Adventure's At the Center's

October Week 2

2018-11-12T18:18:00.001-05:00

Monday, October 8th

To start off this week, I thought I'd share some pictures of the kid's schools that I found on Twitter. I couldn't find any of Jacob yet. But, I'll keep looking. I'm new to this whole Twitter thing, but it seems to be a big deal in our school district, so I guess I better jump on board.

These are the preschool teachers that greet John every day. He thinks the blonde, Miss Sarah is the nost beautiful teacher he has ever seen! Mr. James is his teacher, but each of these teachers help load and unload him from the car every day. They are all nice and help him have a happy day. I'm grateful for that!

They studied the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then acted it out. John was the three plums. He's second from the left in the blue and peach striped shirt.

This was a meeting where Rebekah and her class learned about what they'll be doing at 5th grade camp. She'll be going in November over her birthday.

Here's Rebekah in class with her friend Umi.

Tuesday, October 9th

I love Tuesdays because we don't have a ton of stuff going on after school.

I think Jacob is happy to have time after school too. No more cross country.

John likes to eat yogurt, blueberries and honey as a snack.

Rebekah and her dog are both getting older, but they still love each other.

Today both John and Rebekah played some Halloween learning games I put together. They made Jack-O-Lantern faces out of shapes.

This is Rebekah's cat.

I introduce John to syllables. He played a game where we read a Halloween word and then he built a tower out of unifix cubes showing how many syllables were in the word. He LOVED this game!

Since Rebekah is already great with syllables, she built pictures out of unifix cubes instead.

Thursday, October 11th

Before dance, Rebekah wanted to try her hand at some fun Halloween monster cookies. I think she did a great job!

Everyone enjoyed eating them as a Halloween

dessert with dinner. They were yummy!

Saturday, October 13th

It had been a long time since we had been to Scio to visit John and Kris. We were so excited that we were able to make it there on this day. It was so good to see them, the animals and to be at the farm again!

Grandpa Center opened a new veterinarian clinic. The building he bought was once a bank. The vault is still there and we got to go inside it. It was really cool!

Jacob was hoping to find some leftover money or treasure. No such luck!

They took us to a pumpkin patch and we picked out some pumpkins for each of us. I was surprised by how inexpensive they were in comparison to the pumpkins around our neck of the woods.

Joe had a great time hitting a ball and having Henry and George run to get it.

They did this over and over and over again!

The farm always looks pretty, but I especially love it in the Fall!

We went to get some eggs to cook for lunch. The eggs these chickens produce taste amazing! I'm a little partial to the darling duck.

We helped by picking some apples. I'm not sure we even made a dent in the amount of apples to be picked. There are so many apples on these trees!

We love to visit the farm!

October Week 1

2018-11-06T15:20:00.001-05:00

Monday, October 1st

Joe kept busy making this beautiful drum! He sure is talented! I love watching his excitement as a drum progresses!

John and I went to the library. He loves playing in the children's section with all the toys. It's hard to get him to leave when it's time to go home.

Thursday, October 4

John loves going to preschool! When I found this shirt at Meijer, I just knew he needed it! I'm sure there are lots of great things that happen in preschool! I hear about lots of them from this chatter box of mine!

Sweet Rebekah is always happy to go to school these days. She worked out her friend problems from earlier weeks and chose to rise above it. I like the saying in the background of this picture. It was a good reminder for her on this day.

I always have fun decorating for the holidays. I got a love from this from my mom. I always enjoyed the fun things she would do with our house when I was a child. I hope our children will glean the same from me. Here's a peak at a couple of our Fall/ Halloween decorations. You gotta love the fridge!

John needed something to do after preschool. So we whipped up some worms using spaghetti noodles and food coloring. He really enjoyed this slimy experience!

Another dance day! This is one busy ballerina!

Jacob came straight home from school and got busy playing the piano. He had piano lessons today. In a few weeks, he will begin playing the prelude music in Sacrament Meeting at church. I look forward to hearing that! I'm so glad that he loves to develop this talent!

Saturday, October 6

General Conference Weekend

Today Joe worked on getting this drum ready to ship to the Netherlands. John had fun testing it out with Joe.

I worked all morning for VIPKID. Joe cleaned the house and took Rebekah to dance. Jacob busied himself with some composing using MuseScore.

Before conference began, I attempted a selfie. I'm not sure why...

I was tired from working so early. But hey, I always am, so that's ok.

Here's a highlight of the things we learned in the October 2018 General Conference:

Sunday, October 7

Because General Conference doesn't start until noon here in Ohio, we decided to take a drive to downtown Toledo. Joe wanted to take us on a walk he often goes on when he needs to clear his mind for work. It was beautiful and we had a great time! Toledo has some beautiful spots! You just have to look for them.

Here are a couple good thoughts from General Conference

Thanks for walking through the week with me! See you next week!

