Busy, Busy, Busy

We are trying to keep busy these summer days, and I think we've done a good job so far. We've been going to the park for lunch most days, have been to the pool twice, saw Rugrats at the movie theater, and have seen John Polinko's magic (Porter's going to try his trick of turning a chalk-drawn rabbit into a real rabbit), and Mr. Stinky Feet at the Library.


I have been working really hard to get my flower bed in shape. About 3/4 of what I planted last year came back (thank-goodness), so I've been working to fill in the gaps. When we got back from California, the yard had been overtaken with weeds, but after a Saturday of work, we were able to pull them all, mow the lawn and get the garden ready for planting (yes, we are getting a late start). Rhett insisted on making sure he had a place in the garden this year for his peppers, so after a trip to Walmart and two jalapeno plants and two green chili plants later, he's finally able to grow his beloved peppers.

The boys are becoming quite the ball players. Each night after dinner, once the sun is down over the wall, we go outside and enjoy the fresh, cool, evening air. They boys usually get into a game of baseball and are really good hitters. Rhett usually has to scale the wall at least a few times to fetch balls that have gone over. Andrew makes sure he gets his share of hitting; although he usually is hoarding the balls. When we ask him for one, he says, "No, no, mine!" We usually ask him just to hear him say that. :)

My latest project has been our computer/craft room. When I got done with preschool, I put everything I had for it in the room on the floor because a.) I didn't know where to put it all and b.) I just didn't want to spend the time finding a place to put it all away. When we got back from our trip, I decided that if I was going to get any scrapbooking done (my goal for the summer), I had better clean up my space. We got two filing cabinets from Rhett's work (one for him and one for me), and so I have spent the past week filing all my church, preschool, and craft stuff neatly away. I finally got the floor of the room cleaned up (which is a feat in and of itself, considering I only clean it up when we have company sleeping in there), but now the project is to clean off my table so I can actually get working. Hopefully it doesn't take me another week....maybe if I wasn't on the computer so much...

Tagged

I've been tagged to share 7 random or weird things about myself, but I'm going to change it up a bit. Instead, I'm going to share 7 (or so) things I can't live without (which should give you the same amount of insite into me). Here we go:

1. Lysol Sanatizing Wipes - These are God's gift to the cleaning woman. I buy the three-pack at Costso and keep a container in each of my bathrooms with glass cleaning wipes for quick wipedowns when I don't have time for the sponge and Ajax. I can clean up the counters, sink and toilet in no time (which is great considering I have a household of boys) and it looks like I slaved all day!!

2. My Swiffer Sweeper-Vac - Another wonderful invention. I HATED having to sweep my kitchen everyday and the sweeper-vac not only picks up pieces as big as whole cereal, but also gets all the dust and dirt and normally gets pushed around with a broom. My floor is clean in no time.

3. Shout Stain Remover - (yes, I know, this list seems to be all about household products, but anything that makes cleaning easier for me is wonderful!) I have yet so see a stain that this doesn't get out (as long as I remember to put it on the clothing...). It even gets the nasty ring-around-the-collar stains on Rhett's work shirts out. I swear by this stuff.

4. Chocolate - o.k., we all know by now that I'm a chocoholic. I will take it dark or milk, as long as it doesn't have any kind of nuts. Which is funny because I could eat chocolate covered peanuts all day. Go figure.

5. Grey's Anatomy - I love this show. My mom introduced it to me last summer and I can't get enough. I love Thursday nights because I get my Grey's fix. Except during the summer when I have to watch reruns - which is o.k. because I like the reruns as much as the new episodes. This show is so witty, funny, enjoyable, and sexy (yes, I did say sexy). Plus, I think Patrick Demsey is so hot. Have you seen that hair and his smile?? Seriously.

6. Chapstick - Forget lipstick, lipgloss, lip balm...chapstick does it for me. You will always find me with a tube of chapstick. There's nothing worse than dry, chapped lips. Enough said.

