Back to School

This week was the first week of school for both Tyler & Jordan. For the past month I've been trying, without success (so far, at least), to get Jordan changed over to track 1 instead of 2. I met Jo's teacher, Mrs. Johnson, & she seems nice enough. I'm just not in love with track 2. They're in school barely long enough to get them used to being in school the full day & then they're on break. They go to school next week & the week after & then they're off for 3 weeks! How ridiculous is that!? Grrr...

We made it through our week of parties, though. :) Ty had a neighbor friend stay the night last night. They were very respectful & quiet, which was nice since we already had a few extra bodies sleeping in the house. Hayleah slept in our room since Vickie & Keith were sleeping in her bed (she sleeps on our old queen bed in the play room....she won't sleep in a crib) & she managed to wake up 6 times last night! That's not counting the times she woke me up with a little foot to the my face. Needless to say, I'm exhausted today.

We got all the present opening on video & Logan was really funny. He got excited about a pair of Batman socks Vickie gave to him & started hopping around & whooping it up & running around the house in excitement. You can imagine the response when he saw the remote control car she got him! LOL

Thursday night, amidst all the chaos, Dave & I made it to the Temple. What a nice experience. :) We dropped the kids off with Vickie & Keith so they could watch them while we went, which was nice of them. I love the staff at the Las Vegas Temple. They really make you feel safe & loved. It's probably that way at all LDS Temple's, but this one is especially dear to me.

While at the Family History Center last week, a lady told me about a program called PAF Insight that is just amazing. It's one you have to pay for, but it automatically links up to Family Search & will search the IGI for you with just a click of the button, instead of you having to type it in. HUGE time saver!!

Happy Family History hunting! :D

Taking a breather

We've been trying to prepare for company this morning & I'm ready for a break! There's always more to do than you originally think, it seems. This time is no exception. That's alright though. My mother-in-law, Vickie, & her husband Keith, are headed down this way from Reno tomorrow. We haven't seen them in a while, so it'll be good to see them.

Next week we have 4 birthday parties to celebrate! Tyler will be 14 on Tuesday, Jordan will be 6 on Wednesday, & we'll also be celebrating Logan's birthday (he'll be 3 but not until Sept. 14th) & Vickie's birthday while she's here. To top it off, school starts on Monday, which is a bummer because there's just so much going on already. I certainly enjoy life at a little slower pace than this, but what a nice way to stay busy. :)

Casting SALE!

If anyone is interested in doing any castings of their children, or even the whole family together, I'm offering a special deal for my fans (see, I haven't lost my sense of humor ;~) ).

For the next month, I'll be offering 40% off all castings for parties!!

I'm trying to raise enough money to take some classes next month, so every little bit helps.

If you want to have a casting party with 4 or more participants, I will come to your home at no extra charge & you will receive a free casting (up to a $40 value) for booking the party!

If you aren't able to get a party together, you'll still be able to receive a 25% discount on all castings!

I'll also be offering the same discount on gift certificates. These are perfect for wedding, baby shower, & birthday gifts, as you can imagine.

If you know of anyone who might be interested, please pass this along.

Lots of love!

Education

Do you ever want to go back to school? I thought I did. Well, I still do, I'm just put off by the cost of doing so. I really want to learn energy healing. I have had my foot in the door for years, I've just never really pursued it. Lately I've felt a fire for it again. I called one of my favorite LDS mama-run, local shops, Well Rounded Mama, earlier to see if my Diva Cup had arrived yet (yes, I know...tmi) & their resident Reiki Master happened to answer the phone. We had a good, long conversation & it seems she's willing to work in trade with me. :D How cool would that be, I ask myself!? :D :D

I've always been drawn to energy healing, I didn't know it had a name until about 5 or 6 years ago when my sister-in-law introduced me to it. This would be the kooky one with all the crazy ideas like home birthing, home schooling, education before vaccination, etc....most of which I've since come to accept & appreciate & even implement in my own life. I guess that kind of makes me the kooky one now. ;) I've always been one to try to swim upstream, so to speak. I've always tried to fit in (sometimes too hard, when I was much younger) but never quite did. I was always a tree hugger at heart. LOL

I've learned, over the years, to stop trying so hard & to take those names I'm sometimes called & embrace them. I really believe it's a compliment to be called a tree hugger now. :) I find I'm still pretty reserved, not letting too much of "me" be known by very many people. This little snippet puts me pretty far out there, I'd say. That's alright. This is cyberspace, after all...it's so much easier to be open here. I'm sure one day I'll be completely comfortable in my own skin. ;)

Las Vegas

I got to thinking tonight about the people I've had the opportunity to get to know here in Vegas. The few in particular I had in mind are Las Vegas natives....born & raised here.

