (bike)
Debi Burton: 2:30:38 (running)
Taylor Burton: 2:05:07 (bike)
Jace Burton: 1:56:40 (bike)
Garrett Burton: 1:55:50 (bike)
Jessica: 2:05:07 (bike)
Kendyl: 1:56:40 (bike)
Hunter: 1:55:40 (bike)

So that's it. Any questions? We'll be doing it again next year if you would like to join in!

Life...

2010-06-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

So obviously life is passing us by, and I need a serious reality check. Here we go.

I missed posting about Ambri's 9th birthday, sorry babe! Here's a picture of the AWESOME cake! No, I didn't make it. It seems that our tradition includes Safeway. Our kids have come to expect the annual trip to the bakery to pick out their cake. Sounds good to me. This year Ambri adapted the Mother's day purse for her own purposes. It turned out cute. She also had a huge sleepover for her party. She invited a lot of friends, thinking only a few would be able to come, and I think they ALL came. What a bash!

Oakli is seriously my dramatic child, and she is hilarious! She has a sense of humor that is second-to-none! We were driving in the car 2 days ago (remember, she is 4) and she was looking out the window just talking to Bryce (who is 11, so naturally, he wasn't listening) and then after she made a random comment she said, "did I just say that out loud?" Um... hello??? I better watch what I say. Sheesh! She is freaking funny!

Okay. Other things on the agenda. We have been so busy! Doug just ran the Newport marathon again. He did so awesome! After ~~working really hard to get ready~~ training only (well, I shouldn't say) not as much as he should, he came in only 30 minutes after last year's time. That is REALLY GOOD because his goal was to finish before they stopped taking time and he blew that goal out of the water. I'm sure no one ever feels completely ready, right? This year's marathon makes 3 years in a row. We didn't take the kids over this year, so I got to go 8.5 miles with Doug on the course. It was great! I only got sunburned on one shoulder. Guess that is what happens when you only put sunscreen on once, and you do it yourself. Doug put it on like 4 times. Good for him!

Life has been super crazy with end of the year school activities, assemblies, field trips, and parties. We still have a few days to go, but I think we are going to make it. Ambri got the Academic Achievement award for the 3rd graders for the semester. Go Ambri! It was great to go surprise her at school. Chase had kindergarten graduation, and it was fun too. Just like the older two kids, and it was fun to see Bryce and Ambri singing the songs, even though they wouldn't admit to that. Oakli can't wait to be in Kindergarten next year! She has gone with me to help out in the classroom so many times, she is an honorary member of the class, and gets angry when I won't let her do the projects, because I know she gets to do them next year, even though Mrs. Graham would gladly let her do them.

The ~~horrid~~ spring rain hasn't stopped here in Oregon yet. It's pretty sad, actually. We had flooding last week. This is JUNE, people. This is worse than in the winter. Do you hear me people... FLOODING... IN JUNE!!! Oh, when I said that my shoulder got sunburned, don't let that fool you, that was at the coast. That doesn't count. That was FAR away from here. :-)

Bryce has been working really hard on his scouting stuff. He is one camp out away from getting his 1st class rank. (That camp out is tomorrow!) Yippee!!! He has been doing so great. He turned 11 in December, so he has been really working hard. He has also earned 2 merit badges. He is going to try to earn the 4 centennial merit badges this summer as well. We'll see how that goes. If he can do that, then he'll have his star earned before he turns 12. That is his goal. You go Bryce! He is also super busy with Soccer, still. All the other kids finished up, and Bryce kept on going. He had try-outs for a new team. He actually tried out for 2 clubs. He made both of them, and decided to go with VFC. (Valley Football Club, which is actually Soccer. - Think Spanish, people.) The team is very good and making great progress. It is kind of a new team because most of his old team is on this new team with him. So it is really a good fit for him.

Broken arm boy: AKA: Bryce. Don't tell the Dr. that he played soccer with a broken arm, or this mom will be fired. (YOU DON'T SEE THE CAST IN THE PICTURE BELOW... YOU DON'T SEE THE CAST IN THE PICTURE BELOW...) Bryce's coach even put him playing an offensive position, which is a position that Bryce normally doesn't play. Bryce got a chance to play up during this game because his team was totally creaming the other team.

Bryce normally plays defense, and is really good back there. Okay, back to the broken arm. Bryce was riding 4-wheelers with a friend and his friend was in front of him on a quad and stopped. Bryce wasn't watching and rammed right into the back of his friend on his quad and flipped off his quad, and fractured his arm. We made him go to practice that night and play in hi99game the next day with the broken arm, before we even knew it was broken. (It happened on a Friday.) We didn't take him in until Sunday afternoon, which happened to be Mother's day. The Dr. at the urgent care, said absolutely NO soccer. Um, I don't think the mom was there to hear those instructions, because she made him go to soccer try-outs on Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. Actually, I think he played soccer 5 nights that week. Scratch that, make it 6, he had a game on Saturday and played with his card cast on. The ref came over to make sure he didn't have any weapons INSIDE his cast. Hello??? Whatever. The next weekend I took him to the game and that ref wouldn't let him play with the cast on. He said it was too hard. Luckily it was one of those hard casts that was just held on with a couple of ace bandages. It was Bryce's last game, so being the executive decision maker, I told Bryce to take it off, and play with just the ace bandages. Being the last game and all... you know, priorities. All was well, we never went back to the Dr. and he stopped wearing the cast after 3 weeks. Oopsie.

Overall we are stressed out, overwhelmed, and super busy, BUT, we are making it. Bryce now has soccer practice 2x a week in Corvallis (which is 30 minutes away) for 2 hours, and they call it "training". I guess that means you are big time. Well, no "guessing" about it. You know it is big time when your coach goes to England to get your teams uniforms while he is on his way to the World Cup. Kind of embarrassing when I had to explain to Bryce what the World Cup is. I told him not to ask anyone at ~~practice~~ training what the World Cup is, because they are taking the next month off of ~~practice~~ training for the World Cup. I guess they are hard core.

Blueberries are "trying" to ripen in all this rain. I guess the one good thing is that Doug hasn't had to run the sprinklers much.

Hunh.

Family Night Board (FHE)

2010-04-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the board that we use for family night (FHE). It helps us rotate through to know who is doing what and cuts down on the fighting. Ironic.

I don't have any "production" pictures, but it was pretty simple to throw together. Here's a list of the supplies that I used:

12 x 12 pine frame

12 x 12 sheet metal

2" tiles (that really aren't 2". I never could figure out the way men measure their supplies - you know, how a 2 x 4 really isn't "2 x 4"? Whatever...)

strip magnets
hot glue
vinyl cut outs for words
black paint
clear paint or top coat paint
sand paper

I used coupons for the frames and sheet metal. The sheet metal I just picked up from the craft store and it was already the size I needed. I loved it because the magnets will stick right to it!

Paint your frame black. After it dries, give the edges a light sanding for some personalization. Give the whole thing a once-over with your top coat to seal it in.

Put your sheet metal in, so you know how much room you have to work with for your words. Depending on how many names you have, you can make the tasks larger or smaller, add a few or leave some out. We had to "make some up" so that we all had something to do. In the past, we did not have "Scripture" on our list, but now that our numbers are larger, I added that. Just do what works for your family.

You need to cut the vinyl to fit your space, or order it from your favorite vinyl source. You could also use stickers. If you need help with the vinyl, let me know. Add the names to your tiles, then hot glue the magnets to the tiles and you are good to go! I used 3 strips of magnet across the back of each tile. I wanted to be super safe. Now the only thing my kids fight over is who gets to rotate the names each Monday night!

2 of 2 New Projects

2010-04-02T14:24:00.001-07:00

OK, here's another one for today... (truthfully, I forgot to list it in the last post.) I was at the dollar store yesterday, while hubby waited in the car. I just had to run in for ONE thing, (don't tell him...) and I found these babies: (Sorry for the fuzzy picture, but that is the least of these buckets problems right now, if you know what I mean.)

I know, I know... they are hideous. I thought so to. (um, I hope you aren't secretly in love with them because, I would really be embarrassed.) So anyway, I bought 3 of them. I am slowly learning to see the potential in things. I tried to look past the horrid orange and yellow flowers and see what they could become. (Again, not so much my style, I'm more of a black and white kind of a girl.) So... with a little Goof-Off... (hooray for the good stuff)... read on...

you get this:

then with a little more of the good stuff, you get this:

Keep at it just a bit longer, add your vinyl numbers, and then you get cuteness!

1 of 2 New Projects

2010-04-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here's 2 new projects... I have so many projects that are half way done, I hope to have many posts coming soon!

First, here's some Easter eggs for you.

I was making these, intending to give these babies a dunk in some great color, and then peel the "stickers" off for a negative effect, but after I got going, I loved the black/white effect and decided to stop.

Here's what I did.

After hard-boiling my eggs (of coarse) I cut my vinyl to my desired size. This may take some trial and error. The first size was way too small. I tried 1" first. It will all depend on the size of your eggs. We have our own chickens and I've been saving the white eggs for weeks. (We have white and brown laying chickens - only 2 white and a lot of brown, so it has been a bit of a chore...) Our white eggs are HUGE! So I had to go back and change my vinyl to inches.

Tape the vinyl on your egg where you think you want it to go and make sure it is in the right place. (It's inside the tape so the egg won't roll off the counter) :-)

Then go at it, rubbing the vinyl onto the egg. Then Viola! I struggled with how I wanted to display the eggs, knowing that I couldn't hold all of them in my hand like this... but finally settled on those cute little candle holders. I picked them up at the dollar store.

Happy Easter! (Stay tuned!)

Thoughts from the 4-year old...

2010-03-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Today Oakli said:

"Steak is my favorite vegtable."

(short slience while she thinks for a moment)

"Mom, is it a fruit?"

Hunh.

Easter Family Night Treat

2010-03-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

So once again, my pictures really are lacking, but I hope you get the idea. I guess I should take some photo classes. Anyway, here's what we made:

We just called them "Nests". Aren't they cute?

I just whipped up some "No-Bake Cookies", you know, from back in the day... and then I added 3 Cadbury Mini Eggs on each. Mmmmmmmm

Here's my "during" pictures. Stirring the sugar and butter...

I scooped out the mixture with my cookie scoop. I used a little guy and gave each "nest" 2 scoops. Then on the 2nd scoop I nestled it down in to make a little indentation for the eggs to sit. I did let them cool just a bit so that the eggs didn't melt. Then Viola!

I think they were a success!

"Die eggs, Die!" Only from an 11-year old, right?

Water With No Ice

2010-03-28T05:47:00.000-07:00

I have a really great frend.

I mean, you know... how many people can go out with you and order your drink and get it just right for you? Your spouse? Probably. Your best friend? Maybe. If you go out with them a lot. But how many people order water. With no ice? Me. I know it's not that big of a deal, really, but just a random thing that I was thinking, here. In the wee hours of the morning. When I should be sleeping. As the train is just going by. But I am actually working on a project. But instead I'm thinking of my really cool friend. Who ordered my drink for me yesterday. While I parked the car. You are so cool. Thanks Jamie!

Scripture Fix-Up

2010-03-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to changing the tabs on my scriptures. I had some that fell off and I couldn't find them to put them back on, so I HAD to replace the tabs, because I didn't want to replace the scriptures. I decided to shake it up a bit and make them PINK. Yes, I knnow, big surprise. I also decided to go an nontraditional way, and do it in my own handwriting. Several years ago, I had my handwriting made into a font, so I did not have to write them all out. Here's what I did:

sad. missing. labels.

Print out the new tabs onto fun colored cardstock. I couldn't use plain-jane black, that would just be boring. Plus I can't print on black. Make sure you test so that your words will fit in the small space.

Remove the existing tabs. I did this one at a time, so I didn't get anything mixed up.

Cut out each new tab with a circle punch and put glue on the back of each circle. I used a glue stick.

Put it in the right place and rub it down so it is secure.

Trim the new tab so it is flush with your page.

See the awesome progress?

Now it is done! Sorry for the bad picture, it got late and I had to use the flash.

It turned out so great! I am glad to have it finished. Now I have fully functioning tabs again.

My Tower of Cuteness

2010-03-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

So in my house, we have pretty tall ceilings, and in the kitchen I have A LOT of upper cabinets that have nothing on them. Tall ceilings + lots of cabinets = funny looking empty space. I mean, seriously, we've lived in this house for what, almost 5 years now??? I dare say there is stuff up there that DOES NOT belong. Why do I write this you say? Well, I am in the (long) process of collecting items to go up on the tops of the cabinets. You know, to decorate it really cute-like. I've spent soooo much time searching the internet for pictures of decorated kitchen cabinets that I like, and I just can't find anything. BUT, I made this, and I'm thinking it is going up:

I saw one here, and decided I liked it enough to make my own. For my purposes, I didn't like the pictures hanging off in all directions, so I just left them off. It was super easy to make. Here's what I used: 2 x 4, scrapbook paper, modge podge, ribbon, and vinyl letters.

The wood pieces are cut starting at 10" (for the bottom) and then they decrease by 1" until I got to the top. If you have long names to put on there, you may have to go with longer pieces to start. I basically just figured out which name was the longest on paper, and then towered it up to the shortest name. (My 4 year old immediately told me that they weren't in "order". Smarty pants.) I put our last name on the bottom, knowing that it may or may not show, once I get it up on the kitchen cabinets.

