I got tagged :-P

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago
1. getting in the way of Mom
2. hiding in cupboards
3. making messes
4. playing with toys
5. Being a 3 year old

5 Things on my to-do list today
1. Get on the Basketball team
2. have fun with our new Wii
3. do my science experiment
4. keep my room clean
5. see National Treasure 2

5 Snacks I enjoy
1. Butterfingers
2. chocolate
3. ice cream
4. almost anything with caramel
5. white chocolate

5 Things I would do if I were a Billionaire
1. donate to CKSD
2. get my own room :)
3. pay for college
4. redo my room if I can't get my own room
5. Help people

3 of my bad habits:
1. Smacking my brothers and sisters
2. being unorganized
3. getting annoyed easily


5 places I have lived
1. Tacoma, Washington
2. Bremerton, Washington (duplex)
3. Bremerton, Washington (Brewster Place)
4. Bremerton, Washington (Illahee Rd)
5. N/A ;-) (unless vacations count)



5 Jobs I’ve had
1. Being a ref for soccer games
2. Babysitting
3. Babysitting
4. Babysitting
5. Babysitting



5 Things people probably don’t know about me
1. I like several TV shows- Numb3rs, most Disney shows, when they have a new episode (not the kiddie ones :) Full House, Amazing Race
2. I do not like reruns very well, unless I haven't seen them
3. people scratching things, (like the table, their jeans, or the couch,) annoys me so bad, and it gives me the shivers and goosebumps sometimes
4.Sometimes at night when I'm trying to go to sleep, I pretend I'm in the hospital with a broken something or other, ( I've never broken anything; only sprained my wrist)
5. I don't think I wet the bed when I was a little kid, but a couple years ago I did wet the bed, and I was so scared that I would do it again I had to go to the bathroom a million times every night for a while.


Everybody's already been tagged that I know, except for one family
Hmmmmmmmm......
-Mojo

I've been tagged - Kristi

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


5 Things I was doing 10 years ago
1. Trying to potty train Morgan
2. Sewing Christmas dresses for Morgan and Kaylee
3. Serving as Homemaking Counselor in the Relief Society - under Margaret Martin
4. Finishing the unpacking/decorating at our first house
5. Laundry

5 Things on my to-do list today
1. Laundry (always)
2. Work on Christmas Cards
3. Play Taxi/Bus driver
4. Get a new tree stand
5. Clean up so we can start decorating for Christmas

5 Snacks I enjoy
1. Chocolate
2. Otis Spudmeyer Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. Cookie Dough (most chocolate chip - but almost any kind is OK - as long as it is homemade)
4. Ice Cream (especially the chocolate with chocolate chunks/brownie/cookie dough in it)
5. Oreos with milk


5 Things I would do if I were a Billionaire
1. Pay off our house, and other debts
2. Hire someone to landscape the backyard into the ultimate backyard and make other home repairs.
3. Take the kids to Disneyland and take a trip without the kids (Hawaii?)
4. Establish college funds for the kids and me
5. Give to charities - especially ones that help children


3 of my bad habits:
1. Procrastination
2. Snacking late at night (I'm getting better at not doing this)
3. Playing before working


5 places I have lived
1. Laramie, Wyoming
2. Bremerton, Washington (with my mom and dad)
3. Provo, Utah
4. Tacoma, Washington
5. Bremerton, Washington (with my husband)


5 Jobs I’ve had
1. Paper Route
2. Pharmacy Assistant/cashier at the Pill Box for Bruce Lay
3. Waitress/Cashier for Sizzler
4. Making and selling concessions at BYU football games and cleaning the stadium afterward (yeah - lots of fun - power washing the seats in the end zone-student section - very cold - very wet)
5. Secretary/receptionist/assistant bookkeeping at Sterling Investments (a property management company)


5 Things people probably don’t know about me
1. I'm slightly claustrophobic
2. I hate needles (when involved with sticking me with them - it is why I had my first kids natural - I was more afraid of the needle then the pain - I got passed the needle thing a little by the last ones - enough to ask for the drugs - but they still didn't give them to me)
3. I think it would be really fun to drive really fast cars.
4. One of the things I wanted to be "when I grow up" was a radio DJ - I could talk and people would have to listen - sounds good to me.
5. When I grow up I'd like to go back to school and get a degree in Library Sciences and be a school librarian and write books.

