To take away the confusion, here are the links to Daria's recital piece, and the photos from the past few weeks. They will remain at the top right hand corner of the blog.
Daria's Recital Piece "Riley's Rhapsody"
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q284/kariejbh/?action=view¤t=2007MayRecital.flv
Photos of Grandparents visit
http://thehubstop.smugmug.com/gallery/2907567#156506007
Photos of Baptism
http://thehubstop.smugmug.com/gallery/2907731#156518391
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Magical Month of May
Ok, when I’m busy blogging is almost impossible. Now that I’m not busy, it is impossible to think of how long my blog post could be if I explained everything that has kept me busy!! I think May has got to be the busiest month ever. Here are just a handful of events.
Muffins with Mom at school (this happens each year, they have a donuts with Dad also)
Daria’s 8th birthday, and birthday party
Daria begins Achievement Days at church, this is every other Wednesday.
Mother’s Day
Visits from family
Daria’s Baptism
End of year School parties and functions
Piano lessons
Piano recital
Gymnastics
Dr.’s appointments
And the list goes on!!!
Really the most exciting thing that happened this month was Daria’s baptism. We were really so lucky that Grandpa Reed, Grandma Carol, and Grandma M. all flew down from Colorado to spend time with us and attend the baptism. We enjoyed our time together and the kids already miss them so much. In a nutshell here are some of the things that what we did with the grandparents.
Walked Daria to school, Dustin engaged Grandma Carol and Grandpa Reed in a game of kick soccer, went on a picnic, picked a total of 24 lbs of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, road bikes, played games, watched movies, met good neighbors and friends, ate authentic Chinese food and visited a Chinese desert shop, visited the Antique Rose Emporium, at lunch with Daria and witnessed Daria's baptism.
Picking berries is a blast. We picked a full box of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. One never thinks about the price because it’s so fun to fill the boxes up. When we went to check out and the total rang up I had to think for just a moment if I wanted to pay that much for fresh berries. You don’t have to buy what you pick, they will keep whatever you don’t want and make it into jam. But I realized I was not only paying for berries but for the memories. So we took them all. Mom and I used my food saver to pack and freeze them. Our cereal will taste great with these little gems!
Daria’s baptism went very well and I thought was very special. I wondered how many of her friends would attend because most of Daria’s friends are on the swim team and that particular Saturday was the first swim meet. But Daria was really blessed to have so many friends and family come to witness her baptism. We were even surprised by the attendance of a good friend of mine, Michele and her family who drove 2 hours to attend, and several other friends like our friend Amy whose oldest son is Daria’s age. We’ve got great friends! The Relief Society room was packed full and was a wonderful mix of friends from church and friends not from church. Our good friends Jenni and Ino took pictures for us, which I’ve posted to my galleries. I spoke on Baptism, Grandma M. spoke on the Holy Ghost, Dustin recited the 4th Article of Faith and Ken of course baptized Daria. When I was helping Daria dry off and get changed she said “Mom, I cried tears of joy!” It’s amazing what these little one’s can recognize and feel.
We came across an amazing surprise. I had asked my dad and step-mom to bring the VHS recording of my Grandmother (my Dad’s mom) so I could transfer it to DVD. Well the VHS that was brought ended up not being the interview but a 30 minute piano performance that my grandmother at the age of 75 put on for the Red Cross that she volunteered at. My grandmother was very musical but later on in life would not play the piano for anyone. I can still remember the beautiful baby grand piano in her home. I remember her playing only once. She played as a young girl, and then took it up again when she was older. At any rate, watching this video was just astounding. She played some very difficult pieces Chopin and Debussy. For example she played “Nocturne in F# , Etude in E Major & 3 Preludes (all 3 of them)” by Chopin, and “Clare du Lune (spelling??) by Debussy. It was amazing!!! Almost like listening to the radio.
What a priceless treasure. While we watched the video it was as if we were there and we clapped after each piece. I think the best part was hearing her voice which was always very comforting to me.
