Sunday, August 30, 2009
So tonight Lexa opened her door and stood at the top of the stiars. I asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom. She started rambling about stuff, but not ever finishing a sentance. I finally walked to the top of the stairs and asked her if she was awake. Her eyes were totally dialated. she told me to follow her to her room. She walked in and went straight to her bed. Not another word or movement out of her. I put her blanket on and told her goodnight. not a word. My child sleep walks.Another time happened in March. My in-laws were here and asked if Lexa was supposed to be up because she was wandering around upstairs. I went to ask her what was wrong. She was rummaging through the clothes she had taken off earlier. She asked me to help her find her other sock. This started to make me suspicious because she HATES to sleep with socks on. So I helped her find it. The next thing she said was, "But what about my underwear??!!" Sure enough, she had taken off her underwear somewhere. Found them in a ball at the end of her bed. Her bed was dry, floor was dry. She said she already went to the bathroom (never heard a toilet flush or saw unflushed toilet) and she just had to wash her hands. We got her all dressed and she went back to bed. Does not remember any of it. This should be more and more fun the older she gets (hopefully not dangerous!).
We inherited Nolan's parents Maxima this summer. So we are trying to sell our Ford Ranger 1994 truck. Nolan rides his motorcycle to work and I drive the mini-van to school. Well, Saturday was the day to get the truck ready. Nolan spent all day washing and waxing that thing. I tried to help clean the chrome wheels, but my hands tired and I got about 1 1/2 wheels done. I did however buy Nolan some engine degreaser so the engine would look shiny and new. Nolan came running in telling me I had to come see something. He said he opened up the hood and some great big rodent was staring him in the face. He slammed the hood and the rodent ran somewhere into the engine. He opened it again and saw a nest with two babies on the top of the engine. The mom kept poking her head up to look at her babies. It was definitely a rat. I must admit it was a lot cuter than I thought a rat would be, more Ratatioulle than sewer rat. My neighbor Jen is fearless and decided to help Nolan get rid of them. The Human Society advised my mom that we should be wary of Bubonick (sp?) plague. Here was the plan. Drive truck to field, carefully take out nest and babies, leave by truck, watch mom come out, and drive away.
Good plan, but when they got there the mom had pulled the babies further into the truck. They could hear them but not see them. They threw the nest in the field and left the truck there for a few hours. When Nolan went back he couldnt hear or see anything. He took the truck to get the oil changed and they didnt see anything. Luckily they didnt tear up any hoses or wires. We thought it was done, but when I was out this morning I swear I could hear them somewhere under the truck bed. We looked underneath and could see rat droppings and what looked like material from a new nest. We cant hear them anymore, but no promises that they are gone. I think going the humane was is out the window and we are calling the pest control people in the morning.
I would expect mice out here, BUT NOT RATS!!!!!!
Good plan, but when they got there the mom had pulled the babies further into the truck. They could hear them but not see them. They threw the nest in the field and left the truck there for a few hours. When Nolan went back he couldnt hear or see anything. He took the truck to get the oil changed and they didnt see anything. Luckily they didnt tear up any hoses or wires. We thought it was done, but when I was out this morning I swear I could hear them somewhere under the truck bed. We looked underneath and could see rat droppings and what looked like material from a new nest. We cant hear them anymore, but no promises that they are gone. I think going the humane was is out the window and we are calling the pest control people in the morning.
I would expect mice out here, BUT NOT RATS!!!!!!
So, things are going better. Things came to a head with my calling this week. Had good, honest communications on both sides. I was frustrated with not being able to give my all and the other person involved was also frustrated with my not giving 100%. But the Lord knows what is best for all, whether it be putting us in positions where we are needed more, or we are supposed to learn and grow.
Nolan took me on a date this weekend. We went to the Hibachi grill, japanese steakhouse. It was my first time to somewhere like that. It as amazing food!!!!! The steak was to die for! :) Then we went to see GI Joe. That was also good. Then we played Mexican Train with my mom. We had a good time and I actually won. It is hard to beat Nolan.
Lexa is liking being in school. She learns new names everyday and loves her new classes.
Nolan and I are continueing to plug away at our workouts. We are going from once a week to once a month with our personal trainer. I am almost down to a weight I was when we moved here to Colorado. Nolan is down to a number he doesnt remember the last time he saw!!! I am so proud of him and of us.
