lights, CAMERA, action!!!

We bought a camera on Black Friday! We are very excited. However, I'm not sure I like it. I loved our last camera. It was a great "point and shoot" and I am known for terrible pictures, so it was perfect for me. This one has a LONG delay when you take the picture. I need to figure it out or return it. So here are some pics for anyone who cares.

I spent most of last week prepping for, setting up, and tearing down decorations for one of the rooms at the Nativity Display. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it. I actually think I needed to be a part of something. It turned out beautiful. Hundreds of Nativities ranging from Playmobil to a full marienette stage set up. I left feeling a huge graditude for the Savior and his love for us. Of course I didn't take any final pictures.

Our best Black Friday deal- a prelit christmas tree. I was shopping with a friend, Jenn and Julia, an exchange student from Germany. She couldn't believe I was buying a fake tree. Neither could I. In Connecticut...( I find myself saying those two words way too much! Live in the now, Jen!!) You can check out older posts to find yesteryears' quaint Christmas stories. I let the kids decorate and didn't move a single ornament!!

The kids as serious as they could be at the moment.

Service Project

Shawn needed to do a service project for a Social Studies assignment. It was raining, so we cut out ponchos from garbage bags and he and Ryan cleaned the trash off the train tracks. He had to have a picture, so I got out our old camera. It took like a minute to load between pictures and the LCD doesn't work, but they turned out okay- so here ya go.

Ryan is pretty cool!!

Black Friday

Anyone up for Black Friday shopping with me? I'm looking for some bargains!

What was the #1 song on your Birthdate?

Mine was Angie Baby "Angie Baby" by Helen Reddy
What was yours?

Memory Lane

I've been going through boxes that have been in our attic and are now starring at me in the basement. There have been so many things I just can't believe we've never thrown away. There is also stuff that is hard to see go, but that I'm finally sending off to Goodwill.
I came across a box of High School keepsakes. Yes mom, I have some here in addition to what is in your garage!! I really wished Amy or Stacy could have been here on the floor laughing with me. Days of Our Lives pictures, cheerleading skirts, a Whitney Houston cassette.
Then I found the shoebox with some phone numbers on it. 248-5505 ring a bell with anyone? I think I kept every love letter ever written to me. What an ego boost!! Or is it??? Stacy, you may have burned your diaries, but your kids can read your notes to me :-o
I also found some tear jerking names, like birthday cards with my Great Grandma Jen's signature! Letters from both my Grandmas and Nate's mom from when he and I were just dating.
I have a whole other box of letters from the 3 years Nate and I wrote each other from across the world. While those are cheesy in their own right, they are so precious and build my confidence in a more real way. Nate used to call me the "queen of cheese." Well, I hope he's more comfortable with my sap now, because I look at all these old love letters and feel so lucky to have grown up to have him by my side.
My grandma has been in and out of the hospital this last week. Today is her 89th birthday and my grandpa turned 90 last month. As I read love letters of days gone by I don't miss those years of excitment and thrill of a held hand or an xoxo on a page. Instead I picture in my mind my grandparents and the love they have that Nate and I are just beginning to understand!

Funny Boy

As most of you know, Allison Krauss is one of my all time favorite musicians. Well, today I couldn't get enough of one of her ballads. I was blasting it and singing along on the way home from preschool. One of the lines says,

"Take my LIFE and let it be a living prayer, my God, to Thee."

Then I hear Ryan's voice say, "I thought it was going to say, 'Take my HAND'" singing the appropriate melody. I thought that was so cute.

So when the line came again he sang along, "Take my EYE.." and laughed.

When we got home he was walking around singing and he looked at me and sang with all his heart, "Take my NOSE...."

Imagine his look and his dimple as he soaked in my laughter- priceless!! He truely is "funny boy" as his friend Meriele calls him.

Trick or treat, smell my feet...

Ryan actually said that a few times on our route!!
We had a great night. Our friends, the Greens had us over for a spooky dinner. Then we joined them trick or treat-ing in their neighborhood. The weather was beautiful which made for a freindly, cozy atmosphere. The kids were pleased with their loot and are now crashed from their sugar low. Betsy captured the characters' photos even though some of them protested!
Happy Haunting!

$1.93!!

The price of gas is under $2 here!!!
Anyone up for a road trip?

Nervous?

