Silly Soren

This year Soren is in Kindergarten. He has a fantastic teacher named Mrs. Remiker. She was also Ella's Kindergarten teacher. The Teacher's Aid in Soren's class is Mrs. Livingston. I think these two ladies deserve some amazing award to be able to have Soren in their class. Soren is very smart and a smartaleck. He is always telling some story( most not true) or harassing somebody. I have to say he has a huge heart and is very tender when he wants to be.
Last night for his homework he was suppose to find 2 things in the house that start with the letter "N". He walked around the house and looked and looked. He asked the kids and he asked Troy and I. Finally with big brother Logan's help he came up with 2 "N" things to draw. Neutered dog(Curly) and Noise (all the Dunow kids). How dang hilarious is that. I was so tiered by then I just let him do it. I don't know what his teachers are going to think when they see his homework today and find his "N" pictures. I hope they have a good laugh about it. The one thing I did do was to talk to Soren and tell him he could not go around and tell everyone what neutered meant. I wish our scanner worked but it is broken down right now. The pictures of Curly and the kids were pretty funny. We love our Soren!

Family pictures

We took some pictures of the kids and us yesterday. I tried my hand at digital scrapbooking and you can take a look at that at the bottom of the blog. I don't know if I like it or not. One thing I love to do is play around with paper and create stuff.

My "Michael Buble" fix.

Sometimes I need to relive my night that I had with Michael Buble.  Don't worry, Troy does not get jealous.

This is the picture of me when I found out we were on the second row.

Ya, I know, he is so awesome!

Ok, you have to realize this was last May.  Marissa and I were acting like love struck teenagers. Notice the lady sitting in front of us.  Geriatric!

This was when he was singing the song "You and I" to me.  Just joking.  If any of you have a chance to go and see him live, take it.  It was a really fun concert.  As you can see I am still all googly eyed over it and it has been about 5 months.

Tis the last rose of Summer,

One of my favorite poems and songs is "Tis the last rose of Summer" by Thomas Moore. The words were written by Moore, I don't know who wrote the music. Most recently it was preformed by the group Celtic Women. I was out working in the yard this morning and there were just a couple of roses left and I instantly thought of that poem.

'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming all alone,
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone.
No rose bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one,
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go sleep thou with them;
'Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves over the bed
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow
When friendships decay,
And from love's shining circle
The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

Izzie girl

We have one of the funniest dogs! The kids adore her, I adore her and I think Troy likes her. However there are times that I just want to ring her neck. She is a digger. If I plant anything in the back yard she digs it up. A couple days ago a planted a bunch of bulbs and this morning half of them were gone. I think she ate them because I could not find them. Then there is the fact that she was puking this morning. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions? I already know what my mother and sister would say, and its not humane. They don't like dogs. I get so mad at her, and then she goes and does something cute. She loves to snuggle up on the couch. Izzie gets up there and rearranges the pillows and makes herself comfortable. Another thing that makes us laugh is that she loves to get on my bed and snuggle up with us. I don't even let Curly do that. Well there is the fact that he can't jump up there. Never in a million years did I ever think I would allow a dog on my bed. Some mornings Troy and I wake up and we have Soren, Olivia, and Izzie all in our bed. Needless to say it is a bit crowded. I don't mind it because it is fun. I wish everyone(JANA) could just realize what joy dogs bring into a home.

First Aid

In our household, a good first aid kit is a must. Troy and I have tried all kinds of kits and bags but have never found one that suits us just right. We had found a roll up first aid kit on the web and decided to try one. This is a first try of one. I used an old sheet so I did not waste any good fabric if it did not turn out. I am pretty happy with how it turned out and it did not take me long to sew it. For my next one there are going to be a few minor adjustments. I could just roll it up and throw it into a bag.
Yesterday Troy and Logan were gone all day at a Scout first aid day camp. When Troy got home he was in a lot of pain from an ingrown toenail. It had been bothering him for some time but it ended up getting a severe infection. I ended up dragging him to the ER and had them remove his toenail. It was really neat to watch. Troy almost passed out when the Doctor was numbing his toe. I just kept reminding Troy that I have had 5 epidurals to have 5 of his children, so he could handle a few shots in the toe. Troy has a high pain threshold so I was surprised to see him get all pale and shaky. He got through it OK and is home with his foot up. The Doctor said his toe would be numb for about 4 to 6 hours but it is 4:30 the next day and he still has no feeling in his toe. Maybe that is not such a bad thing.
Just about an hour ago I got to use my first aid kit. Logan crashed his bike AGAIN! I know it is hard to believe. I swear, that kid has the worst luck when it comes to bikes or scooters. I don't know why he even attempts to ride them. I was really nice to just roll out the kit and have everything where I needed it. Logan is fine, he will have a few more scares to ad to his already impressive collection.

