NIKBOK

A daunting task

2009-12-27T00:38:00.000-05:00

How do I do a post covering 9 days at Disney World with our family of 6, Holly's family of 5, and Sunny's family of 3.5? I do not know. I didn't keep track of each day's events like they did.

Where to start? Maybe here...

Hee hee :)

Actually I should start here- our very own family Fast Pass compliments of Jackson.

It's part of Disney's Guest Assistance Pass. Holly suggested that we look into this for Jackson because of his low muscle tone. They gave us a pass and this sticker for his stroller. We were able to go in the FastPass lines or wheelchair entrance on all the rides and attractions. This meant we could take the stroller through the lines, we got in fast, and even got front row seats in many shows. We had a much better experience overall with Jackson on this trip than on

others. Part of that better experience had to do with the fact that we avoided characters. He only managed a few pictures with them.

When he was frustrated with us for getting in lines for rides he didn't think he'd like, he was able to communicate better about his feelings than just screaming and throwing himself on the ground like the last trip. This time he'd sit in his stroller and tell us that he was mad at us and say, "I want to make you little!! I want to be a big giant!!" We figured out he was just trying to get across how powerless he felt and that he wanted to be in control of us for a change.

OK, so now on to the next most important part of our trip...

The FOOD! :)

We ate some seriously delicious food. A big perk from this trip was the Disney Dining Plan deal we got. Free food- every day. 1 table service, 1 quick service and a snack every day for each of us. We ate well.

Our first and probably favorite dining experience was at Epcot.

Our family enjoys hibachi restaurants, but Jackson was nervous when we were seated and he wanted to get out. It only took until our super sweet chef arrived that he was comfortable and so happy to be there. Thank Heavens for Disney cast members!

She was so cute, entertained us while she cooked, and made us delicious meals!

Another favorite was Hollywood Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios. Greg and Kobe both had the Grilled Atlantic Salmon - with baby spinach, Cannellini beans, Ugli tomato, warm bacon vinaigrette, and lemon aioli.

Jillie and I enjoyed the Char-grilled Rib-Eye Steak - with herb-roasted fingerling potatoes, Cremini mushrooms, Cippolini onions and Cabernet syrup.

Reagan and Kobe ate off the children's menu- hot dog and grilled cheese. Good food and a nice quiet break from the hustle and noise outside in Hollywood Studios.

I do have to record a note about dessert there. We always seem to pick the wrong thing, like "Grapefruit Cake - A Brown Derby Original! Light Layers of Yellow Cake with fresh Grapefruit Cream Cheese Icing." I do not like grapefruit that much.

Jillie got it right though and I have to record it so we all remember to get this next time.

"Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower on cocoa almond cookie and bananas 'foster'"

**This post is really getting me hungry!**

Other winners were Le Cellier in "Canada" at Epcot. Yummy bread sticks (the kids seemed to like the pretzel bread sticks the most), good steaks, delicious Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, and cute desserts like apple tarts

and chocolate "moose".

We ate breakfast one morning at The Wave at the Contemporary Resort. Nice place, but I guess I only took a picture of the fun salt and pepper shakers.

The meals were excellent- all of them so healthy. We need to remember to do this one more often!

Can't go wrong at Pizza Planet, straight out of Toy Story. Something quick and easy for the whole family. Pizzas and delicious salads while surrounded by video games and LGMs hanging from the ceiling.

Tusker House in "Africa" at Animal Kingdom has a huge buffet that Greg loves almost as much as Brown Derby. Lots of ethnic foods along with more familiar ones, plus lots of miniature desserts so you can try them all!

Can't forget the snacks either- especially Dole Whips (only found near the Tiki Room at WDW & Disneyland, and Oahu, Hawaii). They are pineapple but you can see on Jillie's that they turned them green to be festive for the holidays.

And of course churros and popcorn that you can never seem to find when you are craving it late at night!

Enough about food though that doesn't really scratch the surface. Obviously it's good that we were walking all day long because of the way we ate!

More Disney World coming soon including Disney's Christmas festivities, celebrity sightings and super fun extended family togetherness.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-01T22:56:00.003-05:00

On Thanksgiving morning we got up, watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, felt a little glad to not be busy making a variety of foods and cleaning house for a big Thanksgiving get together. Instead we packed our bags into the car. We were on our way to Disney World... for 10 days! My sisters Holly and Sunny and their families would meet us there.

The flight went well thanks to ipods and laptops. The only complication we had was having to pay an extra $100 because 2 of our bags were a few pounds over the 50 pound limit. Seriously?! There are six of us and we only checked 3 bags and they still feel the need to charge us. I think they need a better system. Anyhow...

We finally arrived at our hotel, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, in the late afternoon. We headed off to the dining area to enjoy what turned out to be a very good tasting Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings. Well, some of us had the traditional food- Kobe had a meatball sub, Reagan- a hamburger, and Jackson- pizza.

Then we hopped over to the Magic Kingdom to ride some rides and finally meet up with Holly's family in time for the fireworks show- Wishes.

During the fireworks, Holly noticed a guy near us down on his knee. He was proposing to his girlfriend. Greg thought it was way too Uncle-Jessie-proposes-to-Rebecca-in-a-very-special-Full-House-Disney-World-episode. **EDIT: I have been corrected , it was actually Danny Tanner that proposed to Vicki at Disney World while Uncle Jessie was singing!** You know I had to sneak a shot anyway...

Jaleigh and Jackson... together again. :)

The rest of the evening was spent with the Avery's on rides and attractions. They left the park before us- we ended up getting to bed around 2am.

We are very thankful to be with family this Thanksgiving weekend on the whole next week!!

SNOOPY!!

2009-11-23T14:36:00.007-05:00

We had a very fun, exciting and exhausting weekend.

Family and friends all came out to support Jillie and Reagan in their musical production.

Grammie G flew in from Colorado.

Grandma & Papa drove in from Michigan.

Cousins from Colorado Danny, Jake, and Kyle flew in with Grammie G too.

Many good friends from around here came to the show too...

the Lewis'...

the Christensens...

as well as the Manzanares', Marielle Melling, the Warren's, Corinne and Amanda. The England's and Baroldy's were there of course since their kids were in the show too.

