June 24, 2005
What a crazy weird week we have had! We head for Missouri tomorrow and we desperately need a vacation, I tell ya! We did actually made it through the ordeal of the accident Monday night. It was just our first emergency and scary at that. I did forget in my letter to mention how it happened.
Well, Bob and I ride in the street and we put the kids on the sidewalks on really busy streets. So, she was riding along and realized that the sidewalk in front of her was going to end (turned into a grassy area) so she decided at the last second to go into the street and hit a fire hydrant that she saw too late. She flipped and then slammed her face into the pavement and it even knocked her helmet off!
She is doing so great now. The wounds are healing very nicely and she got the stitches out tonight. The left side of her face around the cheek and jaw have a greenish hue, but hey, hues we can deal with! I am grateful its over, now we just have to wait for the bill-haha!
Tyler also made a grand performance by jumping high out of the van, slipping in a puddle and slamming his forehead to the ground. He received a huge goose egg as a prize. Sheesh!
We found out some funny news. For those of you who read our newsletters, you know we went to Bob’s work party and found it was a real drag. Well, Bob found out WE WERE AT THE WRONG PARTY!!! How embarrassing is that? He recognized a few people and I guess they made the mistake too. But...duh! Then to top off the nonsense, there was supposed to be a huge picnic lunch at the duck pond and the US Marine Corps Military marching band was supposed to play. We went through a stressful morning to get the house packed and cleaned and then pack for the picnic. When we got there, there wasn’t anybody there. Not even the ducks!! So, we took the kids to Thomas park to play while we roasted in the 97 degree heat. (Which I am sure felt hotter since we had to wade through the humidity to get to the picnic bench!) As Bob went to work, he happened to glance at the huge signs saying that they party was cancelled. Ughh!! Maybe he should have looked BEFORE he left. Oh well, it made for fun family time.
Speaking of which, it’s the Cedar Rapids Freedom Fesitval for the next few weeks and they have the coolest stuff going on! Even the beach boys came tonight (but we didn’t go). We did, however, get to see the waterski show. It was the absolute worst show I have ever seen in my life. However, the stunts were really cool. Tyler was so impressed with the program that he spent his whole time playing with hay, bugs, and gravel! Anyway, it was fun.
I took the kids to the free movie this week called "Thunderbirds". It was a pretty fun movie for kids. They fill 4 theaters full of kids for 3 days a week. They show a different movie every week. Hannah and AJ came with us too. Alayna actually watched the whole thing. Of course, it helped that she had a lapful of goodies!
Well, we leave to Missouri for a week, so if you don’t get email from us, thats why. Have a wonderful week and wish us luck!
Love-Kris
Friday, June 24, 2005
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Accident
Boy, what a night have we had! I don't even know where to start. Maybe with the fact that I have had the past 5 hours to think over what a crappy mom I am... It all started with my bright idea that we go for a bike ride. Even though we had all had a long day, I wanted to go. The kids really liked where we biked last week, so we went to our friends house that they are building and they weren't there. Then we went by another family and they weren't there either. Then I told Bob we should go see some other friends and he said that we shouldn't go. But he didn't have a good reason so I talked him into it. It is of course almost 9pm- but it was still bright and everyone was having fun. Our friends were home and we were able to say hi for a few minutes and then we started to head home. It is the busiest street we have ever ridden on as a family and most of it was downhill. I stayed behind with Tyler because he kept falling over and it was getting darker which worried me.
So, we fell behind and I could see Bob and the girls way too far ahead. I became angry because Bob wasn't looking behind to see that we were so far behind. Then as I was riding, I saw these guys on motorcycles take a second look at this pile and then turn around. I looked forward to see a clump of kid and bike and belatedly realized it was my kid. I raced over to find Marisa's face covered in blood and blood strewn along the pavement. She was scared to death and moaning in pain. The kids on the motorcycles were actually our next door neighbors. He happened to have a cell phone so we called 9-1-1. Her face just kept bleeding and became so swollen. I was surprised the ambulance was there probably within 3 minutes of the phone call we made. They put a neck brace on and then tied her to a back board. She was in a lot of pain and they wanted to make sure she was ok.
There was an ambulance, police car, and another one all with their lights on. We caused quite a scene with about 30-40 people watching. I called my friend Joanna and she was there within minutes and took my other 3 kids who were crying, home with her. (Tyler was sobbing saying he didn't want Marisa to die!) I was very composed until I saw her and then became a mess. The people around us were so kind. A man offered his truck to take all the bikes home for us. Bob went with him and I rode in the ambulance. The whole time in the ambulance I was fuming at BOb for leaving her and not looking back to make sure she was safe. She was his responsibility at that point. Then I would look at her strapped down and she her tears streaming down her face and I wanted to scream. By the time we reached the hospital I realized who I was really mad at...me!
We were there from a little after 9pm and got home at 2:30am. They did a CAT scan and then a myriad of Xrays. They were concerned that she had broken her cheek bone, jaw, or a rib. She was very lucky as she came out of this with no broken bones. On the way to the XRAYS we saw our next door neighbor, the Mayor , has been brought into the ER as well. I still don't know what happened to him. She did have 2 lacerations on her cheek and so she got about 10 stitches. The doctor says hopefully the scarring would be minimum. She was upset since we are having a mini Hart reunion next week and she didn't want to be like this. She is very sore and I think she will be more so tomorrow. Her ribs, back, and head hurt really bad and her jaw is hard to move. The doctor said she is so lucky she was wearing her helmet. It was smashed a bit on one side and had blood on it. I took a picture and she looks much better than she did at the hospital, they cleaned off all teh blood before we left. We just got her the medication and she is sound asleep. It is now 3am. Joanna kept the other 3 kids overnight I am scared to go to sleep because a) I am worried about leaving her alone and b) I can't get over what a loser mom I am.
