A reminder to myself....

So, I have been having some trouble with my Pentax K-10 D. All of my low light pictures have had ALOT of noise (for those of you who are not photographers that means you can see a lot of pixelation in them). I have been really upset because I loved all the pictures I have been getting until a few months ago when we went to my brothers wedding, and some of my shots, like the one up above didn't turn out so well. Well, I've been reading online what some of the problems are with my camera and started taking some test shots here in my office. Then I decided to take off what I *THOUGHT* was my UV ray filter that I usually leave on all the time. Only to find out that I had my polorize filter on! And for those of you who think I'm speaking greek a UV filter is clear, a polarize filter darkens things a bit so that when you are shooting at a place like the beach or lake it cuts down on the glare! So, yeah when we went on vacation in June I put the polarize filter on because we were at both the beach and lake and then forgot to take it off. So, YEAH! problem solved and this is a note to myself to remember to check the filters next time my camera is doing something I'm not so happy with, because chances are that it is the users fault and not the camera!

Things that are going on in UT.

Well, we are here and I'm finally updating! We have so much going on.

Kaitlyn had her sleepover with 7 other girls. They had a great time, ate a ton of junk, played games and stayed up until 5am. 5 is when I told them it was finally time to sleep because they came up to Kaitlyn's room and turned on the light, which is right across from our room.
Other news on Kaitlyn, she had a performance on Saturday night with Up with people. Up with People is a neat group of young adults from all over the world. They come to different cities and do volunteer work and then have a performance before they leave. They asked the theater group Up with Kids to come perform a song with them. Since Kaitlyn is in Up with kids she went and had a great time! She is loving being in theater and is quite good at it. She is also involved in our dance/flag team at church and is doing fantastic at AWANAS! She is doing very well in school this year too. We are really proud of how she is growing up. She has picked some fantastic, sweet girls to be her friends and really cares about the new kids that come into her life.

Aidan is doing well in Kindergarten. He loves it! I tried so hard last year to get him interested in learning and it seems like just having him in a school environment has made all the difference this year! He is also involved in our dance ministry at church, one of 2 boys, I was surprised he wanted to do it again but he is our little ham and loves anything that involves singing, dancing and acting. He wants to be in Up with Kids but we decided to wait a year so as not to overwhelm him while he is adjusting to being in school everyday. He will play soccer again next spring which he is really looking forward to. He is a spark in AWANA's and has a fantastic memory! He is getting so big and is losing all of his babiness! I had a little moment in church a couple of weeks ago and everytime I think on it I tear up. Aidan was all snuggled up against me and the pastor was praying and thanked God for sending His Son to die for us. With Aidan leaning up against me I had the thought, "God sent HIS SON, like my little Aidan. Would I be able to send my little guy if I knew he could bridge a gap between God and man?" It has totally changed my way of thinking lately. It is such a beautiful thing God has done for me!

Aaron is busy with work and church ministries. He has taught a class every week for 31/2
months, they usually have a break between classes to get caught up on scheduling and developing other training projects. He has been building a new class from the ground up as well. Which means a lot of late nights for him. He will be traveling to Houston next month for a few weeks and then in December he has 2 weeks of vacation that we are looking forward to! Aaron also has been busy working with our Deacon team at church getting projects done and various other tasks as well as teaching our Sunday school class. I am so proud of him, he never has a complaint about all he is doing and does everything with a loving heart.

Well, I guess that just leaves me. I have been working on various volunteer projects. I am very involved in our Children's dance ministry teaching flags. So far I only have 3 girls, but for the start I think that is a good amount. They are doing fantastic in learning the routine! I am also still on the Hands of Praise team and seem to have taken on a bit more responsibility with that as I have been asked to help choreograph a piece! It is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. I am also on the Deacon team at our church (as a Deacon's wife) and that has led to quite a bit more responsibility, I have pretty much become Aaron's secretary and send out any and all information that the rest of the team needs...this is a much bigger job that I had anticipated, but I really enjoy doing it. We are working closely with our pastor on growing the service ministries at the church. I am also busy trying to get kinks worked out of the Evanjafrica sponsorship program that we started in the summer (Mom and Linda I am so sorry I still haven't sent those things to you!). Other than those things I am busy with the kids taking them to their various activites and keeping household things done as well. I have found a few moments to scrapbook here and their and have started my Africa album. I'm hoping to keep motivated and get it finished as it is a huge project! So, if you are wondering where my posts have been lately it is just that I have had very little time to do so. My life is so full right now! God has really been blessing us here in UT. I will try to update more, but sometimes I think it is just always the same old thing and people will be tired of reading about our various activities.

First day of school, a new kitty and dance.

