Valentine's Weeks 2010

Since my grandmother died on February 4th(more on that in the next post), I had to make an emergency trip down to the Bay Area for her funeral. Kyrie was bummed because she had wanted to do a Valentine's Day party, and I wouldn't be here for Valentine's Day. I promised her that we would have a party when I got back.

I got back on the 17th, and had to work at the basketball game on the 18th, so on the 19th, we decorated sugar cookies, the kids made cards, we had more sugar, and I made red Kool-Aid with heart shaped ice cubes.

I have been remiss on getting photo shoots done on holidays(the only pictures I got at Christmas were candids), so I decided I should do some Valentine's Day shots. No pictures of Jayden since I haven't been able to get a picture of him sitting still since he was about six months old. :P

Now I am Six

But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Isaiah Boy!

He had a fun party today with a couple of friends. Playing Legos and watching Cars. What more could a bunch of a little boys want?

More Pics from Humanitarian Bowl Celebration

I look huge in this picture! In my defense, I was wearing layers. It was very cold that day!! I do have some extra weight that is hopefully coming off this year as I use my gym membership and my new Wii Fit Plus I got for Christmas. ;)

Idaho Vandal Humanitarian Bowl Celebration

Today I got to dust off my trombone, and play with the Idaho Vandal Marching Band in the parade to celebrate the Humanitarian Bowl win. It was very foggy and it had snowed the night before, but that didn't stop the celebration! We marched from downtown Moscow to the Kibbie Dome while playing Go Vandals.

*Sidenote- I took a strength training class at Snap Fitness, where I'm now a member- thanks to the wonderful Christmas gift a friend gave me(She had an ulterior motive- she wanted a workout partner). Anyway, in the class they talked about all the reasons you would want to strength train. One of the reasons was to improve your ability to play an instrument. They weren't kidding! I had forgotten how hard it is to march and play at the same time- especially when going uphill. That, and the cold weather, and my lungs were burning!

When we made it to the Kibbie Dome, we played some more, and they had autograph signing, a speech by the football coach-Robb Akey, and a chance to take pictures of the trophy. The mascot, Joe Vandal was standing by the trophy, and people were taking pictures. I was going to take a picture of him by the trophy, but he stopped me. He held his hands out, and motioned for me to give me the camera. He handed it to someone else, and I got my picture taken with the trophy and Joe Vandal. I would post pictures from today, but the camera is in the van at the moment, and I'm too tired to go out and get it. So pictures will have to wait.

Aside from feeling like an old phogey today(I believe all the band members were current ones- with the exception of a few Jr. High/High school kids that joined us for the day), it was a pretty fun time, and I enjoyed the opportunity to show pride in my Alma Mater.

Oh, and I was on the news! I'm the 2nd trombone from the right wearing my new Vandal beanie. I don't know why they didn't put footage of us playing. Certainly more interesting than watching us saunter down the road. ;) You'll have to click on the video that says,"Moscow Celebrates Vandal Football Day." Yes, the Idaho governor declared the 23rd of January to be Vandal Football Day. Mark it on your calendars, folks!

Scrapbooking? What's That?

Well, it has been my favorite hobby since 1998 when I got married. Unfortunately, it has been a neglected hobby as of late. I haven't pulled my scrapbooking stuff out of the boxes in the last month after we moved back. Did I say boxes? Yep, I have a big stack of boxes waiting for a home. Our plan was to buy another bookcase to put stuff on, but we are expecting some big bills from 2 different hospitals and 2 different oral surgeons- thanks to a bad infection Mark acquired recently and took to Vegas. I have a feeling the bookcase will be put on the back burner for a while.

So, I have had lofty plans to do some scrapbooking, but I just haven't been in the mood for a while. Still, I love to collect scrap crap- don't sign me up for the A & E show "Hoarders" yet. It hasn't completely taken over our house. Just a stack in the corner of our bedroom. ;)

Okay, our local scrapbook store's design team has decided to give me a bigger chance to amass more stuff if I help with publicity(but don't let the word get out too much. I don't want to minimize my chance of winning! Bwahahaha!). Start here and follow the instructions to enter to win. On second thought, don't enter. I want to win. ;)

A Different Kind of Giveaway

If you are the only one on earth who hasn't been to Pioneer Woman's blog, I encourage you to go check it out. She's doing a great giveaway that has to do with donations to Haiti charities. Help the cause and enter!

Oh, and I suppose I might get around to blogging more frequently again, but just haven't been in a blogging mood, and I haven't uploaded pictures, and, and, and...

Jaydenisms

At two years and 8 months, Jayden has grown a bit more in his vocabulary. He still isn't as vocal as his brother and sister were at that age, and that can be frustrating at times because he screams a lot and throws some tantrums, but when he does talk, it's very sweet.

A Jayden dictionary with some of his words and phrases:

ah-puh-toos(octopus)- Whenever he sees the letter "o", he says,"O. ah. ahpuhtoos."

nigh-nigh- His blanket that he currently drags with him all over the house

baby- What he calls his favorite stuffed animal(giraffe), and also when he sees any picture of a baby

watuh(water) His favorite drink(unless he sees me drinking a soda at a fast food place). Usually followed by "peas"(please). He does use his manners.

"No seegig. I doen lie it!" A phrase he picked up when I was singing to him, and he all of a sudden started to scream. I told him that he needed to use his words and he learned,"No singing. I don't like it." He actually loves to sing songs together. Just wasn't in the mood that particular night, I guess. Every once in a while, he will say the phrase just because he knows that it makes us laugh.

"Ah done!" All done.

"Yay! Dih it!" Yay! I did it!

Some songs he likes to sing:

"Jesus Loves Me"

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"- sounds more like Kee-Ko, Kee-Ko Little Stah"

"Jump Up"(sung by the Imagination Movers on the Disney Channel- complete with motions)

He actually likes singing a lot, and will sing with pretty much whatever he listens to- even if he doesn't know the words.

He also knows his colors, numbers, letters(complete with sounds), and body parts. My favorite parts that he says are "no-ese(nose), to-es(toes), and beh-yee buht(belly button)."

Well, I could go on, but I can't think of everything, and you are probably already bored by now. ;) He's really a smart little guy, and I love him a lot!