Jacob's ASB Two Day Hiatus

Jacob is the Sophomore class treasurer/secretary this year and they have a yearly trip called CADA(don't know what that exactly stands for). They hit Disneyland for a day then stay at the Disneyland Hotel for the night and then have classes that they go to for leadership training, etc. Jacob sent me a text/picture message this morning- Guess who he found at the new Disney Grand Hotel??? Sweet Niblets! Jacob said that he saw him , then said "Hey can I take a picture with you real quick?" He said "Sure" and it was done. Nice of him, I thought.

THIS WAS TOO FUN TO DO! I think I might have even been to a couple more of the lower eastern states but I'd have to look at a road map to be sure.
Try your own!


visited 37 states (74%)

Sorry all- Here is the link to do your own or at least the address.

http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa

Just because I haven't in over a month...

So, you might wonder what we are up to OR if Halloween happened here at our house. You might think we vanished off the face of the earth...but NO! We are still here.

Since our/my last entry I have stood on street corners(with "YES on 8" signs), walked in the dark with strange and funny and cute looking children(Trick or treating), sang at church(primary program-had ya didn't I?) and kicked my husband out of the house(to his new job).

I have alot of things to be thankful for and alot of people I am thankful to know and have as friends and family.

I will try to be a better blogger because I love to share and because I really don't like going to a blog to check it each day and NOTHING is new! Sorry no pictures this time but maybe I'll add them later.
Love you all-Kristin

Tuesday Musings #20 (...late!)

Something nobody knows about me is…

I have NEVER done a crossword puzzle completely!

Oh I have looked at some, but never ever have I tried really to do one either.

They have never interested me because I don't think I am smart enough.

To test this theory I tried one this past Sunday from one of the magazines I get(All You) and...NOPE, didn't happen.

I tried, really tried, even got out the dictionary, but couldn't get it and then had no desire to try any longer-

Oh Well, it wasn't exciting but if I told you something exciting then EVERYONE would know, N-O-W!

I found this quote as the title of an article in the LA Times from last year-

To provoke cross words, you can’t beat crosswords!

YES on Prop 8 in California!

I just added a video to the top right of my blog.

It's very important to me.

Please watch this video; get the word out to friends/family to vote YES on Proposition 8

Protect the Family- Protect Marriage!

Tuesday Musings #19(still, very late)

Give us your favorite chocolate recipe(s) and tell us why you love it.

My favorite Chocolate recipe is called BTS(Better than Something) but I can't get a hold of it! When I find it I will surely share.

In the mean time, I love brownies with a choclate frosting that my mom used to make when we were little. I still don't get how she got us to wait til she made the frosting because I can't even wait and so I haven't ever made this frosting myself. They really are good though.

Here's the recipe for the frosting(make your own brownies though)-

CHOCOLATE SATIN FROSTING

1/4 cup butter(margarine)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbls milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

2 envelopes/squares unsweetened choc (baking) OR 3 tsps cocoa to 1 Tbls oil= 1 square

Mix all together. (you have to melt the choc if using squares). This is light colored but just the right chocolate to go with the chocolate of the brownies.

Enjoy- maybe I will make this myself, now. EDIT- I Did make it and the pictures are above!

Pssst...

Holy Cow! I just got a FREE dinner in a box,(well in a way I guess).

I still need 1 lb of chicken breast and 2 Tbs butter or margarine and 3/4 cup milk but...

I joined something online called "pssst". Its through General Mills and you answer questions, etc and sometimes they supposedly send you items to promote or try and then promote. I'll keep you posted on if we like it or not!

Also included were TEN(10) coupons for $1.25 off one dinner kit.

YES! You know how I love my coupons.

Meanwhile- I thought "maybe some of my friends would like free food also".

Here is the link to sign up- http://pssst.generalmills.com/

Tuesday Musings #18 (very late)

What are a few things that you could not live without?

Tuesday Musings #17 (very, very late)

Are you addicted to anything? And if so what??

I don't think I should answer this question because there are too many answers.

1. Scrabble(online)

2. Candy Corn

3. Reading(some books I just can't put down)

4. Children(I love to play)

5. Coupons

6. Shopping(with #5 above)

Thanks Jenn for asking! Now...is there rehab for any of these?

Fleece...Apparently it's for the DOG!

Last night, Hannah heard Hershey making some different noises but couldn't find him and so I became interested and started looking too. He hasn't been resting on the couches too much lately, usually on the floor wherever we are sitting or cooking, etc.


Well, Hannah found him. Dressed!




