Here are some pictures from day 1 (Kara's in all black in the middle):
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Kara @ Jr Cheer Clinic
Kara has been participating in a Jr Cheer Clinic this week sponsored by our local high school. The girls who signed up will go to two days of cheer clinic and then perform with the HS cheerleaders at halftime of this Friday's football game. Kara's having a great time!
Here are some pictures from day 1 (Kara's in all black in the middle):
Here are some pictures from day 1 (Kara's in all black in the middle):
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
This is my 100th Post! :)
And as it is my 100th post I will post about one of my favorite things: Books!
I have embraced the Washington County Library system. I have immersed myself in reading since we moved. I read a book about a year ago called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Even though it is classified as a "young adult" book, the story captivated me and I could not put it down. As I read the last page, four words caught my attention: End of Book One. I was soooo disappointed (and happy). Disappointed because I wanted to know how the story ended and I did not want to wait for another book. Happy because I like reading series since I tend to get attached to a storyline and characters longer than one book carries them (usually). The second book in the series, Catching Fire, came out just recently. I plan to wait until the library has it available to check out before reading it. Obviously a year has gone by, why can't I wait a few more weeks until it's ready?
Suzanne Collins is an author for children's television programs (has worked with Nickelodeon a lot). She wrote another series before she wrote The Hunger Games also in the young adult genre. The other series starts with Gregor, the Overlander and it was wonderful! I read the 5 book series in less than a week and a half (along with reading a couple of other books listed below). Suzanne Collins may be my new favorite author. I can't wait to see what comes from her next! P.S. Kara has been enjoying reading book one in the Gregor series too!
I joined a book club at church which has helped introduce me to some other women in the ward. I expected something a little hokey like reading LDS fiction or even LDS non-fiction (gasp! Me?!? read non-fiction?!? not for fun!). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this group of women has some pretty sophisticated tastes.
The first month we read Anthem by Ayn Rand. It was a short story (about 100 pages) and quite captivating. It put me in mind of the book 1984 and the Handmaid's Tale, but had a little less character development. Last year I read a HUGE book by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged which had over 1000 pages (the girls called it 'my dictionary'). The shorter story had some of the same themes (self reliance, non-communism, higher thought being above all) but both were very good. Atlas Shrugged was a little too preachy in some parts and even the page after page of preaching got repetitive between characters. I guess that's how you fill 1000 pages. Good messages and good to get someone thinking.
The second month we have been reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I could not get into it (probably because it was written in 1900 and set in England). Once I forced my way in and stopped paying attention too much to the descriptive and flourished words, I was able to focus a little more on the story. This book had a great idea and would translate well into modern times if it was streamlined and re-written. Of course, nobody can touch a "classic" but it would make a good idea for a movie if one hasn't been made from it already. It was about a quite good looking young man and his friendship with a philosopher and a painter. Once his painter friend had captured the "perfect portrait" of Dorian, he realized his youth and good looks would someday be gone and all he would have left was the portrait to remind him of how old and ugly he was getting. He made a wish that the portrait would get old instead of him. And it did. Very interesting. Once I found out what the story was about, I got into it a little more. It was hard to focus when I wasn't sure in the first 30 pages of fluff what direction the story was going.
Okay, I'm sure I've bored everyone by now, but those are just a few of the books I've been into lately. I, of course, continue to check out and enjoy LDS fiction by Anita Stansfield, Rachel Ann Nunes, and others. But those books are fluffy all on their own and don't require much thought when reading.
I have embraced the Washington County Library system. I have immersed myself in reading since we moved. I read a book about a year ago called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Even though it is classified as a "young adult" book, the story captivated me and I could not put it down. As I read the last page, four words caught my attention: End of Book One. I was soooo disappointed (and happy). Disappointed because I wanted to know how the story ended and I did not want to wait for another book. Happy because I like reading series since I tend to get attached to a storyline and characters longer than one book carries them (usually). The second book in the series, Catching Fire, came out just recently. I plan to wait until the library has it available to check out before reading it. Obviously a year has gone by, why can't I wait a few more weeks until it's ready?
Suzanne Collins is an author for children's television programs (has worked with Nickelodeon a lot). She wrote another series before she wrote The Hunger Games also in the young adult genre. The other series starts with Gregor, the Overlander and it was wonderful! I read the 5 book series in less than a week and a half (along with reading a couple of other books listed below). Suzanne Collins may be my new favorite author. I can't wait to see what comes from her next! P.S. Kara has been enjoying reading book one in the Gregor series too!