The Room (finished!)

2010-03-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

I have finally put the finishing touches on the girl's room. It seems like it took forever. I think that I painted last year, so one year start to finish, that's not THAT bad, is it??? OK, it is bad, but now at least it is finished AND blogged.

As a re-cap, here is what the walls looked like when I finished painting: Ambri and Oakli's Bedroom.

Here's what their room looks like now: (the walls in the previous blog post still look like that, they are on the other walls and I didn't get all of it in the picture.)

So I needed to get the bedspreads done and a different wall hanging, along with a new lampshade. The new lampshade provided a new challenge of a bed stand as well, so why not take it all on, right?

So here's the bead spreads that I did. I did a combo of lots of different fabrics on one side, and then on the plain brown side, I didn't want it to be so plain, so I did their names on the back.

Here is now the "underside" of the bead spread. It was supposed to be the top. I guess a girl is going to have, what a girl is going to have.

Here are the "tops" of the bead spreads.

They were supposed to be the undersides, and they could flip them over once in a while if they wanted to, OR simply to just tell which blanket belonged to which girl, but alas, all has changed.

The girls are so proud of them, that they both want their names showing all the time. (Sigh...)

This is what I put on the wall. While I was in Utah over Thanksgiving, I bought wood letters to spell out each of the kids names. The letters for the girls are fancy, and really pretty big. This was the only "plain" wall space that I had left. I covered each letter with scrapbook paper that was brown/pink/white, or brown, pink, or white and hung them from a curtain rod that we just attached to the wall. "Ambri" hangs from cream tulle, and "Oakli" hangs from brown tulle.

The girls have had a pathetic lamp in their room for a long time now. Of coarse, as kids do, they ruined the first lampshade that they had. It was a cheap paperish type of a shade. We never replaced it because Ambri was keeping the lamp in the window sill so she could reach it without getting out of bed, AND if we gave her a new one, it would just bang into the window. So if I wanted to "help" this poor lamp, I'd have to start from the bottom up. Literally. I found a used crappy-looking shelf type at St. V.d.P. Stopped at H.D. on my way home for some brown spray paint and headed home. It's nothing fancy to speak of, but it is doing the job. I also sprayed the base of the lamp. Here's the little shelf now:

So lastly, the lampshade. I just picked up the cheapest one that Target had, and took it home, traced it for a cover, added 1" to each side, just to make sure I didn't totally mess it up and then cut my pattern out of matching fabric that I used on their beds. I had the seam pretty well tucked under, but added the strip of ribbon just for fun and I love the way it turned out!

One last thing that I wanted to try for their room was one of these: Here's how mine turned out for the girls:

I made one for each of them and I think they turned out well. Instead of stuffing them, I just bought pillow forms and did a "fold and tuck" method on the back side. I know, really technical... just think of the shams that you get when you buy a bedding set...that's what I did, but I overlapped it a TON more, so the pillow forms are NOT coming out without a fight.

And there you have it. A year's worth of work (on and off) is finally DONE!

The boys want to know when it is their turn. (Sigh...)

Shamrock St. Patrick's Day Treats

2010-03-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... I still need to post the pictures of the girls finished room. I'll get to it, I promise. BUT, I wanted to post what we did for our family night treat last night, in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I don't get WAY into St. Patrick's Day, other than making sure that I wear green so my kids don't pinch me, so this is a streatch for me. The kids loved it!

Here's the finished product:

Here's what I did to make them: First I added green food coloring to the marshmallow mixture (add the green food coloring BEFORE you add the rice krispies)

Then I dumped it all out on some waxed paper. It wasn't wide enough, so I had to double up the waxed paper (just a FYI).

Then I covered it with a layer of waxed paper (yea for waxed paper!) and rolled it out thin. I'm sure you could probably do this in the pan, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to cut enough hearts out to make 6 shamrocks if I did a 9 x 13 pan. I wanted to have it a bit thinner.

Peel back the top layer of waxed paper and start cutting hearts with a cookie cutter. You could use 3 or 4 hearts for each. I used 3 because I thought it fit better. I used scraps and rolled out a "stem" like you would with play-dough.

Viola! They are so cute! My kids loved them, and so did I. (I love rice krispie treats!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

I've been featured!

2010-03-12T07:33:00.002-08:00

I've been featured!

I'm very excited to tell you that my etsy shop got put in a feature. I'm very excited because I've never been featured before. In honor of the feature (it was all about yellow), I'm doing my hi-lights in yellow today. It was for one of my watch bands, not what I would have thought, but it was a very bright and cheery blog post that Brandi did over at Fancy Buffalo. Here's the link for the post, and mine is #6... Fancy Buffalo.

What's Up?

2010-03-08T10:00:00.001-08:00

I have had these pictures for so long, that I now feel guilty for posting them:

Well, it looks like only one turned out okay, so strike the "s" in pictures. It's a picture of my fabric closet. Why you ask? Well, it is one thing that I actually got done that I am supremely proud of. I saw the idea on a blog, and I feel terrible now that I can't find the link to share with you all, but she had this awesome download that you could print off cute labels to go around your fabric. After seeing her awesome closet, I went to my pathetic closet and my first thought was not that I should organize it, but where could I put more fabric. I didn't have more to put in there, but I wanted more. I wish I had a picture of it before to show you. It was so jammed full of fabric, the doors wouldn't shut completely. Guess what? All the fabric that was in there before, is still in there now! Too cool! I took it all out (boy was it heavy...) and found long lost fabric that I had forgotten about. I got my green cutter mat out...for measuring and set to work. It was more work that I thought it would be, but I am so happy that I did it! I started by measuring how deep my cabinet is (about 11" I think) so I folded all my fabric 10". I folded in all the raw edges and then rolled it up. I measured each piece and wrote on the cute little label how much I have of each piece. Then I taped the label around it and viola! I organized them all by color and put it all back. I put extra labels in an envelope and taped it to the inside of the door, so when I bring home new fabric I can just put it right away. It is so nice to just open the cabinet and see right away what I have. It made me want to go out and buy colors that I am missing, but I have resisted so far.

Other items checked off the list include:

Taxes
Cleaning
Girls Room ~ Blog entry to follow with pictures
Book Reports
Olympics ~ oh, it is finally over (we were obsessed)
Daffodills ~ it's finally spring!
Spring Cleaning
Etsy
First Aid merit badge ~ Go Bryce!
Cleaning ~ not really, but it's on the never ending list
Exercise

What I've been doing...

2010-01-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

Well, because blogging about what I do on a weekly basis clearly didn't work, here I am today. I guess I can only do what I can do. Today you get pictures! Yea. I can't remember how long it has been since I posted with pictures. I guess I just could go and look. I wanted to actually show some of the things that I've been up to. I'll also tell what the kids have been doing as well.

First off, I'll SHOW what I've been doing, I'm super excited about this, and so are the girls. They are begging for them:

and

The problem for the girls is that they are too big because I made these to fit my wrist. I guess I'll be making some smaller ones for them today. I can't wait to make a black one too, that is next on my schedule. I'm thinking of putting them in my etsy shop, what do you think of them? Do you think they'll sell?

I have also been making more watch bands. These can be found in my etsy shop.

I also made these:

So that's the "crafty" stuff that I've been doing, at lest that I have pictures of. I have more projects in the works, so I can't wait to get started on those.

Other things that have been going on:

I'm still doing my 5 miles a day, every day. It is hard, but still worth it. I have a new cell phone (Yippee) that I don't know how to use (um, yeah). I got it for Christmas and it is awesome (I think), but I know it's better than the last phone I had. The kids love it because it makes the transformers sound every time I open it. I did get a hands free device (Thanks a lot OREGON) for it that I love/hate. All the kids are doing swimming right now. They all love it. Bryce and Ambri are having swimming lessons at school every day and Chase and Oakli are doing their lessons at night. It makes for a crazy Tuesday night, but it is worth it. Bryce has scouts on Tuesday nights and soccer practice just started up again for him on Tuesday nights as well. Ambri is loving achievement day (which is at night), also on Tuesday nights... did I mention that Tuesday's are our FAVORITE (not really - or crazy, or something like that...). Bryce and Ambri also continue to very well with their piano (thankfully that is NOT on Tuesdays). Doug is super busy trying to get all the blueberry plants pruned and it is taking a LONG time this year, but he is doing a great job with "Hose-A" and Hose-C". (For those of you that don't know, "Hose-B" quit a while back... really... hehe...)

...

2010-01-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

looks like my "new attempt" was not so successful. i suppose i could blame it on being busy, or reading other cool blogs, the fact that Bryce had another birthday (darn that kid, stop it!), the laundry continuing to pile up...even though i don't want it to, or maybe the fact that that i did Christmas cards, made awesome gingerbread houses at kindergarten with Chase and Oakli, reading hordes of Christmas cards (thanks!), took Chase to the ER on Christmas Eve to get "glued" back together, had a great Christmas, cleaned up Christmas, put away all the Christmas decorations and celebrated New Year's too. maybe it is that i've re-discovered crafting again...in many different forms, swimming lessons for Chase and Oakli, scouts for Bryce, Achievement days for Ambri, 5 miles a day for me (still), sewing projects (only the necessary ones - darn those scout shirts!), movies, a messy house that i haven't cleaned, jewelry projects that i want to get done, messes that i don't know how they got there, a new church calling that is giving me "panic", major kid drama, ice skating on our pond, Doug's new High Council assignment with the Spanish branch, Ambri's (I mean Bryce...) careful planning each day to get her hair and clothes just right for school... maybe just maybe it is one or two of those things... or maybe it is just sheer laziness.

in any case, i'm still here, in one form or another.

A New Approach

2009-11-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well, no big surprise here, I didn't come back to make that blog entry. I have just been so busy, but who hasn't, right? I read a new friends blog today and I decided to steal her new approach to blogging. I'm at least going to give it a try and see how it suits me. She did more of a journal entry for the week. (Thanks for the idea Madeline.)

Last weekend we took the kids to Bend and we had such a great time. Apparently we missed a pretty "awesome" rain storm. I use the punctuation marks because it must have rained a ton. We had awesome sunny weather and it only rained a smidge for us, which was mostly at night. It still amazes me how different the weather can be only 2.5 hours away, just on the other side of the mountains. We had a great time swimming, sight seeing and just relaxing. We always love going to Bend.

Monday saw us back to the usual routine, although Doug, Oakli and I did go to Salem for "lunch". Doug made it quite clear that it was a date, and not a reward. You see, we have this standing deal, that if I clean the house, he'll take me out to lunch at my favorite restaurant that week. We happened to go there, which is the "Best Little Roadhouse", not to be mistaken with "The Roadhouse". We had to go to Salem to the scout office to get Bryce his new scout things, now that he isn't a cub scout any longer, so why not, right? It was the best. I don't ever get anything special, just a salad, but there is just something about that place! I have tried to re-create the salad and bread, but I just can't seem to get it right.

We have a former neighbor who was a fighter pilot in WWII. He passed away 5 years ago and was buried in a family cemetery about 1 mile from our house (on family property - we don't live by a cemetery, per se)... so for FHE we decided that we wanted to do service and clean up the cemetery in his honor. Because Veteran's Day on Wednesday, we thought it would be nice because his widow may come out to visit the grave. We don't know if she was able to come, because she is VERY sick, but it was nice for the kids to do some service anyway. The grass needed mowing badly and the leaves had not yet been cleaned up, so it was a great opportunity for our family. Right when the kids got off the bus, we grabbed them and ran down there. We were loosing daylight fast, so we needed to go quick. We had 2 lawnmowers, 3 rakes, 2 garbage cans, 1 edger, 1 blower, 4 kids, 1 dad, 1 mom, 2 girls that had to go pee, (hello, why don't you go when mom tells you to BEFORE we leave the house???) and 0 complaints. We got the job done and it was amazing. Bryce and Doug ran the lawn mowers, I ran a rake, and the 3 youngest kids ran their 2 arms picking up wet piles of leaves. We even had to work some in the dark, but we got it done.

Tuesday found Oakli and I spending the day at Kindergarten. Oakli loves it because she thinks she is part of the class. She joins in with everything and loves it. She blends in well and you can hardly tell that she is not a "kinder". I love going to help out, but it is so exhausting. Mrs. Graham is the best and needs so much help to get all the projects done. I normally go in only once a week but try to help out as much as I can with things at home. (My Cricut is working double-duty as I am typing, so my hand doesn't have to do all the cutting out of candy canes for her... boy- or girl- am I smart!)

Wednesday saw us all home. I still don't understand why they can't celebrate Veteran's Day on a Monday or Friday if they are going to give the kids the day off school. It was a bit crazy having them all home in the middle of the week. It was only yesterday, and I really don't know what we did yesterday. I do remember vaguely that I had them clean and do some chores. The kids did get their piano practicing done, but looking around right now, I'm not sure what else they got done. I do remember giving them chores to do. Funny thing that is. Mess, I guess that is life, right?

