Primary activity

Today was our Eustis Ward Primary Activity. We had it at the Teets' farmhouse from 4 - 6. I counted after I got home and I think we had between 58 to 60 people in attendance! Can you believe that? I was so happy! We had every child there with their family that comes to primary on a regular basis. With that said, it was surely a success!

Maria planned a nice lesson on the week before Easter that the Bishop shared with the children. Then the children split up into Junior and Senior Primary and did games and planting seeds.

The children participating in the easter egg roll.

Planting their seeds.

Way to go Eustis Primary!

Traffic violation

Well, I can never say again "I have never gotten a speeding ticket". Chris laughed out loud, one of those truly amused and hearty laughs when I called to tell him. He was surely amused!

They (the bad guys) say that I was going 37 in a 25. I guess they are telling the truth. However, I believe that they got me going down a hill because for the first time in I don't know how long, I wasn't even in a hurry and truly speeding like a MAD WOMAN!

Well, just thought I would post about my first speeding ticket that I am sure was a long time comin'!

I'm going crazy with the pool!

The area that the pavilion will be. It is behind the master bedroom.

From the deep end, looking to the shallow end. You can also see where it is framed for the deck.

It started out with what I would call the bare necessities and 5 months later it is totally out of control!
I'll name a few of our, but mainly my splurges:
1. I added 3 feet of deck to the left side of the pool. It was initially going to be 5 feet, now it is 8.
2. I added accent tiles to what was just going to be blue. Once I saw them, I just had to get them. Know what I mean?
3. I changed my mind about the chlorination system. I now HAVE to have the salt system, chlorine simply won't do.
4. Chris added a pavilion that is octagonal shape and 16 feet around. We also had to add concrete and acrylic topping to go under this pavilion.
5. We were not going to have the pool heated, but now it will be.
Did I say enough? Do you get the picture? I am OUT OF CONTROL. Stop me now before someone gets hurt, or totally broke! :)
I am going to love The Shipley Pool! Get ready to swim!

Look what I found!

I was uploading my pictures from my camera this morning, thinking that I just had a few pictures of the pool, and lo and behold, someone has gotten a hold of my camera AGAIN! Enjoy...

Aislinn Grace with a mo hawk!

Aislinn's pretty painted fingernails.

Sporting her new Dora hat that her daddy bought her.

And of course, Daddy had to sport that Dora hat too!

Who is taking all of these pictures anyway? These were just a few in the collection. I might need to lock that camera up!

I've been tagged, again...

I've been tagged! Thanks go to Jennifer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago... Wow, 10 years ago, that would be February of 1998. I think I was getting ready to get pregnant with Kerstyn and in my first semester of my Master's program. I felt young and that I could conquer the world! We were living in Tallahassee and Chris was contemplating law school.

2. What are 5 things on my to do list today... Make it to 8 p.m. without losing my mind, say family prayer, put the kids to bed, try to relax for a few minutes and go to sleep.

3. Three things I enjoy... eating, sleeping, exercising.

4. If I were suddenly made a billionaire I would... have a lot less stress in my life!

5. 5 jobs I have had... I don't know if I have had that many. Let's see, counter staff at The Loop (a restaurant in Tallahassee), Student Assistant/OPS employee for the State of Florida doing accounting/bookkeeping, second grade teacher, wife, mom.

6. 6 things people don't know about me... I think you already know all you will ever want to know, but, I really enjoy vacuuming, being alone with my husband, a clean house and clean laundry, and visiting with my family. I LOVE to laugh!

7. 7 people to tag: I'm not even sure that I have seven friends! Well, let's see, I guess I won't do this since I just did one a few weeks ago.

Hope this didn't bore you all to death!

Wow, spell checker is working again, good news, good news!

Are you on Facebook?

I just signed up today. It's a whole 'nother world there!

When I join things like that, that are new to me, I feel so old and out of touch. I'll keep trying though.

Hope to see you there.

