What have I been up to??

My, my, my. I can't believe it's been 8 months since I posted anything. Whoops. My bad.

It's been a really great 8 months. Let me see if I can sum up what's happened...

February: Katee and David (Joe's sister and her husband) came to visit for a weekend with their three boys. We took them to the Jump Yard, a big trampoline place here in town and they loved it! Afterward there was a lot of sickness in our household: first Astrid was sick and then I got it. I missed a lot of work that month.

The Jump Yard!
[EDIT: Sorry, it looks like the video won't work. I may try something else later...]

March: More sickness. Astrid and I took turns. But the snow started melting so we started going for walks down the block. Astrid was just starting to get good at walking at this point. One on set of Joe's days off we went to the temple and left Astrid with Aunty Katee. I think that was the longest I'd ever been away from her at that point. My parents also came for a visit at the end of the month! Dad could only stay a couple days and mom stayed for 5.

Joe clearing the ice from our spot. Yay! 

April: On April 2nd, the quintet I had been playing with since September played our one and only concert. We played Mozart's Quintett in A (KV 581 if you want to look it up) and we didn't do too bad except for the second movement. Thankfully we had a good start and a good end, so hopefully the mess in the middle wasn't the only thing people remembered. Playing with that group was a fun experience though and it was great to have a reason to play my violin for a bit. April was also the month when I started checking out the playgrounds with Astrid. She loved this.

We went for a lot of walks in April

May: My youngest brother, Keanu, came home from his mission! Me and Astrid flew down to Lethbridge and it was awesome. What is usually a 9-10 hour trip turned into a 3 hour trip! Including the lay-over in Calgary! It was weird to get to town with half the day still left to go. Joe joined us a couple days later when his days off started.

The plane we took from Calgary to Lethbridge. So tiny! 

June: I received a new calling in June to be the Primary President for my ward. If you don't know what that means, it means that I am in charge of all the children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years old. Along with 2 counsellors and a secretary we make sure all the classes have teachers as well as prepare lessons to teach with all the children together. It's a lot more work than I imagined, but hopefully once we find our rhythm things will be a piece of cake.

Astrid experienced her first thunderstorms in June and she loved it! 
[EDIT: Sorry, this video's not working either. Just know it's super cute!]

July: We drove out to Cherry Grove for the first week of July to reconnect with Joe's hometown and old friends. It was a great trip! We hope to go back every other year for Pioneer Days because apparently it's quite the shindig. When we got home from Cherry Grove, I was given the opportunity to teach a Water Rehabilitation class once a week in a small town 30 minutes from GP. I was nervous going into the first class, but it was a lot of fun working with the people who came out, so every class since then has been a piece of cake!

I busted out my good camera for the first time since November for our trip to Cherry Grove and this was the first picture I took: Astrid in front of the hotel we stayed at in Barrhead. 

August: This has been the month of visits for us. I forgot to mention, at the end of July my mom and sister came up to visit for 5 days. Then, Joe's mom came to visit for the first week of August. This was great because she and Astrid have never spent any one-on-one time together. She lives with Joe's sister, so whenever we see her, Astrid's cousins are always around and so Astrid usually runs off with them. So it was great that she could come see us on her own because she and Astrid were really able to bond. My water class ended for the summer, but it went well enough that they want to run the class again in the fall! I'm excited to do another session and I look forward to see where this will go from here.

Astrid and Ninnin at the dino museum. Best buds! 

You Drive Me Crazy!

I am going to make a list of the top 10 things that annoy me. Just for the heck of it.

10. Excessive chivalry. Guys, if you're reading this, just know that a girl appreciates having a door opened for her every once in a while. But if we have to wait around for you to get there for us, it'll become annoying.

9. Boys that wink at everybody. I've known a few of the excessive winking type, and at first I think they're really into me because they're always winking at me. But then when I see that they just wink all the time, I kind of feel sorry for them. Maybe you should get that checked out...

8. Boys who can't take a hint. Guys, if I'm just not that into you, I will try to let you know! Generally I usually try to stick in as many "buddy"s and "pal"s whenever I'm talking to you. And if I've ever punched you (playfully or not), you can bet I only see you as a friend.

7. Hair. I hate seeing it on my clothes and I hate seeing it on other people.

6. People that chew their gum loudly. You sound like a cow!

5. People who drive too slow.

4. People who overstay their welcome. I try to drop subtle hints to suggest that they leave but they just don't get it. So I eventually have to kick them out. Does that make me a bad hostess?

3. Poor grammar/spelling. Learn the difference between your and you're; there, their and they're; and hear and here. GAH!

2. Picky children. You're going to eat whatever I make for you and you're going to like it!

1. Whiny children. I can't fix all of your problems. You stubbed your toe? What am I supposed to do for it?

Maybe for 1, I should have put "loud children" instead. Today I was babysitting The Kids, and Adam had two of his frends over to play. They were upstairs playing video games and I was downstairs watching the Olympics when all of a sudden I hear the loudest, girliest squeal I have ever heard. I knew it was Adam because I recognized the squeal, so I made my way upstairs just to make sure the boys hadn't broken anything in the ruckus. Everyone was fine, but my eardrums were protesting the squeals coming from Adam. That boy is sooo annoying! I have two brothers at home who are constantly rough-housing and always causing trouble. But at least when they're wrestling, they don't scream like little girls. Maybe Adam should take some notes from them so he can learn to buck up, rub some dirt in it and walk it off.

Ready or Not, Here It Comes...

