Happy Halloween Everyone!

Happy Halloween to everyone! This is a picture of my preschool kids. Aren't they just too cute! We had a Halloween party today in preschool and we had a great time. Tonight Joy, Steve, Darrel, and I took our kids trick or treating and they scored big time. I took a picture of them with all their candy...holy cow!!! We've been trying to give it away all night to the trick or treaters coming to our house. I have a feeling that we are going to have a lot of candy for a long time. We had a good time, though and the boys favorite house to trick or treat at was one that made them do a trick for their treat. They thought that was pretty cool. Tomorrow I have a lot of clean up to do. I'm too dog tired to even think about doing it right now. Tomorrow is also Joy's son Daniel's birthday. He is turning four. We'll sing to him in the preschool on Thursday. Well, my bed is calling my name! See ya! 

Halloween Costumes and Carved Pumpkins

Alex, Zachary and Johnathan (Zachary refuses to wear a costume, these are his pajamas) 

The Weekend Before Halloween

I'm sick...I hate this. I went to the doctor and found out I don't have strep (thank goodness) but my throat is swollen and it hurts like a mother bear when I swallow. I didn't eat or drink anything for the majority of yesterday and today and now I have one hefty headache - I think it's dehydration mostly. It's a double edged sword. It hurts so much to swallow but not swallowing anything makes me hurt other places. I called my brother Danny and he said he would send me something that should help. Thanks Dan! You're a lifesaver.

Tonight is a big Halloween party for the boys at gymcats. They are so excited to go. They're going to have pizza, games, a zip line and open gym. The boys can hardly wait. I also signed up to help with the clean up because this gets us a discount on our gymnastic fees. Darrel will probably end up going in my place because I feel so horrible which makes me feel guilty because I signed up for it, not him. Oh well, maybe I can pay him back some other time.

This next Tuesday is our preschool Halloween party. I need to be spending this weekend getting ready for it, but alas, I'm not. I hope I feel better on Monday because feel better or not I'm going to be busting my behind getting this house cleaned up for the preschoolers and their families. I went to the store today and bought a few games. I still need to come up with some more things to do so wish me luck.

I've been meaning to blog something for awhile and just haven't but Joy told me I better write it down before I forget so here goes. Zachary has the cutest habit of saying "No tank you" when he doesn't want something. For example, I'll say, "Zachary do you want a drink?" "No tank you". "Zachary, do you need a nap?" "No tank you". Anytime he doesn't want something, even if it's not a question he'll say "No tank you". The other day I told him that we were going over to Joy's house "No tank you" he says, I told him that it wasn't an option I needed to go over there for something. He said "No tank you" all the way there. All I could think was, well - at least he's polite about it. So funny. He says it at least 20 times a day. I'm sure he'll grow out of the thank you part - but I'll take it for as long as I can get it.

Anyway, the boys carved their pumpkins this morning. They are very cute and I'll have to take a picture and post.

Boy Howdy

Mama said there would be days like this...Boy Howdy. I don't know what kind of sugar cereal the preschool kids consumed this morning, but wow, it must have been plenty sugary. We had to sit down at the end of preschool and have a talk about how to treat the preschool and our preschool friends. We also talked about how it's not nice to call the snack gross or to tell everyone very loudly how you don't want it, etc. I was getting a little tired of how opinionated (and loud) some of these preschoolers are getting. We talked about respect and compassion. I don't know how many of them understood, but I tried. I don't even want to think about how it's going to be next Tuesday on Halloween.

Darrel is working his rear end off this week. He goes into work in the morning, comes home for dinner and then goes back until 2:00am or 3:00am in the morning and then does it again. I know that he is majorly sleep deprived. Hopefully when this week ends he can do some catching up on his zzzzzz's. His company has a big customer in this week testing and trying out some of their stuff. If this (customer) company likes what it sees it could mean big (really big) bucks for Darrel's boss and his company. We'll keep our fingers crossed. I know that they have been under a pretty big microscope this week.