Yeah - OK I don't know 5 people who blog who aren't already tagged except Kevin - so I guess I tag him (I don't know who that leaves for Morgan to tag - sorry :o)

Crazy Weather

Ok - so most of you know what crazy weather we have had over the last few days. It snowed Saturday and Sunday - our ward canceled church. Unfortuately, as soon as there would be enough snow to go play in, it would start to rain - so the kids didn't get much play time. I did make them go out for one picture Sunday morning. (ok two) Tyler wasn't thrilled with the idea of going out in the snow in PJs - the girls all thought it was funny - especially Kenzie. He did get over it when he got hot chocolate after.
Right after these pics, it started to rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
And rain.
I think you get the picture. Bremerton had over 10 inches in 24 hours - which would have been bad enough but you had to add all the melting snow to the run off. It was insane. I was driving down Silverdale Way trying to get Mo from school, in my big van, going very slow - and water was still spraying up to the window height - Sierra wanted to know why I was driving in the "milky way river".

***If you want the short story* - skip down to the pictures - long story - keep reading :o}***

My morning went something like this. Morgan left for the bus at 6:30 a.m. At about 7:45 I get Lyndsey up for her shower, and I turn on the news to get the weather to see if the rain is stopping anytime soon. At about 8:00, bremerton had already had over 6 inches in 12 hours. I get ready to take my shower when the girls tell me that the window in the kitchen is leaking. I go and check it out. It turns out that it is actually the roof that is leaking (the roof we hired people the end of June first part of July to fix - it was suppose to be about 6-8 weeks before they got to us - we started calling the first of September - about the end of October they finally gave us a straight answer - they weren't going to be able to get it done this fall - but we'd be at the top of the list next spring - needless to say I was a little ticked off at them then - since it was too late to hire anyone else to come and do it this fall - now I'm really ticked off because a new roof wouldn't be leaking!) Anyway, I go out in the rain - figure out where the leak is - go to the garage to find a tarp and notice that water is about 4 inches from going into to the garage because a drainage pipe is clogged. Clear some of the weeds/rocks away from that to keep the rain out of the garage - get tarp, ladder, hammer and nails. Go up on the deck, up the ladder and get the tarp as far up the roof as possible without actually getting on the roof with no other adults around. Nail the tarp down, notice that the gutters are clogged, clean those. By this time, I don't need to take a shower - I'm completely drenched - which is good because I don't have time. Luckily, Kaylee and LuLu (and Sierra) had eaten breakfast while I was out in the rain, I come in do hair, and send them out to the bus. I then change into dry clothes, get Sierra ready for school, get Ty and Kenzie dressed, fix them eggos to go, and head to the car to take Sierra to school at about 9:30 (to get her there on time I really need to leave about 9:20) We head out - and I'm calling Kevin on the cell to tell him what is going on - have him call the preschool to tell them I'm going to be late, and all the while thinking this is insane. I get to Brownsville Highway, and it has quite a bit of water over the road -but in the south bound lane - and I'm heading north. I did notice Kitsap County workers heading the other way putting up signs that I later figured out shut down Brownsville Hwy between Illahee rd and Wagga way. I take it slow but am doing ok. I go to turn onto the freeway on ramp from 308 (the road between Keyport and Bangor) to head to Poulsbo. It is an on ramp and up hill so I start to accelerate as I turn the corner, unfortuately visibility isn't the best and it is kind of a blind corner -and I drive right through the water overflowing the culvert that is suppose to go under the on ramp. Yeah, water with up over the car - Ty is all "wow" Sierra is "that was totally weird mom - water was over the car" I'm like "please don't die, please don't die" (did I mention I was in our small car?) I get Sierra to school - we get