24th Ave Drop Off

Have you ever seen the movie, 'One Fine Day'? Remember how they were trying to figure out where to put their kiddos. Then they ended up dropping then at the 9th Street drop-off for a while. I felt like the 24th Ave drop off last week. I had 2 families of kids on Monday, 1 family on Tuesday, 1 on Wednesday, took the day off Thursday and then had our Babysitters Club on Friday with 3 families. It was a crazy week. Not that I mind having the kids, I love to be able to help out friends in a bind. Savannah loves to play with the kids, and I love it that she is playing and not watching tv. But man I just must be a loner/loser that they know I will just be home (and I am). I really should get a hobby or something. Anyway, I just thought it was pretty funny. Chad would come home each day and ask whose kids we had today. But in the meantime of looking for a hobby, I will be home doing service for my friends.

Halloween Craft: Candy Bar Covers

I saw this over at Skip To My Lou and had to blog about it. They are so cute, and so ultra easy to make. Check out her blog for all the details and the templates for the bat.

ReadySite - Online Money Maker that WORKS

Everyone is always looking for a little extra income these days. I came across a great one that helps make a few extra here and there without doing too much. ReadySite is a great ad company where you can put extra little advertisements on your blog. It is really simple. You go online to register, and once approved you have access to customize your ads. When someone is visiting you blog and they click the link, you get credit. I think it is great in a matter of minutes I already had almost $5 in my account. Not a ton, but it all adds up. You set when you want your payout threshold to be. Mine is at $100. So all you do is set it up, add to your blog, then when you least expect it, you get a check in the mail.

Click on the link on the right side bar to join. You also get $25 free just for joining. That is just awesome! Enjoy your free cash and hopefully we can go out holiday shopping.

Blogger Rant

I am not sure what the deal is with Blogger lately but it is buggin me. Some people it will not allow me to put on the update blog list. And others sometimes I cannot even view who are on my blog roll. It tells me my cookies are enable/disable whatever or my java this or that. I have all the settings exactly as they say to and I can;t get on. So to those of you (namely The Five), I am sorry I have been unable to view your blogs lately. It is nuts and really irratating.

Grandparent Book for Christmas

Since I was able to witness the baptism of my grandfather and many of my moms aunts/uncles I thought it was such a cool experience and kind of bonding in a wierd way. I never met my grandfather as he passed away before I was born, but I thought it would be good for my girls to get to know their grandparents a bit better. Even better than I do. I know them as mom and dad and they know them as Grandpa and Grandma, but what about before? I thought it might be cool to put a little book together about them so my girls will always having a little bit of family history. These are a few questions I have thought to ask my parents, Chads dad and also Chad's aunt who might remember things about his mom.

What do you think? Are there other questions about their youth or just that generation I should ask?

Born: date, place, to who? How many siblings do you have? names?
Thoughts and memories/stories of Kindergarten/Elementary School?
" " " " of Junior High?
" " " " of High School?
Did you have a HS sweetheart? Do you remember your first Prom/who did you go with? What sports/clubs were you in?

Who were your chidhood friends? Any fun stories/memories of things you used to do together?

While growing up, what did you do during summer vacation?
What things did you do for fun during the winter?

How old were you when you got your first bike? What color was it?

Did you have a favorite game/toy as a child? Do you remember where you got it?

What was the 1st movie you saw in the theatre (or the 1st you remember)? Who did you go with? How much did it cost?

What was the most memorable Christmas you had as a child? Why?

What do you remember most about YOUR parents?

When did you get your first color tv? (or b/w not sure when they came out)? What was your favorite TV show?

What is your favorite book?

How much was a package of gum?

When did you get your first fishing pole? Who taught you to fish?

When did you first take up golf?

How much was a gallon of gas when you were able to drive?

What was your first job? How much did you make?

How much did your first car cost? What was the make/model/yr

What was your favorite class in College? What was your major?

Your profession and why you choose it?

Why did you join the army? How old were you? memories/stories?

What do you remember of your baptism day? Who baptized you?

Which Temple did you take your endowments out? Who was your escort?

Where did you serve your mission? dates? Stories/memories from then

What do you remember from the day Chad/Kristine was born?

What were your thoughts/reactions when we (savannah/Charlotte) were born?

What is one of your favorite memories with us? (savannah/charlotte)?

Princess Ball

What is better than taking one princess to a ball? Taking Two!! Saturday night was our Stake's Annual Princess Ball. Savannah was so excited to go. Charlotte had fun getting her pretty dress on. Chad bought them both a corsage. Charlotte had fun smelling the flowers and then gave it to her cousin Mackinlee. Savannah actually made hers fall of the wristlet because she was bouncing and dancing so much. Chad had a lot of fun with the girls, getting pictures, making wands and crowns. Charlotte danced to the music and had fun dancing with Uncle Todd. I did the same thing I did last year and forgot to send the camera with him. I did get a few shots from before they left.

Since all the girls were gone, friends threw a 'Mom and Son' BBQ. I headed over to enjoy good company. It was quite nice to not have to worry about kids, knowing if someone was screaming or if something broke it was not my kids. :)

New Technology for helping to detect Breast Cancer

While Charlie was taking a nap I happened to flip through the channels and saw the tv show 'The Doctors'. It was all about Breast that day. I was a little intrigued so I tuned in. Since I have one more year left before I start sqwishing my breast like pancakes for an annual mammogram I was interested to hear about this new technology. You see I have a past family history of breast cancer, my mother is a survivor & my maternal grandmother had a mastectomy, so I get to start at 30. I do feel very bad for my girls since they are going to get hit from both Chad's side and mine. He lost his mother to breast cancer as well as his maternal grandmother.