Things have been good in the Wampler household! The kids started school and are both having a great time. They have already both been on their first field trips. Kaitlyn went to see the Utah Symphony play at a high school and Aidan's class did a walking trip to the park.
I got to go to the park with Aidan, but he thought it would be more fun without me...HA!

We are planning on having a G.N.I. (Girls Night In) the first weekend of October so that I can get to know the girls Kaitlyn has been hanging out with at school. She has gathered a nice group of girls that she has played with the last couple of years and while I've met them and most of their parents I would like to get to know them better. So, We are having a sleepover. Kaitlyn is really excited.

One other bit of news. Kaitlyn went to a birthday party last weekend, and after I dropped her off she called me to say that they had some kittens and if we said it was OK then she could get her name into a drawing. After speaking with Aaron (who I was kind of hoping would say no...HA!) we decided to go ahead and let her put her name in. Well, she got a kitty. His name is Dusty and he is VERY playful. He has been hissing at Cookie quite a bit this week, but I think he is finally getting used to her. Although, now Cookie is afraid of him! :0)


We have also started up again with children's dance ministry at our church and I was asked to choreograph a flag piece and teach some of the older girls. I have 3 signed up (one of them Kaitlyn) but the piece is going to be so pretty! They are working hard and are learning things very quickly! It is so awesome to be able to teach them something that I love, and to be able to praise God at the same time...Who knew he would ever use that skill for his purpose! The girls are trying to convince me to do the piece with them, we will see. I think it looks great with just the 3.

Kaitlyn has also joined a local theater group. They are going to do the place Enchanted, but with some Alvin and the Chipmunks mixed in. So far the teacher has been great and I think Kaitlyn is really enjoying it! She has only been to one practice so far, but she said she had a lot of fun. The performance will be sometime in May.

The kids have also started back to AWANAS. Aidan is loving being a Sparky! They changed the program a bit and I think it is even more fun for them. I love that they are learning verses every week and are learning to spend time with the Lord every day. Aidan is incredible with his memorization! He learned John 3:16 after I read it to him once, and now he is excited that he has his own book and can keep learning! Kaitlyn's is a bit harder in TNT, but she is doing great and is working hard to keep learning her verses and doing her book work. We have decided to make our verse memorization part of homework time and it is working out great.

So, once again we are crazy busy. Aaron says that I always start my posts like that, so I figured I would put it at the end instead. :0) I hope everyone is having a great fall! The colors are starting to come out here and it is just beautiful!

Vote For Me.

A special Thanks to my friend Celsete for sending this to me! HE HE.

For the record....

I have sat down a couple of times to update on my brother's wedding and such, but I have been getting distracted and not really being able to concentrate on what to write.
I do plan on updating soon, my baby starts kindergarten next week so I'll have lots of free time.

The Evanjafrica kickoff went really well and I have a lot to do with that.

Also, I'm not sure which "Mary" posted on my blog, as I know a few, about missing family (which I do miss them all the time and wish that we could live closer) but no we have no plans to move back to California at this time. Aaron's job is here in Utah and unless they build a training center in California, Utah is where we will be. And right now even if we wanted to move back we couldn't sell our house. The housing market is so terrible right now. So, there are no plans to move even in the distant future.

Hermans Hermits, Evanjafrica and a wedding...

We have been so busy! On Friday we went to an outdoor concert to see an old favorite of my mom's...Herman's Hermits. It was a blast! Peter Noone was very funny and all of the songs were great. Now you might be wondering why the heck would Aaron and I go see one of my MOM's favorites. Well, I grew up listening to them and I still love those goofy songs.




...I Henry the VII I am Henry the VIII I am I am.... I'm sure you know the rest of the song so I won't keep going, but we did have a great time!


I also have been keeping busy with another project. The man who runs the orphanage we visited in Africa, Carlos, and his new wife are coming for a visit in August. It should be fun, but we are also trying to start a new "adopt a child" program. It is very time consuming starting a non profit, but I think God has meant for me to be very involved in this. I really have a heart for the kids we visited and much of my ministries at church have fallen away, and I was pretty hurt/sad/angry about it but now I know why God was putting those all on hold... I was meant to be a part of this project. The timing is also perfect because Aidan is starting Kindergarden, so I will have afternoon's free to work on whatever needs to be done... since it won't stop after all the kids are "adopted". So, if you are in UT and would like to hear more about Evajafrica and what we are doing please contact me and I can fill you in. I am so excited to fill you in more and would love for you to come meet Victor and Christina and let them share stories about the kids in their orphange.






One last thing...my little brother is getting married on Sunday! I can't believe it and am so happy to go visit my family.... I still can't believe my little brother is old enough to get married!

Happy Anniversary!

(A few days late!)

