January 1 - Part 1

January 1, 2006- Part 1
This Holiday vacation has flown by so fast! I didn’t even get a newsletter up last week. I thought I should catch up on all this fun stuff that has been going on here.

First, Marisa was once again accepted into the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Orchestra for middle school. That was exciting news and she looks forward to the performance in February. She has auditions coming up soon for which chair she will be.

As shared with some of you when the event actually occurred, Alayna actually cut off her hair. I will quote my exact thoughts here:

“And the Mother of the Year award goes to...Me!!!! For NOT beating my child when I found her cutting off all her hair!! She was only alone for 5 minutes. She had been playing with daddy and he ran to the bathroom. She did it that fast. Thank heavens, because of years of experience, I didn't beat her, I just screamed in unholy terror at the site before me. A dorky looking boy with a mullet. I have a friend in the ward who was an angel and did a night house call on the spur of the moment. She did a great job fixing it considering the circumstances. It figures- the night before Alayna was to accompany me to help run the medieval fair. Giant- Ugh!!! Wishing me luck raising this kid... PS She keeps crying and saying "I want my hair back!!" Well, tough luck, sista! Should have thought of that instead of your other bright idea. She doesn't want to face people at the fair tomorrow. Instead of a princess, I may just dress her up like a squire!”

She was quite devastated for a while, but then we found her with scissors the next day trying to cut hair off a wig. Ugh!!! We did find some cute headbands and hair bows and calmed down after I reassured her she had NOT turned into a boy just because her hair was short!

Marisa also had her school Medieval Festival that week which I was able to volunteer for. (I was actually the photographer which should scare you all!) Anyway, it was similar to the madrigal dinners we used to do in High School. Marisa played in an orchestra quartet for the Royalty. Alayna was allowed to come too- she heard from Marisa it was a Prince and Princess party so she went all out dressing up for it. I will include some pictures.

That same day, Alayna and I went to Kayla’s classroom to help out with her Winter Party. They made marshmallow igloos, tried to unwrap Hershey kisses with gloves, and had lots of treats. It was so fun to go spend time with her in her classroom.

It did end up being a long week since I worked 3 days and volunteered one. I guess I got a feel for what a full time job/full time mom would be like. Can I just tell you how long I slept in on Saturday?

On Sunday, our family was asked to do a musical number in church. We were asked to sing “I believe in Christ”. Marisa accompanied us on her violin and did an amazing job. We sang in 3 part harmony and I think we did a pretty good job. We had a fun relaxing joyous Christmas Eve that night. Tune in for Part 2 of our holiday vacation!

December 17, 2006

December 17, 2006

Can Christmas really be so close? Wow! We are hoping for a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday break. This week is a busy one. I work every day but Tuesday, I am working the 7th grade Medieval festival that Marisa is in, the kids have their holiday parties, etc.

On Friday, Marisa’s chamber orchestra had a Holiday Tour. They performed at Cottage Grove and then I met up with them at the mall. I got to each lunch with her and her friends there and then they performed in the mall. It was a FANTASTIC performance and I just can’t believe how good she is getting. The acoustics where they performed were so great. It was so fun to be there. Then we got to walk around the mall and Alayna even got her picture taken with Santa Clause!

A teacher at Excelsior just found out this week she has breast cancer. (She is not a member but her daughter in law happens to be my visiting teacher!) So, I am covering her class this week when she goes in for surgery and then covering in January for whatever chemo or radiation treatment she will need. It will be one week or a 6 week set. I should know Monday which one she has to do. I am worried about her- she is pretty scared. I can’t blame her, I would be terrified.

Other than that, not much else new is going on. I am home with 2 sick kids- bad colds going around. Hopefully we can keep everyone well to just get through this week! Oh, and our family was asked to sing in church next week. We have been practicing and our harmony sounds pretty good, if I do say so myself. Marisa will also be playing her violin for one of the verses.
We are getting excited for Christmas. Hopefully all of you have received our Christmas letter. If not, let me know, or I just posted it on our blog. Enjoy your week and we love you!

Hart Christmas letter 2006

Hart Family Quiz

1. We went on a family vacation this summer to two family reunions. Where did we go?
A) Winter Park, Colorado
B) Grand Tetons
C) Yellowstone Park
D) South Dakota badlands
Answer? All of the above! It was a great trip that was a lot of fun.
It was also our first time actually camping as a family!

