We had an OK weekend…

The boys had their bowling league on Saturday morning. They both bowled well, and got over their average in every game… We don’t know if their team won the games or not, because one of their team-mates was gone. We’re assuming that he post-bowled, and we’ll find out how the games went on this Saturday… Up until last Saturday the boys’ team (The Cougars) were in 1st place… I’m hoping that they still are, as it would make the boys SO HAPPY if they finished in 1st.

The season (for the bowling league) is almost over. They have 2 more weeks of regular league games (3 games a week), and then on Saturday the 27th they are giving out the awards and such… Let’s just hope that THIS TIME, they don’t give Jared’s patches to Josh. … It’s a good thing that I keep track of their points myself, so that I can double check things!

It’s going to be weird not to go to league games on Saturday anymore (until next September)… All four of the kids are joining the summer league, but that will be on Sunday evenings.

Did I mention that we got the kids (and myself) a portable DVD player?!?! I know I mentioned it on facebook, but I can’t remember if I mentioned it here… Anyway, it’s a 7 inch sony… We took it to the bowling alley with us, and the girls got to watch “Underdog” while the boys bowled… They LOVED that!

Anyway… After bowling was over, the girls and I went with Debbie and Jamie to Leann’s bridal shower… It wasn’t too bad… Kyle took the dog with him when he left, which was a huge plus! … Though, for the short time the dog was in the house (to go from the back yard to the front door), who do you think the dog made a bee-line for?… You guessed it… Me! *sigh*

But the shower itself was kinda fun. They played some silly games and people were joking around. Leann got some nice gifts too! … I was stressed about what we gave her. *lol* … Kyle and Leann had registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond so I had gone online and ordered something off the registry. Since it had free shipping, I decided to have it gift wrapped… It seemed like a good idea at the time… But then after it came, I got to thinking… What if it broke in transit, and I wouldn’t be able to tell, since it’s already wrapped… Then, on the way to the shower, I got to thinking… What if they sent me the wrong thing, and I wouldn’t be able to tell, since it’s already wrapped… It was very stressful! *rofl* … I’m never having something giftwrapped again!

While the girls and I were at the shower, Joe and the boys (along with Scott and Jacob) went to Wunderland (nickle archades) and then out to dinner at Taco Bell… While at the archades Joe won me a stuffed animal for the first time… It’s silly really. It’s an orange pirate octopus… Only it only has 5 tenticles, so I told the girls that it can’t be an octopus, and that it must be a quintapus. *lol*

After church on Sunday, we took the boys over to Scott and Debbie’s, so that they could spend the night with the twins (who don’t have school this week, due to parent/teacher conferences). We then took the girls out to lunch at McDonald’s (no worries, I had a salad). We spent the rest of the day bumming at home.

Joe is on vacation this next week, so we decided that we needed to do something fun! … So on Sunday we’re heading to Lincoln City, and are going to stay over-night at the D-Sands motel!!! The D-Sands is right on the beach, and all the rooms have an ocean view. (Joe and I used to stay there a lot when we were first married.) The rooms also have small kitchens in them, and there is an indoor pool… We haven’t told the kids yet, but they are going to be SO EXCITED. Not only do they get to play on the beach, but they get to swim too. … I am pretty excited myself. We haven’t stayed at a motel at the beach in YEARS… The kids never have.

Well, I should get myself some breakfast… I’ll be by later to do some blog hopping. … Catch ya on the flip side!

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Me, April 1994

As I mentioned in my last post, my hair seems to always been falling out! … Before I had kids, I had really thick hair. It was my best feature.. To be honest, it was my only good feature. It was long, thick, and really soft… I loved my hair!

Then came the kids…

Now don’t get me wrong! I would trade ALL my hair for the kids… Any hair loss I have because of the kids is WORTH it… But still…

After each of the kids, I lost an amazing amount of hair in the first few months after they were born, and each time it didn’t all come back. So my hair got thinner after each one was born.

But it’s been 6 1/2 years since Amanda, and I am still getting thinner… I wish I knew some other reasons for hair loss, so that I could see if I could prevent it! … What’s really annoying, is when my “lost” hair clogs things up… Like the fan on the laptop, and the brush thing on the bottom of the vacuum cleaner… Not to mention the drain in the shower! Uhg!

Isn’t it funny how I can blog about female issues, but you couldn’t pay me enough to mention them on facebook?! *lol* … Too many men in my contact list, including the pastor of the church we went to in Portland. When I am hit by AF, I just facebook that I am not feeling well. *lol* … It always feels a little deceitful, because people think I am sick, when I’m not… But I just CAN’T mention AF. *lol* (Yes, I have issues )

Not much going on this week. Just a bunch of homeschool lessons, as we’re getting ready for our 2 week spring break. It’s going to be so nice to have some time off school. Our weekends are getting so busy, that it feels like we never get R&R anymore. I need a day where I can just sit and not think about anything. *lol*

My laptop ... In pieces!

When we got my new computer, we asked our computer guy, Thomas, to look at the laptop… This is the laptop that has been repaired TWICE by HP, and 2 or 3 times by Thomas himself… I was so sick of the eternal problems, which is why we got my new computer (we just want Alicia to get the laptop for watching iTunes, which is why we’re having Thomas look at it again)… Anyway, since last summer the fan has been making this loud, annoying noise. Turns out that the fan is fried (for the 2nd time)… Turns out that a bunch of my hair (which is constantly falling out), had gotten sucked in and wrapped around the fan. *sigh* What a nightmare!

