Thankful

Oh Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time of year!! We are nearing Christmas and it just brings happiness to my home. The holidays start with Halloween and then continue with fun, food, friends and family. So this season we have to take a minute a truly be grateful....(even for those things I would hate to say outloud).

I am thankful for my heavenly father and lord in savior. He brings all the blessings to my life that I could not live without.

I am thankful for parents who at one time loved each other enough to bring me into this world.

I am thankful for my children and the joy they bring to my heart. They have been sent especially for me.

I am thankful for a King size bed. On lonely nights I have enough to spread out and roll over without falling off the bed. On nights where the kids have nightmares or feel especially loving I am glad that I have the room to share with them.

I am thankful to have a home with a roof, running water and electricity. So many people this time of year do without so many things. And just having the comforts of home to go to makes this time of year less stressful.

I am thankful for my job. I complain on a daily but without my job I don't know where we would be. I have a wonderful boss and for the most part I work with truly good hearted people.

I am thankful for my many freedoms. We have soliders overseas fighting for our freedoms everyday and because of that they give up the time that they could be spending with their families and friends.

I am thankful for my immediate family. Although far from us they are still near and dear to our hearts. WE MISS YOU ALL!!

I am thankful for my friends who inspire me everyday. I have been so blessed to meet so many wonderful people in my short time on this earth. Some I don't see all that often but they are in my heart this holiday season.

I am thankful for my pets. Boo, Goblin, Pumpkin and Salt. You make life comical. It helps not take anything to seriously. Nothing like a bite on the toe when you are trying to have a serious discussion on the telephone.

I am thankful for my craft talents. This time of year can be stressful but this time of year I enjoy spending time making cards and completing our family album. That time is reserved just for me and is truly an escape.

I am thankful for my extended family and the kids' dad who love us unconditionnally and find time to spend with us.

So many more things that I am truly thankful for. My education, our librarians who keep us stocked with good reading materials and dvd entertainment, my health and my children's health. Our lives have been truly blessed. Although I wish I could add a couple more dollars to my bank account I wouldn't change anything about it so far.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

My little Super Heroes!

I am sure every mother in this world no matter if they are able to raise their own children or if they are with them every single day say that they are proud. I don’t think there is a word strong enough to describe how I truly feel about my kids. Everyday I am surprised how lucky I got. I see so many children who disrespect their parents or who act up and give their parents such heartache. I don’t have to worry about that. Of course there are times when they test my patience or they have a bad day of listening but all in all on any given day I go to bed proud of the people they have become. Each of them is giving, kind, funny, spiritual and well mannered. If something were to happen to me today I know that I would not have to worry about if they became good people. I am sure that’s what my mom thought of me and my brother and sister. She left this earth all to early but her work was done one this earth. She raised some pretty darn good kids and they in turn have raised awesome children as well. How lucky can one person get! Blessed, truly blessed!

I Love Fall!!!

So we are definitely into fall and I am completely excited. Carmel apples, pumpkins and falling leaves. What more could you ask for. This weekend, the kids and I took a trip down to Denver and hung out with our family and my friend Heather and her son Gabriel. It really worked out because I ended up keeping my niece Lilly and her and Katie had a blast hanging together for 2 straight days. They have really missed each other. Our first trip Saturday was to the Four Mile Historic Museum for their Great Pumpkin Harvest. Oh there was plenty to do for sure.

First we stopped at the school houses and we saw 3 women in there making lace and brading rugs. Which was really neat and I think I want to learn how to do the rug braiding. It was so neat.

Outside the school house there was a tent set up where we learned about Honeybees and how bees makes the honey. It was so incredibly interesting.

Then we went over to the chicken coupes where this man had burned these cookies and he threw them to the chickens. And he said the chickens had been waiting all day for him to burn these cookies. Now we stood there and watched these chickens and none of them were interested in these cookies...especially burnt cookies. Me and my friend Heather got a kick out of that. Our next stop was the old fashion cellar. This is where the pioneers would put their food storage. They would hang meat and put all their canned goods in there.

