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...

October 29, 2006

October 29, 2006

Monday:
The kids didn’t have school on Monday so we enjoyed sleeping in for one more day. That evening we were invited over to our friends house for a very special FHE, along with some other families. It was a very enjoyable evening!

Tuesday:
The three youngest kids had gymnastics. Bob had his last football game and Kayla made cookies at Activity Days.

Wednesday:
I got a last minute call to sub at Wilkins (where Kayla and Tyler attend) I taught a 4th grade class, filling in for a sick teacher. It was such a fun day and a very different experience from subbing middle school. It was extra fun to see Kayla and Tyler at school! That night was our Trunk R Treat at the church. I will post some pics along with this. Tyler went as Luke Skywalker and Kayla went as Princess Leah. Alayna was Analeise from Princess and the Pauper. Marisa went as a medieval princess. They had a carnival at the church where the kids played games, did a cake walk, ate donuts off a string, etc. Then we went outside to trunk r treat. It was fun, but VERY chilly. It was hard to tell what people were dressed up like when everyone had coats on. After that, we went home and Bob played his last softball game and they actually won!!!

Thursday:
Grandma and Grandpa Hart came up from Illinois for the weekend. That evening Corey and I took the 3 older kids and tried “Supper Thyme”. Its just like Cooking cottage, so I wanted to try it out. One of those where you go for two hours, and make 12 home made meals. Corey split most of hers in two so she almost made 24 meals. It was so fun to do with the kids!! It saves me so much cooking time, so I think it is so worth it!!

Friday:
It was my first time to sub at Oak Ridge. It was 6th grade reading, language arts, and math. It was the most complex lesson plan I have had yet to date. I actually instructed every class, gave quizzes, graded papers, did a tornado drill, etc. I was exhausted by the time I got home!
That evening we had the absolute FUNNEST EVENING EVER!!!! Two couples in a different ward put together a treasure hunt. (This tradition has been going on here for 25 years!!) We were invited, so our team of 6 was me, Bob , Marisa, Kayla, Corey, and Hal. (Tyler and Alayna stayed at the church). We met at the Linn County court house along with 19 other teams. It was a night of “Amazing Race” on hyperdrive. When they said go, we read the clue and all took off in our respective cars. (If we couldn’t figure out the clues, there were panic cards you could open) We did great til we had to find Jefferson HS. You would think since we had a navigation system, we would have found it fast. No such luck. We had to do so many things, mostly based on the movie National Treasure: find a boat house names Charlotte, decipher a code on the side of a masonic temple, fine clues in buckets, etc. It was a fascinating evening! We came in about 18 out of the 20 teams, but were also one of the few (possibly the only ones) who used no panic envelopes. They had a huge party afterwards with pizza, pop, and cake. The people who won have to plan it for next year and Bob won an award for being the only person to dress up- he was Ben gates. Anyway, it was so fun we can hardly wait for next year!!

Saturday:
We spent the morning shopping for a dress for Marisa and I for Missy’s exciting upcoming wedding. Then we went to the church for Tyler’s very special day. His baptism was so wonderful and we are so proud of him for the wonderful choice he has made. (He even surprised us today by getting up and bearing his testimony) He was so excited yesterday that he could hardly contain his joy. I will attach pics- you have to check out that contagious smile!!! We came home after and headed to Walmart to get flu shots only to see they were out-ugh! Then they went to see “Open Season” at the movie Theater for Tyler’s birthday. (I stayed home with Alayna. She has been sick for about 10 days with a nasty cold and actually fell asleep a few minutes before we were to leave for the movie) They brought Chinese food home for dinner. Then Tyler opened some very cool presents, we ate his cool dinosaur cake (my friend made) and then watch X-Men III which he has been dying to see. He said it was a perfect day- the best he has ever had!
That evening I got a call from my friend who went into labor. They kept her for several hours and then sent her home, so I came back home with Alayna and Marisa at 5:45 AM. Made me tired today- hope her baby comes tonight for her.

Sunday:
We have had an enjoyable relaxing day with games and homemade apple pie!

Well, I guess that’s it for our fun and exciting week! Happy Birthday to Jonathan- whose was the same day as Tyler’s!! Also Happy Birthday to Grandma Cunningham and Grandma Hart whose birthdays were last week.

Have a Happy Halloween!!!!

October 22

October 22, 2006

We have a fun and exciting week ahead! Tyler’s birthday and baptism, a treasure hunt, trip to Bloomsbury farm, etc. So, I am sure we will have tons of stuff to share next week.

