March 26, 2007- posted late

March 26, 2007

Happy Birthday to Kayla!!! She turns 11 today! We had very fun party on Saturday. Kayla designed the whole party herself. It was a bunny party, done up in purple and green. She had 5 girls come, they watched “Flicka” and even had a treasure hunt. We even decorated her cake. We found a cake that was done already and on sale, and then put more frosting on the top and added coconut we colored green and two chocolate bunnies and covered it with jelly beans. It turned out so cute! I’ll include pictures. She got some very fun gifts and loved it.

Well, we survived Spring Break! I put together a comprehensive chore list and the kids worked for points for our “Family Spring Break Party”. The kids were AMAZING!! They were mopping, vacuuming, scrubbing, it was awesome. We deep cleaned and deep organized the ENTIRE house except Marisa’s room. I am so proud. Now, I can function. Well, for our party, we ordered the special cheesy bite pizza from Pizza Hut, we went out for ice cream and everyone got their own McFlurry or Blizzard, and then we watched Eragon. I have to say I thought it was a VERY violent film for a PG rating. But it was interesting anyway. Cool dragon!!!

We also went out to play tennis. Oh it felt good to have 70 degree weather- I almost cried. Marisa started the tennis team today and LOVED it!! They are doing try-outs this first week, and she said that so far, she is doing great! She will be working out every day after school for 2 hours.

Tyler tried out for and got accepted into the boys pre-team. However, it’s more of a money and time commitment, so as with Kayla, we will wait for summer. Tyler also had a fun scout campfire night on Friday night. He passed off some stuff (not sure what its called) and made s’mores. He loved it! He also has his school musical coming up and he got special speaking part as George Washington. I will tape the performance and take pictures.

Bob is busy putting in more overtime. At first I thought it was great (for the extra $), but now we just miss him. Alayna is doing great. We see her maturing and its wonderful. I am working full time 2 days this week, so she is excited to play at friends houses. Always more fun, probably, than hanging out with me.

Well, I should get back to work. Congrats to those in Logan on the success of the Messiah. So sorry we couldn’t make it.

Kris and Family

March 19, 2007

March 18, 2007

It has been another couple of busy weeks. To catch up faster, I will just list what we have been up to. We miss hearing from everyone!!

Marisa had her Festival of Orchestras a couple of Mondays ago. (This was the one she was 2nd chair for 7th grader first violinists) It was an awesome program despite the fact it was 2 ½ hours long. Marisa is doing such a fabulous job and looks like a pro out there. We also got to hear the HS Symphony orchestra (about 100 members) and they were amazing. They did William Tell’s Overture and the new Pirates music. I videotaped it if anyone wants to see Marisa and the HS.

Marisa is also starting on the tennis team after Spring break. She is so excited about that!

Marisa had her solo violin recital last weekend. I can’t remember the piece she played (Minuet maybe?), but she did a great job. She says she feels much more comfortable playing in a large orchestra.

Last weekend, a popular LDs speaker named Barbara Barrington Jones came here to speak to our Stake. She spent all Saturday (9-3) with the young women. Marisa LOVED going. The Stake YW president called Marisa and asked if she would play the prelude music before the main program. Marisa ended up organizing 5 YW into a string quintet to play the prelude and it was fantastic! So, I have asked them to do the prelude to the Women’s symposium coming up next month.

I ended up this week getting a bad stomach virus or REALLY bad food poisoning. I haven’t been that sick in such a long time. I feel much better now, but it knocked me out for a few days. I just hope nobody gets it this week- its Spring Break!!

Speaking of Spring break, I have spent the last few days deep cleaning and organizing. Its always a wonderful feeling to have this place almost perfect- even if it doesn’t last.

I had 3 parent/teacher conferences last week. All fantastic reports!

Last night we started rehearsals for the Stake RS choir I am conducting for the Stake RS symposium next month. We had a bad turn out- only 6 people. I hope we get more the next rehearsal.

Tomorrow Tyler gets to try out for the beginner Boys gymnastics team just for fun. I think he will have a fun time. Kayla still wants to be on team. She has already been accepted, but it’s a large time commitment. I guess we will see what we can arrange this summer.

The job hunt is stressful. I have started applying and pray some jobs will open up. There are some open for a school about 30 minutes away from here, but I think that is just too far away. So, I am hanging on, hoping something will open closer to home.

We celebrate Kayla’s 11th birthday this week. We have a fun party planned for Saturday.

Alayna is doing great. She is less of a pain and much more of a help nowadays. She has been a good listener and I just love it!!

