Thursday, November 3, 2011
Halloween 2011
Since the move, I have felt a step behind, but just barely. I just wouldn't recommend moving right when school starts, right before all the major Holidays! We went to Parks and Rec Trunk or Treat this year. Other than the free food, it was pretty lame. There weren't a lot of trunks and the lines for the rock wall and bungy weren't worth the wait so we left and took the boys trick or treating in a few neighborhoods. Between the trunk or treat and trick or treating, they had a good Halloween and plenty of candy. Marcelus also had a fun school party where they got to have a happy meal for lunch and decorate halloween cupcakes. Marcelus was Obi Wan Kanobi. Phoenix was Darth Vader, and Amar'e was a mummy, a costume my mom made for Marcelus years ago. We had a good time and we're gearing up for a great Thanksgiving with the Willard side! I couldn't get a smile out of Phoenix this whole time! Hardly anyway...AND Amar'e turned 6 months on Oct. 30th!! Time just flies faster and faster and my baby will soon be walking!
First Day of School!
I am sorry for such a loll, but it is difficult for me to upload my photos with my new camera and even more difficult to blog them. Shar changed some settings on my computer a while back before the move and it has never been the same since so I do what I can. Here are some very belated pictures of Marce's first day of Kindergarten. He started in AZ and went 2 weeks before moving to NV and starting all over again. (They start school later in NV)
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Getting Settled
I have not blogged in so long and time has flown. I've been wanting to do an update for a while now. So, here's the scoop.
Sharrid has been a trooper. He has been commuting about an hour and fifteen minutes at least everyday to the academy for the past six months. He graduates on Friday! We won't know his schedule until tomorrow probably. He could have any two days off and either day, swing, or graveyard shift. He has put in for a transfer to go from Indian Springs to North Las Vegas. Hopefully he'll get the transfer as soon as possible. That would cut his commute time nearly in half and our gas expenses as well.
I have been keeping busy. We have been in limbo for a long time and it has been hard to make a routine with anything. Obviously I have not been blogging and I have been reading my current read, The Maze Runner, at the slowest rate ever, but I have been reading a book everyday with Marcelus, working on his math with him, and also his Let's Play Music work. I have been working with Amar'e on baby food. He is now 5 months and is eating fruits mixed with oatmeal. We started plain oatmeal about a month ago and he never liked it, so about a week ago I finally started adding fruits to it to make it a little more tasty. He's still not the best with a spoon but not bad. I have been learning how to coupon shop and I love it! It is definitely a hobby of mine. I love the deals I get, the goals I have made, and heck, who doesn't love free stuff? I have even been dreaming in coupon language! For now all I really do is get two Sunday papers a week and check the weekly ads for matches. I've only been doing it a few weeks but I have already started to collect things for our new place so I don't have to get everything at once when we move in.
Speaking of that, we found a great place and will be moving in on Saturday. It's a place we could be for a while. It's right next door to the house that I grew up in and right across from the elementary school, also right around the corner from my parents house. It is basically the best location ever. I'll be close to my parents, close to the school, and close to my friends. I can't wait to get into my place and get things situated. Being at my parents' for six weeks hasn't been bad. To be honest the worst part has been trying to find a place for what little we brought. I set something down, and it doesn't go there and it just flutters the house because there's little things here and there everywhere. It'll be nice for everything to have a place again. We'll get our new contact info out sometime soon after the move.
We've been so blessed throughout this moving process with so many tender mercies and unexpected blessings. There have been too many to count and I feel great about everything. I'm excited to be here in the valley with so many great people old and new. We have had a rainy storm come through and really cool the place down. I don't think we'll return to hot weather. Now it definitely feels like Fall. The football games have been great and coming into the Holidays is exciting. All the blessings big and small have really strengthened me spiritually and I loved conference. I'm also helping a friend try and re-activate in the Gospel and all of this combined has turned it up a notch for me. I feel really blessed and on fire right now. I just feel really great and happy right now. I love being back in the valley. I was able to see my grandparents a couple weeks ago as they stopped by on their way to the cabin. I hadn't seen them for a few years.
