Yellowstone was fantastic!

When I started this blog, at the insistence of my lovely sisters, I told you girls that I just don't have that much to write about. And now you can see it's true! Our life here has been pretty much the same and there hasn't been any thing exciting happening. Todd came back home from China (that's a good thing) and the boys and I just keep doing what we do best. We go to school, church, practices and lessons. We work and play some on Saturdays. I have no new fun stuff to tell you about. I'm so boring!
But I promised I'd post pictures of our vacation in August so I put together a little slide show to show you all the fun we had. We would definitely go back someday! So here it is:

China's On My Mind!

Well, Todd is in China again. He just left yesterday, so I haven't gotten myself too worked up about it yet. He'll be back next Friday!

The boys' piano teacher loaned them a book about Chinese Horoscopes so we've looked up each of our birth years to see what it says about us. The Chinese use rotating lists of animals and elements to mark their years and predict a person's personality and character traits. It's kind of interesting!

Todd - 1968 - The Earth Monkey - "More interested in lending their mental dexterity to useful pursuits than to fun and games. They are interested in lifelong learning, taking evening classes and acquiring many qualifications." Hmmmmm. That does sound like Todd!

Teresa - 1971 - The Metal Dog - "Stern idealist. they are are serious and directed individuals, particularly when it comes to questions of morality and justice. Often devote themselves to worthy causes." Is this me? I'm not sure I would describe myself that way, but I guess I can see some of it.

Tyler - 1994 - The Wood Dog - "More fun loving and optimistic than other Dogs. They are open to life's experiences, willing to change their values and principles. Deeply empathetic, place fewer expectations on themselves." No. This doesn't fit Tyler at all! Especially the last part!

Ryan - 1996 - The Fire Rat - "Always on the go physically and mentally, finding it hard to slow down or even take a rest. More forthright and passionately ourspoken than other Rats and do not usually suffer from this sign's inclination toward stress and anxiety." Yes, Ryan is always on the go. And he doesn't get stressed easy. So maybe this is close.

Justin - 1999 - The Earth Hare - "Tend to be inflexible about ethics, values, and principles. They can be prudish and judgemental. They work hard for their cherished security and do not take risks." Other than saying that Justin doesn't work hard for anything, it is true that he's a little clear about what's right and wrong. He told a school friend who had said he didn't believe in God or the Bible, "Well, you're just going to be struck down and killed!" He must get his missionary confidence from Todd and his lack of tact from me.

So, obviously there's more to it, but the Chinese horoscope was only partly right about us. I wouldn't change any of our personalities though. Especially Todd and the boys - I couldn't ask for a better family!

Camping? Me? Noooooo.....!

Yes. Camping!! Ryan is less than 3 weeks from turning 11 and will no longer be able to work on Cub Scout things so we are frantically trying to get the requirements finished for his Arrow of Light. (I want that pin, darn it!)

So we went camping on Friday night. It was very cold but that helped keep the bugs away. I spent all day packing and shopping and loading up the van. After the boys got home from school we went to their soccer practices and THEN drove out to Lake Shawnee. It was already late so we raced around starting a fire and setting up the tent. (Ryan was supposed to be doing both!) Tyler had made hobo dinners and even though it was pretty dark by the time we ate, the boys all said they liked that dinner better than any other camp food they'd ever had! Then we popped a Jiffy Pop popcorn - they had never seen that before - and of course, we toasted marshmallows and made S'mores. Yummy!

It was very cold and none of us slept very well. Everytime I rolled over & looked at Justin, he was looking back at me with his eyes wide open - we finally had him get in our bed to be warmer. I was between Todd and Justin - I hate being the jelly! - and we stayed frozen in one place until about 6am. When we did get up and dressed, Todd started another fire to get us warm and Ryan and I made breakfast. Then it began to RAIN!! After more scrambling to get the tent down and all the gear in the van before it all got wet, we got to eat Ryan's scrambled eggs, bacon & hashbrowns huddled under the hatchbackdoor of our van!

