Trinabugs Life

Real Love Stories Never Have Endings

2011-02-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

These are my True Loves!
Here is my Banana all dolled up in her Valentines best for her "Tea" at school.

Here is a close up of her hair. I learned how to do these hearts from cutegirlshairstyles.com.
I practiced our Valentines hair on Sunday so we would be fast Monday morning but Bananas changed her mind. We went from 2 hearts to 1 heart so you would think it was easier. Not true. But I think it turned our cute!
Here is my Bear. She is so stinking cute with that candy covered face. We ran out of time to get her picture before school due to the extra time I had to spend on Bananas.....SO Bear got her picture done after snacking on Valentine treats. Speaking of treats remember how when we were little it was awesome to get a few conversation hearts in the envelope with your Valentine. Or getting one of those red suckers was a BIG deal. Now candy is the norm and people go WAY above that. CRAZY!
Miss Bear got 2 little hearts and curls. This look is so her. I was really happy with how it turned out. I am glad she left it in all day at school so I could still get a pic when we got home. I love my Ladybugs. I also love their Daddy. I love taking pictures of him with them. YOu know what the best part is? He is reading them a chapter book about Tinkerbell and fairies in Neverland. Isn't it great when daddies put aside their manly ways and connect with their ladies

I love them every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every month of every year of every decade of every century of every millenia......... this could go on Forever and I hope it will.

ps. I got the top freebie print form ficklepickle then I put it in photoshop and layered a black and white picture over it.

Never Judge Yourself by What Other People Think of You

2011-02-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

Why is it that we are always so worried about what other people think of us. Is it because you know what you think about other people, and assume they are thinking the same kind of things about you?

When you're a teenager you are constantly worried about your image. It seems like back then those things were a lot more important to me. After I got married we were so poor. Cam only went to school and I worked at a Daycare....anyone who has worked in child care knows that is not a very big paycheck. I know I lost all sense of what was fashionable- I wore clothes that I already had. We couldn't afford anything new. Then I got pregnant. I bought 1 pair of maternity pants, 1 skirt and 2 maternity shirts. I wore them when I went out. The rest of the time I wore my scrubs and Cams t-shirts. I was staying home tending my niece at the time so this was okay. After giving birth my body changed so dramatically that I had to get all new clothes. We only bought a few things-again money was an issue. By the time I gave birth to Bear I had gone up another 2 sizes and none of my clothes fit right and I hated my body so badly that I just gave up. I wore whatever I could find and whatever was cheap. About a year and a half later I woke up and asked why I was doing this to myself. It was like I was punishing myself for keeping on the baby weight. I didn't feel cute. I didn't feel sexy. I felt blah. I couldn't stand to look in the mirror. All I could see was the negative about myself. I felt bad about my appearance and it showed. None of my clothes fit my body right. I had stopped making myself a priority and as a result my self esteem took a nosedive. We do that so much as moms. We spend oodles of time worrying about how our kids look and forget that we should take time for our own appearance too. We still didn't have much of a clothes budget but I changed my attitude. Instead of going for the cheap and fast I spent more time looking choosing better colors better fit ect. As I started to do this I felt a lot better about myself. Do I still hate my body-yes. But I have a better self image because I take more care in how I look. My main wardrobe is jeans and workT's but that will always be me....

So how does that relate. Well I don't think I worry as much about what other people think when I am taking the time to feel good about myself. If you find that inner harmony, what other people think matters less. Kinda like Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter books. To others she was an oddball but she was comfortable in her own skin. We need to all work to be comfortable with ourselves. Truth be told I am my own harshest critic. If someone else is thinking something about me chances are I have thought it about myself only 10x worse. I have found that when I find joy in the good things about myself, and try to always move forward and fix the things that I don't like, that I feel better about me and worry less about what others think.

I think this is long enough even though I have other thoughts about other aspects of this.
So speaking of judging people.... Please don't judge me on my poor grammar....it never was my strong point...I should fix that ;)
Trina

Advice from the young me.