Nolan took me on a date this weekend. We went to the Hibachi grill, japanese steakhouse. It was my first time to somewhere like that. It as amazing food!!!!! The steak was to die for! :) Then we went to see GI Joe. That was also good. Then we played Mexican Train with my mom. We had a good time and I actually won. It is hard to beat Nolan.
Lexa is liking being in school. She learns new names everyday and loves her new classes.
Nolan and I are continueing to plug away at our workouts. We are going from once a week to once a month with our personal trainer. I am almost down to a weight I was when we moved here to Colorado. Nolan is down to a number he doesnt remember the last time he saw!!! I am so proud of him and of us.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
I feel frustrated with my calling recently. It is an easy calling. I am the activity days assistant. So I pretty much just show up to an activity twice a month, only two hours a month! Yet it is in the afternoon, from 4-5. Therefore I have to take Lexa and Clara with me. Lexa thinks she is one of the 8-9 year olds and I spend the rest of the time chasing after Clara. I feel frustrated because I spend the entire time chasing Clara and trying to keep her happy. She is a kid that needs a lot of attention and at 18 months will get into everything! The time makes it so that Nolan cant be with the kids. I also have a HUGE problem with the idea that I have to find a babysitter just to fill my calling. I even have asked to be on a night route for visiting teaching so that I can go without the girls. I hear a lot of talks focused on us keeping our family first and callings second, they shouldnt take over our lives. I have never turned down a calling or asked to be released but I truly feel like I am not right for this calling. The girls deserve someone who can give them their full attention. What do you all think???????????
Monday, August 24, 2009
Two days after we got home from vacation school started for Lexa. Yes, school was starting August 13th!!! It was crazy early. But we also got to see our friends the Shaw's from Texas. They were on their way back to Austin from Utah and stopped for a day. It was awesome to see them. We had a lot of fun with Guitar Hero. It really hope they will stop by again.
Lexa's teacher this year is Mrs. Kruger. Lexa went to the preschool at Tozer for two years, so she is used to the school, but not used to having a new teacher. She only knew two people in her class, so she was really nervous about making friends. I told her to try to learn one persons name a week. After one week she already knows half the class, and gets to see her old friends at recess. She is in half day kindergarten but most her friends are in all day. In preschool she got to go to obsticle course day (occupational therapy) and library day. This year, she gets to have music class, PE, library, counseling day, and computer lab. She loves it. It is awesome for me to just be able to drop her off and not have to walk all the way in and sign in and out.
Lexa's teacher this year is Mrs. Kruger. Lexa went to the preschool at Tozer for two years, so she is used to the school, but not used to having a new teacher. She only knew two people in her class, so she was really nervous about making friends. I told her to try to learn one persons name a week. After one week she already knows half the class, and gets to see her old friends at recess. She is in half day kindergarten but most her friends are in all day. In preschool she got to go to obsticle course day (occupational therapy) and library day. This year, she gets to have music class, PE, library, counseling day, and computer lab. She loves it. It is awesome for me to just be able to drop her off and not have to walk all the way in and sign in and out.
We had a giant adventure at the end of this summer. Because Nolan has to take 2 weeks off of work at Christmas, he stayed home and the girls and I headed out to see his family in Kennewick, Wa. Kennewick is in the south-east part of Washington. The first day, the girls and I drove to Ontario, Or. In preparation for the trip we bought two dvd players that were able to play from USB sticks. We put a bunch of movies on each for the girls. It is amazing how the movies like Curious Buddies, Baby Einstein and Elmo's World will keep Clara's attention but Finding Nemo will not. Must be a lot of money in research!! and it works. The only problem, at the end of the first day Lexa's dvd was having power supply problems. The next day was only a 3 1/2 hour drive to kennewick. We got there in time for church and to hear Auntie Ana play her oboe in church.
We spent Sunday thru Thursday playing with grandma, grandpa and Auntie Ana. I got to play tennis with Briana. We went swimming almost every night, at the neighbors house, the country club, and grandma clara's condo pool. It was awesome. I slept and took naps! Grandma took Lexa apricot picking and let her help canning them.