Yesterday was a Zachary nightmare. Never, ever again will that child (at least in the next year) go without a nap in the middle of the afternoon. I got busy and didn't put him down when I should have, he fell asleep around 5:00pm - made me miss the ward party - woke up at 8:00pm and went back down at 10:00pm. He then woke up around 6 this morning. I should never have done that to him. He needs structure and I should have put him down for his afternoon nap in the afternoon. Never has a lesson been learned so well. Talk about a grump, yesterday and this morning. I swear he was grating on my last migraine filled nerve this morning. I'm still trying to get rid of my headache.

Joy is such a lifesaver for me. I'm so grateful to have her next door. I'm grateful for all the help she is to me and the shoulder I need. She is always willing to try and make my life easier. I love that we are able to be so close now. She kept Zachary after preschool so I could make some travel arrangements for mom. I called my mom and left a message on her cell so hopefully she'll call me back soon and I can talk to her. I appreciate that Joy was so willing just to keep Zachary even though she has company and her own kids to worry about. I know that my head (headache) is a lot better for it. Thanks Joy!

Tomorrow is Nevada Day and there is no school. The boys are very excited. Alex has gymnastics from 11:30 - 3:30. I'll probably take Johnathan and Zachary to the park for some of that time. Maybe the Laytons will join us and we can have a picnic lunch or something. That would be fun. It's nice to live in Las Vegas right now because the days are so weather perfect. The mornings are a little chilly but the days warm up to mid 70s most of the time and that is so awesome. I'm watching the news with slow blowing here and rain falling there and I'm counting my Nevada blessings.

Well, if you made it all the way through that update, thanks for listening to all my ramblings. Hopefully I'll post some pictures soon. I'll have to get some pictures of the boys in their costumes. Have a wonderful weekend and an enjoyable Halloween!

October 24, 2006

I had preschool this morning. I don't know what it is about Tuesdays...maybe it's because I don't have preschool on Mondays and they release all their pent up energy on Tuesday. Today was a day. We had crying and chaos and all sorts of things. In spite of that we managed to make some very cute crafts and learn about the letter H and the shape oval.

Johnathan has been sick the last couple of days and I am debating whether or not to take him into the doctor. He went to school today, but came home with a fever, chills, headache and said that his throat hurt. I guess when I see it all in writing it becomes pretty apparent that we should probably have a doctor check him out.

Right now the boys are doing their homework and Zachary is standing at my elbow saying, "Paint, paint...I paint, paint...I paint, paint" you get the idea. Painting is such a messy project and it turns out I have a massive headache. I'm hoping to get him interested in something else so we can avoid the mess and such.

I have no idea what to make for dinner tonight but I just called Darrel and he said he should be home around six. That is great news. I am very excited to have him home. Alex badly wants to go play tennis and I am happy to oblige except for this blasted headache. Darrel said that he would love to take his boys to play tennis. Most likely I will keep Johnathan and Zachary home and let Darrel and Alex go play tennis, just the two of them. Alex will love that. I'll let Johnathan watch cartoons on the couch and veg out. Hopefully he will feel better soon.

Well, I better get back to my day - see ya!

Alex in action

Alex was looking through all the photos of the pictures we took in St. George and he said that this was his favorite one, so I decided to share it with everyone. 

Our trip to St. George

My sister Joy and I took a trip with our children to see my dad play volleyball in the world senior games being held in St. George. We had a wonderful time. We played minature golf, air hockey, ping-pong, we played at the park together and we got to see dad play with his team. (They came in fourth overall by the way- way to go team!!) Kenneth was a little sick while we were there but we still managed to have a great time. Here are some pictures from our trip. The first is my dad with my kids and Joy's kids. The second is Johnathan playing volleyball outside the Dixie center while we were waiting for Dad to finishing being a ref for the next game. The third picture is Alex playing outside the Dixie Center with Johanthan and the last picture is my dad playing volleyball with his team.


 

Black and White

Here is a picture of me with my hair in front. The hair in back is really short. 

Time with Grammie

Zachary and Caitlin playing in the sand.
This picture is Kenneth, Johnathan and Grammie on the court.