2011-02-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

I was looking in my High School Journal the other day. I have one journal that covers from 10th grade to when I got married. (Now you see why I am such a bad blogger...I couldn't even keep up a journal). I wasn't cool. I was never popular. I feel like I didn't have a very rough time as a teenager. Anything rough I went through was usually brought on by my own stupidity or lack of action. I made it through High School without any major screw ups. Just an average kid doing average things. That is me. I loved to spout off advice to others. Many a friend and room mate came to me with hard questions. I probably did a poor job of helping them....but I did find a list of advice I gave to myself on October 1oth 1999 making me 17 years old. I thought I would share it.
I called them my "Closing Remarks"

1-Never judge yourself by what other people think of you.
2-Always take time to relax.
3-Turn up songs you love and sing to them.
4-You're never too old for Disney Movies and Fairy Tales.
5-Dance in your bedroom whenever you get the chance.
6-You can't judge a book by its cover but, be prepared for people to judge you by your cover
7-Own at least 1 pink item.
8-Work to be comfortable with who you are but never stop learning and growing.
9-You always have someone to turn to. Someone always understands because someone has always been there before....not to mention Jesus who suffered everything so he TOTALLY understands.
10-God loves you no matter what you do.
The End

So I think that is pretty smart stuff for a 17 year old. I decided I am going to take this on as a blogging project. I don't promise much.... but I am feeling a little reflective lately. I thought this may be a good outlet. Over the next couple of weeks I thought I might take some time to explore this advice to myself and whether it does or does not apply to me today.
Much Love
Trina

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-13T20:18:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot new to report in our neck of the woods. This winter has felt a lot like spring. Our girls really enjoyed riding their bikes yesterday. We were outside without our coats riding bikes in February....crazy stuff. But eventually winter will return.

Cam had his Birthday this week 29 years old. We are now approaching 30- can you believe it??
I certainly still feel like a 14 year old.

Lately I have been doing a lot of crafts for Valentines day. I have been so inspired by craft blogs with all their cute Valentineiness that I actually made stuff. Now I just have to start looking for St. Patrick's Day stuff to make.

I feel so boring.....but I think a lot of what you do as a mom is routine every day stuff. It is finding excitement and joy in the little things that really matters.

In closing I would like to express my love for you. If you read this blog chances are you have liked me a little at one point in my life....I want to say I LOVE YOU and wish you all the best!!
Trina

Christmas and Birthday( or lots more pictures of my kids...)

2011-01-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

So I finally got my Christmas decorations put away a week ago and I thought I would finally do a post about some of our December activities. Enjoy!

These are not my kids but my kids did make them or decorate them I should say. We bought these ones pre-made from the store for a fun activity at Grandmas.
For Christmas we did a 25 day countdown. Each day of our advent had not only candy but also an activity for us to do. Here we are the first night playing Christmas Bingo.
This was Bananas EARLY birthday party. We had it at the start of December so we could make Christmas cookies!! First friend b-day party I ever let her have and we only invited 2 people but it was still crazy-but it was fun.
Yes this is my beautiful disaster. She tends to use the frosting and sprinkles like lotion...
Here is my detail oriented lady. She is precise and thoughtful in almost everything she does.
Aww My girl at her first ever school singing concert. She was the "star of the show" (I didn't say it her teacher did) But I did agree!
Candy Houses are always fun- and tasty!
Bear punched a hole in the roof and filled the whole thing with candy like a bank.
Oh here we go cooking again- this time gingerbread cookies for Santa- Daddy was our official taster.
Look no frosting lotion!! Success- oh wait I did the frosting they did the candy on these ones...
Trying to get a nice picture of our Christmas Eve Jammies....hmmm
Bananas sings for the Family
Bear cutes it up on the floor. Love this one of her!
After Christmas we spend a few days in St George. We went on a nice hike to Johnson's Arch. It was perfect for young kids- and our of shape people like me....not to strenuous but beautiful.
She was fearless running ahead and climbing high.
She preferred to keep her feet on the ground and play in the dirt.
Here we are in front of the arch. I just love the red rocks and the green brush. We also went past the arch and down on into a little alcove and played echo.
I love my girlies -
The snow storm that drove us home early from St. George was well worth it for the ladies.
Here she is my beautiful 6 year old girl. I can't believe how big she is getting.
Love the big puffy cheeks- and the cute headband Aunt Amanda made!
This one is for Grandpa!

IT HAS BEEN HOW LONG.....or what we have been doing since July.

2010-11-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

Look at my cute Family!!

You know I am not a very good mommy blogger. I have to say I am the same way about writing in a journal. Really consistent for a while then....not so consistent. If you asked me as a teen what my biggest weakness is I would have said procrastination. Now if you asked me I think I would answer consistency. So here is a quick catch up of some of the stuff we have been up to for the last 4 months.

This little Bear had her 3rd birthday. I can not believe it. She is growing up so fast.

These are the cupcakes she requested. Chocolate with pink frosting.
We did get a little time in with nature. This was a beautiful hike around a lake. I can not remember where it was, and my hubby is unavailable to ask. I think it was by Snowbird. It was short and easy and pretty. It was also a rainy day. Thankfully the downpour let up and we got to go on the hike.