I joined a book club at church which has helped introduce me to some other women in the ward. I expected something a little hokey like reading LDS fiction or even LDS non-fiction (gasp! Me?!? read non-fiction?!? not for fun!). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this group of women has some pretty sophisticated tastes.
The first month we read Anthem by Ayn Rand. It was a short story (about 100 pages) and quite captivating. It put me in mind of the book 1984 and the Handmaid's Tale, but had a little less character development. Last year I read a HUGE book by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged which had over 1000 pages (the girls called it 'my dictionary'). The shorter story had some of the same themes (self reliance, non-communism, higher thought being above all) but both were very good. Atlas Shrugged was a little too preachy in some parts and even the page after page of preaching got repetitive between characters. I guess that's how you fill 1000 pages. Good messages and good to get someone thinking.
The second month we have been reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I could not get into it (probably because it was written in 1900 and set in England). Once I forced my way in and stopped paying attention too much to the descriptive and flourished words, I was able to focus a little more on the story. This book had a great idea and would translate well into modern times if it was streamlined and re-written. Of course, nobody can touch a "classic" but it would make a good idea for a movie if one hasn't been made from it already. It was about a quite good looking young man and his friendship with a philosopher and a painter. Once his painter friend had captured the "perfect portrait" of Dorian, he realized his youth and good looks would someday be gone and all he would have left was the portrait to remind him of how old and ugly he was getting. He made a wish that the portrait would get old instead of him. And it did. Very interesting. Once I found out what the story was about, I got into it a little more. It was hard to focus when I wasn't sure in the first 30 pages of fluff what direction the story was going.
Okay, I'm sure I've bored everyone by now, but those are just a few of the books I've been into lately. I, of course, continue to check out and enjoy LDS fiction by Anita Stansfield, Rachel Ann Nunes, and others. But those books are fluffy all on their own and don't require much thought when reading.
New Family Search
Our area has been added to the New Family Search for Family History/Geneology research. With just a few clicks and linking up a couple of ancestors from geneology we already had done, I was able to scroll back in my dad's family into the 1400s in Spain and found some people named Captain! Exciting!
Here's one of them:
Captain Tristan de Luna Arellano (1486 - 1573) born in Castilla, Spain; died in Mexico City, Mexico
Hmmm... Jeff tells me he suspects some of these ancestors came with Cortez to "convert" the natives in America since a lot of them were born in Spain and had children in Mexico, then died in Spain and seemed to be going back and forth between the two places. So interesting!
Here's one of them:
Captain Tristan de Luna Arellano (1486 - 1573) born in Castilla, Spain; died in Mexico City, Mexico
Hmmm... Jeff tells me he suspects some of these ancestors came with Cortez to "convert" the natives in America since a lot of them were born in Spain and had children in Mexico, then died in Spain and seemed to be going back and forth between the two places. So interesting!
Friday, September 25, 2009
I can almost wake you up.... September is ending
Last weekend we went to SLC to visit family and watch football - we had a great time and enjoyed escaping from this heat. We visited with family quite a bit and got to see two losses. Not a good football weekend overall.
Amber (our babydog) did not like being home alone and decided to tear up the carpet trying to get into our bedroom. Poor baby probably panicked. We will not be leaving her home alone again. We found out that it would have been cheaper to send her to a pet resort for two nights. Oh well... lesson learned. We've had our babydog for 6 months now and she's calmed down a lot, just apparantly not when she's home alone.
Today I found out that I have been admitted to go back to school and get my RN. After weeks of making sure transcripts were ordered and en route, I received an official acceptance letter. This comes 11 years after starting school to begin with. Hopefully I will get it done now that I have a goal and a direction. My first class in January will be Biology (along with at least one other class). Kara's 4th grade teacher she has now also teaches the Biology class I need to take in the evenings at the school I'll be going to. We could potentially have the same teacher at the same time. CRAZY! We'll see how registration goes, but I'm all for it. I love that teacher.
Amber (our babydog) did not like being home alone and decided to tear up the carpet trying to get into our bedroom. Poor baby probably panicked. We will not be leaving her home alone again. We found out that it would have been cheaper to send her to a pet resort for two nights. Oh well... lesson learned. We've had our babydog for 6 months now and she's calmed down a lot, just apparantly not when she's home alone.