Oorah!

Saturday morning Troy, Logan, Anna and Ella went on their first Young Marine hike for this school year.  This was Ella's first YM hike ever, since she just joined. This time the hike was up in the Jemez mountains which is northwest of us about an hours drive.  I was a little jealous that I couldn't go it was so beautiful up there.  The leaves are all in fall colors and the weather is nice and cool.  Speaking of the weather, It was not all that good towards the end of the hike.  Rain and hail decided to make an appearance and get everybody a little cold and wet.  Being the good Young Marines that everyone is, they all had ponchos to keep themselves dry.  I think it was a good learning experience for the kids.  They ended only hiking 5 miles.  Troy got to see a couple that were nudist bathing in a hot spring!  He was so embarrassed about it.  I thought is was soooooo funny.  I could just imagine how red he got.  If any of you know how red Troy gets when he gets embarrassed you would understand.  He was able to divert the kids around the trail so they did not get a peek in.  Over all I think that the kids had a really good time.  I was really proud of Ella because this was her first time on such a big hike.  She did so good!  She said the only thing she did not like was the rain.  As you can see from the picture, she was not very pleased with the weather.  Troy and the kids felt a lot better once they were home and had taken a hot bath.  This morning Troy could barely walk, his legs were so stiff.  He keeps telling me he needs to get into better shape.  We will see about that. (When pigs fly!)

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a BALLOON!

The kids all get so excited to wake up and have the sky filled with balloons. It all seems so very magical! We all go outside and look towards the sky and just watch. Little fingers points and there is always squealing. I had just dropped Anna off at band and drove up into the driveway and Soren was out in the driveway with my good binoculars. I couldn't get mad at him because he was so excited. If we could all start our days out with such enthusiasm.

WATCH LITTLE BEAR!!!!!

The first things out of Little Miss Muffets mouth every morning is "watch Little Bear".  She is obsessed with Little Bear on Noggin or Nick Jr. I can't remember which one.  We have recorded them on our DVR so she can watch them any time.  Once the kids go to school in the morning she comes right home and starts watching again.  One of her favorite places to sit is on the arm of the couch.  I think it is so funny because she could be like that for hours if I let her.  Olivia does not feel well a lot of them time so I will just keep Little Bear playing most of the time.

One night she was laying in bed with Troy and I and she said I was Mother Bear, Troy was Father Bear, Soren was Mitzi, Ella was Duck, Anna was Hen, Logan was Owl, Curly was Cat and Izzy was Tutu.  Of course her best friend Carly was Emily.  It was the cutest thing because she had thought it all out.  So if any of you have not seen Little Bear, sit yourselves down and take a peek at it.  It really is a sweet and magical show!

Ella turns 8!

Ella turned 8 years old on the 2nd of October. She will have her party next week, but for her birthday we just had a cake for her and the family.  She got her very own High School Musical MP3 player.  It is amazing what parents will do for their children.  I am so sick of listening to High School Musical songs I could pull out all my eyelashes one by one.  I just shut my mouth and tolerate it because the girls are "totally into it".  Even Little Miss Muffet even knows the songs.  It could be so much worse!

 

The Balloons are coming!

Every year during the first week in October there is the International Balloon Fiesta and Albuquerque New Mexico.  Even though we are in Rio Ranch are house is located really close to the Balloon Fiesta Park.  For about a week we get balloons in are back yard practically.  they fly right over our house and sometimes they will land in the park that is behind our house.  The kids love having the balloons come close because the people who are in the balloons will wave to them.  Curly and Izzie are a whole other story.  they both hate the balloons and the noise they make.  Either they are hiding or they are barking at them.  On Friday before school started this balloon flew right over our house and ended up landing in the kids school play ground.  They kids got to see it land and be deflated.

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