We are so careful with these guys and this was all my fault.
1. We shouldn't have left our neighborhood
2. We shouldn't have been riding at night
3. We should have talked about never separating
etc.
I am just so upset at myself. We try so hard as moms to go through life protecting our children and when they get badly hurt over something that is our fault, it makes it hard to deal with. It could have been so much worse. What if she had been hit by a car? Will I ever feel ok enough for us to go out again? As tears streamed down her face, with her hand covered in blood, she looked at me and said "Why did this have to happen to me?" Someone might as well have kicked me in the gut. I know we can't protect them from everything, but I should have been able to forsee this. Sorry, I am just having a hard time dealing with this. Sorry, grandparents, we didn't call from the ER. We wanted to wait til we had the results of the XRAY and we didn't get them until 2 am.
Must get sleep...
So, we fell behind and I could see Bob and the girls way too far ahead. I became angry because Bob wasn't looking behind to see that we were so far behind. Then as I was riding, I saw these guys on motorcycles take a second look at this pile and then turn around. I looked forward to see a clump of kid and bike and belatedly realized it was my kid. I raced over to find Marisa's face covered in blood and blood strewn along the pavement. She was scared to death and moaning in pain. The kids on the motorcycles were actually our next door neighbors. He happened to have a cell phone so we called 9-1-1. Her face just kept bleeding and became so swollen. I was surprised the ambulance was there probably within 3 minutes of the phone call we made. They put a neck brace on and then tied her to a back board. She was in a lot of pain and they wanted to make sure she was ok.
There was an ambulance, police car, and another one all with their lights on. We caused quite a scene with about 30-40 people watching. I called my friend Joanna and she was there within minutes and took my other 3 kids who were crying, home with her. (Tyler was sobbing saying he didn't want Marisa to die!) I was very composed until I saw her and then became a mess. The people around us were so kind. A man offered his truck to take all the bikes home for us. Bob went with him and I rode in the ambulance. The whole time in the ambulance I was fuming at BOb for leaving her and not looking back to make sure she was safe. She was his responsibility at that point. Then I would look at her strapped down and she her tears streaming down her face and I wanted to scream. By the time we reached the hospital I realized who I was really mad at...me!
We were there from a little after 9pm and got home at 2:30am. They did a CAT scan and then a myriad of Xrays. They were concerned that she had broken her cheek bone, jaw, or a rib. She was very lucky as she came out of this with no broken bones. On the way to the XRAYS we saw our next door neighbor, the Mayor , has been brought into the ER as well. I still don't know what happened to him. She did have 2 lacerations on her cheek and so she got about 10 stitches. The doctor says hopefully the scarring would be minimum. She was upset since we are having a mini Hart reunion next week and she didn't want to be like this. She is very sore and I think she will be more so tomorrow. Her ribs, back, and head hurt really bad and her jaw is hard to move. The doctor said she is so lucky she was wearing her helmet. It was smashed a bit on one side and had blood on it. I took a picture and she looks much better than she did at the hospital, they cleaned off all teh blood before we left. We just got her the medication and she is sound asleep. It is now 3am. Joanna kept the other 3 kids overnight I am scared to go to sleep because a) I am worried about leaving her alone and b) I can't get over what a loser mom I am.
We are so careful with these guys and this was all my fault.
1. We shouldn't have left our neighborhood
2. We shouldn't have been riding at night
3. We should have talked about never separating
etc.
I am just so upset at myself. We try so hard as moms to go through life protecting our children and when they get badly hurt over something that is our fault, it makes it hard to deal with. It could have been so much worse. What if she had been hit by a car? Will I ever feel ok enough for us to go out again? As tears streamed down her face, with her hand covered in blood, she looked at me and said "Why did this have to happen to me?" Someone might as well have kicked me in the gut. I know we can't protect them from everything, but I should have been able to forsee this. Sorry, I am just having a hard time dealing with this. Sorry, grandparents, we didn't call from the ER. We wanted to wait til we had the results of the XRAY and we didn't get them until 2 am.
Must get sleep...
Sunday, June 19, 2005
June 19
June 19, 2005
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!! Well, another week has come and gone. I swear summer is so much busier. I guess it’s good in a way.
On Monday, we watched Olivia and Hannah (neighbors and friends) for several hours because A.J. (The brother) had broken his leg. He came home that afternoon with a bright pink cast. What a sense of humor he has. He is Marisa’s age and will start middle school in August. Maybe pink is the "in" thing? Marisa also started her orchestra lessons and really loved it. She learned how to tune her violin herself and they are working on sight reading. Tyler and Kayla had Taekwondo that night and then we took the kids to go swimming at the YMCA. It’s the first time I have been swimming since I taught watercise in Torrance. It felt odd to be in a swimsuit again. Bob played with the kids while I did laps. I wish I could go that more often. It felt great and there is nothing better than working out when no one can really see you!