completely drenched going from the parking lot to the school - their play ground is a complete lake. I get back to the car, and Ty, Kenzie and I head for home. I decided - "hum there was water on the south bound lane of Brownsville Hwy, I'll play it safe and head into the Silverdale interchange and take Wagga Way to Brownsville" Ok yeah - already told you they shut down Brownsville, but Wagga was a mess - they had shut down the lanes heading to Silverdale, and there was a lot of water on the lanes heading to Bremerton - the ones I'm on. I end up having to by pass Brownsville Hwy, and take John Carlson. That takes me down 3rd - which is a hill that gets me down to Illahee Rd. The ditches had overflowed and washed dirt and rocks all over the road - and water was streaming down it - even more fun. I get on Illahee, and the water retention ditch at University Pt is almost to the top (in the 4 plus years we've lived here I've never even seen water in it) and water is starting to go over the road way. I turn the corner and at Varsity there is more water of the road and the first sign I've actually seen that says "water on road way" I kind of laugh because compared to the water I had already driven, there wasn't that much on the road. Get up to the corner where the reservoir is, and it is also full (it usually has some water in it -but not that much) I get home, Frank is there, has put sand bags by the garage, and is assessing the window/roof situation. Kevin had managed to get a ride to his car, and walked in about two minutes after me (It is now about 10:30) I put my hand out for the keys and say - "I'm going to get Sierra now - because they are going to end up closing to many streets for me to get back for her." I head out again - in the van this time.
I head north again, but this time I cut up Paulson Rd between Brownsville Hwy and Central Valley, figuring the part of Brownsville that wasn't shut probably had even more water than it did 1 hour ago. I get to Poulsbo, stop at the Super Walmart to see if I can get a big tarp (the roof was still leaking - I had slowed it down but the water running down the roof still was coming in so we needed a tarp that went up over the top of the roof) While I'm there, the elementary school calls and says we need to come get Kaylee and LuLu. Kevin checks the district web and CK is closing all the schools, but busses will start with the JR highs, and the High Schools, and then the Elementaries. Kevin gets those girls, but we decide we might as well let Mo ride the bus, since they are starting with the JrHighs. I get Sierra, start back home, taking 308 to Central Valley. I'm on Central Valley when Mo calls and says she needs a ride home - they had declared a state of emergency and were allowing kids to use their cells to call parents for rides. It is after the time the buses were suppose to be there to start taking them home, so I figure there must be some problem with them. I try to tell mo that I'm coming to get her - but because of all the kids talking at once on cells, she can't hear me. Finally she hands the phone back to the friend she had borrowed it from, and I tell her that I'm coming to get Mo. I turn around, go back up 308 to Silverdale/Viking Way. About this time Mo calls back to say that the busses are there and she can ride it. I tell her to stay there because the last thing I need is for the bus to try to take her home and figure out it can't and then take her back to the district office or some place else that I'd then have to try to get to in order to pick her up. (CKJH was actually starting to flood in places -so I was pretty sure they wouldn't return her there.)Silverdale way turns into a river - the water was up to the running boards on a truck trying to turn out of Home Depot. It takes me about 30 minutes to get from right behind ToysRUs on Randell Way to the corner on Bucklin Hill and another 10 to get from there to the CKJH. I get Mo, and we take Old Frontier to Trigger, back on the freeway, off on 308 (again) and up Central Valley to Paulson. It now has several places with water pouring over the road between the farms. I finally get home about 1:15. About 1:30 our power goes out. A few minutes later, the cable goes out - which we know because it takes our phones with it. Luckily our power is only out for about 4 hours. But we had no cable/phones until 10:30 p.m.

