The Brook

Disney July 2010 Pictures

2010-07-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

Lana's 5th Birthday!

2010-07-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

4th of July Pictures

2010-07-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

Went to the Circus

2010-07-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Aunt Erin got tickets to the Circus and took Daddy, Lana and Jaynee with her. She even paid to get Jaynee's face painted! Thanks Super Aunt!

Toy Story 3

2010-07-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

We went up to Big Lake, AZ for the fourth of July.
We had an amazing time camping. We went for a little family hike and it was pretty challenging for the girls and they did an amazing job. We went into Springerville/Eager for fireworks on
Saturday and went to eat at the Coyote Creek Steak House and Saloon. We got ice cream cones at McDonald's and went to the Family Dollar to get some fun things to play with while we waited for the fireworks to start. We played with B'looney's that gooey stuff you put on the end of a straw and makes a balloon ball. We got a $1 balloon pump with long balloons. We had fun trying to make balloon animals and trying to passing the balloons off as something cool. We also got a couple 1$ Barbies that lost a leg later that evening. It really was a memorable time and a great way to get out of the heat.

We also went to go see Toy Story 3! Great job Disney Pixar! We loved it! Lana especially loved anything that had to do with Ken and Barbie! She couldn't wait to get home and play with her Barbies when the movie got over.

Voicethread, amazing!

2010-06-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Tried this out, pretty awesome!
http://voicethread.com/share/1229355/
http://voicethread.com/share/1229349/

4 bears in the bed and the little one said?

2010-05-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Eric took this picture and I didn't find it until I uploaded the pictures on our computer. I love that he thinks to do things like this. Probably a few moments before he managed to fit in our bed too.!? I love how I am just barely on the edge of the bed. Can anyone else relate?

Mother's Day Breakfast!

2010-05-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

I am so fortunate and smart to have married such an amazing person and I think we made amazing offspring!

Dr. visit

2010-05-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

So, I recently had the regular dr. visit from hell! So, May is dr. visit month. Jaynee and my birthday is this month and why wait all the way until July to take Lana. So, I am getting ready to pay my co-pay and Lana announces to everyone in the waiting room that Jaynee peed! Yikes! Jaynee at this point has been in panties for about a month. What am I doing without a change of clothes? It turns out it wasn't just pee, lucky me! (I know it rhymes) And then Lana with another announcement lets the lobby know "mom, I have to poop!" Lana and Jaynee's bowels must be on the same schedule. So, the nurse gets me a diaper with Elmo and trains on it that Jaynee doesn't want to wear. I convince Jaynee to wear it. During all that Lana is harassing me that she is finished and come wipe my butt already! So, now I have my white trash baby with just a diaper, t-shirt. We finally see the Dr. and he checks for monkeys in our ears. No monkeys, but Lana has bead in her ear. Good thing I took her in May vs. July. I have no clue how long that thing has been in there?! He try's to get it out and can't, so now we have to go see a specialist. Thankfully Jaynee doesn't need shots but Lana does. Talk about DRAMA! I am trying to convince her that she needs to hold still because it will hurt less. What does mom know? I had to pin her between my legs and hold her down and oh the tears. Two shots so of course two nurses. Then fast forward a week later and Lana has her ear specialist appointment. The dr. took one look in her ear and said she is going to need to be sedated and that he would schedule her at the hospital on his surgery day. So, now we get to go back to the hospital tommorrow. Thanks goodness we go to see the dr. only once a year for our check ups!!!!!!