Another trip to the pediatrician

Well, it's been an interesting day to say the least! I worked at the office this morning. While there, I had to call our health insurance agent regarding the bill that we received today, yet it was due on 2/15.
Then, I went to Publix to pick up my prescription and I was told that I DID NOT have insurance! I was not happy!
I went home and called BC/BS and we got it worked out, but not before I called our agent again and left the SECOND message! They apparently canceled out my old plan, mailed me new cards, but with the old plan number and NEVER sent me new cards with the correct number! Smart, huh?
Well, once I had it worked out, I knew that I needed to call Dr. Soto to get Aislinn in because she is coughing incessantly and told me that her head was hurting. Well, she was prescribed Albuterol and Cefzil. Also, Dr. Soto thinks that Aislinn has allergies so I needed to buy her Zyrtec and give it to her every night before bed.
I took the prescriptions to Publix and also requested that I would be reimbursed for the earlier amount that I paid without insurance for my prescription. I gave them all the correct information, which was written on the back of my Publix receipt. I went hunting for the Zyrtec and of course, they were all out. So, I loaded up all 5 of them again and went to Target, got the Zyrtec, went back to Publix and then FINALLY came home to get homework started, baths and showers given, and dinner fed... all before we have to leave to go to Scouts. Now, can I take a breath?

It's a...

Kerstyn has a sinus infection and is on Amoxicllin. We went to the pediatrician this morning and that's what we found out. Hopefully she will be feeling much better soon.

Isn't it great that you can get Amoxicillin free at Publix?

I had to give a talk.

I was asked to give the concluding talk in Sacrament meeting today. My topic was personal revelation. It went pretty well and I feel much better just given that it is over.

I was sad though because when we woke up this morning, Kerstyn was running a fever of 102 so she obviously needed to stay home. Since I had to give the talk, Chris stayed at home with Kerstyn and Aislinn.

Mary Gronlund graciously agreed to let the boys sit with her since I needed to be on the stand. It all went pretty well and hopefully my talk today will buy me another 3 or so years of time.

Visit to the temple

I left the house this morning at 8 a.m. with Debbie Clayton. We went to the temple and had a wonderful time. After our session, we went to the Beehive store and then to lunch at Perkins. Debbie had an omelet since she is doing the low carb thing, and I had all the carbs that I could get eating pancakes. I was on a sugar high when we were done. Of course, after lunch we went to the bookstore and looked around for around an hour. We had a great time!

I got...

A very nice dinner for two at Carrabba's in Altamonte Springs. We did not call ahead, so the wait was 2 hours. We just sat and people watched and talked. It was a nice time.

When I arrived at the office this morning, I had a nice tulip plant on my desk and a very nice card.

I'm not sure if I am the most beautiful woman in the world to him, but we did have a nice day.

All I want..

All I want for Valentine's Day is:
To feel like the most beautiful and wonderful woman on this Earth! Is that too much to ask?

OK, more realistically, I would like dinner with Chris at a restaurant that we don't usually go to and maybe a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure or a massage. Do you think that is better?

Well, you might find yourself asking, if she wants all of that, what does Chris get? I'll answer that for you, he gets a card and my company at dinner. And, most importantly, a happy wife because he thought of me and my wants.

Let's see how he does... I am sad to say, I'm not too optimistic. :(

Pool update

The tile is coming along as you see...

Chris obviously decided that the pool needed some cleaning up! I just had to take a picture of him in the pool sweeping with the broom. Now, when the pool is complete, will he continue to keep it clean? Good question...

Too funny

I found these today, with some others when I was uploading the pictures to the computer from the camera. I guess Lauklan thought he would document some things...

How do I put my little camera movies on here?

Piano player

Kerstyn has been quite faithful in her piano practice as illustrated below.

Brennan...well, that's another issue.

However, both of them are doing really well progressing with their lessons.

Why can't we all just get in the picture?

We had to go to a Birthday Party for Chris' paralegal this afternoon. At first, Brennan wasn't ready...

Then, Aislinn wouldn't get in the picture.

I guess we have 4 kids and just rotate them as needed. :)

There was Worldwide Leadership Training today broadcast from Salt Lake. I could not attend because Chris got to go to the temple to work today. I really want to hear what they had to say. I need all the help that I can get!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Chris and Kerstyn for the Father/Daughter Dance at Round Lake Elementary.