***Short Story Continued***
Although we survived the storm - mostly - it did make our lives a lot more complicated. Remember the reservoir that was really full on Illhee Rd? Yeah - it was apparently a little to much for the reservoir to handle. It ended up washing away about 8ft of the road (that's what the reports say - it looks like way more than that to me)
A couple in our ward that live on the other side of the washout took these pictures. The first one is taken from their yard. The road is suppose to curve to the right but not so much anymore. The next one was from about as close as they could get.













These two were actually some pics that were posted to KomoTV4's weather pics website. The first one is a little closer to the hole - you can see the pavement hanging out over where the dirt use to be. The next one wasn't labeled very well (just said it was in East Bremerton) but we are pretty confident that it is taken from our side of the washout. We haven't be able to get close enough to get pics - they have it pretty blocked off. These guys must have gotten down there before all the utility/road people had time to block it off. We had a few other things happening at the point. We are pretty sure this is what knocked our power/cable out. Crazy that Kevin and I drove over it a couple of hours earlier - and if I had taken the back way home I would have been on it about 10 minutes before it happened.

Needless to say, the road is closed for the forseeable future. The road guys told the coupld from our ward that it would be about 1 year - but the county website says 3-6 months. So now getting to mom's is interesting. Especially since Brownsville Hwy between Illahee and Wagga Way (the next best option to get to anywhere from our house) is also still closed - a lane washed away - and it will be closed for 2-3 months. That takes us to Paulson, an ok option not too far out of the way, only it is also still closed - damage to the road surface - they as of yet have no estimate when it will be fixed. We are hoping sooner than later as we now have to got to Madison which changes to Old Military, turn on Walker to get to Central Valley to get anywhere - it is about half way to Keyport from our house. Mom says "so it will now take you almost as long to get here as Nic." Yeah - pretty much - from Paulson at Brownsville to Pauson at Central Valley - it adds about 15 minutes. Taking Paulson to get to Bremerton adds about 20 minutes to the trip (going to Silverdale Paulson doesn't add that much to the trip - in fact depending on traffic on Wagga it is about the same time) With gas what it is we will definitely be consolidating trips and cutting out others. I'm debating going to enrichment next week because it is at a Sister's house off of McWilliams - so with my detour it would take me aobut 40 minutes to get there. Not sure it is worth it. Isn't life fun?

Oh and since Brownsville Elementary is now cut off from everything as well, busses should be interesting. None of the kids had school today. Tomorrow the entire district except for Brownsville returns to school (Brownsville apparently has no phones or computers). We had to do some creative transportation for Mo - because the revised bus schedule didn't include her special Magnet bus - and I'm pretty sure that it won't be picking her up in front of our house as normal. Looks like I get to spend the morning on the phone with the bus people figuring out the bus for her in the future!

Here is a link to the Kitsap sun that had an arial veiw of the damage.
http://kitsapsun.com/news/2007/dec/04/receding-waters-reveal-destruction/
it is like the third picture down - it is actually a link to video of damage around the county.

Some Pictures... and Bad News

I was reading through some of the previous posts and apparently I should post some of the "trick" pictures that I did at an activity.

There were more, but I didn't get all of them taken.

P.S. I tried out for the soccer team, and I got cut :-(

Now soccer isn't an excuse any more ;-)

okay... I'm trying this out (guess who?)

In the beginning of September, I was messing around and I put all of my Soccer stuff on Tyler and Sierra. It was pretty funny.

This is pretty random.. but does anyone know Mackenzie likes watermelon?

Make that loves watermelon.

Soccer is going pretty good. I scored a couple weeks ago, and apparently my mom put the camera down right before I scored. Our team is doing much better. We had a shut-out, 3-0, a couple weeks ago, and one of our players got the hat trick (three goals). At least two people thought I scored, but it was Kalene. we actually had two games this week, but one was on sunday:( we lost 5-0 on Sunday according to one of my team mates. Saturday wasn't too bad, but the field was muddy, especially along the sidelines. we scored two on ourselves on accident :(

We would've tied if it wasn't for those.

think think think - what else?

I should probably go get ready for soccer practice. maybe that will always be my excuse;)

(I was folding laundry - yet again so Morgan decided to try out the blogging thing. She could have helped out by folding laundry - but apparently blogging sounded funner!)

At long last.....

Ok - so my theory that I'd be able to post more with the kids out of school was completely wrong! The kids are back in school and I'm finally getting a chance to do this. Maybe. Kenzie just bumped her head....

She's ok. Lets see how long it lasts. Tyler and Sierra are up playing in the sink with bowls, cups, etc. It started out as Tyler's homework from Kindergarten - he was suppose to use different size containers and pour water between them to figure out which was biggest, smallest and about the same. I tried to be tricky and got him ones that I knew would be close to the same but weren't really. Yeah he still guessed which one was going to be the biggest and which was the smallest (they were differnent shapes but look about the same size - 3 different versions of the Ikea kids bowls and an Ikea kid cup) The little smarty-pants. Ty and Sierra have now added soap to the water and I'm sure they have added more dishes - but we are going on 1 hour with no arguements - and my floor needed mopped anyway.

