Blogging Layouts

I HATE WHEN I WORK SUPER HARD ON A LAYOUT...PREVIEW IT A MILLION TIMES...AND IT STILL LOOKS STUPID WHEN I POST. TAKE, FOR INSTANCE THE POST BELOW:

I WORKED & WORKED ON IT...AND STILL...NOT CENTERED- OR NOT JUSTIFIED TO THE RIGHT SIDE...OR WHATEVER! GRRRRRRRR.

NOTICE I WROTE ALL IN CAPS TO RELAY MY FRUSTRATION!

Tyler's Baptism Weekend

FYI: My sisters & mom have normal sized heads covered by massive amounts of hair, which on the positive front makes us all appear taller than we are; however, we all look like giant-heads when put next to my dad who is #1 a pinhead and #2 hair-follically challenged...

Greg & Tyler ready to take "The Plunge"

The week after school started, I began working full time at an optometrists office. A few days after starting work, my family started arriving from out of town to celebrate Tyler's baptism. For me it was bittersweet for the following reasons:

1. Excitement & trepidation over learning something totally foreign at work.

G'Pa Grove & Tyler

2. Stress over the fact that my house was a disaster.

3. Not enough time to lay in bed chatting with my sisters while listening to

the children play & fight.

4. Elation over seeing my little sister, Gwen, pregnant with her first child.

Belles of the Ball:

Some of the Poulsen Cousins

5. Disbelief that my second child is old enough to be accountable for his actions! Yikes!

Thanks to my wonderful family for putting up with my mood swings brought on by stress and sleep deprivation! I love you guys!

Some of the Grove Cousins...Need I say more?

Creating a Monster

These angelic looking women, er, um girls... are two peas in a pod. My sister, Joleen, has always loved girliness...make-up, shoes, glitter, and all that jazz. Similarly, Joelle is fashion conscious...and likes all things pink. Joleen is creating a monster in Joelle. Every time they see each other, Joelle asks Joleen about when she is going to give her a makeover. While it's cute now- I can see the writing on the wall (in lipstick.) Joleen might have to be given temporary custody of Joelle during the crazy teenage years. It's only fair, after all- since she has created the problem!

Catch Up Time

I was told the other day by more than one person that I am a terrible blogger. This is NOT news to me! I have a hard time keeping up with laundry, much less typing out the goings-on of my daily life and that of my kids. But that doesn't mean I'm a quitter...I will keep trying!!! I am imagining the little engine that could....

Soooooo, first and foremost- school started! Wahoo!! Here are the first day of school pics:

Almost time...

I have been counting down the days until school start. If I count today....4 more days! This is not to say that I haven't had a ton of fun with the kids. But there IS such a thing as TOO much off a good thing. We have played a ton, laughed a ton, swam a ton...on the flip side there has also been a ton of fighting, crying, & mess-making. I am feeling pretty much drained from the constant entertaining and refereeing. Ahhhh, 4 more days....

Birdie Heaven

After we came home from church the kids ran upstairs to check on our pets and found the ledge empty. They ran outside and found the remaining baby bird (the other one disappeared a few days ago) outside. They were so upset!

So like any good dad, Greg dug a shallow grave and we held a small funeral for our little friend. Some of the words of consolation from Scottie to Joelle, who was the saddest, were "Don't worry, Joelle, the birdie went up to the big nest in the sky." She looked up and around and still didn't get it!

Scottie helping with the burial. Morbid creature!

We are also missing the adult birds and the nest looks to be abandoned. The twigs have been scattered all around. We did find another small bird that had been eaten. It was too big to be our other baby, but we're wondering if there is a predator around who is attacking!!

More Birthday Fun

Cousins came over yesterday to celebrate...

Yes, this is frosting up the nose...in my family growing up we had a tradition that the birthday person would take a little bite out of the cake and then the surrounding people would push his/her face into the cake...hence, frosting up the nose!

Even though he got a bike, his favorite present was this football!

Happy 8th Tyler!!

Yesterday, Tyler turned 8!! We had a family dinner at Wild Buffalo Wings, where it was every kids (and Dad's) fantasy. 30 TV's broadcasting all kinds of sports, video games brought to your table to play...presents along with good food. Suffice it to say...we didn't converse much....but it was still fun!