September Week 4

2018-10-16T13:43:00.001-04:00

Monday, September 24

This was one of the the days I look forward to! Today was Jacob's cross country meet at the Mary Jane Thurston park in Grand Rapids, Ohio. This is the race where they run through the water as part of the course. It turned out to be a really rainy and wet day. This made the spot where they run through the water super muddy.

Before we went to the meet, John and I made some pumpkin play dough. It turned out to be a really weird concoction. However with some cinnamon, sprinkles and and cookie cutters, he happily played for a long time.

Once Rebekah got home from school we rushed over to Grand Rapids to the cross country meet. I was surprised to learn that this year that we had to park at the marina and then ride a school bus over to the park. Once we got there and tracked down Jacob, we headed over to grab a spot on the bridge so we could watch that part of the races. It was so wet outside. That didn't stop the races. I felt so bad as I watched children lose their shoes while running through the creek. They would get stuck in the creek and the kids would just have to keep running without them.

Jacob hung out with his team while they watch all the different groups run. 8th grade boys were running last. I was happy to get a couple pictures of him during this time. He's really great at cheering his teammates on. This makes me a proud mama.

During the 7th grade boys run, someone from BG got hurt out in the woods while racing. Two ambulances had to come and try to rescue him. They couldn't find him for the longest time. Eventually he was found with a sprained ankle.

Then during the 8th grade girls run, it got really slippery at the incline that they have to run up after running through the creek. Everyone had finished except one girl. They don't start the next race until everyone has crossed the finish line. After about 20 minutes of waiting, the last 7th grade girl came running through the creek. She was very physically fit and I'm thinking being so far behind everyone else was embarrassing to her. There were probably close to 100 people surrounding the bridge area when she ran through the creek. By this time, the incline was extremely slippery. As she proceeded to attempt the incline, she fell hard and flat on her face. Covered from head to toe in mud, she got up and tried over and over and over and OVER again. I could see tears streaming down her face. I yelled out that someone needed to help her. But Joe explained that if someone did that, she would be disqualified. I noticed that people were cheering her on. Eventually, all muddy, battered and bruised, she was able to get to the top and go on to finish the race. That's when the crowed erupted into cheers. We were all so happy for her that she was able to succeed. This experience made me think of our own lives and the lives of those we love. We all have so many hard things we have to go through. I want to take the pain away from those I love. But I can't. Those trials belong to them. I can't make them disappear. But I realized that we have so many cheerleaders both here on earth and also those we can't see on the other side of the veil. When we are going through a tough time, we can remember that they really are there cheering us on. I envision a time when I leave the trials of this life and arrive in the next all bruised and beat up from the hard times of mortal life, that there will be a crowd cheering that I was able to make it. How grateful I am to know there are people I love cheering me on! I hope I can remember to always be that kind of person for those whose paths cross mine. I'm sad this happened to this young girl, but I am thankful for the lesson I learned today!

John loved hanging out on the bridge and throwing rocks in the water.

After all the drama in the earlier races surrounding the water and incline, I was worried about Jacob. But thankfully, he did just fine.

Jacob placed at the race and that made him happy. I'm glad Joe was able to make it before Jacob's race had even started. It made for a late evening, but a really good day all around.

I love seeing Jacob so happy! Cross Country has been a great activity for him!

Tuesday, September 25

It was an overcast and somewhat gloomy day. However, I like Tuesdays. We have no other commitments after cross country is over and that is kind of nice.

John had fun gathering leaves from the neighbors trees to make leaf rubbings. We only have one tree in our yard, but I don't think they care if we use some of their leaves. He had never done this before and thought it was pretty fun.

I love seeing how he wrote his name all by himself. It's so cute!

I made our favorite pumpkin cookies. We got this recipe from Rebekah's first preschool a long time ago. I snapped a picture to share the recipe. I hope you can read it. It's a little blurry. Sorry about that! I always cook them quite a bit longer than the 10 minutes it calls for. I guess I forgot to take a picture of someone eating me. But trust me, they are really good!

Rebekah wasn't having the best day. She was having friend problems at school. This can be a really hard time of life dealing with friends. Rebekah and I had quite a few heart to hearts. I'm so thankful that she is willing to open up to me and tell me about her problems. I hope she always feels like I'm approachable and ready to listen. That's what I tried to do instead of lecture. I just tried to listen instead and let her come to her own conclusion. And guess what?!? It worked. She figured things out on her own through prayer and following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. My own prayers were answered and I'm happy to say that she's smiling again. She also stayed home from school and had to go to the doctor because she had an ear infection. Medicine thankfully, helped with that. She's feeling better all around now.

Jacob enjoys spending his free time composing his own music on Muse Score. He's really good at it too!

Thursday, September 27

I have been training a lady from Maryland via Skype helping her prepare to interview with VIPKID. We've spent a lot of hours together. She's been needing a lot of assistance and it's taken a lot of time. If she would have passed her interview, and had been hired, I would have gotten $100 for recruiting her. Unfortunately she was not hired. I think she interviewed with them before she was ready. After spending all that time with her, I was disappointed not to be paid. However, I met someone new and was able to minister to her in my own unique way.

