Hunting for the Weekend

Okay, so you may have guessed by the pictures that Cole and Carly went hunting with their dad this weekend. Travis along with his mother took Cole and Carly to some family friends cabin in Trinity Center for three days. They met Travis's grandparents and his dad up there so they had plenty of help. I totally enjoyed my weekend by myself. I went grocery shopping, went to a halloween craft fair, watched movies, went to a movie, went to dinner with a bunch of friends, and spent the night with my sisters. I took advantage of every free moment. Enough said. Travis definately earned a lot of brownie points and I missed my kids as well. They didn't get a buck but the kids were happy with their squirrels. Travis said something interesting the other day and it made me think. He said that the next time we get into an argument I should blog about it so everyone knows we are normal!!!ha I thought that was profound because it seems I only right about good stuff. We'll see. I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday.

These Little Piggys......

Cole and Carly got some wiener pigs a couple of weeks ago and look how big they are. Vickie took these photos yesterday of them while they let their pigs run around outside of their pen. Cole and Carly are going hunting with Travis and Vickie and I am staying home this weekend to catch up on some much needed homework. I will miss them but I better get a lot done. Well I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Love Danielle

Blogging Issues

Okay, so I haven't blogged efficiently lately. I have new hair. It is shorter and darker and a whole lot easier. There are two pictures of Connor and Cole and Connor is getting very big. It is a blast being an aunt and getting to do the whole baby thing without having to do the baby thing every day. Well as always I will make empty promises to keep my blog updated.

Much Needed Update

Cole and Carly

Happenings

So I thought I would blog to let everyone know what the Carmesin's have been up to lately. I'll start with Travis since I never begin with him. He has been working a lot and right now he is back out of town. I miss him daily but not as much as the kids do. Carly stated last night " I want my daddy" when she was laying down to bed. I felt for her. Last weekend Travis and I had some alone time. He got home last Friday night from work and then Saturday we headed for Salyer. We took our time getting up and getting the kids ready to spend the day and night with Janelle and my mom. They could live at my mom's on the weekends because they don't see her that much during the week. They do live at Vickies during the week while I'm at school, school, and more schools.. Between both grandparents my children are spoiled (not rotten!) So Travis and I took his horse and my dad's horse to Salyer and played all day. We visited with family and enjoyed relaxing. It was a great weekend. Cole and Carly are doing well and Carly is having an outstanding week. I think her teeth must have been really bothering her the last couple of weeks because she was super cranky and crazy. Cole has been terrific and is doing really well in school. He doesn't seem so shy and is outgoing. I am trying along with the help of my sisters and my wonderful mother-in-law Vickie to plan my parents 25 wedding anniversary. It is going to be on New's Year Eve so we have a perfect image of what it needs to look like. It is all coming together. I ALMOST FORGOT..... My sister Rachelle is engaged to her long-time boyfriend Clay Hicks. He proposed on Labor day and the wedding is going to be July 12, 2008 at our families house in Salyer. There is going to be 11 bridesmaids so it will be fun....or ..... Anyway we are super excited for both of them. I'll end with that good news.

Haven't blogged in awhile

Hello everyone, Right now I am in a meeting and I should be listening not typing. These past two weeks have been wild. I have been at Sunny Brae and at my classes at Humboldt. It is very hard to sit in my classes at Humboldt and have a lot of big theories thrown at me but want to be at my school site. I feel like screaming daily but oh well it's only a year. I need to accept that I am not going to like everything in life but I can shut up and move on. So in saying that....

Cole and Carly are growing like weeds. Carly is getting her molars and she is a spunky monkey. She slept in her playpen last night because she constantly gets out of her bed and wants a drink of water. We are battling. Cole is going to preschool from 8-12:30 on Mon-Thurs. He is growing up and changing. He says things that are hilarious. I miss everyone and will post some pictures very soon. Until then.....

Memories

These past couple of weeks have been long weeks. Two of my great-grandmothers passed away this last week. My mothers grandmother passed away on Monday August 20, 2007 and my dad's grandmother passed away on Thursday August 23, 2007. The picture with my sisters, mom, and carly is with my great-grandma who lived in Missouri. We went and visited her last August and I am glad I have a fresh memory of her. I was able to see my great-grandmother Delphine on Sunday and she is pictured with Cole and Carly. We had a barbeque for her since she wasn't feeling well. Her funeral was yesterday and it was extremely emotional. I grew up on the ranch that she and my great-grandfather worked very hard to keep in our family. Today we run our cattle there as well. Death isn't something I look forward to I dread the thoughts and emotions it brings forth but I know that both of my grandmothers loved Jesus wholeheartedly and are in heaven. I love and miss you.

