Checkin' out my new stuff

So I downloaded Windows Live Writer and I'm going to  try it out on my blog.  I'm not really sure what it does, exactly, but we'll learn together.

how fun is this?  OOOH, I always wanted to do that!!! 

This is fun!  Cool fonts too!

OK, enough of that.  Yesterday the kids had conferences at school.  It was nice to sit down and chat with their teachers for a few minutes.  They are all doing amazingly well.  I'm very proud of them.  I was totally impressed with Ann-Elise though.  When I get her paper back, I'll post if for you.  She is unbelievable in math and reading/writing.  Her teacher was almost speechless trying to explain to me how rare it is to have a first grader who can grasp so many concepts in so many areas on such a high level.  Go Leise!!!

As we were leaving the school, I passed someone that I met last year as Conner was playing ball.  Not a good friend, but someone I had visited with.  I wasn't sure it was her at first, as it had been so long.  When I realized it was her, we were walking down the hall at the same time so I looked over at her and said "Hi, how are you doing?"  Her response was a very rude "Fine".  Umm, ok.  Mike is on the community sports program board and apparently the board made a decision that she didn't like.  And now she's being rude to me.  So, we're acting like we're back in High School again?  I was shocked that an adult would take something that an organization that my HUSBAND was in (and I have NO control over) and take her anger out on me.  A totally innocent bystander.  Whatever!  Get a life!

Oh, and I totally ticked my sister off yesterday.  She is always talking about this fun message board that she's on.  Of course, it's a "hobby specific" board.  I'm not going to give out much info, because I don't want people checking it out and getting her all mad at me!  Anyway, she's always talking about it and even thought it's not a "hobby" that I have, I wanted to check it out to see what it was about.  Apparently you have to sign up to be able to access the forums.  And low and behold, when you sign up, your user name is posted at the side of the MAIN WEBSITE for EVERYONE to see.  So, of course she saw that I was on.  Had I known that I'd be the "Newest member" I would have come up with a different name!!!  Anyway, she saw and flipped out (not totally, but she was a little shocked).  Called me up and told me I couldn't be on "HER" website.  Hee Hee.  I wasn't really gonna post anything, I just wanted to check it out.  But I guess now I've been banned!  Kind of funny though!

The new addition

Mike has a new baby. We drove up to Bonnie Lake, Washington on Saturday to visit our friends, the Birrers, and pick up Mike's new truck. He was so excited. He has wanted one like this for a very long time. We braved 3 snow storms, 3 hail storms, rain and sun on the 3 hour drive. It was crazy! But we had a good time. We miss the Birrers! They moved up there about 5 months ago. They were a huge part of our lives and they have left a very large hole. So it was nice to spend a little time with them, even if it was only a couple hours.

Conner went to the new "Great Wolf Lodge" and water park on Friday and Saturday with his buddies Matthew and Austin. Matthew's mom and dad took the boys for Matthew's 10th birthday. They had a blast! I can't wait to go up there as a family. Hopefully next month we can squeeze it in.

Conner has 2 practice games this week. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and they won't be rained out. What is up with this crazy weather? I could sure so for a couple days with the temp higher than 43!

Ann-Elise is getting ready for her next dance recital. She is tapping to "Lolly pop, Lolly pop". It's really cute. She has totally picked up her dance skills this session and I am really proud of her. However, she HATES softball. And I'm the mean mom who won't let her quit. Even though it would make life so much easier on me!!!

Alia's having fun hanging out with friends. She's such a crazy kid. And so darn moody. I think I'll be hating life in a few years with so many girls in the house! I think Mike and Conner might move out during those teenage years!

Oh, and thanks to Mike for leaving me a comment. And of course Brynn and Mary! The rest of you though... I don't know what I'm gonna do with you!!!

Have a great day!

*knock, knock* Is anybody there?

So, I hear from people that they have been reading my blog. However, how am I supposed to know this??? That's what the comments are for! Please leave one. Or send me an email. I run into friends from my old town and am surprised that they are up to date on what's happening with us, but I want to know about you too!!! So, please leave a comment or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you. Oh, and THANKS to Brenda and Mary (Lori too!!!). You two make me feel loved!

I'm in the process of signing Adrie up for preschool. Wow. That's got mixed emotions written all over it! She's so darned happy that she can hardly stand it. I think I'm pretty excited and ready for her to go. But I suppose that leaves me with just Caile, and I don't know if I'm ready for that. And Lori, if you are reading this: you better let me know if your not going to be teaching K in 2 years, because I might need some serious time adjusting if you won't be there. For those of you who don't know. Lori Lawrence was all 3 of my older kid's kindergarten teacher and is truly the most amazing teacher ever!!! I will have to mourn if Adrie and Caile don't have the opportunity to have her too!

