In case you're wondering.

The site I got my last background from has had to quit. She was unwittingly using copy-written pages for the backgrounds that she had the right to use for her own blog but not to use in creating backgrounds and letting others use. Bummer.

No big deal

My 37th birthday came and went and I am no worse for the wear. (It is increasingly difficult to rise at 6:15 in the morning with everything working right as soon as I wake.)
In my family we always ask what you did for your birthday, as though it is occasion to do things that only happen on this one day a year. Well, that may be the case sometimes, but not this year. The girls made me a card before going to school. I did laundry and running around, found this beautiful arrangement at the door when I got home, did homework when the girls got home and when I went to prepare dinner I realized I hadn't gotten the fixings out of the freezer. So I decided that Joel and I were going out for sushi. That didn't take long and we stopped by Cold Stone for an ice cream cake and headed home to let the girls share with us before going to bed. That's it. There wasn't even anything I specifically wanted this year. (Hence the flowers.)
I get birthday excitement at least four times a year with the girls birthdays and since I don't take charge for my birthday..... (Of course, I'm 37. At some point I suppose you outgrow Princess themed parties. Although I wonder what the reaction would be if I threw myself a party and had a theme like that. Ooooo, something to think about.)
Birthdays are important. They are the one time a year that I have the opportunity to acknowledge and remember someone individually instead of lumped with other people on my Christmas list, or in prayers at Thanksgiving. Thanks to Pops and CC for their card, to Lolly and Lee for their e-card, Mom for the phone call, Cami and Britnee for their e-mails, Mandy for her phone call and the gift of a night out with her, a visit from our Relief Society presidency this past Sunday, Happy Birthday wishes from friends that I ran into or talked to on the phone yesturday, the girls for my card and to Joel for the flowers.

Service

This last Sat. our stake conducted a huge service project. There were places all over the city that you could volunteer at for service. We chose an elementary school in an older and more run down part of town. All of us went and we ended up on a cleaning crew. I've never heard of cleaning outside equipment, but we did what we were asked and you should have seen this slide once Tersa and Joel were done with it. It looked almost new. After cleaning the equipment and while Joel and Tersa were rinsing it, the girls and I were asked to wipe down 4 benches in a common area. The benches sit under trees and birds perch in the trees, so the benches become unpleasant to sit in. Not a great job and the little girls were a bit grossed out at first, but hopefully, the benches were sit ready for sitting on when everyone came to school on Mon.
I'm so proud of how well the girls worked. We all kept going for the 2 1/2 hours we were there with only a bit of a break while Joel rinsed. My girls did better than older kids who came with their parents and ran around most of the time!!

Shinara goes to PRESCHOOL

No it's not you. I had the camera on the wrong setting when I took this and by the time I fixed it she had plopped herself down behind a shelf. The first picture gave a better idea of one part of the preschool so I included it anyway!
The point is, that we have enrolled Shinara in a preschool that only goes for 1 1/2 hours and is done in a nearby High School. We found out that there were some openings and I took her yesturday to see if we could get in and to show her the environment. They invited us to stay and when I told her we needed to go and was about to ask if she would be interested in going to preschool, she asked if she could come tommorrow. That answered my question. She was so excited to tell sisters and told Joel about it this morning. They only do classes T,W and Th, much to Shinara's dismay. And perhaps I will be able to use the time to volunteer in the other girls classes. Regardless, she loves it!!!

Let the Birthdays Begin!!

Before Joel and I were married, there were a lot of birthdays in my family between the months of October and November. That increased with the combining of the families. Now, don't anyone get offended that I don't post everyones birthday and maybe I can be more diligent, it's just that there is such a concentration of them at this time of year for us that it is almost comical! Here goes.
Happy Birthday to:
(OCT.) -8
Michelle (sister-in-law)-6th, Quinn (my brother)-7th, Pops (my Dad)-9th, Lolly (Joel's mom)-11th, Gary (Joel's Dad)-12th, Micah (my brother)-14th, Tuesdi-16th, Jared (Joel's brother)-31st
(Nov.)- 10
Coulter(Joel's brother)-4th, Lance (Brother-in-law), Jaden (nephew) & Meghan (neice) -5th, Lee (Lolly's husband)-8th, Shae (my brother)-11th, Jamin (Joel's brother)-13th, Caleb (my brother)- 24th, Shawn (Joel's brother)-25th, Mitchel (Joel's brother)-28th

Joel's, Zach's, Kaden's and Travis' are in December and Mardi, Mary and Shelby are in Jan. I suppose with such a large family this is to be expected. I think I will compile a complete years list because now that I think about it, I think there is a high concentration of birthdays around May too! Anyway, Happy birthday to everyone!!!