Another funny conversation with Spencer:
Spencer: "Mom, we won't have a salami at our house, right?"
Kerri: "What are you talking about?
Spencer: "We won't have salami here because we live on higher ground."
Kerri: "Oh, do you mean a tsunami?"
Spencer: "Yeah, that's what I said, Mom."
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Eighteen Years of Wedded Bliss
Today we celebrated our anniversary. We had our family home evening on Sunday so we could go out on Monday night. During the day, I received a fruit bouquet from Paul. It was beautiful and the chocolate covered strawberries were divine. The kids especially loved getting a delicious surprise treat. Yum! When my sweetie arrived home, he brought me a beautiful bouquet of pink, red and white roses--18 of them--one for every year. Then he whisked me off to a nearby romantic restaurant called Blue. We shared and enjoyed our food. I got lobster bisque and he got spinach salad and we shared. He got a steak, I got crabcakes and we shared. It was an enchanted evening with my prince. I am so blessed to have found a man who has a strong testimony, is hardworking and an excellent provider and who loves and cherishes me and our children. Thanks for 18 years, Paul.
Pictures from the weekend
We had fun bike riding this weekend
We also added a mum to our front porch hanging basket (Caitlin's sweeping up the dirt)
Courtney's admiring the impatiens in our front yard
Cute girls in the front yard
Rachel played a soccer game on a hot and extremely humid Saturday
Spencer shows off his excellent bike riding skills
Caitlin and Spencer head down our driveway at the beginning of their race to the end of the circle and back
Courtney rides her bike into the garage after a long ride
Rachel and her friend Corrine enjoy a yummy lunch with their moms at Panera Bread after their soccer game.Sunday, September 14, 2008
Good News Minute
Okay--here's my good news minute for the day:
1. Paul and I have been married for 18 years today and we're still happy together. Aren't we lucky?
2. I love that we can watch BYU football on Direct TV now. For years, we've hardly heard about BYU sports but now we can finally watch every game and they're winning! Wow! what an awesome game they played yesterday against UCLA! Go Cougs!
3. We had fun playing tennis, going to a soccer game and bike riding yesterday.
1. Paul and I have been married for 18 years today and we're still happy together. Aren't we lucky?
2. I love that we can watch BYU football on Direct TV now. For years, we've hardly heard about BYU sports but now we can finally watch every game and they're winning! Wow! what an awesome game they played yesterday against UCLA! Go Cougs!
3. We had fun playing tennis, going to a soccer game and bike riding yesterday.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Adjusting to the the school life
I just started doing laundry and I found swimsuits at the bottom of the pile from Monday of last week. I can't believe it--I know I did laundry during the week. . . at least I think I did. Hmmm? Sometimes I think I'm getting Alzheimer's. I am so forgetful at times. I especially lose my keys, my cellphone and my sunglasses. Even though I have a spot for them, sometimes getting in or out of the house becomes so stressful that I don't think about what I'm doing and they get misplaced. My kids have often prayed that I will find my keys and, thank goodness, they're always found.
Getting into the swing of our crazy school schedule this year has been interesting. The twins only went to pre-school for an hour last week so it was extremely short. But Spencer and I did manage to get in a bike ride one day and distribute fliers at his school for the PTA the other day. I'm looking forward to this week--they extend preschool another half hour so we might be able to accomplish even more!
Spencer has enjoyed kindergarten so far. He especially likes riding his bike to the bus stop and taking the bus to school. I've been sending in a snack each day but he wanted to try the school snack one day last week so I sent in an envelope with money in it to put into his cafeteria account. Well, two days later, I was doing a thorough examination of his backpack and found the crumpled envelope with money intact. When I asked him why he didn't turn it in, he said, "Mom, they just give you a ticket. You don't have to pay." So his teacher must have thought I didn't send him a snack that day and gotten him one anyway. He doesn't fully understand the money exchange process yet. Recently, I sent him to the snack bar at the pool with a ten dollar bill. He got his ice cream sandwich and came back with the change. He said, "Look mom, they gave me all this money. Aren't they nice?" not understanding that it was change. Then a few days later when I told him I didn't have money to go to McDonalds, he said, "I know! Let's go to the pool and they'll give you money at the snack bar." Returning back to school, our only challenge with him at the moment is homework. He is very resistant to me during homework time and makes a simple task take forever because he doesn't want to try. But I think once he realizes that he can't talk his way out of it, he will do it without complaint (at least I hope so!)