The Princess and the Frog

2009-12-13T14:06:00.001-08:00

Just went to see the new Disney movie, "The Princess and the Frog". It was charming and funny. My girls loved it. We got to go with Grandma Brook, Great Aunt Mary, Aunt Erin, Aunt Emily, Lauren, Elaine and Collin. We went to Olive Garden afterwards. Overall we had a delightful time. Yet, it is funny how the littlest things set your kids off. Lana wanted to drink out of the wine glasses on the tables, which is not allowed. They are not allowed to serve and non-alcoholic drink in an alcoholic glass which is hard to explain to a four year old. Anywho, that put her in a crabby mood for a little while and it wasn't until I took her outside and asked her why she was upset that I even realized it was about the glass in the first place. Jaynee spilled her chocolate milk and Aunt Erin spilled her adult beverage. But one short walk, and two drink spills later things got back on track and we had a fabulous time.
Kids really do say the funniest things. Well maybe they wouldn't be so funny it is just that a four year old is saying them that makes them hysterical. Lana was in her car seat in the back of Grandma's, old but in great condition Toyota, mini van and we hear "Fire in the hole!" We all started to giggle and grandma made some comment about she must have learned that from her father and someone else made a comment about it might stink in a minute. We were all laughing. What a nut!

Keeping up?

2009-12-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

How do some people do it? I have a really hard time keeping up with the blog. I even feel guilty that it is not up to speed. Oh well, do your best and forget the rest! It feels like an over whelming task to talk about everything we have been doing and bring things up to speed on what we have been doing. So, I will start from today and we will see where we get. I make no posting promises. I just finished my second master's class, I am still working at the Olive Garden. Eric is doing amazing at work. Lana is in preschool and Jaynee is working on potty training. We are so excited around here for all the holidays. This year is especially special. We are going to Disneyland on the 20th of December and coming home on Christmas eve. Having kids at Christmas is amazing. They make me feel like a kid again. We are going also to go see the new Disney "Princess and the Frog" movie and I hope is as good as the "Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" group of films. Here's to keeping up!

I have been out of touch

2009-10-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has happened since my last post. hope to bring things up to speed in the next few weeks.

Happy early birthday to me:)

2009-05-25T00:47:00.000-07:00

So Eric was so excited about the laptop that he got me for my birthday that he gave it to me early and I am currently laying in my bed on the internet!!!! I love technology!!! I was working part time teaching this past year and was one of the many teachers that lost their jobs. I hope I will get to stay part time for next year but we will just have to see how budget issues end up next year. I had to laugh. We had an end of the year luncheon with all the teachers and support staff. About 5 teachers and maybe 3-5 support staff people will not be coming back next year as of the day of the luncheon give or take a few. So this is what is so comical about the teaching professions. Most jobs where you get laid off you get severance. Well my severance package was a $10 gift card to chipote!! WoW! Don't get me wrong I love to teach and was greatful to get to work and hope to work next year, but WOW, really? Seriously? Seriously? Good luck to all the unemployed teachers and support staff surviving on that one.

I love my family!!!

2009-01-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

Cute hubby helping with bath time!

Bubbly Girls!
Eric made two beds like this for our girls for Christmas! He is amazing! The beds are amazing! It took a couple nights but for the most part the girls sleep in Jaynee's bed together and will usually go right to bed.
Every woman's kryptonite! LAUNDRY!
I loved the holiday's but I am glad they are over. Thanksgiving was delicious. We had a fantastic Christmas. I was able to surprise Eric with a Wii. Hunter and Julie came from Kansas with their kiddo's for a little bit and it was great to see them. We rang in the new year out in nature on a family camping trip, which to my delight was not horrific. We went with Larry and Emily and their kiddo's and they are so much fun to be around! School is back in full swing and it is nice to have a routine. Eric is finishing his last semester of school and will be a graduate in May. HOORAY!!!!!

Wow I have been out of touch

2009-01-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

Life gets so crazy I was all jazzed when I started my blog and then the holiday's hit and oh boy. My blog hasn't been the only thing neglected in my life. Sorry to my piano teacher, I didn't practice at all over the holiday's. That is what can be great about the change up of the holiday season but also the nightmare. Now we are back into a routine and I am trying to catch up on things that I have let go. A lot has happened and so I will have to play catch up a few posts at a time.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

We had a great thanksgiving and I hope you all did too. Eric is building bed's for the girl's for Christmas and they are looking amazing!!! He is so talented. I am hoping he will be able to get into our attic soon to get down our Christmas decorations. I am itching to get our tree up.

