Has anyone else seen The Blind Side already? My grandparents brought it with them and we watched it one of the nights they were here. It was soooo good…definitely the best movie I’ve seen in a long time! I think that’s one that I’m going to have to buy because I have a feeling I’ll watch it over and over again. When I saw the previews, I thought it might be kind of a downer, but it had some really funny parts and an awesome message. And even though it’s set in the South, there was no horse tack in it (that I remember anyway). LOL

Anyway, I’d highly recommend it to anyone.

Posted: April 29th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

This morning ended one of my grandparents’ longest visits with us since we’ve been living down here (except my grandma’s month-long stay waiting for stubborn Mr. Kelvin to decide to be born). They were able to stay from Saturday afternoon until Thursday morning and we really enjoyed being able to spend so much time with them. I guess it’s a perk of Grandpa’s “retirement”! If you know him, you know why “retirement” is in quotation marks!

We had so much fun with them. Chad kept Grandpa hard at work helping him finish our porch off…our ultimate goal is to turn it into a playroom for the kids. And they both spent lots of time with the kids, of course. We took them to our library again, went to the KS History Museum and attempted to ride the train in the park. I say “attempted” because Grandma and I walked all the way over there with both kids (and they were both walking) only to find out the train doesn’t run on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday during the spring. Very rude surprise! Even more rude than life insurance rates! LOL

Both kids were really depressed to see them leave this morning….and so was I. Luckily we’ll get to see them again in just about a month when we have our next trip to WI!

Posted: April 29th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

Today was a long, long day! It rained nearly all day so I couldn’t let the kids run off their energy outside so instead they trashed the house. Wasn’t that nice of them? I’m going to need hair growth shampoo after pulling my hair out all day!

We did go to the library in the morning and that was *so much fun*…not! The only parking spot we could get was really far away, so I had to carry Kelvin, the diaper bag and the books and hold Ava’s hand and try to get inside as fast as Ava’s legs would carry her! Both kids had their umbrellas, so they stayed relatively dry, but people kept commenting on how they both were covered and I wasn’t. I kept asking them how I was supposed to hold an umbrella as well as all the stuff I was already carrying!

After I finally got them in bed tonight, I had to undo all of the chaos they caused during the day and do a bunch of cooking for when my grandparents are here (they’re getting here Saturday). Now the house is clean and we won’t be home very much tomorrow so it might actually stay that way! I can hope, right?

Posted: April 22nd, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

When I was a teenager, my grandma taught me to knit…..she had to, because the knitting/crocheting genes seem to skip generations in our family! I can knit, but can’t crochet….my mom can crochet, but can’t knit….my grandma can knit, but can’t crochet…..and if I remember correctly, my great-grandma could crochet, but couldn’t knit (don’t hold me to that one though). (Yes, we have weird genes in our family….it’s not just that….my grandpa, mom, sister, and Ava and I all have a “thing” about pens…..my grandpa has been known bring bags of promotional pens and we all go through them and pick out our favorites! LOL)

So anyway, I did a few knitting projects back then, but got a little overwhelmed while trying to learn to purl and eventually gave it up.

I picked it up again last night though! I decided I want to try to knit some wool soakers to go over Kelvin’s diapers, which is also going to force me to finally figure out how to purl. Casting on came back to me very quickly even though I haven’t tried to knit in years. The knit stitch took a few minutes to remember and I think I might have finally figured out how to purl, too!

It’s a good thing my grandma is coming to visit in a few days. I have a feeling I’m going to need her to look at what I have done and make sure I actually am purling, because that was just too easy! Hopefully I won’t get frustrated with this project and will have it done before the end of May (that’s my goal). I’ll post pictures of it when I have it done!

Posted: April 21st, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

Just a reminder (in case you don’t read my other blog)….

We will be walking in the March For Babies this Friday evening and would love to have more sponsors. If you’d like to donate, you can do that via the purple March For Babies widget on my sidebar. All donations go directly to the March of Dimes. Even if you can only give a small amount, every little bit helps (come on, you don’t really need that new blackhead remover, do you? )

If you’d like to read more about our walk, see my post here.

Posted: April 21st, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

It’s naptime and I was sitting here staring at the mountain of STUFF I have to do and the mile-long to-do list and just wanting to bury my head in the sand. Yes, I usually feel this way about 4 times a year….every time the quarterly taxes are due and I put them off until the last second because I hatethemsomuch! Too bad it’s so windy or I could take them outside where I would much rather be….I’d much prefer outdoor cushions to computer chair right now!