You know, when you go “away” on vacation it can be expensive. When family comes to visit it usually is not expensive. But for some reason this visit turned out to be very expensive, thanks to the encouragement of my dad who cleverly led us to the local bike shop where Ken and I left with two very brand new nice road bikes. Ok, I admit we were happy to go look at bikes. It was the perfect opportunity because Ken and I know nothing about bikes, and my dad and step-mom know a lot about bikes. This has been the coolest thing we’ve done in a long time. So far we’ve taken several bike rides as a family and all four of us love it!
Dustin was probably the biggest character with our guests. He is a man’s boy and prefers most of the time to be with the big guys. My dad’s visit went like this, “Grandpa, will you play with me? (about a zillion times) “Grandpa will you sit with me?”, “Grandpa look at this” “Grandpa will you throw the ball to me?” My dad was VERY busy keeping Dustin occupied. They did everything from kicking the ball, looking at books, throwing balls, frisbee’s, you name it. It was good to have my family here.
After everyone left we still had our piano recital to look forward to. We finished that Friday night. Daria was spectacular. I will post a link for you to watch.
The kids found a very pretty beetle. They brought it home and we looked on the internet to see what it would eat. Unfortunately we found that all it eats is dung. I told the kids that we were not going to collect poop for a bug. So we decided to let it loose in our friend’s backyard who has dogs. I figured the bug would be very happy with the dog poop. But of course we had to take a picture of it before we let it go.
Dustin asked me why I don’t work. You can imagine the look on my face as I tried not to burst out laughing (like what in the world does he think I do all day!, ha, ha). This spun into a very interesting conversation which ended up with the fact that Dustin wants his future wife to be able to stay home with his children. Dustin is so focused on becoming a police officer. I gently explained that if he wanted his wife to stay home he might want to look for a job that pays a bit more. So then he said “what about a firefighter”. Hhhmmmm I think they make less than a police officer. So he finally settled on an “FBI agent”, it still carries the intrigue of a police officer. The good thing is I’m sure his ideas will change about a 100 times before he even gets to high school.
Tonight Daria asked me if I wanted to see a magic trick, and of course I said yes. She said, ok, I’m going to put this Cheerio under the pillow, when I lift the pillow you will still see the Cheerio. When I tell you to look away real quick, you will find that when you look back the Cheerio will be gone. I played along the whole time knowing she was going to grab the Cheerio when I turned away but it seemed to please her that I was participating in her magic trick.
Ok, so I’ve posted a bunch of pictures on the galleries, so enjoy. If you still don’t have the password e-mail me. I’ve also posted one of Daria’s recital pieces which is on the top of my blog in the right hand corner. And last but not least. As I was going through the baptism pictures that Jenni and Ino took I couldn't help but notice that in most of the serious shots, Dustin was not being serious at all. Now you know why I'm worried about him starting Kindergarden. !!!
Muffins with Mom at school (this happens each year, they have a donuts with Dad also)
Daria’s 8th birthday, and birthday party
Daria begins Achievement Days at church, this is every other Wednesday.
Mother’s Day
Visits from family
Daria’s Baptism
End of year School parties and functions
Piano lessons
Piano recital
Gymnastics
Dr.’s appointments
And the list goes on!!!
Really the most exciting thing that happened this month was Daria’s baptism. We were really so lucky that Grandpa Reed, Grandma Carol, and Grandma M. all flew down from Colorado to spend time with us and attend the baptism. We enjoyed our time together and the kids already miss them so much. In a nutshell here are some of the things that what we did with the grandparents.
Walked Daria to school, Dustin engaged Grandma Carol and Grandpa Reed in a game of kick soccer, went on a picnic, picked a total of 24 lbs of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, road bikes, played games, watched movies, met good neighbors and friends, ate authentic Chinese food and visited a Chinese desert shop, visited the Antique Rose Emporium, at lunch with Daria and witnessed Daria's baptism.