On the "me" note. I went out for a bike ride with my friend Sarah yesterday. She's making me go! She's a pretty avid rider and is being very kind and talking me into training with her. We started off on a pretty flat area and then worked into some hills. After a couple (what I would call) close calls with cars, we finished in a couple hours. I decided to "track" the mileage with the car. Low and behold 21 miles. Yes, I repeat, 21 MILES! Yeah! It was so fun! I could totally get into this. And I'm feeling better about not falling. Seriously, that's a big deal!

Anyway, I need to run a spoiled girl to school so don't forget to leave a comment!!!

Another steal from my sister

I
am: strong
want: kids that listen
have: the best husband ever
wish: I could spend more time with said best husband ever
don't: give myself enough credit
can't: run fast
need: to clean my house
hear: music from Brenda's blog and the Backyardagans
wonder: if I'm damaging my kids
believe: that I can become who I want to be
regret: not being more patient with my family
am not: a mean person
dance: with my husband while the girls sing their crazy karaoke
sing: horribly. But I do it anyway!
cry: a lot. More than I want to.
always: run the mom's taxi service
make with my hands: hats. The only think I know how to knit. Oh, bread too (not knit bread silly, just make it with my hands!)
write: only in my blog.
confuse: my days A LOT!
should: get off the computer more and work on the house
start: a lot of things
finish: not very many of the things I start!

"I might even be a rock star"

OK, so my girls are total girlie girls. They love anything a typical girl would! They love music and dancing. Over the weekend Ann-Elise got a karaoke machine from a garage sale. The mic doesn't work, but they don't let that stop them. In fact, they pull out the extra mics from the ps2 and so everyone has one. Does it really matter if it's plugged in? Of course not! Here a few pics. Caile was so stinkin' cute with a pair of Build-a-Bear glasses on. They fit her perfectly!

A long, but fun, Sunday

I got a call on Saturday night from my mom asking if I had called my sister yet. We had mentioned that we might go to Bend on Sunday, but had kind of decided against it, but I hadn't let me sister know. My mom continued to tell me that NO ONE was going to Bend for my nephew's big day. I hung up the phone and talked with Mike about it and decided that we could go. I drove into Portland to pick up my mom so she could go with us. We woke up early on Sunday morning and got all the kids ready for church, then headed out for the 3 hour drive to my sister's house and her church. We arrived with about 15 minutes to spare. It was really nice to enjoy a sacrament service with my husband at my side. The 2 babies have only had the opportunity to sit with him on a handful of occasions in their short lives. I was just grateful to have some help!

After church we went back to my sister's house and made lunch. All the cousins played. They had a blast. And I only heard "I'm bored" a couple times, so that's good! We drove back home and I took my mom to her place. We were able to have a very nice conversation on the drive. So, even though it was a stressful last minute trip, we need to do it more often!

ABC's of my favorite things

I totally copied this from my sisters blog (well, not the answers) but I thought it was kinda fun.

A: Alia, Ann-Elise, Adrie, apples
B: Bowling, Bonuses, Baseball
C: Conner, Caile, Cycling, Cheesecake, Crocs
D: Dinner, Dad, Diamonds
E: Eggs from our chickens YUMMY!
F: Flan, Fettuccine Alfredo, Flowers, Family
G: Girls Night Out, Ghost Hunters
H: Happy Friends
I: Ipod, Idol, Internet
J: Jeans, Jericho (tv show)
K: Knitting
L: Laughing, Laura, Losing Weight
M: Mike, Music, Mom
N: Nights away, Niki
O: Onion Rings
P: Pie, Pastries, Pony
Q: Quiet, Quilts
R: Running, Reading
S: Sleeping, Swimming, Sunshine, Shopping
T: Tillamook ice cream, Tax refunds, Tanning
U: Uninterrupted Sleep
V: Volleyball
W: Weight Watchers message board, Weight Training
X: X-Rays of Alia's hand (just today!)
Y: Yogurt
Z: Zoo

A look ahead

So with all of the fun around spring time comes A LOT of ball practice. That is what has been taking up most of our time this week. Conner practices on M,W,F with Cub Scouts on Wednesdays as well. Leise has dance on Tuesdays and softball on M,TH. Throw in dinner and 3 other active kids and that's all the extra time we have. It's been fun on nice days because we can all go to practice and the other kids can play on the play sets at the school while we keep an eye on the practicee.

On looking ahead: Mike just sent me the 10 day forecast and it looks like it's supposed to be 78 on Saturday. YEAH! I'm getting really tired of the rain. I haven't been able to ride my bike at all this week. Although, Mike did bring a bike trainer home on Tuesday, so technically, I could ride in the house. Today is supposed to be a bike and swim day, but I'm just going to make it a long run day. I should be able to get about 5 miles in. Yes, that's a long run for me! I have my next 10k in a few weeks and I need to really focus on that.

We just got word that Conner's first practice game is on the 23rd. That will be fun. I think he's enjoying his team. He has amazing coaches and really gets along with most of the boys on the team. It's nice to not have to fight him on something! Looks like Ann-Elise's first game is the first week of May. Hopefully the weather will start cooperating by then so we aren't miserable!