Marcelus started school here the Monday after we moved and has been progressing rapidly. He is reading books and doing multiplication. He writes his name well and counts to who knows what...in a nut shell, he's miles ahead of his classmates and his teacher can't believe how smart he is. She was going to send him home with supplementary work to try and keep him challenged but now said she is just going to try in the classroom. She is going to have him read books and take comprehension tests and stuff. I work with him a lot after school. He reads a new book everyday from the library or our collection, he does addition, subtraction, and multiplication . He knows how to add and subtract double digit numbers on paper, and we are starting to work on telling time. His classmates are learning colors, shapes, cutting, letters and sounds, counting to twenty, matching, and learning how to write their names. Marcelus learned all of that in Preschool. I am so glad he went to preschool. His teacher was great! I don' want to raise him a grade or anything but I am hoping he can stay challenged. I think I am going to have to continue working with him at home a lot for this though. His teacher can only do so much for him individually. At any rate, he is doing great, too good. I'm trying to keep up with him ha ha
He loves to go to school. He makes friends really easily. He is a social butterfly! Connor chases Marce everyday. Connor loves to chase, and Marce loves to be chased. It is so funny to observe everything when I drop him off. Boys chasing girls. Boys chasing boys. Two girls walking hand in hand along the grass. Circles of girls already making cliques. A bunch of kids playing at the playground. It's so funny to see them interact. It's a little scary to think that after this year, Marce will be free to roam and play on the big kids playground! He's such a smart kid and well beyond his years. I should not be worried about him.
Amar'e is growing like a weed, still looks a lot like daddy and is very vocal! He screams and yells and squeals whenever he can. He is now turning all the way around and he is getting on his knees and rocking. I think he'll be crawling in the next few weeks. He's not sitting up yet but that will be soon too. Amar'e has been teething since we arrived here in NV and he has finally popped his bottoms through!
Not much to report on Phoenix. I guess he's the one that has changed the least. He loves to drop Marce off at school with me because he gets to play until the bell rings, then we walk back home. He cried the first week but now knows that he can't stay and that Marce will be back.
I've been working out every other day and can't wait to start up a weekly routine I have planned out doing something different each day. I'd like to get in good shape so I can train for the St. George marathon. I don't know if I want to run it soon or after all my kids are born, we'll see.
Well, that's the best I can do on an update. Hope all is well with all of you. I'm looking forward to seeing the Willard family at Thanksgiving this year!
Sharrid has been a trooper. He has been commuting about an hour and fifteen minutes at least everyday to the academy for the past six months. He graduates on Friday! We won't know his schedule until tomorrow probably. He could have any two days off and either day, swing, or graveyard shift. He has put in for a transfer to go from Indian Springs to North Las Vegas. Hopefully he'll get the transfer as soon as possible. That would cut his commute time nearly in half and our gas expenses as well.
I have been keeping busy. We have been in limbo for a long time and it has been hard to make a routine with anything. Obviously I have not been blogging and I have been reading my current read, The Maze Runner, at the slowest rate ever, but I have been reading a book everyday with Marcelus, working on his math with him, and also his Let's Play Music work. I have been working with Amar'e on baby food. He is now 5 months and is eating fruits mixed with oatmeal. We started plain oatmeal about a month ago and he never liked it, so about a week ago I finally started adding fruits to it to make it a little more tasty. He's still not the best with a spoon but not bad. I have been learning how to coupon shop and I love it! It is definitely a hobby of mine. I love the deals I get, the goals I have made, and heck, who doesn't love free stuff? I have even been dreaming in coupon language! For now all I really do is get two Sunday papers a week and check the weekly ads for matches. I've only been doing it a few weeks but I have already started to collect things for our new place so I don't have to get everything at once when we move in.
Speaking of that, we found a great place and will be moving in on Saturday. It's a place we could be for a while. It's right next door to the house that I grew up in and right across from the elementary school, also right around the corner from my parents house. It is basically the best location ever. I'll be close to my parents, close to the school, and close to my friends. I can't wait to get into my place and get things situated. Being at my parents' for six weeks hasn't been bad. To be honest the worst part has been trying to find a place for what little we brought. I set something down, and it doesn't go there and it just flutters the house because there's little things here and there everywhere. It'll be nice for everything to have a place again. We'll get our new contact info out sometime soon after the move.
We've been so blessed throughout this moving process with so many tender mercies and unexpected blessings. There have been too many to count and I feel great about everything. I'm excited to be here in the valley with so many great people old and new. We have had a rainy storm come through and really cool the place down. I don't think we'll return to hot weather. Now it definitely feels like Fall. The football games have been great and coming into the Holidays is exciting. All the blessings big and small have really strengthened me spiritually and I loved conference. I'm also helping a friend try and re-activate in the Gospel and all of this combined has turned it up a notch for me. I feel really blessed and on fire right now. I just feel really great and happy right now. I love being back in the valley. I was able to see my grandparents a couple weeks ago as they stopped by on their way to the cabin. I hadn't seen them for a few years.