Friday we drove to Portland, Or to see our great friends the Murdocks. They were having a crazy heat wave, around 109. Their poor air conditioner was running its little heart out to keep their house at 78! That night we went and swam at a beach on the Columbia River. It was so much fun. Those Murdock boys are great swimmers! But I will admit there was sand in my bag even when I got home to Colorado. :)
The next day we all headed out to play in the public fountains in Portland. We went to three different ones. I think the one the boys liked the least, Lexa liked the most! We had a fun day exploring all the city, ending with a not so fun accident (messy pants). Well, it wasnt so fun for Bryan who was trying to clean it up in a public bathroom and having homeless men laugh and leave the bathroom. It was a little funny for Ily and I. hehe.
Before the fountains we also went blueberry picking at a farm. We got to feed apples to a horse and then pick berries. It was a ton of fun, but the kids got hot pretty fast.
Sunday we went to church then headed back to Kennewick for more fun with grandma and grandpa and auntie ana.
Tuesday Marilyn, the girls and I drove to Seattle. We stayed in Issaquah at a motel 6. That night Richard met us there. We also finally got to see Nolans aunt, uncle and cousins from Virginia. We were in Seattle to see his cousin Zac get married. He was getting married to someone from Victoria, BC and Seattle was the closest temple.
The next day grandma, grandpa, the girls and I went to the Seattle Zoo. This is an amazing place.
The day after was the wedding. On the way to the temple Lexa asked me to please bring her out a piece of cake. The sweet girl thought that everything she sees on TV weddings is what we were going to do in the temple. We explained to her that she would get to have cake later. Right after the wedding I drove to the airport to pick up Nolan. We drove back to the temple where the family was having a picnic in a park nearby. After that we drove to the ferry to get to Bainbridge Island. We went there to visit Nolans friends from growing up who just had twins, a boy and girl. They made us dinner and we walked around their little town. It was very cute and had good ice cream. That night we drove to stay at a hotel in Silverdale. We didnt pay for a room on the water, but were given one. The room was nice and I wish we could have stayed longer. :) Unfortunetely there was not a lot of parking. They were getting ready for a 3 on 3 basketball tournament in their parking lot and their was a dog show going on. Kinda crazy! People not happy about it either.
The next day we drove like crazy to make a ferry from Kingston to Edmonds, Wa then on to the ferry in Vancouver, BC to Victoria. We didnt make the same ferry in Vancouver as Marilyn, Richard and Auntie Ana (who had joined the group Wed night by tiny plane from Kennewick). But they waited for us in Victoria. The ferry was an hour and a half. It was really big and we walked around a lot. There was a part of the ship that had disney playing on tv's and a play place for little ones. The girls liked being outside the most. I got a little seasick when the ferry was going around islands, but we all made it. We ended up spending the rest of the evening in Victoria. It was Nolan's birthday! We saw a lot of beautiful buildings and had the best meal of my life. It was a shellfish thermador. whoa.
We drove to Duncan, BC about an hour north of Victoria. The next day Nolan, Marilyn, Richard, Briana and Lexa went sight-seeing. I let Clara take a nap so she would be tolerable for the wedding reception that night. We did however take a quick look around a place called the BC Forest Discovery center. It was an old lumber village. It had a train and Clara did not like the whistle.
That night was a beautiful wedding reception. It was on the brides farm. They raise sheep. They roasted lamb and cooked fresh salmon they caught that week. Clara had fun chasing chickens, playing with the bubble machine and rolling in dirt. Lexa did pretty much the same and had fun feeding the sheep and goats. They had live music. We all had fun talking and dancing until really late in the night.
Next day we drove Nolan to the airport, took the ferry back to Vancouver, waited an hour to get over the US border, drove around Seattle traffic and stopped in Kennewick again, 12 hours later!!
Next day we slept in and left around 12. We drove to Ogden that night. I thought driving at night would be good because the girls would be sleeping. Not so. They were wound up and going crazy, like screaming in the car. It was pretty funny. Motel 6 again. Next day we drove all the way home. We almost went insane around Laramie, but made it.
It was a great long trip. We had a little bit of everything: seeing family, laying around and swimming, seeing friends, sightseeing and riding ferries.
I will make another post providing pictures. Not sure how to work that in to the blog right now. Maybe someone could teach me.
We spent Sunday thru Thursday playing with grandma, grandpa and Auntie Ana. I got to play tennis with Briana. We went swimming almost every night, at the neighbors house, the country club, and grandma clara's condo pool. It was awesome. I slept and took naps! Grandma took Lexa apricot picking and let her help canning them.