Now it's no secret this is not my home, nor will it ever be. But after some consideration, I think I need to start looking at things from a different perspective. I'm always so focused on the things I wish were different here. For instance, I hate the fact that there is a billboard or four on every corner in this town, advertising everything from when & where Donny & Marie will performing to when & where the upcoming auditions for some new strip tease show will be held. Not to mention scantily clad women, if they're even clad in anything! That really gets under my skin!!

Okay, I can see I'm headed in the opposite direction of where this was meant to go, so I think I'll go back to where I started with this thought....the people.

The few people I know who were born & raised here are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. They are talented, smart, faithful, kind, helpful....I can't say enough good things about them. They are the kind of people I am proud to associate with. So, in a place where sin is so prevalent, how did they wind up this way?

Two of my children were born here. Whether or not they're raised here is up to the Lord. I find myself thinking about how these friends were raised here & managed to stay on the right path in their lives.

It makes sense that where there is much sin, there is also great faith. I think our valley is overflowing with it....faith, that is. I've lived places where the atmosphere is so different from here. Small town, mid-west, USA. I can see how the lack of sinful opportunities can sometimes lead to apathy. Thinking about it, it seems like a place like Las Vegas can be an opportunity to grow ones faith. There can be no fence-sitters here. Either you choose to follow our Savior, or you don't.

I like that about Las Vegas. As for the rest, I still wish things were different, but I will take what I can get. And stronger faith isn't a bad trade off for a few offensive billboards. :)

My sweet neice

Ariel, my brother Scottie & his wife Steph's daughter, is turning one this week! She's such a little doll!! It seems like she's always been here, yet too soon to have been a year. I wonder why babyhood works that way. :)

Here's a page I did of her last night, with her one year pic. She has the most blue eyes & really long, dark eyelashes. Such a beauty!

I did finally decide to put Hayleah in another nursery at church. Today was her second day of it & she seems to do wonderfully, I'm pleased to report. :)

Logan is still going strong with the potty training. I'm really proud of how well he's doing!

I managed to get some family history stuff done this week, though not as much as I had hoped. It's hard to spend any length of time on the computer during the daytime & I try to reserve my evenings for my sweetheart. I'll try harder this week to find more time, though.

My scripture studies are right on track. It's amazing the difference makes, when I take the time to read each morning. We've also been successful with making family scripture study part of our day, which also helps a lot. It's not something we've ever been consistent with, I'm sorry to say, but for the past few months we've done really well....even on vacation! :)

This week ought to be a good one. I'm expecting a letter from the school, hopefully saying they'll change Jordan's teacher to Mrs. Bartlett. And the best thing about it all is all my kids will be home from school. The grocery shopping is done, no one to run anywhere, the library is calling our names.....just relaxation from here! :D

Babies & GRADUATION!

It seems like there are a lot of pregnant mama's I know right now. I always forget to load up on business cards before I leave the house & inevitably I see new babies & very pregnant mama's everywhere I go!

My best friend, Onala, is expecting again. They moved to Idaho this time last year but stopped & spent the night while driving through town. We got to spend a little time with them, which is bittersweet. I miss having them around! I got to go to an ultrasound with Onala (one of those entertainment-purpose ones) & found out she's having another girl. :) Girls rule. At least in her house. LOL That was so exciting!

It makes me have baby fever SO BAD when I see babies! I absolutely adore babies & I love being pregnant, too. I even love the whole birth experience. Crazy, I know....it's just all so amazing & beautiful & spiritual, how could it not be something to love, is my take on it! It's not in the cards right now, though, so I try not to spend too much time dwelling on this.

We had Kindergarten graduation yesterday for Jordan. It was so neat, the little show they put on. Once I figure out how, I'll upload the video to the net & post it on here. I am so proud of Jordan! I didn't get too many pictures (it was a mad house in there!) but the few I did get were good. I'll scrapbook them as soon as I get a chance.

I can't believe he's going to be in first grade! We couldn't be happier with the teacher he had this year, Ms. Harper. She has been amazing & such a breath of fresh air. I can't speak highly enough about her. We're definitely going to miss seeing her every day!

A Logan Funny

This morning, as we were all just waking up, we were laying in our bed with Logan & Hayleah. Dave called Hayleah his little cupcake when Logan piped up to say he was Daddy's BIG cupcake. He then revised it so he would now be know as Daddy's big BLACK cupcake. LOL What a funny kid....he doesn't even know it. It gave us a good chuckle, anyway. It was a good way to start the day. :)

I'll be taking a hiatus from blogging & scrap booking for a while. Probably not too long, though. I love doing it, so I'll probably squeeze it in somewhere in my day. I'm going to be focusing on another love of mine....family history. There is SO much work to be done! Just recording it all is a HUGE effort! I have neglected it for far too long.