The girls did a great job. It was a real success and real learning experience for both of them. We are so proud of their hard work and confidence.

So far I can only post some footage from the first night. Jillie's mic wasn't working well and I wasn't always sure where to find Reagan in the chorus, so the video could be better. It may take a while for me to figure out how to edit segments out of the second show though so I'll just post some from Friday night.

Presenting Snoopy!!

Starring Jillie as Peppermint Patty and Reagan as a chorus member.

In this clip Jillie is in green (don't ask me why they decided Patty should be in a dress?!) Reagan can be seen occasionally behind Jillie's right shoulder.

In this scene I went back and forth to see each girl sing...

(Reagan's in the front row, 2nd from the end.)

And finally the song Poor Sweet Baby that Jillie sings all by herself to "Chuck". She is the only girl who had a solo song! She got even better laughs and applause on Saturday when her mic was working!

Can you tell we are so proud of and impressed by our girls?

We are!

And our winners are...

2009-11-23T06:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't really catch any blurkers with my giveaway- except Autumn. :) Some of those mystery visitors were not enticed by blogger tshirts and magazines I suppose. It's nice to have so many comments from my good friends though.

I've decided it's hard to do a giveaway when you don't have enough for everyone. :( I left the choosing up to the random number generator at random.org.

And our winners are...

**drum roll please**

Real Simple Magazine subscription...

#10 Shannon!!

(I've got your address so I can get that on it's way soon)

Blogger Tshirt....

#9 Caity!!

(Caity email me with your address and if you want medium or large)

Thanks for playing along gals!

Girls Weekend

2009-11-19T23:33:00.007-05:00

**Don't miss out on my GIVEAWAY, the winner will be announced Monday**

Last Friday I got in my car, by myself, all alone, drove for about 5 hours, listening to whatever I wanted, singing as LOUD as I wanted (and it was LOUD and not real pretty), and no one was there to complain. Singing (and snacking) keeps me wide awake while I drive. I did wish my aunt Tami was with me though since I was singing along with Barry Manilow and that has been our thing since we were very small.

I was making good time across Canada- until I got to the US border into Michigan. Lucky me, I was "randomly selected" to have my car searched. Seriously? At 10pm I was told to pull my car over to the border office, bring in only my purse, but NOT my cell phone, and wait in the office for an undetermined amount of time. Thank goodness I didn't have the kids with me. I saw families with small sleeping children who had been on the road for who knows how long already made to come wait in this office. A few young women who were traveling together had already been there over an hour while their car was searched and they were interrogated about why they were traveling with sheets, a pillow and massage therapy brochures. Another woman had to explain all of the details of her complicated marital status. I guess I was lucky to get out of there sans interrogation in a half hour.

I met my mom and sister, Holly at a hotel for the night. So missed having Tami there this year though- she was home with the flu. We were up before the crack of dawn so that we wouldn't be late for the 8am store openings at Birch Run's Deer Widows Weekend.

We arrived in time to get our Win Big Bucks scratch cards. This year I won $10 to Banana Republic! WooHoo! :) We didn't bother to get our pictures taken with the "Bucks" who were there to get the ladies excited I suppose.

The crowds were crazy as usual. It's a big deal. The local media are out in full force to cover the craziness.

half way through the check out line at Gap

We had to implement the one person holds a pace in line while the others shop procedure in most stores. Happily Angie and little Miss Ellika joined us for a good chunk of the day.

Extra bonus, Angie brought a coupon to Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic for an extra 30% off that could be reused as often as we needed. That was excellent since most things were already marked down about 20-30%. Score. It was a great day with great deals, even better company, and some progress made on the Christmas list. It was exhausting too. Little tip: those chairs at Justice are really comfortable when you've been on your feet for 12 hours!

We wound up our shopping in time to beat the crowds to Applebee's for dinner. There we pulled out receipts and figured out who owed who what. Actually it was just me who owed them. This process was going on at many of the tables. After making sure the right purchases were in the right cars, I said goodbye to Mom and Holly. They headed 2-3 hours home and I drove down to Angie's. She graciously put me up for the night at her house. It was nice to get in a little extra time with her Sunday morning. Then I headed home, this time through Ohio, to a clean house and an awesome family!

My Birthday Giveaway!

2009-11-18T09:25:00.012-05:00

With my birthday falling on a Sunday this year, the entire weekend was all about my birthday. That's a good thing. :) Actually it started earlier when Greg got me the present I'd been asking for- a desperately needed new vacuum. Yea!

Saturday was a full day.... Making Christmas crafts with some friends at church,

then Kobe's basketball game, then lunch at a new to us restaurant called Root Five.

It is actually on Route 5 and it's right on Lake Erie.

We liked it a lot. After lunch we dropped the kids at home and went out to start Christmas shopping. Getting things checked off the to do list is a GREAT gift to me! Next stop was to the movies to see

AWESOME!!!!! LOVED IT!!!

We returned home after being gone for many hours. Can I just say again how nice it is to have a babysitter in the house. :) Jillie even helped Kobe make some brownies.

On Sunday I awoke to breakfast in bed, went to church, and was served lunch in bed before I gave in to a little Sunday afternoon nap. Doesn't get much better than that. I have a sweet husband and sweet kids.

Greg remembered that earlier in the week I mentioned that apple pie sounded good, so he bought us a half apple pie for my birthday dessert. YUM!

Got some goodness in the mail around my birthday too... An old friend, Heidi, sent a birthday card. Can you tell how rural a place she lives in when you see her return address?

Jill, the Good Mail Queen herself, sent me some of her famous quote cards! Lucky me! I had to laugh that she had to hand write "Good Mail from Jill" when she is the inventor and creator of the Good Mail Label. Guess someone needs to order her some labels from the Good Mail Queen's Etsy shop!

I also recently received some honest to goodness Good Mail- a note from someone I do not know in person, though I've read her blog from time to time. Her name is Claudia. She saw some of my comments on Jill's blog and decided to sent me a note.

She included this little bookmark and wrote on the back, "just a cute door". Love that she just added this little 'just because.'