Here we all are. The intrepid explorers. Baby Bear is looking at the dead fish we found in the water. It was pretty much the highlight of the day for her. Funny girl!

Me and the Hubby. I am trying to get more pictures of us together. There are a lot of pictures of the girls, lots of him, a few of me but not many of us as a couple. I have taken it upon myself to fix that.

My Little Banana started Kindergarten which she loves. This is a pic of her first day finery.

Speaking of my Banana....this picture is SO her.

Here we are feeding ducks at First Dam. This baby with my hubby is my cute 1 year old niece. Though, because she belongs to the twin brother I think she looks like my girls. I just might have to keep her.....

Here we are at the Aggies football game. They even WON the game we went to!!

Awww hugging Big Blue

We also got to spend a weekend at Bear Lake. It was the perfect early fall day. It was warm enough to play in the water but cool enough that we did not bake.

I love my girls!!

Here my Bear shows off her budding fashion sense. She chose the whole look all by herself.
She was very proud of it as you can tell by the look on her face!

On to Halloween.......

Meet Witchy and Wicked our pumpkins. Yes my girls name their pumpkins and no it was not my idea. They come up with these things all on their own.

Here is my Spider Princess- Her costume gave me so much trouble.... I have got to learn to sew a strait line one of these days....... But I really like how it turned out. Trial and Error was my motto on this one but I think we got it right!

My little pumpkin. I love how her costume turned out!!

Had to add the one with my other cute niece (that I need to keep). She smiles and looks at the camera almost without fail....*sigh* one day perhaps my girls will learn that. Kidding!! I love the crazy looks I get on my girlies faces.

We tried out a recipe from the cookie cook book I got for my birthday. Treasure Chest Brownies. We had a lot of fun but I have got to find my cake decorating set (that is somewhere in the garage)....maybe I should just buy a new one or ask for one for Christmas.... Trying to do the decorative work with a baggie that was double pleated did not work so well. Next time I will make sure I buy the non pleated.....They sure were yummy. How can you go wrong with brownies, fudge covered graham crackers, m&m's, and chocolate frosting.

Last of all Bear FINALLY got to start a gymnastics class. She is so excited to get to go in the big room like sissy!

So that is a brief history of the last 4 month. Have a great rest of the Month. Let's see how long it takes until I update again..........

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation"

2010-07-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago to Heber here in Utah. While I packed the girls made this delicious cake. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. Anyways here are a few shots of how we spent our summer vacation.

Here is a shot of the girls and their cute cousin. We are at a church in Midway waiting for fireworks.
This is a trick that my girls have done since they could stand. Cam loves to let them stand on his hands and they love it too.

Cam and another cute niece. I caught then both playing with their phones.... I call this Cams smoldering look:)
I was a great fireworks show- especially when you consider how small the town was.
We took time while there to take family pictures. I did get a shot of them BOTH smiling and looking at the camera- you can tell their sisters cuz they both have the same fakeish smile...someday we will get a good posed picture!
Here we all are and looking at the camera too!! Here is a question. How do you convince your husband that when you are trying to take family pictures that he should take the hat off??? I haven't figured it out yet.
We also spent a day at Deer Creek playing and trying to use the canoe...but this was the only ride that happened because the water got really choppy so .....
The girls made use of it on the beach. They took a trip to Squid Island and were attacked by giant squids and found treasure. So I think it was worth hauling the canoe - it got a lot of good use!
They also delighted in attacking their only boy cousin. Thank goodness he was such a good sport! Don't worry I got in the water too. I wasn't a party pooper but it is my blog so I can choose to omit photos of me in a swimsuit.
We were in Heber so we had to go to the Dairy Keen. THIS is what it is like when we go to fast food places with our kids. I had an awesome turkey sandwich and you have to love their shakes and fries.
Plus the big train outside is lots of fun.
After Heber we spent a few days in WJ and went on some local outings. We finally made it to the Living Planet Aquarium. We had a lot of fun their. Here are a few highlights.

This is the penguin tank. We got to watch them get fed then jump into the water and swim.
I especially love the coral reef tank. It is so fascinating.
The girls love the jelly fish!
It was worth the trip for sure. Here I am with my girls on a giant frog.

We fit in a couple of other fun things as well. I saw Eclipse, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. We also went to Cams 10 year reunion. It was a nice vacation and I want to go back.....