Sunday was the Primary Sacarament Program. Once a year our worship services are given by the children ages 3-12. It really is sweet to think of how Christ loved the children and counseled us to become like them. I love hearing their pure beliefs in Him and their sweet voices singing. Practically speaking, what great public speaking training to do this in front of hundreds of people.
Ryan sang the first verse of I Am a Child of God with his class then they sat down. He DID NOT want to go up there and tried to run from me. Then I picked him up, sat him with his friends and when it was their turn he walked up and proudly sang his loudest! He was adorable, of course. When we sat down with Daddy I said, "Good job, Ryan. I could hear you singing." He smiled and replied, "Yeah, I was shaking, like this... " What a crack up.
Shawn and Cara sang a duet-the 3rd verse of Tell Me the Stories of Jesus. They were very sweet. Looked a little nervous, but you couldn't tell from their voices;) I've never seen Cara blush before. She's so cute!

HELP!!!!!!!

I found this picture of Cara to put with this blog. She is singing High School Musical songs while Dad plays them on the piano. She is a great singer and loves to sing, especially songs from High School Musical. She is singing a duet in Sunday's Primary Program at church with Shawn and feels like a super star! Now as I look at this picture the first thing I notice is what she is wearing- footless tights.

So the reason for my call for help:
Something has changed Cara. She has always been particular about her socks. The seam has to be at just the right place on the top of her toes, or she just can't stand it. However, she has loved shoes and has always had a lot to choose from thanks to our neighbor Chloe. This school year she has been having major melt downs in the morning about her shoes. I put her on the bus in tears one day about the 2nd week of school because of one such tantrm. That is the earliest I can remember it being this bad. I bought her some seamless socks from Stride Rite and have been trying to find her good shoes. She has worn her Crocs or flip flops as often as she can to avoid wearing socks.
Maybe Chloe just has to wear her shoes first for them to feel right to Cara?

The last 2 weeks however the problem has spread to her pants. She puts on at least 3 pairs of pants each morning after tearfully deciding the previous pair "scratches" her. I have tried to find out what she means and see if I can help, but these are soft, comfortable pants she has worn A LOT. She says they scratch her and hurt at the top of her inner thigh near her crotch. We have missed the bus the last 3 days because she just couldn't get dressed. Yesterday and today we started the process at 7 and still missed her bus at 8:40.
What can I do?
Anyone gone through a stage like this before? The only help I can find online is for sensory disorders or BUY ME adds for socks, etc. I can't buy her a whole new wardrobe. The clothes are not too small for her. Is she just having a hard time adjusting to fall and clothes she hasn't worn since last spring? Is there something I can do if she really is having sensory issues? Am I spoiling her by letting her decide what is comfortable? I don't think it is entirely in her head, I think it really bothers her. I have tried to help her relax and let her body just get use to what she's wearing. Telling her to relax and staying relaxed myself doesn't help her.
I know a lot of great moms read my blog. Send me your thoughts PLEASE. I'm going crazy!!

No school

Shawn said he has a 7 hour delay today:) It is a teacher improvement day.
We carved our pumpkin. I can't post a picture because our camera is broken. Yep, it was a casualty of the cub scout water tubing trip.
Anyhow. The kids were quite funny as they cleaned the halloween guord.
Here is what it sounded like,
Cara, "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew"
Shawn, "Cara is a scardy cat."
Ryan, "ha ha ha ha, yuck!"
Shawn, "Try this" oops... gag! "This is making me gag!"
Cara, "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew"
They had a fun time.
I love this time of year. Everything about it.
The food, the clothes, the leaves and especially the temperature!!

Good Mormon Wife?

A friend of mine saw this article by Orson Scott Card and emailed it to me. If you could all see my home right now you would feel like the best wife in the world:)
Enjoy....
http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/orson_scott_card/?id=3875

Pictures

We did find the camera several weeks ago. It was in Cara's backpack! She'd been carrying it around for over a week. Whew!
So, here are some pics to catch up.

Shawn and Nate at the Reds' game for a Cub Scout Camp out on the field.

Trip to the mall on one of Cara's days off from the Power Outage.

Aren't they so cute?

The proud owner of a new Batman Backpack on the first day of Preschool. He is loving it and making some friends.

I know, cheezy smiles, but the other pic was worse! This was the only picture I took all day. Our trip to the Country Living Fair was a great getaway!

I'll try to do better. The house is filled with boxes and paper and STUFF! I can't stand to take a picture of it. I should so I can see the progress, I guess. I am hopeful and met my quota of 10 boxes today easily, but it is getting harder as there are still more boxes and NO MORE ROOM! What to do? I have been throwing a lot away and took a load to the Goodwill yesterday.