Well, I guess that sums up our last two weeks…
Kris

March 4, 2007

March 4, 2007

Well I can sum up our week in two words “inclement weather”. We only had 1 ½ days of school this week and its even been too cold for the kids to go outside and actually enjoy the snow. So, now I know exactly what spring fever is and I am pretty sure we all have a bad case of it! This week is supposed to be much better with temps rising about 10 degrees which should help. This week will be full of makeup concerts and activities that had to be postponed.
We did watch a cute movie with the kids yesterday called The Great Panda Adventure. Plus, the kids love playing “Deal or No Deal” on the computer. I should have Alayna go on the actual show- she made a fake half million dollars yesterday!
Well, that’s it! Hopefully there will be more to report next week, until then…

February 27, 2007

February 27, 2007

Well, that was a crazy week. We had the biggest ice storm hit, most of the homes lost power, and school and even church were canceled. The roads were like one giant sheet of ice. We were lucky in that we only lost power for 2 ½ hours on Saturday, unlike many people who just got their power back today. We did find that Alayna had hid most of our flashlights and had run out the batteries. Once again, we need to be better prepared.

When I sent the kids out on Saturday to check the mail, a stray puppy followed them into our house! When we tried to get him out, he wouldn’t go. I called the pound, but they weren’t able to get to us because of the ice. They asked us to please keep it ver night because another storm was coming through that night and he wouldn’t fare well overnight outside. So, we set him up in the garage , but the wind was brutal and it was so cold. So, we set him up in the laundry room. He was an adorable laso apso (sp?) who was SO kid friendly, but boy could he bark! Especially, when we lost power. The pound came Sunday afternoon and got him. They said they have had him in before. He belongs to a single mom who someone gave him to her for mother’s day ad I guess she doesn’t like it. Maybe she should give it to a family who would love him. Just not us, it took me days to get the wet dog smell out of the house!!

Last week, we had Tyler’s first blue and gold banquet. They had a cake decorating contest and I even got to be a judge. Tyler made the coolest cake. He told me he wanted a two layer circle cake. So, I made that. Then he wanted to decorate it with chocolate frosting and M&M’s. so, I gave him the cake, the toppings, and let him go to town. He made an awesome looking cake and won the award for the “Most chocolicious cake”. When it was time for dessert, his cake was the first one devoured and he was so proud!

We also had the kindergarten orientation, so we turned in all her paperwork and she is ready to go. I am so excited about this new school and for this new experience for her. I think she will flourish there. I also ended up taking her to the doctor and found out she had a severe sinus infection. She is almost done with her antibiotics and is doing 100% better now.

We spent the weekend starting our spring cleaning and finished up the storage room and toy room which were no easy task! But it feels good to have those done. Now Alayna can actually PLAY in the toyroom and we wont kill ourselves walking through it.

Marisa made 2^nd chair for the Festival of the Orchestras!!

Well, I guess that sums up our week. We have a flood watch and winter storm warning for the next two days, so who knows what the week holds?

February 18, 2007

February 18, 2007

Do you have any idea how excited I am that the temperature is supposed to be up to 41 tomorrow? We need to have a “Spring is on the way” party!!! The kids didn’t have school Friday or tomorrow since their teachers have a work day and staff development, so we are enjoying our 4 day weekend. Except poor Bob, who has been working nonstop doing overtime.

On Monday, Kayla had her first major band concert. They held it in the HS gym and it was packed. It was for our district and there were at least 100 kids in the 5^th grade band and probably the same amount in the 6^th. They sounded amazing and Kayla was so excited to be in it. Bob said the 6^th grade band sounded better than a lot of high school bands he has heard. So, once again, we are pleased with this school district!

Tuesday ended up being a snow day. Everything was canceled because the roads were too slick and it wasn’t safe to travel. So, we enjoyed a quiet, lovely day indoors!

We had a GREAT Valentines Day on Wednesday. Alayna even had a fun pajama party at school and she got to frost some sugar cookies. I decorated the kitchen in red, white, pink balloons, and set the table with candles, hershey kisses and my best china. Then I made oven steaks, mashed potatoes, red jello, and wheat bread for dinner and made a hot fudge cake for dessert. To top it all, we watched Lost, which only seems to bring up more questions than give answers, but we still love it!

On Thursday, Tyler had his LEO people fair. He chose to be John F. Kennedy. So, for the past month, he has done tons of research on him, and then did a presidential library on him for his display. He did a great job and I was proud of how well he was able to answer everyone’s questions at the fair. The event was very well attended, quite crowded in fact.

Yesterday, Bob and I were invited to the annual Valentines/Newlywed game extravaganza. Marisa watched the kids while we went. Although we weren’t contestants this year, we had a fantastic evening and it was fun to be out on a date. The couples who hosted it made all the food (chicken cordon bleu, prime rib) and it was an amazing meal!

Alayna and I are home from church today. She has actually been sick most of the week with a bad cold, what I thought was pink eye (but has since cleared up) and a fever. She is doing better today, but kept her home so she doesn’t spread the germs. I woke up feeling under the weather, so I hope I will be back to normal tomorrow. It was a vERY dry sub week last week, and I hope that changes this week, but only if I feel well. I think its hard to stay healthy with this kind of weather. When your inner core temp dosent have a chance to raise, its no fun.