To the side of the cellar was a "panning station" where the kids could pan for gold. This probably took the most time. All of the kids were interested in playing in the water and coming with the pieces of gold and rocks.

The out skirts of the museum was TeePee's set up for the kids to look in. One TeePee had a couple inside and they told stories of the Native Americans and showed us tools that they would use made out of things from the land. That was my favorite part. We sat in there for a long time asking questions. And everyone was interested so it was really neat.

Next we played with the sticks and round wooden wheels and Stilts.

Then we headed over to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. We will definitely come back next year. What a fun day!

Minute to Win IT

September 25th we celebrated Kenyon’s 8th birthday party in the park at Lake Loveland. He had several friends attend. His guests included kids he knows from school, the boys and girls club, daycare ands family. I planned 17 games inspired from the NBC game show Minute to win it but we were only able to fit in a total of 6. The kids really had a good time. The games included:
(Bottoms Up!) Where the kids had to knock over empty cans using a yo-yo.
(Breakfast Scramble) The kids had to assemble the front of a cereal box that has been cut into 16 even pieces.
(Bucket Head) The kids had to catch 3 balls in a bucket on top of their head.
(Defying Gravity) Where they had a partner and each kid had a balloon. They had to throw the balloon to each other and keep the balloon off the ground for a minute.
(Extreme Hanky Panky) I split the kids into groups and they had to remove all the tissues from a tissue box one at a time. This was by far the funniest. The kids seemed so panic’d and were out of control ripping the tissues out of the box. It was hilarious.
(Rapid Fire) The kids had to shoot rubber bands to knock down a stack of cans. This by far was the hardest game. We did not even have one winner. Many of the kids did not know how to shoot the rubber bands so it was tough.

These were a good filler for the time. I think we will plan a party next summer with many of the other games. What a good time!

Happy Birthday ‘lil man!!!

Kenyon’s official birthday is today. 8 years old….boy where did the time go. The tike has grown into quite the little man. I made him a birthday badge to wear to school today. He was so proud. He has been spoiled thus far and received a Nintendo DS from his Grandmother and Dad. I of course will take him to dinner tonight for his birthday. (The place where they give sundae’s FREE on your birthday J) Gosh I hopefully have another 60 of these birthdays with him. This is the one day that he is happy alllllll day!

Mom’s Night Out

I attended my first “Stamp Camp” on Friday, September 10th. My co-worker, Heather, and I went to a Stamp Camp at a Stampin’ Up Consultants house in Fort Collins. We made a total of 5 cards.

The first card was a template card.

The second card was done using the Faux alligator technique. It took probably the most time but was my favorite to make. I learned how to emboss and I think I am addicted now.

The third card was a Masculine card that can be given to a father or male friend.

The last 2 cards were both Fall cards.

The whole process took 3 hours. We are going to go to another Stamp Camp on October 22nd. Hopefully miss Katelyn can go with us.

The Hayden Corn Pickers

The Greeley Stake in the LDS Church has a farm in Eastern Greeley. The Church posted a bulletin that you could go out to the farm and pick some sweet corn from the corn fields out there. A Sister from the Church sent me directions on how to get out to the farm and unfortunately we got lost several times. We finally stopped and asked a sweet lady at 7-11 and she put us on the right track. And just when we thought we had passed it we found it. My friend Hollie and her daughter Danielle joined us. We got out the cars and stepped into the corn fields. It was eerie. The wind was blowing around us and most of the corn had been picked through. The first couple ears of corn we picked were not very good. The deeper we got into the corn field the better the result. We got some really fat ears of corn. Looking back I bet all together we picked about 200-300 ears of corn. We stayed for about an hour and half. Hollie filled up about 6 bags of corn, I filled up a huge tub of corn, Katelyn filled up a bag for a co-worker and Kayne filled up another bag for a co-worker. After digging through bugs and tearing at the tall stalks we were tuckered out. We found our way out of the tall stalks of corn and at the road we had to sit and shuck the corn. Make sure we had some good pieces of corn and get rid of any remaining bugs…ewwww. We had lunch at Burger King and headed home for a nap. Kenyon and I washed the corn in a nice bath of water. Katelyn tore the aluminum. We wrapped the aluminum and placed the wrapped corns in plastic bags to freeze. We decided we will make this into a tradition. Next year we are going to collect much more :)

Sometimes...