Today is Chris' birthday. He is 41 years old. I just can't believe it. I'm not sure if he can believe it either. It seems like yesterday that he was 26 and I was 19 riding around in his yellow Jeep Wrangler just starting to date and as happy as can be. I guess you never realize it when your young, but the years really do just fly right by. I am glad that I have my blog now so I can try to remember some of this life of ours.

He is gone right now to the Father - Daughter Dance at Round Lake Elementary with Kerstyn. He did his level best to bribe her out of going, ice cream, movie, etc. It didn't work. She was so excited to go and always looks forward to it every year. I tried to take a picture of them before they left, but my battery was dead. It is now charging, and I will take one when they get home and post it later.

Some reasons that I love my old man, I mean Chris:
He loves me even when I am at my worst. This is very important because it seems all to often lately. :(
He is dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ and having an eternal family.
He is a hard worker and dedicated to his family, calling and job.
He's Chris. I couldn't ask for anyone more wonderful to be my husband, best friend and father to our children.

I hope you have/had a great birthday honey, I love you.

It's a sad day for America

I was so sad to see and hear that Mitt Romney was suspending his campaign today. Hopefully we'll see him run again and be even more successful in a few years.

One thing you won't have to worry about from me...
I WILL NOT be voting for the dirty politicians John McCain OR Mike Huckabee!

Christian Home & Bible School

I had a tour of Mount Dora Bible today. I set up to go there this morning at 9 a.m. to look around the school and see if it was somewhere I would like to send Brennan for middle school. I was impressed.

I loved how they have chapel each day. How nice to have a special time to hear a spiritual message. I also liked how they have bible study as a class. Another plus is that they have many ways that the child can have advanced classes if that is what they want and can be in. I like that they have more opportunity to excel academically. The class sizes are also much smaller and that is appealing. They whole school, K - 12, is only about 800 kids, which is smaller than Round Lake which is over 1100 for just K - 5.

The campus was beautiful and the staff seemed very nice. They are all certified in their field and the school is SACS accredited. Now, how do I pay for it?

I've been tagged

I was tagged by Tricia. I'll do my best answering these...

4 "people" who email me regularly:
1. Mom
2. Family Minute
3. Mark
4. I can't think of anyone else regular. I'm definitely a lonesome gal. :(

4 places I would like to visit:
1. Bermuda
2. Australia
3. anywhere and everywhere in Europe
4. Israel

4 favorite restaurants:
1. The Cheesecake Factory - I just LOVE cheesecake and everything else that I have eaten there. :)
2. Sonny's - I love their jumbo Diet Cokes and corn nuggets!
3. Cracker Barrel - Tasty food in a comfortable atmosphere that is always loud so my kids don't sound that loud.
4. Brio - Good food that isn't a taste that I get too often.
(Numbers one and four are thanks to Debbie Carter who got me going to both of them.)

4 things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Having all of my kids in school at least for part of the day.
2. Being able to help Chris out more in the office.
3. The opening of the Shipley pool!!!!!!
4. Watching how my kids grow and learn, and hopefully how I shrink.

4 things I am not looking forward to in the coming year:
1. The economy, let's hope I am pleasantly surprised.
2. Cooking (it's just not my friend)
3. I'll have to think about the last two...
4.

All right, I tag Ashlea, Janet and Jennifer.

Aislinn has decided...

that it is time for her to attend pre-school...
She DID NOT want to leave Greyson there today. She was bound and determined that she was going to stay too. She'll just have to wait for a position to open up though.

Sleepover for the girls and campout for the boys

While the boys are away, the girls will play! We had a great sleepover with 6 of Kerstyn's friends. Melissa came to help me with all of the festivities. We all had a blast!

I think that Chris and the boys had fun on their camp out. I know that they were glad that they had great sleeping bags that kept them warm in the 40 degree weather.

Here comes the tile

This is the accent tile that goes about every 10 or so tiles.

This is how far he got and it took around 4 hours. It is slow and tedious work.

Close up of the deep end tile that is done.

