Dance Competition 2012

Carlie had her dance competition this year at 

Juan Diego High School

Her dance team took 3rd place!!!

Daddy Daughter Date

 Carlie loves the Utes just like her dad so she was excited to go to the Utah Red/White Scrimmage

 We have had 2 season tickets the last few years and she is always trying to find reasons why she should go instead of me!! Maybe this year I will have to share:)

A little sample....

Recently we got a little sample of what Spring might be like if it ever stays!! It was so nice being able to wear summer clothes and not have to wear coats anymore. Sadly it didn't last and right after this trip to the park we have had cold, snow and lots of rain!! We can't wait for Spring to be here for good!

Easter 2012

Our neighborhood has an Easter egg hunt every year, the week before easter! The kids were excited even though it was pretty cold.

Cayden filled his basket in about 10 seconds

No matter how hard I try we always end up decorating easter eggs at 10:00 P.M. the night before Easter (because my kids don't let me forget)!!

I think the Easter bunny likes candy a little too much:)

more Easter egg hunts

Pay it forward

Recently we were going on a late night ice cream run! We went through the drive thru at Arctic Circle. When we got up to the window Lance handed them his debit card. They said that we didn't owe anything that the person in front of us had paid for us!! Our first reaction was WHAT? Did we know the person? Why would someone do that? Then we felt dumb, afterall our bill was less than $6.00 (did we look like we couldn't afford that)?? :) Then we realized what a wonderful experience this was for our kids to see firsthand that there are nice people in the world! This person did not even know us and they were just doing something nice for complete strangers! We will never know who this person was or be able to thank them but we were able to teach our kids a valuable lesson. We can do nice things for people whether we know them or not. We may not all be able to pay someone else's bill while dining out or grocery shopping but we can always find ways to do nice things for others even if it is just taking a neighbor cookies! The only way we can "thank" this person is by doing the same thing and finding some way or many ways to PAY IT FORWARD!

Cayden lost his 1st tooth!!

Cayden was playing ball waiting for time to go to Kindergarten and his tooth just fell out! That simple, he was very proud:) He is so excited that it is finally his turn for the Toothfairy to come!

The dump and a movie....

Carlie's Spring field trip was to the dump!! I was thinking what could they possibly do at the dump (while imagining us all standing in the middle of the smelly dump)?! Surprisingly it was very interesting, and no we didn't have to stand outside!! We were inside the office building where they talked about recycling and what you can and cannot recycle. A few of the things we learned:

- just the Salt Lake Valley has over 8,000 pounds of garbage delivered to the dump EVERY day

-every 4.5 years they have to dig a new hole to start putting the garbage (we are a few months away from using the new one)

-the average garbage man picks up garbage from around 1200 houses a day

-if someone dumps GLASS in their recycling container it contaminates the entire garbage truck, so none of the contents can be recycled

-just because something says it is recyclable doesn't mean it is, some states recycle certain things and others don't (when in doubt just recycle it and someone will remove it)

-McDonalds cups or any paper cups that have that glossy coating on them cannot be recycled (I would have and probably have recycled those)

It ended up being very interesting and I learned a few new things:)

It of course was regular field trip weather (very windy, raining and COLD)!! Last year it was snowing so I guess we at least didn't have that! We were supposed to go to the park for lunch but I knew none of us were going to be getting out of the car so we just headed to the next stop which was the movie theater! I was wondering how they were going to justify going to a movie on a field trip!! We went to one of the few theaters left that still shows the movies the old fashioned way (with the reels). They got to go in the back room and see how everything works. Afterwards they got to watch The Muppets. It was good that most everything was already planned for inside since the weather turned out the way it did!

It's time!!!!

