Friday, March 28, 2008

Easter, Soccer and dance.


Well, Easter Sunday was a nice quiet day. Mostly because this mom was tired and sick. Aidan had a cold the week before and on Good Friday I found out he had another ear infection. That was after staying up all night with him on Thursday. He has been on antibiotics and is feeling better, but he shared his cold with me.
The kids did get a few goodies and we did have our annual easter egg hunt. It was fun, but COLD! I made a feast of roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and deviled eggs. It was so good! I wanted to make a ham but Aaron and Kaitlyn don't like ham so I went with chicken.
On Tuesday we had Aidan's first soccer practice! He had such a blast! He was totally all smiles through the whole practice. I have to say that he was pretty good too, especially for not ever playing before. He has his first game on Saturday, it should be fun.
We have also been practicing for our Hands of Praise spring performance that is coming up April 27 and 28. The show is going to be fun! We are even doing a flag piece that I choreographed! I think it turned out pretty well, but I really won't know until the performance.
One more thing that we have been doing is trying to figure out how to simplify our lives a bit next year. This year has been pretty hectic and we only sit down together for dinner 2-3xs per week. And since I grew up having family dinner every night I am not liking this so much. Part of the problem is that most everything we are participating in is about a half an hour's drive each way...and I am doing that for work as well. On Tuesday's that we have girl scouts, I drive to work and then I come home for an hour and then turn right back around and drive back up for Girl Scouts. I do this on Thursday's as well for Children's dance ministry (although the time between the turn around drive is more like 2 hours for that). I also do that on Sunday for Hands of praise practice! I am tired of being in the car all of the time. So, Aaron and I have been trying to figure out what to cut and what to get a little closer to the house. The only thing that we can transfer is Girl Scouts. Kaitlyn is Ok with this. She is thinking about trying out sports or cheerleading. We may do girl scouts as a Juliette (like homeschooling girl scout style) so she still gets the benefits of being a scout but we are not tied to it like we are now. I am sad to let it go because we have been with these girls for 3 years, and will miss them. We do know that this is the best thing for us.
I am so looking forward to summer break! I won't be working, we won't have girl scouts, AWANA's, dance. Our evenings will be free from everything...and it won't be snowing either! I can't wait...yes, it snowed AGAIN yesterday. Luckily it didn't stay and was gone by the end of the day!
Other than that we have just been shelling out money left and right....at least that is what it feels like. Everything around here keeps breaking and it is driving me crazy! We bought a Suburban a few weeks ago and could not get it registered because the "Service engine soon" light was on. There was no problem with the engine just the sensor for the light was broken. Thankfully, Brian, Aaron's brother was able to help us figure out how to fix it so we were able to save some money there. Since we have the Suburban to finally be able to tow our trailer we took it to see if we can get a new hot water heater for it, since the one we have is broken. Well, we pulled it out and found out that the tags we have on it are for 2005!!! We haven't received a registration in the mail for that many years and since we weren't using it we didn't think of the registration. We haven't gone to see how much that one is going to cost us! We finally got that fixed and Aaron was climbing up to the rafters to get the kids easter baskets, well the drywall that covers the hole in the ceiling fell and broke the passengers side mirror on our Saturn. We ordered a new one and that finally came. My fridge was leaking water all over the freezer and then it would defrost it and the entire interior of the fridge would be wet. Aaron was able to fix that one for no money....Thank you God for a handy man! And finally last but certainly not the least...Aidan was allowed to play out front by himself...he's 5 he knows the rules... we went over the rules before he went, he did just fine the day before, we live in a safe neighborhood. Well, he comes back inside a bit later, and I didn't think anything of it. About, 7 pm our little neighborhood girl came over to let us know that they had found Aidan's snow boot in their window well, and the window well was filled up with water! That kid had gone down there, opened up the grate covering their well, put his shoes down inside there, got the hose turned it on stuck it in the well and came home...without turning off the water! That little stink! Well, he has apologized and is not allowed out front without Aaron or myself being there. We have apologize and we also told her to let us know how much the damage was so that we could pay for it....$400 worth of damage is what she has come up with. Luckily it was caught early on, she was really gracious about it. But try explaining to a 5 year old exactly how much $400 is....he's not quite grasping it...until he asked to go out for lunch and I told him we couldn't go because we had to pay the neighbor...he was pretty upset, I'm hoping it sinks in. I know this will be a story we tell all the time when he is grown up, but right now I would like to stop giving away all of our money for broken, and stupid things... such is life though!
Make today a great one!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The ABC's of Shannon