So sweet. I love Claudia's Good Mail. Each piece is like a little work of art. :)

OK- Now I am cracking myself up with this. Because it is fun to receive, but even more fun to give, I am having a GIVEAWAY! Anyone who leaves a comment is in the running. There will be 2 winners! And since there aren't a lot of people who read this blog, you have great odds! :)

I have noticed lately that I've had some traffic from people and places I don't know, or who at least don't comment. I am inviting those people to come on out of hiding and say hi... then you can go back to hiding if you want.

So, here it is... you can win either a year subscription to Real Simple Magazine,

or your very own Blogger shirt (Women's size M or L).

I will pick the winners Monday, Nov 23rd. Good Luck!

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Birthdays

2009-11-17T10:53:00.002-05:00

My 38th Birthday was a couple Sundays ago. I couldn't possibly do a birthday post about myself like last year's 100 List. For one, I didn't take Jill's advice about keep a running about me list so I'd have another 100 things to list. Most importantly though, how could I blog about MY birthday when my girls feel really gypped that I never blogged about their birthday's last June.

So, better late than never. Let me take you back to June 2009...

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY

TO REAGAN!!

Reagan wanted a pool party for her birthday. It's always risky the first weekend of June in Buffalo, NY. You never know if it's going to be hot enough yet. As it turned out it was a nice warm day, though the pool was pretty icy. They managed to get in for a little while anyway.

First item on the party plan was- making rag tied flip flops. Cute. Fun. Simple.Reagan wanted a flip flop cake- my first time carving a cake out. Not my best experience with a cake. Ok, it was my WORST experience with a cake!! It ended up ok, but I think I'd rather just stick to drawing on the cake with frosting. The kids also had a water balloon toss,spent some time in the pool, lots of time warming up on the patio, pinata, presents, etc... I won't post more pictures though. I always feel weird taking pictures at these parties because of the girls who come in little bikinis. What's so wrong with a one piece anyway? :)
I should also mention that on her actual birthday she got to pick where we ate dinner and she picked her favorite place that she rarely gets to go because it's not very near us...

Reagan....

1. Reagan graduated from 5th grade and elementary school and was confident going into the middle school.

2. Reagan is not a drama queen. Even tempered, down to earth. If she does get overly emotional ever, we know some thing's not right.

3. Reagan chooses friends who are nice, good girls who are not drama queens.

4. Reagan continues to LOVE music- singing and playing her cello more often.

5. Reagan doesn't get nervous when it comes to performing. She doesn't appear the least bit nervous when she is singing a solo or duet or playing her cello to a crowded room.

6. Reagan's favorite sports are gymnastics and basketball.

7. Reagan's favorite shows are Wizards of Waverly Place, Phineas and Ferb, True Jackson VP, and Hannah Montana.

8. Reagan really loves being with her church friends and going to Activity Days with them every other week.

9. Reagan is very excited to turn 12 next summer which means going into Young Womens, going to Girls Camp with Jillie and I, and getting her own cell phone!

10. Reagan LOVES clothes and shoes. She LOVES to go clothes shopping, try on everything, and hope that someone will buy her everything!

11. Reagan is helpful and loving and an important part of our family! We love her SO much!

*************

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY

TO JILLIE!!

It's hard to believe we have officially entered the teenage years! Jillie's birthday celebration weighed heavily on her mind and heart for months leading up to the big day. Oh the drama of middle school! She wanted to have a party, but some close friends refused to get along with other close friends, so who does she invite? And then there's the church friends too... Greg decided to offer her a birthday trip with him instead of the party to make the situation easier. She was happy about that, although when it got closer, she did invite a few school friends to come over to swim and have a mini party on her actual birthday.

Again, I won't be posting lots of pictures, because of the whole scantily clad/bikini situation.

Another day she had a couple of church friends over too. At least these weren't big planning parties, just some friends hanging out. In the end she had 2 unofficial parties AND a trip with her Dad to Disneyland in California. Um, how did that happen?! :)

Jillie...

1. Is more responsible everyday. It's so nice to be able to leave the kids home and know that all will be well because she's in charge. Anyone need a good babysitter? She's for hire! :)

2. Jillie's confidence is growing and it shows. She is so impressive and comfortable when she sings or speaks in public.

3. Jillie's singing voice is so nice. She loves to sing whether it's popular music, show tunes, or hymns.

4. Jillie has taught herself to play the piano a little and enjoys trying to learn to play the hymns. I noticed this year that that is what she often turns to when she's in a bad mood. I'm glad.

5. Jillie prefers to be called Jillie over Jillienne or Jill. I always wondered what she would choose for herself and I wonder if that will ever change.

6. Jillie loves to play basketball.

7. Jillie's favorite class in school is Spanish. She excels in it. She was chosen at the end of last year to take 9th grade Latin at the high school this year. She ended up turning it down because it conflicted with her anchor position on MSTV.

8. Jillie always looked like a mini me- BUT all of a sudden her body is not like mine ever was. She is so tall and skinny now and wears the same size shoe as me. I wonder when the growing will stop. Size 1/2 skinny jeans are loose on her!

9. Jillie loves clothes and shoes and shoes and shoes and clothes and accessories and bags and accessories and clothes and bags....

10. Jillie enjoys filming and editing her own movies.

11. Jillie is a facebook fanatic.

12. Jillie is in tune with the spirit and really loves being with people and in places where she feels it the most.

13. Jillie is funny and mature, helpful and loving. We LOVE that she is ours!!

********************

Oh, I'd better not forget the one other child I didn't do a birthday post for this year! Now we will go back to July...

Happy 5th Birthday

to Jackson!!

I hardly remember what we did for Jackson's birthday. That's probably because I hardly planned a thing. At the last minute we asked his best friend Cole to join Jackson and Kobe at Rolly Pollies for an hour of running and jumping and climbing and just having fun.

(In this picture you see Cole running down the trampoline, but in the mirror you can see Jackson running behind him and Kobe climbing in the corner.)

Jillie and Reagan got the house decorated including turning these red paper plates and a black plastic table cloth into Mickey Mouse plates.

The kids played outside and the rest of Cole's family came over for dinner and cake.

