Making Memories

Cole loves to camp and build bonfires. He loves the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and being a boy:) He had convinced his grandparents and his father that it was time that we set up camp down at the Creek. On Saturday, Travis worked around the house, spreading rock and picking up odds and ends. We put up more bender board with landscape rock and I officially finished detailing our travel trailer. We moved our trailer back into its spot and our house is finally getting into shape.

More Dahlias

I wish and pray that my Dahlias will be just as beautiful next year. I am going to plant a bunch more this year. I love the red/pink vibrant colors of Dahlias and even cosmos.

Girls will be Girls

Carly should have a whole entire blog devoted to herself. She has enough energy to power an entire village or in her case a football team:) All of her outfits are her creation. I really only push her school attire. I also had to get out my Childwise book last night for some new strategies....I am back at it again, on a babywise kick and frankly I don't want to hear people complain about their kids not sleeping or blah blah blah because babywise works miracles. People/parents that say "it doesn't work" don't know how to use or in other words are weak...Yeah I said it and I may make people mad but oh well. It's my blog and I'll type what I want to:) Love Danielle

P.S. I am in a bad mood, if you couldn't tell:(

Roses and Dahlias

I just picked some flowers from my yard and I thought that I would upload some pictures of them.... I love gardening and it works better when I see results. Fall is my favorite time of year because the rain is beginning, flowers are blooming, grass in green, and the smell of my yard. Someday I will have a quiet place where I can read, drink coffee, and relax. Don't get me wrong, I can do all those things in my yard now but I dream about living in the mountains, in seclusion....Someday:)

MY SPACE:)

I have been thinking recently about how much I love my computer! This post is dedicated to my dear friend, and confidante, aka: My space!lol Anyway, back in February while I was in the credential program I buckled down and bought a 20inch iMac. My love affair with Mac/Apple computers began with Christmas of 2006. I had been working on a P.C. which (I won't refer to what I think those intitials stand for because I respect that many people use and like them, but they're no longer for this computer woman:) I had purchased from my sister, Rachelle, back in 2003. In computer years....this P.C. was old. My parents decided to buy me a Macbook laptop for Christmas in 2006 and I had reservations. I didn't want to switch computer allegiance.... I opened my new Macbook, created my new user profile (which I was not ready for a computer with a camera, lighted keyboard, groovy mouse, no clicking, ctrl space for right side of mouse, and many awesome ergonometric features.

After my complete and utter conversion to MAC I made the HUGE purchase/decision to buy a new iMac. Sidenote... Many of you who know my husband, Travis would probably assume that he wasn't into computers but let me tell you that my renaissance man(aka: a person who is versatile in many arenas) can hunt and peck with the best of them:) In the winter time he uses the computer frequently and wasn't able to get onto the internet because I always had the laptop with me at school. My laptop experience and the need/want to have a home computer propelled me into a great decision..... I know that many of you are thinking who can love a computer this much well I do. My MAC's don't reboot, give strange error messages, and are not controlled by unknown spirits!haha The bottom line is that you should really think long and hard before you buy a computer and give MAC a try..... Until my next strange post:)

Accomplished?

Since I made such a big deal about posting my TO Do list I think I should post what I actually got accomplished:)

Finished...
1. Made business appointment
2. Went to Nail, and Dentish appt.
3. Updated substitute list at local schools
4. Paid Bills
5. Did bi-weekly grocery shopping
6. Have cleaned house both mornings before leaving.
7. Walked on my treadmill both mornings.

I have a couple more things to do this week that need to be followed through on. I promise I won't bore you too much with the monotony of my to do lists.

To Dos

I resolved last week, in order to make this year, at home, the most productive I can that I would stick to my habit of making lists. I also made lists when I was in school but for some reason I think that I have all the time in the world and do what I can, when I can....Well at the end of the day I seem the sit reveling at what I didn't accomplish for the day and I get pissed. Below is a sample of what my planner looks like for the week.

The Week:
1. Make an appt. with business associate
2. Pick up additional Birth and Marriage Certificates
3. Finish Detailing our Travel Trailer
4. Nail Appt. Dentist Appt. Hair Appt.

Today:
1. Update my contact inform. on sub lists.
2. Call Medical insurance
3. Update Idaho Thanksgiving trip details
4. Pay some bills
5. Call garbage company
6. Work in the office
7. Go to Costco, Wildberries, and Safeway
8. Pick up house before I leave for work.

*Kids spent the night at my mom's last night so I can get a little more done than usual before work. I will also post what I actually got accomplished today:) I like to Dream big.... Till next time. Danielle

Weekend Highlights

I know I posted that I had ordered a replacement usb cord for my camera but I ordered the wrong one!:( Anyway, this weekend has been relatively mellow. I worked around my house cleaning bathrooms, folding laundry, reading, enjoyed being at home, and went to a wedding.

I Love.....
1. Being at home
2. Reading at home
3. Cooking dinner
4. 800 thread count sheets
5. Clean bathrooms with soft bath rugs
6. Watching movies with Travis
7. Online shopping
8. Taking baths with Carly
9. Listening to Cole tell about how he went hunting and killed a Grouse:)

I am sure I will think of some other things:)

I dislike....
1. Putting laundry away
2. Unmade beds
3. Messy closets
4. Kids staying up past 8pm especially on school nights. I love it when parents complain about their kids not doing well in school and then they get to decide when they go to bed. *I should worry about my own family:)
5. Eating dinner late. Travis doesn't get home from work until 7:15 and I have dinner on the table and the kids I eat as soon as he walks in the door. I think 6:00 is the perfect time to eat dinner.
6. Not being organized.
7. Having trash in my yard
8. Having a dog on crack cocaine
9. People who complain and are not problem solvers.