Rachel's adjusting to middle school. I am a little frustrated with one class--her writing enrichment class. They are expected to type their essays into the computer during class rather than hand write them. Well, my 5th grader doesn't know how to type at all. It takes her an hour to type a one paragraph e-mail. Apparently her assignment in writing was to write a 5 paragraph essay on Friday. How in the world is she supposed to type five paragraphs in a 37 minute class period? She didn't complete the assignment but the teacher made her submit it anyway and she received a bad grade. Rachel is an excellent writer but she is being graded on her typing skills, not her writing skills. One of my friends who teaches at a different district told me they had the same writing program but after they tried it, they discovered it could not accurately assess a student's writing ability because of the typing issue and they stopped using it. I mentioned my concerns about Rachel's lack of typing skills at the open house and the teacher pretty much blew me off. Now I've sent her an e-mail so I'm awaiting her response. I simply want Rachel to have the opportunity to demonstrate her true writing ability. Paul also set up a typing tutoring program for Rachel at home so that she'll become more proficient. So we'll see what happens. I dislike making waves by complaining to teachers but someone has to advocate for our kids!
Well, I'd better see if I can get to the bottom of that laundry pile today before I go to the bus stop for my 3rd and 4th time today. Adios!
Getting into the swing of our crazy school schedule this year has been interesting. The twins only went to pre-school for an hour last week so it was extremely short. But Spencer and I did manage to get in a bike ride one day and distribute fliers at his school for the PTA the other day. I'm looking forward to this week--they extend preschool another half hour so we might be able to accomplish even more!
Spencer has enjoyed kindergarten so far. He especially likes riding his bike to the bus stop and taking the bus to school. I've been sending in a snack each day but he wanted to try the school snack one day last week so I sent in an envelope with money in it to put into his cafeteria account. Well, two days later, I was doing a thorough examination of his backpack and found the crumpled envelope with money intact. When I asked him why he didn't turn it in, he said, "Mom, they just give you a ticket. You don't have to pay." So his teacher must have thought I didn't send him a snack that day and gotten him one anyway. He doesn't fully understand the money exchange process yet. Recently, I sent him to the snack bar at the pool with a ten dollar bill. He got his ice cream sandwich and came back with the change. He said, "Look mom, they gave me all this money. Aren't they nice?" not understanding that it was change. Then a few days later when I told him I didn't have money to go to McDonalds, he said, "I know! Let's go to the pool and they'll give you money at the snack bar." Returning back to school, our only challenge with him at the moment is homework. He is very resistant to me during homework time and makes a simple task take forever because he doesn't want to try. But I think once he realizes that he can't talk his way out of it, he will do it without complaint (at least I hope so!)
Rachel's adjusting to middle school. I am a little frustrated with one class--her writing enrichment class. They are expected to type their essays into the computer during class rather than hand write them. Well, my 5th grader doesn't know how to type at all. It takes her an hour to type a one paragraph e-mail. Apparently her assignment in writing was to write a 5 paragraph essay on Friday. How in the world is she supposed to type five paragraphs in a 37 minute class period? She didn't complete the assignment but the teacher made her submit it anyway and she received a bad grade. Rachel is an excellent writer but she is being graded on her typing skills, not her writing skills. One of my friends who teaches at a different district told me they had the same writing program but after they tried it, they discovered it could not accurately assess a student's writing ability because of the typing issue and they stopped using it. I mentioned my concerns about Rachel's lack of typing skills at the open house and the teacher pretty much blew me off. Now I've sent her an e-mail so I'm awaiting her response. I simply want Rachel to have the opportunity to demonstrate her true writing ability. Paul also set up a typing tutoring program for Rachel at home so that she'll become more proficient. So we'll see what happens. I dislike making waves by complaining to teachers but someone has to advocate for our kids!
Well, I'd better see if I can get to the bottom of that laundry pile today before I go to the bus stop for my 3rd and 4th time today. Adios!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
My first digital scrapbook
These are the same photos I posted previously but I just made a little scrapbook out of them so I thought I'd share that with you! It's so easy to create one of these scrapbooks that I'm simply amazed. Now I just need to buy more ink so my prints turn out well. I really like this program and it's free which is my favorite thing about it! It takes a little while to load the slide show so just be patient if you really want to see it.
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| Make a Smilebox scrapbook |
The Sun Sets on a sweet summer
The summer ends with one final stunning sunset over the lake
Caitlin was a little fish, swimming the day away!
Courtney shows her love of the beach with her biggest grin!
Rachel and Madison, as they described their crazy fall off the tube on the last boat ride of the night. Rachel said she skipped just like a rock on the water when she flew off. 
There's my girls
Spencer looks for clam shells in the water
We spent Labor Day at the lake with two of our favorite couples and their kids. Boat rides, tube riding, chatting, eating, swimming and playing in the sand helped end our summer with a bang. What a perfect day it was!
Music Corner
