Sunday, March 30, 2008
Harry Potter and BBQing in the snow
March 30, 2008
Marisa and Kayla were invited to an all night Harry Potter party this weekend. They stayed up all night watching all 5 movies in a row and playing guitar hero in between movies. They had so much fun, but were dead tired when they came home. This coming weekend, Marisa has been invited to a Mystery over-nighter at a friends house from school. She is pretty excited about that as well.
Marisa got her braces off this week (yea- freedom!!) And she got her new retainer. She can barely speak with it, but happy to have the braces off. She started tennis team this week. They cancelled practice on Monday because of snow and ice on the courts, but it was melted enough to start practice on Tuesday. She is starting out ranked 5th place over all the 7th and 8th grade girls in both middle schools. That is quite an accomplishment!!
Kayla had her birthday this week and turned the terrific age of 12! Today is her first day in YW. She requested steak for her birthday dinner. So, we ended up BBQing steak in a huge freak snow storm that hit. I’ll post some pictures. Anyway, her Battle of the Books team had their last competition on Wednesday and they won!!! They beat every team in the whole school and are the first 6th grade team to have ever won!! Pretty cool! Kayla also had her culture fair for her world languages class. She did hers on Italy. They had to make a big display board and then bring authentic food for people to try. We stayed up the night before making Italian butter cookies which were a huge hit. As you can see, Kayla has had a very busy week.
Tyler and Alayna had a sock hop at school on Friday to celebrate reading week. They also had a “read and feed” day, “drop and feed” day, etc. They had a very fun week. Alayna has become a reading fiend and begs us to read to her or listen to her read all the time. She especially likes to read with her daddy.
I have had an incredibly busy week as well. I was called in early to sub Tuesday morning. When I got there they also asked me to sub for a teacher (Mrs Alexander) for the next week. I said sure. Mrs. Alexander’s daughter was in a severe car accident over spring break and part of the car rammed into her upper thigh and broke her leg. They had to take her in for surgery to put a rod in her thigh and do a muscle and skin graft. To top it off, she is 8 months pregnant, so they are doing everything they can to keep the baby inside and safe. But that means her daughter has to go with very little pain medication. Anyway, I am subbing her class 3 days this week, then Tylers the last 2. Then next week I sub for Kayla’s math teacher for 2 weeks who is going for surgery. The school also said Mrs Alexander is considering taking the remainder of the year off and asked if she did, would I be willing to take over for the remainder of the year. I said “of course”. So, we should find out in the next week if I will be doing that. Bob has also had a busy week since his work has now asked them to start working overtime until October with no pay. That makes me so mad. That is one of the main reasons we left LA. Bob is very frustrated by it as well.
Tonight we sign up Marisa for seminary and youth conference and both girls for girls camp. This coming summer is going to be crazy busy. I was down with a migraine and sick tummy over the weekend. I just hope I feel better by tomorrow because I cant miss school. A special CONGRATULATIONS to Missy and Clark on their new gorgeous baby girl!! Ribera’s- we hope all went well with the performances of the Messiah and look forward to hearing all about them. Well, I guess that sums up our week, we look forward to hearing from you!
Marisa and Kayla were invited to an all night Harry Potter party this weekend. They stayed up all night watching all 5 movies in a row and playing guitar hero in between movies. They had so much fun, but were dead tired when they came home. This coming weekend, Marisa has been invited to a Mystery over-nighter at a friends house from school. She is pretty excited about that as well.
Marisa got her braces off this week (yea- freedom!!) And she got her new retainer. She can barely speak with it, but happy to have the braces off. She started tennis team this week. They cancelled practice on Monday because of snow and ice on the courts, but it was melted enough to start practice on Tuesday. She is starting out ranked 5th place over all the 7th and 8th grade girls in both middle schools. That is quite an accomplishment!!
Kayla had her birthday this week and turned the terrific age of 12! Today is her first day in YW. She requested steak for her birthday dinner. So, we ended up BBQing steak in a huge freak snow storm that hit. I’ll post some pictures. Anyway, her Battle of the Books team had their last competition on Wednesday and they won!!! They beat every team in the whole school and are the first 6th grade team to have ever won!! Pretty cool! Kayla also had her culture fair for her world languages class. She did hers on Italy. They had to make a big display board and then bring authentic food for people to try. We stayed up the night before making Italian butter cookies which were a huge hit. As you can see, Kayla has had a very busy week.