Cliff worked on finishing the plumbing today and started on the tile. We can't wait to see the finished product!

Happy Anniversary

14 years down and an eternity to go!

Chris and I had a nice dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and a great time reminiscing about the good 'ol days. The time sure does fly by. Two things that I can say for sure, I can't imagine being as happy with anyone else and I love him more today than yesterday.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

I know that President Hinckley was a prophet of God. I know that he lead and guided The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by divine inspiration. I know that he was inspired to tell us things so that, if we were obedient, would help keep us on the straight and narrow path.

I was truly saddened when I hear the news of his passing for selfish reasons. I will miss hearing his voice and truly enjoying his sense of humor. However, I know that he is with his wife now and very happy. I know that he missed her so very much.

He became the prophet not long after I was baptized and he served so valiantly for so many years. I never met him in person, never stood by his side physically, but I feel that I have been at his feet spiritually many, many times. I know that he is happy and healthy at this moment. I know that I will see him again if I am valiant.

I literally cried this morning when my mother told me of him passing away. I am crying as I type this blog. I know that his life has touched so many people, mine included. May I live my life according to his counsel.

You can click on 'click' to read an article about his passing.

Dinner with Michelle and Will

Mich and Will after dinner.

Aren't they cute?

I finally got to meet Will. Michelle has been dating him since July and just last night, I got to meet him. We were supposed to meet halfway between St. Augustine (where Michelle lives) and Sorrento (where we live). So, we decided on Daytona Beach at Longhorn Steakhouse. 7:00 p.m. was the time we decided on. Meaning of course that we would have to leave here no later than 6 to be there on time. Well, Chris was on the phone with clients until 6:45 so were were 45 minutes late. Luckily, they were very sweet and agreed to wait for us. The whole hour drive Chris was making phone calls while I drove like a mad woman. But... we did make it and had a GREAT time!

Afternoon and hair

Mom came over today for lunch. She brought Kerstyn a Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bag that was mine when I was her age. It has to be around 25 years old. I'm not sure I want her to even touch it. But, thanks mom, for bringing it. She also brought Aislinn a Boyd's bear that is almost as big as Aislinn is. Too cute!

We had lunch at Chili's and despite Aislinn's attempts to mess it up, we still had a good time. She always leaves too soon and I miss her as soon as she pulls out of the driveway. :(

At 4, I had a hair appointment with Allison to cover up all of my gray. It's getting so bad with gray that she didn't even charge me and told me that she needed me to come back next week for her to do the color again. She's getting afraid that I will need permanent color as opposed to semi-permanent. But, the permanent color is much harder on my hair and for the first time in a long time, my hair is getting close to being almost healthy. Don't you think I am too young to have so much gray hair? I sure do.

Back to it

Yesterday the kids went back to school after having Friday and Monday off. We enjoyed our trip to Tallahassee even though I had a TERRIBLE meltdown on Sunday. You know, the kind that you wish you could forget, but are sure you NEVER will. Anyway, so sorry to Chris' family for having to endure that.

So on to better news. We have hit the ground running with going back to school and doing homework. I have gone to the gym both yesterday and today. Tonight entails getting Kerstyn to her Activity Days/Faith in God activity and Brennan to Boy Scouts. (It sounds so weird to say Boy Scouts instead of Cub Scouts.) Tomorrow I work in the office from 9 until noon and then Brennan and Kerstyn go back for piano lessons.

Hey, here's a question for you. We're 'thinking' about getting a dog. We have been 'thinking' about it for years. So, we're 'thinking' again. What do YOU think?

Not fair!

Please check Janet's Blog to see what is so unfair! I would LOVE to meet and interact with Mitt Romney! Not to mention the fact that I would love my children to be face to face with the next President of the United States! GO MITT!

And yes, to answer Janet's question about if it is 'obvious' that they are members. I believe that if our family was there interacting with him he would of asked us the same thing. I do think that we tend to 'know' each other. Do you?

By the way, we just got in from Tallahassee. We went up Friday and came back today. It was nice to see family and friends in our old ward. We need to try to go back more than once a year though.