We had a fun evening last night with Grammie Fellingham and Jackie (David's wife). We went to the park and the older boys played sand volleyball with Grammie while the younger children (Daniel, Zachary, and Caitlin) played in the sand. Then we ate In and Out burgers, fries, and shakes. Grammie and Jackie had to leave soon after we finished so they could go do another Million Dollar Women Conference in St. George. The conference is the reason they were in Las Vegas. They had quite the success even with the low turnout so hooray for them!! Here are a few pictures of our time at the park.

Today I have some errands to run to get ready for the weekend. This weekend is the Pinewood Derby and tomorrow I'm leaving for a few days to go see my dad play volleyball in St. George. So today I need to head down to the scout office and get some ribbons for the winners as well as some more awards for the boys. I also need to print off the certificate awards so they can each have an award (even the slowest car - which will get the award of the most fuel efficient). I also need to pack and get ready to leave tomorrow since we are leaving right after my preschool is finished. Joy and her kids and me and mine will go watch grandaddy play.

This morning I was reading other people's blogs. More specifically some of the ones featured on MSN. It was quite interesting. I now feel very un-creative with words and such. Some people have such a way with words. I hope these people don't mind my glimpse into their lives.

Apples, apples everywhere!!

Below are some of the photos I took this weekend of our apple picking and pressing weekend. We made 15 gallons of apple cider and only put a dent in the apples that we picked. We left the rest of the apples with Grandma Miki so she could make apple sauce. We had a wonderful time and would like to thank Grandma and Grandpa Webb for hosting our family. We also were grateful that Rollin and his kids were there so we could have cousins together. We hope to go back and enjoy that experience again sometime!!

 

Apple picking pictures

 

Our apple picking (and pressing) weekend

We spent the weekend in the mountains of Arizona with Darrel's parents and had a great time picking and pressing apples. It rained a little on Saturday but most of the pressing that we wanted to get done was already finished so we packed it in and left the rest of the apples for Miki to make applesauce. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend...

This first picture is Makenna. She is Rollin and Dana's three year old. She is such a character! She loved picking the apples and stayed around for the whole process. Long after the other kids had gone off to play something else, she was still there sorting the apples and pressing the juice.

I'm having a hard time loading other pictures, so I'm going to try it a different way...continue to look for more pictures from our fun weekend.

Random pictures

I'm posting random pictures on my blog so I don't have to look at myself when I pull it up on my computer. I also liked these pictures so I'm sharing. This first one is Johnathan and Alex at the park. The second picture I took of Zachary when we went to Kenneth's first soccer game. The third picture was taken outside our house after a big rainstorm and the last picture is Zachary playing around on a play piano. He thought he was so funny (and so did his mom).



 

I don't really like this picture, but at least you can see the haircut.

Someday I'd like to get to the point where I don't hate every picture that's taken of me. It would be nice to be skinny and cute and have skinny and cute pictures. That, unfortunately doesn't change overnight so I guess for now I'll be overweight and kind of frumpy. Do you ever have that thing where you're getting ready for the day in front of your mirror, you think you loook so hot and then you see yourself from somebody else's eyes (a picture for example) and you wonder why in the world you ever thought you looked good. I don't know I guess I'm just having one of those days and I'm choosing to vent to my computer on my blog.

Today I need to do laundry and get the family packed for our weekend in Arizona. I also need to clean the house for a meeting today and then leave it clean and ready for company to come on Monday. I also need to talk to the cruise people about taking off Grandma Noble and adding Weston, then look into flights for 12 people. I need to look over my preschool plans for next week so I can be ready and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everything. I just need to take a deep breath, relax and take one bite of the elephant at a time. I know that I can get it all done, I just hate the feeling of having so many things hanging over my head.

I guess I better go and get this day officially started. The boys are off to school, Zachary is drawing on a chalkboard and Darrel is probably packing somewhere trying to avoid his very cranky wife. Talk to you soon!

I got my haircut...and other news

Well - I got my haircut. It's definately different. I hope people like it. I know for me it will take some getting used to but I like it. It's different than any haircut I've ever had. I had to find a new person to cut my hair because when you move that's just one of the things that has to be taken care of. I went to a girl in our ward. She did a good job. I'll have to post a picture when I get brave enough to take one.

