Memorial Day Weekend

We headed out at 6p.m to my grandparents house in Norris City, IL. We arrived alittle before 12a.m. I decided to be a nice wife and start off the trip while Dennis took a nappy nap. I ended up driving until 10. This is un heard of with me, I can't drive in the dark to save my life but I guess the coutesy car we had gave me the power to do so! You see, my ABS sensor went out in the civic so it has been hanging out at Honda for the last week while I have been driving a 2007 Accord- in which Dennis and I LOVE and will be buying once we get our house. Anyway back to the weekend.....
Saturday we had a nice BBQ in honor of Tonya's graduation. We played some catch in the backyard and picked veggies from grandpa's gigantic garden. We made our trip to walmart- a must when you come down to visit (it's the only chain store for hours!) We got some flowers to take to great grandma Ester's grave on Sunday and some gigantic 72oz waterbottles!

Sunday we spent with my family in ElDorado. We went out to lunch with my sister and her boyfriend and then headed to payless for some new flip flops- thanks mom! We then went to visit g'ma Meme at work and headed back to spend some time with the family before we headed home. Oh yeah, Dennis picked up a HUGE painted turtle on the way to my parents. He put it in on the back floor of the Accord and headed off. We did return it to his home at the end of the day.

After saying our good byes- we headed to Fairfield to grandma Ester's grave site.
I took some pretty flowers with me. I have been telling myself for 2 years now that when I go down I am going to make the 45 minute drive north to visit her gravesite, since I hadn't been there since her funeral in 2005. It was a very emotional time for me. She passed away unexpectedly from pneomonia in Jan 2005- in the midst of me living my life the way I didn't want to- in utter confusion. I didn't get to say goodbye to her- that was the hard part. This was the first time in my life that someone so close to me had passed and I didn't get to say goodbye.
Dennis encouraged me to spend a few moments alone talking with her- so I heeded the council of my husband and knelt down to chat with her. Lesson of the day- bring tissues with next time. As the tears poured out of my eyes- I felt at peace that she knew that I was living my life the way I was supposed to and forgave me for not being such a great grand daughter at the time.
As the tears dried up we headed home and arrived in St. Charles by 9:30. WOW, what a weekend. I was glad we got to make the trip.

Update

Here is a tiny update of what's going on in our lives....

I have been placed in an elementary school for next year- Kindergarten! This is what I have to fall back on if I don't get a teaching position. (pray for me)

Dennis is going back to teching- the sales thing just isn't working for him- besides he LOVES servicing houses and is starting to miss it.

We have started the treck of looking for a house- so far there are alot of cute ones we like and can afford but nothing in the ward. Hmmm?? Is this God's way of telling us he needs us somewhere else?

We are making our annual visit to my parents house this weekend for my little sisters graduation from highschool. This should be an interesting trip- I haven't seen my family since Thanksgiving and I have a new brother in law.

We got a new Bishop this past Sunday, Bishop Dana Koch.

Moving???

It's almost June and our lease is up in July. Do we stay? Do we go? Do we go ahead and try to buy a house or do we stay for a few more months and try later in the year? To much to think about....do we stay in the ward? State? Who knows what the rest of the year holds. Stay tuned to find out what we decide!

My Goals

So I came across this website, my 50 goals. I figured it would be a great idea to figure out what goals I wanted to set for myself in this life. As I created my account and got to thinking about everything I wanted to achieve, I kind of got stuck, and then all these ideas started to come to mind. Point being, I never realized how much there is to do on this earth and how little time we have to achieve our goals. It just makes me want to stop saying someday and start making it happen.

I was bit by an 8 year old so I sat on him!

Ok, so this has certainly been a week from you know where and I am not kidding! I have pushed my body to the limit and have barely gotten by on 5 hours of sleep each night and working atleast 14 hours of a day. The child that I work with, Aaron has been a pretty good kid lately. He knows my expectations and he tries to meet them and I give him props for working so hard to behave but I have had it with that little brat. I have been told that I have amazing patients. Well guess who lost their patience on Thursday? Yes, lil 'ole me who is packed full of all the patience in the world- I got abused for it too! Aaron was really getting on my nerves this week and we both finally cracked and butted heads this past Thursday. Aaron did not want to do his math work and tried telling me when it was going to be done- I don't think so little man! I usually work with him in the hall because he is doing a totally different math program. I decided to tell him I would be in the room when he was ready to work. I walked away and went back into the classroom when Aaron came running in. He ran up to me, yelled that I was a meany. I told him to get out in the hall until he was ready to return to the classroom. He ran over to the corner. I knew he was disturbing the rest of the class so I followed and started to guide him to the hall. Thats when he turned around a full force (hand print for an hour) smacked me on the arm, right there infront of everyone. So Megan and I carried him down to the office where he was restrained for 30 minutes until he cooled off. Upon which I was kicked and scratched.

After calming himself down he started bouncing off the walls (literally) and acting all cheery and happy. And then....

Something set him off at the end of the day when we were getting in line to go home. He charged at me- not kiding- and puched me with both fists. In order to keep him from hurting the other kids around him I jumped up and threw my arms around him and got him to the ground where I- this is the good part, the part that lets you get out some frustration towards this kid- put his arms together so he wouldn't hit me and sat on him until help arrived. Well in the process he bit me on the arm- so he then sat there with both arms crossed around his neck, to make sure he didn't get the chance to bit again (it sounds like I was hurting him but I wasn't)

I guess one of the other kids ran to the office on the way out the door yelling "Aaron is hurting Mrs. L, she needs help!" The secretary came down to help out and got bit in the process too.

Here's the icing on the cake...