As for some random thoughts, I am enjoying helping out in the kindergarten class a lot. Mrs. Graham has 30 kids in the morning and 30 kids in the afternoon and she has no help except for when parents come in and help, so I feel like I need to be in to help when I can, except that I don't think that I can help more than once a week, because it is so draining for me. (Some years she gets an assistant, some years she gets no help.) I would never make a good teacher. Some days I come home with a migraine. Some days I feel like I should have done more. Some days I wonder why she does it. Some days I can see why she does it. Chase is the 3rd child of ours that has had Mrs. Graham. In years past we have been able to help out the kindergarten in the financial department than we are able to this year, so I feel bad about that. Maybe that is why I feel like I need to be in the classroom helping more. When Bryce and Ambri where in kindergarten I couldn't be in the classroom as much because Chase and Oakli were little babies. (Sigh).

I still can't keep Bryce "in Books". He continues to read me and his teacher out of every book he checks out from the library. He always has his limit checked out and can read through a very large book in 1 day. It truly amazes me. I can't even keep up with what he is reading. He also loves to play the computer and DS as much as he loves to read too, so he isn't a "nerdy" child, thank goodness!

This year has been very hard. I hope next year is a better year. I do have to say though, if this year wasn't so hard, I wouldn't have learned the lessons I needed to learn.

I'm very behind on my jewelry making. Bad, Kari. Another side effect from Kindergarten. The kids are addicting. Well, maybe not the kids, (that sounds bad, but it is different when it's your own kids...) but I do feel a strong urge to help out wherever I can. I guess that is why there are still no pictures posted here. (Sorry Jaclyn). I was thinking that on the long drive maybe I could post some. Yes, I just said it, ON THE LONG DRIVE... for those of you that are reading this that are "Utards" (and I say that so affectionately - because I still consider myself a Utard - that is what Doug and I call us - you, me, I, whatever) we are coming for Thanksgiving. If Mom doesn't know, I sent her a text. I do need to call her. See... I do have procrastination in my veins. I'll email, I promise. This is one of the most "last minute" trips I think I've ever planned, except for a funeral trip.

The Think Method

2009-11-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

I'm using the think method today.

Today I'm thinking that I'll do a *real* blog post. (This one doesn't count.) I've been browsing my pictures and trying to get them organized. I honestly have so many soccer pictures from the fall (12.4 GB so far) that it is overwhelming. I still have Bryce's last game to finish. I'm hoping that there is a great picture of each child in there somewhere for a great soccer post. Then I can delete like 10 GB of bad soccer pictures.

Then I'm hoping that I can find one decent picture of Oakli in her Halloween costume. She is "literally" the most dramatic child I have ever met. She can make more faces in 2 seconds than anyone I have ever met. That includes hand and arm gestures. She is amazing and I never know if I am going to get a normal picture. I guess that is just her personality and it will probably never change. So that is my *thinking* for today. The rest of my *thinking* will go out the window because I am heading to kindergarten today. There doesn't seem to be much thinking going on in a kindergarten classroom, although we'd all like to pretend that there is. I don't know how kindergarten teachers do it, it is more like organizezd chaos, but somehow Mrs. Graham gets it done, and she is the BEST! Anyway, it is Chase's "sharing" day today and he wants to bring Oakli for his sharing. Go figure.

Gum

2009-10-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

Funny how little things trigger memories of people. I was reaching for a piece of gum today.

Those of you who know me well, know that this is something that happens MANY times each day. For some reason today I thought of Amy C. while I was chewing my gum. I don't know Amy well. I was at her house once, and she was at my house once too. When she was at my house we were working on a project for her and she saw my “gum jar”. I think she was shocked. (I would have been...) Some people have candy jars. I don’t. I have a gum jar. It just makes more sense for me to empty all my gum into a big jar, rather than trying to fish a piece out of a pack each time I want one, or even trying to find a pack for that matter. Amy shares my same love of gum. (She probably doesn't have a gum jar though.) I don't really know if it is a love, or an addiction, or what the exact word really is. I started chewing a lot of gum when I want3ed to loose weight. It made more sense to me not to eat food if I had a fresh piece of gum in my mouth. I don’t really know what the point of telling all of all you this is, other than the point of me saying that I thought of Amy today. Amy moved away this summer. Amy is a great person, although I didn't ever get a chance to know her well. From what I did know, she has a personality like no one I’ve ever met before. I’ve wondered if I’ll ever meet anyone else like her. Probably not. Hang onto your seats, Utah… here comes Amy!

I'm on Strike!

2009-09-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Now, don't go getting any ideas now... I'm still:

I don't know that it was ever officially discussed before, but I think it was mentioned previously how difficult it was to blog every day for a whole month. I'm not saying it can't be done for some people. I know there are a lot of people out there that make a lot of money doing it every day. I'm sure that if someone wanted to pay me a lot of money, I'd change my attitude really fast. But, because no one is beating down my pathetic front door, my attitude is still the same, blogging everyday is not for me. I will, however, be back. Just not yet. I think about it often, so I wanted to let you know (if you are out there) that I am still here. I am still trying to enjoy the last few days of sun that we have in Oregon. I am swamped with soccer 6 days a week (but loving it!), canning, and am now enjoying what is a quiet afternoon once in a while. Chase is in school now in the afternoons, and Oakli still loves her naps, when she gets them. I am proud to say, some afternoons it is quiet. Sitting here thinking about what happens during those quiet hours, I cannot even begin to recall, but I'm sure that something productive happens (I hope!)

Once the rain starts to fall and soccer ends for the Princesses, Elves, Tornadoes, and Renegades I'll post pictures of the kids in action and begin work on scrapbook pages (I hope) and who knows what else, but until then, we are still here and I'm still reading your blogs too!

Final Day ~ Day 31

2009-07-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

Today is my final post of the post for a day, for a whole month. I do confess that I had many things planned for the final day. Many just slipped my mind, some just don't seem relevant any longer, and others just make me feel more tired than I already am. This was very hard to do. Many of you already know that, if you've been following my my posts, you'll know that, because I've said it more than once. I don't know that I'll ever try this again. I've liked the challenge, but the stress has been very hard. I don't do well with stress. I'd rather do things on my terms, and knowing that I "have" to post every day, has been stressful for me. There have been a few days that I have nearly forgotten to post. With all that said, here are a few things for the final day.

July truly is my favorite month. Yes, it is my birthday month, and that is part of it, but not all of it. I love to be warm, so that is a big factor as well. So farewell to July. I had planned to "honor" the 7th month of the year with all kinds of 7 things today, but honestly, I can't remember what I was going to do today. Such is the life of a mom. I did walk 7.7 miles today, if that counts for anything. Maybe I'll work on freeing 7 flies from the house, because they are really starting to drive me crazy. It is easier to get them out the windows than it is to hit them with the swatter.

Yesterday while I was sitting here (probably wondering what I was going to type) I saw a neighbor lady walk by. She was definitely out for an "exercise" walk, but she was talking on her cell phone. Okay, pet peeve here. Why do people talk on their cell phones, why they are trying to get exercise? I just don't get it. I can understand an emergency or something like that, but not while you are exercising. Whatever. I didn't really think much of it, until she walked back by going the other direction. It was like an hour later. By this time I was out picking raspberries, and she was (still?) talking on her cell phone! Some people. Sheesh! This is going to sound rude, but maybe that is why her butt is still kind of big. She can't really walk very fast and have a conversation on her cell phone the entire time she is trying to walk.

I think I'll go make dinner now, now that it isn't bed time and I don't "have" to try to think of something to blog about. I fully intend to continue my frequent blogging, just not every day. I'm hoping for a few times a week. I find it truly enjoyable, and I'm hoping that by spreading it out a bit, I can put more substance to it (compared to the last week).

Thanks for all of you who have read along with me over the last month!

The Coats ~ Day 30

2009-07-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to the park and saw The Coats in concert. It was a great concert and the kids loved it. Bryce and Ambri love their music and have their iPods loaded with their music. This was a sample of one of their funny spots that they did. It was a great night of music in the park! At the end of the concert we got our CD's autographed and Ambri got her shirt autographed as well.

(This was my first attempt at uploading a movie.)

Happy Birthday... again ~ Day 29

2009-07-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

Today is the 3rd and finaly birthday in our family for July.

Today Chase turned 5.

Today we had (officially 9 kids) about 25 people over for Chase's party. (that's parents and siblings...)

Today was very hot. It was 107 degrees again today.

Today we had the party outside so we could play in the water.

Today we had one very happy boy!

Today we are glad to be going to bed, because today we are very tired.

Global Warming ~ Day 28

2009-07-28T22:01:00.001-07:00

Today was HOT! We had a great day. It was 107 degrees for the high. We broke the record by 7 degrees. I'm loving it! This is how we kept cool today:

We spent the day at the lake with our good friends, the Hakes. We had a great day, keeping COOL! It was so fun!

~Kari

Spiderwebs ~ Day 27

2009-07-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Oakli wanted me to let the whole world know (because you don't know) that all grown-ups have "spider-webs" in their noses.

Hunh.

Sisters... Naw, couldn't be... ~ Day 26

2009-07-26T16:39:00.001-07:00

I took this picture today at the neighborhood picnic. Ambri and Oakli are looking more alike each day.

Sigh (not "hunh" today).

Dad Gone Mad ~ Day 25

2009-07-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

I saw this blog and the title of the blog en3trigued me, so I kept reading. Here was the first entry I read:

Dad Gone Mad

Hunh. (I'm in the bathroom with HOT WIFE EVANS ready to pee my pants!)

Day 24

2009-07-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I forgot to post the inside of the Birthday Invitation. Here it is:

Please scream that you’ll come to my birthday party!

Chase is turning 5 on July 29th. 1:00~2:30

Please come to a water party at his house. (bring your suit and towel)

Don’t forget to scream a RSVP 791~9126

Now I just have to get them finished and delivered. Chase asks me about every 3 minutes if the "paper popsicles" are finished yet. Better get to it!

Day 23 ~ It's gonna get hot!

2009-07-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the birthday invitation that I am doing for Chase's birthday party that is coming up. I decided against a car or train invitation because it is going to be so hot next week.

Poor Oakli doesn't understand why she isn't having a party with friends. My kids start their friends parties at the age of 5, and then they only get a "friends" party on the odd year. She turns 4, 10 days after Chase turns 5. I guess we'll just have to try to figure that one out 10 days later.

On another not so happy note, Doug chopped Oakli's glasses up in the lawn mower today. The kids have been swimming in the pool every day, and I guess she got too lazy to walk up to the deck with her glasses and just laid them on the grass. I guess that right there sealed the deal for the glasses. They would have either been lost or stepped on anyway. All the kids brought me were the lenses. No frames, just 2 lenses with small chunks missing from each of them; just past the point of the lenses being salvageable, and at the same time my mind (note the word MIND, not lips) is screaming, "why are you bringing these to me?" I guess I can't say that I'm that mad, Chase hasn't been able to find his glasses for the last two days, and I haven't done a thing about it. It must be summer.

Hunh.

Migrane Update ~ Day 22

2009-07-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today I decided on a migraine update for my daily blog. (For the record, it is still really hard to do this EVERY day.) Back to my migraine update. I'm now on my 3rd RX for the migraines. I think that this medication that I am on now is working. I have still gotten 3 migraines in 19 days, but it is way better than every day! Even with the first two medications I was still getting headaches 4 out of 5 days. I'd say that this medication is a success.

Fools ~ Day 21

2009-07-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me for seventy years and bill me $100 trillion while I sit by and accept more of the same? Then shame on all of us for being ignorant and powerless Americans. If we fail to speak up and speak out against this madness then we should be prepared to accept everything we get. Samuel Adams said that those who prefer the "tranquility of servitude" had best be prepared to "crouch down and lick the hands which feed you." That advice is as relevant today as it was back then.

~Glenn Beck

I wonder what kind of fools we'll turn out to be.

Hunh.

Blog Stalking ~ Day 20

2009-07-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ambri asks me once in a while, "whose blog is that?" and I reply, "I have no idea." She looks at me strangely and then walks away. Here is one of those that I found today while "Blog Stalking".

We ate at the Olive Garden tonight.

There was a time in my life, a younger time, when I thought very highly of the Olive Garden. True Italian! Bottomless bread sticks! They taught you Italian while you peed! What more could you want?

With age, time, I have grown out of this love - sure, they still have fantastic bread sticks and salads, but it ends there. They even got rid of my favorite, my usual, Chicken Giardino. And the chocolate lasagna? No where to be found. Either my tastes have grown, or ye olde Olive Garden has slipped from it's standings.

Yet there we sat tonight, a $25 gift card in our hands, waiting for our food. And while I wait, I tend to slip into habits. People watching habits. Mark* hates this, can't stand when I stare at people and is always trying to reign me in.

Tonight however, proved to be worthwhile.

I sat watching a group of three women at the table next to us. First because the one kept answering her cell phone, which I sort of find to be rude. (People watching though? Nah...) And then their bread sticks were served.

One of them pulled out a stick of butter FROM HOME, WRAPPER STILL ATTACHED and rubbed it onto her bread stick before each bite.

I wish I was making this up.

It gets better though, not only was she dipping her bread stick in butter, but she was talking, nay, GUSHING about how much she loved butter.

"I LOVE butter. Not margarine, nuh uh, I'm talkin' REAL BUTTAH..."

Mark practically had to put blinders on me. I couldn't stop the staring. How was I supposed to resist that?!

Hunh.

My Current Favorite ~ Day 19

2009-07-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is my current favorite:

This is another current favorite:

These are also some of my current favorites:

Chase says in reference to a birthday card that Bryce made for Doug: "Bryce photo-coffied it all by his-self!"