Picking berries is a blast. We picked a full box of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. One never thinks about the price because it’s so fun to fill the boxes up. When we went to check out and the total rang up I had to think for just a moment if I wanted to pay that much for fresh berries. You don’t have to buy what you pick, they will keep whatever you don’t want and make it into jam. But I realized I was not only paying for berries but for the memories. So we took them all. Mom and I used my food saver to pack and freeze them. Our cereal will taste great with these little gems!
Daria’s baptism went very well and I thought was very special. I wondered how many of her friends would attend because most of Daria’s friends are on the swim team and that particular Saturday was the first swim meet. But Daria was really blessed to have so many friends and family come to witness her baptism. We were even surprised by the attendance of a good friend of mine, Michele and her family who drove 2 hours to attend, and several other friends like our friend Amy whose oldest son is Daria’s age. We’ve got great friends! The Relief Society room was packed full and was a wonderful mix of friends from church and friends not from church. Our good friends Jenni and Ino took pictures for us, which I’ve posted to my galleries. I spoke on Baptism, Grandma M. spoke on the Holy Ghost, Dustin recited the 4th Article of Faith and Ken of course baptized Daria. When I was helping Daria dry off and get changed she said “Mom, I cried tears of joy!” It’s amazing what these little one’s can recognize and feel.
We came across an amazing surprise. I had asked my dad and step-mom to bring the VHS recording of my Grandmother (my Dad’s mom) so I could transfer it to DVD. Well the VHS that was brought ended up not being the interview but a 30 minute piano performance that my grandmother at the age of 75 put on for the Red Cross that she volunteered at. My grandmother was very musical but later on in life would not play the piano for anyone. I can still remember the beautiful baby grand piano in her home. I remember her playing only once. She played as a young girl, and then took it up again when she was older. At any rate, watching this video was just astounding. She played some very difficult pieces Chopin and Debussy. For example she played “Nocturne in F# , Etude in E Major & 3 Preludes (all 3 of them)” by Chopin, and “Clare du Lune (spelling??) by Debussy. It was amazing!!! Almost like listening to the radio.
What a priceless treasure. While we watched the video it was as if we were there and we clapped after each piece. I think the best part was hearing her voice which was always very comforting to me.
You know, when you go “away” on vacation it can be expensive. When family comes to visit it usually is not expensive. But for some reason this visit turned out to be very expensive, thanks to the encouragement of my dad who cleverly led us to the local bike shop where Ken and I left with two very brand new nice road bikes. Ok, I admit we were happy to go look at bikes. It was the perfect opportunity because Ken and I know nothing about bikes, and my dad and step-mom know a lot about bikes. This has been the coolest thing we’ve done in a long time. So far we’ve taken several bike rides as a family and all four of us love it!
Dustin was probably the biggest character with our guests. He is a man’s boy and prefers most of the time to be with the big guys. My dad’s visit went like this, “Grandpa, will you play with me? (about a zillion times) “Grandpa will you sit with me?”, “Grandpa look at this” “Grandpa will you throw the ball to me?” My dad was VERY busy keeping Dustin occupied. They did everything from kicking the ball, looking at books, throwing balls, frisbee’s, you name it. It was good to have my family here.
After everyone left we still had our piano recital to look forward to. We finished that Friday night. Daria was spectacular. I will post a link for you to watch.
The kids found a very pretty beetle. They brought it home and we looked on the internet to see what it would eat. Unfortunately we found that all it eats is dung. I told the kids that we were not going to collect poop for a bug. So we decided to let it loose in our friend’s backyard who has dogs. I figured the bug would be very happy with the dog poop. But of course we had to take a picture of it before we let it go.