The cake. I asked Jackson what he wanted on his cake and he said, "J-A-C-K-S-O-N." He also said he wanted a 5 on it. It didn't hit me until it was done that it says "Jackson 5". It is fitting though because he is a BIG Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 fan. :)

On his actual birthday we asked him what he wanted to do most and he chose playing at the elementary school playground.

Done. We also ate dinner at one of his favorite places- Taffy's.

Jackson...

1. Jackson makes us all laugh every day. We don't know what we would do without him around here to entertain us!

2. Jackson is working hard on building his muscles now. He has had a really good attitude with his therapists (Speech, PT, and OT) and enjoys playing with them. He had to say goodbye to his long time therapists this summer and now is starting with the school's therapists.

3. Jackson is a whiz on the computer. He LOVES playing on preschool sites especially Webkinz Jr and pbskids.

4. Jackson's favorite toys are cars from the Cars movie, "G" and "JJ" his Webkinz Jr puppies, basketballs, and Wii games.

5. Jackson loves his family and tells us often. We just love him like crazy too!

************

Well, there we go! Birthday posts complete for 2009. Except for mine. Stay tuned. I'm cracking myself up over my next post already!

I'm a Wreckporter!

2009-11-11T11:07:00.003-05:00

If you have never looked at Cake Wrecks, you must. They document "when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong." (Although on Sunday they post "Sunday Sweets" which are beautiful and amazing professional themed cakes.) Last summer I found a cake wreck at the grocery store and I sent in a picture of it. They used it today on their site and now I can officially be called a wreckporter. (Mine is the Owl Troops.)

Coming Soon!

2009-11-09T10:57:00.000-05:00

Screams in the halls of the school

2009-09-26T23:54:00.002-04:00

It's musical audition time at the middle school again.

This year's production is

Jillie tried out again this year having enjoyed being in the chorus of the 2 previous musicals. Her goal this year was to get a speaking part.

She practiced her singing.

She practiced using courage so they could see what she is capable of doing on stage.

She got a call back. We were cautiously hopeful.

Reagan tried out too even though the odds were against her.

Apparently there were 200 kids trying out for the musical.

There are about 10 parts and 60 chorus spots.

There was a better chance a 7th or 8th grader would get in the cast over a 6th grader.

She practiced her singing.

We hoped.

Friday the cast list was posted.

There were screams in the halls of the school.

REAGAN made it into the CHORUS!

WOO HOO!!!!

JILLIE will now be referred to as

PEPPERMINT PATTY!

She even has a solo!

AHHHHHH!!!

These are the happy faces that got off the bus Friday after school.

They called their dad, grandparents, aunts & uncles

and of course posted the news on Facebook.

Daddy sent them a chocolate covered strawberry bouquet

within an hour of getting the news.

Looks like the calendar is gonna get filled up pretty quick

between now and the weekend before Thanksgiving!

Congratulations girls! We are so proud of you.

Fall Field Trips

2009-11-01T15:28:00.016-05:00

October was chock full of field trips.

Kobe was the first with a trip to the zoo- I didn't get to go. Somehow he had fun without me ;)

(picture from mrmuffoletto.com)

Jackson had many outings as a part of his unit on "Community Helpers." Since his preschool is located right in the center of the village these were mostly walking trips.

Our first community helper was a chef at a local Mexican restaurant.

The kids were fascinated with the ice maker and the walk in fridge. Brrrr...

They ended their tour with chips and quesadillas. YUM! Jackson loved those!

Another day was the tour of the village and our community helpers with walk- by's to places like the post office, fire station, doctor office, dentist office, gas station, barber shop, courthouse and the pharmacy.Finally we made it the police stationfor a chance to sit in a jail cell,
learn about all the things a police officer does, how to be safe, and take a picture with him and his police car.

That trip left me with a real sense of community as we walked around looking at all the community helpers that make our town run smoothly.

One community helper, a veterinarian came to Jackson's class. I was sure to be there too since Jackson is very afraid of animals and the vet brought her dog.

The vet asked the kids who else had a dog at their house. Jackson looked at me and said, "We don't have a dog, we have a TV." Great.

Jackson got more comfortable as he saw how obedient and well behaved the dog was. He said to me, "That's a good dog!! He's like a boy- a good boy like me!"

He still didn't want to be anywhere near the dog, but at least he didn't run out of the room screaming- which was a real possibility!

Next it was off to Zittels to learn about what farmers do for us

and have some fun too.

Finally the last Community Helper outing was to the Fire Station. Jackson was initially very nervous about this one. I think he thought there would be actual fire at the fire station. Once we were there he was very happy though.

(Gotta love the OP Quaker man logo on the side of our fire trucks)

I was very surprised that Jackson volunteered to try "Stop, Drop, and Roll" with the fire fighter

He even got in the fire truck by himself and put on the fire fighters mask too.

Good times. :)

Last but not least this month the whole family got to go on a field trip of sorts with Kobe. Kobe's teacher nominated himself for a local news channel contest called "Make Your Teacher a Celebrity Clown." The class created a video with their teacher who transformed himself into "Mr Funny Bones."

(picture from mrmuffoletto.com)

They won! We won! Every kid in the class won tickets for their whole family to the circus and their teacher won the opportunity to perform at the circus pre-show.

Kobe (in the glasses and nose Mr. Muffoletto gave each of the students), Reagan, and Jillie with "Mr. Funny Bones."

Jackson enjoyed the entire circus the most. I caught the rest of the family looking pretty bored and tired after a while. We had a nice time together though. Big thanks to the most fun teacher anywhere!

October's been a busy month... but November and December promise to even busier!!

Here we go.....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2009-10-31T18:08:00.006-04:00

Apparently Greg has been hijacking my blog with links from his site SkunkPost .

Guess I'd better get something on here from me finally!

Happy Halloween to all!

pumpkin carving late into the night

Trunk or Treat at our ward- and we brought our friends Superman (Cole), a football player (Blake), a skeleton (Connor) and cute little monkey (Braden- not pictured)

And tonight... for the real deal...

Jillie (mustard- to go with her friend Corinne who is ketchup)

Reagan (Hippie)

Kobe (Michael Jackson)

Jackson (Woody)

Strange tonight- the girls are off trick or treating with their own friends. Our friends (pictured in the trunk or treat) agreed to come over and go out with Kobe and Jackson.