Sometimes I miss being 21…I could eat out every night with friends and work it off dancing until the wee hours at a nightclub.

Sometimes I miss being someone’s daughter…I could rant and rave to my mom about this friend or that friend and she could put things in perspective. She also, did all the grocery shopping, cleaning and paying of the dreaded bills.

Sometimes I miss being in gymnastics…I loved the energy I had during gymnastics. I always hated when it was time to go home.

Sometimes I miss my kids…All day when I am at work and when they have sleepovers at their grammy’s or friends. The constant going, going, going is what keeps me moving. At work I slow down and watch the time go by. No random questions from my 9-year old and no just a thought I love you from my 5-year old.

Sometimes I miss *NSYNC…I don’t think I have ever loved another band or group since. They were a crucial milestone in me becoming an adult. A lot of memories I have from that time of my life is centered around and *NSYNC song.

Sometimes I miss being 100 pounds lighter…Oh yea THE BIGGIE. So 3 kids in a 5 year time span seemed like a good idea at the time. I always thought I would have time to exercise and take off the weight but it compounded on top of itself and now finding 30 minutes to go to the gym is a task within itself.

Sometimes I miss my friends…Over the last decade, I have lost some friends and made some new ones. But I can’t help of think of all the good times I have had with each and everyone one of them.

Sometimes I miss my first apartment…Nothing at all special about it. But I had no curfew, my own house key, my own dishes and my own food. Life was simple and I was only responsible for myself. And it didn’t have a bad location, down the street from my work and the mall.

Sometimes I miss being the youngest worker in the office…Little expectations were placed on me as the youngest person in the office. When I would do something unexpected I would blow everyone’s minds. “Wow you did that all by yourself. Without anyone asking you?” Now EVERYTHING is expected. I should just know better.

Sometimes I miss family vacations…Mom would pack us in the car like sardines and drive. We went from Denver to South Carolina to Florida to Texas and back to Colorado. We went from Denver to Oregon to Nevada and back to Colorado. And although I slept most of the trip I wasn’t the one driving.

Sometimes I miss our house in the mountains…Tony, Veronica and I would go “exploring”. We would leave early in the morning and just walk through the mountains and pretty much get lost all day. But somehow we would always make it home before dinner.

But….when I think of all the things I do miss I remember all of the good things I have NOW.
I am 32. Older, more mature and settled.
I am someone’s mother. I am raising the future.
I don’t have to run a mile everyday before gymnastics practice anymore.
The kids always come home. And they shower me with kisses and hugs and lots of stories so I don’t feel left out.
Justin Timberlake is a part of my adulthood and he continues to entertain me. And like a schoolgirl I run to Best buy to get his new CD whenever one comes out.
I have the ability to make new friends and can still cherish good times with the old ones.
I live in a house and a yard.
I have a job I love and appreciate everyday. With the economy as bad as it is, I have heard of so many being without jobs for over a year and its sad. I stayed at home once and I remember how frustrating to try and re-enter the job force.
Although I am not the youngest person in the office I am not the oldest either. Being somewhere in the middle is okay with me.
I get the pick the radio station on our car rides. Although now I am the one doing the driving I get to burn the CD’s that we listen too and I make the kids endure my music. I don’t get to take little catnaps but I determine the pitstops (although Kayne can clear a car when he says he has to go…we don’t argue…I just stop)
I get to choose new places to “explore”. The kids are adventurous like we were as kids so sometimes we will go on walks that take us to new places. Or drive down miscellaneous roads that spit us out into new areas of town.