John and I had fun drawing on coffee filters and them spraying them with a water bottle. It's fun to watch the colors spread out and blend together. I used a toilet paper roll and attached the ones I made to it to form an autumn tree. It turned out really cute. If I can find a picture of the final product, I will add it here.

Saturday, September 29

It was a work morning for me. Joe and John went to Napoleon to watch Jacob's cross country meet and Rebekah had Miriam Ministry dance. When he got home, Joe spent time working on building a drum in the garage. He also got to go to the Cady's house. They had cut down their pear tree. Jim had offered Joe the wood. So Jacob and Joe went over and picked it up. There was a lot of wood! I think Joe plans to make another drum with it. After they collected the wood, we decided to go to Krep's Apple Barn up in Michigan. It has become a family tradition. Jacob was worn out, so we let him stay home. We missed his company though.

John had a great time playing with the corn table.

He didn't ever want to leave this spot.

We decided to pick a bushel. We got two different kinds of apples, but I can't remember what they were. Rebekah and John were very good helpers.

We tried to take a selfie. Our skills are a bit lacking, but at least we're all in the picture. I was really missing Jacob. Next year he's coming!

While I waited in line for our fresh cider doughnuts to be made, Joe and the kids went out to the play yard. The doughnuts smelled so good being cooked. I wish I had their fancy machine. I look forward to eating some every year!

September Week 3

2018-10-15T14:09:00.001-04:00

Jacob loves to play the piano and he does it all the time - wherever there is a piano he seems drawn to it these days. So to begin our weekly review, I'd thought I'd share a little video I did of him practicing one of his songs. I am thankful he would let me film it, even though this isn't a perfect performance. He's a very talented guy! And even when his piano playing gets a little loud, I'm still grateful for his willingness to share his talents with the rest of us.

Monday, September, 17

This was another busy week for us! Monday start off with a bang.

Jacob had cross country practice until 4:30. They worked him really hard. He didn't even feel like showering wen he got home. All he wanted to do was play Super Smash Bros. I love his happy contented smile here.

Rebekah headed off to Junior Dance Company with a spring in her step. She is loving Black Swamp Fine Arts School and her teachers there.

John loves preschool, but by the afternoon, he gets really tired! He especially loves this shirt he's wearing. He squeals with delight whenever he learns that he gets to wear it. :)

Tuesday, September 18

You might remember that John really wanted crystals and diamonds for his birthday. He had to work really hard to excavate them from the stone that came in the kit we purchased for his birthday. He fine gave up using the delicate tools that were provided in the kit. It was taking too long. Instead he asked me to use the hammer his grandparents gave him. It was a great idea because within an hour they had all been found. He was very happy! There certainly was fine, dusty powder all over the kitchen! I'm not sure what we're going to do with all these "crystals and diamonds", but they are fun to look at!

Jacob and Daniel hung out together after cross country practice. They seem to be pretty good buds.

Rebekah and John got a little restless, so I sent them up to the toy room to play. I found them a few minutes later having fun playing this game. I think it's called Finder's Keepers. Not sure. But I do know they were having fun and not fighting. That was a win in my book.

We had some extra peaches that needed to get used. So when Joe got home from work he decided to make a peach cobbler. YUM!

Thursday, September 20

John woke up obsessed with band-aids. Through out the course of the day, I think he went through an entire box of them. He did indeed have a scratch, but it didn't warrant a band-aid. He went to school with a blue one.

When he got home from school I gave him some widow clings to decorate his room with. I let him put them wherever he wanted. He loved them! I think it took him an hour to get them just right. He was so pleased with his creation, that he asked me to take two pictures of his window display.

Thursdays have turned into the day that John and I spend a couple hours driving Jacob and Rebekah all around town. John reads, watches the tablet and plays with toys while I drive and multitask on the phone. I love this silly picture of Jacob. He had just hopped in the car after a grueling cross country practice. I think this clearly shows how wasted he felt.

John took a little break while Jacob hopped in the shower to be ready for piano. I think he is about to outgrow the John Deere tractor! He's just getting so big! I love how he has the trumpet on the floor next to him!

Back in the car we went. We dropped off Jacob at piano lessons and went to get Rebekah at dance. Be sure to notice the different band-aid. He was changing them all day long!

Here's a closeup of our band-aid obsessed boy. :)

Sunday, September 23

John had a great playing with his train all weekend. He wrangled Jacob and Joe into building one train track after another and the rest of us tripped over it all weekend. I love looking at these pictures and seeing how happy he was.

September Week 2

2018-09-27T13:10:00.003-04:00

Tuesday September 11th

First off I want to mention that although my children will not remember the events of September 11, 2001, I do. I was on my mission then. It changed life as we know it forever. I spent a small part of the day watching YouTube video clips and remembering. Through this tragedy, I saw a unification of the people in the area of Stockton California where I was serving at the time.