This week I had parent conferences with Kayla and Marias’s teachers. Both are doing so well. Marisa’s lowest grade is a 98. She is now scheduled to take the ACT in February. Kayla is also doing so well, her teacher went on and on about how much she loves having her in class,

Marisa brought home her “baby” this week. It woke her up 4 times that night. It was so funny because she look deathly tired and said even though it was only 4 times that it actually felt like 20. Best contraception I can think of. I will include the picture of Tyler holding the baby. Then Alayna held it and dropped it on its head! Marisa wanted to cry. I wrote her a note so her teacher wouldn’t dock her.

We had Friday and tomorrow off from school. We should have headed to Chicago for a party weekend, but Bob couldn’t take off. Oh well. We did watch “Over the Hedge” last night, which was a completely adorable movie!! I need to see it again. The kids did a GREAT job on the primary program. It was Marisa’s first time in many years to not be in it. Alayna was so cute. We brought her for the program even though she has been pretty sick this week with a cold.

I guess that’s about it on our end. There seems to be a drought of info coming in from family members. Well, everyone enjoy your week. Looks like we are headed for a cold one. Wish us luck....
(Falcon on top of play house)

October 15, 2006

October 15, 2006

Winter actually hit this week with freezing temps and our first snowfall of the year. We had to dismantle our garden and mow down the watermelon patch to prepare for winter since its obviously on its way. So funny since the week before, we had temps up to 80 degrees. Go figure!

Marisa had her last volleyball game this week. She had a sheet with her stats, so I should have her post it for you. I think she made about 21 points this season? Anyway, she loved it. We want to get her in a city league so she can keep at it, but the only one we have found so far meets on Sundays and that won’t work. She is loving school and her extras like choir, orchestra, and book club. She has to bring a “baby” home for FCS class. It’s computerized and keeps track of how well she takes care of it. It should be very fun. She also cooked french toast for us for dinner last night. I love her cooking and being so responsible. She even made mini pizzas for us last week. She has also been given the opportunity to take the ACT college exam for the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search. I will let you know how that goes.

Kayla is sounding so great on the clarinet. I am excited to see her first concert which I think is in November. She is also doing amazing things in gymnastics- flips around the bar on the uneven bars, round offs, etc. I really need to take a video camera so you guys can see her.

Tyler had his last football game. It was at 8am in 36 degrees. Not my idea of fun. But he did a great job and would love to continue next year. I had a great conference with his teacher this week where she told me what a fantastic job he is doing, but wished he would stop humming in class. He is so funny.

Alayna had her last swimming lesson this week. Unfortunately some kid barfed in the pool before her class and they had to close the pool. She was sad. She is loving preschool and even learned about email this week. She spends a lot of time singing lately to anyone that will take the time to listen to her songs. It is quite precious.

Bob has still been playing softball and flag football. We even got to go see both games last week. He has also spent a lot of time playing with the kids in the backyard. Yesterday they decided to try out tackle football. Apparently, Tyler can fall over if you just blow in his general direction and Kayla cannot be tackled unless you pick her up off the ground and throw her. They had a hilarious afternoon.

I worked 3 days this week, all teacher requested. I am getting to know all the teachers on all the teams. I REALLY enjoy teaching there and hope a job will come through for me. The kids are also starting to get to know me and actually say hi to me in the hall now. I taught Marisa’s class twice this week and she seems to like me there. She walks down the hall with me and lets me eat lunch with her in the cafeteria. I plan to take advantage of that acceptance for as long as possible. My 3 classes I was supposed to start taking through independent study this month are not completed yet, so my time table is being messed up. They should be done by December which means I will have two months of solid school, but I can do it.

We finally got a break from our busy schedule last night and watched “Akeelah and the Bee”. What a fantastic movie!!! I love inspirational movies we can watch as a family. My favorite quote from it was:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
Gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
Give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
(A return to love - Marianne Williamson)

On that note: Enjoy your week and remember we love you!









(Alayna in her swim class with teacher Miss Audrey)

Oct 2, 2006

October 2, 2006

A quick update on our week:

Marisa had a home game this week so we were able to go see her play. She did a GREAT job and has really improved. Every serve went right over the net and she was moving all over the place!

I subbed 7th grade science which was fun and turned out to be adventurous as some kid let out a giant praying mantis who flapped all over the classroom. I can honestly say my job isn’t boring.

Bob took the kids to the Harts for the weekend so I could get a million things done. They had a great time! We are back today to a normal schedule- lots to do including the kids dentist appt, Marisa’s volleyball game, and the missionaries for dinner.

PS- Marisa has posted a large map of the world in her room and is trying to gather postcards and real pictures taken around the world, so if you have any extras, please send them our way. She would love it!