Well folks, today is the big day: I am going to a wedding and the Sweethearts Ball all in one night. If I'm not working too late that is... (Arg!)

I've told Boatboy about my other plans and he's been very accomodating. Turns out, the boys are renting a limo! The plan with Boatboy is that I will text him once Suitman and I are done at the wedding and depending on where they are with the limo, Suitman will either drop me off at my house or leave me at the stake center to be picked up by the limo. I still haven't told Suitman about Sweethearts, but that's only because it's something I would much rather tell him in person than via text. I'm pretty sure he won't be too miffed though cause he's gone out and done stuff after all our other weddings, so now it's just my turn.

The only thing I'm really nervous about for this evening is when I'll be getting off work. That's what I hate about my job - Tim never gets home at the same time every night, so it's hard to make plans for the evening. I know I'm working tonight and Tim has told me that I could get off anytime between 5 and 7. The wedding is at 7, so if I'm not off at least by 6:30, I will not be going to the wedding (and Suitman already knows this). And then there's the whole question of getting ready. I know what dress I'll be wearing, so that's not a problem, but what to do with my hair?? And shoes! I haven't even thought about shoes! Both of the boys are around my height, so my new hot red heels are out of the question (they bump me up an extra 4 inches! Sometimes I hate being 5'8"). OMG and I still have to shave!!!

All I can say is that I cannot wait for the evening to be over. It will be fun, but the preparation is going to be crazy!

Aloha and Mahalo!

Family Home Evening last night was a success! I may even be so bold as to say it was a huge success. I am so grateful for the people that were willing to help with set-up and cooking and cleaning. I don't know how many of them will read this, but if they do: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I could not have done it without you. I will also be sure to extend my gratitude beyond the spheres of the internet and actually thank these folks in person. I also loved it when people came up to me afterward and told me that they had a lot of fun. It feels good to be appreciated!

I guess I should share what we did last night for those who don't go to Vic Park. We had a luau! I've been wanting to do one ever since I got called to be an FHE Ma, and I finally did it! I (along with some wonderful helping hands) cooked a ton of polynesian food and everyone ate while they watched Johnny Lingo. Then when everyone was done eating, I had some old friends of the family come out and do a couple dances. The girls were taught how to do Pearly Shells and the guys learned the world-famous Haka. It was so much fun. And everyone actually helped to clean up too! (Hooray! Less work for me!)

Today was a good day. I had to go over to Tim's house this morning at 6:30 so I could get the kids up and get them to school. Even though it's super early, I don't mind it; I love mornings. My visiting teachers also came to visit me before institute and we had a good ol' chat; I love them :) My favorite part of the day was when I walked home from Tim's house rather than get a ride. I live on the far north part of town and they live on the south side. We're about 15 blocks apart and I walked it in 35 minutes! I mapped out my route on google maps and they said it would take 38 minutes. I can beat google!

Ooh, and something else that made my day: I was listening to CKUA and they reunited me with a song that I haven't heard in ages! It was on a Zellers commercial some years ago, and I always loved it but never found out the name of it. Now I know. Yay!

Children and Weddings and Balls, Oh My!

Good news: I worked yesterday! Let me fill you in on the exciting job that is mine - I babysit children. But to make it sound good, I call myself a nanny because the first thing I think of when I hear the word nanny is Mary Poppins. And who doesn't love Mary Poppins?

I nanny three children: an 11 year old boy (Adam)and twin 10 year old girls (Natalia and Lauren). They're not bad because they're fairly independent, but I worry about the mind-numbing amount of video games and TV they watch. Which is why I've decided to make them more involved around the house. Yesterday I presented them with some new rules: 1. They have to help me make dinner, 2. We have to eat dinner together at the table with no TV, and 3. They have to wash their own dishes when they're done eating. The girls were excited about the rules, but the boy whined about the no TV at dinner part. If I can stick to these rules and the punishments that go along with them, I think it'll be really good for the kids. And good practice for when I have a family of my own (which, at the rate I'm going, won't be for a while!). Yesterday night went well, I found out that the boy has never washed a dish in his life! I'm sure he'll thank me when he's older.

Last night I finally found the wedding invitation for D&K's wedding, so I texted Suitman the details. It's on the same night as the Sweetheart's Ball, but I wasn't worried because I hadn't been asked. I figured Suitman and I would go to the wedding and maybe if he was interested, we could swing by the ball afterward just to see what's up (Suitman isn't mormon, so he doesn't know about the ball). However, I encountered a hitch in my plan when the doorbell rang. My brother answered the door only to find that someone had left a toy boat on our step with a note for me attached. It read: "We could party like we're on a boat if you came to the sweethearts dance with me!!!". I knew exactly who was asking me and when he had brought up the subject of Sweethearts in an earlier conversation, I told him that I wasn't planning on going, but wouldn't say no if someone asked. ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!

So now I have two dates for next Friday night. I don't know what to do! After Suitman and I go to the wedding, should I have him drop me off at the Sweethearts Ball so I can go off and meet Boatboy? Or should I have Suitman take me home after the wedding just in time for Boatboy to pick me up? If I go with the first idea, I have to be honest with both of the guys and tell them that I have another date planned for the night. With the second idea, I lie to them both and hope that I have really good timing with Suitman so that he and Boatboy don't cross paths at my house. One results in a potentially awkward conversation with both guys and the other has the potential to end up in neither of them knowing about the other if things go according to plan. This is where comments would be appreciated, folks!