In other news - things have been mostly quiet here on the home front. Preschool was fun today. We did spiders and had a couple of really cute crafts. One of the preschool moms helped me out and she was a lifesaver. She does an amazing job with the kids and has a personality that is so easy to get along with. I am always grateful when she can come and help out.

This weekend our family will be headed down to Arizona to visit with Darrel's mom and dad. The boys are so excited and truth be told I am too. I love Darrel's parents. They make it so easy to love them. Rollin will also be there with his kids. I think we're going to make apple cider with Papa's apple press. It should be a lot of good memories. I'll make sure and take my camera so I can come home with cute pictures.

I took this cute picture of the boys when we were at the park. We had a good time. The boys ran around and played and hopefully got really tired. I need to put them to bed now. Wish me luck!!

Tuesday

It's Tuesday today...a preschool day but no sports. I like having all my boys home all night. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Alex has gymnastics from 5:30-8:30 and Johnathan has karate on Fridays from 6:00-7:00. I miss having all my boys around so I look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays for that reason. Right now we are all finishing our homework so we can go to the park. It's about 80 outside and we are very excited to go and play at the park. I think I'll take my camera and take some pictures. I have been going through my pictures these last couple of days and it just brings back so many memories. I just love looking at pictures. That is how I document my life. I have never been very good at journaling but I have been pretty good at taking pictures so that becomes my journal.

Preschool was pretty good today. We learned about what you do if there's a fire in your home. We talked about and even practiced, stop, drop and roll. It was pretty comical to see all the preschoolers rolling around my floor. They loved it, of course. We also make fire chief badges that we attatched to wavy paper and made crowns. The girls all thought they were princesses and queens...it was very cute.

I'm making preparations for our family's cruise at Thanksgiving time. It's a very time consuming process to find the cheapest flights for 12 people. I don't mind, though. It's the Fellingham Family cruise. Which means it's my mom and dad plus all the children and their spouses (no children). It's going to be a blast. I just wish I was skinny and beautiful but it will still be a blast.

We went tubing on Saturday and I am so sore today. My whole body feels like it's gone through...I don't know what, but it went through it. My shoulders ache, my knees are all banged up and have like road rash all over them. This picture above is Danny on the left (a maneuver which he recovered from and stayed on the tube), me and then Steve. We had a wonderful time on the lake. The weather was perfect. We got babysitters for our children and we just enjoyed ourselves. It was Danny, Amanda, me, Darrel, Steve, and Joy. We spent the bulk of the day on the lake beating ourselves up and having a fabulous time and then we came home and played games. It was the most fun I've had in a long time.

Today I need to go to the library to see if I can find a fire safety video for my preschool. We have fire safety day tomorrow and I want to show the children what a fireman looks like in full gear. We are also going to make badges, practice crawling and practice stop, drop, and roll. I'm sure we'll have a good time. I don't know how much these children retain what I teach them but I do my best.

Zachary is clingy today. I think he needs more sleep. I told him that I'd take him to the park this afternoon but it's raining right now so if it warms up we'll go. I checked the weather and it's supposed to be around 82 today. I'm sure the day will end sunny. That is one of the perks of Las Vegas.

Our family in Oregon  

Starting our blog

Well, I thought it might be a good time to start a blog about our family. I looked at the one that Joy made and I really liked the idea of journaling about our family's happenings. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out the ins and outs of blogging and I'll be able to share a piece of our family to be saved forever somewhere in internet space. Our family has just recently re-located to Las Vegas, Nevada from Meridian, Idaho. Darrel got a new job because he wasn't 100% happy at Micron. We made some very good memories in Idaho and we'll always have a piece of Meridian in our hearts. We're excited to start a new life. There are definately pros and cons of starting over. It's not easy to start over with all new friends and acquaintences. Joy has been my saving grace. It's nice having a sister just two doors down. We rely on eachother for a lot of things and I appreciate her willingness to always help me out. I hope to update this blog on a regular basis. It will be a good way to vent emotions and keep a journal.