This is a L.L. Bean Fleece half zip pullover and Hershey loves FLEECE. It is zipped up and when he moved it around to get it just where he wanted it, his head came throught the neck hole but his shoulders and everything else wouldn't fit. So, while we were looking for him, he rolled/flopped off the couch inside it to respond to our calling his name. The kids thought it was so funny that we had to get the camera and then take a video- Our first on our blog! It's kind of dark but the kids got a couple slices of pepperoni to entice Hershey to try to walk BECAUSE, I forgot to mention this...when we found him he wouldn't come to us he was just sitting in the middle of the living room waiting for someone to help him(which we did after we got this video).

P.S. No dog was hurt in the making of this film!

We have quite a few fleece blankets in our home and just the other night he jumped up on Sydney's bed, while she was sleeping(and everyone else) and rustled around to knock off Sydney comforter that is folded at the bottom of her bed. He then rooted around to open a smaller fleece baby blanket that was under the comforter so he could get it just right and curl up in it to spend the rest of a comfortable evening. The large comforter was on the floor right next to the bed, upside down!

We love our PUP!

First Day of School (Almost a month late)

This is Hannah with her 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Barnett!

Sydney has two teachers(for the price of one)in 3rd grade!

This is Ms. Brisco.

This is Sydney with Mrs. Posse(pronounced Paa-say').

Mrs. Posse teaches language arts in the am & Ms. Brisco teaches math in the pm.

They split a contract to work this way.

BEWARE BELOW

this could be a shock!

On the last day of the first week of school, I let the girls wear their new t-shirts that Jacob got them from his high school.

YIKES!

What you should know is...all the kids from Hannah and Sydney's elementary are going to go to Poly High School which is a big rival for every other HS in Riverside, Arlington included!

What guts they have!!!

Tuesday Musings #16

Olympics-
There are many different events at the Olympics.
You must create a new event that you would be the best at so that you could take home the GOLD.
What is your event?

Couponing

90 minutes of grocery shopping with the most savings from coupons.

The actual total spent does not matter. It is the amount saved from coupons in relation to the amount spent. For example; Total is 166.98 but amount spent is 70.31 which is a savings of 96.67! The person with the highest percent saved in the time alotted wins. BYOC(Bring your own coupons) I think there should be a standardized list of the items that have to be purchased to keep it even but it would all depend on whether you brought the right coupons with you.

That would mean that some people would have these big coupon boxes or cases or file cabinets which could slow you down or if they were organized well, maybe just put you over to win a GOLD instead of a silver or bronzeI could really excel at this.

I wanted to find some reciepts to show for this and scan them in but I realized the last few I threw away and then the very last one I sent in for a $10 rebate(ps. I only spent $42 and saved $127)

BRING ON THE GOLD !

If not Couponing then...

Who has the most cereal in their cupboards?

Possibly a second gold medal here for me?

Family Visits!

This week & the past we had Trena(on & off because she still had two jobs in between) and Andrew and Jordan and Jazlynn.

They called Monday afternoon when they arrived and Hannah and Sydney were screaming to go to Grandma's house to see them!

So off we went to see if Jordan would warm up to us...he did eventually.

So then they next afternoon we went to Kembly's pool for a cool afternoon.

I don't know why but I don't have a picture at the pool of Trena or Andrew(or me either-ha ha).

After that we got to watch Jordan the next afternoon while Andrew, Trena and Jazlynn went to Disneyland. It was Jazlynn's first time!

Jordan was a little nervous when he came over because Uncle Michael (alias my 2nd Daddy) had been with Jordan all morning and wondered what was going on but with Hershey's help and the girls undying attention, he was fine! See:

After that it was all the way until this past Monday the 11th that we gathered for FHE at Balboa Beach on the north side of the pier towards Newport. For the family reading this, that would be the regualr spot! My pictures are not great but they are all I have because I forgot until it was getting dark.

The pictures above are of some of the group playing pickle on the beach. Paul and Brandy are standing next to the kids chairs. The Burbach's(Mom & Dad) and Tim and his wife, Nicole joined us for FHE and the bonfire with SMORE'S. It was so cute to see Haylee and Jordan sitting in the little chairs watching the pickle game. If there is someone you don't recognize, that is Andrea, Hannah's friend that lives across the street. Check out Trena-She is the one "playing" pickle. She's wearing the peach colored shirt and stayed right on the base(towel) most of the game! It was a blast.

We got to see Jordan today while Andrew took Jazlynn school shopping. Grandma and Grandpa brought him over for a visit a little while ago and we took more pictures but I haven't loaded those yet. Thanks for visiting. We miss all our family who are far away!

Tuesday Musings #15

Well, the topic this past week(8/5/09) was GHOSTS!

I guess I don't think much about ghosts. All that came to mind was...(name that ghost >)

So, then I kept thinking and I remembered my favorite ghosts- This is a cartoon with Mickey, Donald & Goofy and they are ghost exterminators!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47jWsdlvWwU

I don't recall ever seeing a ghost but I'll keep you in the loop when I do!