My Scrapbooking Playlist: Favorite Songs to Listen to in my Scrapbooking Room

I don’t think I have announced it but recently I started thinking about the versatility of our garage and how we should turn it into a more functional area. With a couch already in their I decided to make the space into a Scrapbooking room. So the kids and I spent one Saturday dragging everything out and spraying down the garage. We even dried the floor. We sprayed for all the bugs and before we actually “move in” I am going to bug bomb the place. Katelyn and I have poored over dozens of ideas for the new room and I will of course post the “how to’s” and before and after pictures shortly. For now I am going to post my New Scrapbook Playlist for Opening Day. I anticipate that our first day in our new room will be September 1st but that is only if I can find some carpet for the floor. I still have some stuff to buy but the hard part will be covering the wall and getting the furniture just right. But we are almost there.

1.Cry Me A River…Justin Timberlake
2.Waterfalls…TLC
3.Youth of the Nation…P.O.D.
4.Let Me Let You Know…P!nk
5.Diamonds and Pearls…Prince
6.Break It Off…Rihanna
7.Rendez-Vu…Basement Jaxx
8.Gasoline…Rob Thomas
9.Better Life…Keith Urban
10.Everybody Have Fun Tonight…Wang Chung
11.Ready for Love…India.Arie
12.Goodbye,Apathy…One Republic
13.Sunshine…Kirk Franklin
14.How Long Gone…Brooks & Dunn
15.Instead…Stacie Orrico
16.How it Feels to Fly…Alicia Keys
17.Shining Star…Earth, Wind & Fire
18.Unwritten…Natasha Bedingfield
19.Save Room…John Legend
20.Weekends…Black Eyed Peas
21.Saturday Night…Bay City Rollers
22.Picture This…Danity Kane
23.Nothing’s gonna Stop Us Now…Starship
24.Forget Me Nots…Patrice Rushen
25.Beautiful…Christina Aguilera
26.Express Yourself…Madonna

What’s in a name?

Brandy: English in origin: Meaning, Burning wine: Brandy is a spirit made from distilled wine or fermented fruit juices. The name "Brandy" can also be taken as a feminine form of "Brandon," though it is usually taken more literally as the alcoholic beverage.

Katelyn: Gaelic in origin: Meaning, Pure

Kenyon: English in origin: The etymology of this surname is uncertain. Kenyon is the name of one of the main characters of Hawthorne's novel "The Marble Faun." It is also the name of a small liberal arts college in the U.S.

Kayne: Hebrew in origin means a spear: Welsh in origin means beautiful, fair: English in origin means Reed, cane or tall thin person; French in origin means battle pain

Kenyon and Kayne both have very unique names. Katelyns name became very popular in the early 2000s and has become very common. They have names that fit their personalities. Katelyn is pure at heart, sensitive, caring and smart. Kenyon is strong, energetic, determined, strong-willed and talented. Kayne is loving, funny, friendly and bright. I have raised 3 very well rounded children. I can't wait to see what they become.

Top 100 Movie Picks

I have this never ending list of movies that I want to watch. At this point I am watching between 8 and 12 movies (sometimes television series) per week. The list started with 100 movies and has grown to over 1400. Today I’ve been thinking how for the longest time Man on Fire has been my all time top favorite movie but after starting this task of watching all these movies my top favs have shifted. So here are my top movie pics.

