This morning was the kids' dress rehearsal for their dance recital. The recital is tonight. They did really good and look so cute. I'm excited for tonight. Waverly is doing Ballet/Jazz combo. Jaylee is doing Jazz. Conrad is doing Break dancing. I'll post more pics later.

Wyoming 2010

Another fun family trip! We were able to make arrangements with all of our many jobs so we could go visit Nana and Poppi in Wyoming. We left on Halloween day and stayed for three days. Mom made a ton of yummy, fattening treats...hot batter cake, mint chocolate cookies, poop cookies. The girls had their first 'Tea Party' with Nana. It was so sweet. She's been preparing for this for awhile now.

We went four-wheeling the next day. We had fun, but it ended tragically. Matt and Dad stayed behind to ride for awhile longer. Long story short, Dad rolled his four-wheeler. Matt took him straight to the emergency room because he was having a hard time breathing. We rushed to be with them. He was in a lot of pain. Matt was able to find someone there to help give him a Priesthood blessing. Dad was lucky because nothing was broke. He's just really sore.

Matt and I were able to go on a couple little dates. It was nice. I took at least 2 baths a day there. So relaxing. We love going to their house. We ate at Poppy's casino, which was also fun. I get nastalgic when I go into a casino....childhood memories!

Thanks mom and dad! Had a great time.

Yellowstone 2010

I'm behind on posting pictures. This Fall we were able to go on a family vacation to Yellowstone. We had such a fun time! We stayed with my brother Josh and his family. We spent one day in Yellowstone. On the way back to Idaho Falls, I took a trip down memory lane in Rexburg, ID. What a beautiful Temple they have there now! We went to Big Juds, a local diner, where Matt ate a Big Jud Burger. They took his picture to hang on their wall since he finished the whole thing. It was fun. He looked a bit sick afterwards, but we were proud of him.

We spent the next day w/ my brothers family and had a ton of fun. On the way home we stopped by my aunt Tina's house in Pocatello. Her twin babies are so cute. We still weren't ready to go home, so we stopped by Roy, UT and visited with the Dunlaps and the Folletts. We miss them so much. It was a lot of fun.

We had such a fun time being together as a family. Can't wait to go on more trips like this one.

I'm behind on posting pictures. This Fall we were able to go on a family vacation to Yellowstone. We had such a fun time! We stayed with my brother Josh and his family. We spent one day in Yellowstone. On the way back to Idaho Falls, I took a trip down memory lane in Rexburg, ID. What a beautiful Temple they have there now! We went to Big Juds, a local diner, where Matt ate a Big Jud Burger. They took his picture to hang on their wall since he finished the whole thing. It was fun. He looked a bit sick afterwards, but we were proud of him.

We spent the next day w/ my brothers family and had a ton of fun. On the way home we stopped by my aunt Tina's house in Pocatello. Her twin babies are so cute. We still weren't ready to go home, so we stopped by Roy, UT and visited with the Dunlaps and the Folletts. We miss them so much. It was a lot of fun.

We had such a fun time being together as a family. Can't wait to go on more trips like this one.

I'm excite to have my LDS website up and running. I'll try to find time to keep working on it. There is a lot to add to it. Hope you enjoy it.

Utah State Fair 2010

We had another fun adventure today. We went to the Utah State Fair in Salt Lake. We went during the day so there wasn't very many people there. (Yeah) We all wanted to buy a rabbit but Matt said no. I'm sure he's right...but they are very cute. I got Matt to ride the mechanical bull. I was hilarious. He's so good to me.

On our way home from the Fair, our car battery died. We had to get a new one. After that we went over to Matt's brother's house for FHE and dinner. It was a fun day!

I've been tackling some projects that I've been wanting to do for awhile now. I decluttered my closet, AGAIN. Hopefully it will stay nice for good now. I've started doing FamilySearch Indexing again. I've read a couple education books and have gotten some good ideas for school. I got rid of old books and clothes. Paid my library fines, including the book that we can't find ANYWHERE in the house. I've also been putting pictures online for my family to see. My next project is crocheting some beanies for the kids.

Oh, I also learned how to make good whole wheat tortillas and bread.

Tomorrow is Lagoon! The first time for Matt and the kids!

Vacation!!