Over 3 years ago we decided to try and sell our home so we could be settled before Carlie started Kindergarten. When that didn't happen and Carlie got into the Charter school, we decided we still wanted to move so we could be closer to the school since both her and Cayden would now be going there for the next 10 years! This started the vicious cycle of constant showings, sometimes 1 a day if not more than 1 some days!! I had to keep everything in perfect "showing" condition (or at least be able to look that way in 10 min. or less) 24/7! This becomes very waring on a person especially when you have kids. It didn't matter what was going on in our life, if someone wanted to see our house we let them and always made it look like I had spent hours cleaning and made everything look "perfect" (even when I had just had my tonsils out or just spent 3 horrible days in the hospital after hernia surgery). That is what you do when you want to sell your home, you never know when that one person who wants your home is going to come!! Well 7 months and 7 days ago (August 2nd 2011) we got the offer that ultimately, after much drama and falling through 3 times was the one!! We lived out of boxes and slept on the floor for over 2 months waiting to see if things were going to work out! Then we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment for the rest of the time while our new home has been built. It is finally time!!!! We moved in this past weekend and finally can feel "settled" and live our life again!! It has felt for a very long time now that our life has been "on hold". Waiting for our home to sell, then waiting for the sale to go through, then waiting for our new home to be built!! We had one more abstacle before we could move in!! Friday, before our house could record and fund the county server caught on fire!!! Nothing would be able to record until everything was fixed! It was looking like we wouldn't be able to move over the weekend after all. After it was determined that it wouldn't be able to record Friday, the builder was very kind and gave us the keys anyway!! You NEVER, EVER get the keys to your home until everything has funded and recorded!! Our agent said she has never seen that happen where Richmond has given the keys without that happening! We were so grateful:)

A new chapter.....

It all started in January when I applied for an instructor position (teacher's assistant) at the kids school for Fall (I am a planner)! Both kids will be in school all day in the Fall and it only makes sense for me to work at the school. I will still be home when the kids are home and I won't have to worry about what I will do with the kids in the summer! They said that I should do the substitute training because that is where they choose from first when hiring. So that is what I did. It was a week of training alongside another teacher learning how to teach reading groups. When substituting I would have to teach a reading, math and spelling group (that is what every teacher and instructor does). After that you just help the main teacher with whatever they want you to do. At the end of the training I had to teach the reading group all by myself in front of 2 administrators!! It was a little stressful and overwhelming trying to learn so much in one week! I already was feeling overwhelmed after not working for the past 6 years (wondering if I was crazy and underqualified trying to do this, it's not like I have a teaching background or degree in this subject and have never had any jobs related to teaching)!!! Everything went well and I have been an official substitute now for over a month!! The hard part is never knowing from day to day if I am going to get called in or not. I am too organized and like to have a schedule:) I have learned though how to get ready in 30 minutes or less and not worry about leaving everything a "disaster" until later!! It is also a little more difficult right now with Cayden having afternoon Kindergarten since that means he has to go somewhere in the morning until time for school. Thankfully our parents have been wonderful to help (the few times I have been called in) and my mom then brings him to school. Hopefully in the fall I will get hired on as a full time Instructor and this substituting will have all been worth it:) If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be doing this I would have thought you were crazy!! I have never considered myelf a "teacher" and would have never thought I would be working at a school. It is amazing though how when you put your mind to something and if you work hard enough, anything is possible!! You never know the path your life is going to take you. I have loved it though and feel like this is where I should be (so hopefully that means everything will work out)!! :) It wasn't very long ago that I was a stay at home mom, going to the gym everyday, having play dates at the park with Cayden's little friends! Now I have both kids in school, there is rarely time to have social time with friends, if at all and I am working again. It is just crazy to think how quickly your life changes! It doesn't seem that long ago that Cayden joined our family and now we are starting a new chapter in our lives.........once again!

Not ready for Stars on Ice!!

Carlie went ice skating a couple weeks ago for a birthday party and said she "loved" it and couldn't wait to go again!! So we decided to take the kids and try it thinking if Carlie could do it after one time then we could do this! I haven't been ice skating since I was a teenager:)

We barely go onto the ice and this is what my kids look like!! Carlie is clinging to the wall and Cayden isn't going anywhere!!

After about an hour of clinging to the wall I was able to convince Carlie to let go and hold my hand! She did pretty good just letting me pull her around! I don't think she left the wall during that birthday party she went to but still managed to think it was the best party ever!! :)

Cayden had a little harder time and I had to pretty much hold him up on his skates because he couldn't balance himself and skate around. We won't talk about the part where he didn't keep his feet together and we both fell down!! Lance and everyone else got a good laugh, especially since Lance got it all on tape!!

In the end I think I am the only one who got a workout!!

End of basketball season....

Can't wait for next year!!

It is almost finished!!!

only 34 more days to go............