So we're off to load up on the sweets out in the cold, windy, rainy night....

TRICK OR TREAT!

Ribs and...ghosts?

2009-10-30T08:27:00.001-04:00

Check out the haunted rib joint in East Aurora -- Tony Rome's

The Haunting of the Eagle house

2009-10-19T21:21:00.002-04:00

SkunkPost - News

The Eagle House isn't just popular among the living. SkunkPoster Christie Weber goes on a haunted journey with supernatural historian and author Mason Winfield, to find out what's lurking behind the doors.

Shared via AddThis

Those 3 precious hours

2009-10-14T14:34:00.008-04:00

I LOVE my kids.

I LOVE being a mom.

I LOVE and appreciate that Greg works so hard

so that I am able to be an at-home-mom.

It is a busy job. It has been 13 years since the first child became attached to my hip, and then the next one came, and the next, and the next. Thirteen years around the clock, day and night. Hardly a moment alone, unless they are asleep, but then so am I (if I'm smart).

Now that Jackson is in preschool every day of the week, I have 3 precious hours on my own each morning. They fly by, but I have been able to squeeze in some enjoyable activities lately.

Most mornings I have been walking with some good friends from church.

Marilyn, Jody, Wendy and I get to enjoy some great conversation for about an hour

AND get a little exercise. We've been loving the nice fall weather with walks around Marilyn's neighborhood. Now the weather is turning cold and wet, but thankfully everyone is committed to keeping this up. We're moving it to the mall as the cold weather hits.

Exercise and I have not been good friends, but the chance to visit with these gals makes it something I look forward to everyday.

Marilyn still has 2 not in school so they get to join us on our walks and are too cute not to picture here...

I have also been spending some of those precious 3 hours in my kids' schools. PTO Meetings, volunteering in classrooms, shelving books in the libraries, going on little field trips... all things I haven't been free to do for a few years, but make me feel helpful and happy.

Of course some days it's walking and then chores. Not the fun parts of life, but necessary, and easier to do without kids in tow. I recently was introduced by Beth to this:

Spring Clean Year Round

It is a very cute and organized cleaning program that helps you organize your cleaning chores so that it's all do-able. It's been helpful for me to feel like I'm getting some cleaning done during those child free moments, even if it's not all done at the same time.

(***And before anyone thinks I have tons of energy or am disciplined at all- I have a confession. There are days where I come home from my walk and just eat breakfast, read blogs, and watch The View until it's time to get Jackson!)

Just think, next year I'll have the youngest in all day kindergarten and the oldest in high school. AHHH!!

But that will leave me with 5 whole precious hours a day! I might even fit in consistent-possibly daily- blogging by then! {Maybe even consistent- possibly daily- showers! } ;)

Crop Circles?

2009-10-11T17:32:00.005-04:00

This is what happens when you finally get a nice fall day without rain, and you try to find some way to pry your preschooler away from the Wii and get some fresh air.

You tell him he gets to drive... like Lightning McQueen.

I hopped on the lawn mower with my Jack Jack, turned it on, hit the gas, and held on while I was driven around the yard... only taking the wheel when we were headed for the road or flower beds.

He took his job pretty seriously, but really enjoyed going in circles- hence the holding on.His technique is reminiscent of how Greg used to mow the lawn. ;)

Took at little longer to get the front yard mowed this way,

since I had to even things out when he finally tired of driving.

Good times though!

Remembering September 17, 1991

2009-09-17T01:07:00.009-04:00

A long time ago in a college town far far away, Greg and I celebrated our 8 month dating anniversary. We had just returned to BYU a couple of weeks prior and decided to go out to dinner at The Tree Room at Sundance up in the Provo Canyon to celebrate. It had been a long summer apart.

{leaving on our date 9/17/91}

Greg came to pick me up that night and he was SO nervous. We sat at the Tree Room having a delicious (and expensive) meal and Greg could hardly eat. I knew he had a gift for me and that was the source of his uneasiness . (I didn't dare think it was an engagement ring!) I kept saying, "just give me what ever you got for me so you can at least enjoy this meal!" It was so strange because even on our first date we were not the least bit nervous.

After dinner we walked around the grounds for a short time, but it was chilly and we headed back down to Provo. On the way I noticed that Greg seemed to have a cold. I said we should go to my apartment so I could get him some Sudafed. But he said no and kept driving around Provo like he was looking for some place to go. Eventually I realized he was looking for the way up the mountain to a look out point. I showed him the way while thinking, this is what he planned?! To go make out (I mean look at the lights of Provo)?!

So we get up there, car parked at the mountain's edge, and he asked me to get out and go in front of the car. Luckily I trusted him enough I figured he wasn't try to push me off a cliff. I heard him fidgeting around in the car and then our song, Unforgettable by Natalie Cole. He came to me and asked me to dance. So there we danced overlooking the Provo lights with no one else around. During the song he stopped to kiss me. I could tell he was reaching into his pocket. I thought, "Finally. Whatever it is, he's going to give it to me and then we can go back to being comfortable."

He told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. I had to look at the ring in the box to be sure he was serious. He'd joked that he'd fake propose to keep me guessing. But it was the real deal. I started to cry. I thought, how silly to cry, but there I was with tears of joy. Soon Unforgettable ended, but since it was on a mix tape, all of a sudden the mood was broken by "dun-dun-dun, da-da- dun-dun, ice ice baby." :) We got in the car to turn off Vanilla Ice and take a good look at the ring. Then Greg said we should go because my parents were waiting for me to call. He called them earlier in the day to ask their permission to marry me. We first went to Shannon's (his sister) apartment. She knew already and was very happy for us. Mom and Dad were happy for us too. Yes, I was still only 19 years old (about 2 months from my 20th birthday)! But Mom said she figured I'd marry young since I was an "old soul."

He took me home to my waiting roommates, who were camera in hand ready since they too knew.

{after our date 9/17/91}

Needless to say it was a great night- spontaneous on Greg's part too. Apparently he decided on his way home from class that day that he wanted to propose that night. He said a little prayer to let Heavenly Father know is plan and ask for a confirmation that this was right. In true Greg style off to the jewelry store he went with Shannon I think. Bought the ring, called the parents, and by the night's end we were engaged to be married! YEA!