I had to laugh at the kindergarten at home letter this month - he is suppose to work on recognizing the letter name and sound for M, R, and S and sight read "I" and "see". Oh and count from 1-10 and 10-1 and recognized the numerals. Curriculum night is tonight - we may need to revisit the whole making sure he is challenged part. His bring home book to read is a Magic Tree House Mystery (a chapter book). He said he told the teacher he could read all the books in her room - she let him pick a book from the reading room. He is enjoying school so far - there is a little girl from his preschool class, a little boy from church, and the little brother of Lyndsey's best friend in his class. He had his first play date on Monday - I visit teach the mother of Samuel - so on Monday after I was done visiting the mom, Tyler got to stay and eat lunch with Sam and then catch the bus. I have to admit - seeing him get on the bus - I almost teared up - first time I've done that when one of my kids went to school. Sierra bawled - but she was mad that the bus driver wouldn't let her get on the bus too. His big sisters are pretty protective of him on the ride home.

It really is nice that our bus stop is at the top of our driveway.

Ok so that's Ty. Ok - sending Morgan off to Junior High was a little scarey too. Her bus comes at 6:40 am - and originally they had her stop being about 1/4 of a mile down the road - not too far until you consider the speed limit is 35 mph, there is no sidewalk, and hardly any shoulder, and although it is light now - it won't stay light at 6:40 for long - and there are limited street lights on that stretch of road. Kevin's bus stop was originally at the same place for his worker/driver bus and both he and the driver decided that was a very safe thing for him - so I definitely had a problem with my 12 year-old girl doing it by herself. And then it turns out that was her stop in the morning - but in the afternoon they were going to drop her off 1 mile down the road the other direction. Even her bus driver thought that was outrageous. It is even crazier that the bus drives right past our house getting from one stop to the other. I got it swithced to the street right next to our house (Colorado), and she just waits at the top of our driveway and the bus driver keeps stopping a little further from Colorado and a little closer to our house.

Dad was taking her "first day of school pic" and apparently she's too good for the camera.Actually it was more that she was eating - and had just taken a big bite of bagel she was trying to chew when he was taking the picture. She is liking school and seems to be adjusting to Jr. High well. Especially after she got her schedule changed and doesn't have PE first period. She is playing soccer again this year and the coach keeps threatening that if she gets much taller, he is going to make her play goalie. She thought about trying out for Volleyball - but I thought that try-outs the first day of school would be a bit much - as well as the daily practices on top of her soccer schedule and who knew how much homework. She will try out for the soccer team and the basketball team though. She is also in the process of getting set up to ref soccer games. She is the 2nd counselor in the Beehive class at church - and is enjoying that as well. They did a fun activity learning how to do trick photography. I'll have to have her post some of the pics she took. (I can't find the folder she put them in.)

Ok - I have been coming and going from this - but I think I'm going to post this and do some more later (ok tomorrow) Kenzie is stinky - Tyler needs to eat lunch before the bus comes - and then it will be nap time - and I really should fold some laundry (yes - I know - that is always what I say - but that is usually because I do this instead of that in the first place) It is early day so Morgan will get home around 1:00 and the other kids get home at 2:00 and Ty an LuLu have to go to the dentist. And Mo has Soccer practice and then it is Curriculum night at the school. In other words - I don't think I'll get back to this today :o)

Pretty Pretty Pirate?

Morgan babysat last night while Kevin and I went to dinner and Costco (fun date - I know you are all jealous - well except Mom and Dad - they were at costco too.) Many of you will recall the Pretty Pretty Princess game that my older girls got several years ago for Christmas - I'm pretty sure there are some pictures of some uncles playing this game that they wish didn't exist. Anyway, over the years, we have lost/broken the majority of the pieces. Sierra is way more into dress-up than any of the other girls (surprise! None of you would have expected that). The kids have been playing more board games lately (I limited tv and video games) but there aren't many that Sierra could participate in so yesterday I got a new version of the game. While Morgan was babysitting, I guess they played several times.


Sierra won all of them -but wouldn't say when she won because she was having too much fun. They had a lot of fun.



Tyler apparently felt left out, so now we have pics that I'm sure Tyler will wish don't exist in a few years.
With his shaved head he looks a little like Sinbad the Sailor (or any pirate) Of course the crown would make him the pirate king?



The girls are playing it again right now -Tyler is still asleep. Lyndsey wasn't here last night so she insisted they play this morning.