2. What happened to Marisa this year?
A) She turned 12 and started 7th grade
B) She auditioned and made the chamber orchestra (playing violin)
C) She is on the Geography Bee team and her life dream is to visit every country in the world
D) She attended girls camp for the first time and was able to go to the Nauvoo temple
E) She played on the 7th grade girls volleyball team
F) She got braces
Answer? A thru E. She has been very busy and loving every minute of it!!

3. What happened to Kayla this year?
A) She turned 10 and started 5th grade
B) She got a pet turtle named “slowpoke”
C) She started gymnastics and is already on the pre-team
D) She started playing the drums
E) She LOVES horses
Answer? A, C and E! She loves 5th grade and plays the clarinet in band. She is doing a great job in gymnastics and was thrilled to be accepted to the pre-team! She also loved seeing her horse again at Grandma’s house.

4. What happened to Tyler this year?
A) He got glasses
B) He got an expander retainer
C) He got a green belt in Tae Kwon Do and started taking gymnastics
D) He turned 7 and started 2nd grade
E) He got baptized this year and started Cub Scouts
Answer? A, B, C, and E! He turned 8 and started 3rd grade.

5. What happened to Alayna this year?
A) She turned 4 and attends preschool
B) She put the camera down the disposal
C) She started karate
D) She took swimming lessons
Answer? A and D! She actually put all the crayons down the disposal- can’t even explain what kind of a mess that was! She started gymnastics too and can already do a hand stand against the wall. She loves preschool with her new teacher and looks forward to her kindergarten orientation in February.

6. What’s new with Kris and Bob?
A) Bob played on a football team and volleyball team
B) Kris started subbing school part time and taking classes to get her middle school endorsement.
C) Bob changed jobs and is now a professional wrestler
D) Kris completed her nursing degree and is now a labor and delivery nurse
E) Kris and Bob celebrated their 13th anniversary this year
Answer? A, B and E!! Kris plans to start teaching full time at the middle school in the fall.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

All our love,
The Hart Family

December 10, 2006

December 10, 2006

I may not have gotten a newsletter up last week, but I did finish the Christmas letters which should be in the mail next week. Things here are a steady stream of “busy”. Thankfully all are healthy and we hope to keep it that way. Bob, Alayna, and I all got flu shots which we hope will help us through this winter season.

We are so excited because we FINALLY finished reading the Old Testament as a family!!!!!! Whoo-hoo!! It took us almost an entire year, but we did it. So, we have started the Book of Mormon again which is SO much easier to understand.

Tyler had his first pack meeting last week, which turned out to be a disaster. It started out great. He was so excited to be there, be a part of something new, etc. He took a shower, even put gel in his hair. Well, half way through, they played a game called “jumping over the mote”. The boys took turns jumping and were put into groups according to how far they jumped. Long story short, I was watching the jumping and then looked over at Tyler who was sobbing. I ran over to him and he told me that this kid next to him (which was over twice Tyler’s size) slugged him in the stomach and punched him twice in the throat just for fun. Tyler was having a hard time breathing and it actually bruised his throat so that his neck was bright red for hours and he couldn’t swallow well until the next morning. That “mother bear” instinct kicked right in and it took all I had not to run over to that kid and beat him into a bloody pulp! How dare he touch Tyler? Tyler begged me to take him home. I did and he cried the whole way home. It just broke my heart. What added to the sting was that when he had scouts this week, we found out when we arrived at the church at 7, that all the scouts had left for the planetarium at 6 and no one had bothered to call us with that info. Once again, he sobbed all the way home. It will be a Christmas miracle if I can talk him in to going to scouts this week. I am not sure how much more of this either one of us can take!

On to more pleasant subjects... We watched the cutest movie last night called the “Ant Bully”, it was quite entertaining. On Friday, Tyler and I watched “Pirates of the Caribbean: the Dean man’s Chest” while the older girls were at a birthday slumber party and Bob worked on the computer. Last weekend, we finally got to see “Superman Returns” as a family. It only reinforced Kayla’s strong desire to be able to fly. I am worried that some day she may actually try it.

Subbing has been going well, I just wish I had more babysitters. I had a great offer this week, but had to turn it down because I didn’t have anyone to watch Alayna. I guess that’s ok though, because I am trying to enjoy being home as long as I can. I finished all my paperwork, but have been apprehensive to turn it into the HR department. I will try to do that before the Christmas break though. They are already starting to hire for the new Elementary school. However, I decided to stick with middle school after subbing a 4th grade class this week. They were adorable and thought that my name was Mrs. Hart because I wore red. I even got hugs but realized that that age just isn’t quite for me anymore. So, as soon as those middle school classes become available, I will get working full time on that. I assume interviews will start in February and March and I hope I will be ready for them.