Tyler and Alayna had a sock hop at school on Friday to celebrate reading week. They also had a “read and feed” day, “drop and feed” day, etc. They had a very fun week. Alayna has become a reading fiend and begs us to read to her or listen to her read all the time. She especially likes to read with her daddy.
I have had an incredibly busy week as well. I was called in early to sub Tuesday morning. When I got there they also asked me to sub for a teacher (Mrs Alexander) for the next week. I said sure. Mrs. Alexander’s daughter was in a severe car accident over spring break and part of the car rammed into her upper thigh and broke her leg. They had to take her in for surgery to put a rod in her thigh and do a muscle and skin graft. To top it off, she is 8 months pregnant, so they are doing everything they can to keep the baby inside and safe. But that means her daughter has to go with very little pain medication. Anyway, I am subbing her class 3 days this week, then Tylers the last 2. Then next week I sub for Kayla’s math teacher for 2 weeks who is going for surgery. The school also said Mrs Alexander is considering taking the remainder of the year off and asked if she did, would I be willing to take over for the remainder of the year. I said “of course”. So, we should find out in the next week if I will be doing that. Bob has also had a busy week since his work has now asked them to start working overtime until October with no pay. That makes me so mad. That is one of the main reasons we left LA. Bob is very frustrated by it as well.
Tonight we sign up Marisa for seminary and youth conference and both girls for girls camp. This coming summer is going to be crazy busy. I was down with a migraine and sick tummy over the weekend. I just hope I feel better by tomorrow because I cant miss school. A special CONGRATULATIONS to Missy and Clark on their new gorgeous baby girl!! Ribera’s- we hope all went well with the performances of the Messiah and look forward to hearing all about them. Well, I guess that sums up our week, we look forward to hearing from you!
Friday, March 28, 2008
March 26 - Pictures
Sunday, March 23, 2008
I’m dreaming of a white…Easter??
March 23, 2008
I know my posts are not doing much to convince any of you to move to Iowa, but this could be my first Easter in a snowstorm. I am amazed the Easter bunny found us! I didn’t get a newsletter up last week, but hopefully you were able to see the concerts we posted.
Previous week update:
Kayla’s Battle of the Books team won again. If they win Wednesday, they win overall for the whole school! Her band had their concert (it had been rescheduled 3 times due to weather!) We posted some of the concert on the blog. I know you can’t see her too well, but she is in the clarinet section.
Marisa had her violin concert; we posted it on our blog. I thought she did a very nice job. (Grandpa Ribera, Marisa would like the violin music for the Messiah so she can start practicing) She also had her big NHD showcase. It was so funny- every time she went to demonstrate the guillotine, a huge crowd gathered. Then you would hear all these “ooohs” and “ahhhs”. She did an excellent job and had the option to go to Regionals, but she would have had to spend her entire Spring Break working on it and she just wasn’t willing to do that. I can’t blame her, she needed the break. We will post a video with her explaining the project and demonstrating the guillotine for you (pretty cool.)
I took a grammar final from you know where. It was 2 hours, 19 pages, all hand written. It was B-R-U-T-A-L!!! I am so glad to have it done. My professor is very slow so I still don’t know how I did or even if I have everything done for the class that I need to. When this endorsement is in ink, I will have one heck of a party!!
This week update:
We had a fun St. Patrick’s Day. The kids made green French toast and green eggs. They looked pretty nasty, almost moldy, but tasted delicious.
This week was Spring Break. I went into my usual “spring cleaning” mode, which interpreted means “complete insanity of deep cleaning and deep organizing.” (Ask our kids- they can tell you what those mean!) However, I have found that I just don’t have the stamina anymore to accomplish what I used to. My cabin-fever kids were cooped up in the 32° and I swear could have given the WWF a run for their money. I swear when the weather gets warm, I am locking them outside for 24 hours!
We celebrated Kayla’s birthday this week, since we could stay out late! We went to Planet X. She invited a few friends along. We did laser tag, miniature golf, bumper cars, arcade games, etc. We all had such a great time. Maybe I can talk her into taking a few minutes to tell all about it. Anyway, she had a horse cake and got some fun presents including a new sleeping bag for girls camp! She actually turns 12 this week on the 26th!