1. Alpha Dog
2. Man On Fire
3. The Hangover
4. The Sandlot
5. Dirty Dancing
6. Annie
7.Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
8. Friday
9. Go
10. Clueless
11. Babe
12.I am Legend
13. Over the Hedge
14. What Happens in Vegas
15. Bad Boys
16. Grease
17. Leaving Las Vegas
18. Titanic
19. 16 Candles
20. Night at the Roxbury
21.Diary of a Mad Black Woman
22. Beetle Juice
23. Monsters Inc.
24. Finding Nemo
25. Three Kings
26. Edison Force
27. The Other Boleyn Girl
28. Road to Perdition
29. Simon Birch
30. Gran Torino
31. Camille
32. Hatchi
33. My Sister’s Keeper
34. 16 Blocks
35. The Blind Side
36. Everythings Fine
37. Death Sentence
38. The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
39. City of Angels
40. Night to Rodanthe
41. Stepmom
42. Changeling
43. Uncle Buck
44. Four Brothers
45. Back to the Future
46. Romeo + Juliet
47. Daddy Daycare
48. Curious George
49. Nanny McPhee
50. Something New
51. Happy Feet
52. The Proposal
53. Casper
54. Romeo Must Die
55. Face/OFF
56. Shrek 2
57. My Best Friends Wedding
58. Madea Goes to Jail
59. Toy Soliders
60. Varsity Blues
61. American Pie
62. Avatar
63. Be Kind Rewind
64. Enchanted
65. Faithful
66.The Truman Show
67. Harry Potter series
68. Uptown Girls
69. Alvin and the Chipmunks
70. Mean Girls
71. The truth about Cats and Dogs
72. New Moon
73. The Butterfly Effect
74. The Mirror Has Two Faces
75. R.L. Mostly Ghostly
76. Knowing
77. BandSlam
78. Flash of Genius
79. Sex and the City: The Movie
80. 2012
81. Premonition
82. The Jane Austen Book Club
83. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a day
84. Pineapple Express
85. Kids
86. Money Talks
87. Weird Science
88. Along Came a Spider
89. Antwone Fisher
90. Awake
91. The Devil Wears Prada
92. Disturbia
93. Fast and Furious
94. Hitman
95. Paranormal Activity
96. The Prestige
97. The Secret Life of Bees
98. Taken
99. Things We lost in the fire
100. Secret Window

Summer 2010

Alright I'm back. I have let the blog slip this year and it saddens me. I just caught up with my friend on Wednesday and I hadn't seen her daughter in 3 months so the fact that she grew so much in that 3 months made me sad. Luckily, she keeps up with her pictures so I can see her. But still its not the same. So I told her that we needed to start blogging again. So I am starting today. This blogs for you Kellie :)

January

What a month! I celebrated my 32nd birthday. Yes sir! I am 2 years into my 30's and boy has it been a ride. The kids and I went to our 2nd Girl's basketball game at CSU against BYU. Sadly, the girls lost again this year but the game was really good. We are hoping to make this a tradition. We had a sleepover with the Klosowski family. Katelyn got to spend some much needed time with her dearest friend Lilly and I got to catch up on several hours of Jersey Shore. Also, I got to meet their new dog Whitney. Such a sweetie! Kayne celebrated his 5th birthday and he had a Ice Skating Party at Centerra. After Skating we went to Culver's and enjoyed burgers, fries and ice cream :) After indulging in a much needed nap, we headed down to Aurora to have a birthday dinner with the Hayden and Pell family. Grammy went out to dinner with me and the kids and we ate at Bono's BBQ. It was delicious and topped off a wonderful month for us.

February

This month was uneventful. We took up a new activity, Letterboxing and this got us exploring Loveland. We searched for 3 Letterboxes but only found 2. We tried to take up Letterboxing before we moved from Denver but spent all day looking and couldn't even find one. So after we found our 2 we ended our day at McDonalds. I started a Letterboxing scrapbook so hopefully we can add more pictures and stamps.

March

Was the Molly and Jason wedding. I was so appalled when he broke up with Melissa on television and I was refusing to watch the wedding but yea...don't judge me I broke down and watched it :) I am glad though it changed my opinion about the both of them. You can't help who you love and yes we all are imperfect and are capable of making bad choices. And Jason did. He let the little bird on his shoulder tell him that Melissa was 'the one' but deep in his heart he knew better. So all's well that ends well. The kids and I got into a new show this month. The Big Bang Theory is hilarious. We have gotten through Season 1 and 2. I think this might Kenyon's favorite show. Also, I promised my brother, Tony, that I would scan all the pictures I had of him growing up and send to him. The project blossomed into a trip down memory lane. I scanned all sorts of pictures and posted on Facebook. They were hilarious to see. Funny how time can make you forget about so much. Katelyn and I watched My Sister's Keeper and cried our eyes out. I am glad that I waited to watch it on DVD. I was a wreck after seeing that movie. It made me realize how much I miss my sister :( But we are taking a trip to Dallas to see her and my niece and nephew. Sniff Sniff