On to the fun stuff....

John really wanted to go to Chucky Cheese for his birthday. We decided to wait a few days, much to his dismay so that there would be less crowds and so that we could get a discount. Both worked out perfectly. That pizza is expensive and not very good at all! But John and Rebekah had a blast! They got so many tickets and a lot of little trinkets with their tickets. I remember how fun it was for me to visit this place as a child. Joe followed Jacob around and I went back and forth between Rebekah who was fast and furiously getting as many tickets as she could and checking on Jacob who was enjoying a lot of rootbeer and listening to his ipod. :)

We hadn't told John about the arcade. When he walked in and saw it, you would have thought he'd died and gone to heaven. He was SO EXCITED!!!

I know it's silly, but it was very important to me that all three kids have their picture taken in the car with Chuck E at one of their birthday parties. Mission completed!

Rebekah was intense with her time. They each had 45 minutes on their game card and she didn't want to waste a second. It was pretty cute!

Here's the loot!

Here's a peek at the fun:

Thursday, September 13th

John is thriving at preschool. Every day he comes home so happy and ready to show me what he's learned. It makes this mama's heart happy! Today he had green day at school. Everyone was supposed to wear a green shirt. They had been reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar and doing activities centered around that story all week. He was thrilled to show me the caterpillar he made in class!

He chomped away at his sucker from Chick E Cheese.

We had a Relief Society activity that evening. It was a get to know you theme. Each auxiliary had an activity prepared to do with the group. The young women were also invited. We were supposed to bring a treat to share. I attempted to make some bread. The recipe sounded so wonderful. It looked wonderful going into the oven to cook. However, it tasted awful. It was so bad that we ended up throwing it away. How sad!

Thursday afternoons are so busy. John and I spend 2 and half solid hours driving Jacob and Rebekah back and forth from school to dance to cross country practice, back home, back to dance, over to piano and back home again. I've learned to bring the tablet for John to watch a show while we wait and I listen to an audio book. On this day I was listening to the third book in the Matched series by Ally Condie.

Once the kids were home, I was off to Relief Society. We had a great turn out! The activities were a lot of fun and I think we got to know each other a little better. I would call the evening a success!

Saturday, September 15th

We had a very busy, but good day! I began work at 5 am. Thankfully there was no cross country meet for Jacob. However, Rebekah had her Miriam Ministry dance class in the morning. Joe carted her back and forth from that. He also did some house cleaning in preparation for John and Kris' visit later that day.

We were so happy to see them. They made the trip over from Scio to wish our John a happy birthday. He was so excited with the tool kit they gave him! The tools are pint sized versions of the real thing. They are so kind! We really love having them come for a visit. We just wish they could stay longer.

After John and Grandpa John broke open this geod john got for his birthday from his friend Brody, we all went for a walk over at Wintergarden. It was a VERY HUMID day for a walk!

Sunday, September 16th

Need a handyman???

I know a guy!

September Week One

2018-09-11T14:53:00.004-04:00

Labor Day Weekend!!
AND A 4TH BIRTHDAY!!!

Saturday - Monday, September 1-3

I put exclamation marks up above, but really we didn't do anything exciting. Joe worked on finishing the drum he's been working on building for a LONG time. Every time he would get to a certain point, the special finish that the guy wanted to be used would mess everything up. Or, there was that one day went a Nerf gun accidentally went flying into it and dented it. But the guilty shall remain nameless. Joe finally convinced the guy buying the drum (who lives in the Netherlands) that the finish just wasn't going to work on this type of wood. Joe fixed the dent and sanded it back down to it's natural state and it turned out beautifully!!

Here's another picture of a different drum Joe made for the same guy. Check out the middle of this one!!!

The kids enjoyed time off from school. There was a lot of time spent playing with neighborhood friends and working on individual projects. After taking these silly pictures, we decided that all three boys in this house needed a haircut. Thankfully, Joe's and Jacob's heads of hair weren't quite as long as John's.

I kept busy working for VIPKID. Saturdays are a big day for me. I teach four hours straight. It doesn't seem like a lot until you actually do it. Teaching children can be draining. I was very thankful to take a nap on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was a busy day as well. With Joe in the bishopric and me as Relief Society President, we both have to be at early morning meetings every Sunday. Joe leaves first. Then I get John and myself ready. Plus I have to help Rebekah do her hair. Then John and I join Joe and the others at Ward Council Meeting. I'm very proud of Jacob and Rebekah for handling themselves so well at home while we're gone. And John does a pretty good job sitting in a corner and watching Blue's Clues while we're in our meeting. I hope he isn't too distracting. But what else can we do? On this particular Sunday I had created the monthly calendar for the Relief Society Sisters. I made sure to try to hand deliver it to all that were in attendance at church. Here's a look at it:

I included a ministering calendar to give them ideas of things they could do each day of the month to minister to others. It was a lot more work than it looks like. I hope they found it all useful. I was able to learn how to upload it onto our Facebook page and email it to people. So hopefully that reached even more people. I felt very accomplished learning so many techy things. :)

I also got to lead the Relief Society First Sunday Council Meeting. The topic we decided on as a presidency was "How can I do everything asked of me and not get overwhelmed." I think that the discussion went well. I hope it did! I began reminding the sisters of how these meetings are to proceed. I used this quote and we talked about it before diving into out monthly topic. I really wanted this day to be a day of discussion among all of us and not just me up there giving a lesson. I asked key questions throughout the discussion and acted as moderator and let them have the floor. I hope they learned as much as I did that hour!