Lots of stuff going on

Ok - so it is in the week. I thought since the kids were home - I'd have a few extra minutes to post things this week. Um yeah - what was I thinking. The kids are home. I got up at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday just so I could have more than 5 minutes on the computer. I spend that last hour and a half uploading and organizing photos - so hopefully this post won't take too long - because I have lots to do today.

hummm....Where to start.

Morgan graduated from the 6th grade - she was awarded the Student Libarian award, as well as a Presidential Scholar award. One funny thing was that without realizing it, I dressed Kenzie in the same dress that Morgan wore to Kevin's college graduation 12 years ago.This is Morgan and her teacher Mr. Tebo. Mr. Tebo made us take the picture with no feet so that you can't see that he is standing on his tip toes. That is why Morgan is laughing in the pic.

We can't believe she will be in Junior High next year. Crazy.

I also recently took the girls to a play in Seattle. It was High School Musical. It was put on by a group called "Broadway Bound" - all the actors were kids. When asked how it was my reply was "lunch was good" (I took them to Cheesecake Factory). But it was ok. There was some missed cues (especially the sound guy - a cell phone kept ringing after it was answered, several peoples mics weren't turned on when they were speaking or singing) and at least one memorable wardrobe malfunction - one girl did an entire scene with the zipper on her pants down. The important part was we all had a good time.



The picture on the left is at the play, the one on the right is at the restaurant.


Kevin took the 4 oldest kids to a Kid's Fishing day. For $5 they got a pole, a t-shirt, a couple of other freebies, and to catch 2 fish at Island Lake. (it is one of the lakes they stock - and on the day they stock it, they net off a section of the lake and let the kids fish. They apparently put in like 1200 fish.) Grandpa Frank went along.



Lyndsey was a little freaked out by all the squirmy fish.

Since Sierra got left out of so many of the recent activities, I took her up to The Dancing Brush. She painted a divided bowl (Lyndsey made one a couple of years ago and Sierra love to use it for breakfast - she puts eggos in the big spot, yogurt in one small spot and syrup in the other - she then dips her eggos in her "dips". I have some pictures -but they are on my phone and I haven't figured out how to get them off yet. Here are a couple of the plate itself. I helped a little (I wrote the words, and helped her line up the stamps, and then added some of the dots to the flower and butterfly) But it was mostly done by her.

So that is a quick update on most of us. I'm sure there will be more next week - since Kenzie will be one on Monday. Oh she got one of her presents early - we didn't know how to wrap it. We've talked about getting a wagon for years (since Mo and Kaylee were little) but it just never happened. This one is pretty cool with seats that fold up and down in to like five configurations, and a canopy to block out the sun.

We aren't sure who likes it better - Kenzie or Sierra - But Kenzie is making sure that Sierra understands that it is hers.

They sit in it all the time - this is after baths and before bed. One of the configurations is for one seat with a tray - Sierra loves to sit and color or pretend eat in it. I bought some fun stuff to decorate it for Kenzie's party at the park on Monday.

Yeah - love the wagon - but could have gotten it for about $50 less at the Super Walmart in Poulsbo - I looked at the Bremerton Walmart - didn't see anything there so I ordered it on-line a couple of weeks ago so I was sure it would get here without extra shipping. Then this week I was at the Super Walmart to buy cereal and a couple of other things and they have them in. But mine came with a Bonus Cooler that attaches to the back - how special am I? You can buy the coolers on-line for about $20 so I'm still behind! Oh well. What else is new?

the golden ratio

Here are the main points of Kaylee's report about The Golden Ratio (Her display is above) The swirl that I was talking about in Tyler's hair, as well as the other swirls in Kaylee's report, is based on the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci numbers (another math lesson - they appeared in The DeVinci Code)

• The Golden Ratio is a ratio of
  1 to 1.618033...
  and the numbers go on forever without repeating.



• The human body has also been found to follow the Golden Ratio. If you take the length of your longest finger bone and divide it by the length of the shorter finger bone next to it you should get the approximate of the Golden Ratio. If your face is in this ratio you are said to be beautiful.



• Pythagoras discovered the Golden Ratio.



• Interestingly, the Golden Ratio swirl appears in many other things in nature. Can you guess what else? Amazingly it appears in hurricanes, the solar system, sunflowers, and pineapple! In fact, the Golden Ratio pattern can be found in most things in nature. (That is the seashell picture that Kaylee used to demonstrate the Golden Ration swirl)

• The Golden Ratio was used in a lot of Leonardo DeVinci’s famous art, including the Mona Lisa. It was also used in the ancient Egyptians pyramids and is still used in art and in
  architecture today.