I'm so excited! We had our last day of 'school' yesterday. We went through most of the summer, so we are all very excited to sleep in and be a bit more lazy. I'm hoping we can do some fun things. We're trying to go to Yellowstone and visit my little brother and his family. We will be swimming more and maybe squeezing in a trip to Nana and Poppi's house. Matt's jobs make it hard to go anywhere so we'll have to see what he can do w/ us.

I'm looking forward to more computer and reading time. I'm so excited!

Today was a fun day, full of learning. We started our day by the kids receiving TO DO cards that I had made for them. (For Wavy I used pictures instead of words.) If they got them done before 10:30 we would go to the park. They like the TO DO cards. They check off the boxes as they go.

Their lists consisted of getting dressed, brushing teeth, eating breakfast and piano. Jaylee actually added reading to her list. I got myself and Harrison ready. We invited some friends to go to the park w/ us and we were off. Conrad and Jaylee rode their bikes by themselves. I only checked on them once. This is big for me, as I am a pretty paranoid mom.

We had fun w/ other ward members at the park until 12ish.

Came home and had lunch.

After lunch, Conrad emptied the dishwasher. Jaylee changed Harrison. Wavy helped get whatever Jaylee or I needed. I got ready for 'school time'.

I taught the kids how to address an envelope. (They wrote letters yesterday to their cousins.) The kids addressed their letters, having to start over only once.

Next we read 1 1/2 chapters in The Trumpet of the Swan. After reading each chapter, the kids draw a picture about what we just read. (Helping w/ reading comprehension.) It will be fun to make all of their pages into a book when we're done.

Next was scripture time. We're in Alma. We are also making a Book of Mormon Picture Book while we read.

Break time!! The kids put on their soccer gear and went out back to practice. I got Harrison to sleep and watched a little Everybody Loves Raymond.

Next we went downstairs for the next part of school. Wavy watched a science cartoon show while Conrad did a 2nd grade computer game and Jaylee did STAR reading w/ me. We switched stations after about 40 minutes. I did the STAR reading w/ Conrad and Jaylee did a computer game. Meanwhile, Wavy was playing w/ Harrison, making him laugh. At the end, I taught Jaylee and Conrad how to use a dictionary. They each looked up 2-3 words from their reading that they didn't know the meaning of.

Afterwards, Conrad went to play w/ a friend.

I did flashcards w/ Wavy: Numbers, Sounds, Sight words. The numbers were fun. I gave her some flashcards and had her put them in order. It was fun. We went all the way to 30! We learned about 8 sight words. We played a game where she would win the card if she got it right. She's pretty competitive so she enjoyed it.

Next was a scrabble card game w/ Jaylee. (Because she wanted to play me chess but I didn't have the patience.)

Dinner

Playtime

Jaylee is still waiting for me to play her in Chess.:( She just learned and she thinks she can really beat me. She's cute.

Tonight we will hang up and put away laundry together.

Watch Cop Dog, maybe w/ popcorn.

I still need to find the energy to exercise....Maybe that's why it doesn't always get done...I need to start doing it in the mornings!

This was our day. Full of fun and learning. I'm exhausted and watch to vegge in front of the TV.

There have been many changes over the past year. Here are some of them:

*Moved from Roy to Eagle Mountain, UT

*We had another baby! Harrison Jeffrey Barnard was born 2/17/2010. It was a stressful birth...he came out not breathing and had CPR performed on him. Very scary. We are so grateful he is a part of our family.

*Matt still has two jobs

*Jaylee got into a great Charter school

*Jaylee was diagnosed w/ a learning disability

*I decided to homeschool all of the kids! Huge decision. It's been great.

*Jaylee was baptized

*I've been told I have anxiety (no surprise to anyone who knows me) and was put on a special little pill to help me.

*Matt was the Young Men's Secretary and is now a Primary teacher for the 7 year olds.

*I was the Primary teacher for the 7 year olds. I was just called to be the ward organist...so much for reducing my anxiety. Actually, I'm sure it will be a blessing. Playing the piano/organ can be a stress reliever for me.

So, all this plus a year of Jr. Jazz, 2 dance recitals, a 1st and 2nd grader, a dog and much, much more. We've had a productive year. Lots of great things happening. We have a great family and friends.

Picture Time. Not in order.

Relearning how to BLOG

So, I started this blog last year and haven't done much with it. I would like to become more consistent with blogging to help keep a record of our family. We are homeschooling now and it'd be great to share some of what we are doing. Maybe it will also force me to take more pictures of my kids.

This isn't much of a start, but it's a start. Hopefully there will be more to come.