7. My van - I drive a '05 Dodge Grand Caravan with Stow-and-go seating and I love it. It fits everything - everytime we go on a trip I am amazed how much we can fit in the car. It drives so smooth and makes traveling a dream.

8. My boys (that includes my husband) - I love my boys and love being surrounded by four "men" who think I am the best woman on the face of the earth. They give me purpose, reason, motivation, and teach me some of the most important lessons I need to learn. Plus, they are so fun to be with. I can't imagine life without them.

So there ya go. I tag Jenny, Katie Williams, Tanya, Amanda, Jodi and whoever else wants to join. Do either list - the random things about you, or what you can't live without. Enjoy!

Summertime!

Oh, how I love summertime - well, let me clarify that. I love being able to sleep in. And because I get to sleep in during the summer when Porter's not in school, I love the summertime. Nothing beats waking up when I want to. :)

I am surviving having the boys home all day so far. We got back from a week in California for my sister's wedding on Sunday - which was a blast and a great time! We went to the Dodger's game, saw the new Indiana Jones movie, Rhett and I saw Wicked, swam in the pool, and played and played with the family and cousins. And then there was the wedding. Melissa looked beautiful in her wedding gown and Dave didn't look so bad himself. There was a ton of delicious wedding cake and I think I ate my weight of it - it was so good! We also celebrated Andrew's 2nd birthday! It was a busy, but wonderful week. I would post pictures, but since my camera is so dumb, I didn't take any with mine and forgot to copy everyone elses. I'll see what I can do.

I was on the internet on Monday looking for all the summer things to do here in Albuquerque. And there is a lot! They have a summer lunch program every day where they serve all the kids free lunch at various parks! There are free movies every Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the libraries have a summer reading program as well as hosting various magicians, puppeteers, singing timers each week. And that's not mentioning all the pools, museums, and splashparks all throughout the town. Needless to say, we'll be trying to keep busy. Yesterday, we ventured to Andrew's doctor's appointment (he's 23 pounds and 33 inches tall!!), the park for free lunch, the library for new books (I told they boys they had to read 30 minutes a day - not including the time we read before bed), and then to 7-11 for ice cream. It was then home for dinner, then the boys had so much energy that we went down and walked on the path by the river. It was one busy, but fun day!

I just hope that after all the fun days, I still have energy once the boys are in bed to do my own thing. My goal this summer is to finish Andrew's first year scrapbook and get catching up on Porter and Zach's. It makes me tired even thinking about it, but it's got to be done before I get so incredibly far behind that I have to resort to just putting the pictures in photo albums. I better get working...

What to do with myself...

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon. Rhett is asleep on the couch, and the boys are playing downstairs. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is on both TV's - I think we've seen them three times this weekend. Usually this is the time when I pull out my Preschool binder and get ready for the week... But there's no preschool tomorrow!! Last Wednesday was our last day, and as much as I enjoyed teaching my five kids and having fun with them, it marks the beginning of the few events that signal school is out and summer vacation is beginning. Many of you have asked where I get all my ideas; this are a few of my favorite website:

http://www.preschoolbystormie.com/ : This is the best and most organized website I've found. Stormie has all her ideas organized and laid out in a monthly curiculum by theme. I base a lot of my themes and monthly planning off her ideas. It makes planning really easy!

http://www.childfun.com/ : This site is organized by theme and has a bunch of great ideas as well.

http://www.everythingpreschool.com/ : This is one of my other favorite websites as well. They have their site broken down by themes as well, and has their ideas under each theme further broken down by music, science, etc. They have coloring pages and even have some already developed lesson plans.

http://www.preschoolrock.com/ : I haven't looked at this website very deep, but the few ideas I've seen on it are great.

Books:
Read, Sing, and Play Along: Children's Lullaby Songs. I orginally bought this book for the lullaby cd's, but it has a bunch of activity worksheets and has every story (Jack and the Beanstalk, The Little Red Hen, Etc.) and lots of fingerplays, as well as other theme extending ideas to go with each. I plan on using this a lot more next year.