I'm also beginning to plan a family reunion for the Gillespie side of our family. It won't be until next Spring, but from what I can gather there is a lot to do. If anyone has any suggestions for locations or ideas for themes or any tips, please contact me. I'm really green at this, being my first one & all, but I want to do it right so I'm sure I'll need some pointers along the way.

Much love to you all. :)

Woohoo!

Thank you, April! :) I love this blog customizing stuff! :D

Between tweaking our blog today, I managed to squeeze in a scrapbook page to share.

I can't tell you how proud of Logan I am. He decided a few months ago he wanted to start using the potty. After a few weeks of doing pretty good, he started demanding to wear diapers again. Not wanting to push it & cause future regression, I just let him make the choice. I haven't been too worried about it since he's still only 2 years old & kids will do this when they're ready. In the past couple days, he has been a super star about going to the bathroom without needing reminders or having accidents! Woohoo!!!

I figured out the trick is he views Pull Ups as diapers & won't be as conscious of when he needs to use the bathroom when he has them on. So, I went out & bought him several pairs of "big boy" underwear & this seems to do the trick. The fact that he needs no reminders & really no rewards other than some high 5's is amazing & that's what makes him my little boy wonder. :)

Man, I love that kid. :D

Julia...we will miss you

I just found out an old friend of ours passed away. She had non-smokers lung cancer &, after an 18 month battle with it, lost the battle. She & her dear husband, Brent, were some of our first friends after Dave & I married. They were our neighbors up in Reno & I served in the Primary Presidency as Julia's second counselor for a year before we moved to Las Vegas.

She was a high school teacher (bless her heart!) who was very intelligent & witty & easy to be around. When I first met her, though, she had so much depth as a person....I was a bit intimidated by how well rounded she was. I came around quickly to enjoy her company, though, & I was inspired to be a better person because of her example.

Julia had a great fondness for shoes. She wore the same size as I do & I must admit it was tempting to raid her closet the first time I had a look at her "collection". As a final request, she wanted everyone in attendance of her funeral services to wear their favorite shoes. She was a unique, beautiful person whom I will miss very much.

Not so cool events & a few SB pages

So I neglected to mention some not-so-cool happenings from our trip. First of all, it's amazing how many people leave stuff behind at amusement parks. It's also amazing how many people are there to prey on those who either might accidentally leave something behind, or just happen to turn their backs on their things for a moment.

I was approached by a man at Magic Mountain, asking me what size diaper my daughter wore. Since he didn't have a child with him, offensive, negative thoughts immediately filled my mind, along with a few choice words about this strange guy. Thankfully, I managed to refrain from sharing my thoughts long enough to ask him why he wanted to know. It turns out he had family visiting from Germany who had a daughter that was a little older than Hayleah. They had turned their backs on the diaper bag for a minute when someone stole it. It had a camera in it but, as this man expressed to me, the diapers in it were far more valuable than the camera at that moment.

I try not to make snap judgements. At least not negative ones. I failed this day, for certain. I gave him a diaper & he thanked me. It seemed I saw him everywhere I went that day....a reminder of my harsh judgment & how quickly I was humbled.

I found someones wallet while we were there, too. I can't count the number of times I've left my wallet somewhere. It only happens when there's a change in my routine, such as a change in handbags. This is partly why anyone seeing me with a handbag will usually see that same one for a good six months! Well, it's mostly because I'm too lazy to switch them around all the time & well, frankly, I'm just not that fashionable. LOL

It seems like every time I've ever left a wallet or purse behind, I've always received it back with everything in it. This is a huge blessing & it was nice to be able to return the favor given to me so many times over.

Lastly, we had an interesting experience outside our hotel on the last night we were there. It was fairly late, around 10 p.m., & we were walking back from having dinner. While waiting at the crosswalk for our light to turn green, a man comes running up behind us, closely followed by three police officers. Just before they caught up with him, not 15 feet away from where we were frozen in our tracks, we watched him fall on the street, sliding to a stop on his face (ewww!).

He was clearly drunk & belligerent & the police officers were high on adrenaline. A beating commenced, along with a bloody face full of pepper spray, & a lot of verbal abuse from the cops. There were several new words my kids picked up that night, none of which I would ever want them to repeat, let alone hear it from a (supposed) "peace officer". I love cops....just not these three at this moment.

A few days later I hear Jordan playing "cops" in the other room with Logan & Tyler. Having forgotten the incident with the crazy guy on the street, I hear him use a phrase with a choice word in it....I was shocked! His reason for saying that was he just wanted to be like the police officers. (insert mama bear growl here) *sigh* Hopefully future contact with the police will be a more positive experience for Jordan. I know I'm sure tired of him arresting everyone in the house! ;)

Here are a few more layouts I've done.