I LOVE IT

2010-05-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Baby Banana
Baby Bear

So I have been a mom for almost 51/2 years now. Growing up I was always one of those people that mothered everyone. It was just a natural thing for me to be with kids and read stories and play. I always thought that I would be a good mother. I was told by multiple people what a good mom I was going to be. I had worked in daycare for years with other peoples children before I became a mom. I had studied Child Development and Child Psychology. But to be perfectly honest I am not sure that any of that really prepared me to be a parent. I don't know if it just because I get so worn out working with kids all the time but there is hardly a day that goes by that I don't at some time during the day feel like a terrible mother. But the more I work with families and get to talk with other mothers- the more I know that is a universal feeling. We are so hard on ourselves. I am setting a resolution right now to take the time to find more joy in motherhood. I LOVE being a mom but I think we all get so caught up in the good things in life that we forget to revel in the best things. Like when your daughter sings you a song that she made up herself all about how much she loves you and wants you to have a happy mothers day. Or the 2o mothers days cards that your kids made you by taping and gluing together notebook paper and other various objects found around the house. I will take more joy in when my crying daughter just wants me to hold her to make it better. I have 2 amazing girls. They couldn't be more different from each other. They challenge me in a new way every single day. I Love them more than anything. I have so many hopes and fears for them. So to my Babies thanks for taking this crazy lady that always loved kids and thought she knew everything and teaching her that no matter how much you think you know there is always more. Thanks for making me a mom and blessing my life every single day. I Love You!
Mom

Junior Olympics

2010-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Bananas gymnastics place held their annual Jr. Olympics this morning. She has been so excited about her routines. Here are a few pictures. She did really well but I think it made her nervous to have so many people there. I of course was more worried about having the right hair than anything else.... that is my job though right. She rocks the routine I rock the hair!
All the kids got t-shirts and medal for the event. She also got ribbons 2 blue for vault and bars and one red and white for beam and floor. It was a lot of fun! We are proud of our little Banana Good work girlie!

Bear Lake Picnic

2010-04-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

After church today we decided to go on a car ride to Bear Lake- we took along a picnic so we could eat dinner while we were there. The real reason we needed a car ride was so Cam could study for his anatomy test tomorrow. He likes to have me quiz him and read him his notes while he drives. That way he is doing something and he also can't get away from it. I decided it works much better when we are freeway driving than canyon driving- all those twist and turns and elevation changes made it really hard for me to concentrate on his notes today.....

We had our picnic at the Garden City Playground. They really have the most unusual playground equipment there. It also looks a little dangerous but the girls really had a lot of fun. I think that the playgrounds they build now days are a little too safe sometimes but......
Here are all my children on the hangey-twirly-nater-thingy - yes it was Cams favorite too.

We called this the spiders web. Both of my girls climbed up to the top! When Bear got up there she goes "I the King"

Here we are skipping rocks at the lake.

We really love Bear Lake. It is so beautiful. I hope someday we will be able to afford a Cabin or something up there. Today was a lot of fun. It was relaxed and we felt adventurous. We need to do more outing like this. The best part was when we ran out of rocks and started throwing mud balls into the lake. You will never guess which one of my "kids" came up with that idea.....
Look two posts in one day- Yeah Me!

Easter

2010-04-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

In spite of the cold weather we had a really fun Easter this year. Once again we spent Easter with Cams parents. I don't think we have ever celebrated Easter at our own house. It was also conference weekend so it was nice not feeling guilty about missing our own ward.
Here are a few snapshots of Easter.Our bunny cake Ready for the egg hunt Look what I found THIS is what Uncles are for The loot!!Dyeing eggs Getting our baskets ready Miss Bear Miss Banana
Seriously this is the best picture I could get. I took a gazillion pictures of them together in multiple locations and this is the only one that came out remotely normal. The out takes are cute but Ahhhh crazy mommy just wanted a nice picture where they were both smiling looking at the camera- there has got to be a secret to getting your kids to do that.
Take Care!!
Trina

Because Easter is just a HOP SKIP and a JUMP Away...

2010-03-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

I thought now would be a good time to finally put up some pictures of St. Patrick's Day at our house. We celebrated by making a fabulous Chocolate cake and then decorating it (and ourselves) with green icing, sprinkles and all the colors of the Rainabow.
Here are the girlies with the finished cake! I was really proud of how cute it turned out for the last minute project that it was.