Saturday was also the first day of our boys' soccer games. We thought for sure they would be washed out - but no. We had to sit in the mist/rain/cold/wind for 3 games! My toes were frozen! When we finally got to go home, we still had to unload the van, clean up the gear, and wash everything that reeked of smoke.

Justin says he didn't think I had ever been camping before! He just doesn't remember. We really did have a great time. It was a lot of work and mess, but we had a happy night together - and hopefully got Ryan a little closer to that Arrow of Light award!!

What to write about......?

It's been a couple of weeks and I look at my own blog every day. It hasn't changed! I guess I'm the one who has to write new posts, but nothing really exciting has happened lately.

The boys are still going to school. Tyler and Justin started soccer practices and their 1st games are this Saturday. Todd is working very long hours and when he's not at work, he's doing bishopy things. The crunch at work should settle down in a couple of months. I'm still walking on the treadmill most days and then I do laundry and dishes and other housey stuff. And I'm still practicing the organ almost every day. I'm getting better, too! I wish we could sing the same songs every Sunday though, because it's hard to learn 3-4 new ones every week!

Todd went to China and came back. He has 2 more trips scheduled in the next 2 months and although I try to be cheerful and supportive, I'm not looking forward to him going. China is just so far away! It was really hard to contact Todd because of the time difference and he was always working. The boys were good for me, but we all missed Todd. It's just not fun to be the ones at home!

One night when Todd was gone, I was in my bed and the whole house was quiet, but I could hear voices. I thought it was the neighbors but it didn't stop. It wasn't them. I thought the TV or radio was on so I checked and they were off. I walked around my room and listened and listened, trying to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from. After 10 minutes, I still couldn't figure it out and it was starting to creep me out. I went back to my bed and realized that the noise was coming from my weather radio - which was completely turned off! I tried to change the channel and turned the volume way down but I could still hear it. So I unplugged the whole thing!

Then last week, I stayed up late and I could hear the wind pick up and then heavy rain. I couldn't sleep because I knew I had unplugged the weather radio! Then the tornado sirens went off! I got Todd and the boys up and we raced downstairs (except for Tyler, who stopped to change his clothes!). We watched the news and there was a huge thunderstorm right on top of us but the weather guy didn't say anything about a tornado! After a few minutes, he said he was hearing reports of the tornado sirens going off but he didn't know why! I guess someone in the weather service office got jumpy and hit the switch. It was a very stressful drill, but it was good practice for our family. We learned that it takes longer than you'd think to wake everybody up and get downstairs. And Tyler learned that it's ok to respond to a weather emergency in your pajamas!

By the way, Tyler has started a new blog for the boys. I put the link to it on my list. So far, he hasn't written much, but he was very excited to get it going.

This is Tyler!

Hey! I wanted to try out mom's blog. This is really cool! School's been going well so far. It's really different from elementary school. I really like it! I like my science teacher best.
I get home before Ryan and Justin do. That way, I get my homework done before they even get home! I also get to stay up a little later. Actually, Ryan and Justin are already in bed right now. Even though Middle school is cool, I still can't wait for summer vacation. It'll be a while though...

End of AUGUST?!?!?

I can't believe the month is over! There's only 4 months left in 2007! Who put the calendar on hyper speed?

We are all staying busy here in Topeka. The boys are really enjoying school. They are also busy with piano and trombone lessons, scouts, and starting Saturday, soccer practices and games. Todd is super busy with work and church stuff. And I'm just sleeping in and taking naps according to my children!

Actually, I've been trying to finish some projects (see the quilt I make for Ben & Leslie's baby Sara!)and spending some time developing my talents. I'm filling in playing the organ for sacrament meetings for a month or two so that means I have to practice a lot. I am still not very good, but I am starting to enjoy it! I bought some new organ music to start working on tomorrow and I'm trying to justify buying some organ shoes. I think part of my fascination with new hobbies and projects is collecting all the new equipment and gadgets. (Think scrapbooking, cooking, quilting...) But I hope I'll be able to keep up the organ playing!

