Happy 100th Blog

Just had to commemorate my 100th blog entry!

School photos

I don't know about you, but I get a really big kick out of school photos. Of course I look at my kids first, but then I like to peruse the faces of all the kids one at a time. I know most of these kids from working in the classroom with them which makes me smile all the more. I took all of the names off to protect the innocent, hopefully they wont be famous one day and have a photo they thought they had buried forever turn up to mock them.

For example, in Jordan's class photo, what is the boy in the upper corner thinking? You can't see it very well, but he looks terrified! And I love the kid in the orange t-shirt on the front row.

Or in Christian's photo, the boy in the middle in the red shirt makes me smile! The girl in the front row with the piggy tails brings back memories.

In Emma's picture, how can you not smile at the little girl in the middle with the scrunched up nose? Or, the one being held by teacher because he doesn't want his picture taken. I love that they took the time to insert a picture of the little one who was absent on picture day.

I am so proud that my children get to be on the front row of their pictures because they are the cutest! I know it has nothing to do with the short genes they have inherited from their parents. :)

I would put in class photos of Paul and me to make you smile (translated: rofl) but luckily uh hum, I mean unfortuately, they are all packed. Just be assured that we were always on the front row too because of the whole cutest kid thing.

A slow blink

Nine years ago we were given the best mixed blessing ever... that of parenthood. Christian was born April 19, 2000 in San Juan Puerto Rico. He was the cutest baby I had ever seen. (Wishing all the baby photos weren't packed right now.) We were told many times that he would make a great baby model.
We knew Christian was an amazing child from the beginning. He began talking quickly and hasn't stopped since. When he was 18 months we went for a walk and I was astounded to see him point to a stop sign and hear him say "Look Mommy, a octogon." Christian remembers everything he hears or sees (except those he chooses to forget like homework due dates and chores). It's a mixed blessing. He is full of amazing trivia, rarely has to study for anything, and remembers everything that sounds like a promise. We have to be very careful what we promise.
He loves anything to do with magic or science. He asked for a chemistry set in 1st grade and was very disappointed when I explained to him that we couldn't build a working laser to "cut things with" because I wouldn't know where to get a particle accelerator (if in fact that's what we would need). We built an electrical circuit instead.
I can't believe that he is nine years old. Someone once told me that when you are raising children, the days go slowly but the years fly by. It is very true. In a blink he has grown up so much.
He is in 3rd grade and is really amazing. In the accelerated class he is in, he has learned to play chess very well, participated in a school play, learned to play chimes with his group, and took 3rd place in a 3rd - 4th grade math tournament of the game Krypto. He has a reading comprehension level of 8th grade, has taught himself to add and subtract fractions, and positive and negative numbers, as well as figuring square roots. Overall, in the national testing, he scored in the 98th percentile. We are continually amazed and proud of his abilities. However, academia has many challenges left for Christian to master... remembering to bring home homework, turn in completed homework, and staying organized enough to keep track of said homework. :)
Christian is a very helpful kid who loves to do things to make others happy. He is so good with his little sisters and is always bringing home things from school that he thinks Jordan will like. He is creative, loving, kind, curious and infectiously happy. We love him and we are so glad he is a part of our family!
Well, I guess that is enough bragging for now. I really believe a child should be bragged about on (or around) their birthday.

Here are some pictures of his birthday party, he called it a "Mysteries of Magic" team party.





It was so breezy we had a hard time lighting the candles.










Solving the mystery!

What's new at our house...

Thought I would post some of the projects we have done in preparing our house to sell. I wish we had done these things 5 years ago! Our realtor is a trained house stager and I have been watching a couple of shows on HGTV for ideas. In other words, there have been more projects than time! You should be able to enlarge photos by clicking on them.

If you are interested or know anyone who might be, check out the professional photos and our official listing here!

I especially love my room. I feel like I have a Master bedroom and a Master bath instead of just a plain old bed and bath.

BTW, the moulding is velcroed onto the mirror! Yep, the self adhesive stuff! Cool huh?

We have lived here for almost 8 years and it takes moving to get us to actually furnish the living room. It just hasn't been a priority. This cushy loveseat will find a new home in our bedroom in the new house.

Above the computer desk in the dining room.

Basement:

Basement Bedroom

Basement Bathroom

You can read about some of these projects and others we have done here, here, here, and here.

And be sure to check out what's happening at other people's houses at WFMW and Remodeling Guy!

Photos from our staycation

Christian Playing Chess at the Treehouse Museum. He is really very good!



Jordan the musician! Playing insturments at Treehouse museum.