Marisa is supposed to start tennis team tomorrow. I guess we will see if the snow melts off the courts. I guess that is a quick update of our past couple of weeks. We hope everyone has a HAPPY EASTER and hope to get updates on EVERY family this week.
I know my posts are not doing much to convince any of you to move to Iowa, but this could be my first Easter in a snowstorm. I am amazed the Easter bunny found us! I didn’t get a newsletter up last week, but hopefully you were able to see the concerts we posted.
Previous week update:
Kayla’s Battle of the Books team won again. If they win Wednesday, they win overall for the whole school! Her band had their concert (it had been rescheduled 3 times due to weather!) We posted some of the concert on the blog. I know you can’t see her too well, but she is in the clarinet section.
Marisa had her violin concert; we posted it on our blog. I thought she did a very nice job. (Grandpa Ribera, Marisa would like the violin music for the Messiah so she can start practicing) She also had her big NHD showcase. It was so funny- every time she went to demonstrate the guillotine, a huge crowd gathered. Then you would hear all these “ooohs” and “ahhhs”. She did an excellent job and had the option to go to Regionals, but she would have had to spend her entire Spring Break working on it and she just wasn’t willing to do that. I can’t blame her, she needed the break. We will post a video with her explaining the project and demonstrating the guillotine for you (pretty cool.)
I took a grammar final from you know where. It was 2 hours, 19 pages, all hand written. It was B-R-U-T-A-L!!! I am so glad to have it done. My professor is very slow so I still don’t know how I did or even if I have everything done for the class that I need to. When this endorsement is in ink, I will have one heck of a party!!
This week update:
We had a fun St. Patrick’s Day. The kids made green French toast and green eggs. They looked pretty nasty, almost moldy, but tasted delicious.
This week was Spring Break. I went into my usual “spring cleaning” mode, which interpreted means “complete insanity of deep cleaning and deep organizing.” (Ask our kids- they can tell you what those mean!) However, I have found that I just don’t have the stamina anymore to accomplish what I used to. My cabin-fever kids were cooped up in the 32° and I swear could have given the WWF a run for their money. I swear when the weather gets warm, I am locking them outside for 24 hours!
We celebrated Kayla’s birthday this week, since we could stay out late! We went to Planet X. She invited a few friends along. We did laser tag, miniature golf, bumper cars, arcade games, etc. We all had such a great time. Maybe I can talk her into taking a few minutes to tell all about it. Anyway, she had a horse cake and got some fun presents including a new sleeping bag for girls camp! She actually turns 12 this week on the 26th!
Marisa is supposed to start tennis team tomorrow. I guess we will see if the snow melts off the courts. I guess that is a quick update of our past couple of weeks. We hope everyone has a HAPPY EASTER and hope to get updates on EVERY family this week.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Pictures of the week
Marisa and Kayla at "New Beginnings"
Kayla and Jan making "Snowballs"
The final snowballs
Having a BBQ in the snow
Alayna the Princess
Stupid Computers and Snowballs
March 9, 2008
I will start out this week by saying sometimes I hate technology. I really do. I remember the first time we bought a computer. Marisa was a bout a week old. It must have taken 6 months for Bob to talk me into getting an e-mail address. I didn’t trust the new technology and I wanted nothing to do with it. Through the years, emailing has become almost my only communication tool. Last year, for Christmas, Bob bought me a laptop. I have had so much fun with it. Bob kept trying to get me to move ALL of my information over to the laptop and I finally did. Then, in February, my laptop died. It was barely over a year old and of course, the warranty ran out at a year! We took it into the repair shop and it took them 1 month to repair it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was livid. We didn’t even get it back in time to take on our trip to Florida. Anyway, I finally got it back and have had it now just about 2 weeks. So, guess what happened on Friday??? I did 3 hours of homework on the computer and when I came home from school my computer was dead- AGAIN!!! The tech shop guarantees their work for 90 days. I went back in tears and they said it could take a while to fix. I almost beat the cashier. Don’t they realize my ENTIRE life is on that thing?? Three hours of work and massive emails all unaccessible now. Anyway, onto better and brighter things...
On Tuesday, we had New Beginnings at the church. We had a nice dinner and they welcomed Kayla into the Young Women program. I think she is very excited to start.