Chase also says: "I didn't drop it, it just fell out of my hands."

Maybe tomorrow I'll work on the rest of the list from yesterday. Maybe. More blueberries for sure.

~Kari

Happy Birthday ~ Day 18

2009-07-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Doug!

You are the most awesome husband ever. Thanks for all you do for all of us, and especially for your hard work. We all love you!

Today: (maybe, if I get to ev3en half of it) - I'll come back and "check" the things I did.

~ woke up with a headache, go back to bed (check)

~ woke up again without a headache, had to seriously talk myself into getting dressed into my walking clothes (check)

~ help with breakfast for the kids (check)

~ walk/run 5 miles (don't want to today, seriosly don't want to and am trying to find every excuse NOT to do it today (check)

~ shower and get dressed after walking (check)

~ wrap birthday presents for Doug (check)

~ lunch sometime today, I guess the kids need some, if I don't remember to get it for me (check - I think)

~ make birthday cake for Doug (check)

~ sit in the sun for a few minutes (got to enjoy the summer while it is here...) (check)

~ clean off jewelry table ~ I'm having seriously pangs to make "stuff"

~ make at least 3 jewelry items

~ list said items in Etsy shop

~ Harry Potter 6 (Doug's request - plus we have a free babysitter - thanks Jamie!)

~ pick bluberries for the freezer (check)

~ pick raspberries for the freezer - if I don't they'll fall on the ground and then I'll just feel guilty (check)

If I put anything else on the list I'll seriously be over scheduled for the day. I wonder how much will spill over to the next few days. Probably a lot, except for the birthday stuff.

Hunh.

Happy Birthday ~ Day 17

2009-07-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today has been exceedingly long. I won't blog much today because I am so tired. Maybe more tomorrow, except that my sister commented "...there is no tomorrow, there is only the NOW." Maybe not.

Today was my birthday.

Tomorrow is Doug's birthday.

Yesterday was the fair.

Today was the stake Pioneer Picnic (we were in charge of).

Tomorrow is a blueberry picking day.

Tomorrow is (maybe) Harry Potter 6 day.

Tomorrow is apple pie making day, maybe. I want to enter one in the fair. There is a contest and the 1st prize winner gets $100.

Here are 2 very different but quite the same pictures from the fair yesterday. My girls on 2 different rides, having a great time. (Oakli is only on the top of the ferris wheel, but it may as well be the top of the world!)

Today ~ Day 16

2009-07-16T08:48:00.001-07:00

Day 15

2009-07-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Stinks! (or lack, thereof)

I guess my 10 year old will have to pay to take the rest of us to see Harry Potter. Only because he REALLY wants to see it, and I'm not sending him alone. Sigh.

Appendicitis ~ Day 14

2009-07-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Appendicitis comes at the worst possible time. Is it ever convenient? Get better soon, Maria, we love you!

In Honor of... Gin Rummy? ~ Day 13

2009-07-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day. Tomorrow will be worse, I just hope I have time to share. Back to today, because tomorrow hasn't even happened yet.

The county fair opens this week. Last year my two older kids discovered the novelty of entering items in the fair. I told them what a great idea this would be, because if they get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place, they get money along with their ribbons. They were definitely in. So last year Bryce won $60-some odd, and Ambri around $25. Of coarse they thought this was awesome because they didn't have to do that much work to earn that money. Well, they still had to do the work, but it was basically just going through the fair book and seeing what they had already done through out the year that we could gather and enter. So the same thing is happening this year. I don't think we'll have quite the success that we had last year, but I guess you never know. Today was the drop-off for the arts and crafts/hobbies stuff and tomorrow is the baked goods. We are affectionately calling tomorrow our "baking day". Wish me and my waistline luck, I'm going to need it.

So onto the title of the post. Tonight for FHE, we went to "Grandpa Ritchie's" house. If any of you are locals that read my blog, you may have heard of Harry Ritchie Jewelers. Well, it isn't Harry who is "Grandpa", but I believe it is his brother. Anyway, it is this really cute old man that Doug does landscaping for that we went to visit. He is so nice to our family, and he doesn't have any family that lives close. Doug trades landscaping for jewelry, and at the last contract renewal, he had beautiful gold bracelets for the girls. He didn't know how to spell their names, (who would, right?) but he wanted to get their names engraved on the gold plate part. Tonight we went to pick them up, and to take him some blueberries. We had a fun time visiting. While we were there, Doug saw a deck of playing cards on his table. Doug asked him if he played cards, and he said yes, he played Gin Rummy. (Oh no!) Doug promptly volunteered me to play with Grandpa. Doug asked if he was any good, and Grandpa, said "Yes!" I shuffled and dealt the cards. After the first game, he declared we had to play again (I won). We played again, and he won, but he didn't go all the way out. He said he needed to show me how to go all the way out (which I did the first hand, but he must have forgotten - I'm sure...) and I whooped him again. Afterward, I felt kind of bad. He told me how competitive he is, so I agreed to come back and play with him again. I'm not sure he knows what he is in for. I am certain he thinks that it was all luck for me tonight. You see, my Grandpa taught me to play gin when I was a teenager. I spent MANY, MANY hours playing gin rummy with him. I could even beat him once in a while. I'd have to say, I was schooled by the best! Way to be a great teacher, Grandpa, I love you!

In other news, today Doug also gave Chase a haircut. Hunh.

A Humorous Take ~ Day 12

2009-07-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

Right now we are having a thunder and lightning storm (with rain, of coarse). Oakli just woke up from her nap and came down and promptly informed us all (remember, she's just 3) that the clouds are "peeing".

Hunh.

Worn out Bananas ~ Day 11

2009-07-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Banana bread is a thing of the past in our house (sorry banana bread, we really did used to love you). Now when the bananas that sit on the counter a little longer than they should, the kids have me make our new favorite snack out of them. Let me introduce you to the frozen, chocolate covered banana, singles style:

It obviously isn't a new concept. Ancient, really. I mean, my mom used to make it for us, so it has to be old right? I mean, my mom is as old as time, so that makes it one of the oldest snacks out there. (hehe) (Easy mom, it was just a joke!) Anyway, this way it just makes the slices go a little further. The one bad thing is the freezer door is constantly opening and closing all day, until they are gone. I guess there isn't much to complain about with that, they don't last long.

Day 10 ~ Bonus

2009-07-10T11:27:00.001-07:00

I guess the first post should have been the bonus, but here this is anyway. I heard this letter read and I couldn't believe how much I agreed with the author's words. I thought I would share it with you here. This is a letter from a woman in Arizona to our nation's leadership.

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

Huh.

Freeway Sign ~ Day 10

2009-07-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

White Lies ~ Day 9

2009-07-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Something that has been eating at me for the last few days, and re-surfaces every once in a while is the topic of people who tell white lies. All I have to say is, people who tell white lies because they think they are protecting someone or helping the situation, they are wrong, and they are SHMUCKS for telling little white lies. It hurts people, no matter who you think you are helping. Even though you think you will never get caught, more often than not, someone who isn't supposed to find out, usually does, and you usually end up hurting the person you least expect to.

Don't tell white lies.

This is hard ~ Day 8

2009-07-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, posting every day is hard. Reminding myself of what I was going to write about from an idea that emerged from day 5, here goes. It isn't any great announcement, but it is something that I have been working on for most of this year. As of today, I have walked 835 miles. I'm on quite a streak, if I do say so myself. I started my streak of exercising at least 5 miles a day, 6 days a week, the day after my first half marathon this year, but I started keeping track of my miles at the beginning of the year. It has been quite eye opening for me. It has also been really good, because now my streak is so long, I don't want to break it. This is week 26 and it really keeps me motivated to exercise every day.

Please hurry and bury Michael Freaking Jackson. As I am writing this, they still HAVE NOT buried him yet, even though all the memorials were yesterday. How long is this going to drag out?

**Thanks Natalie for the picture.

Day 7 ~ Am I a "Bad" Mom?

2009-07-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today I feel really bad. I grounded the 3 older kids for ganging up on the youngest one. For some reason I feel really bad. Maybe because it's summer and now I have to be the police-woman. I hate it when the kids are grounded. I just don't get it why they can't learn to obey and be good. Why, oh, why, oh, why?

I'm still sick to death of Michael Freaking Jackson!

Totally Random Thoughts ~ Day 6

2009-07-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Today I changed my mind. I can do that, right? Of coarse I can, I'm a mom! I was going to write about the idea I got yesterday while I was writing, but I'm still not going to tell you that idea, because I'm saving that for another day. Today I have been going about, saving the world, as only a mother can, and I've had several random thoughts that I decided to blog about. So here goes my total randomness...

~ I am sick to death of Michael Freaking Jackson.

~ I made 3 matches from the lost socks bin while doing laundry today.

~ My kids think they are entitled to everything. Boy do they have another think coming.

~ What do you get the husband for his birthday, who has everything? (Not really everything, just the impossible one to shop for.) This one worries me because I am running out of time. He is such a snoop that he finds out things that I am getting him, that I haven't even gotten yet.

~ Oakli wants to know "Where’s my yucky corner?", and she has informed me that her Ariel Blankie is a "her". (FYI, yucky corner is on the Ariel Blankie. And a 2nd FYI, Blankie is the 2nd part of the proper name of her blanket.) I think I failed that one. I was determined that none of my kids would be attached to anything. I was successful for the first 3. Then one day someone said to me, "oh, she's the baby, let her have it." It's been that way ever since. (Now I direct your attention back up 2 random thoughts.) Sigh.

~ How come today of all days, everyone wants to use MY iPod? Huh, huh? Can you tell me why?

~ The other day when I was on my walk, there was a dog that got hit by a truck. It didn't kill the dog, it just hurt one paw. I'm not a huge dog lover, so I wasn't that sad by this. The dog was actually chasing me, so maybe you can see why I feel this way. The owner was standing there watching the dog chase me and he did nothing to call the dog back. I'm not mad that the guy didn't call the dog back, I guess justice was paid in a sad sort of way. It is against the law here (I think it is in most places) for people to let their dogs run loose. My brother-in-law totaled a car a while back because he hit a neighbors dog. He ran into another neighbors tree, while trying to miss the dog, but still go the dog. The owner of the dog had to pay for everything, even though the dog was killed.

~ And lastly, I find myself saying to my kids, "leave me alone for a minute, I need to poop in peace." Huh.

Nothing in particular ~ Day 5

2009-07-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here trying to think of what I am going to write about today. Normally it's not a problem, but I'm trying to do a post a day, for a whole month. So, in my efforts to not break my streak, I am writing again, but don't have much on my mind. The good thing is, it just gave me an idea for tomorrow. Back to today. I am in the process of downloading (note picture, which I'm sure is hard to miss) Anne of Green Gables from my brother**, so I am excited to watch it with Ambri. She is excited (she's excited for anything new) and I'm excited to share it with her. I've always liked Anne of Green Gables. So that is what is up for this week. The weather is supposed to turn "bad". Anything that isn't VERY warm for July, is "bad" for me, so a nice long series should be just what we need.

** Sorry, said brother, as I read that post back, that sounded really bad. I'm sure you got the movies for your wife or something like that, and that I'm not downloading them "from" you, just that you have them for a noble purpose, or something like that, right?

Todays Best's ~ Day 4

2009-07-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day everyone! I was going to write some profound thing about the Declaration of Independence, it's meaning to me or something like that, but I just didn't have the time today. As you can see by the date stamp, I am running short of it today. It was an action packed, but very relaxing day (if that made any sense at all). It was the best kind of holiday there is. It was spent with family, great friends, food, fun, fireworks, sun, lots of water for the kids, and plenty of relaxation. Like I said, the best!

It started out with some hot air balloons. I didn't get to ride in them, I just saw some while I was out on my walk this morning. It was a heart warming sight. Something about seeing hot air balloons that always makes me feel good inside. Then it was off for breakfast. It looked like this:

Yep, red, white and blue pancakes. They still tasted great, even though they looked a bit strange. Chase only want3ed blue ones, and Oakli only wanted "pink" ones. Everyone was satisfied in the end (even the chickens - they got the leftovers).

We had a great afternoon down at the river. (We live right by the river and go down to our "private beach" often.) We played, ate, and played more. Oakli summed it up nicely here:

She is IN the river while she is eating a S'more. More pictures to come another day. This day I have to go to bed, because soon, it will be a new day, and that day is coming soon and it will be a Sunday, where I have to get up early. Here's one last picture from a wonderful Independence Day.

Happy Birthday, America!

~ Kari

Good Times ~ Day 3

2009-07-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made Jell-O No-Bake Cheesecake Dessert for dessert. (Monday and Friday nights are "pazzert" night.) I think they call it a "dessert" because it's just glorified, flavored jell-o. Slap it in a graham cracker crust and ta-da. It sure does taste pretty good, nonetheless.

So the reason I bring this up is, back in the day, my best friend and I, Kristin, spent many a summer day, walking to Smith's (that's a grocery store for all you non-Utahan's). We'd pool our money and buy steaks and Jell-O No-Bake Cheesecake. We'd walk back home, usually to her house and make the cheesecake (dessert) and BBQ our steaks. If I remember right, her parents had a briquette BBQ. Awesome. I vaguely remember us pouring A LOT of lighter fluid all over the BBQ each time we'd start it. Anyway, after we had our steak, we'd eat the WHOLE cheesecake. Good times.