Our Pretty Princesses playing dress up. One of our princesses tends to be a little rough and tumble. Can you tell which one?



We went the the Festival of the American West up in Wellsville. It was a blast!!




We loved holding the ducks and bunnies! And being held by THE bunny himself!



Holding turtles....


and snakes... Oh my!
(I have tried 4 times to get this picture turned right. You'll just have to look at it sideways!)

The highlight of the day was the Mutton Busting!! We cheered, screamed, and laughed as both Christian and Jordan gave it a try.



Jordan Christian

We did a couple of other things that I don't have photos for. We went to Fat Catz in Ogden on the same day as the Treehouse museum. Unfortunately, Jenna had an enourmous diaper blowout in the restaurant we went to for lunch and my mind forgot we even had a camera. I was focused on the smell that didn't leave us for the rest of the day. Anyway, after lunch and clean up, we went upstairs and watched some people do the indoor skydiving. It looked like a blast but a little pricey for this trip. Paul had the chance to do it with a work group and said it was great! Then, Paul and the kids had fun in the arcade while Jenna and I went to the toddler play area.
On another day, we also drove down to Sandy in order to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D at the IMAX. The kids loved it! Paul and I thought it was great too.

Over all our staycation was a success! We were able to spend a lot of quality time as a family with lower stress on us and our wallet. We would recommend it to anyone with more limited time and resources.

Don't get me wrong, we will be pulling off a couple of big trips this year as well.

Jenna has been indoctrinated

Jenna has officially become a seafood lovin' Bruderer. As many of you know, Paul is violently allergic to any bone fish but not crustaceans or other seafood without a skeleton. We eat these kinds often and in large quantities. Our kids love crab, shrimp, calamari, lobster, scallops, etc. Jordan and Emma are a little pickier but Christian loves it all.

As part of our stay-cation, we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D out at Jordan Commons and so decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Joe's Crab Shack. We couldn't resist ordering some calamari because we like it so much. Jenna LOVED it! She loved it so much she would throw her head back and Mmmmm very loudly every time we would give her some. She also loves crab and shrimp too! Jordan said he liked it until we told him is was squid. He said he still liked it but... didn''t want any more. Emma didn't even want the plate that the calamari was sitting on! :)

How is your day progressing?

General Conference activities

I love General Conference. My kids even look forward to it, especially this year since we have the 8:30 church schedule. Over the last few years I have looked for creative ways to hold the kids' interest while we listen. We encourage them to listen as much as they can but 8 hours of speakers is a little much to ask of kids ages 8,6,4, and 18 months. Some activities we have enjoyed have been:

• a Greg Olsen print puzzle of Noah's Ark (It's a 500 piecer so it takes us a while)
• match the apostle game
• activities from our Sunday box
• "hear that word" bingo with candy
• various healthy snacks
• packets from various websites

Here are some of the resources that I have found on the web:
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3101&Itemid=429

http://www.theideadoor.com/General%20Conference%20Page.html

http://lds.about.com/od/puzzlesgamesquizzes/Puzzles_Games_Quizzes_Crafts_and_Other_Activities.htm

If you have any ideas or resources to share, we would love to read about them.

Our plans for Spring Break

This spring because of circumstances (we are trying to sell our house and get a new one built), we are taking a staycation. Paul is taking 3 days off and we are going to see and do lots of things around our area as if we were tourists. We will eat breakfast out, do picnic lunches in the park etc. We plan to spend most of the daytime hours out and doing. We will not let ourselves work until kids are sleeping peacefully in their own beds and then we can sleep in ours.

We want to have a plan to get us up and going in the mornings, just like we would do on an awaycation. Here are some of our ideas so far:
Treehouse Museum
Fat Catz
Sweet's Candy Factory Tour
Monsters vs. Aliens 3D
Kennecott Copper Mine
Discovery Gateway
Planetarium
Tracy Aviary and Liberty Park
Eating out (the only thing Emma wants is to eat at McDonalds)
decorate Easter eggs
play Easter games etc.


I think it wll be fun, and economical, both financially and timewise.
What unique vacations have you taken?

Help! Suction cup issues

This week, over at We are THAT Family, for the weekly WFMW, they are doing a reverse blog carnival. This week we get to ask questions!
We have a dilemma here. We found some really great suction cup hooks to hang in the shower to hang the kids puffs. Unfortunately, when we removed them toget ready to sell the house, they have left brown circles on our faux marble walls. They just don't match with the new shower door we bought for $200 and the new caulking job I stayed up until 2 am doing to really make the shower sparkle. I have tried bleach and a magic eraser neither one worked. Any other ideas?