Aunt Sharon

2008-11-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

My dad's sister Sharon came to visit this weekend. She has been doing genealogy work and found that they have a first cousin that lives in AZ. From what I understand the cousin comes from my grandmother's side. She had a step sibling and it is their son that is the cousin. Cool, huh? What a fabulous person Sharon is and I hope we see her more often. Love you Sharon!

Halloween Picts

2008-11-05T14:37:00.001-08:00

I made a huge Turkey for the first time with all the fixings by my self about 3 weeks ago. Clay, my father-in-law carved it up for us. Super props to all you mom's and people who make Thanksgiving so delicious every year, it is a lot of work! It turned out awesome! YEAH ME!

This is Lana, Jaynee and (L to R) my nieces and nephew Lauren, Elaine and Collin. My sister-in-law Emily and her kids stayed the weekend with us about 5 weeks ago when Eric and Larry(brother-in-law) went quail hunting. It was a blast we went to the zoo and watched Cinderella II. Lana and Jaynee had a blast having them over.

New stuff

2008-11-05T13:57:00.001-08:00

So, Eric is now and has been a hunting man. Last year at Thanksgiving he got drawn for elk and didn't have any success. This past Halloween weekend he went out for deer and the season closes this upcoming weekend. He didn't get anything last week but hopes that this weekend to have some success. His dad went on an elk hunt about 2 weeks ago and got one and now our freezer is full of elk meat. Don't gag, it is really good and leaner than beef, who'd a thought it.
While Eric was gone the girls and I went to our ward trunk-o-treat, which I think is the one of the best idea's since sliced bread. The girls had so much fun. Lana saw another girl dressed liked Ariel and she said, "I want to go see Ariel". So, we went to go say hi to this little girl just a month or two younger than Lana. I think Lana kind of made her uncomfortable and she had major costume envy. Lana was Sleeping Beauty and loved every second of it. But every time we saw this other little girl Lana would say, "I want to go see Ariel" and if she wasn't within sight Lana would want to know where she was. On Halloween we passed out candy trick-or-treated a few houses down our street. Lana is totally afraid of anyone with a mask on it is kind of hilarious and sad at the same time. Jaynee loved it all and wasn't afraid one bit. Jaynee figured out real quick how to just reach into someone else bowl and help herself or take the candy out and put in Lana's bag or someone else's bag.
Okay so potty training was/is not fun. Lana really wanted earings and we told her that if she was potty trained she could get earings. Well she is now potty trained thank you know who. And when I took her to go get her ears pierced I made the mistake of thinking that telling her what to expect would put her at ease. Well after telling her they were going to poke her hear she decided earings was not her best bargain. So, I said okay when you want to get them you can, just tell mom and we'll go get it done. So, I would ask her anytime we were at wal-mart if she changed her mind, etc. She has a little girl friend named Page that is about a year older than her with her ears pierced and I spotted them and mentioned in front of Lana that Page had earings and asked Page if it hurt when she got them and Page said no. Then on Sat. we ran some errands and we went to Wal-mart and who did we run into Page and I needed a new watch and so we were in the jewlery department and I said nothing and Lana came right out and said "I want to get my ear's pierced" and I asked are you sure and she said yes again. So, she did and she only cried a little bit, she did a super job and they look so cute. She picked out green emerald's which is my birth stone but that surprised me, I thought for sure pink, nope, green.
Jaynee is getting more vocal with her "no's" and it makes me laugh. I know I shouldn't but I can't help it, it is too funny. I try not to let her see.
My is a principal at Settler's Point Elementary School in the Gilbert Public School's. I am so proud of her. I really admire her for the person that she is and how she treats other people. She really is a high quality, classy lady. I can not remember her ever dressing up for Halloween and I can understand why, busy mom, four kids, full-time job, etc. Getting 4 costumes for your kids is a big enough task. Well this year she and 7 of her office staff member's dress-up. My mom was Snow White and the lady's were the dwarves. It was super. I took Lana and Jaynee down to the school to see her all dressed up and they loved it. What they loved even more was following my mom and the dwarves around the school into all the classrooms watching them sing part of the hi, ho song. Lana was marching singing, laughing and smiling the whole time. Jaynee even sang along too sometimes. It was great! My mom made a HOT older Snow White. Go MOM!