I Grow Red, White, and Blue... Sort of ~ Day 2

2009-07-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Happy July everyone... again!

I wanted to show you my patriotism by what I am growing. My most important things this year are red, white, and blue (sort of).

RED: (I think the most important - of coarse)

Here's my close up. If you can tell, this raspberry is in the palm of my hand. I'm showing this picture for size. It's it so pretty? (and HUGE?!?!?!) I think they are the most important because raspberries are my favorite fruit. Doug has worked long and hard to get me the perfect producing plants. They grow big berries that taste awesome. This year he planted me even more plants, despite the fact that I am the only one in the family that really LOVES them. I now have 95 plants! Yes, I have counted them.

Next is WHITE .

Well, it really isn't white, but it was the best I could do. It is rather patriotic though. Just think amber waves of grain. You get the point. We have have 17 acres of wheat that we are growing this year. Our kids love it because they run and play in it, and literally get lost in there. The wheat is taller than the kids are. Too fun.

Last is BLUE.

I would have put this one first, because technically it is the most important to us financially, but it just didn't fit with my post, red, white, and blue. Again, you get a close-up for WOW factor. Love the size of those babies! Those are my fingers next to the blueberries on the plant.

What do you get when you have a blueberry plant that is over-worked, and under-paid? A really good blueberry plant! This one is totally LOADED and ready to be picked.

Happy July ~ Day 1

2009-07-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Happy July everyone! July is my favorite month. It's SUN, parties, SUN, birthdays, SUN, lounging, SUN, fresh fruit, more SUN, and just all around SUN... I mean fun! I just love July! Here is a great picture of our house. (I changed my color to red in honor of July. I think I'll go back to pink soon.)

Oops... not the picture I was talking about when I wanted you to see the view... (just kidding... story below.) Here's the house:

I want to start flying an American flag on the holidays. It is something that we did as a kid, and I want to do it for our family as well. I asked Doug if we could mount one of those (he thinks they are cheezy... as you can tell by the picture) brackets on the house that you slide the flag pole into. (I don't think he means to offend any of you that have them...I think for us, he thinks it would be cheezy. It would get lost on our hosue...) He looked at me, and asked where would we mount one of "those things"? I said I don't know, and I don't care, I just want to fly a flag. He said "OK". This is what I got! Isn't he awesome! We'll fly it for about a week, but as you can tell by the next picture, technically, we could fly it all the time. (See the next picture.) We won't though, because it blocks the view from the top window. Isn't he awesome?

This is our night shot.

So the story about Chase. Our kids LOVE to slip-and-slide. They go all the way down the hill, it is great! Chase was really tired on this day (a few days ago) and I took him in the house and put him down for a nap. He thinks he can decide when his naps are done and he gets himself up without sleeping. He did so on this day. Came outside (Doug claims he had underwear on, the proof is in the picture...) and well, there you have it. He was doing the slip-and-slide, "butt naked!" I had to take a picture, and then he got in trouble.

So today is my first official post for posting everyday for a month. We'll see how it goes. I was laying in bed thinking today about what I'd post (it's going to be a long day, I needed to do it early, we're picking blue3berries today) and I thought if this goes well, maybe I'd do a month where I post entirely about the kids ~ what they say and do. Tt would be fun, but I guess I'll just have to wait-and-see how this month goes.

A post a day... for a whole month???

2009-06-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

My sister has done this thing where she has done a post a day, for a whole month! I have to admit, I love reading her posts each day. Some days they are long and thought out, some days they are just quick right before she hits the sack. I have to admit, I have thought about what a good idea it is, and how much I would like to do it. Well, "like" is the operative word. I think it is a great idea, anyway. Well, she is doing it again, and I mentioned that if she ever did it again, I may try it. She started it yesterday (I know, not at the beginning of the month) so I am thinking that I may gear up for the month of July. Summers are so busy, so I don't know how long I'll last, but I think I'm going to go for it.

On another totally strange, but "pee your pants" it's so funny note... here is a link to a post my cousin did on her blog. I think of it often and how funny she is. She doesn't post often, (meaning a post a day) but when she does, her posts are very funny. This post will only be REALLY funny if you've actually borne children, but happy reading to those of you who haven't, anyway. Here's the link: Someone who knows my pain.

Ambri's Baptism

2009-06-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ambri~

Mom and Dad are so proud of you! You have made the decision to be baptized. You have looked forward to this day for so long and you finally did it! You looked so beautiful in your new dress. So many family members and friends came to support you. We all love you so much!

Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Half Marathon

2009-06-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Doug was very kind to set up a half-marathon for us this past weekend. We invited many to join with us, and we had a great turn out! Here was part of his announcement:

We are making final preparations for the first, possibly annual, Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper-Half Marathon on June 6, 2009 at 7:00am. Yes, 13.1 miles of pure fun and joy (well, it can be). The course is set to run on flat, paved roads going through beautiful, Willamette Valley farmland in the Dever-Conner area of Northeast Albany. The race will start and end at the Burton’s home. Anyone of any age, that thinks that they could finish the course is invited to participate. Running, jogging, walking, biking, blading, crawling (bring knee pads if you are going to do that), are all permitted this year. If for some reason someone is not able to finish the course we will arrange for a ride to the finish line. Aid stations will be at miles 2, 4, 6, 9, and 11 with bananas and orange slices at the mile 6 station and bathrooms at miles 2, 4(?), 9, and 11. At the end of the race, at the finish line we will also have some drinks with some light foods and snacks.

Here are the results of the marathon. If you don't find yourself right away, check for another category. The results have been broken down based on the method of completion. (I've left off your last name for privacy. If you want me to put your last name up on the site, just email me.)

Runners:

1. Matthew K. (#128) 1:27:00

2. Kyle M. (#117) 1:49:00

2. Bill H. (#129) 1:49:00

3. Larry S. (#127) 2:00:00

4. Maria B. (#123) 2:31:00

Walkers:

1. Kari B. (#114) 2:45:00

Adult Bike:

1. James C. (#135) 49:00

2. Brent B. (#131) 50:00

3. Preston B. (#124) 59:15

4. Jaclyn B. (#116) 1:25:00

5. Bart B. (#115) 1:25:00

6. Afton B. (#119) 1:35:00

7. Steve B. (#118) 1:35:00

8. Paul T. (#134) 1:39:00

9. Charisse B. (#130) 1:59:00 (ran 4 miles, then biked)

10. Tom B. (#122) 2:31:00

Youth Bike:

1. Jordan M. (#105) 59:35

2. Sarah M. (#104) 1:00:41

3. Sarah C. (#106) 1:00:42

4. Bryce B. (#101) 1:08:00

5. Ceana B. (#109) 1:08:00

6. Matthew H. (#112) 1:15:40

7. Chase B. (#113) 1:25:00 (rode with #116)

8. Oakli B. (#103) 1:25:00 (rode with #115)

9. Brady T. (#132) 1:30:00

10. Kerry T. (#133) 1:39:00

11. Kaeli B. (#110) 1:40:00

12. Caiden B. (#111) 1:40:30

Other:

1. Tyler B. (#121) Roller Blade

2. Jace B. (#107) (rode with #121)

3. Traeden B. (#108) (rode with #121)

4. Porta Potty (#136) 2:27:00 (Tractor)

Marathon #2 for Doug (yes, all 26.2 miles of it!)

2009-06-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago Doug finished his 2nd marathon. He did so goood this time! He cut 1 hr and 45 minutes off his time from last year. This was his 2nd year running the Newport marathon.

This year my brother (Bart) and sister-in-law (Heidi) came to Oregon and ran the marathon with Doug. They all finished and I'm so proud of all of them!

"What I Wouldn't Trade For A Pot Of Gold" by Ambri Burton

2009-05-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

This was a school project that Ambri did. It hung in the hall at school. Each class member did one. I'm sure Ambri's was the most serious of them all. Her teacher was very impressed, and I am too. I had no idea that she was writing this until she came home with her rough draft already corrected. I asked her teacher about it at conferences, and she said that the other kids wrote about candy, stuffed animals, other toys and other frivolous things. Ambri, I think you are definitely ready to be baptized. Way to go, I'm so proud of you!

Ambri's 8!

2009-05-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Babe, I Love You!

Ambri finally made it. She had a great day, even though she didn't have a "party" with friends. We took her out to dinner with Uncle Tom and Aunt Maria. We went mini-golfing and she loved it! She's turned into a little (sweet) diva and proudly admits it. Many of her gifts were geared toward her baptism but Uncle Tom and Aunt Maria gave her a gift card for Claires and she asks almost every day if we can go to the mall so we can get more earrings. I think that she forgets that I can make hear earrings almost instantly, but that just wouldn't be as cool as actually going to the mall and buying them. I can't make some of the other things that you can buy at the store. What can I say, she's obsessed with earrings. Maybe while the boys are on their camp out this weekend. Here's one of the pictures from her photo shoot with her new clothes: Had to make sure we got the "wings" on the back... wouldn't want to miss those!

Now that Ambri has turned 8, she is very excited to be baptized. Each time she says a prayer she prays for when she can be baptized (even though she already did that, she especially does now). She is planning on being baptized the first Saturday in June. She can't wait!

Ambri and Oakli's Bedroom

2009-04-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

I finished painting Ambri and Oakli's bedroom today. It took me a week to do, and I'm beat! I've wanted to paint it like this for a long time. I saw the idea and thought that if I waited long enough the idea would wear off, but it never did. The painting bug hit me a few weeks ago, and this is my 3rd room. The other 2 rooms I painted "normal" though. Bryce is lining up for his room next. The problem is, I'm worn out!

I like the walls so much, I don't know where to put the girls beds. Up until right be3fore I painted their room, we had them bunked. Mainly to keep Oakli up on her bed during naps (she was on the top bunk and she couldn't get off) now they are both on the floor. I really just want to put both beds outside with the "shracoons" (that's what my younger kids affectionately call raccoons) and have all the walls showing. Does anyone object?

Did I mention how much I now dislike pink? Let me start by saying, I've always liked pink and brown together, I think they look really classy together (don't knock the blog background). Sure pink is a great color for clothes, jewelry, flowers, cotton candy, subtle nail polish, shoes, hair ribbons, stickers, bathing suits, toothbrushes, stuff like that. But paint in large coverages... I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate my thinking on this one. I knew there was a reason that I never wanted to paint their room pink. The other two walls are plain pink, 2 different shades. One wall has the closet on it, the other wall has the window. Their room glows pink. It's like... radiation pink. Pepto pink. The brown wall and flower wall is awesome. It's just too bad that you don't see those walls first thing when you walk in. You have to turn around after you go in. You have to get radiation poisoning first, then feel like you are going to choke, then turn around and try to realize that there are two really cool walls in the room. The cool-ness factor has worn off, and by now the flower walls are only semi-cool, because you are suffocating in the radiation poisoning you have just committed yourself to. I wonder what would have happened if I would have painted the closet doors pink as well? (I did leave those white.)

It's all good, because I'm still super, euber proud of the (awful) (awsome) pink, and slightly brown room that I slaved over for over a week on. I am awesome!

~Kari

Soccer Season...Again

2009-04-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Round 2, here we go again with soccer (round 2 means now it's spring soccer, we've already gone round 1 with fall soccer).

Today Bryce was playing goalie. He makes a mighty fine goalie when he decides he is willing to sacrifice his body for the ball. There are not many days that he is willing to do that, but on Saturday, he didn't let anything get past him. Plus, he has a very good leg on him. I think you get the idea here...

Food Storage Wrap-Up

2009-04-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

I've had lots of sticks in the fire these last few weeks, so I'll wrap up the food storage issue and then hopefully in the next day or so get a few pictures posted of the project that I've been working on (It's still a secret - okay, I'm painting the girls bedroom. It's taking so long because I'm doing each wall different, and two of the walls have designs on them. Some secret, eh?).

Food Storage, focus.

I think I have devised a pretty good system that is working for us. It looks like this:

So after I got everything inventoried and figured out what I needed more of, I made this little chart and hung it on a clip board. Now only send out people for stuff that can write and each time they take something out of the storage room, they have to write it on the list. It is actually working really good. Now when I go shopping, I know exactly what to buy! I have a master list on the computer that I can compare it to if I need to, but this is working so well! We have actually gone through 3 of these already. They don't have to writ3e (note the previous post on my "3" relationship) down things that are canned b3ecause that will just get replaced in the summer - oh I can't wait for summer - when I do canning but anything that is purchased goes on the list. It was just nice to get everything inventoried, organized, and things purchased that I was running short on. Here are some other pictures of how it looks now...

Food Storage, Comments please

2009-03-20T09:04:00.001-07:00

I'm taking on the unpleasant, and yet never ending task of the FOOD STORAGE ROOM! I'm wondering if any of you actually inventory your food storage, and keep a running inventory of it? I'm thinking this may be a good idea so I'm not guessing what I need to buy each time I go shopping. Does anyone have a good system that they are willing to share? How do you keep track of what you take out of your storage? Today I got everything inventoried and I know what I need to buy, I'm just debating on how to go about tracking everything. I really don't want to keep doing an inventory every couple of months, it was way too much work! Maybe I'll post some pictures when I get all the things purchased that I still need. Ideas please?