Black Box

Not the airplane variety!
As you can see, I cannot get this black box on my header to go away! Even if I change to no header, it moves to the side bar. What is going on? Any clue, fellow bloggers?????

Where do you get your facts?

I went to Columbus on a great girls day out with Kim and Cathy.
An offer on our house fell through.
Hurricane Ike made his way through Cincy causing havock, power outages and no school for Cara until Friday.
Ryan started preschool.
Shawn and Nate had a campout at the Reds' game for Cub Scouts. Shawn was on the Jumbo-tron 3 times!!!
Nate flew to CT to help the movers pack and make final touch ups on the house- which have turned into major projects.

So as all these things have been racing by, my thoughts have turned to...politics.
No, not calgon, not prayer, not a great book, politics.
My sister-in-law Alison sent an email to family members replying to some claims sent to her about the election. Being an attorney, her argument was very well worded and convincing.
It made me rethink from where I get my opinions. I am NOT eloquent, as you my blog readers are well aware! So when people like Alison, or my brother Randy(also an attorney and Professor) explain their political convictions, I am in awe. How can they be so sure? What facts do we really know? What biases do they have that I don't share?
Four years ago, I was fed up with the current administration, I was wanting change, but wanted to make an educated vote. So, I looked at John Kerry and George Bush's websites and made my decision based on my opnions of that information. I think my vote was basically a voice to my disapproval of how we were misled into a war for the wrong reasons. I don't doubt that the middle east in general needs help and we should be a part of that. Why? becasue we can. But to mislead us into thinking we were in immediate danger, only to find out that we weren't was wrong. So, I voted for John Kerry.
Now looking back, I still think I would have made the same decision, but I was letting myself be misled by a different group. Now surprise, this year's election is so misleading!!!!! Both parties spend money and time making false claims about each other to get people to vote against someone else. Why can't we just tell it how it is. Tell your own plan and let the American people decide which they think is a better answer to the problems at hand? We don't know what problems we will face in the next 8 years. But I am not convinced that bad talking the other side has given me confidence in either McCain or Obama to make good decisions when new issues come up in the future. I want a president who will lead and inspire us by being honest, hard working, compassionate, someone who can negotiate and won't put his party before his country. I don't believe that person is running for office and so I am undecided. 8 years ago I felt John McCain was a man like that. He worked with both parties, had experience with commitment and honor. Now I feel he has gotten into the game and is playing the same dirty politics as everyone else. Obama is a persuaive speaker, but is he just all show? I doubt his integrity and we don't have much of a record to know what he'll do in the future.

So, please comment and tell me where you find your information about the presidential election.
Here are some nonpartisan websites that have been presented to me.
factcheck.org
polifact.org
Washington post blog

XOXOXO

The other morning Ryan and I were playing a game I love to instigate. I ask him to kiss my cheek and at the last second I turn so he kisses my lips. He laughs and laughs and tries to hold me still so I don't turn.
Well, one time I turned and he dodged my kiss. Then his great dimpled grin, he said, "Missed me, missed me, now ya gotta kiss me!" I think we rolled for 5 minutes of laughter before we moved onto something else. I love having him home with me.

Ohio Update

I can't find the camera!! I'm not sure where we had it last, either. Luckily my friend Betsy brought hers on our HOT park visit!

Last week was great, and we enjoyed the LONG weekend.

Highlights:

• Visit to a Park with Betsy and Meriele.
• Dinner at Borders - No not the restaraunt- our new friends who know the Buttons! Since the Buttons and some of our favorite people, we figured their friends might have a chance:) We had a great time and Shawn keeps asking when they can come over to see our litte pond!
• Shawn went to cub scouts. It was good to meet some new friends.
• Nate took the kids to a fun park and went paddle boating while I shopped for a kitchen table- no luck.
• We attended church for the first time and the kids all had a great time in Primary. Cara's class is huge and full of Girls.
• We went to dinner at the Ramptons from our ward, (Alicia Richard's uncle) They were fun! We can see their personalities are related!
• Cathy Borders brought over the cutest Welcome Package complete with a delicious pastry from the local bakery. Thanks!!
• I went to scooter and feed the ducks with the kids- "Circle Gpa" would be proud!

First Day of School

After the much awaited move, we made it to Ohio on Monday, visited both schools Tuesday, and Wednesday was the real deal! The kids had a great Day.