Jacob's 8 days of CHAOS

Jacob had his own 8 Crazy Days! On August 1st, he arrived at the home of our Scout Leader, Mike Biggs for a priest/teacher hike, one of 3 planned for 3 weekends this month. It was Friday and they left to hike Mt San Jacinto(via the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway). They left at 10:00am, camped overnight, hiked, returned at about 7:30 pm on Saturday night. Here is a link to those pictures-take a look at the very last one!

http://www.biggsfamily.net/share/SanJac/SanJac.htm

Sunday, August 3rd-went to to church!

August 4th, Monday at 10:00am arrived at the Metrolink station for his Arlington High School ASB retreat. Bascially to meet/mesh with all the student body leaders and train for helping with registration and to have fun together, & learn about the upcoming years responsibilities. This year, so far there are 5 members of the church on ASB plus the teacher/advisor is Mormon too. They may get 2 more when the freshman have their elections! Along the way, go to the beach(they stayed in San Clemente) and take a Dolphin excursion, eat and play and stay up all night messing around. Don't worry they were accompanied by 5 or 6 adult leaders. On the dolphin excursion they were lucky enough to see many common dolphins but also to see not ONE, but 2 HUMPBACK WHALES and...A BLUE WHALE. One of the humpback whales surfaced for 15-20 minutes! Crazy fun. So then they arrived back to Riverside on the Metrolink at 12:21pm on Thursday, August 7th.

Same day, 2 1/2 hours later; Thursday at 3:00pm arrive at Mike Biggs house again for the three day, two night hike up to San Gorgonio Peak. San Gorgonio is the highest mountain peak in Southern California at 11,499 feet! They took the Vivian Creek trail which is the shortest and steepest route to the summit. Well they camped Thursday night about 2.5 miles up and hiked Friday to the summit and back to the camp which was an 11 mile roundtrip. After resting and eating and setting up camp, it was still daylight and a BEAR came into camp. They scared it away once, then twice and continued to scare it away until Brother Biggs said "This is enough, we can't stay." By then it had gotten dark and they hiked the 2.5 miles down with the help of Jacob's headlamp and other flashlights and headed home, Friday night, August 8th, instead of Saturday after lunch! Here is a link to the pictures of the hike and the video of the bear!

http://www.biggsfamily.net/share/SanGor/SanGor.htm

Thanks for checking in on us!

Tuesday Musings #14

Ok I have been slacking on this because I have found it hard. Not impossible but challenging, which means-I'll get to it! This space dedicated to the topic of...

Rewrite the following classic nursery rhyme as it applies to your life -

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

For example -

For want of a wipe the diaper was lost.
For want of a diaper the errand was lost.
For want of an errand the groceries were lost.

Etc., etc., etc.Your poem can be longer than the original, but try not to make it any shorter.

2008 California Dreamin' A Stadium Spectacular! 7/25 & 7/26

Ok, here is Jacob actually dancing- His group is the first row starting from the left. He is directly behind the first couple at the left and he is facing our way. He is in mid step with his partner, Dara, who is in our ward and has been in Jacob's Primary and Sunday School classes for the past 8 years, I think.

This is like find Waldo but all the kids are dressed the same!

Can you see Jacob? Let's help you a bit. At the very top of the picture, to the right of center, there is a group of guys, a cluster in red shirts with tan pants and you can see their whole bodies, head to toe. Jacob is the one with his back to you and is in full stride ,arm at his side, with one little blond kid in front and one in back of him.

This is during the finale when the youth formed a giant flag on the field.

So it finally came and went, the

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

Dance Festival

This was a multi-stake dance festival. It included ages 12- 18 and each had their own dance. Jacob was (sarcastically) soooo excited to be able to participate. He will probably never admit that it was even a fraction of fun but I think there were some good times. They would practice within their own stakes each week and then for the last month or so they had regional practices at one of the high schools in the area and then a combined group practice and then a dress rehearsal full day practice(6:30 am to carpool there for 7:30 am arrival and returned at 11:30pm that evening), before performing 2 nights in a row during a 2 hour production. It was quite a site to see. There were approx. 3000 youth altogether. It was done to live music by choir, indivual or group plus an orchestra or band.

This is the only close up picture Mike was able to get of of Jacob. He's hard to catch especially with his eyes open!

Tuesday Musings #13 & still going!

List five things that drive you crazy and make you want to go live in a cabin on a mountainside and never see another human being. Then, list five things that make you smile even on the rainiest of days.

DRIVE ME CRAZY

Mean People: no explanation needed.

“Parents”: who have children and treat them like pets OR teach them (by example) that they can do NO WRONG and everyone else is at fault!

Impatient Drivers: I am driving down a 4 lane street (2 lanes each way) and a car pulls out in front of me just as I get within 20 feet of them and I have to break quickly to avoid hitting them in the rear. As I look in my rear view window…not a car in sight for blocks!!!