Sunday afternoons Joe and I have begun a new tradition. We leave the kids for about 45 minutes and just go for a drive. It's good for us to get out of the house and away from the kids and just talk. We have really enjoyed this time alone together. I hope we will continue this. Maybe it won't always be a drive, but something alone together where we can talk. That can't be hard to do with three kids, a dog and a cat. And I think we come home as better parents.

Monday, September 3

Labor Day

Monday was more of the same. Everyone got to sleep in a bit. That was most appreciated! They had no idea I snapped this shot. I think it's so cute how John still loves and needs to snuggle. We'll blink and he will have grown.

Joe made his famous burgers and everyone was happy, so were their tummies! We did listen to a great talk by Elder Holland as a family. This talk was given at a BYU Devotional back in the early 1980's I believe. He gave it before he was an apostle. We all loved it and would recommend it to anyone!

Jacob worked on an art project for school. Everyone else is drawing 10 buildings. He decided to draw all of Manhattan. I think he has his work cut out for him. But I also know how focused and talented he is. He also spent some time playing Super Smash Bros on the Wii with his buddy Daniel.

And John spent the day building Lego guns like this one.

Wednesday, September 5

Wednesday afternoons have become Relief Society presidency meeting days. We had a double ministering meeting today. There's so much to learn and so many people to be contacted. I'm thankful that I can delegate and have great counselors and secretaries. This would be impossible without their wonderful help!

Rebekah has really been enjoying her dance classes! She is learning so much and making new friends along the way. She takes 4 classes a week which is a lot. On Wednesdays she has Pre Pointe class. I snapped these pictures of her right before leaving to go to class. I had her facing the sun. Oops!

The rest of the day was busy with church stuff. Joe and Jacob had scouts and Rebekah had activity days.

Jacob had a cross country meet scheduled, but it was cancelled because it was so hot out. In fact for both Tuesday and Wednesday school let out early due to heat. I'm really glad that John was able to go to school. The afternoon preschool classes were cancelled both days.

Also on this day, I realized John's birthday was in 2 days and if I was going to get some presents ordered, I needed to do that today. Here's what I posted on Facebook:

Hi everyone! John's birthday is on Friday. He will be turning four. There are only two things he wants for his birthday. #1 A trumpet #2 diamonds and crystals mined from a cave. Hmm.... Does anyone close by happen to have a junky old trumpet they don't want any more? I'm willing to pay a bit, but probably not more than $10 because it will NEVER get played. I just thought I'd ask before I head out to the mines to dig for crystals and diamonds. 🎶 Heigh Ho, heigh ho, it's off to work I go! 🎶

While no one had an actual trumpet to offer, I was given some great suggestions and within 30 minutes I had his gifts ordered and on their way. Gotta love modern technology and helpful folks full of suggestions.

John loved taking granola bar birthday snacks to school.

Friday, Sept 7

John's birthday!! He's 4!!??!!

The big day arrived!! Rebekah had stayed up extra late to decorate John's room full of balloons. I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of it! So does Rebekah!! In the hustle and bustle of fishing work and then switching gears to get people out the door for work and school, I forgot. It was really cute though! She had made a maze with the balloons all throughout John's bedroom. It was very thoughtful of her and John loved it!

He was very proud to be 4 and kept telling me that soon hos voice is going to get deeper. (Well yes, but hopefully not too soon! )

He had requested a Paw Patrol Birthday party. (He meant decorations.) He was so excited to be greeted with this site first thing in the morning!!

After everyone went to school, I was sure to take his birthday picture outside. That's become a tradition with the kids. His turned out so cute!!

When I asked him if there was anything special he's like to do for his birthday, his reply was "Mom, I would REALLY like to clean the toilet today!! Please mom!!!" Of course there was no way I could say no to that birthday request. And bonus, I got a clean toilet! Silly boy!

He also requested that I take him to Kroger to buy a $2 on clearance Light Saber, and some band aids. He wore a happy birthday crown and his happy birthday shirt. As I carted him around the store, people kept wishing him a happy birthday. He would have them guess how old he was, followed by asking folks how old they were. For the most part, people were kind about it. When I asked him what he wanted for a birthday dinner, he request to go to Chuck E Cheese. I felt bad telling him we would have to delay that trip a few days. I know he's been wanting to go there for months. However, I had forgotten that Jacob had promised to tend someone in our ward while his parents went to the the high school football game. We didn't want Jacob to miss out on the fun. So John settled for a Box of Fruity Pebbles for dinner. (I never buy it anymore, it's so sugary!) He called it his birthday cereal.