Shawn on his way to Intermediate School. He was so proud to open his locker on his own.

Cara was such a beauty getting on the bus. Her comment after school(or one of them!) was, "The first part of the day was dumb, then later I made 4 friends!" I wasn't surprised at all!!

Our new friends. Betsy and Marielle came by to bring the cupcakes pictured below. Isn't that so adorable? I felt very welcome! Then we went to Ikea and Ryan and Marielle found a great closet to play in that even had a light switch inside.(above) Thanks, Betsy!!

Here are some more photos of vacation with our W cousins.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Girls NYC day

It was 5 1/2 years ago that Julie lead Devanie and I into NYC for our first adventure.

Mama Mia, and dinner at Serendipity was the perfect way to end this chapter in our lives.

Thanks, Girls!!

Guys NYC night.

I don't know when I'll get to post over the next 3 weeks, so I thought I'd take a moment.
Nate came home from being gone for 2 weeks and the kids were almost as excited as I was.

Our good friend Rob came to visit. He went to High School with Nate and Ken so they all went down to the city Friday.

Do you think we'll get so many visitors when we're not so central to many tourist destinations? I sure hope so. I'll fill you all in on the Cincinnati appeal as soon as I learn what that is!!;)

The joke is on me!!!

I just read this article that a friend had on her blog.
It is about a woman that made an imginary blog mocking the LDS blogging mommy.
The comments are pretty funny!

I guess if we can't laugh at ourselves, then what fun is life?

I particularly like how the blogger misspells on purpose- I am the worst at proofreading my blogs- so to those of you that I care about- sorry.

Just so you all know, sometimes we all need a Grandma Rhea life where:

1. everything is perfect,
2. your husband is the hottest, smartest, most successful man on earth
3. Your children are overachievers and an exact replica of yourself etc, etc, etc. :):):)

So if you ever want to barf after reading one of my blogs, just know this,
I usually write as a break when my life feels droll and I need to remember why I love my life. So, whatever it takes, right?

Champion

Here is our Little League Allstar Champion!!!!
He had a game almost everyday the last 2 weeks and it paid off. They won the championship!
Shawn even made the winning hit the other night.
It has been so good for him to play with some great players!
I watch the games and think, wow, when did they figure it out and we're not just sitting here laughing because they ran to the wrong base or are digging in the grass in the outfield!
We're proud of you, Shawn-do!

Shawn

Milford Grey

Ashley was in Shawn's class and on a different regular season team. They placed 50 cent bets on their games and each won once. She came to the game to support her friends. We're going to miss kids like this!! You can see they were embarrassed for me to take their picture.

Still going!

Trivia: The above saying is originally from what battery company?

Several People have asked....Any offers?

NO.

We have had lots of showings and lots of interest, but they all have houses to sell and we can't accept an offer until their home is on deposit.

So, we wait.

We don't know where we'll live either, but I know I am going to CA next week and then returning to drive to Ohio with enough stuff to last until our house sells:) School Starts August 20th- so we need a place by then.

Nate is already there and is looking at a couple places tonight that I'm sure will work out.

Thanks for caring.

Trivia answer: Duracell

and no, I don't think the sand in China is white!!!;)

Beach

We had a fun Beach day last week with Kim and her kids. Thanks for a great time!
Everytime I take my kids to beach, I think, "This is the way kids are supposed to play!"

Ella

Cadon and Ella

Seaweed Monster

Caught ya!











Mom getting baby hungry!










Beauty!










Claire- isn't she adorable!!

As Promised

Here is a picture of Ryan learning to ride his bike. He is doing great and the kids are having fun riding bikes and scooters this summer.

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home...

My Dad came and helped paint the house for putting it on the market. What a great dad!! He worked nonstop for 4 days!
I definitely feel thankful for both my parents and all their support. They are always trying to help me and when I let them, it is sooooooooooo nice!
We could not have done what we have in the last month without either of them
Love you.
On his way out of town I went to NYC with him. We barely missed the harbor cruise we wanted to catch. So, we went to the Empire State building as our last hoorah before we are gone and he can't come here to visit us.

