A Day at the Museum

So, i took my kids to the Fort Worth Science Museum today... they had a big star wars exhibit... we had a lot of fun. i couldn't resist getting these pics!

then we took the kids upstairs to the planetarium... um, maybe if they were all older they would have enjoyed it... i went with 2 of my girlfriends (so together, we had 10 kids under 9) and that was not the place for crazy kiddos... oh well - live and learn?

so, after that fiasco, we just went down to the kid's play place and they all were able to be more themselves - wild and crazy, and us moms got a chance to do our favorite thing: sit and watch.

it was an exhausting day, but lots of fun!

Tagged

Ok, i cant help it!
i was tagged by Laura

Some Jobs I’ve had:
Besides Mom/piano teacher?
1. Receptionist Great Western Homes
2. Janitor/web designer for my dad! ;)
3. TA in Computer Science Lab
4. Computer Programmer at a radiology company

Places to go for a weekend getaway:
??? i dont get those?
1. Houston (to see Fam/friends/cousins?)
2. Vegas
3. I wish i could go somewhere?
4. a hotel??? anywhere????

Movies I can watch over and over again:
1. Legally Blonde
2. Talledega Nights
3. Harry Potter (any of them)
4. Pride & Prejudice

My guilty pleasures:
1. Cookies & milk at noon
2. wearing a bikini
3. doing sudoku
4. wasting time on the internet/not cleaning my house?

Places I have lived:
1. Mesa, AZ
2. Provo, UT
3. New Providence, NJ
4. Keller, TX

Places I have been on vacation:
1. Denmark/Sweden
2. Spain
3. Paris/Germany
4. Canada

Favorite Foods:
1. Cookies & Milk
2. Icecream with magic shell
3. those hawaiian chocolate macadamia nut things
4. anything itallian

First things you thought when you saw your significant other:
1. Funny
2. charasmatic
3. Outgoing
4. peter priesthood (ok, i met him in sunday school...singles ward....)

If in a jam with Spouse, what tactics do you use to get out of the doghouse?
um, i dont have any tactics... write a mean song w/the guitar? let it blow over?

Wesites I visit daily:
1. Blogs
2. yahoomail
3. shockwave.com
4. websudoku.com

Best First Kiss Landmark:
1. at a park
2. in a car
3. on a couch
4. camping somewhere beautiful?
(um, disclaimer, i kissed a few people - there are funny stories... but we dont have time for all that)

Places I’d rather be right now:
1. Shopping (and having $ to spend)
2. in bed? showered & clean?
3. on a vacation w/my kiddos and hub
4. anywhere w/my sisters?

Now I get to tag four other blog buddies:
1. You
2. that person
3. reading this
4. surprise me

Harry Potter

Am i the only one who HAD to read this Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows?

Ok, i can get back to reality. i have finished the whole series, and i am very pleased. i was glad that it ended the way i hoped it would. thanks jk rowling for not going crazy and keeping it aimed at children. i was getting worried hearing about all the deaths that were imminent. i kept thinking that it would end up a depressing series... HOWEVER, i guess the whole HARRY POTTER thing was aimed at 5th graders, and so, the way it ended made me very happy. unlike the ending of the book WICKED... (not aimed at 5th graders)

a great site: http://www.mugglenet.com/

some people dont like the epilogue at the end? i did... well, i wished it went on a little longer (explaining more about the future) but i am cheesy and LOVE seeing those things! isnt that why i love legally blonde? because at the end we got to see a few years in the future?

Joe liked to laugh at me cause i was reading this book... but i dont think i was crazy. i still did stuff with the kids, and wasnt completely CONSUMED... i mean, (due to trying to better balance my job as a mom) it took me sunday AND monday to read the book... (rather than just 1 day like the previous ones) i am curious what you guys (those who read it and those who didnt) thought?

So, on Monday, we found out my little niece has lukemia. We are so bummed. She is just Charity's age, and so sweet and beautiful. We are all praying for her.

Anyways, we decided to ship her something (but the hospital doesnt allow plants or flowers?) so after searching online, i came across a GREAT teddy bear site. a LOT less expensive than vermont teddy bear, and i LOVE that you can personalize so many things on it! in an email i just got, they said they upgraded my shipping and are refunding me money for it too! they said, please tell friends about us, so, i am doing it.
http://800bear.com/

This is mambo, and he will have a tshirt that says jillian's feel better monkey and a sunshine on it.