I think I got pretty lucky. No one could love me more than Greg does and I couldn't be happier that we found each other.

Happy Engagement Anniversary!
I love you!

previous Greg and Nikki posts:

Our first date

One week after our first date

Michigan '09: Part Two

2009-09-13T23:09:00.000-04:00

The story of our July trip continues... (Part one here)

On Monday Holly and family came down to Grand Rapids to see an old friend who was in town. Ann used to lived in the same townhouses we did about 8 years ago, but has since moved to Utah. It was so nice to see her. Her daughter was born around the at the same time as Kobe (along with about 6 other kids at church) and she brought her daughter with her. Fun to see her again too.

Back at Holly's house we dropped off the kids with Nathan and headed out to dinner with the girls. Sadly Beth and Caity couldn't make it, but we had fun with Leanne and Leslie.

It became an interesting evening when the waitress told us that the original chef had quit and if we would tell her what we wanted from the menu, she would let us know if the current chef made it very well or not. We felt like we were taking big risks when ordering, but it turned out OK- not great, but OK. By the way I did get to visit with Beth (and her kids) for a little while the next morning which was very nice.

We returned home to find the kids having a ball under Nathan's watch.

As is the tradition when the moms have a GNO, Uncle Nathan creates a delicious dessert with the kids help. Oh my goodness, the frosting he created was AWESOME!! I couldn't stop eating the leftovers the rest of the week. Chocolate, fudgey, peanutty, kind of a no bake cookie taste. Right up my can-not-resist alley.

We turned it into an impromptu birthday cake. Jaleigh and Jackson almost always celebrate their birthdays together. (Jaleigh is 3 days older than Jackson.)

Jaleigh was excited about her present!

Jackson loves his new Curious George DVD from the Averys.

The next days were spent either at the beach or on the 'set' of Wipe Out. The older kids spent all of their time at the house filming and editing their own version of Wipe Out. Reagan and Jillie have become pros with iMovie ( I still have no idea how to use it) They've been making all sorts of movies. Holly is so grateful that this film is too long to post here or on YouTube because of some of the costumes Ethan chose to wear. :) She'd much rather the world did not see that. It was great though to see them all working together and being creative. The best part is that they were so busy creating this film there wasn't any time left for bickering and competition. They just got along.

The beach was fun as usual though it wasn't extremely hot weather. Dad joined us for the day, Mom came up after work to join us for dinner and a beach sunset.

And I can not forget to mention blueberry picking.

I don't think I could ever have enough blueberries!!

LOVE THEM!

The strangest part of the trip was that I didn't get to clean or organize any of Holly's house. (I did try to do some reorganization in Mom and Dad's newly remodeled kitchen.) I kind of missed organizing with Holly though. Hol, plan something for me to do next time.

Overall a great visit with the family. It always feels a little too short,

and too long til we get to do it again.

One more off to school

2009-09-08T11:08:00.004-04:00

Someone was pretty excited to go to school today.

Preschool every morning, every week.

He's getting so grown up. (He's missing 2 teeth now!)

The nerves showed up at when we got to school, but didn't last long.

He spotted some books that he was excited about,

but wanted me to stay and look at them with him.

Happily, his friend from last year, James, showed up . I was free to go.

Not too much time for Mom tears today.

I went off to get some exercise with some church friends.

It was a good morning for both of us.

Here we go again...

2009-09-03T09:55:00.005-04:00

Back to school.

Two in the middle school this year.

Jillie is in 8th grade.

Reagan is in 6th grade.

Jillie is wearing wedges, so she looks a lot taller than Reagan, but she really has grown tall this summer. Almost as tall as me now and we wear the same size shoe.

Jillie had to go in early to anchor MSTV this morning and Reagan was too nervous to ride the bus without her today. Daddy was their 'bus driver' today. I hope Reagan is doing well. It's a big school and a lot of classes to attend.

Kobe's the only one in elementary school this year (3rd grade).

He is fine with that, especially since he has Mr Muffaletto this year who is not only one of the most creative teachers ever, but also a magician! (We went to see him earlier this week.)

So Kobe headed out on his own this morning, equipped with his new Lakers backpack.

He hopped on the bus as the world's best bus driver called out,

"Hey Kobe!"

And off they went...

Let the tears flow.

For just a little bit.

Hold back a few for Tuesday

when Jackson heads back to preschool.

Michigan '09: Part One

2009-09-01T23:35:00.001-04:00

I took the kids on our annual pilgrimage home to Michigan in July. Always a good time though we miss Greg. (and I'm sure he misses us a little while he basks in the beauty of a quiet house all to himself!)

We were sure to stop in to see Angie, Brian and Owen when we got to Detroit. Owen was happy to see us- yea! My kids just love him and enjoyed having some time to play with him. Angie and Brian were nice enough to serve us dinner and let us hang out with them. Even though we'd be at my parents in 2 hours we really didn't want to leave. They are such a great family. Angie was super cute at 8 months pregnant, though now she has a sweet baby girl, Ellika in place of her baby bump.

We sadly dragged ourselves away, but were happy to be at "Grandma and Papa's" that night too!

Saturday we spent in Downtown Grand Rapids at the Public Museum with my parents. I really like the look of downtown GR and the museum had so many interesting displays. I can NOT believe I forgot to bring my camera. Only had my phone for photographic evidence of our visit.

Right when we got there Kobe and my Dad went to the planetarium show. Jackson wanted NOTHING to do with that room, so I rushed out with him as the lights went down. Kobe came out with lots of facts about astronomy in his head. (Yea! I love an educational vacation!)