Cincy

We're in Cincinnati house hunting while my sweet Mom watches the kids and shows the house. She is amazing and as young as she is, I am impressed!!!
So, I can't post pictures today- I have some great ones from the 4th with the Brinkerhoffs, the 5th with Alison and Michael and of the kids riding their bikes- yes ALL the kids.
Ryan took his training wheels off last week. What a prodigy:) Just barel 4 years old.
We are looking at TONS of houses. Our agent is great, I really like her.
We decided on a city because of the schools. But we flop with the neighboring city that is a little cheaper and has an excellent school system as well-- Just HUGE. Their answering service says, "Welcome to the Largest school district in OH with an Ecellent rating."
The state does report cards each year for each school with detailed information and improvement scores. It is very helpful as they show how many take ACTs, SATs, APs, their average scores, how many are enrolled in different levels of classes, etc.
I don't intend to find the perfect district, it just is an indicator on what they focus on because it is what they're rated on.
The house has been shown everyday since it was listed last Tuesday. Tomorrow is the city realtors caravan and Sunday is the Open House. So, hopefully we'll sell quick. As this is a buyer's market, nobody is in a hurry.
Here is a link to our listing.

SCORE!!!

So, Summer is here. We are doing great. My favorite part is not waking up and rushing to the door! As I try to get the house ready to have pictures taken and put on the market, I am busying myself with chores and keeping the kids at bay. I found myself allowing popsicles, yogurt, cookies, candy, etc just to get them happy and out of my way. Yesterday Cara had a sugar low melt down.
Today I saw a sign that read:
Don't count the days...Make the days count.
So today is a new day!
One of the kids favorite snacks are Turkey Wrappers, apples slices wrapped in turkey.
So, as we were returning the Rug Doctor, I saw some broccoli and remembered one of my favorite snacks as a kid. We made ham wrapped around steamed broccoli and a slice of cheese. The kids loved it and Cara got her protein!!

Happy Birthday Cara!

For Cara's Birthday, I visited her classroom. We can't bring food into the school, so I got to come read Fancy Nancy and do a craft with her class. It was so fun. She asked all her friends for their autograph and they used fancy words all afternoon. They were very fancy and dapper! Cara is such a fancy girl. She loves extra clips in her hair. She loves artwork with lots of Pizazz and her form of organization is very "fancy." We love you, Cara. We're proud of you!
She has been saying the last few days, " I don't feel like I'm 6 yet."
I don't know what she was expecting, but she's still waiting for it to happen:)

Excuses, excuses!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. There has been plenty to blog about, but NO time to do so.
Here are my excuses:



















Excuse #5. Cara's Author's Celebration was a tear jerker and so amazing. Cara can sign the alphabet, the Pledge of Allegiance, God Bless the USA, and many other great words in Sign Language! (like toilet when she's trying to tell me from 3rd Base!)

4. Ryan was sick and missed his last week of preschool!(Sad for him and for me!)

5. Ryan celebrated his birthday.

We had fun playing Star Wars, having a playdate with Jacob, Lizzy, and Sadie, eating at Friendlys and watching Shawn's game! It was VERY hot that day!

Thanks Grandmas and Grandpas for the great presents!!

2. Nate's Uncle Richard, Aunt Cindy and cousin Cole came for a quick stay. We wish we could have done more, they are so fun. I know we took pictures, but it must have been on Cindy's camera!

3. Shawn had an all day field trip to Nature's Art. It was by far my favorite field trip ever! Here he is digging in a mine for minerals that he then classified and brought home! We also went on a walking path and came upon scenes like this throughout. Toward the end Shawn and his friends ran to get to the end because they heard the volcano errupting!

Excuses, excuses!

1. We hosted 3 members of the BYU Symphony Orchestra for 2 days. They did more to help our kids love music than we could have by a long shot!! We saw one of them on Music and the Spoken Word today:)

The biggest excuse of all is

We're Moving!!!

Yes, it's sad, but true. Nate accepted a position in Ohio and we are off to a new adventure.

The kids have been so great about it! I think they've seen so many people come and go that they know they can do it, too. Evertime we go to a baseball game or school and church event, they say, "I wish we weren't moving. I like it here!"

We really do love it here and call it home. It is hard to imagine feeling that way about anywhere but where our extended family is. I have been so emotional at church, and every event thinking we're leaving this community we know and love. But we're also excited for the hope of new beginnings and adventures!

Nate's start date is June 30th and we want to be there by the end of August for the start of school. Problem: we haven't even got our house on the market yet.

Of course it won't happen until school is out and we will have to keep the house ready to view at any moment and try to enjoy the summer. We are planning field trips everyday. With so much to do in this part of the country- we have alot of must do's on our list! Anyone up for an adventure? Come join us!!