On Tuesday, we spent the morning organizing the disaster we call a toy room. We took A LOT of toys out and put them in storage to be taken out only 1 box at a time. We even set up a corner as a school and one as the barbie playland. At least they can make their way into it now. That night I started my yoga class. It’s the first time I have taken an actual yoga class and I loved it!! I selfishly admit that it helped that I was one of the youngest there. However, I have a long way to go before I get some of those moves down. I need to work on getting my flexibility back- as soon as I remember what that is!
Wednesday was extra busy. We decided to do an early Father’s day gift and mowed the backyard. We also weeded the plants, cut down the big weeds on the fence, cleaned up any trash and deep cleaned and organized the shed. It looks so cool now and much easier to function in. (I know...I have issues!) Marisa had orchestra class and the kids had taekwondo. We also went swimming with the Garcia’s to the Y and had so much fun. Alayna is such a character. I put floaties on her and she absolutely REFUSED to have anyone touch her. She just doggie paddled around everyone with this huge grin. Sheesh!
Thursday we spent cleaning out the storage room. (I wanted to get the whole house done so I could relax for the rest of the summer) While I mowed the front lawn, the kids practiced jump roping. I also had my pilates class again where I learned that our teacher had taken it easy on us last week because it was the first week of the season. Boy, was I sore.
On Friday, Marisa had orchestra once again. We were also excited to go attend Bob’s work party. The kids have always loved attending the Alpine ones. This one was so lame! They had food, but nothing else. Even the clown and face painter they promised were AWOL. So, we came home and went on an hour bike ride. We finally decided the kids were good enough to venture out so we went a whole new direction into a new neighborhood to see the new house our friends are building. They are doing all of it and it looked like a daunting task to us. No thank you! Then we all came home and started watching "Little House on the Prairie". We are watching it from season1. The kids love it so far. I have forgotten how sweet and innocent those episodes were. My goodness how TV has changed.
On Saturday, Bob was in charge of the blood drive at church. However, they kept waiting and the red cross never showed. I guess there was a scheduling error so they had to cancel the whole thing. In a way, that was good, because we got more time with Bob. The poor guy! We dragged him around to Sears, Walmart and Sam’s. Then we got the kids a slip and slide and they had an absolute blast in the back yard. That thing makes the heat much more bearable. I didn’t slide, but put my feet in. Maybe I will try next week when I am sure no neighbors are watching! We also watched more "Little House" and watched some of the new Western mini series "Into the West". We had a fun barbeque where we gave Bob his Father’s day present early. We gave him a fun personalized BBQ apron with BBQ tools in it. He was even a good sport and wore the hat for fun. We sure love grilling. We were under our beautiful canopy and enjoyed a lovely evening.
Today we accidently slept in and ran around like nuts to get to church on time. Tyler gave a great talk in primary today. I was asked to help teach the sunbeams. I thought it would be insane, but it was probably one of the most entertaining 2 hours I have had in a while. These kids say the funniest things (they are 3). One had a bug bite on her eye and her whole eye was swollen almost shut. (Her dad was just shipped to Iraq this week for an 18 month tour of duty, so she was sleeping on the floor in her moms room). When I asked what happened she said "A bug ate my eye". Anyway, it was fun. I am teaching them again next month.
Alayna report: We could tell Alayna has been watching "Little Mermaid" too much when at the table, she combed a huge chunk of her hair out of her head with a fork and called it a "dinglehopper". What a silly girl. Then the kids were practicing some of their moves from taekwondo and Tyler turned to Alayna and said with fists in the air "You want a piece of me?" and Alayna put her fists in the air and said " You want a piece of chicken??" We died laughing.
Well, a Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful dads and grandpas out there. We love and miss you all very much! We will be heading to Missouri this coming weekend. We are so excited. So, we won’t have an update on here until we get back July 3rd or so.
Love-The Harts
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!! Well, another week has come and gone. I swear summer is so much busier. I guess it’s good in a way.
On Monday, we watched Olivia and Hannah (neighbors and friends) for several hours because A.J. (The brother) had broken his leg. He came home that afternoon with a bright pink cast. What a sense of humor he has. He is Marisa’s age and will start middle school in August. Maybe pink is the "in" thing? Marisa also started her orchestra lessons and really loved it. She learned how to tune her violin herself and they are working on sight reading. Tyler and Kayla had Taekwondo that night and then we took the kids to go swimming at the YMCA. It’s the first time I have been swimming since I taught watercise in Torrance. It felt odd to be in a swimsuit again. Bob played with the kids while I did laps. I wish I could go that more often. It felt great and there is nothing better than working out when no one can really see you!
On Tuesday, we spent the morning organizing the disaster we call a toy room. We took A LOT of toys out and put them in storage to be taken out only 1 box at a time. We even set up a corner as a school and one as the barbie playland. At least they can make their way into it now. That night I started my yoga class. It’s the first time I have taken an actual yoga class and I loved it!! I selfishly admit that it helped that I was one of the youngest there. However, I have a long way to go before I get some of those moves down. I need to work on getting my flexibility back- as soon as I remember what that is!
Wednesday was extra busy. We decided to do an early Father’s day gift and mowed the backyard. We also weeded the plants, cut down the big weeds on the fence, cleaned up any trash and deep cleaned and organized the shed. It looks so cool now and much easier to function in. (I know...I have issues!) Marisa had orchestra class and the kids had taekwondo. We also went swimming with the Garcia’s to the Y and had so much fun. Alayna is such a character. I put floaties on her and she absolutely REFUSED to have anyone touch her. She just doggie paddled around everyone with this huge grin. Sheesh!