Store employees: Who seem to have forgotten that I am spending my $$ at their place of employment…THE REASON THEY HAVE A JOB! BUT still cut in front of me to get somewhere fast and practically ignore me when I ask them a question or better yet say “I don’t work in this dept.” and then proceed about what they were “doing” in the first place before you interrupted them.

Grocery & Gas prices: If I lived on a mountain side then I could eat wild berries and grasses plus various small animals I would hunt (ha ha ha) & and not have to drive anywhere to get them either. (I don't have a current picture but...wouldn't you die for this again? notice the date I'd even go for the other one below! Click on it if you can't see the prices)

MAKE ME SMILE
Simple Children’s thinking/misunderstanding- “Kristin, why when you get all wet, you get soaped ?”(quote from a 3 ½ year old)

Air Conditioning

Playing in the rain- I don’t do this so much anymore but when I lived on the east coast it was a blast!

My children all asleep on my bed when I come home from a night out with Mike.
Any night when I say I’ve made dinner and I don’t hear “Ah, I don’t want that! Not that again or I don’t like that!”

Tuesday Musings #12

Question:

Do you regret anything that you have done in your lifetime and if so what?

I was a nanny in NYC at the ripe OLD age of 18 and my family lived in Massachusetts but had recently relocated 2000+ miles away in Riverside, CA where I told my Mom I would never move to. I was going to live in MA. Fast forward a couple of months & the Mom of the family I worked for says, "We are going to Ireland this summer and you can come with us if you like for the 2+ weeks or you can have time off. You'll need to get a passport if you come but I can help you get it." My eighteen year old mind said " Whooo I can go see my family in CA!" (sarcastically-Because I wasn't ever going to live there or anything! ). If I went to California, then I wouldn't have to watch kids for 2 weeks. Sure, I wouldn't get paid but, whooo CARES???

SO, they go off to IRELAND & I go to see my family in Riverside.

Where I have lived for more than 1/2 my life now!

Ahh the narrowminded-ness of youth!

IRELAND

Been there? Well, I could have toured here(for free). I could have kissed the Blarney stone, too.

I could have seen the only inland salt water lake in all of Europe called Lough Hyne, located in Cork, Ireland. Also, free of cost!

Then I would have ordered this lobster for dinner from the English Market in Cork. Yes, for free!

After eating a type of sealife/seafood or marine animal I would have gone to see the city of Youghal, Cork which was the set of the 1954 film, Moby Dick. I might have seen this town with mediaeval walls or checked out the Clock gate completed in 1777 !!!

So, then to add to my cultural enhancement, I might have visited Saint Colman's Cathedral where I would have seen the architecture of Pugin and Ashlin and the largest Carillon in Ireland with 47 bells! Did I mention this would have been FREE?

So I think you can guess what I regret!

Tuesday Musings #11

Well the question is...

Growing up what extra curricular activities did you get to try? Which activity was your favorite and which was your least favorite? If you didn't have an opportunity which do you wish you could of tried? Pictures Please! :)

I took violin lessons through my elementary school at 4th grade through to the 6th grade. It was on Mondays and there were alot of holidays so it eventually petered out and I stopped playing. I wish I had a picture though because the violins they gave to us in 4th grade were like two peices of board(like the brown clipboards with the metal clip) but they were shaped like a violin and played like one.

Next I took piano lessons and this must have been around the same time I was in the middle of violin lessons I think from 5th grade to 7th or 8th I can't remember but I wiggled my way out of that-wish I had NOT done that. No picture unless my Mom has one! Yikes

In 7th-9th grade I got to be part of a school television morning show and eventually was the director my senior year. It was alot of fun and that's what I thought I would do for college because I got to take another class in High school where we filmed, edited, etc. I just found out at college that it was most likely not a great career if you were going to have a fmily and kids!

So I played Basketball in High School. JV my first year and Varsity my junior and senior year. I really liked playing basketball. I scored 22 points in one game, it was in the paper but usually I just scored like 8 or 10 points a game. One of the funniest things I remember is that I was the oldest of 9 kids and sometimes my whole family would come to my games and the girls on my team called me "brady bunch" ( I think that was the biggest family they knew of at the time). The friends I had playing basketball were some the people I would like to hear about or from to see what theyare doing now because I have no idea but if we somehow ever got together again I know it would be...not the same but easy, know what I mean?

Popcorn!

An oldie but a goodie! Sydney was 4 years old when I took these pictures and I never have done anything with them. Looks like now I know what to do! Enjoy...

I Looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree.

Spring has brought me such a nice suprise!

Blossoms popping right before my eyes.

I can take an arm full and make a treat...

a popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.

It wasn't really so...

but it seemed to me...

Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree!!