Tomorrow is Todd's 39th birthday!!! How did I get to be old enough to be married to a 39-year-old?! Actually, it doesn't seems that old now that I'm getting close too!
We will wait for him to open presents after school and work, then Todd & I are going out for dinner (maybe his favorite - Outback Steakhouse) then bring home dessert and share with the boys. Not very wild, but that's the kind of birthday Todd likes.

I still need to post some pictures so maybe I'll get to that this weekend....

Check out my Slide Show!

This is our new retaining wall and patio. There are captions for the pictures but you have to click then hover over each one to see them.

FINALLY!....

OK, OK!! I know it's been weeks since I last posted anything and you might think that means there just hasn't been anything going on worth writing about and Kansas must be sooo boring. You would be wrong. We have been ssooooo busy! We got back from our vacation and the kids went back to school. Todd went to China (he's still there) and I've been practicing my fingers and toes off on the organ so I can play for church. So I haven't forgotten about all my fans who read my blog every day, I just haven't had the energy at the end of the day to get into it. I have tons of pictures and I will post them later. I just had to get a little post up tonight because I have other projects to work on but I'm feeling too guilty about not doing this to even start on the other stuff!! What does that say about me? I know, I'm sick.
Anyway, we are all OK, we're glad to be back into a half-normal routine, we're missing Todd, and we're trying to catch up with regular life after having a blast all summer long!

And We're Off!

After talking about it all summer, we are finally leaving for our family vacation early in the morning. We have planned a bunch of fun things and I will write all about it when we get back. I don't think I'll have access to a computer or the time to update my blog while we're gone, but I will keep track of all the fun times so I can give a full report.
Other than trying to get all the packing done today, and doing the laundry, and cleaning the house, I took the boys to their schools for Enrollment. Tyler was so excited to find out his Middle School class schedule and get his locker assignment. We practiced and practiced opening the combination lock so he won't have any problems when school starts. The kids are put into 4 "teams" to rotate through their classes so all the 7th graders were very anxious about whether they would know anyone on their team. Ryan and Justin won't find out about their classes until we get back. And then 2 days later...school starts!
I'm really excited about this trip. Todd is happy to get away from work for a while and see some really pretty parts of the country. The boys are kind of wishing they could just stay home and veg until school starts. I'll let you know how it goes!

We're Just Wild About HARRY!

Tonight was the Barnes & Noble Harry Potter Party to mark the release of the 7th and final book in the series. Tyler & Ryan love Harry Potter but they're in California and missed the party this time. Since I'm a huge fan too, I made Justin and Todd go with me. This morning, we got up early to stand in line for wristbands that determined our place in line to buy the book. We heard people talking about there being so many people that there would be huge lines of people outside the store waiting to get in, so we went right at 7pm. There were some fun activities for kids - Justin did really well at Harry Potter Scene-It. We also tried the coffee shop's concoctions called Wizard's Sangria, Butterbeer, and Skelegro. Justin also bought some Every Flavor Beans and kept feeding them to Todd. Todd kept eating them! Gross.

So, after 5 hours of waiting around, we finally got in line! It was pretty exciting! Todd got separated from Justin and me but we found each other again just before checking out. Justin had also just hit his limit - he was so tired! They are so good to humor me!

Tyler is giving me fits about this book - he insists that we read it together the first time because that's how we read all the others. I think that's nice, but I want to read it now! But I won't. I promised the boys that I would wait until they come home from California and we'd read it together. Todd can't understand why we spent the whole night standing around with a bunch of weird people we don't know, buying a book 15 minutes after it goes on sale, if we're not even going to read it for another 10 days! I know, I'm nuts. But I love Harry Potter! I'm sad that this is the last book, but tonight was a fun reminder of all stuff I like about the books.
Hope you all have fun reading it too - JUST DON'T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS!!!