Piano lessons

Brennan and Kerstyn started piano lessons tonight with Bobbyn Lowder. She is an excellent teacher and the kids are really excited to be taking lessons. We'll see how long their excitement lasts. However, piano lessons, unlike playing baseball, will be something that we continue. I don't mean that all of the kids have to be virtuosos, but they all need to know how to play the piano. We'll see...

Two days in a row

I just can't believe it!

I took this standing on the lanai. That is the kiddie pool with an umbrella hole and a pipe where you can do a fountain. Everything looks so different with the mounds of dirt gone. We've had those mounds for so long that I didn't remember how it looked flat.

I took this standing at corner of the lanai. You can see the swim out area and the bench under the hot tub. There will be a waterfall from the hot tub to the pool. Out from the swim out will be the slide.

This is the hot tub. In the upper center of the picture is where there will be glass blocks and the waterfall.

I now have to pick tile. I thought it would be easy since I knew that I wanted blue. But, of course there are too many to choose from and I don't have any idea how it will look when it is all done. Its like picking carpet from a 1/2 in. piece and having it in your whole house.

Pool update

Finally, something to blog about!!!

Spraying the concrete. Isn't that neat?

Finishing up. I'm glad that I didn't have to try to get out of there!

It took 3 concrete trucks and around 6 people a total of 8 hours to complete the job. But... Can you feel the love? I feel good... I think that I might even attempt cartwheels. What do you think?

Happy 11th birthday Brennan!

Brennan showing how old he is.

Posing before church.

We had a fun day together as a family. I think that Brennan had Happy Birthday sung to him around 10 times! He seemed to like that. We also enjoyed birthday cake along with a nice Sunday at church. Happy Birthday Brennan!

Shopping

I got to go shopping today all by myself! I left around 10:30 this morning and headed to Kohl's in Sanford. I had a really good time there buying 2 pairs of shoes and 3 outfits!

After Kohl's I went to Sam's and got a few things. I really wanted to get Brennan a birthday cake there, but they didn't have any made that I thought we would all enjoy.

Following my trip to Sanford, I headed to Chris's office to do a little work and order some invitations for a sleepover that we are having for Kerstyn on February 1 and 2 while the boys are at the Father and Son camp out. I hope they turn out as cute as they look on the computer.

Then, off to Publix for a birthday cake and some chicken tenders. I got Brennan an ice cream and regular cake. The ice cream is Cookies and Cream, (my favorite) Brennan's too, I hope and marble cake. I think we had the same cake last year, so hopefully he still likes it.

Overall, I had a relaxing day, all by myself while my wonderful husband took care of the kids. Yipee!!

No concrete

Monday at 8:30 a.m. they will be doing the concrete for the pool. Or so they promise...

I sure hope so. :( It was supposed to be done today, but of course, something happened and they couldn't. I mean it, our pool process has sure had more than its fair share of set-backs and problems!

Stargirl

I just finished reading Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and I just loved it! It was a simple read, of course it should be for me since it is a Children's lit choice, but anyway, it was really good.

The story is about kids in high school and a girl that was previously home schooled shows up and is different. Different in every sense of the word. Well, if you remember high school, you know how well different does. It is a neat journey through high-schoolers minds and a well written novel. I highly recommend it.

Last meeting as a Cub Scout

Tonight is Brennan's last meeting as a Cub Scout. On Sunday, he will turn 11 and be a Boy Scout. I can't believe that I will have an 11 year old!

My favorite day of the week.

I have a favorite day of the week! (Besides Sunday, of course) It is Tuesday! Are you wondering why Tuesday is my second favorite day of the week? The answer is simple, Maria comes on Tuesday to clean the house. She leaves, and it looks great!

I love having clean sheets on my bed, but I really do NOT like to change the sheets. I guess that it's not one set that I don't like changing, but when you have to change 6 different beds, it gets quite tiring. But never fear, Maria is here!

I really do enjoy vacuuming, but I don't like to dust. I don't mind cleaning the bathrooms, but it is usually time intensive, and I don't seem to have as much time as I would like to be able to do those sorts of things.

So, you remember my post about having my house cleaned for Christmas. I will love this present all year long! YEA!!!