Waterslides

Two weekends ago Vicki, Heidi and I took the kids to the waterslides. I can't say enough about the waterslides because the kids tromp around the kiddie pool while I soaked up some rays. I did manage to read periodically between keeping one eye on my children at all times. The weather was perfect and the kids swam and swam. We took Vicki's trailer over to Redding and stayed in a very nice trailer park right next to the slides. The park is awesome. It has a pool, and is beyond clean. We took the kids to chuck-e-cheese one night where they had a lot of fun. I shopped for new clothes to begin my last year of school and even though it was quick was still very enjoyable.

I started school Wednesday August 8th. The class is Multi-cultural issues in education which is challenging. I support and I am an advocate for diversity but find it hard to constantly be confront with homosexuality and trying to accept when I do not. Hate the sin not the person is what I remind myself daily. On a different note...

This last weekend Travis and I took the kids to Medford. It was fun to do something just the four of us and we laid around our motel rooms and watched movies, shopped, ate out, drove around, and just enjoyed eachother. I picked up some new plants and don't know when I'll have time to plant them but I better do it soon. I still haven't cleaned my wrought iron gates which annoys me but I have so much reading I shouldn't have even blogged. Till next time

Marking Calves

I have never posted this many pictures on one post but this weekend Vicki had my camera and she took some really cute pictures. This weekend Travis's uncle Dave and Donna met us in Willow Creek to mark calves which is removing the balls from steers. They also wormed the cows and gave them antibiotics. Travis's parents also stayed the weekend and were a tremendous help. It was beautiful in Willow Creek and visiting with everyone was fun and we had some really good food.

Cole was such a little cowboy and helped his dad by delivering the supplies he needed once they got the calves roped. Carly took a nap in the air conditioned truck but she was in full form during the evening session. She is getting very big and she says haha after everything. I love them both very much. This is my last week of summer school and I can't wait to take the kids to play at the waterslides. Miss everyone and have a great week.

The top pictures are from our weekends at Trinity. Today I picked up the kids from Vickie's and came home and planted a tree along with another plant which I have spaced the name along the side of our dog kennel. I also transplanted some lilacs that I had in pots into the planters next to our dog kennel. I am planning on doing my cast iron gate trellis's either this weekend or next week. I have to go to Costco and Winco tomorrow after work and after the kids naps so I won't be in the mood after I get home. I may begin them while the kids are napping. I need to probably design the tests that I have to give on Friday but oh well. School went okay today but my class dynamic this session is completely different than my last session. It is hard not to take what the students say personally. I am a confident person but my ultimate goal is to reach and teach each one of them and when that doesn't always work I can't beat myself up. Teaching is a multi-faceted posistion. Well I am going to Willow Creek Thursday night and can't wait for some warmth and the smell of fresh air. Have a great week.

Update

Well, Summer is sailing by and I am enjoying myself. To take everyone back a couple of weeks from my last time I blogged I will begin with our fourth of July. I had the 4th of July off from school but Travis chose to work. Me and Kateri O'Rourke took our kids to the Arcata festival which was on the plaza. It was fogging but the kids had their face painted and we spent a lot of time together. When Travis got home from work he took the kids to a friends house for fireworks while I worked on my lesson plans. We packed up our camp at the lake and last weekend Cole and I were in Monicas wedding. The wedding was beautiful and we had a lot of fun with our friends and family.

Travis is working out of town and needless to say I had a new alarm installed on our house on Thursday. I love knowing that if something were to happen that I would have a back-up. It gives me extra security. Honestly, I am so tired at night I usually hit the pillow and I am out. I took another CSET test this Saturday and then we had a bbq at our house. We had a bonfire and visited with our family. Cole and Carly are getting big and last week I was able to pick Cole up from school and from their grandma's by 12:30 each day. That is a record for me. This week will be busier as I have a load of errands for work and home. I am again in the mood to do some new landscaping projects and I feel a couple changes in the next couple weeks. I have two more weeks of summer school and Vickie and I are taking the kids to the waterslides for two days before I enter my final year at HSU. It begins August 8th!!! Well I will try and blog more frequently. Miss you all.

