'P' is for Pirates and Princesses

We had preschool featuring the letter 'P' and what better things to talk about when there are 2 boys and 2 girls at school--Pirates and Princesses. We even took pictures. We had a fun day. (The day before we made pink popcorn balls and popcorn popping on the apricot tree.)

Baseball Fever

Cooper had his first practice for baseball on Wed. April 22nd. Chris took him over for their 1 hour and 45 minute practice--a little long for 5 year olds--but he loved it all the same. He is on the Indians. Cooper loved it so much, he slept in his uniform. He reminds me a lot of Chris with his enthusiasm for sports. Chris has many uniforms and I think he would sleep in them too if I let him.

Peeing in the yard is a No No!!

This morning my neighbor, Erik, an Airforce OSI agent, called and said, "some guy just peed on the side of your house!"
"What?! A guy just peed on my house?" questioned Sallie.
"Not on your house, but on the side yard," replied Erik.
"Are you kidding?!" said the stunned Sallie.
"No. It was the guy delivering Naturally Chinese restaurant flyers. I yelled at him 'Hey what do you think you're doing?! and he said 'don't speak English' as he walked away. Are you going to call the police?" asked Erik.
"Yes!" Sallie said emphatically.

Well, I did just that. I called the dispatch and told the lady that a man just urinated in our yard while delivering flyers for a restaurant. I told her that I thought that it was totally sick and wrong for someone to do that. She quite agreed and had already dispatched an officer. Erik was the eye witness and filled out the report and the man who "didn't speak English" received a ticket for urinating in public.

Spring Cleaning and other things...

I love Spring! I get that Spring cleaning bug and the "let's do a project or two" bug. I haven't started with the real cleaning yet, but I have started my projects. I painted our front door, the kick plate, outside banister, storm door, and the 3 outside lights. I know they aren't totally professional looking, but they sure look better than they did and it has only cost me a few bucks instead of a lot of bucks. My outside lights actually cost me $1 for a can of copper metallic spray paint that I bought on clearance. I love a good deal! The actual cost of projects for me is the time that I spend outside and not on the inside--my sink is full of dirty dishes that I need to do before I go to bed!

Crying over spilled milk

Last night at dinner, Allie went to go take a drink of milk and the cup slipped out of her hands. It went splashing everywhere on me and in my shoes and all over the floor. She immediately started to cry and exclaimed, "I was going to drink that!" I should have been the one crying because I was the one wet and I had to clean it!

Springtime=bandaid time

The weather has been sooo beautiful the last couple days. Well, with the beautiful weather, the scooters, bicycles, roller blades, and other such outdoor toys are being well used! The parents at this household are constantly reminding the children at this household to wear helmets and shoes. This evening we had 3 accidents involving all 3 kids. Cooper skinned his knee trying to ride his bike--no helmet. (I am glad it was just a skinned knee.) After he skinned his knee on his two-wheel bike, he gave in to riding his 3 wheeled bike and ran over Allie's toe--no shoes. After bandaging up those two, Maggie decided to go ride her scooter after it was already in the garage for bed and she peeled back the skin on her big toe--no shoes. It was a hard lesson to learn, but maybe she will learn to ride her scooter with shoes next time. Dr. Chris was "to the rescue" each time, with his lovely assistant Sallie. I need to go buy more bandaids now!!

WAR!!

Tonight we played a rousing game of War--boys vs. girls. In the first round, Cooper and Chris won most of the hands putting them way ahead. Maggie then led us in a cheer, "Girls go to college to get more knowledge. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider." As the game continued, the girls were getting trashed. It came down to the last round. We hit a true quadruple war and the boys won. Maggie couldn't look as I turned the last card over. Chris and Cooper then broke into a great rendition of "Victory is Mine!" Great family game.

ABC Tag (from Jenny)