Halloween:0

2008-10-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

So, I went for a walk with the girls tonight. We went and "Boo"ed some of our neighbors, by anonymously leaving treats on their door step with a note. I think that idea is so fun, whoever started such shenanigans is a genius. Lana loved going around the neighborhood and seeing all the pumpkins, ghosts, witches and grim reapers(well not the grim reapers) She calls them pirates and she doesn't like them very much. Lana is good at singing the Pirate song from "Pirates of the Carribean" I heard her sing it several times during our little walk.
Pirates makes me think of a funny story. So, my piano teacher's husband won a bunch of Halloween decorations and Lana came with me to a lesson and they have this big life size skeleton pirate. Well she didn't feel to comfortable with the pirate around so she sat on my lap the whole lesson. The story get's better. Later that day we went to Grandpa Clayton's Suprise 60th Birthday Party. My mother-in-law Maureen and my sister in law Erin had some entertainment come. It was some woman dressed up like Elvira (spelling) and the grim reaper who Lana was convinced was the same pirate from the piano lesson earlier that day coming to get her. I didn't get to stick around for the entertainment, Lana and I went inside and watched Ariel, one of her new favorite shows and tried to take our mind off the pirate in the yard. Kids are so great!

More Pictures

2008-10-27T18:08:00.001-07:00

Family Pictures

2008-10-27T17:12:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent and not so recent family photos.

Alright Already!

2008-10-27T16:28:00.001-07:00

Alright already! I am going to try keeping up a blog not only for friends and family, but mainly for myself as a reminder that I am living and participating in this human experience. I am not a good journal keeper and I struggle to keep in contact. But, it is something I want to do and want to be good at so I am going to give it a try. Come along for the ride if you want too. Disclaimer: The thoughts and views posted here are that of my own and do not express the thoughts and views of other. Even though you might be a victim of what I put on here. Sorry honey:) and my girls if I embarrass you that is not the intent.
I am going to spew. Life is interesting, it is interesting because we are not alone. Our experience here is not one dimensional. Our choices and decisions effect/affect those around us for the good, bad or indifferent. So many things in history have brought us to the point we are at and each time we make a decision/choice it can open up something new, close down something else, but our decisions narrow us or expand us so we are expanding and narrowing all at the same time. Not to mention our own personal limitations or abilities that we come pre-wired with. What a roller-coaster I sometimes feel like I am on. I feel like I am coasting sometimes and other times it feels like ROLLING!!! I love roller-coasters even though they sometimes scare me I ultimately love them and as soon as I get off I want to get back on and go again. Life totally feels like that some times. Eric and I along with my brother in law Larry and sister in laws Emily and Erin hiked into Revis Ranch. I couldn't help but in non-talking hiking moments think about how hiking is like life. Sometimes it is a down hill coast, sometimes it is an uphill battle and sometimes we fall, sometimes the trail is really rocky, sometimes the view is senic and the trail is easy breezy, sometimes we get wacked in a face with a branch, we turn an ankel, we get sweaty, tired, wore out, blisters, sometimes we are energized and sing as we go, some give up and don't finish, I am a finisher and a pusher I discovered. I sometimes don't enjoy every part of the hike but there are some great spots, some memorable experience, sometimes I want to stop and rest or quit or turn around and go back but inevitably I push through and finish. I love my family and friends and look forward to all of the fun, easy breezy, memorable, senic moments as well as the trails, obstacles, hard work and sweat that makes up this lifes experiences.