Marisa has been working every waking hour on her NHD project (National History Day). The showcase is tomorrow and I will get some pictures of her awesome project. She has her solo performance this Tuesday and hopefully I can post it on the blog.
Kayla’s huge business fair is this week. She and her friend, Jan, spent 4 hours Saturday making their “snowballs” to sell. They did a great job and I guess we will see how many they sell on Thursday.
I got a new calling today. I am now the 1st counselor in a new Primary Presidency. I am excited, but as with all new callings, feeling a little overwhelmed. The people in the presidency are awesome though, so I know it will be a great experience.
I worked every day this week. I am getting some great exposure, but it looks like my chances of being hired at Excelsior this year are slim to none. In fact, they are downsizing, so they just transferred 2 teachers from Excelsior to the new school and they are very mad. They did open 10 new positions at the new school, but its farther away and that would put us in 4 different schools. I doubt I can handle that, so I am conflicted as to what to do. I did, however, have a teacher ask me to sub for 2 weeks while he has surgery on his back. He said the kids requested me, so that made me feel good. I am almost finished with my hideous grammar course! I did over 70 grammar worksheets this week, created a board game, wrote a paper, and have been studying for the midterm and final. “Grammar” is now a swear word in our home.
Ok, I guess that sums up the week. Always busy and full of stuff to do. Until next week...
I will start out this week by saying sometimes I hate technology. I really do. I remember the first time we bought a computer. Marisa was a bout a week old. It must have taken 6 months for Bob to talk me into getting an e-mail address. I didn’t trust the new technology and I wanted nothing to do with it. Through the years, emailing has become almost my only communication tool. Last year, for Christmas, Bob bought me a laptop. I have had so much fun with it. Bob kept trying to get me to move ALL of my information over to the laptop and I finally did. Then, in February, my laptop died. It was barely over a year old and of course, the warranty ran out at a year! We took it into the repair shop and it took them 1 month to repair it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was livid. We didn’t even get it back in time to take on our trip to Florida. Anyway, I finally got it back and have had it now just about 2 weeks. So, guess what happened on Friday??? I did 3 hours of homework on the computer and when I came home from school my computer was dead- AGAIN!!! The tech shop guarantees their work for 90 days. I went back in tears and they said it could take a while to fix. I almost beat the cashier. Don’t they realize my ENTIRE life is on that thing?? Three hours of work and massive emails all unaccessible now. Anyway, onto better and brighter things...
On Tuesday, we had New Beginnings at the church. We had a nice dinner and they welcomed Kayla into the Young Women program. I think she is very excited to start.
Marisa has been working every waking hour on her NHD project (National History Day). The showcase is tomorrow and I will get some pictures of her awesome project. She has her solo performance this Tuesday and hopefully I can post it on the blog.
Kayla’s huge business fair is this week. She and her friend, Jan, spent 4 hours Saturday making their “snowballs” to sell. They did a great job and I guess we will see how many they sell on Thursday.
I got a new calling today. I am now the 1st counselor in a new Primary Presidency. I am excited, but as with all new callings, feeling a little overwhelmed. The people in the presidency are awesome though, so I know it will be a great experience.
I worked every day this week. I am getting some great exposure, but it looks like my chances of being hired at Excelsior this year are slim to none. In fact, they are downsizing, so they just transferred 2 teachers from Excelsior to the new school and they are very mad. They did open 10 new positions at the new school, but its farther away and that would put us in 4 different schools. I doubt I can handle that, so I am conflicted as to what to do. I did, however, have a teacher ask me to sub for 2 weeks while he has surgery on his back. He said the kids requested me, so that made me feel good. I am almost finished with my hideous grammar course! I did over 70 grammar worksheets this week, created a board game, wrote a paper, and have been studying for the midterm and final. “Grammar” is now a swear word in our home.
Ok, I guess that sums up the week. Always busy and full of stuff to do. Until next week...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Spring is here, Spring is here!!- or is it???
March 2, 2008
Oh my heck!!! It is almost 50 degrees here, the snow is melting, and we didn’t have to wear coats home after church! How awesome is that??? The funny thing was that I had to park on a mini ice pile in the church parking lot. When we came out after church, the snow had melted and our car had slid out of the parking space into the middle of the lot. That was embarrassing! But, guess what is headed in tonight? Another snowstorm!