Anyway, this is what they talked about. There is a new test called the HALO Breast Pap Test. It reminded me of a double breast pump. What is does is suction to your breast to see if you have any nipple aspiration fluid. If you do, that does not mean it is a bad thing. They will test it to see if you are at a higher risk for breast cancer. I think it sounds like a great test.

They also had this cool light, called a Breastlight. To me it looks like a little ultrasound wand. You put it under your breast and then the light will go through your breast. You will be able to see the veins/tissue. It will help you be able to detect masses that might be questionable. It will show up as a dark spot. It is made in the UK and looks like something worthwhile. At least in my situation.

They also had this gal that was natuarally very well-endowed. She also loved to exercise, but had a lot of pain afterwards. She wore 2 sports bras while she exerciesed to help reduce bounce. I have a few nieces that have to do the same thing. They had her try this, I believe newly designed, sports bra. It reduced her up & down by 50%. And her side to side by 80%. Given I do not have this problem as well, I know there are those that do. It is the Natori Sports Bra. This site will give you free shipping, but I believe they sell it at Nordstroms too for $48.

I know this is an odd post but I thought it was pretty interesting so I thought I would share.

Obama's Education Speech to our children

So I am no politician by any means but this strikes me as odd. We have had presidents in the past address the youth of this country (Reagan, Bush Sr. ) but has done so on a live public broadcast. The schools would tune in for it as well as the parents at home. This way the parents would be able to discuss what the president talked about. Either helping the child to understand what he was saying or possibly disagreeing with what was said and explaining why the family felt that way.

I am really wary of sending Savannah to school on Tuesday. I do not know what will be said to my child. She is 5 years old and at a very impressionable age. Even though I did not vote for Obama I still want her to respect the current president. So I feel if she comes home and says the president said this, then she will totally believe it. But I will only be hearing what she heard through the mind of a 5 year old. Does that make sense?

The idea of forming a 'Youth Brigade' reminds me of someone not so long ago that said, "Give me a child before he is seven and he will be mine for life." That was Adolph Hitler. Since I was a history major and study a lot on WWII, Hitler was a very charismatic man. He was easy to believe and trust in the beginning. He made beautiful promises of a better nation. I am afraid our country might be falling into the same pattern. As a great man from the same era once said, "Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it." (Sir Winston Churchill). I feel that there are many who might be forgetting our worlds past history.

Back to the education speech. I am not sure if he will go into his Youth Brigade or not, which was passed in March of this year. But as I am just finding out about this now. Here are a few things which these 'youth' will have to abide by. See HERE for the Congressional House Record.

SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.
`(a) Prohibited Activities- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not engage in the following activities:
(1) Attempting to influence legislation.
(2) Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes.
(3) Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing.
(4) Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements.
(5) Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office.
(6) Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials.
(7) Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytizing.

I do have a real problem with #7 most of all. I am not sure if he will be addressing any of this in the speech, and it might very well be just about staying in school, which is a great thing to tell the children of this country. But knowing he has all this other stuff out there and passed, makes we weary. Needless to say I will be calling our elementary school first thing Tuesday morning to see if they will actually be showing the students and if they are allowing an opt-out for children whose parents do not wish for their child to view it. Okay I will get off my little political soapbox.

Okay so after a bit more research I was able to find that the DVUSD (Savannah's district) will not be airing the speech to any elementary or middle school students. And high school only if it pertains to their world/american history class lessons. Oh that is a sign of relief. They also figure since we have been 'back to school' for 3 weeks.

As someone wrote to the Examiner earlier today I totally agree with his acticle. It is worth the read. Click HERE to read

First Day of School

I am a little late in posting about Savannah's big day. She is finally a Kindergartener! She was excited but a little nervous too. Her teacher is Mrs. McKabe. She is really nice. She has had a lot of fun getting into the routine. I was a little nervous for her the first week in making friends, but I realized it is a pretty scary thing to go to Kindergarten and it will take time. She sits at the triangle table, and is friends with a little girl names Alexis. She seems to be enjoying it. She doesn't like getting up so early and it being so LONG. She always says she wants a break. Little does she know she doesn't get a break from school for many, many years.

Charlotte had a day at home with mom doing laundry. She grabbed her drink and snack and made little seat in the laundry basket. So she enjoyed her relaxing day.

little nervous pics are so grainy. Means little fingers somehow changed settings. aarrrgggg

***GLITTER TOES***

So I am starting a new little endevour, Glitter Toes. If you have been to Utah recently you will have seen them. They are the hottest toes for the summer up there. I got to thinking, I haven't seen them here and we wear flops all year long. What better place to do them.

Here is what they are. It is gel nails, but applied to your toes. What makes it fun, is I apply glitter to make them really shine. They last for 2-3 months and don't scratch.





Here is a shot of the colors I have. It is hard to get a shot of them in plastic containers with a flash. But you get the idea.



Pricing is
ages 5-12 = $12 *I only apply one layer of glitter on the little toes*
13> = $20

Let me know if you want some extra sparkle. Can do it at my home from 10:30a - 2 p. Have to do it during naptime hours. Charlotte loves to get into everything. Glitter and a toddler you can only imagine.