Aaron and I "celebrated" our 11 year anniversary this last Saturday. I put celebrated in quotes because we did no such thing. Aaron worked hard all week at "World Changers" and was pretty tired, scabbed up and sore. So, we put off the celebrating for another day, but I want him to know that I am more in love with him today than when we got married 11 years ago!

Happy Anniversary to my best friend! I love you!

Grandpa and Camping on a budget.

Well, the first thing I need to update on is my Grandpa. He is doing better and has been sent home. He has a home health nurse coming to visit him and I believe he is still doing physical therapy, but he is doing better. So, that is a huge praise! Thank you all who have been praying for him.
Other than that things have been quite on my little blog world because we were gone for 10 days. We went on our first vacation in 2 years! It had it's ups and downs but we had a good time.
we got about 2 hours away when the truck started acting "funny". It was going slower and slower and then started making some weird banging noises. Aaron and I were thinking that it was the transmission because we just had a bunch of work done on it. Then Aaron discovered that it was the fuel pump. We coaxed the truck and trailor to the nearest off ramp (where there wasn't even a gas station!) and called AAA...thankfully I had bought the membership the day before. We were then towed to a littleWe left on Friday, June 6, with the reservations and plans to camp in Tahoe for the night. Well, town in Nevada called Well's. You may have heard of it if you are in UT because there was and earthquake that destroyed much of the old town not too long ago. At the mechanic's shop we were then told that we would be there until Monday...with our only means of transportation our bicycles. Luckily, Aaron had brought his work laptop for the kids to watch movies on, so there was that to do. There was also a park with a tether ball that Kaitlyn enjoyed. So, we had to get creative on what to do. We quoted movie lines, colored in the kids coloring books, went to the park until it was too cold and windy, watched movies, and joked. While not the best of circumstances we made it ok.
We also had to decide what to do with our trip. The money for the repairs ate up about 3/4's of our budget that we had planned for vacation. We had thought about canceling all together and then trying again in August, but with the rising price of gas we figured that we wouldn't do it if we tried to wait. So, we rearranged our trip schedule. Cut out going to the redwoods and took extra days in Frisco and Tahoe. We didn't do some of the things that we had planned, but the kids had a good time none the less.
So, on Monday after the truck was put back together we set out for a long day of driving into San Francisco. We stayed at San Francisco RV Resort (which is parking lot camping, but that is all you find there anyways). It was nice in the fact that we were right near the water and could hear the waves rolling as we went to sleep.
Tuesday we went to Golden Gate Park and saw the Japanese tea garden. This was the one thing that Kaitlyn asked to see so it was good that we were able to have an extra day in Frisco because we would not have had time to see it otherwise. The garden was really peaceful, we got up early in the morning and headed straight there, so there weren't many people there while we were going through it. I think Aaron and I enjoyed it almost more than the kids.
We then drove over to the golden gate bridge and had lunch. After lunch we tested Aidan's fear of heights and walked out on the bridge. Aidan didn't like it so much and pretty much clung to Aaron. I did manage to coax him out to look down into the water, but he made sure I was holding tight to him. Kaitlyn really enjoyed it though and would have liked to go farther, but we thought it was best not to take Aidan any farther than the first tower.
After the bridge we went to the beach and the kids had a blast! Aidan really got into playing in the waves, which he would never do before. They dug in the sand, got wet and dirty and just had a great time.
On Wednesday we spent the day at Pier 39 and Alcatraz. This was what Aidan was looking forward to. I thought he would be really scared by the audio tour, but he really enjoyed leading us through the jail. If you ask him he would tell you this was his favorite part of the entire trip. Kaitlyn enjoyed learning some of the history. And got her Jr. Ranger guide and read it all on the trip home (we forgot to get one before we started the tour and by the time we though to it it was time to go, so she just got the booklet to do on her own). We then walked down to fisherman'swharf and Ghiradelli's square. We had some yummy ice cream at Ghiradelli's and that is when we figured out that Aidan gets really crazy when he has had a lot of sugar. I guess I really try to regulate how much sugar they have and have never seen that side of him. We then took a drive to show the kids Lombard st. and there was a tower that we drove up to see ( I don't remember the name of it right now). It was a very fun and full day. Poor Kaitlyn though had a severe allergy attack that day. Her poor eyes were so puffed up and itchy, and that was even after having a Claratin that morning!
On Thursday we loaded up and headed to Tahoe. We were finally getting some real camping in! It was really beautiful there. We were very close to the lake so that we were able to walk over and hang out on the beach. The kids had a great time playing that evening.
On Friday we drove up to Emerald bay look out point. Aidan is grumpy in those pictures because he had just gotten in trouble. We then took a drive around to the lake to stop at a grocery store and a bit of souviner shopping for Kaitlyn. After that we went to Taylor Creek visitor's center and did some hikes. The kids got to do a smoky bear trail and earned some fun smoky bear things for answering the questions. We also got to see the Stream profile chamber where they put plexi glass walls so the kids could see the fish swimming in the stream.
On Saturday, we pretty much hung out at the lake all day. And like our beach day in Frisco I think the kids liked this best. They dug in the sand and got wet (the water was COLD though!) and just enjoyed doing a bunch of nothing.
Sunday was a day spent driving home....a long drive home. And while our trip didn't start off the best we ended up having a good time and sticking to a very tight budget. There were things that we wanted to take the kids to do, like rent a boat in Tahoe for example, but I think what we ended up doing was perfect. It was a nice blend of sightseeing and just hanging out. And while we would have loved for the kids to see the Redwoods we know they will be there another time for another trip.