Anyway, we had a busy week as usual! On Thursday, in the middle of a snowstorm, we drove to the scout Blue and Gold Banquet. The storm was so bad (they should have canceled) that Tyler was the only scout from our ward that attended. They had a cake decorating contest and Tyler won the award for “The most yum-m-m-m-m-y cake”. (When you see the picture, you will see why) He also got to be color guard leader. He thought that was cool!
Kayla’s Battle of the Books team won their second round this week. I got to go see the competition and they did a great job. I think they have one more to win to qualify for the semi-finals. Her big business fair is next week and she and her friend Jan are selling snowballs (crushed Oreos dipped in almond bark) She was also able to attend a special YW Tuesday night for camp. She is so excited to go to camp this year!
Marisa was one of only 4 kids selected from Excelsior to attend the Kennedy Honors Orchestra. They only looked at the music the week before. She checked in at 8:00 and they rehearsed ALL day. We showed up for the concert at 6:00. I thought it was an excellent concert. Bob taped a few so we could post them on our blog. I hope that you can download it and listen. She is in the middle on the left where the violins are, but she will be a bit hard to see. Anyway, she said it was a very long day but she was grateful for the experience. She has also been working very hard on NHD (National History day) They have the first showcase next Monday. She chose to study the French Revolution. I can hardly wait til you see the pictures of her project- the guillotine she made with grandpa is awesome!!
I have been very busy subbing almost every day and trying to wade through this long grammar course. It is taking me much longer than expected. I want to get it done by spring break so I can participate in my annual ritual of scrubbing, cleaning, organizing and reorganizing the entire house. It is usually the time of year Bob puts in for overtime! We will see how much I can get done this week.
We hope all of you are doing well. Drop a line (or a few) when you get a free minute!
Kris and crew
Oh my heck!!! It is almost 50 degrees here, the snow is melting, and we didn’t have to wear coats home after church! How awesome is that??? The funny thing was that I had to park on a mini ice pile in the church parking lot. When we came out after church, the snow had melted and our car had slid out of the parking space into the middle of the lot. That was embarrassing! But, guess what is headed in tonight? Another snowstorm!
Anyway, we had a busy week as usual! On Thursday, in the middle of a snowstorm, we drove to the scout Blue and Gold Banquet. The storm was so bad (they should have canceled) that Tyler was the only scout from our ward that attended. They had a cake decorating contest and Tyler won the award for “The most yum-m-m-m-m-y cake”. (When you see the picture, you will see why) He also got to be color guard leader. He thought that was cool!
Kayla’s Battle of the Books team won their second round this week. I got to go see the competition and they did a great job. I think they have one more to win to qualify for the semi-finals. Her big business fair is next week and she and her friend Jan are selling snowballs (crushed Oreos dipped in almond bark) She was also able to attend a special YW Tuesday night for camp. She is so excited to go to camp this year!
Marisa was one of only 4 kids selected from Excelsior to attend the Kennedy Honors Orchestra. They only looked at the music the week before. She checked in at 8:00 and they rehearsed ALL day. We showed up for the concert at 6:00. I thought it was an excellent concert. Bob taped a few so we could post them on our blog. I hope that you can download it and listen. She is in the middle on the left where the violins are, but she will be a bit hard to see. Anyway, she said it was a very long day but she was grateful for the experience. She has also been working very hard on NHD (National History day) They have the first showcase next Monday. She chose to study the French Revolution. I can hardly wait til you see the pictures of her project- the guillotine she made with grandpa is awesome!!
I have been very busy subbing almost every day and trying to wade through this long grammar course. It is taking me much longer than expected. I want to get it done by spring break so I can participate in my annual ritual of scrubbing, cleaning, organizing and reorganizing the entire house. It is usually the time of year Bob puts in for overtime! We will see how much I can get done this week.
We hope all of you are doing well. Drop a line (or a few) when you get a free minute!
Kris and crew
Blue and Gold Banquet Pictures
The upside down smiley face cake.
Here is what the girls thought of the event.
Tyler loved it.
Tyler got to lead the color guard.
Outside it was snowing.
Here is what the girls thought of the event.
Tyler loved it.
Tyler got to lead the color guard.
Outside it was snowing.
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