Thursday we spent cleaning out the storage room. (I wanted to get the whole house done so I could relax for the rest of the summer) While I mowed the front lawn, the kids practiced jump roping. I also had my pilates class again where I learned that our teacher had taken it easy on us last week because it was the first week of the season. Boy, was I sore.
On Friday, Marisa had orchestra once again. We were also excited to go attend Bob’s work party. The kids have always loved attending the Alpine ones. This one was so lame! They had food, but nothing else. Even the clown and face painter they promised were AWOL. So, we came home and went on an hour bike ride. We finally decided the kids were good enough to venture out so we went a whole new direction into a new neighborhood to see the new house our friends are building. They are doing all of it and it looked like a daunting task to us. No thank you! Then we all came home and started watching "Little House on the Prairie". We are watching it from season1. The kids love it so far. I have forgotten how sweet and innocent those episodes were. My goodness how TV has changed.
On Saturday, Bob was in charge of the blood drive at church. However, they kept waiting and the red cross never showed. I guess there was a scheduling error so they had to cancel the whole thing. In a way, that was good, because we got more time with Bob. The poor guy! We dragged him around to Sears, Walmart and Sam’s. Then we got the kids a slip and slide and they had an absolute blast in the back yard. That thing makes the heat much more bearable. I didn’t slide, but put my feet in. Maybe I will try next week when I am sure no neighbors are watching! We also watched more "Little House" and watched some of the new Western mini series "Into the West". We had a fun barbeque where we gave Bob his Father’s day present early. We gave him a fun personalized BBQ apron with BBQ tools in it. He was even a good sport and wore the hat for fun. We sure love grilling. We were under our beautiful canopy and enjoyed a lovely evening.
Today we accidently slept in and ran around like nuts to get to church on time. Tyler gave a great talk in primary today. I was asked to help teach the sunbeams. I thought it would be insane, but it was probably one of the most entertaining 2 hours I have had in a while. These kids say the funniest things (they are 3). One had a bug bite on her eye and her whole eye was swollen almost shut. (Her dad was just shipped to Iraq this week for an 18 month tour of duty, so she was sleeping on the floor in her moms room). When I asked what happened she said "A bug ate my eye". Anyway, it was fun. I am teaching them again next month.
Alayna report: We could tell Alayna has been watching "Little Mermaid" too much when at the table, she combed a huge chunk of her hair out of her head with a fork and called it a "dinglehopper". What a silly girl. Then the kids were practicing some of their moves from taekwondo and Tyler turned to Alayna and said with fists in the air "You want a piece of me?" and Alayna put her fists in the air and said " You want a piece of chicken??" We died laughing.
Well, a Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful dads and grandpas out there. We love and miss you all very much! We will be heading to Missouri this coming weekend. We are so excited. So, we won’t have an update on here until we get back July 3rd or so.
Love-The Harts
Sunday, June 12, 2005
June 12, 2005-Its a long one
June 12, 2005
Yesterday was "one of those days" where you feel like everything goes wrong and wonder how it happened. It actually started about a week ago. It was slightly breezy outside and I didn’t take down the umbrella on our deck table. So, the umbrella flew out shattering the glass table into millions of pieces. It took us quite a while to clean all that glass up. A lot slipped through the deck into the rocks below. We will have to clean that at another time. Anyway, we have been trying to work with Walmart on getting a new table and were having a terrible time. Corey and Hal came up Friday and Corey and I were finally able to go to Walmart to get it replaced! While there, we saw this really cool canopy that we thought would go great on the deck and would keep out the heat of the sun from our kitchen- if we had only known what would happen ...
Fast forward to Saturday. Corey and Tyler spent hours in the morning putting together the canopy and the table. It looked so awesome. We were having a tough time deciding how to arrange it all so it would be perfect out there. So, we decided to wait until Hal and Bob came home from playing in the Stake golf tournament. In the meantime, the wind started to blow. I didn’t worry because the umbrella was down. (I’m not that stupid! Plus I bought an umbrella stand- this really adorable frog....anyway..) I spent the morning cleaning the house in a frenzy while people were there to entertain Alayna. I heard a horrendous scraping noise and was just about to yell at one of the kids for it when I realized the canopy was gone. I ran outside to find the canopy had not only blown off the deck, but had propelled itself onto the roof!!! I hollered at Corey to come quick. I ended up laughing hard, she didn’t think it was so funny. We tried to get it down and succeeded in knocking the dish network which knocked out all the TV channels! So, while we waited for the men, we did many loads of laundry and mopped the floors.
It ended up taking Hal and Bob some time to fix the dish network. We even had to borrow a ladder from the mayor. Oh, how embarrassing! Then they set to fixing the canopy which was a mess. A pole had broken and many were bent. So, they went to the store to get something to fix the broken pole. While they did that, Tyler and I went to do the two week shopping trip. It took a long time, but we had so much fun. He is quite a character with a lot of things to say. We decided to do drive up where they load your groceries in the car. So we went out to the car and when we got home, I told the kids to come help me unload and they said " Mom, there aren’t any groceries back here!!". I had left them at the store!!! What a dork! I raced back and the young men was kind enough not to make fun of my stupidity! We came home and had a fun barbeque. However, Bob and Hal weren’t able to find 2 of the poles to the canopy. We searched EVERYWHERE! We even offered the kids money if they could find it.