WE LOVE YOU, TYLER!!

Our New Pet

We have inherited a new pet. Actually, 2 pets...actually, 3...Let me explain!

I have been rearranging the loft in the rental house we're in. The other day I kept hearing a cooing sound and realized that there was a nest on the ledge right outside one of the loft windows! Two birds sat there in the heat, snuggling...then I realized that there was an egg they were protecting.

A couple days later another egg appeared. And soon after that both eggs hatched! It has been so fun to see the progression of these little creatures!

Anyhow, here are some pics:

The kids check on the babies every day...poor mama bird is probably looking for a new nest without nosy neighbors!

St.George Trip

We had so much fun at the lake!

Scottie & Robyn

Tyler, Joelle, & Sydney

Joelle, Uncle Mark, Sydney

Park fun later in the week. Cousins are great!!

Robyn & Scottie battling for possession of the ball in Kickball.
This is the best pet to get. This tortoise eats weeds, is entertaining to watch, doesn't need to be taken for walks...of course it will outlive us all...hmmm
4th of July pancake breakfast at the church in front of G'Pa Poulsen's cool car
Joelle showing off her face painting

Sparklers!!Waiting for the fireworks to begin...

California Trip

My auntie Joleen is my favorite because she always does my make-up!




Pool fun with cousins: Mateo, Roman, Tyler, friend, Scottie

Tyler

Roman

Model Joelle

Mateo

Grandpa & Grandma Grove

Relaxing after a long, tiring day

Miss Joelle

As the only female child in the Poulsen family, Joelle has taken on some interesting characteristics. First of all, she hums the Star Wars theme songs everywhere we go. A couple of weeks ago we were at Costco eating a cheap lunch and there she went humming and pseudo-fighting her invisible storm trooper. A man turned around when he heard the song, and did a double take when he realized that it was a small girl kicking some storm trooper butt. I shouldn't say that Star Wars is the only song she sings/hums, she also is quite taken with Indiana Jones.

Earlier today I was watching the Borne Identity and she walked into my room. I quickly paused the movie, and the first question she asked is the same thing she asks anytime I pause a show. Here's a sample of the conversation- which was quite long.

"Is it scary?"

"Yes."

"Are there monsters?"

"No."

"People kicking babies?"

"No."

"Eyeballs popping out of heads and other people eating them?"

"No."

"Is it appropri-ANT?" (appropriate is an often used word in our household)

"No."

"Can I watch with you?"

"No."

"Are there guns?"
"Yes."

"Blood?"

"mmm hmmm."

"Ooooh, you shouldn't watch 'cause you're gonna have light mirrors (night mares)."

I turned the movie off...

Summer Vacation

Okay, this is for all the stay-at-home moms that work their tails off to entertain, teach, feed, and work for their kids who are on summer vacation! Their first week of freedom was full of blood, sweat, and tears....and I'm not talking about theirs! I love my kids and yet I am struggling to find the balance between letting them veg and teaching them about chores (again! It's a never ending struggle in our family!) I have grand aspirations for them. Yet the work involved (by me) to get them where I think they should be is exhausting!!

On a side note, some of the stress I'm feeling is because of the fact that I am most likely moving. On Thursday there was a notice on my garage door that the rental house that we live in is being sold at auction in 2 1/2 weeks. If the house sells I will receive an eviction notice within 3-4 weeks at which point I will have anywhere between 3-30 days to vacate the premises. It's frustrating to realize that the rent we have been paying has not been going towards paying the mortgage. This is all part and parcel of the foreclosure process and I sympathize and understand that a lot of people are underwater on their mortgages. Dealing with banks and all that is a nightmare! What I'm upset about is the fact that there was no communication...a little advanced notice would have been nice.

Ice Cream Social

Directly following our return from the 4th grade field trip to the museum, I rushed over to the 2nd grade hall where a 50's social was going on.


Mrs. Stimac was a phenomenal teacher! I think that Tyler paid close attention to what she was saying throughout the year because she's so cute...and he is a ladies man. He would often come home and comment on what she was wearing, or the way her hair was done.


I wasn't able to stay much longer than the time it took to take a picture with my soon to be 3rd grader...I had to go pick Joelle up from a friend's house, get home, rest for about 20 minutes, and then go off to work! What a busy, crazy, fun day it was!