Dustin asked me why I don’t work. You can imagine the look on my face as I tried not to burst out laughing (like what in the world does he think I do all day!, ha, ha). This spun into a very interesting conversation which ended up with the fact that Dustin wants his future wife to be able to stay home with his children. Dustin is so focused on becoming a police officer. I gently explained that if he wanted his wife to stay home he might want to look for a job that pays a bit more. So then he said “what about a firefighter”. Hhhmmmm I think they make less than a police officer. So he finally settled on an “FBI agent”, it still carries the intrigue of a police officer. The good thing is I’m sure his ideas will change about a 100 times before he even gets to high school.
Tonight Daria asked me if I wanted to see a magic trick, and of course I said yes. She said, ok, I’m going to put this Cheerio under the pillow, when I lift the pillow you will still see the Cheerio. When I tell you to look away real quick, you will find that when you look back the Cheerio will be gone. I played along the whole time knowing she was going to grab the Cheerio when I turned away but it seemed to please her that I was participating in her magic trick.
Ok, so I’ve posted a bunch of pictures on the galleries, so enjoy. If you still don’t have the password e-mail me. I’ve also posted one of Daria’s recital pieces which is on the top of my blog in the right hand corner. And last but not least. As I was going through the baptism pictures that Jenni and Ino took I couldn't help but notice that in most of the serious shots, Dustin was not being serious at all. Now you know why I'm worried about him starting Kindergarden. !!!
Monday, May 14, 2007
Secret hiding places, games, and dewberries
Life continues to be eventful at our home. Here are some excerpts into the minds of a 5 year old and an 8 year old.
Dustin (in relation to my Mother’s Day surprise) “Mom, I know there is a paper in my underwear drawer, so don’t take it out until tomorrow”. Apparently that is his not so secret hiding place for surprises.
Dustin (his mind is ever thinking) “Mom, if you shake your head yes and then no, it makes an L” I admit this took me a few minutes to figure out what in the world he was saying. I finally figured it out and was slightly impressed at the thinking process.
Dustin (in relation to a friend’s dogs who got loose in a small patch of trees behind the donut shop) “mom, you know Abby’s dogs could have been eaten by a bear in there” Mom “where?” Dustin “you know when they got lost in the forest” I just smiled and agreed, even though the patch of trees was not a forest and I knew there were no bears in there. A boy’s mind at work.
Daria (this is on a daily basis) “mom, look how many chapters I read.” No matter how thick or thin a book is Daria will always point out how many chapters she has read. She just finished the book “Because of Winn Dixie”. She said “It’s so good I just might have to read it again”
Daria, while in a state of boredom (in our house we have a slogan adopted from my step-mom that says “boredom is a choice” so if you’re bored there is always something to do), decided to make up a game. It was a pretty cute game. It’s called the Webkinz game. Webkinz are these stuffed animals that have a key that you can go on the Internet and feed the animal you adopted. It is the next big thing amongst 2nd grade girls in Daria’s class. She put two large pieces of paper together and made a game board. The players are cats. We all played it as a family last night. Dustin kept asking what the idea of the game was (he’s looking for someone to beat). I said “to have fun.” You see, you roll the dice and just move along the path. You may land on a spot that has an apple, and then you get to pick an apple (imaginary). Or you may get to go to the park and swing, or pick a flower or eat a cherry. Personally it was so cute that Ken and I had to try hard not to laugh. The biggest challenge of the game was telling our cats apart. They all looked the same. I mentioned to Daria that maybe she should color the cats so we knew who was who. Still I thought it was pretty creative.
An exciting note of this month was that Daria had a piece of artwork in the Art Festival. This is an annual tradition where plenty of artwork from students at all the schools and all grade levels is showcased at the High School. We went up to the school just to see Daria’s piece. I had to take a picture of these cute clay figures that other students made. I thought they were pretty cute. Ok, so the smudges on the photos are from me blurring them out. I do not like to put person's full names on my blog.
And last, just a fun memory. Most of you know that we live very close to the elementary school. Since Daria has been in Kindergarten we have spent most days walking to school with a handful of good friends. Right out our back gate of the community is a grove of trees and bushes which are decorated with honeysuckle at certain times and dewberries. Every day Dustin will pick me a flower. Lately though, the honeysuckle is in, so we always stop and pick a few to suck on. This week the dewberries were in. What a pleasure it is to walk to school and munch on a handful of dewberries as a treat!