A little bit about Sallie!
ABC Tag:
A: Addiction ~ Food--I just need to stop eating
B: Breakfast (what you eat) ~ I like leftovers mostly
C: Chocolate or Chips ~ Chocolate
D: Dessert or Appetizers ~ Dessert
E: Essential Items ~ Phones, computer, and car keys
F: Favorite Color ~ Blue and Green
G: Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms ~ Worms
H: Hometown ~ Antioch, CA--but I lived in Idaho and Utah also growing up
I: Indulgence ~ Lemon cake--the one my mom makes
J: January or July ~ January--because I married my sweetheart (not because of the snow!)
K: Kids ~ 3--Maggie, Cooper, Allie
L: Life isn’t complete without ~ My husband and 3 kids
M: Most exciting memory ~ My wedding day and when each of my children were born
N: Number of brothers & sisters ~ 2 sisters, 3 brothers
O: Oranges or Apples ~ Apples
P: Phobias or Fears ~ My kids drowning
Q: Quote ~ "Live your life to the fullest" I am a simple person.
R: Reading currently ~ Just finished "The Hunger Games" and am starting "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" again for book club
S: Summer or Spring ~ Spring
T: Tag 6 People ~
U: Unknown fact about me ~ I have a huge fear of rodents and almost made Chris move because there was one in our house
V: Vacation I want to go on ~ On an African Photo Safari
W: Walking or Running ~ walking
X: X-Ray or Ultrasound ~ ultrasound because they can see everything better
Y: Your favorite Food ~ Thanksgiving dinner, also a good steak
Z: Zoo or Bowling ~ Zoo

The battle of the dryer

I wanted to have a separate post for the dryer. The dryer was working, but not heating. I didn't want to pay to have a repairman come to fix an 11 year old dryer, so I started looking for a new one. "Yeah, a new fancy one!" I was getting excited at the prospect of a new one--not the price though. I went on the hunt for one. My sister, Denise, came over and said that she had changed a heating element on hers before and that I could do it too. Well, if my sister could do, I guess I would try. I called around for the part and asked where to find the element. Randy from Randy's appliance said that my Speed Queen should last another 5-10 years and gave me the tips I needed to change the element: Go in from the front of the dryer and drop the drum. I just started unscrewing screws and looked around. Found the part! I pulled it out and took it over to Randy, bought a new one, vacuumed the dryer out and cleaned it up, put in the thermostat and heating element, and voila! I fixed it! I am a little proud of myself--but I did say a prayer over the dryer after fixing it, so it doesn't start any fires.

I'm Back!!

1. Hello! I am back from my blogging hiatus. My computer had some major problems and I haven't written anything for a couple weeks, so here is my couple week update. It isn't chronologically listed, but here goes.

• We have been in a technological black hole here at the Hislops. We were without satellite for a week and the computer went on the fritz--lots of viruses that kept eating my programs. Even my hair dryer and clothes dryer went out this last week!
• Conference weekend was not well attended this year in our house because of the satellite problem and when I went to put up the rabbit ears, Channel 5 came in with a Spanish translator. Hard to listen when you don't know Spanish. We were able to watch the last session at my parents' house. (We tried to listen on the radio too--but that is difficult when the kids ask you hundreds of questions.
• We attended 4 Easter Egg hunts in the last two weekends. Chris' work had one--we made it this year. My parents' had one and an Easter dinner after the last session of conference. Way too much candy Mom!! It was a ball for the kids with all of their cousins--even the adult cousins hunted for eggs. Lance and Teresa had one where you put the eggs in anothers basket--we love that idea! Sunday morning the Easter Bunny had visited our house and the kids were happy and very fun to watch.
• All 3 kids sang in Sacrament meeting today in the Easter program. Allie, Cooper, and Maggie all sang with the primary--this was Allie's first time to sing in a program.
• Maggie sang a duet with Alayna and they both sounded great. They sang, "Jesus once was a little child." Very proud of Maggie!
• We went swimming with Teresa and her kids, Stacy and her kids, and Kate and her little girl. I don't know how much fun the mom's had, but the kids loved it.
• We had 3 cousin sleepovers in the last week!
• Cooper and Maggie's soccer season has started. They have now played 2 games. They both enjoy it.
• We had preschool at our house last week. We learned about the letter N-for New baby animals. We went on a search around our area for new babies. We saw new lambs, new bunnies--sharp toenails on bunnies--I have a 6 inch scratch to prove it, and a brand new calf that had just been born--it still had the afterbirth and we saw it stand up for the first time. It was fun little fieldtrip.
• After 1 Easter Egg Hunt, 2 soccer games, and 1 dryer fix, we dyed 36 eggs. Coopers hands were quite colorful as he wouldn't use the spoon provided.
• We spent Easter Day at Grandma and Grandpa Hislop's house. Lots of fun with all of the cousins.
• We went to Mimi's Cafe with some free kid's meal coupons from our neighbors. We really liked it there. Fun restaurant.

Well, this was a long post, but I only wrote some of the highlights. I didn't write about the major temper tantrums that have occurred. Girl's are definitely harder than boys in our family. Hopefully it will improve before the teenage years are here. I want some quiet downtime before those hit.