I just thought I would share some of the cute pictures of us making messes!
Lots of Love
Trina

Escapeing into a Good Book or 4

2010-03-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

This last week I have read more than anything else. I have given up much sleep and much time that should have been spent cleaning my house to it. Here is the list of what I have read
Forest Born- Shannon Hale 389 pages
Book of a Thousand Days- Shannon Hale 306 pages
Fablehaven Keys to the Demon Prison- Brandon Mull 588 pages
The Host- Stephanie Meyer- but only the best parts.... I skip through some of it so I probably read only like 250 of the pages
I am not going to do the math because I don't really want any guilt about how much time I spent doing "hobby" type things this week.
Something you need to know about me is I am an escapist reader. When I delve into a book I don't really do it for intellectual purposes. I have in the past but at this point in my life it is an indulgence to read. I like nothing more than throwing myself full force into another world and living with the characters through the stories. I don't like to be the character I just like to pretend I am curled up with them and hearing the story first hand. My favorite brand of escapism is YA fantasy. I love it. It is easy to devour and usually really fun. The thought provoking things are there if you want to look for them but they don't bash you over the head. You can still just enjoy the story without feeling like you are being told that you should think or feel a certain way. I am also a person that can read books over and over and over again. I have always been that way. A lot of times I get to the point like I was saying above that I skip parts and just read the ones I love the most. I have lost track of how many times I have gone through many of them.
I just love to read and I hope that my enjoyment rubs off on my children. I want them to see the joy I get from literature and feel that joy when they read. My parents both read all the time. I grew up thinking everyone just loved to read. It never occurred to me that there were house without books. My house was overflowing with books.... I don't exactly know where I am going with this post maybe you have something you would like to share about your experience or style of reading. I would love to hear about it.

Neglect

2010-03-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

So this blog is a little bit neglected....sorry I never can think of anything interesting to write. But I did start another blog- this one is for school so it is not really about me but more about what I do everyday in my class. It is designed for a teacher parent communication tool. If you want to check it out that would be totally cool with me. www.dinofours.blogspot.com. That blog is getting updated all the time this one however.....
Just as an update we are doing good right now. You know busy busy work, school, kids, church calling, not cleaning my house.... good busy though.
Hope that all of you are doing fabulous and starting to get as excited about the spring as I am
All my LOVE
Trina

How much is TOO Much?

2010-02-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

So let me start by saying that I think my husband is hilarious. He is wonderful and I love him but something happened this week that I have to share. Cam has spent the last month pouring over websites that sale cell phones. He really dislikes our crappy free phones and we still have until Nov. on our contract. He thought a good way to spend some tax money would be to get a new phone. But all the phones he wanted were like 500 dollars without a contract. 500 for phone is too much for me. Does anyone else feel that way?? Besides that, our track record with his phones has been bad (cracked screens, going through the wash....). Then all of the sudden this weekend his phone cracks. He "flipped it open and the screen flew off" ..... I really do believe him but I can't help be reminded of just before we moved to our condo. Cams obsession at the time was flat screen TV's. He spent hours pouring over TV's on the web. Then one day I came home from work only to be told. I tried to fix the TV today now it won't turn on. What was wrong was loose audio visual cables (something I could totally live with). So Cam got his new TV because the old one conveniently "Broke". So I have to wonder do these things really break or is it sabotage :) hehe
So Cam is getting a new phone because the universe willed it to be time- and who am I to argue with the universe.

Haircuts

2010-01-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

Here we all are with our new haircuts. We got it done last Monday. I asked Bananas how she wanted her hair cut and she said "to my chin" soooooooo We all got or hair cut to our chins. Sometimes having all girls is really fun. Here is another one of just the girls. They are just the cutest things ever! I was really excited because of how easy it was to flip their hair out with the new flatiron I got for Christmas.

I am Still Alive

2010-01-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to say that I am still alive. We had a fabulous holiday and in spite of our efforts at simplicity our kids were once again spoiled by our families. We stayed in WJ for a week and a half. I slept in until 9 or 10 every day thanks to grandparents who fed my kids breakfast and let us sleep. It was wonderful!! I maybe shouldn't have been so lazy though cuz now I am playing catch up. This time of year is so busy. New Primary Stuff for church list after list after list, activities, board meetings. We also have new kids at work. Busy busy busy but that is how I like it. I know a lot of people that have it a lot worse than me so I can't complain.

So I think this week we might all go get hair cuts- maybe not Cam- I cut his last month. I will post pictures if we do it.

I just finished the Percy Jackson and the Olympian Series. I totally loved it an recommend it to anyone who is like me and can't get enough YA fantasy. I studied mythology a little in HS and took an ancient civilizations class in college but these books really increased my knowledge of the Greek Gods. It was a fun way to learn them without feeling like you were learning at all.
Anyways a great read if you haven't checked them out yet you should. Oh I read the last Book of Bayern Forest Born by Shannon Hale. I really love those books and the Characters. I really hope that some day she will write more about Isi, Enna Dasha, Rin, Razo and Finn. I recommend these too.