The minute everyone was home, John was READY to open presents!! He was very excited about his trumpet, robot and crystal kit from mom, dad and his siblings! This trumpet is great! It's not too loud and obnoxious!

He also loved his remote control robot car from Grandpa and Grandma Olsen. I still need to take a picture of that. I did remember to take a picture of John with his cousins, Abel and Samuel. (It's just their photographs, but he was thrilled!) He loves these two boys and talks about them daily. And he's only met Abel once when they were babies.

Once the presents were opened, I presented the family with John's choice for dinner, the Fruity Pebbles cereal. Instead of that, we opted to go to a hole in the wall place here in town called Kermits. It cheap and decent food. They gave John free butterscotch pie. He was happy!

Jacob had to rush to his appointment, but the rest of us sang to John and ate cake. Then he spent the rest of the evening outside with his neighbor friends. I think he had a wonderful day! We sure are blessed to have this wonderful boy in our family! He's the best!!

WE LOVE YOU
JOHN ALLEN CENTER!!!!!!!

Back To School 2018

2018-09-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year once more...

Eighth Grade Fifth Grade Preschool

School has begun! This has been so exciting for the kids and so rejuvenating for me! John had a staggered start, and almost every evening we had parent-teacher meetings and such, but the two extra (and quiet) hours during the day have given me the time I have needed to handle all that is coming my way. I have been able to concentrate on my Relief Society calling, take a nap here and there and just breathe. It has been a happy new beginning for everyone!

Here's the bus stop gang. The bus comes right in front of our house. John didn't want to be in the picture. Our kids have fun neighbor friends!

Left to Right: Rebekah, Claire, Max, Alex, Anna, Aaron, Nora

One more shot of my cuties who are growing up so quickly!!!

END of AUGUST

2018-09-10T18:59:00.001-04:00

At some point I want to do a recap of all the fun we've had this summer. We were able to see lots of our family and travel to some wonderful places. For now, in the interest of moving forward, I will begin with the events that rounded out August for us.

Jacob began his second year of cross country. Although he doesn't jump up and down with excitement, I think he really enjoys running. Coach Williams and Coach Krupp are really great coaches. They are also moms and they know how to push the kids just enough and also keep the kids happy. Jacob spent a week in August running in Bowling Green's nature preserve called "Wintergarden". It's a beautiful spot. He lucked out because each morning was cool, which is a nice change from the hot humid weather we experienced. Jacob is the big man on campus this year. I can't believe he's an 8th grader. He got all the classes he wanted and was especially excited to see Art class on his schedule. He will continue to play percussion in the band. He also continues to have piano lessons once a week. On the day of orientation we went to check out his locker and find his classes. He was excited because the eighth grade has a brand new wing that was built this past year. Being an eighth grader also means that he gets a full size locker. However, as you can see, he's still taller than the locker. Holy cow!

Jacob has been busy serving as the Deacon's Quorum President in our ward. His leader, Brother Richter has been very good about having Jacob plan things and be in charge of lessons and getting the other guys out to the activities. I think that's really helped his leadership skills grow.

During this time there were lots of trips back and forth to Walmart to get school supplies. It still baffles me as to why they require the parents to provide so MANY things. I feel justified in saying that, because when I was a teacher, I was the one who had to provide a lot of the items. My opinion is that the school should provide more things. I believe we spent around $250 in school supplies for the three kids and that's not including the $100 calculator we have yet to purchase for Jacob. Enough complaining... Back to the good stuff....

Rebekah decided to switch dance studios. She will now be attending the Black Swamp Fine Arts School. She had an audition/evaluation to see where she should be placed. The owner/director of the studio was wonderful with Rebekah. She basically gave her a 45 minute private lesson. She learned more in that 45 minutes than she has the past two years. That was the selling point for Joe and I. We got her cello ordered for 5th grade orchestra. She was so excited and wanted to pick it up early. However, we opted to follow the teacher's advice and have it delivered to the school with all the other student instruments. Rebekah enjoyed lots of time playing with her good friends from the ward, Charlotte and Lydia Mullins. I also heard Rebekah practice the piano quite a bit. She can play "I Believe in Christ" really well. We spent one Saturday afternoon at the dance shop getting new ballet slippers and a leotard. Rebekah was accepted into the Junior Ballet Company. She had a big decision to make about whether she wanted to take a regular ballet dance class and tap class, or accept the ballet company invitation. (The ballet company meets 2 times a week, plus there's a pre pointe class). She wanted to do it all, but agreed that there just aren't enough days in a week to do everything. She chose to join the ballet company. That means more taxi driving for this mom, but I think she made a great choice. She was also invited to join a Miriam Ministry dance group. This is a small group of girls that meets together each Saturday through mid December. It's a free class where they do Bible Study and are taught how to share their gift of dance by ministering to others. There are only 9 girls allowed in this class, so it's wonderful Rebekah was invited! This is such a refreshing approach after all the inappropriate costumes and dance moves we have experienced at other studios!
I'm sure we will learn more about this and she moves forward.