Today I found out that I have been admitted to go back to school and get my RN. After weeks of making sure transcripts were ordered and en route, I received an official acceptance letter. This comes 11 years after starting school to begin with. Hopefully I will get it done now that I have a goal and a direction. My first class in January will be Biology (along with at least one other class). Kara's 4th grade teacher she has now also teaches the Biology class I need to take in the evenings at the school I'll be going to. We could potentially have the same teacher at the same time. CRAZY! We'll see how registration goes, but I'm all for it. I love that teacher.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Kara & Brooke
Kara likes to speak her mind. She doesn't care if the person she's talking about can hear her, if what she has to say is rude, or if she just plain doesn't like something - she lets you know about it. Doesn't matter if we're home, at church, at the store. I don't know where she gets it from.
Kara said last night to us at bedtime, "My teacher has come up with a way to help control my outbursts in class. She gave me a rectangle of paper to decorate and tape to my desk. When I want to speak out of turn in class I get to make a mark on that paper if I don't speak out. Then when I get ten marks on the paper I can have a talk with her one on one."
I said, "How many marks do you have so far?"
Kara said, "Nine."
I said, "How long have you had this paper so far?"
Kara, "Just got it today."
I was speechless. Oh, Kara. This poor teacher deserves an award.
------
Brooke still is best friends with the little boy named Bentley. He's a sweet kid and has even come over to our house to play. Brooke came home upset the other day that some kids in her class started teasing them singing "Brookie and Bentley sitting in a tree...".
She didn't finish the song, but her little face looked so sad that I knew she heard the rest of the song too. She said, "Mom, we're just not interested in each other like that. We're just best friends." So sad. So funny.
Apparently Bentley's older brothers have the same thoughts since they have asked Bentley about Brooke being his girlfriend. I hope this doesn't discourage them from being friends because he is a really good kid and Brooke has a lot of fun with him.
------
Kara has some funny fuzzy maroon stretchy pants she wears to bed sometimes. One night she came into our room for nighttime prayer and Brooke said, "Whoa! Kara! Those pants! Your butt looks cool! I can see your butt cheeks loud and clear!"
It took a few minutes before we were reverent enough for the prayer after that. When Kara has worn those pants since then she simply says "I know, my butt looks cool." At least it didn't give her a complex because we still love to bring that up and laugh.
Kara said last night to us at bedtime, "My teacher has come up with a way to help control my outbursts in class. She gave me a rectangle of paper to decorate and tape to my desk. When I want to speak out of turn in class I get to make a mark on that paper if I don't speak out. Then when I get ten marks on the paper I can have a talk with her one on one."
I said, "How many marks do you have so far?"
Kara said, "Nine."
I said, "How long have you had this paper so far?"
Kara, "Just got it today."
I was speechless. Oh, Kara. This poor teacher deserves an award.
------
Brooke still is best friends with the little boy named Bentley. He's a sweet kid and has even come over to our house to play. Brooke came home upset the other day that some kids in her class started teasing them singing "Brookie and Bentley sitting in a tree...".
She didn't finish the song, but her little face looked so sad that I knew she heard the rest of the song too. She said, "Mom, we're just not interested in each other like that. We're just best friends." So sad. So funny.
Apparently Bentley's older brothers have the same thoughts since they have asked Bentley about Brooke being his girlfriend. I hope this doesn't discourage them from being friends because he is a really good kid and Brooke has a lot of fun with him.
------
Kara has some funny fuzzy maroon stretchy pants she wears to bed sometimes. One night she came into our room for nighttime prayer and Brooke said, "Whoa! Kara! Those pants! Your butt looks cool! I can see your butt cheeks loud and clear!"
It took a few minutes before we were reverent enough for the prayer after that. When Kara has worn those pants since then she simply says "I know, my butt looks cool." At least it didn't give her a complex because we still love to bring that up and laugh.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
New PJs
The fabric store was having a Labor Day sale - that sale combined with a 40% off coupon gave us a great deal on fabric! I'm making some pj pants for some of my nephews' upcoming birthdays and the girls didn't want to be left out. Here are their new pjs!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Apple Picking!!!
Kara & I woke up early this morning (after a long night of thunderstorms) and went apple picking with a nice lady from church. Kara had a lot of fun climbing up in the tree to get some higher apples.... the apple picker had to get most of the fruit, but Kara enjoyed what she was able to do.
Kara in the tree:
Kara showing one of her apples she picked:
Some of the apples we got to take home...
Kara in the tree:
Kara showing one of her apples she picked:
Some of the apples we got to take home...
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