So, Bob, Hal and the kids went to Hawkeye downs (the local race track). They were racing school buses and mini vans, etc. (The people at the track did, not our kids) They even got to go on carnival rides and they had a blast!! Meanwhile, Corey, Alayna and I stayed home since Alayna doesn’t do well in public right now (will explain incidents later) and the heat was almost unbearable. Later that evening. I even searched everything I could possibly think of and still no poles. Alayna went on our search as well and was very upset that we didn’t find any polar bears. I guess I wasn’t specific enough as to what we were looking for!!
Last night as I slept, I kept thinking the only place it could be was the gutters on the house. People said they checked there, but there was no other logical place. So, early this morning we checked the gutters and guess what?? We found the poles in the gutters! So, we hiked up Kayla in her dress and she got them. Now we finally have our canopy and all is well. I tell ya, if you are ever looking for adventure, this is the place you want to come visit. Our home is non stop fun!!
Well, we had an extremely busy week. Our summer seems to be 10 times busier than the school year was. I am sure that has to do with the kids all being home and I feel like I must clean every second of the day. So not cool!
The weather here has been awful. It has been in the lower 90's and packed full of humidity. Thank heavens we have air conditioning and a de-humidifier (I didn’t even know there was such a thing!). I am not sure which is worse, this or the below 0 temperatures! Look a me complaining-sheesh! It’s just that you take a shower, walk outside and within minutes are dripping and feel like you took another, but it isn’t refreshing. We heard Logan got snow last week. What is up with that?? Anyway...
Kayla did jump rope camp this week. It is with the jump rope team that travels here and performs called the "Iowa Skippers". She and her friend Olivia went Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:00-11:30! Hal and Corey were able to come up for the performance on Friday. First, she learned so many new cool tricks. I was truly amazed and she loved every minute of the camp. Then they had the actual Skippers perform and I was in awe! I couldn’t believe all the cool stuff they could do. It was a great performance. They taught the kids the main routine and told them if they really practiced hard and learned all the tricks and the routine, that they could audition for the team next summer. They take kids as young as second grade. So, Kayla is really motivated and Tyler and Marisa love doing it as well. So, we have been outside several times this week (even with the double dutch ropes) all jumping and having fun. Yes, even Bob and I were jumping. I am proud to say I can still do some tricks from my old days. So, now we are adding that to our bike riding.
This week, Marisa starts orchestra camp and she takes 3 days a week with the high school conductor and all kids going into 6,7, and 8th grade that signed up. I think it will be really good for her since she loves it so much. Plus, it will get her off the stinkin’ couch. I swear she is acting like a teenager already!
Tyler and Kayla started Taekwondo at the YMCA this week. I was concerned at first since it was the Y, that the class might not be all that great. I was so wrong. They are actually a satellite of Kim’s Taekwondo studio. They have an amazing teacher who is a 4th degree black belt. He can try for the next degree every 5 years and is going next week to San Antonio to try for the next one. So, that is exciting. He is about 25. He had about 5 other black belt adults there to help teach the kids. His class was so disciplined, very much like ballet. He commanded respect and got it, but did it with love. I was very impressed with him. The kids LOVE the class. The last 15 minutes, about 15 kids that are black belts come in and pair up with the new kids to do blocking techniques. What a cool learning opportunity! Anyway, they are excited about it. In July, if the pass the orientation, they can move to the beginners class and get a uniform.
I started my pilates class at the YMCA this week. I am always nervous about starting a new class. Especially when I don’t look the way I used to. I am sure when I tell people here that I used to be a dancer, they go home and laugh hard. Anyway, I loved the class, but hated the fact that it was full of older teens and young college students who looked like I used to. I was in the back, surrounded my mirrors, and looked like an ameba as I moved on the mat, praying no one would look back and notice me. I hate feeling and looking like a blob despite the work I put into changing it (makes me livid but that is a whole different story). After class I tried to sneak away without being noticed, when the teacher asked me in front of everyone if I had taken pilates before, to which I replied yes. Then mentioned I used to be a dancer and she asked where. I drew a blank and my face was bright red. Am I a dork or what? I did mention in Texas- what a dumb answer that was. I am sure those girls were wondering just what kind of dancing I did. "Could she have been one of those dancing hippos on Fantasia?" Yep, people, that was me...
The newsletter is never complete without some Alayna stories, huh? We have been desperately trying to potty train her this week. It is a total nightmare. Have I ever mentioned how much I detest potty training? We try stickers, fun privileges, even just bought new Dora underwear. The more we try, the more she seems to resist. One day, when I was downstairs cleaning out Marisa’s closet, she pooped upstairs. She pooped in the hall, then stepped in it and walked through the carpet and pooped some more. Then she went and got the toilet scrubber and proceeded to smash the poop into the carpet. Can’t tell you how hard that was to clean up! Some of you may say she is not ready, well, she is almost 3 and she has to be potty trained to go to preschool in August - so it is gonna happen whether she likes it or not!! She also went out one day to play and discovered that if you add water to sand it will make mud. And oh, what a discovery that was! She covered herself and her hair. Twice! What a mess that was to clean up. She has also started throwing temper tantrums in public, one of my worst nightmares. We actually went out to dinner this week and she was awful. She ended up being so bad, that I had to take her to the car and sit there while she screamed her head off and kicked the chair in front. It infuriates me. We put her in time out here at home when she throws one. Why don’t these kids each come with their own manual? Well, we love her anyway.