John was beyond excited to go to his preschool open house and meet his teacher, Mr. James. John will be attending Conneaut Elementary with Rebekah. Going four times a week will surely keep him busy! He is more than ready to join the big kids in school stuff! He packed up not only one, but two backpacks of all the things he thought he would need for school. Luckily we were able to convince him that most of the stuff could be left at home. John enjoyed lots of time jumping on the trampoline in the backyard with the neighbor kids. He's also put to good use his sandbox and slide.

Here's a shot of John with Mr. James at the preschool open house. They both like Star Wars, so I think it's going to be a perfect fit!

The end of August brought some big changes for Joe and I. After working for Anspach Law for seven years, Joe moved to a differene firm. He's now working for Gallagher and Sharp in Toledo. It's actually just across the street from his other office. It was a good move for him in a lot of ways. There have been some hiccups adjusting from one way of being paid to another, but we're making it through. Here's his bio from Gallagher Sharp. I think it looks very nice!

I've been busy being a mom and keeping track of kids and life and dinner and stuff. You know, the mom stuff. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing ok with all the mom stuff. But, I'm definitely giving it my best shot. I have been working almost every morning before the crack of dawn at my job with VIPKID. I teach Elementary school to children in China. I've actually been teaching for just shy of a year now. I get up most mornings by 4am. It can be pretty draining, but I do enjoy the opportunity to teach. The children I teach are great. I've learned a lot and the extra income is such a blessing to our family. Oh yes! One other thing... I was also made the Relief Society President of our ward. So with these things all combined, I'm a very busy lady as of late. Even busier than before.

And that brings us to Back to School. But I will save that for the next post.

Later Gator! :)

Cute Little Stinker!

2018-08-24T11:33:00.001-04:00

Just thirty minutes ago, this conversation with John occurred:

John: Mom! Please come over here and give me a hug!
Me: Sure John! I love hugs from you. (I start to hug him.)
John: Well actually, I just said that to get you over here. What I really want is some ice cream.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. Silly, smart boy!

Hello Old Friend....

2018-08-24T11:22:00.001-04:00

I haven't written here for a year and a half. I have neglected this little piece of my world. I took some time away to dabble in our You Tube Channel. Then I got too busy even for that. About two weeks ago I found myself back here on Adventures At The Centers. As I browsed through past posts I realized just how special this family blog is. I was saddened that I had been away to long knowing that I couldn't relive the precious moments the past year and a half has held. I could feel guilty and attempt to document that time - play catch up. But I'm not going to. Not now. However, I am committing to starting anew. I know it will be worth it. So here I sit on a Friday morning ready to share my thoughts and the comings and goings of our family. Stay tuned!
-Angie

One Of My Favorite Places

2016-04-06T15:22:00.002-04:00

Studio C

2016-04-06T14:29:00.001-04:00

This is a sample of what Jacob and Rebekah love to watch these days. It's a show called Studio C. It's a production of BYU. I'm thankful for Studio C because I know that they are watching clean comedy. It's pretty goofy stuff and totally up their alley.

Geocaching

2016-04-06T13:14:00.003-04:00

Over Spring Break we found a new hobby. Geocaching. We love it! It's a real live treasure hunt where the hunt is better than the treasure. Our first find was in the sewer pipe of a church. Gross! We had so much fun and the kids didn't want to go home.

At our last stop of the day, a nature trails park, we ran into some friends from church. Angelina even helped us search for the cache. It's too bad that we couldn't find it. We think the world of the Repkas! They are great people. I wish Jerri would have been there so I could have snagged her picture too. John LOVES her!

Cleveland Day Trip

2016-04-06T11:08:00.001-04:00

The Easter bunny showed up on the Saturday before Easter this year. It was fun to have an egg hunt and enjoy that on Saturday so that on Saturday we could focus our thoughts on the the Savior.

Instead of toys and games, the Easter bunny brought the kids new swimming suits and two day trips. The note said that the first trip was to Cleveland for lunch and a visit to the Natural History Museum. The other day trip was a trip to an indoor water park. We ended up get ready really fast and heading straight to Cleveland. The other trip will be taken next week.

We had fun eating at a place that has been featured a few times on Food Network shows. It's a good thing we got there early. We beat the crowds. They had some interesting sandwiches. Rebekah ate a lasagna sandwich! It was a yummy time for all of us. Once our stomachs were full, we headed to the museum.

Joe was really excited for us to visit this museum. He has fond memories of coming here with his family when he was younger. He was sad to see that the Stegosaurus that he always loved seeing out front had been removed. We spent the next three hours exploring.