Both of my lists are random but I want my blog to be a reflection/journal that is glimpse into who I am. Until next time. Danielle

Never a dull moment.

Hola! I hope everyone is doing well. The past two weeks have been nice and busy. I am still not in the swing of life without school. I haven't paid close enough attention to my planner, haven't made lists, and seem like I forget things....Which is not like me:) I am planning on making a list each morning, and making sure I get some things accomplished in my year off....

On another note, Travis hasn't been feeling very well. Many of you know that he has a benign tumor on his kidney and he had it embolized this past year. Basically, they went up his femoral artery and wrapped coils around the blood supply to the tumor. It was a painful procedure but we survived. He had felt a lot better but in July he started to have pain again. He says that the pain is what he thinks labor contractions would be like:) He said that he can feel it coming on and then it goes in waves.... To make a long story short he went in for a C-T Scan yesterday and then we flew to U.C.S.F. to meet with his urologist specialist. His appt. was at 8:30 this morning. The Dr. said that the tumor is down to 4 cm from being 10cm. That is great. We have two options, one is to remove the tumor which would most likely be a loss in Travis's kidney (NOT AN OPTION) and our second option is to have the tumor embolized again... Needless to say Travis is going to go through the procedure again. The good thing is that we know what to expect, and what the recovery should be like. Here we go again. I would ask that every would keep us in their prayers and thoughts.

I will report back to everyone on how I am doing next week with my goal to get organized. Love Danielle

Pics from our weekend

Camera Issues and Labor Day.

I have tons of new pictures from our Labor Day weekend trip/vacation to Six Flags Discovery KIngdom but I am having another camera complication. I bought a new camera from Costco and I got it home and didn't work.....Needless to say I was MAD. I took Janelle's camera with us to Sudie and Michael's because it is exactly the same one that I bought that didn't work:(

I trudged back to Costco and bought another camera... I came home and immediately plugged it in to charge. I was apprehension about it not working, so carefully I took the parts that I needed out to charge it. To make a long story short I had to rearrange the battery and then recharged the battery. Remember when I didn't take out all the parts for my second camera? Well, I through them away on garbage day....UUH. I am going to borrow Janelle's cord to download my pictures and buy another one:( Enough of that sob story... Pictures Later to come...

Why is Labor Day a Holiday? I think that Labor day began as a holiday that the founding Union leaders of America inspired to shorten the work load of many Americans and to bring awareness to Blue-collar employees... I like to celebrate Labor Day by not doing anything but as a mother that doesn't happen. If the kids are with me, I am running errands or doing much needed housework. I remember Labor Days where I laid at the Lake and ate whatever and whenever I wanted... It is difficult realizing that I don't when I will have any day like that much less a holiday:)lol.

We began our trip to Vallejo by flying to San Francisco, renting a car, checking into the hotel(which was right across the street from the park!) and sleeping. The kids woke up with excitement and all three of them, Cole, Carly, and Connor were standing in the window staring/imagining all the rides they could see. Each morning we ate at our hotel before the adventure to the park. We came back to the room and laid Connor down for a morning nap and caroled Cole and Carly with Movies until the we were ready to go and the park was open. We went to Six Flags on Saturday and Sunday and then headed to San Francisco on Monday. We went to Union Square and shopped but with three kids, feeding, and strollers, it's hard to get into the mood.. Coming from me who LOVES TO SHOP. I am rarely not in the mood:) We decided to head to Pier 39 where one of my favorite restaurants is located. No it isn't a chain franchise but a old/historic/classy/elegant restaurant that can seat up to 350 people, doesn't take reservations, and has valet parking (The best feature!) It is called SCOMA's. If you are in the area, check it out. They are online as well;) They have OUT OF THIS WORLD Seafood and Pastas. Enough of that I am salivating.

After one chocolate/candy store and toooooooooo many tourists/people we were ready for home. We headed to the airport and returned the rental car . As we were approaching our gate we noticed that another flight was leaving for Eureka/Arcata and we all were put on standby. They could only take three and Cole, Carly, and I were nominated. I felt bad for everyone else because they wanted to go home just as badly but I didn't have long to ponder. As I rushed both the kids down the "chute" and towards the last row in the mini-plane I had a brilliant idea. I will sit in between the kids that way they can't bug each-other. Well the lady who was sitting next to Carly kept making rude comments. I told her in not so many words where she could take her bad attitude and she marched right up to the flight attendant. She trudged back with the lady and asked me if I would be willing to move seats... at this point "H*ll no!" was my answer. I also informed the passenger and the flight attendant that the passenger should switch seats with someone who didn't hate children. Needless to say that a very nice HSU student switched seats with the kids:) He also let Cole and Carly play his practice bagpipe while waiting for our bags. He is a profession bagpipe player. People never stop ceasing to amaze me. As a side-note, Carly had not even touched the lady, cried, screamed, or done anything to provoke the crazy. Our whole altercation happened before we started taxing to take off and mind you, we were the last people on the plane, right before they closed the door.

Our weekend was filled with fun, laughter, and memories. In my last post I talk about taking my children to explore the world and every day is adding to our memories and our exploration. Where will be go next? Danielle