Hope this informative post wasn't too boring....... Happy New Year!!

Holding Back

2009-12-23T16:26:00.000-08:00

The Tree My girls in Front of the Tree

Around our house at Christmas we try to keep things really simple. We made a decision the first year we were married to not go overboard. We really wanted Christmas to be more about spending time together than getting lots of presents. Once we had kids we decided even Santa should keep it simple. Santa brings one present for the kids and fills stocking for everyone. He does not bring the grown-ups gifts. Then each of us gives a present to the others. About this time every year I start getting anxiety because the pile of presents looks so small. I have to constantly remind myself that we have everything we need. Cam really helps me stay focused on our goal to keep it simple. I would probably go broke at Christmas without him- or crazy- maybe both. We are constantly bombarded with images of what Christmas "should" look like. Stacks of presents- all in coordinating wrapping paper and bows, a giant tree with matching ornaments and ribbons, trays of goodies, fancy meals, clothes and toys and lights and the list keeps going. Not that any of these things are bad but..... It is easy to get caught up in other peoples ideas of what Christmas should look like. I am finally starting to figure out what I want my Christmas to look like. I don't have the biggest best tree, my decorations aren't fancy- in fact I made most of them myself or got them as gifts. My Christmas is a modge podge of memories all put together in a way that makes me feel happy and loved. I love looking at my Christmas tree and not seeing tons of matchy matchy ornaments that I just bought. I love that almost every ornament reminds me of someone or something. Christmas is a great time to remember not only Christ and the gift his life is to us but also remember all those around us who bless our lives every day. This is me wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful new year full of new memories to last a lifetime and beyond.Our Gingerbread cookies Us singing the Christmas song we wrote( I couldn't get the video to upload here so I posted it on Facebook if you missed it)

Below are the words and Chords of Our song- for fun.....

All Aboard!!!

2009-12-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

Today was one of my favorite days at school. It was Polar Express Day. Let me start by saying I don't love the book or the movie- but the concept I love. I read about polar express parties about 4 years ago and couldn't wait to have one. Sooo I convinced my co-teachers to go along. We now look forward to this day all year- almost as much as for the Fairy Tale Ball. We go on a fake train ride, sing carols, make train ornaments, drink hot chocolate, and do cotton ball "snow" in the parachute to songs on the Polar Express Soundtrack. We sing "When Christmas Comes to Town" in Sign Language. We do watch the movie at nap time as well. This year I had another idea (which usually means a lot of work cuz I have no idea how we are gonna pull it off) - I admit I come up with a lot of ideas. You should see the look I get when I say to Diana (my co-teacher) "I have and Idea." She is excellent at helping me realize my visions. I am slowly learning from her how to do and make-do to create a lot of fun things. Not all of my ideas are good or work out but this time it did. We made some big gingerbread houses out of cardboard boxes. My class looks so cute right now! Anyways I promised I would try and post some pics. Oh and I forgot the best part of Polar Express Day is that we all wear PAJAMAS to school. I have to buy a new pair every year just for Polar Express Day- silly me......
My gingerbread Village My class holding up their tickets Me and Bananas in our Jammies

Blast from the Past- High School

2009-11-15T17:52:00.001-08:00

I was going through some Pictures today and found a few from High school I just had to share....Sorry if anyone wanted those days to be buried and gone- I just dug them up....!
Child Development 2 class
Emily's Blue tounge
Yes that is N'SYNC and yes it is upside down on purpose.
I love this one of Kat curled up in the best chair that ever existed- notice the journal clutched to her chest:)
Me Tonya and Emily at a sleepover- one of MANY
Backstreets Back! That is all I have to say about that:P
Kat's House in hills- I miss the log walls!
Dec.31 1997 New Years Eve. Ready for a Region Dance Lookin' Good!
Tonya and Kat- This was a makeover night. I remember waving hair then wetting it down and blow drying cuz someone didn't like how it turned out....
Both of these dresses were mine...How many times did we switch clothes. Stylin' for yet another Region Dance- Let's get ready to Macarena (sp?)
I can't remember what we did this night probably not just drive around in Tonya's car and honk at the houses of the boys we liked... WE were much to mature to do something like that!
Me and Emily- let us just note that once in my life my room was CLEAN.

I had a lot of fun coming across these pictures. Those were fun years full of great friends and fun. This is dedicated to all ya'all. I love you still. Even though we aren't close like we used to be I think about you all the time and send good thoughts your way. Thanks for all the FUN!

