blah blah blah

blah just about describes it folks. not much going on here in dreary utah. the sun actually appeared the other day and i couldn't resist taking a walk with william. while the weather has been unusally mild, the sun isn't sooooo, hm, what's the word, sunshiney! then add the smog of "inversion" and well, not too much to boast about when it comes to utah's winter this year. i was actually looking forward to snow since they actually have snowplows here. but utah has disappointed. i am not feelin' the love.

ned is up in seattle this week taking the broker's test for wa. so he can practice real estate,as well as being sworn in. so, he is officially an attorney and real estate broker for wa. now all we need is work. oh, and a place to live, and an office to set up business and money to do it all. any ideas on how to get this all to happen and SOON!! not that i am not loving living with my parents, not to mention living off them in their little house in slc smogville, but come on, grow up all ready and get a life. us, not them! (lol)

life in utah hasn't been all bad. we have enjoyed our short time here and made a few new friends and we are definitely enjoying being close to "THINGS!" we have been able to reconnect with old friends and family, which is great. ned has started his own little web design business, which we hope will REALLY take off soon. you just get to a point when you just want those dreams to manifest themselves take shape and well..... just happen!!!

we have started to check out different places in wa. we would like to live. that has been fun. i enjoy researching the towns, checking on jobs, real estate, schools, shopping, income, population, etc. if you know me at all you know i love small towns. not toooooo small, but smallish. a larger city within an hours drive is nice. i don't shop much so stores aren't a huge deal to me, but i do need grocery stores. i love to be able to find deals on my food. i hate wal-mart, but all small towns have them, so i have resolved to tolerate it! anyhow, in my quest for the perfect place to live, i came across this smallish town(70,000) called yakima. so far it seems pretty nice. decent home prices(unlike seattle, HELLO), wide open spaces, some shopping, decent lds population, outdoor recreation, fruit, decent looking school system/homeschooling options, etc. just not a lot of jobs. but, i am hopeful. if anyone knows much about yakima, please spill. i am really wanting to go up and check it out. plus, i didn't get that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when i was checking it out. i actually got excited. seattle area and all that is west of those wonderful cascades, left me feeling really depressed and anxious. is that a sign? who knows?

as for the kids, they continue to amaze me with their awesomeness. isn't that how all parents feel about their own little twirps? william is growing a ton. he is saying so many words now, i can't keep up with them. i try to write down the new words he says but he pretty much tries to repeat everything these days. it is fun. he is teething his molars and so that has been a bit unbearable, but since i am THE SUPERMOM, i remember to dope him up and then we are ALL happy!! issy continues to learn to read and display massive amounts of creativity daily. she is non-stop talking all day long. she makes up games, stories, plays, songs, dances, etc. she is amazing. but this talking thing gets her into trouble at school. she is still sent to her desk once in awhile because she struggles to keep her talking to a minimum.

emma always has tonz of homework. poor kid. she hates it, which translates into mom hating it too. somehow, we manage to always get it done, but not without tears. she is really smart and enjoys school but when school is over she is done. i don't blame her. i would love to come home after a long day at school and just chill. i feel for her. for relaxation, she has really been into listening to the tennis shoes among the nephite series on cd. as she listens, she sews accessories for her american girl doll or makes crafts out of recycled junk. she is always creating something.

hunter continues to excel in school. ( man i feel like i write the same updates on the kids. when you don't do much, i guess you do write the same thing over and over.) he is not a procrastinater. he is so funny. i will ask him about a project he will be working on and it won't be due for like a week. he is enjoying scouts and is looking forward to going snowshoeing with me and ned. he is going on a trip with the 6th graders to the tetons for a week. so, in preparation we are going to do some snowshoeing. unfortunately there is no snow on the ground around here, so we will have to hit the canyons in search of some snow.

these days i keep busy chasing will around. i teach scouts, which is really fun and help out at the kids' school 2 days a week. we are suppose to put in 30 hours of volunteer time and i have over 60 so far. when i realized that, i stopped volunteering for so many things. however, i still go to help in the classrooms since i made a year commitment. this quarter i volunteered to teach a recylced art class on fridays. it is for 4th-6th graders and lasts 6 weeks. emma is in my class too, so that is great! i also am putting together traveling book bags for the kindergarten class. i select books(3-4) for each bag and then find activities to reinforce literacy skills to put in the bags for the kids to do. it is right up my alley. i love it. i get to be a little creative and organize stuff...the best of both worlds!!

speaking of organizing. i just reorganized my recipes. i am a recipe hog. you know how some people collect shoes or bras? i collect recipes! i need to stop! so, i decided to sort through and get rid of what i never use or will never use. then i made this cute binder labeled, the diapered chef(of, course) and put only recipes in it i have made or think i will make. my goal is to make everything in my binder and if it doesn't pass the family test, or my test, i have to get rid of it. it has been really fun. it makes me try new things and be more creative with my meals. i guess the inspiration kind of came from that movie julie and julia.


well...not much more to blah, blah, blah about, until next time....

OH, except, joy is in the world again...cadbury eggs are back. yum!