Marcelus started school here the Monday after we moved and has been progressing rapidly. He is reading books and doing multiplication. He writes his name well and counts to who knows what...in a nut shell, he's miles ahead of his classmates and his teacher can't believe how smart he is. She was going to send him home with supplementary work to try and keep him challenged but now said she is just going to try in the classroom. She is going to have him read books and take comprehension tests and stuff. I work with him a lot after school. He reads a new book everyday from the library or our collection, he does addition, subtraction, and multiplication . He knows how to add and subtract double digit numbers on paper, and we are starting to work on telling time. His classmates are learning colors, shapes, cutting, letters and sounds, counting to twenty, matching, and learning how to write their names. Marcelus learned all of that in Preschool. I am so glad he went to preschool. His teacher was great! I don' want to raise him a grade or anything but I am hoping he can stay challenged. I think I am going to have to continue working with him at home a lot for this though. His teacher can only do so much for him individually. At any rate, he is doing great, too good. I'm trying to keep up with him ha ha
He loves to go to school. He makes friends really easily. He is a social butterfly! Connor chases Marce everyday. Connor loves to chase, and Marce loves to be chased. It is so funny to observe everything when I drop him off. Boys chasing girls. Boys chasing boys. Two girls walking hand in hand along the grass. Circles of girls already making cliques. A bunch of kids playing at the playground. It's so funny to see them interact. It's a little scary to think that after this year, Marce will be free to roam and play on the big kids playground! He's such a smart kid and well beyond his years. I should not be worried about him.
Amar'e is growing like a weed, still looks a lot like daddy and is very vocal! He screams and yells and squeals whenever he can. He is now turning all the way around and he is getting on his knees and rocking. I think he'll be crawling in the next few weeks. He's not sitting up yet but that will be soon too. Amar'e has been teething since we arrived here in NV and he has finally popped his bottoms through!
Not much to report on Phoenix. I guess he's the one that has changed the least. He loves to drop Marce off at school with me because he gets to play until the bell rings, then we walk back home. He cried the first week but now knows that he can't stay and that Marce will be back.
I've been working out every other day and can't wait to start up a weekly routine I have planned out doing something different each day. I'd like to get in good shape so I can train for the St. George marathon. I don't know if I want to run it soon or after all my kids are born, we'll see.
Well, that's the best I can do on an update. Hope all is well with all of you. I'm looking forward to seeing the Willard family at Thanksgiving this year!
Monday, August 15, 2011
We're Moving
I don't want this post to be too long so I'm going to put a lot of thoughts and feelings into nut shells. Sharrid and I met in Las Vegas as we were both attending UNLV. I dropped out of school. Long story short, I loved my major (dance) but wanted to focus on my music. Right at this time I met Shar and we got married. I got pregnant 3 months later with Marcelus. (there goes working on my music ha ha). We stayed in Nevada for the first year of our marriage and then moved down to Chandler AZ. Sharrid was working as an electrician for Yesco company. He then got very sick with thyroidism and started working for the University of Phoenix instead so that he could recover with a "desk job". He did not like it and only worked it a year before going into the Academy for Corrections which is what he does now and has been doing for nearly 4 years. We have lived in Chandler, Maricopa, Gilbert, and Mesa while we have been down here. We have met great people and become close friends. My handivap always made it impossible to strengthen and keep friendships as we've moved around a lot and I could never make visits to them, but we have known a lot of wonderful people down here.
Over the past few years we have tried to get jobs in Nevada. As our family has grown, we have realized that it's very difficult for our family to function the way other families do, because of the fact that I cannot drive at all. As our family grows and the boys get older, it only gets worse. There has been so many times that we've applied for jobs to go back to Nevada, and haven't gotten them. But, we always applied when a job was open. This was just one of those job openings and we got the job this time. I had learned not to hold my breath. It was a real stressful situation for me to get Marcelus settled into a school with transportation to and from this year for Kindergarten. After going through this, I thought this might be the time we get the job.