We are now ready for Christmas. All the decorations are up and the presents have been wrapped. We hope all of you are enjoying your holiday season so far.

Love-
Harts

Nov 27, 2006

November 27, 2006

What a wonderful holiday week we had! The kids had the entire week off of school and Bob had Thursday and Friday off. The kids played so well together: computer, twister, monopoly, you name it. The weather even cooperated so we were all able to go out and play tackle football in the backyard.

This was one of our first Thanksgivings by ourselves. I have to say it was quite a success. Marisa even made a pumpkin pie from scratch. She did a great job! I forgot to put out the rolls and Bob accidently dumped a lot of the gravy on the floor, but other than that, it was a complete success. We watched fun movies and played Clue as a family.

We also worked with Tyler on the science kit he got for his birthday. They made a volcano that we hope to explode this weekend. He also painted the earth and made a dinosaur from skeletons.

Bob and I did actually go out on Friday to attempt to get some great holiday deals. Although we got some shopping done, it was not worth the early rise, the long lines, or the crowds. We won’t be doing that again!

We had a fun birthday party weekend for Bob. He had his birthday on Sunday. On Saturday, we went to Happy Joe’s for pizza- he ordered his favorite taco pizza. The kids and I weren’t fans so he has all the rest to himself. On Sunday we had chocolate peanut butter ice cream pie and opened presents. I hope it was a good relaxing birthday for him (even though he had to teach the lesson in priesthood)

Well, we were back up bright and early this morning getting back into our normal routine and schedule. I know we are already looking forward to Christmas break. The kids were like zombies this morning and I couldn’t get off the couch. We hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love,
Kris and Family

Trip to Utah

November 19, 2006

So much has happened the past couple of weeks. I will try to give the best update that I can. A couple of weeks ago, before we went on our trip to Utah, Marisa had her first orchestra concert of the year. Her 7th grade orchestra was good, but the Chamber orchestra (that she made through auditions) was outstanding! She is loving being a part of this great program and she is becoming a very good player. We hope to get her private lessons next year which should help as well.



On November 8, we left for our quick trip to Utah. We drove about 4 hours to the Chicago Ohare airport. The drive was fine except for the toll road that sucked up all our change! It took our family 30 minutes to get through the checkpoint. I do understand that they need to make sure we are safe, but I was still upset when they through away our water bottles (even Marisa’s nice school one), my lotion (a small 2 ml size), etc. When he went to throw out my prescription eye drops I threw a massive fit. I explained that it said on the website that eye drops that size were allowed, so he finally gave in and let me have it. (Jerk!) Then Bob’s ticket was in his nickname so, since it didn’t match his drivers license, he had to go back out and get re-registered. It was so frustrating.

The flight itself was about 3 ½ hours and the kids did so well, I was shocked. They colored, played, read, worked on homework. Even Alayna loved being on the airplane. She was more fascinated with the tray tables than the fact that we were way up in the air. (She obviously didn’t realize the danger we were in- I still don’t understand how those huge planes can fly!) We got in to Salt Lake City pretty late. Bob’s parents and Missy picked us up and took us to rent our car. We got this AWESOME black Chevy suburban. Man, was it cool! Then we checked in to our hotel room at Little America. I think we finally got to eat dinner at Wendy’s around 11 and crashed for the night.

The next day we ate a wonderful breakfast at Dee’s and helped Missy and Clark move in to their new apartment. It is a really nice place with a cool view of the Salt Lake Valley. That evening all the Harts went to the BYU/Wyoming game while Alayna and I stayed at the hotel. It was way too cold, but they had hot chocolate and dippin dots and the kids had an absolute blast!! Especially since BYU won. Alayna and I had a great time at the hotel. I worked two full days (Monday and Tuesday) before we left, so we just relaxed, she played and colored while I watched Survivor, CSI, ER and went to bed . It was perfect.

Friday morning, everyone went outside for a touch football game at Liberty Park. My parents also drove in from Logan. That afternoon, the Hart adults went to a temple session all together while our kids got to hang with the Ribera grandparents for the evening. (They had such a wonderful time: pizza dinner, science museum, IMAX movie, swimming at the indoor hotel swimming pool ,etc). After our temple session we went to a fantastic wedding dinner for Missy and Clark. It was a very fancy dinner and the food was so good. It was great fun with great company.