Halloween

2009-10-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

Little Black Cat

Scary Witch

Whole Family at Grandmas Halloween Party

By the time Halloween rolls around I am ready for it to be over. We dressed up for the 3rd time tonight to go Trick- or- Treating. Maybe I should say Trunk-or-Treating.... In our area everyone goes to the church for a Trunk-or-Treat. I had never been to one before tonight it was a lot of fun though. My girls were so cute. So far I have only gotten 1 trick-or-treater at my house. We had mummy hot dogs for dinner- I saw them on line and had to try them. They turned out really cute I think. Hope everyone had a Fabulous Halloween! Next on my list Letters to Santa:) I am really terrible getting the pictures to lay nicely I'll work on it.......

Square Pumpkins

2009-10-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

I really love to do crafty projects-especially fall ones. Of all the things I have made for my house probably 80% are fall oriented. This year as I was unloading my box of decorations I fell in love all over again with my square pumpkins and thought they would be fun to post. I got the idea for these when I was at Roberts making a Halloween card. I made mine a little different than theirs. That is why I like this project- there is a lot of personalization that can go into it. I will tell you what I used then you can make it fit your personality.

What You Need

1 4x4 cut into a 6in, 5 in and 4 inch rectangle these are the pumpkins- (we actually used an old fence post I like the weathered look)

1 dowel I used 1/2 inch but you may like yours wider... cut 3 1 inch stems or shorter you choose:)

rafia in orange and green

Orange and green acrylic paint- my orange is Americana brand "Burnt Orange" the green was dark green but I can't remember exactly

Sand Paper

glue Gun

-First Cut and sand your pumpkins to the desired texture

-paint all three blocks orange you can paint all the sides but I left the bottom brown

- when they are dry sand the edges; I rounded my edges and corners and roughed up the sides a bit for the weathered look

-for the stems I rounded the top a little before I painted- then paint green- after it is dry sand with sandpaper until desired look has been achieved.

-hot glue stems top middle of painted orange blocks and you have a pumpkin.

-I used rafia to tie around in a bow. You could also use wire twisted to look like vines, ribbon, leaves or whatever else

This was a simple craft that was so much fun. I thought I should share it. Every year when I pull them out I love them more.

Hope you enjoy

7 things about me

2009-09-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

So Katherine gave me a creative blogger award cuz she wants me to write more stuff so Thank you Kat. You get a post but since I can't figure out all that link stuff right now I will just do the most important thing write the 7 things about myself.
1- I have written 3 childrens books none of which will be published but I love to make up stories to tell to my kids and preschoolers. I especially like to tell Fairy Tales- I love Fairy Tales.
2- I am also a reader. My favorite book is most likely Pride and Prejudice. My husband got me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for my birthday and I am quite enjoying it- (especially the appalling things they have Mr Darcy say to Miss Bingley;)
3-I always need a creative outlet of some kind. I often hop from obsession to obsession. My new hobbies are making bows and digital scrapping. I have actually made about 40 dollars selling bows at my school- Mostly I just give them away as presents.
4-I teach preschool and have been doing so for 10 years- The longer I teach the more I am convinced that I know nothing about children.
5-I made a meal plan for the month of September for the first time in my life and I am surprised to say that I follow it most of the time. I really only have to do dinner because we eat Breakfast and Lunch at my School. Still it is better than the frozen dinners we were eating nearly every day.
6-I love music. I am not good at music. I sing okay and play the flute a little-(mostly at Christmas just like Katherine- there is something about Flute music at Christmas I love). But I probably know more kids songs than the average person- Sometimes we play a game and school where the kids say a topic and I try to sing a song I know about it- fun but sometimes I have to make one up on spot.
7-I find that I am more comfortable in a space if there is just a hint of chaos about it. When things are too clean it make me uncomfortable. Does that make me obsessive non-complusive (the opposite of OCD).

I hope that is enough to satisfy the Kreative Bloggers(sorry don't know how to post it-I will learn how another time perhaps)
If you read me Seven things about you would be awesome to hear as well-( considering that I haven't talked face to face with most of you in years).

Fall is ALMOST in the Air

2009-09-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

I love Cache Valley in the Fall!! I don't remember fall being like this where I grew-up. I can't wait until we drive up Logan Canyon and all the leaves have changed. It is really breathtaking. Even Sardine Canyon is beautiful this time of year. Fall is my favorite time of year. Teaching Pre-school in the Fall is so fun with themes like apples and leaves and pumpkins. So much to do and learn... About this time of year I start to get excited about Halloween too. Halloween was a big deal at my house and it is my bosses favorite Holiday. I am gearing myself up for the Carnival, and the contests for the best decorated classroom, pumpkin and staff costume. I won the pumpkin contest last year-it was the first time I ever won anything so that was cool I made a Cinderella Coach (I knew who the voters were). On top of all that it is time to figure out costumes. I am required to dress up and we all know how much I hate that;). I still haven't decided what to be usually I know by now. Hannah is old enough to choose her own costumes so I have to go along with her choice to be a witch. Clara is going to be her black cat. I bought part of her costume today. I always feel better if I have costumes done early so I can relax and enjoy the rest of the fun. Fall is coming. I feel a hint of it every morning and I can't wait.