(I have more pictures from our Tahoe portion of the trip, but blogger isn't letting me post them at this time. I'll post them when blogger is being nice to me.)

Updates.

Well, I know I have been terrible about keeping up with this blog. Things have been busy and my office was torn apart due to a remodel. The remodel turned out good and the computer was put back up, and then we had company. Then we had the hands of praise performance and then we had my birthday....you get the picture...there was just stuff that got in the way of blogging.
I am posting now, though because last Thursday I got an email that my grandfather had had a heart attack and wasn't doing very well. So, I called Aaron...he told me to go see him. I called a friend who works for an airline and she took care of Aidan and got me a buddy pass flight, and I left early Friday morning.
When I got there my grandfather was in ICU and not doing very well. He was bleeding somewhere and they couldn't figure out where. So, he was having transfusions and tests and all kinds of other stuff. The Dr's think he was bleeding in his belly, but that it has been healed, but his hemo-gloobies (as grandpa was calling his hemoglobins) were still low. I'm not sure if they have started to come back up yet or not. But when I came home on Monday he was still very tired. Yesterday, my mom called and said that the Dr's have said he has now developed pneumonia and that essentially some of his non essential organs had started to shut down...so the Dr's are trying to stop that.
My grandfather has not accepted Christ as his personal saviour, but we can see Christ working in him...and I think that is one of my biggest concerns right now.
Anyways, we could use some prayers around here...for him and his salvation, my grandmother and my family that God would put the right words into our mouths.

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!

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.

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.

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!

Valentines...

So, apparently I am supposed to watch the news anytime it snows around here. Mind you we have had much worse storms earlier this year and things went the same as they normally do, but yesterday I was so frazzled about getting Kaitlyn to school on time. Finally got my car (Saturn) to start and drove her to school thinking that we were super late, well she came home and told me that school wasn't starting until 10:30! All that frazzledness for nothing. I did not go to work though because I was afraid that I would get there and the car wouldn't start for me to get home. Aaron came home at lunch and traded cars with me and it started just fine for him. We thought it was the battery, but he took it to be tested and the battery is just fine. So, now I am driving an unreliable car...hopefully we can get it to the dealership and they will know what is wrong with it before I get stranded somewhere!
We had a nice quiet Valentines dinner where I made sushi. I gave Aaron a saki set and some see's candy. He is quite happy with that. The kids each got some money. Aidan is saving up for a remote control dinosaur and Kaitlyn is saving for the newest American girl doll..Mia. Aidan has reached his goal and Kaitlyn has about $30 more dollars to go. She is pretty excited, I'm going to have to find some extra chores around the house to help her earn it.
Well, I guess this is kind of a dull post. I'm not feeling all that well today, so I'll sign off for now. Have a great long weekend everyone!

Happy Valentines day!

So, what I should be doing is driving Kaitlyn to school because the bus is running 2 hours late...instead I'm posting on my blog because my car won't start. We got a ton of snow yesterday and a coworker called me to let me know that we would be starting about 2 hours late. HMMM...why don't they just cancel school today? I'm a little frazzled, but it will be nice to have a day off. Only I was supposed to go get some stuff for dinner tonight. Maybe I can convince Aaron to come home from work for lunch and then we can take the other car to get some stuff done.
On a happier note I got a beautiful necklace from Aaron! It is an aquamarine with barely any color to it, so it almost looks like a diamond. I love it.
So all you readers out there, I hope you have a happy Valentines day! And much less frazzled one than I am having!

Happy 5th Birthday Aidan!

I can't believe that you are 5 today! You are growing up way to fast. Slow down a bit won't ya? I love you! I hope you have a wonderful day!

What happens when daddy takes you to get your haircut.

You get a faux hawk and think you are a rock star...


Rock on Aidan!

Did we just go through 2 months?

Gosh, I'm not sure where the time has gone, but it seems like I've barely had time to breath these last 2 months. Although, it has been fun and crazy. Here are some pictures from Nov and Dec 2007. Here's to a happy and healthy 2008!