We ended the trip by watching an Elmo movie about the stars in the planetarium. John was thrilled. Jacob - not so much.

We love spending time together as a family and exploring. It was a great day!

Thank you Easter bunny!!!

Decorating Easter Eggs 2016

2016-04-06T10:55:00.001-04:00

Jacob's friend Grant came over to hang out, watch Studio C, eat pizza and ice cream and decorate Easter eggs a couple days before Easter. I thought I'd be nice and get them decorated before Joe came home from work. He's not a big fan of messes. This year, besides the regular food coloring and vinegar dye, we tried a couple other ways. We put rice and food coloring in a plastic container along with the egg. Then we shook it carefully until the egg had color on it. This was especially great for John because then he didn't get as messy. They turned out really neat! We also tried rolling the eggs in Cool Whip that had been swirled with food coloring. I wanted to get some pictures of the eggs, but with all those kids in the house, it got a little crazy. I'm glad Jacob has such a good buddy. We need to have him over more often!

Capturing Jacob

2016-04-06T10:48:00.000-04:00

These days, it's hard for me to get pictures of Jacob. He doesn't like his picture to be taken. He's really fast at moving away from the camera. But on this particular day late in March I was able to snap a couple pictures of our boy a.k.a. "The Flash". YES!

St. Patrick's Day 2016

2016-04-06T10:44:00.000-04:00

I'll let the pictures do the talking. It was a fun day!

Dentist Trip

2016-04-05T19:22:00.001-04:00

All three kids had their checkups at the dentists. This was John's first time. I didn't get pictures of the other two because they are older and parents aren't allowed back with them. John survived, although he put up a bit of a fight. No one had cavities - hooray! We did learn something interesting. Both Jacob and Rebekah are missing some teeth. And Jacob has a baby tooth like Joe that might always be there. All in all the visit went well. After we were done, we celebrated no cavities by going to the library. Yeah, we're cool parents like that.

Lots More Pictures of John

2016-04-05T19:18:00.000-04:00

John really wants to be big like his brother and sister and go to school. Here's a peek of what he does while they're doing their big kid things...

John likes to eat at Chick-Fil-A

Naps are great!

Watching Sesame Street is necessary. His favorite episode is all about the letter I and the word incognito. I'd be happy to recite the episode word for word for you and sing all the songs for you if you'd like. I've heard it at least 30 times.

He likes to play with his toes. A lot.

It's a big job being a toddler, but somebody's gotta do it. Thank you John! Keep up the great work!

Just Remember...

2016-04-05T19:12:00.001-04:00

Bowling With My Boys

2016-04-05T18:58:00.002-04:00

Rebekah had a birthday party at the bowling alley for one of her friends. I thought it

would be fun to take the boys bowling since we were already going to be there.

It was on a Saturday when Joe was at work. I can't say it was the easiest bowling adventure I've ever been on. At first John wouldn't let me put him down so I had to bowl while holding him. Talk about a back ache. People kept commenting to me that they'd never seen anything quite like that. After a while he was comfortable to get down. I'm not sure that was any easier. John kept walking on other people's lanes and would then slip and fall. I'm just glad no one let their ball go down the lane while he was in their way. That could have been bad. By the end I just took John up to our table and let Jacob bowl for everyone. I think Jacob liked that until he bowled better for John and John won. I explained to Jacob that it didn't matter because he was the only one playing. But that didn't make a difference to Jacob. Oh well, what's a mom to do?!? It got a bit stressful. As we were paying at the end of bowling, the owner must have felt my stress and felt bad for me. She gave me three free passes to come back on another day. Probably not without Joe. Rebekah had fun at her party. Now that it's all in the past, I can look back and say, "Hey that was fun!" I'm not sure I would have said it on that day. The past is in the past. At least that's what they say on the movie Frozen. :)

Uh Oh!

2016-04-05T14:16:00.001-04:00

When dad goes to High Council meetings on Thursday nights, sometimes John has fun making big messes in the bathroom. After he finished dumping out all the baby powder, he looked at me and said, "Uh Oh!". I agreed. At the same time I giggled. We are fast approaching the "terrible twos". Messes are everywhere in our house these days and I'm thankful for them.

Nursery Boy

2016-04-05T14:12:00.001-04:00

Our baby is growing up. And the last time we were at church, he actually stayed in nursery all by himself the whole time. He was very sad, but he made it! These pictures below was a different Sunday. I just had to capture how darling he looked in his suit sitting at the snack table with all his nursery friends. Where does the time go?

Who Will I Vote For??

2016-04-05T14:08:00.003-04:00

I have no idea. Ugh!!!

Crazy Hair Day

2016-04-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

Rebekah had Crazy Hair day in February. She really wanted to do something unique. I though this bun hawk style was pretty unique. The poor girl's head hurt by the end of the day, but she sure had a lot of fun at school!