Weight Loss, No More!

2009-03-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

It is finally over, and yes, I have emerged the victor!

I do have to admit, it was not a surprise to me. Over-confident you say? I argue, nay. My reasoning is, 4 months of consistent HARD work. This family weight loss challenge started November 4th, and I was off and going with a bang, and I didn't stop (and still haven't). I don't really know how the others have done, because most of the rest are in Utah and I only have one brother here in Oregon. And I have only "spied" on him once. So how do you loose 37 pounds in 4 months you ask? Consistency I tell you! It can be done without any crazy fad diets or starvation tatics. Yes, I did have to cut back, but I didn't starve.

Exercise... well, you learn to live with it. Just short of taking my scale with me on vacation (now that would be crazy!) I still did exercise while I was on vacation, half way around the world. (We were supposed to weigh in 3x a week as part of the rules of the competition. We made a special arrangement while we were on vacation.) It gave a new perspective on my vacations though. I'm still glad I did, no matter where I was. It was nice to make the time for it.

On average, I walked at least 5 miles a day, and I still do 6 days a week. The thing that got me motiaved to start walking those distances is Doug and I started doing half-marathons. I don't run. Running is like a 4-letter word for me. I don't like it, and I don't think I ever will. Now walking a half-marathon, that is something I can do, and I have actually gotten faster at. While we were in Hawaii in January, we did one. I've done 3 now and they are gettine easier all the time. The more weight I have lost, the easier they get (go figure! - no pun intended there...) So now that I am in shape for them, we intend to do more, and I don't have to keep the training up for them, it just comes naturally. I can decide that next week, "hey, I feel like doing that half-marathon". No problem! It is a great feeling! I just keep my iPod loaded with music that keeps me moving to a pretty fast tempo and I am good to go. During the winter months, I get a lot of shows caught up on while I am on the dread-mill. So as you can see, it isn't something that I really enjoy, but it is nice to get on with my day once the exercise is done. Now the challenge begins to maintain the new body that I have worked so hard for, so I will probably maintain the lifestyle that I have grown accustomed to for the last 4 months, with only a few changes. I don't know yet what those changes will be, but they will be few and far between. Another change that I have noticed is that I can confidently say that I have overcome the addiction to food. Sure I still want certain things once in a while, but food is just the stuff that fuels my body now. I don't crave stuff all the time. When I am bored I look for something to do, rather than for something to eat. Now, if I can just keep that up, then I will be good for a good long time.

For those of you who are dying to know, I am now a size 4.

One side note: I am working with a neurologist to get my migrane headaches sorted out. I am on a new medication now to prevent the migranes in the first place. This has been really good for me because it has forced me to drastically reduce my sugar intake, which has probably been a major factor in my migrane triggars. I had some of those yummy girl scout cookies (which really weren't that good), and yep, I got a migrane right away. I got a little carried away and had too many cookies, it wasn't just a cookie or two.

~ Kari

I'm waiting

2009-03-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

I'm really waiting to post until Thursday, when our family weight-loss competition is over and I can give you all the results. By then I'll be out of this major stress mode.

~ Kari

It's Official....

2009-02-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well, not that. No, our family weight-loss competition is NOT over yet. 5 more days.

Chase and Oakli have officially been branded into the 4-wheeling family now. They have been taught to drive the 4-wheeler on their own. Bryce brought it to Doug's attention that He was 3 when he learned to drive the 4-wheeler, so the 2 youngin's should learn. Doug got right on that. It was a nice sunny day yesterday and he got right to work! Chase and Oakli took right to it and didn't crash into anything! (Well, how can you with a back yard like that?) I guess there is the tree, the trampoline, the play set, blueberry plants, and not to mention maybe going into the pond... but they did quite well. They were out again today and had a great time! I'm sure they can't wait until they get to ride the more "sporty" version, but for now, this is the "learning" model.

~ Kari

2009-02-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

I've finally gotten my jewelry in a place where I think it can be shown well, at an affordable price, to me and to the consumer. I have tried (a while back ago) to sell it on eB*y, but there were just too many complications with that and I didn't have enough items to make it worth having a store. I have found Etsy, and have opened a shop there. If you are interested in seeing what I have finally got going, and what I spend some of my time doing, please feel free... and feel free to spread the word. (Just click on the link to get to the shop). You can also click on the link to the left, in the side bar.

Ebony and Ivory Designs

If you have any ideas for me, or requests, send them my way!

~ Kari

That 90's Dress

2009-02-19T13:02:00.000-08:00

I though more about last night's post and also because I talked to a friend on the phone today about my whole weight loss thing. Well, I guess I'll use "friend" loosely, because she had no idea that I had lost weight, even though I talk to her pretty regularly, and see her weekly at church and at school functions. To me it should be obvious, I guess some people are just oblivious. Anyway, when you are working so hard to loose weight, it really consumes you. It is all you think about, dream about, talk about, work-out for, eat for, sleep for, etc... To me me, the changes have been hard to see, because, well, I see myself every day and the changes have been so gradual it has been very difficult to actually see the changes, and therefore accept them. People have commented on them, but because they have been difficult for me to see, it has been hard for my mind to get wrapped around it. I guess in the end, the clothes don't lie, even when they are lying on the floor, around your ankles because they won't stay around your waist. (That's a good thing, right?) I have had major moments that are starting to nail it all down for me. I think if I have enough of them, the corners will be3 nailed into place. I was helping Chase make enough room on the bonus room floor to set up his train set. There were so many dress up clothes out that you literally couldn't see the floor. As we were cleaning them up, I picked up one of my old dresses from when I first got married. I really liked that dress and never could get rid of it. I didn't get to wear it for long, b3cause the post-married life helped me gain a few extra pounds pretty quickly. It stayed in the back of my closed for the longest time, for that time when I would loose the weight and get to wear the dress again. Well, it made it into the dress-up box and is still there. For old-time's sake, I pulled it out to see if it would fit. I was already dressed for today and so I decided that I'd just throw it on over the clothes and just not do up the buttons. Talk about nailing in the nail, I could even do up the buttons, 3even with my clothes on under the dress! Yippee! Too bad the dress is totally 90's style. It was a cute one too! I always wondered what I weighed when I got married (there were just some things that I forgot). Now I know!

Hmmmm...

2009-02-18T23:13:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure what I'm going to blog about yet, I just figured it has been a long time since I've posted anything, so I'd do a quick post b3efore I head off to bed. 5 words ago spurs a nice opening for this post. I've explained this to a few people, now is as good as any a time to tell the r3est of the world that I seem to have this interesting relationship with the "3" on the keyboard. For some reason many times when I type an "e" I also hit the "3" on the3 keyboard. Usually it takes just as long to explain it once to someone and then move on and leave the 3's in my words than to keep erasing them. So from now on when you see the 3's in certain words next to "e"s, it is not because I love the number 3 so much, or I am just retarded... well, maybe I am retarded, I'm just not sure yet.

Right now my life still mainly consists of walking, A LOT! We have 2 weeks and 1 day left in our family weight loss challenge. At this point I don't really care who knows how I am doing, because if you aren't doing as good as you want to be doing, it is pretty much too late. I feel like I am doing really good. I am proud of myself for how well I have done. Whether I win the money or not, I have worked so hard and I have lost a lot of weight and I have to say, "good job, Kari!". I get up in the morning, weight myself, then de3cide how far I am going to walk that morning, based on the scale. I know it sounds silly, but hey, I'm in it for the money. After my 2 weeks and one day is up, then I'll revert back to probably weighing myself just 3 times a week (which is what I did before this competition starte3d) and walking 5 miles a day, which I did NOT do before this competition started. I have resolved that if I want to keep this new body that I have worked SO hard for, it is going to probably take walking about 5 miles a day to actually keep it, so that is what I am going to do. So anyway, aft3er walking, what seems like forever, e3ach morning (in reality it is only one Raechel Ray show and part of Oprah or American Idol, or part of some other show that gets me through 64 minutes of walking on the treadmill) I feel great that I finished it! The day can b3egin. Now what? It has been nice and sunny here in Oregon? My kids keep asking if it is spring. Chase keeps asking if it is summer and when our birthdays are going to be. Poor kid. I digress. Well, I didn't really have a point to b3egin with. I'll move on.

I've been doing jewelry again. It has been a lot of fun. I've got a shop on etsy. As soon as I have a few more things posted I'll put a link up and send out a mass email for anyone that is interested in seeing what I've been up to.

Other news... Chase and Oakli both broke their glasses in the same day.

I can't think of much else to write about for now. I'll be heading to the Neurologist tomorrow for a follow-up appointmen3t. If anything exciting comes of it, I'll let you know.

Oh, I know, we took the kids to Monster Jam this last weekend. We went with our good friends the Newells. We got tickets several months ago and we had a great time with them. They all loved seeing Grave Digger and we got to go early for the "Pit Party". We got to go down and take pictures with all the trucks up close, that was great. One of the moster trucks even rolled, it was great fun. Did I mention that it was loud? Oh yeah, it was loud.

131 miles in SUNNY January

2009-02-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'd have to say, it has been a very plesant SUNNY January, here in typically dreary, Oregon. I do have to admit, I was gone for the first part of it (yea for Hawaii) and it was supposed to have flooded during that part of the month, but, hey, I wasn't here to see it, so it doesn't count in my book. Even the weathermen say it has been one of the driest January's on record, even with the early floodinig. I digress. Anyway, my post today is to make two points, one is how sunny and great the month of January was. All you had to do was look out the window, or go outside for that matter. I have to admit, I did most of my walking inside this month, but I did go outside some of the time, so it wasn't totally cold the entire month. I can talk, because I HATE the cold. But the SUN, even now, I am sitting here writing with my sunglasses on (yes, picture it - inside the house) wihle I am writing this post. Part of it is because the computer is right by the window and it truly is so sunny today that my eyes just can't handle all that glorious sunshine!

The second point is that I made it 131 miles in January. I don't know if that is good or not, but it is good for me. I decided to keep track of how many miles I exercise for during 2009. I'll keep you posted!

Loosing Weight... well, sucks.

2009-01-26T19:08:00.001-08:00

I guess literally, if it could "suck" that would be great, but that isn't really what I meant. If any of you are following my sister's blog, you may know that we are doing a family weight loss challenge (or something along these lines). We have 5 weeks and 4 days left, not that anyone is counting, and there is $1000 in the pot. I mean, who wouldn't try to loose an insane amount of weight in 4 months? I'm litterally working my butt off and it is working. I feel great (only after my agonizing trek on the treadmill each day). I dread getting up each day knowing that I have to exercise, but once it's over then I can get on with my life. I guess that isn't really true either, because once it's over I've resolved that I'll still have to exercise every day after this crazy competition is over anyway. Maybe not 5 miles a day. I guess I'll settle for 4.8.

I guess this post is more just a let it all out, wondering if I'll get over the hunger stage (my family is downstairs having dessert after FHE and I'll go in the other room and gulp down a large glass of water.) Maybe it will be worth it in the end and I'll win the money, probably not. I think my brother has more motivation than I do, although I'd like to think I'll look better in a bathing suit when this is all finished. Either way, none of my clothes fit any longer. At least my shoes all still fit. (not that I have THOSE shoes, but don't they look nice?) I guess on the bright side, I don't like Oreo's anyway.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

2009-01-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure yet, but when I find one that will answer for me, I'll let you know.

We're on vacation in Hawaii right now (Kauai) and there are chickens everywhere. I just think it is really funny and I saw chickens crossing the road and I kept asking why did the chicken cross the road. They didn't answer me.

2009-01-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Charisse tagged me to write about my quirks and I thought about it for a while. My first thought was “I don’t have any.” Then I figured that they aren’t quirks to you, just to other people. So I had to ask other people what my quirks were. First off, I have to say that some of Charisse’s quirks are also mine, so maybe they aren’t quirks at all.

1. I too (like Charisse, or Charisse like me) sleep with my ears all covered up. I snuggle all down and have to have them all covered, no matter where I am. Just my ears, not my whole face. I usually sleep on my side (so one ear is already covered) and then pull the blanket over the other ear.

2. (the other one like Charisse) I don’t eat blue food. I have to say in both of our defense, BLUEBERRIES are not blue. They are purple!

3. When I travel, I take my own pillow and blanket with me, no matter where I go in the world. It’s not a “security” thing, I just like to have my own stuff. (So is that really a “security” thing?) I’ve taken my pillow to many different continents, Doug teases me that I’ve taken my pillow all over the world. I made a “half pillow” so that I wasn’t hauling such a bulky one with us on our travels.

4. My sister-in-law pointed out that although a “cup-o-soup” does have the word “cup” in it, it is soup, and therefore, should be eaten out of a bowl. So by me making my cup-o-soup in a cup (not even a mug, I use a tall glass cup) that is definitely a huge quirk.

5. When I am in the car and someone rolls their window down, I HAVE to have another window down or cracked on the other side of the car. My ears just can’t handle it. I don’t know what it is, but one window won’t cut it, it’s either 2 or bust!

6. I drink a lot of water lately because I exercise a lot and I’m working on losing weight. When I drink the water, it has to be almost warm. That is kind of mis-leading though… not really warm, I don’t like warm water, but if it is too cold, I can’t drink it because I like to chug the water so I can drink more of it. If it is too cold I get the frozen headache, so if it is too cold, I can't drink enough of it in a day. Doug kind of gives me a hard time about it, but it suits me well, as do all of my “quirks”.