The museum has a nice collection of displays about Grand Rapids history and world history.
The real mummy freaked them out a little. :)

Saturday evening Mom took us over to the Rockford Cemetery where many relatives from her side are buried. I took lots of pictures of their gravestones. (I was amazed at some of the things they do with gravestones these days.) The main one she wanted us to see was her father's who passed away August 2008. Grandma wanted 2 temples on it. One of the Mesa Temple where they were sealed and one of the Chicago Temple where they served as temple workers. My Dad drew the designs that were used. I think that's very cool. :)

Back at home we had a bonfire at the fire pit Dad made for Mom's birthday. Dad attempted to surprise us by sending a flame down a string from the deck all the way down the hill to the fire wood in the pit. It would've been spectacular, if it had worked. Oh well! :) The s'mores were yummy anyway!
Sunday after church we went to visit my Grandma Pauline. Her memory is not very good anymore. She swore she hadn't seen my kids since they were babies. Of course we just saw her in December. I took pictures so I could send them to her- to help her remember that we were there.

Here is our 4 generation picture, First daughter(Jillie) of a first daughter (me) of a first daughter (my mom), of a first daughter (Grandma). See any resemblance?

Finally that night we got to spend some time with Tami and her kids. Mitch didn't come along though. :( A miracle happened that night. My cousin, Michael, actually posed for a picture!

Yea! We had a nice visit. LOVE that family! LOVE Tami especially! (We grew up more as sisters or cousins than as aunt and niece.) The kids got along great and once again it took forever to say goodbye because we know it'll be a while til we see each other again.

Next up- Part Two: Making movies and beaching it with the Averys.

Pick A Stick

2009-08-31T23:14:00.001-04:00

This summer I did my own variation on Jill's popsicle stick jobs. (sorry, for some reason I can't link directly to that particular post. It's her June 25, 2009 post if you're interested.) I need to post about it to help me to remember what worked and what didn't, so I can adjust for next summer. I'm also thinking about how to incorporate it during the school year too.

This is the morning routine I set for each day. They did really pretty well with it, though in the past 2 weeks they have "forgotten" about it. Doesn't help that I've been sleeping in a little longer than them this week so I'm not there to reinforce the schedule. Oops!
I decided to have them read right after waking then they can just stay cozy in bed and get it done. My kids do not love reading I am very sad to say. They enjoy it once they are doing it, but getting them to stop some other activity to go read is like pulling teeth. Sometimes I'd find them still reading in bed an hour after they woke up this way. :) Yea!

Then there are the sticks. Green end up means you can pick it, green end down means it's been done. Each kid had their own cup of jobs. The girls and Kobe had similar items to choose from.
Make dinner

Clean something-toilet, dust, vacuum, load dishwasher, load of laundry

Do a blog post

Read a book to Jackson

Play basketball for 30 min.

Play Wii with Jackson for 20 min.

Write a letter

Do school review work

Go get ice cream

Go for a walk

Work on a Church goal

Clean out room of either small clothes, toys, or old school supplies

Make a dessert to give away

Make a dessert for the family

I thought that this would be a good balance of enjoyable and less enjoyable activities. Today I asked the kids to evaluate how this worked. They said there wasn't enough fun stuff in there. As I review the list now, I don't think it's too bad. I do think I might move one or two to their daily routine, like school review work. I also think I'd put less sticks in the cup, maybe just 5 and repeat those for a couple of weeks, then start a new batch of 5- being sure to include at least one fun thing a week. The only one they thought was fun was getting ice cream. I was also pretty good about having an outing of some kind each week like trips to Niagara Falls, Palmyra pageant, Michigan, over to the elementary school to play on the playground, to a play at ArtPark, and to Cleveland to meet David Archuleta!! THAT was fun wasn't it?! :)

It was also difficult for me if more than one kid had a stick that I needed to help them with. I only have so many hands and so much time in a day. I need to think about how to handle that situation. Maybe mark the mommy-needs-to-help-me jobs in a different way so I have only 1 picked a day.

Jackson's were all someone-needs-to-help-me jobs.

Make your bed

Practice writing a letter

Read a book

Do a puzzle

Play a game

Practice Speech

Practice PT

Practice OT

I think I should continue doing this daily with him since he will only be at preschool in the mornings. We could pick a stick after lunch... and then I'd know I had time to work with him one on one!

I think it's reasonable to continue this at least on Saturdays for the older kids. Give them a little routine since we are so bad at having any kind of Saturday routines around here.

Overall I think this program worked for us and I will tweak it a little and use it full force next summer too- even though I will have a daughter about to enter HIGH SCHOOL at that point!! AHH!!

Thanks for the inspiration Jill!

SPOTS

2009-08-30T23:04:00.000-04:00

This summer has whizzed by with hardly a record kept of any of it. So sad. I intend to throw in some random posts here and there as I look back over the summer pictures. For heavens sake 3/4 of my kids celebrated birthdays and they keep reminding me that I still haven't done a birthday post for them!! I swear I'm gonna get to it.

For today, I found these pictures from a Sunday early in the summer. Couldn't resist taking a picture of Jackson saying a prayer. He LOVES family prayer these days. He's always so excited when the family kneels together in the family room before dinner.

Earlier that day at church we found our kids covered in spots as they left Primary. I believe every time they were caught smiling, singing, participating, etc. a leader would put a spot on them. Every child in Primary was proudly displaying their spots after church. They loved this idea!

Young Women Camp 2009

2009-08-28T01:24:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of spending the week at Girls Camp.

( I suppose I should say Young Women Camp. Old habits die hard.)

Last spring I was called to be the Assistant Stake Camp Director. Our Stake Camp Director, our Stake Young Women Presidency, and our YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders) had already been hard at work planning. I jumped in and fulfilled some assignments and tried to get caught up on the plans. A few days before camp I got a call from the Stake Camp Director. Sadly her nephew had passed away. She felt strongly that she needed to be with her family in Utah instead of coming to camp. It was time to really step up. Our Stake YW Presidency members were right there by my side, whispering in my ear, guiding me , and giving me confidence to do what I needed to do.

They were awesome. The girls and leaders were great. The weather was beautiful. It was an AMAZING week!

Day One consisted of driving the 2 hours to camp at 6am to get it all set up and welcome the girls and get them settled. After orientation (note to self- need to make orientation shorter or at least more interesting), swim tests, get to know you activities, etc. our YCLs did a presentation about our camp theme- "More Precious Than Rubies". They did a fabulous job. The theme is based on the scripture found in Proverbs 31:10 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." This was such a nice message and tie in with the new Young Women's Value, virtue. I learned from the YCLs that rubies are often considered more valuable than diamonds because they are so rare. How rare is a virtuous woman these days? Sad. So glad we can encourage virtue in our girls.