Kaylee did really good on her project and presentation - she got 100%.

Tyler's good - Kevin's not so good.

As many of you know, my good friend Jessie Cornell, has been going through chemo for Hodgkin's Lymphoma since late February/early March. Since the first part of April, she has been bald. She came to church with her head shaved, as well as 2 of her 3 sons, and her husband. (The third son is the youngest and is 6 years old, and he went very short, but wasn't quite ready for the completely bald look.) Her daughter, who is Morgan's age, cut her hair short as well (went from long to about chin length). Anyway, since then, Tyler has been asking to shave his head. I was waiting until after family portraits, but it was time for haircuts tonight, and he wanted it shaved! So we did it.


He has a very cute head for a shaved head. He has never had so little hair!

He also talked his dad into it - wasn't hard - Kev is the Cornell's home teacher and had been thinking of it anyway. And let's face it - his forehead is getting bigger and bigger.

I think he wanted to see if bald was an option for a permanent look. Yeah - not so much for Kevin. He doesn't have a good head for the bald look. It is a little bumpy. Isn't there some old form of psychology where they study the bumps in the skull? Kevin would have been a very interesting case.

We didn't go completely shaved - Tyler is a little ticklish when I cut his hair and flinches a lot, and Kevin had way too many bumps and grooves so I didn't pull out pull out the shaving cream and razor to "Bic it" but my new clippers did pretty good. (We got new clippers today - I didn't realize how bad my other ones were getting)

By the way, you can't see it (unless maybe you blow up the pictures of the backs of their heads), but the way hair grows in is a good example of the Golden Ratio. Kaylee just did a report on it - it is pretty interesting - and Kaylee was pretty excited to find another good example of one. Tyler's is better than Kevin's - but we think all hair must grow in this pattern (The Golden Ratio is everywhere - maybe I will have Kaylee post more info on what it is.)

Kevin's New Toy

Well, Kevin got a new toy this week. Actually he got a couple of new toys - one was a new computer monitor - 19 inch wide screen. This was kind of necessary. Somehow, Tyler or Sierra or both or one of the other kids managed to damage the old screen - making this lovely black spot that was almost right in the middle of the screen - it was very annoying.

This is Kevin on his other new toy. An uncle of his had a extra riding lawn mower (don't ask - I don't - so I don't know why someone has an extra riding lawn mower). Anyway, Kevin's dad took his trailer down to Olympia last weekend and brought it back with him. After a quick trip to the small motor shop for a new battery and a new solenoid (what ever that is) and a little bit of work on his dad's part (Thanks Frank), they brought it over for Kevin to try out on Thursday night. It is a little humorous to see Kevin and his long legs up past the steering wheel. He also has to reach around his legs and under them and all kind of weird contortions in order to be able do to get to all the controls. It is also a little bit noisy - so Tyler and Sierra went inside to watch.

Morgan was taking the pictures - and was afraid that Dad would run her over - so all the pictures are from the back.

Right as they were parking it, our neighbors lit off their acetylene canon (BIG loud boom) Kevin's dad thought Kevin had blown up the mower - not real good for his heart! It would have been funny if it hadn't scared everyone so bad. Tyler and Sierra were in hysterics. I just got them calmed down, and the neighbors lit it off again. The third time - Kevin called 911. The operator says "is it fireworks season?" Kevin's like - shouldn't you know that? My understanding was that fireworks were illegal unless it is the 4th of July or New Years Eve. And besides that, there was no way that these blast came from legal fireworks. They shake the whole house and set off car alarms all over the neighborhood. They've been lighting that thing off since right after my appendix last year. We have been pretty tolerant of it. But we are so calling the cops every time they light it off from now on.