My parents still live in Nevada and will be a big help to us as we try to transport our kids around but being in the valley will just be easier anyway because it's a very small place where everybody knows everybody. So car pooling, networking, ect. are all easier there than here. I am happy to be going to a smaller, simpler place where I feel like I've got people watching out for my kids. It's a community. I'm mostly excited for my kids to be able to have some freedom and roam around rather than be cooped up because it's too big and too unsafe here. It's a better situation for us. My handicap is blown up here for everyone to see, but I feel like it's more concealed in the valley, like it's not so obvious or something because I'm more capable and free there. I don't know. I've been wanting to move back for a while now I think.
The only reason I have been able to be happy down here is because of my sister and her family, and her husband's family...also a few really good friends I've made. It has been great to be with them. My sister has become my best friend and our kids have gone from babies to little boys (and girl) together. They will still see plenty of each other and it will be just that much more exciting when we come down for a visit or they come up to the valley. I'm excited to garden with my mom, walk Marcelus to school, sign the boys up for little league baseball, take them to all of the community events...raise them the way I was raised in the valley. My kids could do well anywhere. But, I know that I can be a better mom there, and that's a big reason for the move.
Another reason why I'm excited is because I get to see my baby sister and brother go through the last years of their High School lives. Also we will be more centralized to where we'll be able to see extended family a lot more. The bottom line was there were just too many reasons to move, and just one reason to stay. But, my sister's family are just that, family. We'll see them a lot. The truth is that while school is in, we rarely see each other anyway. We'll miss certain things we've always done together.....like visiting each other in the Hospital after we've had babies. It was tradition to bring the new mother a Jamba Juice. Trick or treating together, seeing all the Harry Potter's at midnight together, getting together Christmas Day waiting for the rest of the family to show up from Nevada. These are all things that I will miss a lot. Connie really helped me see that as the years go by, I can gain strength as I seperate myself in a way from my parents and siblings. Watching her be strong, I was able to be a lot stronger and grow some independence. I was able to be happy in raising my own little family. I'll admit I'm still pretty dependent and needy towards my family, but I don't feel so sad like I used to when we do have to seperate after a trip and it's time to go back home with my little family. She helped me with this and maybe that's one reason why we needed to be down here.
I'll miss her and her family...and the Shirley's, but we'll see each other still. We're doing this for the function of the family, and for the kids. That's what you do. It gets back to the kids. My parents moved to the valley for us kids and now I'm doing the same thing for my kids. Wish us well. We love all of our AZ friends and family. I'm sorry if this post doesn't make great sense. I really didn't care to write it. I've got a lot on my mind as we prepare to move in about a week. I needed to get the word out but my mind is kind of elsewhere so I'm sorry if this post is a jumbled mess like it seems. We'll be here til Wed. and then we'll be staying with my parents for a while until we get into a place of our own. We'll get out any new information as soon as we can.
Over the past few years we have tried to get jobs in Nevada. As our family has grown, we have realized that it's very difficult for our family to function the way other families do, because of the fact that I cannot drive at all. As our family grows and the boys get older, it only gets worse. There has been so many times that we've applied for jobs to go back to Nevada, and haven't gotten them. But, we always applied when a job was open. This was just one of those job openings and we got the job this time. I had learned not to hold my breath. It was a real stressful situation for me to get Marcelus settled into a school with transportation to and from this year for Kindergarten. After going through this, I thought this might be the time we get the job.
My parents still live in Nevada and will be a big help to us as we try to transport our kids around but being in the valley will just be easier anyway because it's a very small place where everybody knows everybody. So car pooling, networking, ect. are all easier there than here. I am happy to be going to a smaller, simpler place where I feel like I've got people watching out for my kids. It's a community. I'm mostly excited for my kids to be able to have some freedom and roam around rather than be cooped up because it's too big and too unsafe here. It's a better situation for us. My handicap is blown up here for everyone to see, but I feel like it's more concealed in the valley, like it's not so obvious or something because I'm more capable and free there. I don't know. I've been wanting to move back for a while now I think.
The only reason I have been able to be happy down here is because of my sister and her family, and her husband's family...also a few really good friends I've made. It has been great to be with them. My sister has become my best friend and our kids have gone from babies to little boys (and girl) together. They will still see plenty of each other and it will be just that much more exciting when we come down for a visit or they come up to the valley. I'm excited to garden with my mom, walk Marcelus to school, sign the boys up for little league baseball, take them to all of the community events...raise them the way I was raised in the valley. My kids could do well anywhere. But, I know that I can be a better mom there, and that's a big reason for the move.