One last update for today...Chase

2008-12-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

I promised an update on Chases's eyes, well, a picture says a thousand words, right?

Here it is:

What a cute kid! He got glasses too. He has the same problem that Oakli has, but the other eye. He has a slight lazy eye, but we didn't even know it. The family Dr. saw it right away when Doug was in getting his knee checked out. He likes them so far, but it has only been a few hours.

Too cool for words ~ BRYCE

2008-12-27T16:14:00.000-08:00

What more do I say? (Oh wait... I know... He's 10!)

A mother caves... but for good reasons!

2008-12-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

(Click on the picture if you want to see it closer up)...

Ok, so I took Ambri to get her ears pierced. No big deal (it was to her). I told her that we'd do it when she turned 8, so she was totally surprised when we went to the mall yesterday. (Her birthday isn't until the end of April.) We arrived at the same time as her best friend, Ceanne and her mother, so they could be there with us while Ambri got it done. It was a lot of fun for her. We had to wait quite a while so they roamed the store together and wanted to buy all the make-up. I decided to go ahead and do it now because if we wait until she turns 8 in April, it is right when spring soccer is starting up again and that conflicts with earings because they make you take earings out for soccer games, no exceptions. This way they will be all healed up in time for the games in the spring.

Burton family happenings for 2008:

2008-12-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

Alpine Slide ~ Ambri lost her first 4 teeth, 2 in the same day because she needed money for the book order, and 2 more because her crazy mom promised her a pedicure and manicure if she’d just pull them out (not thinking she’d really do it)! ~ Ambri turned 7 ~ Australia ~ Blueberries, blueberries, blueberries ~ Bryce turned 10 ~ Bryce plays on a competitive soccer team (2 teams at the same time this year) ~ Bryce’s new favorite smell (not) is sulfur at Yellowstone ~ Buffalo ~ California ~ “California cousins” ~ Chase turned 4 ~ Chickens ~ County fair ~ Disneyland ~ Disneyland recovery ~ Doug had knee surgery 2 days before Easter ~ Doug serves on the high council in the stake (still) ~ Family Search Indexing ~ First dentist trips for Chase and Oakli ~ Glasses for Oakli ~ Gonzalo from Chile came and stayed with us for a while, we toured Oregon with him. He saw the snow and the ocean in the same week. ~ Halloween brought a runner, sumo wrestler, wonder woman, a knight and Cinderella ~ Harry Potter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 (what next, Bryce?) ~ Hawaii ~ http://burton-family-blog.blogspot.com/ ~ Idaho ~ It’s “Princess Oakli” to you… ~ jewelry making ~ jump rope team at school ~ Keeping clothes on Chase… oh wait… I mean no clothes… ~ Lots of exercise ~ Marathon for Doug ~ Marathon for Kari (2 half marathons) ~ Mexico (again – Doug, how can you say “again”? I can go back “again” and “again”!) ~ Migraines ~ Montana ~ More Soccer ~ More soccer (yeah, I did say that 2x in a row) ~ New blueberry harvester ~ New boat, lots of camping and playing at the lake ~ Oakli turned 14 (3) ~ Oakli wants to know when it’s her turn to get on the school bus ~ OSU football season tickets ~ Our family has a testimony of Jesus Christ and of his sacrifice for us. We are deeply grateful to Him and we love Him. ~ Piano Lessons ~ Pinewood Derby cars ~ Playing at our river ~ Reading ~ Redwood forest ~ Rexburg ~ Riding on Thomas the Tank Engine on the 4th of July ~ Scouts ~ Scrapbook catch-up ~ Sea World ~ Snow days because there is 2” of snow outside (hey, it’s Oregon!) ~ Soccer, soccer, soccer ~ St. Anthony Sand Dunes ~ Tahiti ~ Tennis ~ Timpanogos Cave – all 6 of us made it up with aunt Charisse too! ~ Trains, trains, and more trains for Chase ~ Uncle Bart gets married (that means a trip to Utah) ~ We got to take an airplane ride over the valley and flew over our house ~ Weight Loss ~ Wheat was planted on 17 acres of land this year ~ Wyoming ~ Yellowstone ~

Ambri’s hi-light of the year was visiting the Koala bears at the Taranga Zoo in Australia
Bryce’s hi-light of the year was visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii
Chase’s hi-light for the year was driving Trixie (the back-hoe) while she dug a new pond in our forest… okay, so Chase only helped Charlie drive Trixie. ~
Doug’s hi-light of the year, “it was all good” and eating at the Best Little Roadhouse.
Oakli just loves to be I charge of Chase every day (or think she is in charge). She is totally the baby of the family.
Kari’s hi-light of the year was just being warm in the sun in Tahiti and everywhere else we went that was warm.

It sounds like we have had a busy year. We really have, but we have had a great time doing it as a family and we have enjoyed every minute of it. We wish you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful coming new year.

What's the opposite of a Alaskan Dog Sled?

2008-12-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

I don't really need to explain more I think.

The kids are home for ANOTHER snow day, and now we are going in to Christmas break. Here's one picture from what they did today.

Another thing we've been busy with: (take a look at his eyes - more to come next week)

We're home.

2008-11-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

Our trip was so great! We went to Hawaii, Australia and Tahiti. I'll touch on a few highes. Ambri's favorite part of the trip was breakfast (more than once) at the Hukilau Café, in Laie. Bryce loved it all. I loved being warm.

• November 7 - we traveled to Hawaii and visited the Dole pineapple plantation. We love that pineapple!
• November 8 - we went to the Hukilau Café for breakfast and then went to Diamond Head for a hike, which was closed when we got there. Got us out of exercise that day!
• November 9 - we went to church, and then we visited the Laie temple and visitors center.
• November 10 - we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Our favorite part was visiting Samoa and watching the Chief.
• November 11 (Vetran's Day) - we once again had breakfast at the Hukilau Café (they are closed on Mondays, or we'd have eaten there yesterday) and then we went to Pearl Harbor. It was amazing seeing it again. The devastation reeked on our military is amazing to behold. This was my 2nd trip to Pearl Harbor on Vetran's Day.
• November 12 - we spent the day on another airplane, to Australia. It was November 13 when we arrived in Sydney.
• November 14 - we exercised in Hyde Park (Doug and I, at different times) and then we visited the Taranga Zoo. Our high for the zoo was being able to take pictures right next to the Koala bears. One thing I noticed was how rude the many school children were, sadly. We got to fairy right in front of the Sydney Opera House. We also went to the Sydney Tower (and we even got in for free - score!)
• November 15 - we toured the Sydney Opera House and saw a cute show called How To Read Tea Leaves, in the famous Spiegel Tent.
• November 16 - we went to church. It was a YSA branch, so we only stayed for sacrament meeting. The chapel and classrooms were on the 2nd story of a high rise building.
• November 17 - we visited the Sydney Aquarium, and then McDonald's for lunch (for the kids, Doug and I found Subway). We wandered around downtown Sydney for a bit and then walked back to our condo. We got to go swimming that night at the community pool.
• November 18 - we exercised again this morning, each of us going all the way to the Sydney Opera House and then back. We made the train trip out to the Sydney Temple. It took us 2 hours to get to the temple, that was 15 miles away from our condo. We didn't get lost, it just took us a long time to get there, and we had to walk a long ways as well. Bryce and Ambri came along and waited for Doug and I while we did a session.
• November 19 - we visited the Powerhouse Museum. It is kind of like OMSI. It was a nice relaxing day, but our last day in Sydney.
• November 20 - we left Sydney. Everything went fine at the airport. The thing the kids liked thte best was the individual TV screens that they had on the flight. They could watch their own movie or play video games. We crossed back over the international date line and arrived in Tahiti on the 19th.
• November 20 (again) - we slept in. The first thing we noticed in Tahiti is that people can smoke anywhere (starting with inside the airport). We spent the day at the pool. The beach at the hotel is BLACK SAND (just what I wanted to see in Tahiti - yea!). The shocker in Tahiti was the lady at the pool that didn't wear a top. Doug said he expected it (at the beach) but we forgot to warn the kids in advance. Oops! Picture is of Ambri and Flat Stanley. She got to bring him along on our trip, he is from school.
• November 21 - we started the day by exercising. It was so difficult to exercise in Tahiti because it was so humid and hot. It was another day at the pool, and we ventured out to the beach to do some snorkeling. Later that afternoon we went to the temple. We waited in the (HOT) sun for the bus, but after 20 minutes, it never came. They said the busses stop coming after 5pm. We made it to the temple, and Doug and I did a session. It was in French, so we got to use the headphones. Bryce and Ambri waited for us in the waiting room and they got to watch a movie and talk with the Temple president. Some members took us back to the hotel.
• November 22 - was our last day in Tahiti. We had to check out of our room at 11am, and our filght wasn't until 11:30pm. I started the day by exercising and then we had breakfast. We checked out of our room and then spent the rest of the day by the pool (they stowed our bags for us). It rained a bit later that afternoon, but it was warm and refreshing. We headed to the airport early and got on an earlier flight (10pm). It was a red-eye and we made it to LAX to find that another passenger took one of our suitcases. Good thing it was on the way home. We continued onto Seattle and then Eugene. We made it home by about 6:30 and we were very happy to see Chase and Oakli. We finally got our suitcase back by Tuesday afternoon. It was a great trip! Tahiti was so warm, it was wonderful!

2008-11-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?

Give the Aussies another chance... and they failed!

2008-11-17T03:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I figured I'd give 'em another chance, maybe it was just a bad zoo day (see the post before last). We headed to the Sydney Aquarium today, hoping for a relaxing day. We walked over to the Aquarium today, rather than taking the subway. The Aquarium is in Darling Harbour. Of coarse, we took the long way because we really didn't know where we were going, but we found it, nevertheless. We got in and everything was fine. We were admiring the Platyapus', the HUGE Croc, and many other exotic fish that I had never seen before... and then we heard it. The stampede of school children, AGAIN. I think Bryce was as dissappointed as I was, but I was determined to give them another chance, knowing that these couldn't possibly be the same school children that mobbed the zoo just days earlier. I was dissappointed though, they were just as rude as all the others. They were pushing (not just nudging... all out pushing total strangers)! Poor Ambri was trying to take her turn at the touching pool and she got totally squeezed out of the way from all directions. They even had their teacher telling them "manners...manners", but nothing. She could see how rude they were being (I made eye contact with her, with a question on my face) but nothing was done. So, we had to quickly finish our tour and then move on. They failed.

We continued out to find lunch and Doug saw the sign for McDonalds. The kids were thrilled! On our way we also saw a Subway, so we stopped in there for some "healthy" food for Doug and I. Bryce even got a sandwich, his new fettish is ham, cheese, and lettuce. The cheese here is a little different, but we are managing. The cheddar cheese is not "yellow" or "orange" (pick your descriptive color, I think it is still up for debate) but rather it is a white color. We bought sliced and shredded at the grocery store, and the shredded tastes the same. The sliced is a close 2nd. Anyway, we got some lunch and then headed to McDonalds for chicken nuggets for Ambri. We all sat down to eat at an outdoor McDonalds. The birds were mobbing us and Bryce and Ambri had a wonderful time chasing the birds. No one was even annoyed about them making so much noise, because the birds were that much MORE annoying. We stopped for a few minutes in Darling Harbour because Ambri asked to play on the play set. As they were playing, that same pesky group of school kids came walking through the area. At least they couldn't stop and play, only watch Bryce and Ambri longingly. Some redemption, maybe.

We walked over to the "Cinema" to see if we could see High School Musical 3. First they were "closed". What kind of movie theater closes? Well, I'll tell you. The kind that has Daniel Craig there on Friday night for the premier of the new James Bond movie, and then Nicole Kidman coming tomorrow for the premier of the new movie "Australia". Who wants to see stupid movie stars anyway? I guess it doesn't matter much anyway, because Sydney doesn't even get HSM3 until "Early December 2008". I had 2 mighty dissappointed kids. We came back to the condo and watched a pay-per-view. It was a comedy and they soon forgot their woes.

NOTE on the time stamp: It is actually 11:00 pm here on Monday night. I believe it is 4:00 am at home.

A picture from the past.

2008-11-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

I'm working on sorting pictures and I came across this one. I thought I'd post it for all to see. This is Ambri eating ice cream (or something like that) in 2003.

Taronga Zoo ~ I thought Americans were rude...

2008-11-15T01:46:00.001-08:00

Well, first I'll get the bitterness out of my post, then I'll get on with it. We went to the Tagonga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. The Zoo was mobbed with school groups. When I say mobbed, I mean MOBBED! It was difficult to see a display without getting pushed (that would include any school age child of various ages that runs into you because they are not paying a whit of attention) or having toes stepped on by a school child. I can say definately that it is a school child because the kids in each group would all be wearing the same uniform. Some group even had the same backpack for each child with the name of a school on it. AND I THOUGHT AMERICANS WERE RUDE, I DON'T FEEL QUITE SO BAD ANY LONGER. I mean, I came to Australia expecting a little more hospitible behavior than what you typically expect from Americans... I was dissappointed.