After our message of our value being more precious than rubies, it was time for camp songs. So. Much. Fun.

Jillie and her friend Madison. We were so glad to have Madison come to camp with us- and that she had a good time. (She's not a member of our church and only knew a couple of the girls there... but made lots of new friends.)

It was a nice way to end the first day of camp.

Tuesday - Thursday were similar with certification time and free time activities each day, but there were some highlights. Tuesday we had a service project for everyone to be involved in. We decorated inspiring journals and quilted some blankets for a woman's shelter. The girls did such a nice job, and were very thoughtful in their messages they wrote in the journals.

(By the way, Good Mail at Girls Camp is still a hit!)

Tuesday night was also Ward/Branch night. Since we camp by certification level, this allows the girls to spend some time with the girls and leaders from their own congregations. I got to spend some time with our stellar OP young women and their fabulous leaders.

Wednesday night was skit night.. WooHoo! These girls put together some F.U.N.N.Y. skits! They had a time limit and some strange words to include in their skits and that was it. We had some pretty interesting characters show up that night. I laughed so hard. Good, good times!

Wednesday Night was also our YCL sleepover. The YCLs usually sleep in the cabins with the younger girls that they are working with at camp. They miss being together though so we planned one night to be a sleepover for them.

More laughter, more good times. These girls are all so amazing, mature, responsible, and fun. True leaders. I couldn't have been more proud. We had a fun game of "Kowasaki" going that night- though I chose to just watch and take pictures so I didn't have to do some crazy dare. :) (note to self- get out of your comfort zone more often!)

The funniest moment of the night was when the girls went around telling what they most like in a guy- personality trait and physical trait. We were rolling on the floor laughing when Sister Newman scoops her hands like this and talks about her husband cute behind. Ahhh!! Too much!

Thursday was a busy one with hikes, Trauma Day, and a Field Day activity that the 4th years organized for us all. We had our Golden Feast for dinner which included some special guests from the stake and wards. The best moments of camp happened that evening. All of the adults in the camp went to prepare for the evening while some visiting priesthood leaders and I supervised some campfire time.

At dark we brought the girls down to the big fire pit. They were met by "Sariah", Lehi's wife from The Book of Mormon. She told us about a special time in their family when her husband received a vision of the tree of life. (found here and here.) Then she walked away saying, come, walk with me. The girls traded in their flash lights for a glow stick and in small groups quietly made their way through the darkness following their guide.

My group was led by Emily (my Bishop's wife, one of our camp nurses, and a good friend! :)) As we walked in the darkness we could hear voices. In the cabins were flashing lights, laughter, and voices calling for us to come join the party. In the darkness we could also hear people quietly calling to us, "Hey! Come here. Come over here for just a minute. You can go back. Just come here...." Then we came to a rope leading the way down the path (our iron rod from Lehi's vision). Emily turned around and said, "Please remember to always hold to the rod." The girls grabbed the rope and continued along the path.

Most did anyway. I hung back when I realized one of our girls was just standing there, not knowing what to do. She kept looking back over her shoulder at the "party" going on. Then she said, "I think I should go over there." I was shocked, but this experience mirrored her personal life. She is often tempted by the parties and "fun" of the world. I said, "What did Sister Christopherson tell you to do?" She thought for a minute and replied, "to hold to the rod". I waited some more, she kept turning to the cabins. Eventually I walked to the "rod" and said, "Come with me." Finally she came along. The whispering from the darkness got worse. They started insulting us and calling us names. We reached the end of the rope and found on of the Stake YW Presidency members dressed in white leading us around the corner.

There in front of us stood our Stake President all in white in front of this tree...

(picture taken after our evening events)

The hymns played quietly. Once everyone had arrived, our Stake President spoke to the girls about virtue, and then we began our testimony meeting. The Spirit was so strong at camp all week, but on Thursday night there was no denying it.

Often times girls camp testimony meetings can have some fluffy 'testimonies' about how much they love their friends, etc. That did not happen tonight. Every girl that spoke was solid. They made some excellent points about what they had just experienced- about the importance of families working toward the same goal, the reality that it is often voices we know, our friends, who are trying to pull us off the path, that no goal is more important than returning to our Heavenly Father. One girl who we'd had a few problems with swearing spoke about how she understands better now that if God is King and we are His daughters, then we are princesses. It hit her that princesses don't swear, they don't judge others, they are modest, they set a good example for others, and that she needed to change. Jillie bore her testimony of getting an answer to a prayer during that week of camp (warms her Mommy's heart!). The entire meeting was excellent.

I was the one who had to decide when to end the meeting. That was a tough call. You know there are young girls out there working up the courage to speak what is in their heart. You want them to have that opportunity if at all possible. Finally at about 11:15pm-11:30pm we ended. It was so cold, most of the girls had born their testimony, many were yawning. Still, I found out after of a few girls who were almost ready and were disappointed that they didn't get up. :( The overall feeling there was so nice. Everyone lingered there in the light of the tree for a while. Girls were hugging each other. "I love you" was spoken all around. Jillie's friend Madison, and another non member girl both told me that they felt so inspired and almost got up too. Wow. What a night. I pray what they all felt that night will stay with them and uplift them now that they are back out in the world.

Friday was the day to break down camp, hand out cabin pictures to all the girls, and finally watch the slide show of the week before heading home. Oh that slide show! One of the leaders put it together for us, but as I returned to my room Thursday night I found her in trouble. She made it in iMovie, transferred it to iDVD, but then realized that her drive doesn't burn DVDs. Mine does, but it took us HOURS to figure out how to move her iMovie to my iMovie program. Eventually I accidentally hit the wrong button, but it was the right button. (a little divine assistance around 3am I think) Thankfully it worked and it was the perfect way to end Girls Camp.

I am so excited about next year. Excited to have Jillie AND Reagan with me next year as we grow and learn and are filled.

Guess who...

2009-08-27T17:35:00.002-04:00

Lost his first tooth!!

He's planning to go to the store tomorrow because he knows money is for buying cars!