Anyway, I was procrastinating and looking around on one of my forums and someone posted a thread that said, “Need a pick-me-up?” Why yes, I do, thank you for asking! I clicked on it and found this link and thought I’d pass it on to anyone else who could use a pick-me-up, too!

Posted: April 19th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

I just realized I never posted an update after my last post about finding a place to stay in Daytona Beach during the Feast this fall!

Later that day, one of our friends at church who is also going to Daytona Beach forwarded me the link to the place they’re staying. It’s called Ocean Walk and it’s a 5-star resort with 1-3 bedroom condos. They found a guy who owns a bunch of rooms at the resort and rents them out himself for a lot less than you’d pay if you rented them straight from the resort. So we got a 1-bedroom condo with a king bed and queen pull-out bed, ocean view, fully equipped kitchen, washer/dryer, 42″ TV and Wii and wirless internet! Plus, the resort is right on the beach and also has pools and hot tubs, a lazy river, spa and more! (For anyone planning a honeymoon right now, this would be a great destination….and it’s such a great price that you can spend extra $$ on wedding programs!)

We’re so excited to be able to stay here for such a great price (even less than what’s listed on his site….I think it’s because it’s the off-season). The six months until our trip seems like a very long time right now!

Posted: April 13th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

I can’t believe that today is the last non-Holy-Day of the Days of Unleavened Bread! It really seems like it flew by this year! I think the kids are looking forward to it being over, though. They keep asking for cookies and apparently unleavened cookies are not as good as leavened ones!

I can’t believe that the Spring Holy Days aren’t even over and we’re already thinking about the Fall ones! We’re going to Daytona Beach, FL for the Feast this year and I’m really excited because I’ve never been to Florida. We’re also going to take a day during the Feast to bring the kids to Disney World. But first, I need to get our accommodations planned out (something like an orlando timeshare would be nice right about now….if it was a little closer to the Feast site). A friend sent me a link to the place that they’re staying at and it looks really nice (and affordable). We’re hoping to find another family to share a 2-bedroom place with, but the friends we talked to aren’t 100% sure where they’re going yet. So we’ll see.

Anyway…This afternoon, we’re going to try to take the kids to see How To Train Your Dragon. We’re either really brave or really stupid (maybe a little of both). I’m sure Ava will be fine since it’s for kids and she likes watching movies. But Kelvin is another story! I plan to let him run around in the hallway until the movie actually starts (skipping the previews). Then hopefully the popcorn will keep him busy the rest of the time….the boy likes to eat, so it could happen! I’ll let you know how it goes!

Posted: April 4th, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

Did any of you happen to notice something a little different yesterday when you hopped on Google to find the best deals of the day (or whatever it is you search for)?

I’ll admit, when I first found out that our mayor was unofficially changing our city’s name to Google, I thought it was dumb. In fact, I think my words may have been, “That’s the dorkiest thing I’ve ever heard of.” But Google changing its name to Topeka yesterday was kinda cool.

P.S. Spring has sprung! Come see all the spring fun we’ve been having so far!

Posted: April 2nd, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
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Whew! What a crazy few weeks we just had!

It started with simultaneously getting ready for the Days of Unleavened Bread and Ava’s birthday party. Ava’s party went perfectly, the cake turned out awesome (thanks to my friend Miriam) and she got some great gifts (see pictures here).

The day of her party, Daniel, Jessica and Madison got here and they stayed until Friday. That was a very busy week….there was so much we wanted to do with them, it seemed like we were constantly running. It was so much fun though and they’re talking about coming back in June!

After they left on Friday, I had a few hours to go grocery shopping and clean the house before the Sabbath started. On Saturday after church our friend Angel and her boys came home with us and stayed for the Holy Days and then went home Tuesday after church. Her husband Jordan is deployed in Iraq right now and we hadn’t seen them in awhile, so we really enjoyed their visit. Ava and Landen decided they were best friends (Landen asked her, “Are you my best friend?” and Ava said, “Yes!” and that was that! LOL) and we’re pretty sure they ganged up on us a time or two.

Even though we love having company, it’s kind of nice to not have anything going on for the rest of the week. The last two days the temps have been in the 80’s and the kids and I have spent hours outside. Today we were out there all morning and we’re planning on going to the park when they wake up from their naps. Should be fun, but it’s a little windy, so hopefully we won’t need to use clamps to keep their toys on the ground! LOL

Posted: April 1st, 2010 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none