As for my neice, (and my sis-in-law's family) they are in for a long hard journey, and we hope it all turns out ok.

All this makes me pause and think about how much i love my children. Patrice (my sis-in-law) is the best mom in the world. her kids are amazing and beautiful. they are one of those families that you just see how loving and amazing they all are... anyways, there is such a long road ahead of them... as parents, we would all be willing to go to the ends of the earth and back to save our child. i just cant imagine the fear and heart ache they must be feeling right now. We are all praying for you guys!

Our Office Fan

So, funny story:
our office has the UGLIEST lighting in the world - that cheapy brass light fixture. Anyways, we decided to replace it with a BEAUTIFUL fan from home depot. we have done other lighting/fan projects in the house, so we considered ourselves pretty experienced professionals by now....

we got it all up and it was GEORGEOUS! while finishing the final plug-ins of the light part, joe fell and our poor bookshelf fell victim to the project (the top of it was destroyed)... not a big price to pay (we thought) we could use a new bookself anyways??? WELL....it worked great - for about a day and a half... then, for no reason, the wiring died! the light just stopped working. my professional electritian of a husband, climbed back up there and checked the wiring... it was all dead.... AGGHHHH we bought a new switch, we double checked all the wiring, we did everything short of rewiring the whole room... then, joe was so frustrated cause he wasted 3 days on a stupid project. SO, he just took it down - let me tell you - he was pretty aggrivated.

BUT the story doesnt end there....

Aaron was so thrilled to get a box. he LOVES making things out of boxes. As soon as the fan was up, he took the box and had all kinds of plans for it - he convinced me to help him make a box plane. he told me exactly how to do it too - i worked the sissors and he told me where and how to do everything... he was SO specific! i was laughing!!! anyways, here is his AWESOME box plane....

ya, that is the box the fan came in :)

Ok, now back to the original story....

SO, joe decided to take the fan down. let me remind you: he was pretty aggrivated! we were down a bookshelf, and now our wiring in the office was all busted.... he wants to return the fan but the box is now a plane... so, he seriously took it apart and just put all the pieces in the car and took it back to homedepot. about 2 mins after he left i get a phone call. as he pulled away, something fell on the glass part of the fan light and smashed it. AGGGHHHHHH. he was going to try to return it still (i was doubtful) but thankfully, home depot let him return it (the broken glass bowl was conveniently not in the cart full of fan stuff that joe brought in). So, he came back home and it was dark. we reinstalled the ugly fixture (but that was at least a step above nothing) using the one good wire left... but we lost the switch!!! we tore apart the whole house. you can imagine the frustration that we were feeling at this point... so, the next day, joe went out and had to buy a new switch... we put it all behind us - that project just costed us a lot of frustration, a lot of wasted time, and a bookshelf, and we didnt even get anything out of it but a new light switch? after it was all cleaned up, of course we found the old light switch... but i guess that is just to be expected. i think the room is cursed?

No More Braces!

Joe got his braces off... i think he looks quite nice! Here's the pic just before he got them off....

and here's the after!!!!


i think he looks quite handsome!!! what do you think????

I'm Back and in effect

So, i got back a week ago... it has taken me this long to sit back at my computer... just havent been very motivated.

Here is my last set of pics from hawaii... the underwater camera.

i was glad to get home... i really missed joe. he missed me too ;) we have seriously been honeymooning ever since - and i LOVE it! :) i think i need to get away every year!!!

The best part of living here on the 4th of July is what i like to call the war zone... it is this field outside city limits (in Justin) where hundreds of pyros go and light off their own fireworks. words can not describe the mayhem... imagine smoke, and crazy people shooting fireworks off all in one place - i mean the BIG fireworks... so it is like the finale to a fireworks show that just goes on and on and on... add in some crazy bottle rockets shooting every which way, and screamers and fountains... times a hundred, and that is what you get here...

seriously, i am like a child. i LOVE fireworks - especially doing my own! we bought bottle rockets, artillery shells, roman candles, some fountains, and a mini pyro set for the kids to do whatever (with sparklers and fountains and smoke bombs etc) i think joe and i had more fun than our kids, but by the end, aaron was ALL about lighting off bottle rockets all by himself... too bad next year they will be illegal... we lured a bunch of friends there with us... we even got kysha and thomas b* (who just so happen to be up here for their prodigy of a 4 year old daughter who was doing a violin camp.) side note: seriously, summer is 4 years old, and can play violin SOOOO well... i mean WAY beyond twinkle - like the REAL classical songs. WOW!