The Toddler's Busy Book: This particular book is designed for 1 1/2 -3 year olds, but I found a few ideas in there for some fun reinforcement activities. There is also a Preschooler's Busy Book by the same author and others that she has put out. (I may have to extend my collection!)

And I have a whole slew of other books and things that I pull ideas from. I hope that helps. If you know of any other great websites, books or cd's, please share! Also, I'm looking for a good CD with all the favorite songs on it: Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance, etc., so if you know if one, please let me know! Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my mother friends and family!! Hope you had a great, relaxing day!!

Tagged

5 things on my to-do list:
1. Make 20 crayon rolls for Porter's Kindergarten teacher
2. Clean my bathroom (it's really time to stop putting this off)
3. Clean my craft area (just so I can make it messy again)
4. Call Just Brakes to get the brakes on our car fixed
5. Take all the junk that is cluttering my closet and the garage to Good Will

5 jobs that I have had:
1. Assembler and Office Manager at a Machine Shop
2. Personal Trainer at 24-hour Fitness
3. Office Manager for a software company
4. College Textbook sales rep
5. MOM!!

5 places I've lived:
1. Canoga Park/West Hills, CA
2. Logan, UT
3. West Valley City, UT
4. Sandy, UT
5. Albuquerque, NM

5 favorite snacks
1. Anything chocolate (as long as it's without nuts)
2. Cheese on Triscut crackers
3. Cut up apples or pears with a yummy peanut butter/yogurt dip
4. Dried berries
5. vanilla ice cream with lots of hot fudge


5 things I would do if I was a Billionaire:
1. Build our dream house on lots of land
2. Have horses and chickens, a huge garden and a fruit orchard
3. Buy Rhett a boat and a Dune Buggy
4. Throw out all the clothes in Rhett's and my closet (except for my favorite jeans) and get a new wardrobe for both of us
5. Eat King Crab legs, shrimp and salmon every week

5 things you may not know about me:
1. I really would like to go back to school again to get my Masters in Early Childhood Education
2. I would really like to go back and live in Salt Lake; alas, it's probably never going to happen
3. I would love to live back East, but it's too far away from family (I know it contridicts #2, but oh well!)
4. I would love to teach Preschool and have my own classroom
5. If I could afford it, I would have plastic surgery (That's all I'm going to say about that)

5 Things I love:
1. Rhett - He would much rather be home playing with us, but he gets up everyday to go to work to make sure we are provided for. He is the hardest worker I've ever seen, is very professional and takes his work very seriously. I also appreciate that he sees my role as a stay-at-home mom very seriously and does everything to make sure I can stay at home. Plus, he puts up with all my creative and insane projects.
2. Porter, Zach, and Andrew - They are the cutest, craziest, funnest, funniest, sweetest, looniest, best boys ever and I appreciate that they have taught me patience, laughter, tolerance, joy, despair, understanding, hope, and all the other qualities that I need to learn to be just like Heavenly Father. I can't imagine life without them.
3. Our great families - you couldn't ask for a better (and crazier) bunch of people. I pray everyday that my kids grow up with that same closeness.
4. My house - I love the layout and the space we have; I'm not particularly fond of where we live, but that will change soon
5. Chocolate


I tag Tanya, Debra, and Deon.

I hope I survive...

I hope I survive having the boys home all summer. I have been counting down the days 'til Porter is out of school and we get to start summer break - meaning, sleeping in, no schedules to keep and lots of free time to play. Sounds heavenly, huh?

Porter has had an ear infection lately along with a fever and a cough, then the stomach flu yesterday, so I kept him home from school today to let him recooperate. I cancelled preschool today and didn't have the boy I watch come over, so Zach was left with nothing to do all day... except bug his brothers, which he does quite well. Zach has a tendency to get bored quickly, and when he does, he creates lots of trouble; which results in some quality time in time-out. Between that and Porter's tattling, and Andrew's fit over what he wanted for lunch, I don't know if I'm looking forward to summer break so much anymore. I guess it just teaches me that I'm going to need A LOT of activities for the boys to do. So if anyone needs a play-date - you know who to call!