Well, we hope all of you had a Happy Valentines Day and that all are feeling well. We would love to hear from all of you!

Love-

Kris and family

Feb 11, 2007

February 11, 2007

Anyone else out there sick of the subzero temps we have had for two weeks now? You know its bad when we are excited that today’s temp will climb all the way to 33!! Yee-haw!! I may have to get in my swimsuit, it will be so warm. Just kidding, that would be scary!

We had a jam-packed week full of lots of exciting activities:

1. Marisa took the ACT Saturday morning. She thought it was hard, but actually felt she did really well. I think it’s exciting that she gets the chance to try it so early. I think she wasn’t so thrilled it took almost 4 hours, but that’s ok. She also had “New Beginnings” for YW this week and they had a Princess Party. She came home with a bag full of neat things.
2. Kayla had her first gymnastics meet yesterday. She did GREAT!! She won 3 blue ribbons (the highest you can get) and 1 red. She also won a medal!! I think that got her VERY excited for the next meet.
3. Hal and Corey came up and did 6 science presentations at our kid’s schools. They did Tyler’s 3^rd grade class (plus the other 2 3^rd grade classes in the school) and they did Kayla’s class (and the other 2 5^th grade classes as well). Then, they even did Alayna’s preschool class! I didn’t have to sub those days, so I was able to go as well. They did the coolest demonstrations on air pressure. They made garbage bag mummies, made marshmallows and balloons expand in a vacuum chamber, made a water balloon suck into a glass jar using a match, let kids use a giant straw, and of course, blew up some diet coke with mentos, which is always a hit!! Thanks for doing that, Corey and Hal!!!
4. We had a fun Survivor premiere party with root beer floats. I really could never be on that show. I would never sleep or eat and therefore, would not be pleasant to live with. Actually, I could probably make it to the final 2, because everyone would want to take me with them to the final two, so they could have an easy win. Maybe I should consider it?
5. We went to the cooking cottage again to make some meals. The older 3 kids really love going and whipped through making our meals in no time with all that extra help.
6. I finished my online application for the Cedar Rapids district and activated it yesterday. Things are slowly coming together. I must say, I am curious for what is in store for me next year.
7. Marisa is babysitting a dog this week across the street. She just barely had 4 puppies. So, the kids have been over there playing with them this weekend. The puppies are so tiny and barely have their eyes opening. They are once again trying to talk me into getting a puppy, its not gonna happen.
8. Yesterday was our 14 year anniversary of when Bob asked me to marry him. Can you believe that?

Well, I guess that about sums it up. Happy Valentines Day, everyone and enjoy your week!!!!

Feb 5, 2007

February 5, 2007

School was delayed today. Wanna guess why? For frigid temperatures. Wanna guess what constitutes “frigid” here? Well, that would be -38 (with the wind chill) !!!! The wind chill was so bad last night. They warned against anyone going outside as frostbite can start after only 10 minutes outside! I noticed you people in L.A. are at 76 degrees right now. That is just wrong...

Well, let’s see what is new in our chilly, icy, “frigid” neck of the woods: Marisa was accepted into the metropolitan orchestra. She auditioned and made 4th chair out of 25 kids who were auditioning for 2nd violin. That’s for the whole Cedar Rapids Metropolitan area (7th graders). She was able to perform in a huge concert in the Paramount Theater downtown. It is such a cool experience and she had a fun conductor. My favorite number that they did was “Farandole” by Georges Bizet. Wow! They did a great job. She sure loves being a part of such an amazing program.

Kayla also had her school musical performance about Lewis and Clark. She was an indian. It was a great performance and I took a picture of the costume we made for her. Actually, she made most of it and did a great job. I think she is becoming a real performer.

Bob was called to be ward clerk this week and released from the Elder’s Quorum. I was thrilled for him until he was at the church Sunday from 8-5:30- now I am not so sure. I know it won’t be that way every week, but we sure miss him when he isn’t here. Our family history class is going well. We are learning to navigate through the different research websites. It’s amazing how much information is available on the web for genealogy now!

I have been busy subbing quite a bit. I have also been working on a couple of papers for one of my college courses. I spent a good portion of Saturday filling out an electronic application for the Cedar Rapids district. It took forever. But once you have it all complete, it automatically scans you for all jobs you are qualified for and sends ALL your information to the person hiring. Or, if there is a job you really want, you just push the apply button and it sends your stuff priority. It’s actually pretty cool.

I guess that is all that is new here. We did have sick kids for a few days last week, but everyone is well now. We do have a giant snow storm headed in tonight so school may be cancelled tomorrow. Hope everyone else is staying warm and having a great week.

Love,
Kris and family