Dustin (in relation to my Mother’s Day surprise) “Mom, I know there is a paper in my underwear drawer, so don’t take it out until tomorrow”. Apparently that is his not so secret hiding place for surprises.
Dustin (his mind is ever thinking) “Mom, if you shake your head yes and then no, it makes an L” I admit this took me a few minutes to figure out what in the world he was saying. I finally figured it out and was slightly impressed at the thinking process.
Dustin (in relation to a friend’s dogs who got loose in a small patch of trees behind the donut shop) “mom, you know Abby’s dogs could have been eaten by a bear in there” Mom “where?” Dustin “you know when they got lost in the forest” I just smiled and agreed, even though the patch of trees was not a forest and I knew there were no bears in there. A boy’s mind at work.
Daria (this is on a daily basis) “mom, look how many chapters I read.” No matter how thick or thin a book is Daria will always point out how many chapters she has read. She just finished the book “Because of Winn Dixie”. She said “It’s so good I just might have to read it again”
Daria, while in a state of boredom (in our house we have a slogan adopted from my step-mom that says “boredom is a choice” so if you’re bored there is always something to do), decided to make up a game. It was a pretty cute game. It’s called the Webkinz game. Webkinz are these stuffed animals that have a key that you can go on the Internet and feed the animal you adopted. It is the next big thing amongst 2nd grade girls in Daria’s class. She put two large pieces of paper together and made a game board. The players are cats. We all played it as a family last night. Dustin kept asking what the idea of the game was (he’s looking for someone to beat). I said “to have fun.” You see, you roll the dice and just move along the path. You may land on a spot that has an apple, and then you get to pick an apple (imaginary). Or you may get to go to the park and swing, or pick a flower or eat a cherry. Personally it was so cute that Ken and I had to try hard not to laugh. The biggest challenge of the game was telling our cats apart. They all looked the same. I mentioned to Daria that maybe she should color the cats so we knew who was who. Still I thought it was pretty creative.
An exciting note of this month was that Daria had a piece of artwork in the Art Festival. This is an annual tradition where plenty of artwork from students at all the schools and all grade levels is showcased at the High School. We went up to the school just to see Daria’s piece. I had to take a picture of these cute clay figures that other students made. I thought they were pretty cute. Ok, so the smudges on the photos are from me blurring them out. I do not like to put person's full names on my blog.
And last, just a fun memory. Most of you know that we live very close to the elementary school. Since Daria has been in Kindergarten we have spent most days walking to school with a handful of good friends. Right out our back gate of the community is a grove of trees and bushes which are decorated with honeysuckle at certain times and dewberries. Every day Dustin will pick me a flower. Lately though, the honeysuckle is in, so we always stop and pick a few to suck on. This week the dewberries were in. What a pleasure it is to walk to school and munch on a handful of dewberries as a treat!
This last weekend the kids and I participated in a walk to cure CF (Cystic Fibrosis) since our good friend's two daughters have the disease. It was a lot of fun, and a beautiful walk. Thanks to all those who donated! Here is a picture of Daria and Dustin. Daria is the one in the orange shorts, holding Abby's hand. Abby is the one with CF. Dustin is in the baseball cap. Me, of course I'm the one who is ALWAYS taking the picture.
Another exciting moment of last weekend was that Ken passed one of his huge EMT tests!!!! Way to go DADDY!!!
You know all those e-mail friend questionnaires that ask you things like "what color are your socks?", well they always ask what your favorite time of year is. I realized today that one of my favorite times of year is graduation. Why you ask? Well, Becca's I love getting the graduation announcements and hanging them on my fridge. I even cleaned my fridge off to make room as the announcements have started to come in. I love getting the pictures. In fact I think it's totally boring to get a announcement of any sort without a picture. Tonight I was pleasantly surprised to get an announcement from a young woman who wasn't even in my ward, but who I know very well. I thought that was kind of her to think of me.