On Tuesday night I was able to get together with a group of friends for a "Girls Night Out". We haven't done that in a very long time. It was really fun to just sit and visit. And I was able to visit with people that aren't in my regular group of friends, so it was really nice to get to know a couple more people a little better.

Oh, on a very shallow note, I started tanning. I can't even tell you how much better that make me feel! I used to be very tan. In fact, I worked at a tanning salon when Mike and I met. As time went by and I had more and more kids, I gave it up. Well, now I'm back!!! I figure it's worth the money for the way it makes me feel. And apparently it's "safer" now a days. I don't really believe that, but for today, I don't care either!!!

So, what you can't see in this picture are the mismatched Princess shoes that Caile was wearing over her footie jams. Too cute!!! She was walking around with the bandanna, so I put it on her and he loved it.

A busy weekend

On Saturday I started my latest round of Total Health. It was really fun because Laura is doing it with me. However, I wasn't really that prepared to be as sore as I have been!!! Now that I can almost walk down the stairs unaided, it feels pretty good. Even with all the running I've been doing, I haven't been this sore in a LONG time! After Total Health, I drove out to Silverton to my hair stylist. She is amazing. We colored my hair RED and cut it short. I love it! It's easy and there are so many ways to style it. It's nice to feel a part of the real world again. It's easy to forget how great a good hair cut makes me feel. After that we headed off to the North Marion School District 1st Annual Auction. That was a blast! We were able to get some good deals and some fun stuff. Conner picked up 2 hours with a private baseball coach and scored some OSU Beaver baseball tickets too (2 time National Champion OSU Beavers for those who didn't know!). Also bought 1 hour of math tutoring for Alia. Although she wasn't nearly as thrilled with her gift as Conner was with his. Hmmm, I wonder why? Mike also bought a running basket the was the deal of the night. It was filled with a gift certificate, GPS running watch and some other fun goodies. Sunday I took the kids to a hockey tournament that my nephews were playing in. Oh, I should probably let you know that on Saturday, while I was gone, Mike took ALL FIVE kids to the hockey tournament and spent 1 1/2 hours there with the kids WITH OUT ME! Way to go Mike!!! So, I visited with my sister and my mom while we were watching the games. My littlest nephew's team won first place! Way to go Dawsen!!! That afternoon we went for a long drive with the kids looking for property. Are we going down this road again? With the housing market as it is, we may be able to find something in the area we want for a good price... Guess we have some praying to do! Anyway, now it's back to baseball, softball, dance, church and all the other fun stuff that comes with a busy week with a family of 7! Enjoy.

Who's that hottie?

If any of you have seen my husband you know that he is by no means over weight. But at work a couple months ago, they started a "Biggest Loser" competition. Now, Mike is VERY competitive, so he was all for it. Ummm, how exactly are you going to lose any weight? But he has. He's lost about 8 pounds. He's been running 4 days a week, biking 2 and swimming 2-3. He's also training for his first triathlon. Anyway, it's easy to get caught up in the daily "grind" and not notice small changes. Well, last night a took a good look at him and HOLY COW. He looks amazing! I don't think there is any fat on his body now. I thought he looked good before, but now he's super cut! I guess that's motivation for me to keep my butt moving (which has lost about 20 pounds, btw). I know that may be TMI for some of you, but I suppose you don't have to read my blog if you don't want to :P

Unevents of the past weekend

I'm pretty sure that nothing eventful has happened over the past few days. I'm only updating my blog because I feel the need to put SOMETHING down. Really, anything down! So, let's see... Saturday was horrid weather. I did go out and run 6 miles with my friend Laura. That was nice. It's always fun to spend time with her. She is a HUGE support to me and really encourages and pushes me. hmmm. Really, that's all I can think of... Yesterday (the last day of spring break for us) we had some friends spend the night, so we had a full house. The oldest was 14, so instead of it being a burden to have 8 kids here (well, 10 if you count Hannah and Jarod, oh plus Noel, so I suppose it was really 11) it was fun. The older kids took care of the babies and I actually had a pretty peaceful day inside! I was also able to run in the morning and leave everyone at home. I'm really looking forward to the next couple years when the older kids will be able to stay home with the younger kids! I tell you, babysitters cost a fortune! Today the kids went back to school. It was nice. After they left, Laura took the babies for me and I rode my bike (with no falls, thank you very much) to the pool. It's about a 5 mile ride. Then swam 1/2 mile and then rode home again. It was really nice. I am really enjoying spending time outside and I love seeing and feeling the differences in my fitness level. Oh, and I start Total Health again on Saturday. I'm really excited about that. Oh, and my sister and her family will be here this weekend for a hockey tournament. That will be fun. We don't get to see them very often, so I'm sure the kids will love spending time with their cousins. Check back later!