I’m sure Thomas just wants to throw that computer over the fence! *lol*

Now we do have a treadmill, which we got a couple years ago. We got it on hopes that I would be easier on my knees, what with the arthritis and all… But it turned out that my knees hurt on that too. I can use it, but I can’t go any faster than 2.5 mph, or my knees start hurting pretty badly.

I also have my Leslie Sansone workout videos… Those also hurt my knees to some degree.

The thing is, I feel like I should be using the treadmill, since it cost us a couple hundred dollars (we got it on an amazing sale)… BUT… I seem to have more luck with the actual weight loss, when I do my walking vidoes with Leslie Sansone… So while my head says, “Don’t waste the money! Use the treadmill!” … My heart is saying, “But you actually lose more weight while walking with Leslie, keep doing that!”

*sigh* … What would you do?

Maybe when I get 25% to my goal, I will post a link to my weight loss blog… Or I will Email some of you with the URL. We shall see what I am brave enough to do. *lol*

Anyway, I’ve been doing some research online, trying to find different ways I can lose weight (though I mainly just do what the doctor says… Eat less and move more! *lol*) … If you’re curious about losing weight in other ways, you can click here to learn more.

Anyway, Joe gets a week off in a couple weeks (March 15-19), then he gets a week off in the end of May, and then the week of his birthday (8/26) off too.

For the vacation this month, we have a lot of little things planned. We want to try to get to the beach for a day (maybe spend one night in a motel), and maybe get to the zoo for a day too. We would also like to paint the laundry room… Joe has so many little things he wants to do, there is no way we would be able to get them all done! *lol* … Guess we’ll just take it a day at a time, and see what happens.

As for May, we’re going camping at Beverly Beach… I would have rather gone in the end of June, or some time in July, but all the weeks of vacation were taken, so we had to go with May… We’re hoping it isn’t too cold and rainy… The last time we were at Beverly Beach was in May too (in 2007), and that turned out to be a lovely week. Here’s hoping for repeats!

In August we’re going camping in Prineville. The weather should be awesome then, and we’re really looking forward to it… We also want to take a day trip one of the days and go into Bend to see the High Desert Museum, and we also want to go to MacKensie Pass.

Sometimes I wish we could do something “bigger” for our vacation… Like go so Yellowstone or Mt. Rushmore… Or take the kids to Disneyland, etc in California… Another big dream is an Orlando vacation. We could do the Disneyworld thing, and see the Atlantic ocean for the first time. Maybe it would be interesting to look into an Orlando timeshare… I know Julie, keep dreaming… Keep dreaming!

The kids and I have another full week of homeschool lessons, and then we’re on a 2 week spring vacation! We can’t wait! It seems like we’ve been so busy lately, it’s going to be nice to have some down time… Then, after spring break is over, there is only something like 3-4 weeks of lessons left, and then their workbooks will be done for the year. It seems hard to believe it’s so close to being that time of year already! … I’ve even already put an order in for the state tests that Alicia and the boys will be doing. (This will be Amanda’s last year of not having to do the CATs. We always start doing them after 1st grade.)

We didn’t do too much over the weekend… We did go to the bowling alley both Friday and Saturday…

On Friday we met Joe’s sister and her family for Cosmic Bowl. The girls decided to bowl this time, with the bumpers up. Alicia is starting to hit the bumpers less, and even got a strike that didn’t hit the bumpers first. She was SOOOO happy! … Amanda was thrilled too, because she won the drawing for a free Cosmic Bowl session.

Then on Saturday the boys had their league bowling. Both the boys bowled very well, though Jared did have one not-so-good game… But he’s won the “Most-over-your-average” Blockbuster award (for a free DVD rental) for the last 3 weeks in a row, so he’s doing awesome.

After bowling on Saturday, Joe dropped the kids and I back off at home, and then went into Portland. He asked an old friend of ours to do some work on the brakes of the Durango, so he was gone until close to 9 pm doing that.

On Sunday we went to church, of course… I never mentioned it, but last Sunday I had a bit of an embarrassing situation happen… After the services I went in search of a bathroom, and found one down a hallway (that had classrooms). I went into the first stall to do my business, and when I was just about finished I heard someone come in. I didn’t think much of it, until the person opened the door to MY STALL (pushing hard enough on the door to dislodge the not-so-good lock. Here I was, half way through pulling my pants back up. I ABOUT DIED… She all acted like it was no big deal, and while I was washing my hands, she introdused herself and kept talking to me like there was nothing wrong in the world, while I just wanted to find a hole to jump in…

Anyway, yesterday during the “meet and greet” time in the service, she comes over and says, “I haven’t got to meet you yet, my name is Tara.” … I thought to myself…

Um… I think you know me better than anyone else in this church!

Good grief!

After church the pastor invited us to a “get-to-know-you” lunch that was going on in the church kitchen area. It turns out that we’re not the only new people to the church. There was quite a few other people that have started going there in the last few weeks… Anyway, they served us a hot turkey sandwich meal, and we all just visited. It was nice… I was sitting beside a lady named Rae (sp?), and her twin 17 year old boys. (One was named Andrew, but I forget the name of the other one.) She and her boys were both extremely nice, and the one son (whose name eludes me) is VERY TALKATIVE! *lol* They had nothing but good things to say about the youth group, which is nice to know since Jared will be starting it in the fall.

We also learned that they are starting a new children’s program on Wednesday evenings too. I guess they used to do Awanas, but I don’t think they had enough kids to keep it up. Now that there are some new families coming with kids, they are going to have something again. It’s going to start on March 10th, and the kids can hardly stand the wait. *lol*

Well, now you’re all caught up with us again! See ya on the flip side!