Saturday morning was the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and we are so excited for Missy and Clark. She looked absolutely beautiful!! It was mighty cold taking pictures outside the temple, but we were just so happy to be there. We got a special treat at lunch, my brothers and families drove down from Logan and my Grandma Cunningham actually flew up to see us! I was so excited to see them all and the Ribera’s treated us to an amazing lunch at this AWESOME Brazilian grill. My kids are already asking to go back. It had a salad buffet, but then all you can eat meat from their grill, which tasted so great.

That afternoon, we went to the Grand America and took Family Wedding Photos. I have a couple that we took, but I can’t wait to see the final formal ones. After that, we all headed to Jamba Juice for dinner, and then off to the wedding reception. It was held at a place called Cactus and Tropicals. It was like the back of a nursery. It was such a cool place to have a reception. We saw so many friends from college that we haven’t seen since we had Marisa. There were also TONS of people from Macomb, where Bob grew up, so it was like a giant reunion. It made for a very entertaining evening. I think almost 400 people attended or so?

The next morning we were up at 5 since our flight was early. When we were leaving the hotel, I noticed our plane didn’t leave until 8:20 instead of the 7:25 I thought it did. Dang! We could have slept in for 30 more minutes! Our favorite part of the check in is when we each had to go to a chamber that shot air blasts at you to check for chemicals. Kayla was first and it scared her to death. The flight was fine, just seemed longer since we were heading home instead of to a fun party. Again, the kids were perfectly behaved! We drove home from Chicago and got home around 6:00pm. It was a great trip and it was so fun to see everyone.

The next week was a busy one. We got right back in to our routine schedule. Kayla had her first band concert and Marisa had her first choir one. Tyler got “expanders” in his mouth, which are like retainers that go on the back of the top and bottom of his teeth to help push the teeth out and give room to the new ones coming in. The poor guy can’t speak and I can barely understand him. He doesn’t seem to mind and talks just as much as he used to, maybe even more.

So, what is everyone doing for Thanksgiving? We are just staying here. Everyone we know is either leaving town or has family in town, so I guess it will just be us. I tried to talk Bob into just doing Thanksgiving at Osaka, but no dice. It will be good to have a quiet movie day at home, we will just seeing all of you this holiday season. Our best wishes to you all and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Nov 5, 2006

November 5, 2006

Monday: Alayna and I went with her class to Bloomsbury farm to the pumpkin patch. We went on a tractor ride, played in a hay jump, corn pit, slide, playground, and all the fun animals at the petting zoo. Alayna got to even feed some goats by hand. She thought that was so cool. We even got to pick a little pumpkin from the giant pumpkin patch to bring home with us on the little blue bus. We had such a great time. That evening, Bob took Kayla and Tyler out there so they could see it all. They even went into the Haunted Barn.

Tuesday: Halloween day! I got to go help with Tyler’s fall party in his classroom. They got all dressed up in their costumes, played games, and ate lots of treats. It was fun to be there with him in his class. After school, the kids went to gymnastics and got a lot of one on one time since few kids showed for classes. After that, we went trick-or-treating. It was brutally cold so we only did a few houses down our street. Poor Alayna was so excited, but her lips were turning purple and she was shaking like a leaf. So we came home and she sat patiently by the door giving out candy to people who came to our house.

Wednesday: I subbed 6th grade at Excelsior. It was also Tyler’s first day at scouts. He had a great time. We have his shirt now and his first patches. I guess his first pine derby is in January and we look forward to that.

Thursday: I subbed another 6th grade class at Excelsior. It was also Bob’s first volleyball game with his new Rockwell team. They lost, but there is potential I think.

Friday: Kayla had her Activity Days Recognition night. She is almost completely finished with her faith in God award. It was a talent night and she played the clarinet. She did a great job. I am amazed at how great she sounds even though she has only been playing for a few months. I guess all that practice pays off. She also spent the weekend reading and was proud she finished reading an entire book in only two days!!

Saturday: We spent all day running errands and getting ready for our upcoming trip to Utah. Bob looks awesome in his new black suit. We also made all the lunches for the stake people for stake conference. It was easy to do with so much help from the kids. We also caught up on “lost” from the last two weeks. I have so many more questions- that show drives me crazy but I love it.

Sunday: We will be leaving Wednesday fo Utah so we probably won’t get a newsletter up next week. We are excited to be seeing both sides of the family and get to come out for such an exciting event. So, we will be seeing most of you this weekend. Until then...