Duncan Started Kindergarden! October 19, 2009

Having a kid in school is a different sort of feeling. A lot of mom’s cry when they first take their kid to school. Honestly I was sure that I would too. But I didn’t! On one hand it was awesome because he was moving up in life, he was going to go make friends, have fun, and learn to read. On the other hand, i was totally worried for several reasons that are easy for any mom to imagine. What if he doesn’t get along with the kids? What about bullies? All I can say now is that it is a huge relief to see that everything seems to be working out. He was lucky enough to have two kids from his sunday school class in the same kindergarden class as him. Duncan also seems to be making friends and having loads of fun.

This is Duncan just before going into class on his first day of school

He’s even making friends. (Duncan is the one on the right)

Duncan has been doing really well in school. He’s known all of his letters since before he was two but now he is reading and writing. It’s great. He loves the ‘Wimpy Kid’ series of books and was super excited when a new one came out a few days ago. We went right home and he started reading it to me! Whhoooooooo Kindergarden!!!

What Did You Learn in Church Today Duncan? September 15, 2009

“If you have all your faith you can do anything, even fight.”

Quotable Duncan August 19, 2009

“I’m like a ninja………. with a dress”
“Boys don’t get sick as long as there is meat and water in the house.”
To Hannah in the car “Stop looking at me.” This was a good one because I have never heard him say such a stereotypical thing before.

Just for Wendys’ Sanity August 13, 2009

I decided to do this post just for my sister Wendy because I know how she feels leaving one of her kids for the first time. I took a bunch of pictures of Ahnna’s first day with us (she is going to spend the week here). I don’t think she’s really noticed that her mom has been gone for a while.

We had tons of fun playing in the backyard and making smores. Chris and myself were the only ones that actually ate smores. Duncan, Ahnna, and Hannah were only interested in eating marshmallows. Ahnna was the only one that even tried to bite a smore, that was quickly followed by Ahnna wanting Chris to wipe cooked marshmallow off of her tongue. I think it all ended up on her chin.

We also played on the trampoline for a while. Well, the kids played while Chris and I ran around it trying to take pictures and keep kids from falling.

Then Ahnna helped Chris add a trickle of water into the little fish pond.

I can’t post anything without including at least one photo of my kids. This is Hannah with static hair (there is some spaghetti in there too). She’s so cute.

Our Annual Family Camping Trip August 1, 2009

So this is the third year for our family camping trip. I was worried about going this year because Hannah is only 11 months old. Anyone with kids knows that sleeping arrangements for babies can be quite challenging. Believe it or not everything actually went pretty well, Except the part where we left all the tent poles at home. I had totally forgotten that the poles didn’t fit in the tent bag last year and I didn’t grab them. Poor Chris drove home to get them while I took the kids swimming in the river. It’s a good thing we go to a campsite that’s only about 15 minutes from home. Here are some good pictures from the river.

Hannah loved swimming in the river

She is such a cutie.

And then she ate sand…

Swimming wasn’t so good after that

But Duncan still hasd a great time. He even went in all the way up to his chest BY HIMSELF!! Which is amazing if you know Duncan. He’s never been excited about getting wet past his knees.

After swimming we drove back to camp to set up and roast hot dogs over the fire. It was fun, but holy cow did I feel tired. Chris was exhausted too, so we had our dinner and smores and put the kids to bed. Duncan found the biggest dandelion seeds (which, believe it or not are actually fruits) in the world the next morning and blew them all over. Then, just like a little boy, decided to burn some.

This is definitely Duncan, I love the look on his face.

Mischievious little boy.

That morning we decided to go on a little hike. There were about a million grashoppers, they were everywhere. Chris and Duncan ventured into the thick brush looking for snakes, but came up empty handed.

If you look hard you can find Duncan and Chris. Duncan is much easier to see.

Dunx has short legs, he started getting tired on the way back. So daddy carried him for a while.

I think the boys are very photogenic from behind. Don’t they look cute? Around the time I took this picture, in reference to Chris’ walking stick Duncan said “Daddy that makes you look like an old man.” Shortly followed by, “Can I see that stick?”

Little Hannah was so tuckered out. I gave her hopper and she wrapped her leg around him and instantly fell asleep.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince July 17, 2009

Chris and I got to see Harry Potter on opening day and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. I think every Harry Potter movie is better than the last one. This is a series of movies our family is definitely going to buy so we can enjoy them for a long long time. It has good actors playing awesome characters, adventure, humor, a little romance, and most importantly it’s clean. Who could ask for anything more. I am doing a little dance just thinking about how I’ll enjoy the next movie.

I love not having to worry about rushing my kids out of the room or hitting the stop button on the DVD player due to unexpected love scenes, ridiculous violence, or vulgarity.

I did read the Half Blood Prince before I saw the movie, and I think that was a big mistake. Eventhough the book and the movie were good, every funny joke was tainted with a bit of sadness because I knew the ending. I am not going to make the same mistake again. I am going to watch the last two movies before I read the last book. Then I think I will be able to enjoy them both.