April

Easter weekend we headed down South to enjoy some of the Easter fesitivities. We went to a church in Westminister and the kids enjoyed the Easter egg hunts, Easter bunny, free hot dogs, popcorn, lemonade and music. It was a nice day. And they loaded up on free candy. Their baskets were so heavy. I even got to have a couple pieces of laffy taffy :) And double bubble gum! After the Easter Egg Hunts we went to little Aaron's 3rd birthday part at Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had a blast and I was able to catch up with all of my friends. Then we spent the evening with the Pell family. And had General Conference on Sunday. After General Conference we went and picked up Grammy and headed to the Park to have a Easter day lunch. Kenyon taught us a fun basketball game and all the kids came and played with us. We had a ton of fun! My brother, Tony, and his wife Karissa announced this month that they are going to welcome and third baby into the Alexander family. He told me after April fool's day so there was no way that I believed him but it wasn't a joke. So I am so excited. Our family is getting bigger and bigger. I've always wanted a bog family but now they are so spread out. Veronica in Texas and Tony in Arizona. But I guess now we have a reason to visit. Katelyn and I took a mommy and daughter day and headed down to World's Largest Crop at the Merchandise Mart. I was working but Katelyn got to scrapbook. She was spoiled. My customer, Laura, brought her gifts and they spent the day together gabbing. I didn't get much done but I enjoyed the time just us girls. The boys went to Grammy's and got spoiled themselves. Kenyon got his much anticipated Webkins and Kayne got some G.I. Joes.

May

This is where the year kicked off into high gear. School ended and the kids headed off to daycare. We welcomed a new member to the family, Pumpkin. A cute little kitty. She is 2 and 1/2 years old. She hid under the bed for the first couple of the nights but once she showed Boo who was boss she stopped hiding. The kids and I spent an afternoon at Lake Loveland on the swim beach. It was so nice. I could lay back read my book and the kids could splash around in the water. This kicked off our time in the water. We headed to Glenwood Springs Memorial Day weekend and got to the pool at 9am. The Pells met us at the pool and we spent the entire day at the pool. Unfortunately, all of us got sunburned and it made for a bad nights sleep. We ate dinner at the White House and headed to Rifle Falls on Sunday. We had a picnic and watched the Falls all day. Went in the caves and hiked up the Falls. Sunday night I got a call from Tony and Veronica and we were united with our half brothers and sisters, ShaRhonda, Aubrey and Aleiisha. We have planned a reunion for later this month. Isabella G. turned 1 years old this month and Kenyon and Kayne and I went to the birthday party down in Highlands Ranch. Katelyn went to the Colorado State Education day and competed for the Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County. She competed in Spelling, Science, Georgarphy, Math and Trivia. She won 2nd place in Spelling, 1st place in Sportsmanship and 3rd place all-around. She received 2 medals and 2 certificates. We also received a letter in the mail stating that one of her poems has been selected to be published in a book. My little girl is excelling.

June

Free movie night started up again at Centerra. They have tons of games and activities for the kids and give free popcorn and cotton candy. At dusk, they play a movie and the kids and I lounge on the grass with blankets and lawn chairs. This year we watched:

~Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

~The Spiderwick Chronicles

~Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

~Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

July

This month has been crazier than ever. Katelyn turned 9 years old so we threw a birthday party for her down at Washington Park in Denver. All our friends and family came out to celebrate with us. My half sister, ShaRhonda, and her kids came to the birthday and this was the first time the kids had met and ShaRhonda and I as adults. After the party and reunion we got into the car and headed to Grand Lake. It only took an hour and a half. Unfortunately, we did not get there until after dark so we were not able to do anything on Saturday. Sunday we hung out with The Herman family and my friend Liz and went into town and had lunch. Sunday night we went out on the lake on the boats and enjoyed the fourth of July fireworks. We had a wonderful time camping but Kenyon liked to remind us that he is not a WILDERNESS boy :) Ron, Isabella and Adriana headed into town from Germany and it was great spending time with them. The time flew by too quickly. Then the following week, Miss Kellie and Dani came back to Colorado. We will enjoy some much deserved time with them before they head back to Iowa :(