With that said, the Zoo was amazing. After disembarking from the "Subway" (which is really the train I guess, sometimes it goes under the ground and sometimes you can see it at street level), we headed to the warf and took a fairy over to the Zoo. On the fairy we went right by the Sydney Opera House. It is the most recognizeable building in the world, so they say. We'll tour that tomorrow... or is it today? I'm not sure, but it will be SATURDAY.
We took a really cool sky bus ride up the side of the mountain and then we were at the top of the Zoo. The Zoo is on a hill, similar to the Portland Zoo. Nice exercise. Anyway, we got off right by the Koala encounter, and we got to have our picture taken with the Koala bears (that really aren't bears). Here's Ambri with her photo:

The kids were amazed at "how cute" they are. We weren't allowed to touch them, although we obviously could, it is against the law. They sleep for 20 hours a day because they eat eucalpytus leaves, and they don't have much energy in them.
We saw many other native Australian animals while at the Zoo, and then the "regular" zoo animals as well. The giraffe habitat was really nice, and many of the exhibits had a great backdrop of the Sydney Harbour, Sydney Bridge, and Sydney Opera House in the background.
Later that night we went grocery shopping with the kids. The reason I mention it, is because the grocery store is in the basement of the mall. The mall is smack in the center of Sydney, amidst the office buildings and residential apartments. Doug and I have experienced it before in Chile, but the kids were in awe of it. Of coarse everything was different, but many things were the same in a wierd kind of way. For example: Rice Krispies are called Rice Bubbles, but they are exactally the same, even made by Kellogg's. Pringles are the same though, and we can't forget the wonderful Cadbury Chocolate. It still tastes as good as at home.

Just a note on the time stamp, it is 9 pm here on Saturday, 2 am Saturday at home.

Do we get to go "Charc-ling" today?

2008-11-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

That is the question that I have been asked more than once today by Ambri (7 yr). What she really means is snorkeling (for those of you that didn't know that we are on vacation right now). She's interested in that, and going to "Smashers" beach. She really meant "Pounders Beach" (which is where we are actually staying) but the cute things she says still get me.

We had breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe. We ordered way more food than we could eat, and just as always, it was wonderful food. Bryce said he wants to come back on Tuesday (they are closed on Sunday and Mondays) and he wants to order a whole plate of just bacon. We were also supposed to hike Diamond Head today. When we got to the parking lot, the lady at the pay booth said "Didn't you see the big sign at the bottom of the hill? The trail is closed." We weren't the only ones that didn't see the "Big Sign" because there were many cars behind us as we turned around and pulled out. So we went in search of the "Big Sign", which for your information, Lady, it was NOT at the bottom of the hill. I think that Bryce and Ambri were releived that we didn't have to go on "another hike". He just wanted to stay in the car and play the DS. He's milking this trip for all it's worth. Instead of going "Charc-ling" (which we will do later on in the trip) we just went to the beach and played in the "Smasher" waves. So far we've done that both days and Bryce and Ambri just love playing in the water the best. That is surprising to me because they get the chance to play in the ocean in Oregon many times each year. I guess it really doesn't surprise me once I think about it, the water is much warmer. Heck, I even got in!

It's time for vacation... ALREADY?

2008-11-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well, that is how I'm feeling. I can't wait (we're heading to Hawaii on Friday, then Australia after that, and Tahiti on the way home), but there is so much to do.

I guess I'll go start doing something.

I SAID ALL THE CANDY WRAPPERS GO IN THE GARBAGE!

2008-11-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, whatever, Mom.

So another Halloween has come and gone.

Here's how they rank: Bryce was a sumo wresteler, Ambri was Wonder Woman, Chase was a knight and Oakli was Cinderella.

The kitchen is a disaster with halloween candy and wrappers everywhere. I guess when I threatened the kids with disposing of all the candy if they didn't take care of their wrappers was a hollow threat. The good news (sort of...) is that the candy is almost gone. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet. Is that a good thing?

Ambri came home last night from the Trunk-or-Treat and told me that she didn't know why all the grown-ups knew who she was, but the little kids didn't. Go figure. We've definately watched our share of Wonder Woman on YouTube. She's also go the moves down to block the bullets on her wrist bands.

Chase was very sweet with his costume choice this year. He realized that Oakli was going to be Cinderella and he wanted to be a knight so he could protect all the princesses from the dragons. He will tell you first thing that "trains, cars, and firefighters are my favorite" so I don't know why he didn't pick one of those. We found a cheap costume at Wal-Mart, so I wasn't going to challenge him on it. I spent a good amount of time looking for a Thomas the Tank costume, but couldn't find one anywhere. Don't press your luck, eh?

Our trip is drawing ever closer and I can't wait! I'm starting into panic mode, realizing how much I still need to do. I havn't planned our days out for the Australia portion of the trip yet, so maybe I should go think about that now!

TTFN!

The abuse of the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Holy smokes, am I guilty of this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have just decided that I am going to try really hard, not to use an "!" mark, unless it is totally warranted.

Another 1/2 marathon ~ in the bag!

2008-10-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Doug and I did another half-marathon. Actually it was Doug's first (the last one he did was a full marathon). I'd have to say, this one was much easier than the first, despite the huge hills and elevation changes. I was hoping to shave quite a bit of time off my personal best, but those hills really cut into my time. I did get under 3 hours, which is what my goal was, so I am proud of myself for that. I am not nearly as sore as I was the first go-around. I did my training a little different for the 2nd and I think it really made a difference. On our way back to pick up our kids from Grandma's house, we stopped at the running store to get me a new pair of shoes. I was shocked to see how worn out this pair was, and I've only had them a few months. I got the exact same pair as before, and the new ones are so much more comfortable than the worn out pair. I'll start back into walking again tomorrow. See you all on the road.

Another 12 bites the dust!

2008-10-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

In preparation for my 2nd upcoming half-marathon, I did a 12 mile walk today. That is the longest I have ever walked in one stretch (that I actually know of - there's no way we went that far at girls camp, is there?) without actually doing the half-marathon. That brings us to "why" you might ask? I ask myself the same thing. After doing the first half-marathon, I was seriously wondering if I would do another because it was very difficult for me to do the first one. I decided that it was a really good way to keep me exercising (because I would prefer not to) so I kept up the training. It definately has been easier this time around. I now walk even faster than I did 2 months ago. I finished my first half marathon in 3 hrs and 1 minute. (Remember, I was just walking.) I should definately be able to shave off at least 5 minutes this go around. That marathon comes up this weekend, so it will be a relief to get another behind me.

I think I forgot to tell this part, which is why I started the post in the first place... it was a very hard walk. Not just because it was so long, but the weather sucked! Last week it was raining for my 11 mile walk, so I did it on the treadmill, (that sucked too...) and it took me almost 3 hours for the 11 miles. Today I was lucky that it didn't start raining until I hit my 3 mile mark, but the wind was blowing too. I knew that potentially it would start to rain, so I did the walking into the wind at the beginning, hoping to get it past me before the rain started. No such luck. At the half-way mark, Doug was going to bring me water and a granola bar, but by the time he got there, I was "running" behind because of the wind and rain. He picked me up and took me to the next spot in the road where it turns, and I would be walking with the wind for the rest of the way home, luckily it was under a mile that I "cheated" on. It was much easier walking with the wind and the rain didn't even bother me. I guess it's all perspective. At about mile 9 I was trying to figure out if I was going to go the full 12 miles (add more onto the end for my cheating bout) or just cut it at 11 and call it a day. I decided I'd made all that effort (taking the first step out the front door was the hardest - oh wait, until it started raining.) I may as well add 1 more mile on the end and actually do my 12. It wasn't too bad and I probably could have gone another 1.1 miles, but I'll save that for this weekend.

As we have been talking with Bryce and Ambri about our upcoming trip to Australia, Ambri asked if we could surf. I told her that we should learn to snorkle first (Doug and I have done it before) and she proceded to list off the things we will do while we are on vacation.

Snorkle
Surf
No ice in our drinks

I laughed really hard.

2008-10-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Forvigeness is a gift you give to yourself.

A great Celine Dion show!

2008-10-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it was another fun show. Celine always does a great job.

Her opening act was Gordie Brown. He was really funny, but a little crude for kids or "tweens". I hope that Kaeli (my niece that I heard was going to the contert who is 11) didn't get any of his really funny jokes. We were with our friends, Matt and Beth Newell, and I told her that Brian Regan is an awesome comedian, and he is clean! Anyway, back to the concert, it was great! We loved this show as much as when we saw her in Las Vegas, considering what they can do on the road, versus a show that is at the same place night after night.

I'm off to work on more Christmas cards. I'd post a picture, but then I'd have to kill you all, so you'll just have to wait until you get your card in the mail!

Celine Dion

2008-10-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Well... today is the day. We've had our tickets for... well, I don't even know how long, but we got them the day they went on sale. We've seen Celine Dion in Las Vegas and it was a great show. We are going to this show with our friends, Matt and Beth Newell. It should be fun, they are great fun to hang out with. I'll up date later if anything exciting happens at the show!

Those are some shoes, eh?

"Put my stuff in the bag, Please!"

2008-09-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Oakli came to me with a grocery bag and asked me to put her stuff in the bag. The first thing that popped into my mind was that she was the stuff. Here's the proof!

Soccer Season Is Upon Us!

2008-09-29T16:47:00.001-07:00

I've decided to start from here and move forward, or I'll be lost in the past! I do have a lot to catch up on, but maybe later on if I have time.

Ambri and Bryce are playing soccer again this year. Ambri plays on the Marigolds team and Bryce plays on the Chefs and the Renegades. It has been a very busy and interesting season so far. I'll start with Ambri because her goings on are much easier to write about so far. She is on a team with her friend Ceanne. They are doing really great. Ambri has a really good coach that just pushes the girls in a fun way and they are learning so much. Ambri has had 3 games so far this season and she has scored 5 goals. She is very proud about that, because she didn't score any goals last year. Ambri is a little shorter than Ceanne so she can't run as fast, but she sure knows how to make sure all the other girls stay out of her space! She isn't afraid to touch the other players, like she was when she first started playing soccer.

Bryce started the season off kind of continuing from last season. His coach las year asked him to try out for a new competitive team. After talking about it for a bit, we decided to have him go ahead and try out. They told us that the games would be on Saturdays and would most likely conflict with the regular AYSO games. So they made sure that they divided up all the boys to be on different AYSO teams so it wouldn't make one team suffer more than another, if there were a Saturday that they needed to be away at the Renegade game. (The competitive team is through AYSO and so they are playing on a regular team, and the "progressive" team.) As it turned out, so far all of the games have been on Sundays. They have had 3 weeks of tournaments with at least 2 games each day. Bryce told his coaches that he wouldn't be playing with the team when they play on Sundays (man, I love that kid!). So he has missed all those games so far, but he still goes to practice each week with that team. He has soccer 4 times a week between practice with 2 teams and games on Saturdays. I think that they may have a tournament this coming Saturday for the Renegade team, so Bryce may get a chance to play with them. It should be pretty exciting, the boys are very good. They basically took the best players out of the league and made a team with them. It is kind of sad watching when they have to go back to the regular AYSO team (just for fun team... everyone is a winner, blah, blah, blah...) because it is just like taking 5 steps backward each week. What do you do, though?

Ambri is now in 2nd grade and Bryce is in 4th. They are both loving every minute of it. Ambri finished her first chapter book today, and yesterday Bryce finished the 6th book of Harry Potter. He very quickly went and found the last book and dove right in. I asked him what was next after Harry Potter, and he told me without a skip, “The Book of Mormon”. I can’t wait for him to start that one! After that, he said he was going to start “The Work and the Glory” books.

Ambri finally lost her 2 front teeth on the top. She is very excited. All the other kids have already lost their teeth, so she is on the slower end a bit.

Chase and Oakli are home with me each day. Oakli is right there with Chase trying to learn and do everything that Chase does. Oakli loves to dance, and Chases loves to shake his “booty”.

I’ve been really busy with canning, drying, and walking. (Strange combination.) I did a few tomatoes this year, we still had a lot from last year. Doug helped with everything else that we did. We got 180 quarts of green beans done, 200 cobs of corn cut and stowed for the winter, and A LOT of applesauce. We did 140 pints and 130 quarts. Hope everyone likes applesauce! (We go through lots of it, but probably not that much – we went a bit overboard.)

I decided to dry apple slices this year. We have lots of apples and I definitely don’t want to make more applesauce. It has been really fun to do, and super yummy as well. I’ve been dipping them in cinnamon and sugar before I dry them, so they are even more delicious.

Walking… well, I do a lot of it. I have been doing about 30 miles a week. It has really been great for me. I enjoy my time out on the road just moving along. In August I did my first half-marathon. I have 2 more coming up that I am continuing to train for. The first one was a bit harder than I thought, even though I finished in pretty good time. I was the first walker to finish, but it was very hard. A few things to change for the next one and hopefully I’ll be good to go.

Doug will be doing the next half-marathon with me. He won’t be walking though. He did his first marathon in May, and he finished. He decided that the time he got wasn’t good enough, so he wants to do more. He was going to do the Pocatello Marathon with me in August, but about 2 weeks before the marathon, he pulled his hamstring. He is still trying to recover from that. If all goes well, he’ll do a full marathon in January.

We have more soccer, and OSU football games to keep up with. After Halloween we have a trip coming up, so I’ll try to post often and post some pictures as well!