Trying something new

2009-08-31T23:21:00.001-07:00

This weekend I started a new hobby- or obsession as we call it here. I really wanted to try digital scrapbooking so I asked around and everyone said Photoshop was the best. I believed them and I was terrified. All previous attempts to use that program had ended in frustration but I decided to give it a shot. So with a little help from Cam and some free downloads from Scrap Princess and Free Scrapbooking.com I got started. Now I am gonna try to post a few of my pages. We will see if I can figure that out!!

Back to School

2009-08-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I am going back to school, Well sorta. I have been working in Child care pretty consistently for 10 years now. I have a lot of experience but not a lot of certificates to back it up. Sure I have my Associates Degree but that is a whole lot of whoopee. I decided it was time to go for my CDA (Child Development Associates). So I ordered a through the mail training course pack and it came yesterday. I am really excited to finally be on my way to a CDA and kinda be back in school. I just have to finish 120hours of training, put together a professional file full of mission type statements and then pay like 300 bucks to have someone observe me teach. I do wish they accepted my college courses but since they are more than 5 years ago they do not count. If they did that I could probably skip the training hours cuz I would already have them. It is really frustrating to spend money on a child development and guidance course when you can pretty much pass the quiz without ever reading the material but.... I will do what it takes so my boss will finally take me seriously as a Teacher.

I Used to be Smart

2009-07-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

So this weekend my parents gave me a box of my stuff that they found in their storage shed. As I went through the box I found an AP scholar award- I jokingly held it up to Cam and said "Look your wife used to be smart." (to be honest I forgot I ever was an AP scholar) Of course he just laughs at me but the truth is, when I look at my life now and my life as a student I sometimes wonder what happened. I do not feel smart like I used to. I told my sister what I had said to Cam and she said "you're still smart you just use it in a different way. " I agree that I am not some dummy on the street but I think it is hard to feel smart as a mom and pre-school teacher. Sure I know more than the 4 year olds but, they are constantly challenging what I thought I was good at. This last year of teaching has been a total overhaul of every technique I ever used. But that is another subject all together. Have you ever read one of your old High School or College essays and thought man that person sounds like they know their stuff. Now I am lucky if I can get out a coherent sentance once or twice a week. So what happened. Why can I not punctate a sentence correctly or spell with out spell check. Where along the line did I loose that knowledge?
I always joke that my kids were made from my brain cells- anyone who has become a mom might agree with that. But really I used to use big words!! Now it is all about dolls and dinos, bugs and babies. I just hope that one day I will be able to reconnect with the scholar in me. Until then though I will say I used to be smart.

The Birthday Conundrum

2009-07-22T14:08:00.001-07:00

As we get closer and closer to Bears 2nd birthday I ask myself this question. Should it really be this hard to figure out what to get a two year old girl for her birthday? No brainer right.... not for me. Am I the only one that has this problem. Stuffed animals- no we already have like 600, clothes- yes but we already got one outfit so we need to find something cooler than that. Dress-ups good but everything I see I could probably make myself and it is all soo expensive, movies- does she really need to watch more TV, a bike, got that already, a kitchen got that already- Plus how much it too much to spend on your kid for their birthday. 30, 40 50 dollars. But I think I have come to the root of the problem. As I look around my house all I can think of is what can I get that will not just end up strewn about. What will be easy for me? OH NO here comes the mommy guilt!! I just need to stop thinking about what I would like and get her what she would like. Any suggestions?

I Did This All By Myself

2009-07-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

So anyone that has every seen me try to do anything on a computer will be proud to know me today because.... I put this blog together by myself. Cam did not have to help me at all- in fact he is at work so I couldn't even ask for help if I needed it. He will be very impressed when he gets home and, you should all be too. I started this blog because everyone (okay 2 people) said I should join in. So I thought I should give it a try. Maybe if I type a blog every now and then I will feel like I am talking to an adult. As a mom and pre-school teacher those moments of feeling like you are conversing with a grown-up about grown up things are few and far between. So here it goes. I am not great at sticking to projects so we will see......