Well, is that one crazy week or what? We even fit in a fun trip to Chuck E Cheese with my friend, Beth Hill, from Iowa City. We also watched "The Gods Must be Crazy" with the kids. We laughed so hard. I haven’t seen that movie in such a long time. Anyway, I guess that sums us up for the week. Our love to you all!
Yesterday was "one of those days" where you feel like everything goes wrong and wonder how it happened. It actually started about a week ago. It was slightly breezy outside and I didn’t take down the umbrella on our deck table. So, the umbrella flew out shattering the glass table into millions of pieces. It took us quite a while to clean all that glass up. A lot slipped through the deck into the rocks below. We will have to clean that at another time. Anyway, we have been trying to work with Walmart on getting a new table and were having a terrible time. Corey and Hal came up Friday and Corey and I were finally able to go to Walmart to get it replaced! While there, we saw this really cool canopy that we thought would go great on the deck and would keep out the heat of the sun from our kitchen- if we had only known what would happen ...
Fast forward to Saturday. Corey and Tyler spent hours in the morning putting together the canopy and the table. It looked so awesome. We were having a tough time deciding how to arrange it all so it would be perfect out there. So, we decided to wait until Hal and Bob came home from playing in the Stake golf tournament. In the meantime, the wind started to blow. I didn’t worry because the umbrella was down. (I’m not that stupid! Plus I bought an umbrella stand- this really adorable frog....anyway..) I spent the morning cleaning the house in a frenzy while people were there to entertain Alayna. I heard a horrendous scraping noise and was just about to yell at one of the kids for it when I realized the canopy was gone. I ran outside to find the canopy had not only blown off the deck, but had propelled itself onto the roof!!! I hollered at Corey to come quick. I ended up laughing hard, she didn’t think it was so funny. We tried to get it down and succeeded in knocking the dish network which knocked out all the TV channels! So, while we waited for the men, we did many loads of laundry and mopped the floors.
It ended up taking Hal and Bob some time to fix the dish network. We even had to borrow a ladder from the mayor. Oh, how embarrassing! Then they set to fixing the canopy which was a mess. A pole had broken and many were bent. So, they went to the store to get something to fix the broken pole. While they did that, Tyler and I went to do the two week shopping trip. It took a long time, but we had so much fun. He is quite a character with a lot of things to say. We decided to do drive up where they load your groceries in the car. So we went out to the car and when we got home, I told the kids to come help me unload and they said " Mom, there aren’t any groceries back here!!". I had left them at the store!!! What a dork! I raced back and the young men was kind enough not to make fun of my stupidity! We came home and had a fun barbeque. However, Bob and Hal weren’t able to find 2 of the poles to the canopy. We searched EVERYWHERE! We even offered the kids money if they could find it.
So, Bob, Hal and the kids went to Hawkeye downs (the local race track). They were racing school buses and mini vans, etc. (The people at the track did, not our kids) They even got to go on carnival rides and they had a blast!! Meanwhile, Corey, Alayna and I stayed home since Alayna doesn’t do well in public right now (will explain incidents later) and the heat was almost unbearable. Later that evening. I even searched everything I could possibly think of and still no poles. Alayna went on our search as well and was very upset that we didn’t find any polar bears. I guess I wasn’t specific enough as to what we were looking for!!
Last night as I slept, I kept thinking the only place it could be was the gutters on the house. People said they checked there, but there was no other logical place. So, early this morning we checked the gutters and guess what?? We found the poles in the gutters! So, we hiked up Kayla in her dress and she got them. Now we finally have our canopy and all is well. I tell ya, if you are ever looking for adventure, this is the place you want to come visit. Our home is non stop fun!!
Well, we had an extremely busy week. Our summer seems to be 10 times busier than the school year was. I am sure that has to do with the kids all being home and I feel like I must clean every second of the day. So not cool!
The weather here has been awful. It has been in the lower 90's and packed full of humidity. Thank heavens we have air conditioning and a de-humidifier (I didn’t even know there was such a thing!). I am not sure which is worse, this or the below 0 temperatures! Look a me complaining-sheesh! It’s just that you take a shower, walk outside and within minutes are dripping and feel like you took another, but it isn’t refreshing. We heard Logan got snow last week. What is up with that?? Anyway...
Kayla did jump rope camp this week. It is with the jump rope team that travels here and performs called the "Iowa Skippers". She and her friend Olivia went Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:00-11:30! Hal and Corey were able to come up for the performance on Friday. First, she learned so many new cool tricks. I was truly amazed and she loved every minute of the camp. Then they had the actual Skippers perform and I was in awe! I couldn’t believe all the cool stuff they could do. It was a great performance. They taught the kids the main routine and told them if they really practiced hard and learned all the tricks and the routine, that they could audition for the team next summer. They take kids as young as second grade. So, Kayla is really motivated and Tyler and Marisa love doing it as well. So, we have been outside several times this week (even with the double dutch ropes) all jumping and having fun. Yes, even Bob and I were jumping. I am proud to say I can still do some tricks from my old days. So, now we are adding that to our bike riding.
This week, Marisa starts orchestra camp and she takes 3 days a week with the high school conductor and all kids going into 6,7, and 8th grade that signed up. I think it will be really good for her since she loves it so much. Plus, it will get her off the stinkin’ couch. I swear she is acting like a teenager already!