Anyways, Happy 4th of July! it is good to be home (although, i miss hawaii) hopefully the rain here will stop!!!

HighSchool Senior Year

I saw this on audra's blog... thought it looked fun!

My High School Senior Year

1. Who was your best friend? becky w.

2. What sports did you play? cheer

3. What kind of car did you drive? whatever car i could snake from my parents/sisters - sometimes i lucked out with the green chevy s10, sometimes i got the honda accord, and sometimes, i got stuck with the AWESOME 1979 mustard yellow ford ltd... all those cars are near and dear to my heart, and i had MANY memories in all of them!!!

4. It's Friday night, where were you? Football season - the game... otherwise, hangin out - trying to have as much fun as i could... maybe doing a bit of philosophising????

5. Were you a party animal? yes ;)

6. Were you considered a flirt? maybe? guys werent really in the picture that year? or maybe i just have selective memory?

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? in my heart - yes. in reality - no.

8. Were you a nerd? Yes. i LOVED taking hard classes and getting in deep discussions... didnt really win me any 'cool' points

9. Did you get suspended or expelled? um, i got into enough trouble... no need for details.

10. Can you sing the fight song? yes, and i can STILL do the dance too (i WAS a cheerleader) and it is FOREVER ingrained in my memory

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Besides good ol' bro. Downey??? i dont remember their names... but i LOVED my AP Chem teacher (that old guy who was big?) although i didnt take chem sr year, i still would drop by and say hi to him! i LOVED my AP physics teacher (we did extra credit at the dog shows) and i think Mrs Colgate? was that the name of the english teacher? i dont remember, but she impacted my life too.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? In a classroom to do my homework, OR, i would just go ANYWHERE... a park, a restaurant, ANYWHERE w/my friends!

13. What is your schools full name? Mountain View High School

14. School mascot? The Toro...

15. Did you go to Prom? Yes!!! :)

16. If you could go back and do it over, would you? um, although i would LOVE to go back and change some of the things that happened, getting through those times made me who i am, and i prob wouldnt be where i am today w/out all the good/bad consequences to my actions... so, really that question is do you like where you are today? the answer is yes. so, i could NOT go back and do it over. (nor would i want to)

17. What do you remember most about graduation? um, i prob shouldnt write much down and post it to the world, but i remember sneaking into the grad party at that water park... and i remember being sorry i had to wake up real early for a flight to europe the next morning...

18. What was your favorite class? ceramics (i took that in place of cheer 2nd semester) and physics. (at least senior year) i had so much fun w/my buddies in there!

19. Where were you on senior skip day? i never knew there was an official senior skip day, but i think i got my max and even more (i got pretty crafty when it came to ditching class) - i would go to the park, or to jamie's house, or out to eat, or to the mall, or just walk around not in class... wherever the wind took me.

20. Did you have a job your senior year? No - i was too busy. well, actually, i taught piano, and i think i was helping the tumbling class at the dance studio? but to be honest, i dont remember.

21. Where did you go most often for lunch? depends on who i was with? classroom for my homework, schlotskys, wendys, filabertos, i dont remember? jamie's house?


22. Have you gained weight since then? nope - maybe now i am a little smaller - blame it on atrophy! my nice muscular legs and shoulders are GONE

23. What did you do after graduation? i did that party, then wisked off to europe, then got "sent" to NM with my grandparents, then headed up to byu... where life really began!

24. Who was your Senior prom date? jarrett - he was the validictorian... he was so fun, and we had a very memorable time! i loved that group of people!!! i wonder where they all are now?????

25. Did you go to your 10 year reunion? it is in october, and honestly, i think i am going to go... i think it would be fun to find all these people again!