The kids are all doing good. Morgan had a little bit of a crazy week - due her own procrastination - not that I'd know anything about that :o) Her teacher told the class at the beginning of the year that if they read for (and documented) 6000 minutes (which is 100 hours for those of you who don't want to do the math) and wrote a "writer's dictionary" with 500 words by the end of the year, he'd take them to a Mariners game. Morgan waited until right before Spring break to start documenting the reading minutes. It would have been a breeze for her to get the minutes if she had started when the assignment was given. Anyway, all the minutes and dictionary had to be turned in on Friday. On Monday, she still had about 6 hours of reading left to do (which isn't too bad considering that the previous Wednesday she had 23 hours) and about 200 words to add. Thursday night at about 9:00 p.m., I broke down and helped her add the last 110 words (she kept wasting time recounting the words and trying to decide what words to put in - she was using the computer to find words - not the quickest method) I recounted all the words (she thought she still needed about 150 words - so me recounting cut 40 words off) - and then I took the regular dictionary and just started telling her words and kept track of how many she had added. It took us just over an hour (she had been working on it for about an hour and half before I started helping her and she had only done about 20 words) It is a good thing the dictionary is alphabetical - that way the teacher won't realize that of the last 110 words about 50 of them meant "foolish, stupid, idiotic, etc." It tended to be a theme of how we felt about the whole dictionary thing. I get the 6000 minutes reading over a year, but the dictionary? Of course, it was funny, the next night Morgan was at a stamping workshop with me and we both used at least one of the new words we had learned the night before - an then today I was reading a book and the word "xenophopia" was in it - and I actually knew what it meant - Morgan had needed x words. (The word was in that "Wild Swans" book - I finally finished! Yeah me) So maybe the dictionary wasn't so lame after all. Tyler would totally love writing one - in a way he already is - he has a notebook that he is writing 20 words in each letter - I think he is on J. Morgan still had to read about 3 hours after we finished the dictionary. But she got it all in, and hopefully she will start things like that sooner (although I still tend to procrasintinate projects - but nothing like actually doing the reading and not writing it down - she probably ended up with well over 10000 minutes for the year)

Well it is time to send kids to bed! TTFN

Finally an update!

Well, one thing that I've figured out is that my life really is crazy - I can't believe I haven't gotten up here to update this before now. I skipped book club* tonight (didn't really like the book, Kevin is doing his Elder's Quorum thing, and Morgan isn't feeling real great) so I have a few extra minutes - so instead of catching up on laundry or housework - I'll up date this! :o)




First off - Mackenzie is really going now - she crawls on her hands and knees most of the time now (if she is really in a hurry she still "commando" crawls) and she is starting to pull herself up on furniture - her favorite is the ottoman in the living room. And she loves "the pit"! (our pile of stuffed animals, pillows, and other soft toys that is between the wall, the piano and where the couch and love seat meet in the family room - our version of a ball pit) She just catapults herself over the side of the couch and dives in. Pretty funny. She is looking more and more like a Kewpie doll - her hair is starting to curl around her ears and on top. I have yet to capture the perfect Kewpie doll picture.

Today, Kevin stayed home from work and went to school with Tyler. Tyler made it to 1000 on his number roll - a very big deal. I think the teachers told me that they have never had another kid make it all the way to 1000 in one year. Most of the kids that have made it, have gone to Barker Creek for kindergarten, as well as preschool. He got to tie a gold ribbon around his roll, ring the bell, and tell everyone in the class that he had made it to 1000. Tyler also went to the eye doctor today, he is a little far sighted, but doesn't need glasses right now. He was pretty funny - they were surprised how well he could read the letters and numbers - I think the assistant was getting a little concerned - she has a little boy, also named Tyler who turns 5 in November. She finally says - "did all your kids read this early - or is it just him?" I said it's just him. She looked really relieved that her son wasn't really behind.

Lyndsey went to the eye doctor last week - and her new glasses came in today. She really likes them - and it has been funny to watch her looking at all the things in distance without her glasses - and then with her glasses. She keep saying - "I didn't realize how blurry everything was!" it was really funny while we were shopping at Target!
Well - I guess I better get back to my other stuff! Oh - Kevin just walked in. Too late to pretend I was doing other stuff! Good thing he loves me!

And by the way - Sierra and Kaylee are doing good - Kaylee got her braces off! She will get them back on again when she is done losing and growing teeth - so she can have her "hollywood smile" Sierra has now added a fish pond to her e-i-o farm - funniest conversation ever - wish I had a tape recorder - it was on the level of "who's on first?" It is really hard to drive and laugh your head off at the same time. Especially when you don't want your three-year-old to realize you are laughing at her! Way to long of a story for right now. TTFN