A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Aaron
C- Cake or Pie: Pie.
D- Day of Choice: Saturday, I get to sleep in late and hang out with my family.
E- Essential Item (s): My car, Ipod, and computer.
F- Flavor of ice cream: I don't usually eat ice cream, but if I do it is 1/2 fat slow churned Vanilla bean with a little bit of raspberry wine on top.
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears
H- Hometown: Beaumont, CA
I- Indulgence(s): Sushi, bagels, nail polish and makeup.
J- January or July: July in UT, January in CA
K- Kids: Kaitlyn and Aidan. That is it, unless you count my furry babies...Cookie and Bootsie.
L - Last movie seen in theaters/DVD: In theater it was Game Plan? (The one with The Rock in it) on DVD was American Grafitti. I can't believe I had never seen it before.
M- Marriage Date: July 12, 1997
N- Number of Siblings: 2 both younger....Janay and Sean
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Being out of Control
Q- Quote(s): "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me" Phil. 4:13
R- Reason To Smile: I am having a girl day with Stacy on Saturday!
S- Season: Fall
T- Tag Four: Theresa Marie, Stacy, Jami, Aaron
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I'm pretty much an open book, I can't really think of anything that is Unknown.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I am an animal oppressor...especially of the fishy specimens...I can't go without my sushi. I could pretty much live without beef totally though.
W- Worst Habit: Not putting the clothes away after I have washed them! UGH!
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds.
Y- Your Favorite Food: Sushi...see letter V.
Z- Zociac: Taurus

I've been tagged.

The rules: Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I've been tagged by my friend Amy!



1. I had never been on an airplane until I was in my 20's.



2. I don't know what I want to be when I "grow up", but I am trying to figure that out since Aidan starts kindergarten next year.



3. I grocery shop for the month since Aaron and I only get paid once a month. It is a pain to write the menus, but in the long run I enjoy not going to the grocery store all the time except to pick up some veggies or fruit.



4. I want to travel! I have a secret desire to take a year off and travel the world...taking my kids and hubby with me of course. Cookie would miss us too much though!
Although, I may have the opportunity to travel to Japan within the next couple of years! I am so excited, and Kaitlyn is already trying to plan a way for all of us to go. I would be traveling with our church dance and signing team, Hands of praise. I am excited at the opportunity not just to travel, but to do something for the Lord at the same time! How awesome is that!


5. I live in my "dream house" but there are several things I want to do to it before it will feel like my "dream house".



6. I had a cat I named Peeve...seriously he was my pet Peeve. We called him P.V. for short. He was the coolest cat ever!



7. I used to be REALLY shy, but since having children God has given me the ability to be a little more outspoken. Especially when it is doing something for His Glory!

I am tagging Mom (you can do it via email), Aaron, Stacy, Jami, Linda, Janay and Sean.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Just have to brag on Kaitlyn a little bit....

Last night we had parent teacher conferences. Kaitlyn is doing a great job this year! I am so proud of her, but that isn't the part I want to brag on....
At the beginning of the school year they take the IOWA test (which is an achievement test I think) and Kaitlyn got an award of scoring in the top ten percent...NATIONALLY in science!! What an honor for her.
Aaron and I noticed some grades starting to slip a little bit last week and have been stressing the importance of doing her best in school. It doesn't take very much for her to do well, she is one of those who can study for 5 minutes and have it perfect. (Oh how I wish I was blessed with that gift!) So, we had started tightening up around here making sure she was doing her work. I am hoping that this will give her the kick in the pants that she needs to really strive to do her best again.
Updates on the rest of us. We are all finally on the mend after all being sick the last week. I think Aaron and Kaitlyn had it the worst with a bad cough.
Aidan is doing well at preschool. He loves his teachers and he is working at home to try to learn all of the ABC's before he has his kindergarten placement test (we are not going to talk about Kindergarten quite yet though since this mom isn't ready for it!) He is also ready for soccer to start! It's his first time playing and he is really excited! We start at the end of the month.
Aaron went to Omaha a few weeks ago for work. He thought it was cool getting to see the headquarter for UP, but it was even too cold for him which is saying a lot. He is still enjoying his job and that is something to be said. Aaron is very involved at our church with his deacon duties, teaching Sunday school and leading a small group.
I have been busy, as well, trying to keep up with the housework, teaching my preschool class and trying to make sure that the kids are doing well education wise. Other than that I'm pretty much a taxi service around here...I think I live in my car. I'm to the point where on my days off I dread having to run any errands because I just don't want to drive anywhere. I'm thinking next year I'm back to limiting the kids to ONE extra curricular activity and AWANA's.
Girl Scout Cookie's are in, so if you ordered some we will try to have them delivered ASAP, that is the goal for today to get them all sorted and start delivering them.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Better late than never...

We've all been sick around here so I didn't get to post this yesterday, so I'm posting today.



Happy Birthday Aaron!!!
I'm so thankful that God sent you to me. You are the best husband and friend that I could ever
have hoped for.
I'm sorry yesterday wasn't the greatest birthday ever, but we will celebrate as soon
as we are all feeling better. I love you!