Tyler and Kayla started Taekwondo at the YMCA this week. I was concerned at first since it was the Y, that the class might not be all that great. I was so wrong. They are actually a satellite of Kim’s Taekwondo studio. They have an amazing teacher who is a 4th degree black belt. He can try for the next degree every 5 years and is going next week to San Antonio to try for the next one. So, that is exciting. He is about 25. He had about 5 other black belt adults there to help teach the kids. His class was so disciplined, very much like ballet. He commanded respect and got it, but did it with love. I was very impressed with him. The kids LOVE the class. The last 15 minutes, about 15 kids that are black belts come in and pair up with the new kids to do blocking techniques. What a cool learning opportunity! Anyway, they are excited about it. In July, if the pass the orientation, they can move to the beginners class and get a uniform.
I started my pilates class at the YMCA this week. I am always nervous about starting a new class. Especially when I don’t look the way I used to. I am sure when I tell people here that I used to be a dancer, they go home and laugh hard. Anyway, I loved the class, but hated the fact that it was full of older teens and young college students who looked like I used to. I was in the back, surrounded my mirrors, and looked like an ameba as I moved on the mat, praying no one would look back and notice me. I hate feeling and looking like a blob despite the work I put into changing it (makes me livid but that is a whole different story). After class I tried to sneak away without being noticed, when the teacher asked me in front of everyone if I had taken pilates before, to which I replied yes. Then mentioned I used to be a dancer and she asked where. I drew a blank and my face was bright red. Am I a dork or what? I did mention in Texas- what a dumb answer that was. I am sure those girls were wondering just what kind of dancing I did. "Could she have been one of those dancing hippos on Fantasia?" Yep, people, that was me...
The newsletter is never complete without some Alayna stories, huh? We have been desperately trying to potty train her this week. It is a total nightmare. Have I ever mentioned how much I detest potty training? We try stickers, fun privileges, even just bought new Dora underwear. The more we try, the more she seems to resist. One day, when I was downstairs cleaning out Marisa’s closet, she pooped upstairs. She pooped in the hall, then stepped in it and walked through the carpet and pooped some more. Then she went and got the toilet scrubber and proceeded to smash the poop into the carpet. Can’t tell you how hard that was to clean up! Some of you may say she is not ready, well, she is almost 3 and she has to be potty trained to go to preschool in August - so it is gonna happen whether she likes it or not!! She also went out one day to play and discovered that if you add water to sand it will make mud. And oh, what a discovery that was! She covered herself and her hair. Twice! What a mess that was to clean up. She has also started throwing temper tantrums in public, one of my worst nightmares. We actually went out to dinner this week and she was awful. She ended up being so bad, that I had to take her to the car and sit there while she screamed her head off and kicked the chair in front. It infuriates me. We put her in time out here at home when she throws one. Why don’t these kids each come with their own manual? Well, we love her anyway.
Well, is that one crazy week or what? We even fit in a fun trip to Chuck E Cheese with my friend, Beth Hill, from Iowa City. We also watched "The Gods Must be Crazy" with the kids. We laughed so hard. I haven’t seen that movie in such a long time. Anyway, I guess that sums us up for the week. Our love to you all!
Sunday, June 05, 2005
School is over! June 5, 2005
June 5, 2005
We made it! School is officially over and our summer fun has begun! The kids had a great last week of school and are excited to have a break. They came home with glowing report cards and I am so proud of them. After school the Garcia’s came over. A.J. and Marisa played computer games (star wars) and the rest changed into swim suits and played outside in the sprinklers. They all had a great time. That evening we took the kids out to dinner at Fazoli’s to celebrate the end of school, and then out to get frozen custard. What a fun evening.
The Garcia’s also came over on Saturday and did the same thing. We also did all our Saturday chores including 8 loads of laundry. I think I may start assigning that out! It was a good day and Bob has even started feeling better. He does have an appt with the doctor tomorrow, so we will see what he says.
Today I taught Marisa’s primary class. After sacrament, I went to the restroom and found her teacher in there sobbing. When I asked if she was ok, she broke down saying she was cramping and afraid she would lose her baby. She has had several miscarriages, but is now 10 weeks along and scared to death. This will be her first. She said she would go home after church and call her dr. I told her to go home now and I took her class. (The doctor said it was probably just her uterus stretching, but they are taking her in for an emergency ultrasound in the morning to make sure). Anyway, Marisa’s class was so fun and I think I did a pretty good job of winging the lesson, if I do say so myself.
We had a sever thunderstorm last night that kept me up til 1am. The thunder was so loud it actually shook the house. It also poured down rain and the lightning lit up our room like it was midday. I haven’t seen a storm like that in a long time. It was cool, but didn’t help me get any sleep.
We have lost of fun things planned this week that I will write about next Sunday. We hope all of you are doing well. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
The Harts
We made it! School is officially over and our summer fun has begun! The kids had a great last week of school and are excited to have a break. They came home with glowing report cards and I am so proud of them. After school the Garcia’s came over. A.J. and Marisa played computer games (star wars) and the rest changed into swim suits and played outside in the sprinklers. They all had a great time. That evening we took the kids out to dinner at Fazoli’s to celebrate the end of school, and then out to get frozen custard. What a fun evening.
The Garcia’s also came over on Saturday and did the same thing. We also did all our Saturday chores including 8 loads of laundry. I think I may start assigning that out! It was a good day and Bob has even started feeling better. He does have an appt with the doctor tomorrow, so we will see what he says.