Friday we drove to Portland, Or to see our great friends the Murdocks. They were having a crazy heat wave, around 109. Their poor air conditioner was running its little heart out to keep their house at 78! That night we went and swam at a beach on the Columbia River. It was so much fun. Those Murdock boys are great swimmers! But I will admit there was sand in my bag even when I got home to Colorado. :)
The next day we all headed out to play in the public fountains in Portland. We went to three different ones. I think the one the boys liked the least, Lexa liked the most! We had a fun day exploring all the city, ending with a not so fun accident (messy pants). Well, it wasnt so fun for Bryan who was trying to clean it up in a public bathroom and having homeless men laugh and leave the bathroom. It was a little funny for Ily and I. hehe.
Before the fountains we also went blueberry picking at a farm. We got to feed apples to a horse and then pick berries. It was a ton of fun, but the kids got hot pretty fast.
Sunday we went to church then headed back to Kennewick for more fun with grandma and grandpa and auntie ana.
Tuesday Marilyn, the girls and I drove to Seattle. We stayed in Issaquah at a motel 6. That night Richard met us there. We also finally got to see Nolans aunt, uncle and cousins from Virginia. We were in Seattle to see his cousin Zac get married. He was getting married to someone from Victoria, BC and Seattle was the closest temple.
The next day grandma, grandpa, the girls and I went to the Seattle Zoo. This is an amazing place.
The day after was the wedding. On the way to the temple Lexa asked me to please bring her out a piece of cake. The sweet girl thought that everything she sees on TV weddings is what we were going to do in the temple. We explained to her that she would get to have cake later. Right after the wedding I drove to the airport to pick up Nolan. We drove back to the temple where the family was having a picnic in a park nearby. After that we drove to the ferry to get to Bainbridge Island. We went there to visit Nolans friends from growing up who just had twins, a boy and girl. They made us dinner and we walked around their little town. It was very cute and had good ice cream. That night we drove to stay at a hotel in Silverdale. We didnt pay for a room on the water, but were given one. The room was nice and I wish we could have stayed longer. :) Unfortunetely there was not a lot of parking. They were getting ready for a 3 on 3 basketball tournament in their parking lot and their was a dog show going on. Kinda crazy! People not happy about it either.
The next day we drove like crazy to make a ferry from Kingston to Edmonds, Wa then on to the ferry in Vancouver, BC to Victoria. We didnt make the same ferry in Vancouver as Marilyn, Richard and Auntie Ana (who had joined the group Wed night by tiny plane from Kennewick). But they waited for us in Victoria. The ferry was an hour and a half. It was really big and we walked around a lot. There was a part of the ship that had disney playing on tv's and a play place for little ones. The girls liked being outside the most. I got a little seasick when the ferry was going around islands, but we all made it. We ended up spending the rest of the evening in Victoria. It was Nolan's birthday! We saw a lot of beautiful buildings and had the best meal of my life. It was a shellfish thermador. whoa.
We drove to Duncan, BC about an hour north of Victoria. The next day Nolan, Marilyn, Richard, Briana and Lexa went sight-seeing. I let Clara take a nap so she would be tolerable for the wedding reception that night. We did however take a quick look around a place called the BC Forest Discovery center. It was an old lumber village. It had a train and Clara did not like the whistle.
That night was a beautiful wedding reception. It was on the brides farm. They raise sheep. They roasted lamb and cooked fresh salmon they caught that week. Clara had fun chasing chickens, playing with the bubble machine and rolling in dirt. Lexa did pretty much the same and had fun feeding the sheep and goats. They had live music. We all had fun talking and dancing until really late in the night.
Next day we drove Nolan to the airport, took the ferry back to Vancouver, waited an hour to get over the US border, drove around Seattle traffic and stopped in Kennewick again, 12 hours later!!
Next day we slept in and left around 12. We drove to Ogden that night. I thought driving at night would be good because the girls would be sleeping. Not so. They were wound up and going crazy, like screaming in the car. It was pretty funny. Motel 6 again. Next day we drove all the way home. We almost went insane around Laramie, but made it.
It was a great long trip. We had a little bit of everything: seeing family, laying around and swimming, seeing friends, sightseeing and riding ferries.
I will make another post providing pictures. Not sure how to work that in to the blog right now. Maybe someone could teach me.