Patriotic Festivities July 9, 2009

We went to visit my brothers family for the fourth of July. It was really fun so it’s too bad we only got to stay for two days. On friday we went to Larabee State Park and had fun on the beach for a while. Keep in mind that beaches in the northwest aren’t made of nice soft sand, they are a place of rocks, gravel, and broken shells so you should definitely bring your shoes. The awesome thing about northwest beaches are all the neat critters you find. We found a ton of little crabs, hermit crabs, and one supercool starfish.

One cool crab

Duncan’s cousins helped him navigate the rocks.

There was a nice rock wall at the beach, and Chris never misses a chance to climb on some rocks.

Hannah had a great time hanging out with Grandma while mama and daddy went looking for critters.

Duncan has a good personality. Even if he is having a ton of fun he gets this “Aaww mom, not the camera” look. Either that or he opens his mouth really wide and does his best rock star impression. He had so much fun over the fourth that he went back so spend a week at his cousins house without mom and dad. I totally miss him, but I did the same thing when I was young and I got to make some great memories. I know he’ll be taken care of so I figure it was a good idea.

See you in a few days Duncan!!

MMA at the Clearwater River Casino June 27, 2009

I… love… fighting. There’s just no way around it. Fighting is awesome, training is awesome, and even watching is awesome. Of course, I don’t mean street fighting, I am talking about the sport of fighting. Loosing sucks, but even loosing can’t make me stop fighting, because it’s just what I like to do.

Since school got out I have been training in mixed martial arts. I did MMA years ago, but this was going to be my first fight in like eight or nine years. Training went well. A few months ago I wasn’t really comfortable with my grappling skills because I haven’t been consistently working in that area for a long time. About a week before my fight I was feeling much better. I even started tapping out some of the guys on occasion. One night I did a total victory dance when I tapped out our heavyweight fighter with an arm bar. I was really happy but at the same time it makes me worry about his grappling skills. The guy has a hundred pounds on me, he should be able to just pull his arm out. Then again, I have been lifting weights.

So the fight was out at the Clearwater River Casino, which was awesome because I’ve never fought at a casino before. It was made even more awesome by the brand new cage the casino just bought. Unlike most fighters, I am completely calm before I fight. At one point I almost had a few butterflies, but it was fleeting. That is actually a bad thing because I have to spend time trying to get myself all worked up before the fight.

The fight started out pretty good. When I got in the cage I was perfectly calm (not necassarily a good thing). When the other girl got in the cage I totally wanted to stare her down but she wouldn’t look at me. We went to the middle of the ring so the ref can say whatever it is he needs to say, and I tried to stare her down again. She briefly made eye contact once, so I gave her my best malevolent glare, and she looked away. I could tell she was super nervous. The round started and she didn’t really do anything. I threw a few jabs (she was taller than me and I wanted to test her reach) and then I punched her and she still didn’t so anything. So I kicked her real good in the leg. She managed to give me a little kick back and she pushed me up against he cage. I started turning away from the cage and I knew she was going to try to try to trip me onto my back. When she went to trip me I twisted so she landed on bottom and I got mount. Saaweeeeeett! But then, she rolled me over (I believe it was due to a lack of aggressiveness). I was sure I could tap her out from guard. After that it’s kind of hard to remember what happened. I tried to roll a few times, but she got a rear naked choke and I tapped. At least I got a few bruises to show for the effort.

Loosing always sucks, especially when it comes to fighting, but for my first fight back in such a long time I think I did alright. It showed me a couple of things to work on. Mainly aggressiveness (which ironically is usually a strength of mine) and having the precence of mind to listen to my corner. The good news is that my stand up fighting has been getting really good, and I get to fight again in August. I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long between fights.

New Car!! June 22, 2009

Okay, it’s been a few weeks since I updated the blog and a lot has happened. We got a new car!! It… is… awesome. It’s a 2005 Hyundai Sante Fe. We used to have a good little Toyota Carolla that ran good and was fuel efficient but our little family was really squished inside of it. I had to slide my seat all the way forward and rest both my knees on the glove compartment just so we could fit the car seat behind me. But no longer. We still get fair gas mileage but the car is roomy and a whopping 11 years newer than the Toyota. Hallelujah!

More Pictures May 23, 2009

Here are a few new pictures that I think turned out really cute.

Hannah absolutely loves oranges. If you take it away, be sure your affairs are in order.

Sweet cheeks.

Sometimes sleep sneaks up on you, especially when your four.

Duncan always runs outside to help Grandpa work around the house. He certainly liked the tool belt Grandpa found for him one day.

If you look closely you can see Hannah is wet. I walked in the bedroom one day to check on the kids and found Duncan holding a spray bottle and a very wet Hannah sitting beside him. It was one of the funniest things I’ve seen. It’s like one of those stereotypical kid things I couldn’t experience until I had two of them.

Apparently, Stake Conference was very interesting.