Summer

The top picture is my kids playing with noodles while I try to get something accomplished. I read somewhere in a baby magazine that kids have fun sticking spaghettie noodles in a strainer well it isn't worth it! It took so long to clean up even with my chefs helping. The other pictures are from our weekend trips to the lake. This past weekend we had a blast and Clay my sister Rachelle's friend came up and it was good visiting with him. Carly is in love with him and for once she would just sit around the fire and stare at the bronzed beauty! Whatever gets her to sit down. It was nice to sleepin and not work on lesson plans. I am trying different ways to make my life easier and I will let you all know how it goes at the end of the week. Cole had fun at the lake and loves fishing. We took the boat out on Saturday and hung out on a beach which the kids love. I took a nap on the tube and actually started a pleasure book. Sunday reality set in. I took Carly to the pool while Travis and Cole went on the boat and just relaxed as she played. We left at 1:00 because Travis had to go to work. It was a quick drive home..... We are going next weekend for our final camping weekends. We have a couple weddings this summer and will spend the rest of our free time in Willow Creek. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Crazyness!

Okay so I am so exhausted I am not even sure I spelled crazyness right!ha. Summer school started on Monday and frankly I have been working my arse off. Literally. I started weight watchers on Monday as well and frankly dieting and creating lesson plans at 4:00am is not the best on your sleep life. Okay enough whining. Thank God for Grandparents because my mom had Carly this week at the lake and Vickie shuttled Cole between her house and preschool. It has made my first week teaching a little more bearable.

So about summer school....The kids are wonderful the subjects are my favorite, world history, world geography and the best U.S. history!!! The prep time I spend preparing for each day is out of this world. I have 16 students from 8-12:30 and must cover one semester in three weeks. They seem to like my teaching style and of course they would say something if they didn't. Overall, college was smooth sailing compared to the real world. I long for my days working at the bank at a desk dealing with crazy customers. I wouldn't go back but hell it was easy.

Next post won't be so tiring............

Much Needed Update

Okay, so I need to give everyone an update... This past Saturday I threw a bridal shower along with the other bridesmaids for my longtime friend Monica Johnson. Monica is marrying Jeff Brock on Saturday July 14th. Cole and I are both in the wedding. The show was a smashing success and was easier than most others because we had it catered. I love the caterer she does a coffee bar along with lemonade and makes wonderful salads. We had other things but these are my favorite.

In family news my mom is going to be the next Superintendent of McKinleyville Union School District. For the past 8 years she has been Supt/Principal of two schools in Fortuna and has commuted daily. Her new posistion will be five minutes from her house and just a Superintendent posisition. I am excited, thrilled, and ecstatic to have her closer. I subbed at her school numerous times last month and her workload is overwhelming. She is a model to women all over the county!!! She will be responsible for Dows Prairie, Morris, and McKinleyville Middle. YEAH!!!

Connor is doing well, and I know I need to post some pics of my own children but just haven't lately. Connor is nursing excellent and is on his babywise schedule. My sister is an awesome mother and is very relaxed especially for her first child. This weekend we are going to the lake and it should be interesting. My parents are going to have their trailer but it is the first time I am going without my fifth-wheel and I have to tent camp. I will be roughing it. Oh well, I am getting ready to teach summer school on Monday and I am fine tuning my lesson plans. I am teaching world history, world geography, u.s. history, govt/econ. Wish Me Luck!!! I will update you all later once I've started. Bye

Projects

Okay, so Travis and I have been working around the yard this spring and we have done little things that are finally starting grow. I love my yard and I love to work in it. I get all giddy when I come up with a new idea and I get even more excited about ripping something out that didn't turn out how I wanted it to, to put something better in it's place. I don't think landscaping has to be perfect, but I think you absolutely have to love it or your're miserable. We have a big yard and when I am having a hard time falling asleep I just think of what I would like to do differently in my yard. A couple of weeks ago I had subbed all day and I was worn out. It was a sunny afternoon and I just weeded the strawberry patches. I felt so much better and I was thrilled that I had been outside. I had put together a garden cart from costco and the kids made a house out of it. I ordered pizza and we had dinner in the driveway. Gardening just makes me relax!!! One of the pictures is of our dog kennel(castle)!ha. It needs a roof, but it can wait. I have been slowing adding plants to the outside of it, and it is really turning out nice. I think my projects will be put on hold for the summer besides one or two spur of the moment projects. I am really into brick right now and would love to make a new spot for our bbq possibly and outdoor kitchen...later. Anyways, I just wanted to post some pics of my roses, strawberries, playground, and oh yeah the dog kennel.