Another reason why I'm excited is because I get to see my baby sister and brother go through the last years of their High School lives. Also we will be more centralized to where we'll be able to see extended family a lot more. The bottom line was there were just too many reasons to move, and just one reason to stay. But, my sister's family are just that, family. We'll see them a lot. The truth is that while school is in, we rarely see each other anyway. We'll miss certain things we've always done together.....like visiting each other in the Hospital after we've had babies. It was tradition to bring the new mother a Jamba Juice. Trick or treating together, seeing all the Harry Potter's at midnight together, getting together Christmas Day waiting for the rest of the family to show up from Nevada. These are all things that I will miss a lot. Connie really helped me see that as the years go by, I can gain strength as I seperate myself in a way from my parents and siblings. Watching her be strong, I was able to be a lot stronger and grow some independence. I was able to be happy in raising my own little family. I'll admit I'm still pretty dependent and needy towards my family, but I don't feel so sad like I used to when we do have to seperate after a trip and it's time to go back home with my little family. She helped me with this and maybe that's one reason why we needed to be down here.
I'll miss her and her family...and the Shirley's, but we'll see each other still. We're doing this for the function of the family, and for the kids. That's what you do. It gets back to the kids. My parents moved to the valley for us kids and now I'm doing the same thing for my kids. Wish us well. We love all of our AZ friends and family. I'm sorry if this post doesn't make great sense. I really didn't care to write it. I've got a lot on my mind as we prepare to move in about a week. I needed to get the word out but my mind is kind of elsewhere so I'm sorry if this post is a jumbled mess like it seems. We'll be here til Wed. and then we'll be staying with my parents for a while until we get into a place of our own. We'll get out any new information as soon as we can.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
30 Day Song Challenge
Day 17: A song with an awesome solo...and my picks are...
First of all, I LOVE Orchestration. I'm so lucky. I was asked to be a percussionist in Orchestra when I was a Sophomore in HS, so I got to be in Orchestra for 3 of the 4 years and we were really good. I loved Orchestra and how different it was from the Varsity/Pep band I was also in. I love to pick out instrumentation in popular music. I really find myself enjoying music that is heavy in piano, strings, and woodwinds. These picks were obvious to me. P.S. If you didn't already know by reading my blog...this is a song from one of my favorite albums of ALL TIME. The solo I freakin' kill over for is at the 4:30 mark. The album version of this song is worlds better than the "New Moon" version. Take some time to listen to this song, close your eyes and bask in the perfection that Muse is.
I also am a self taught electric bass player. This one has a few solos to choose from but my favorite is the bass. It all starts at the 2:30 mark and one of my favorite parts is at the 3:50 mark when it breaks down and just grooves out. There are so many awesome harmonics in that bass solo! I also love those parts, they're just plain pretty. The girl on the violin is just creepy. That's all I've got to say about her...unbelievable. If you can't get past the cheese-fest aspect of the clip then I feel sorry for you because this is musicality at it's best. I remember watching TV with my dad. He was flipping through the channels and stopped on this. I'm so glad he didn't turn the channel because I was mesmerized.
First of all, I LOVE Orchestration. I'm so lucky. I was asked to be a percussionist in Orchestra when I was a Sophomore in HS, so I got to be in Orchestra for 3 of the 4 years and we were really good. I loved Orchestra and how different it was from the Varsity/Pep band I was also in. I love to pick out instrumentation in popular music. I really find myself enjoying music that is heavy in piano, strings, and woodwinds. These picks were obvious to me. P.S. If you didn't already know by reading my blog...this is a song from one of my favorite albums of ALL TIME. The solo I freakin' kill over for is at the 4:30 mark. The album version of this song is worlds better than the "New Moon" version. Take some time to listen to this song, close your eyes and bask in the perfection that Muse is.
I also am a self taught electric bass player. This one has a few solos to choose from but my favorite is the bass. It all starts at the 2:30 mark and one of my favorite parts is at the 3:50 mark when it breaks down and just grooves out. There are so many awesome harmonics in that bass solo! I also love those parts, they're just plain pretty. The girl on the violin is just creepy. That's all I've got to say about her...unbelievable. If you can't get past the cheese-fest aspect of the clip then I feel sorry for you because this is musicality at it's best. I remember watching TV with my dad. He was flipping through the channels and stopped on this. I'm so glad he didn't turn the channel because I was mesmerized.
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