What a nice day!

Today, being the first Sunday of the new year, we got to go to church from 10 - 1 for the first time. We will have that schedule all of 2008. Wow, is all that I can say! What a difference that time makes when it comes to being able to have more of an opportunity to do visiting teaching, and quality time with the family. I do have to admit that I really liked not having to rush around in the morning on Sunday, which is how it was when we attended in the afternoon, but now we have to 'hustle'. But, I now feel like I can go do my visiting teaching, visit primary children, friends, or family on TOP of getting to go to church.


So, I was blessed with getting to visit with Debbie today. I have been her visiting teacher for years. She is my friend, was my co-worker for 2 years, Kerstyn's second grade teacher and my sister in the gospel. I always leave our conversations feeling uplifted and understood. That is a blessing in itself.

This picture was taken when Debbie was doing the classroom awards in May of 2007. I was there since Kerstyn was in her classroom. Doesn't she look cute? :)

Pool update?

Did you find yourself asking why you haven't seen pictures showing the progress of the swimming pool? Well, there there hasn't been any progress, that's why! It still looks like the picture that I took of it today. However, Cliff assures me that we will have concrete by the end of the week and then the pool will move along a LOT faster after this. Let's sure pray for that!

Glad to be back home

Aren't they cute?

We all went to the gym this morning and then to Cici's for lunch. I have had a great time with the children over the break. I am sad that on Monday, we will go back to school. It is nice to all be together. For the most part, I think the kids like it too. :)

Happy New Year!

We came home from Ft. Benning today. It took most of the day in the car, but the kids did great and the parents even did okay. For those of you that currently have small children, or those of you that remember, you know EXACTLY what I mean about surviving long road trips with small children.

I am looking forward to 2008. I have great hopes that it will be another prosperous year for the Shipley family. Heavenly Father has been so good to us. For that, I am deeply thankful.

I think this is great!

The kids had a blast with the doors to enter the hospital. They laughed and laughed. I just had to take some pictures of it. It reminds me of the escalator experience last year. Kids are so good at pointing out the simple things in life.

I didn't even really realize that today was New Year's Eve. I was just having a great time being with family. I fell asleep even before midnight. I must be getting old...

What a cutie!

Jarom Nichols

I was totally digging this new baby. As you can see, Aislinn was too.

We all crammed ourselves into the hospital room, so we HAD to take a picture of it. :)

We went to church this morning in Columbus and then headed off to the hospital to meet Jarom. We arrived in Columbus last night around 10, but I was too tired to to go to the hospital.

What a blessing of a healthy mom and baby!

Off to Ft. Benning

We loaded up the van this afternoon and headed to see the newest addition! We are excited to meet Jarom Dane Nichols who entered this world around 5:25 a.m. today at 9 lbs. 1 oz.
Congratulations Holly and Dane.

Work, then party

I worked in the office this afternoon thanks to Melissa for babysitting for me. After the workday, Chris and I headed over to the Garrett's for a little get together. We had a good time. What made it even better was that right before 10, Holly called to say that her water had broken and that she was on her way to the hospital. Exciting...

Michelle and CJ

Michelle and CJ playing with us outside.

We were trying to convince CJ to have his picture taken. He did not want ANYTHING to do with it.

Mich and CJ came over for a visit today. We had fun playing and getting to visit. I can't wait to see her again!

How many people do you have as one of your best friends since you were nine years old? Not many, for me anyway, and I do treasure my relationship with her.

Bye Mam :(

Kenney's mom died today surrounded by her children. She had a great Christmas day with her 4 children and her grandchildren and then passed away today after a nap. Mam, as she was called by her grandchildren, was a great lady with a beautiful spirit. I can't wait to see her again.

Christmas galore

Yoo-Ma and Papa and the kids. Our kids think that they hung the moon!

Here is Chris opening his presents. He got some more work clothes. If he only know how many trips I made to the closet to make sure I was getting the right shirts. I pondered and pondered over the pants that I was getting and the hardest decision was the socks! Hard to believe, but true. Chris is PICKY about his socks.
Love you honey!