Today I taught Marisa’s primary class. After sacrament, I went to the restroom and found her teacher in there sobbing. When I asked if she was ok, she broke down saying she was cramping and afraid she would lose her baby. She has had several miscarriages, but is now 10 weeks along and scared to death. This will be her first. She said she would go home after church and call her dr. I told her to go home now and I took her class. (The doctor said it was probably just her uterus stretching, but they are taking her in for an emergency ultrasound in the morning to make sure). Anyway, Marisa’s class was so fun and I think I did a pretty good job of winging the lesson, if I do say so myself.
We had a sever thunderstorm last night that kept me up til 1am. The thunder was so loud it actually shook the house. It also poured down rain and the lightning lit up our room like it was midday. I haven’t seen a storm like that in a long time. It was cool, but didn’t help me get any sleep.
We have lost of fun things planned this week that I will write about next Sunday. We hope all of you are doing well. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
The Harts
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
June 1
June 1, 2005
You can tell it was a crazy week as it has taken me until Wednesday to get our weekly newsletter up! This coming week is bitter sweet as the kids finish up school on Friday. In many ways, I am happy, no waking up at 6:30 every morning! Someways I am sad, it can make for very long days. However, we have some VERY fun stuff planned out! We just joined the YMCA this week. It is much smaller than the one in Cali we used to go to. But, now I will have a place to take the kids swimming over the summer. Plus, Kayla and Tyler start karate next week and Kayla also is taking a jump rope summer camp with the Iowa skippers for 3 days. Then the next week Marisa starts her orchestra camp. They also have a theater that shows free kids movies all summer. So, we plan to have a blast!
We had a fun Memorial Day. We made a slide show of the pics we took, but I guess most of you weren’t able to access it. We will keep trying. Anyway, it was an Elder’s Quorum party up in the Palisades park only about 20 minutes from here. We had a huge bbq picnic. Everyone played lots of games. There were also hiking trails. You can even canoe in the rapids (which we didn’t do-too many people) Then we came home and had a very relaxing and fun evening.
We have still been bike riding almost everyday. Tyler can now ride without crashing and can even stand up on his bike. Kayla can now ride without using her hands. These guys have come a long way and it has been lots of fun to go out each day. All our plants have been growing so beautifully. I just found a blossom on a tomato plant, plus my roses are blooming. It’s exciting stuff!
Bob has been sick now for almost 2 weeks. He had quite a severe sinus and ear infection. He has had constant ringing in his ears. I think maybe he needs to go in again. I think the midwest doesn’t sit well with him!
I took Marisa shopping with her birthday money and after several hours, we found some very cute stuff. She really needed some new clothes- she is just growing too fast. It was fun to g o out together. Tyler had a fun school trip to the park and we got to go eat lunch with him that day. Alayna took off to the playground and played non stop with the first graders til we left. She is so ready to be in school. We start her in preschool in August. Kayla had a cool day at school yesterday. It was pioneer day. So, they dressed like pioneers, had pioneer lunches, games, etc. She said it was very fun. Marisa aced the transition math for middle school so now we have a meeting next week to decide which math class to put her in.
Well, I guess that’s it for our weekly report- more news on Sunday.
You can tell it was a crazy week as it has taken me until Wednesday to get our weekly newsletter up! This coming week is bitter sweet as the kids finish up school on Friday. In many ways, I am happy, no waking up at 6:30 every morning! Someways I am sad, it can make for very long days. However, we have some VERY fun stuff planned out! We just joined the YMCA this week. It is much smaller than the one in Cali we used to go to. But, now I will have a place to take the kids swimming over the summer. Plus, Kayla and Tyler start karate next week and Kayla also is taking a jump rope summer camp with the Iowa skippers for 3 days. Then the next week Marisa starts her orchestra camp. They also have a theater that shows free kids movies all summer. So, we plan to have a blast!
We had a fun Memorial Day. We made a slide show of the pics we took, but I guess most of you weren’t able to access it. We will keep trying. Anyway, it was an Elder’s Quorum party up in the Palisades park only about 20 minutes from here. We had a huge bbq picnic. Everyone played lots of games. There were also hiking trails. You can even canoe in the rapids (which we didn’t do-too many people) Then we came home and had a very relaxing and fun evening.
We have still been bike riding almost everyday. Tyler can now ride without crashing and can even stand up on his bike. Kayla can now ride without using her hands. These guys have come a long way and it has been lots of fun to go out each day. All our plants have been growing so beautifully. I just found a blossom on a tomato plant, plus my roses are blooming. It’s exciting stuff!
Bob has been sick now for almost 2 weeks. He had quite a severe sinus and ear infection. He has had constant ringing in his ears. I think maybe he needs to go in again. I think the midwest doesn’t sit well with him!
I took Marisa shopping with her birthday money and after several hours, we found some very cute stuff. She really needed some new clothes- she is just growing too fast. It was fun to g o out together. Tyler had a fun school trip to the park and we got to go eat lunch with him that day. Alayna took off to the playground and played non stop with the first graders til we left. She is so ready to be in school. We start her in preschool in August. Kayla had a cool day at school yesterday. It was pioneer day. So, they dressed like pioneers, had pioneer lunches, games, etc. She said it was very fun. Marisa aced the transition math for middle school so now we have a meeting next week to decide which math class to put her in.
Well, I guess that’s it for our weekly report- more news on Sunday.
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