On to another day.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Another week
I just had to post this cartoon. A good friend gave it to me as a joke. It seems that when little boys are in their 5th year or actually 6th year of life, they begin to be consumed with making or hearing strange noises. Of course you know I'm talking about Dustin. I'm not sure if he has so much energy all wound up inside that sometimes he just needs to go outside and scream or bark like a dog to get it out. Who knows. It's some form of communication. If he's not doing that he's constantly making rhyming noises, different languages, or just weird sounds because he's got nothing left to talk about but has a hard time being quiet. Then there is the body noises. Ok, no I won't go into detail, but I've been pondering lately on why body noises are so funny. It is a double edged sword. Dustin laughs, I tell him it's normal, we don't need to laugh about it, all while I'm trying to control my laugh. What in the world is so funny about a body letting off some digestive steam? Then there are the burps. I think we got that one under control. Even Daria had to be counseled to stop pretending to burp or make herself burp. As a parent sometimes I just have to sit back and laugh about how funny little kids minds are. At any rate, I often find myself asking Dustin to stop making some noise, which he does, but then replaces it with another one. All I can say is school for him will be very interesting!!
We've had a good week and it's only Wednesday. I unveiled a new family plan during our family night on Monday. I did this in hopes of tackling some of the behavior issues in the house. Amazingly enough the kids love it and home has been a great place this week.
Ken is gearing up for his skills testing for EMT class. He's nervous but I am not worried. He is the top in the class right now and studies like crazy. I'm thinking all will go well on Saturday.
Saturday is our walk for Cystic Fibrosis with Abby and Katie. The kids are looking forward to it. Ken of course won't be able to make it because he will be in class.
Our next big event is next week is a visit from the grandparents. We are really looking forward to their visit. Of course we are excited for Daria's baptism. Daria had her interview with the Bishop tonight. She was nervous to go because Brother S. told her she would have to recite the 13 articles of faith. If anyone knows the Sowers family, they know how much they joke around. Even when I told Daria he was joking she wouldn't believe me. Brother S.'s wife reminded him to joke around with the "big" people, not the "small" people. We all laughed. I reminded Daria that Jesus got baptized and he didn't have to recite the articles of faith.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
8 Years Old !
Wednesday Daria turned 8 years old! It almost seems impossible to imagine (not to count the fact that if she is 8 years old that means that I'm 8 years older than I thought I was!). It seems that it was just yesterday that she was 5, or a baby. It does not seem that long ago.
I surprised Daria with a special birthday breakfast of waffles, fresh raspberries, sausage, eggs, and orange juice. Note to self, half of a waffle is really enough for a child. I think they swell once they get into your stomach because Dustin, Daria and I all felt stuffed after eating just a 1/4 of the waffle. Dustin and I also went up to the school and ate lunch with her, and we topped off the day with a small birthday party.
The slogan in our house right now is "It's great to be 8". Daria's looked forward to this day for a long time. She is looking forward to begin baptized later this month. She is also completely thrilled to now attend the Achievement Day program at church which is for girls ages 8-11. I'm excited for her. Even though she had a party on her birthday, she still wanted to finish in time so she could go up to the church for Achievement Days. Can you say "A type personality". It's not a bad thing.
Where does 8 years go? The funnest part has been watching Daria's personality and personal preferences come out. Like her love of animals or her passion for piano, or her enjoyment of drawing. She often tells me she wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up, and sometimes I really believe she will become one.
I've included some pictures of Daria to commemorate her birthday. The funniest picture is the one of the various balls next to my belly. That was 2 days before Daria was born. I went 42 weeks with Daria and we were doing all we could to get that baby to come out. That night Becca, Keith, Ken, and I went walking. The church building was one street behind us, so we stopped in to take funny pictures of the balls versus my belly. Fun memories!
I am so thankful for the past 8 years with Daria!
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