When his mom arrived to pick him up she had this smerk on her face that I just wanted to knock off so to speak. She proceeded to say "well he never acts like this at home" That's because he gets whatever he wants. There is NO support from home what so ever.

SO here I am soaked in sweat and my adrenaline is soaring... and the principal says "Thank you for not quiting, most people would have been gone a long time ago"

I really hope she gives me a good recommendation or a good job in the district cuz this is crazy and I don't get paid enough to put up with this abuse. So there are only 14 days of school left and I am totally counting.....

In other news.... I have been placed as an Instructional Assistant at Batavia Middle School next year- that's if I don't have a teaching position by August- but I am not worried

The greatest accomplishment of my 23 years of life!

I did it! I did it! I graduated from AU this weekend! I finally got an edumacation! I did get jipt however. I was supposed to get Cum Laude (3.5) G.P.A honors recognition and they screwed up and I didn't get it!! Go figure- that's why (and many more reasons) I am not getting my masters degree from this school.

A little humor for the day!!

The Brain
In the hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where their family member lay gravely ill.Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber."I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news," he said as he surveyed the worried faces."The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant.It's an experimental procedure, very risky but it is the only hope.Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the brain yourselves."The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a great length of time, someone asked, "Well, how much does a brain cost?"The doctor quickly responded, "$5,000 for a male brain, and $200 for a female brain."The moment turned awkward. Men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with the women, but some actually smirked.A man unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask,"Why is the male brain so much more?"The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to mark down the price of the female brains, because they've actually been used."

Bittersweet

I sit here at the end of the day pondering, I have come to realize that life is bittersweet. I am not one who takes change lightly, to tell the truth I absolutley hate change. Word has been circulating that our Bishop is moving to accept a job in Washington. We have come to LOVE the Bates family whole heartedly like they are part of our family. The email I just received from Bishop has just confirmed the circulation rumors and I am sad to see the Bates family leave.
I have also been experiencing more change in my life. Dennis just recently switched positions with Pointe, my best friend just moved 30 minutes away, my parents and I hardly speak, I am currently in search for a job starting in the fall and I have started to grow further away from some of my friends- feeling like I can't connect with some of them. I just hate that when life finally feels good and you think this is the way it is supposed to be and get used to things, it changes. I just keep thinking, this to will come to pass and I am sure life will feel normal again or atleast I hope.
On a positive note of change, the experience at the temple this last weekend has made me grow spiritually and made me realize that I needed to start working on improving my relationship with Heavenly Father. It has also brought more peace into my life at this rather hectic time.

I Can't Get Anything Done..... Janene Wolsey

I Can't Get Anything Done by Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard

“I didn’t get anything done today,” I complained at the end of a long day as I tucked the new baby in her crib and sighed. “I feel exhausted, but the house and the kids look as messy as they did when the day started.”“What did you do today?” my husband answered.I gave him a dirty look.“I’m not trying to be funny,” he continued. “What did you do today?”“Well, I got up at five to feed, change, and rock the baby. Then there was breakfast, baths, and dishes, and then it was time to feed, change, and rock the baby again. Then there was washing, lunch, more dishes, rides to kindergarten, homework, piano lessons, and then it was time to feed, change, and rock the baby again.”“Hold it,” my husband interrupted. “It sounds as though you did quite a bit. So what’s the problem?”“I don’t know. I guess I mean I didn’t get anything important done today. You know, something besides the same old routine.”“Join the crowd,” my husband answered.We both yawned and crawled into bed. Just when we had almost dropped off to sleep, the baby cried again from her crib.“I’ll get her,” I whispered as my husband rolled over and moaned.I cradled our young daughter in my arms and walked down the hall into the den. Sitting in the overstuffed rocker, I gently enclosed the baby in the bend of my neck. Her tiny body relaxed as I quietly sang the words of her favorite song, “How I love my little Ashley, sweet and precious little Ashley. How I love my little Ashley. Honest to goodness, I do.”I felt Ashley’s warm infant body mold to mine, and after a moment she began the deep breathing of sleep. Normally I’d have hurriedly put her back to bed, but I could see the stars from the window in the night sky, and something held me there.“What did I do today?” I asked myself again. “I rocked my baby and told her I loved her.”Maybe I didn’t finish the wash, vacuum the stairs, or solve the world’s hunger problems. Maybe I didn’t write the great American novel or even scrub the sinks. But I rocked my baby and told her I loved her. And maybe, just maybe, that is the most important thing I will ever do.

Job...Job... Job.... the hunt continues

I am so tired of spending time on the computer to fill out job applications. Don't get me wrong- it's nice that you can fill out 1 application for the whole county but for petesake I am tired of doing it and I have just made a dent!! I wish someone would call for an interview that way I know this hard work of spending hours at the computer is paying off.

I just want to know that I will have a job come August. The only thing I want to do is teach and it seems almost impossible to get a job. I am starting to get worried. I guess if all else fails I can just stay at home and be a mommy- some day......

Dennis and I took time out of our busy lives to have a date night or rather a date weekend. We realized that our attitudes towards each other were not the greatest and definetly not the way we wanted them to be. So we decided to go catch the 7p.m session at the temple since we hadn't been in a few months. What better of a place to go to spend time together than the place where we were married. We had a wonderful time. I had the most spiritual experience as I sat in the Celestial room in prayer- praying about some much needed things. I felt at peace as the problems I had been dealing with were lifted and my burden was made light. After the session we headed over to Fridays- a tradition of ours. We spent most of the evening catching up on what was going on in each others lives that we hadn't had the chance to talk about lately.

Sunday after church we went on a walk together- the Sunday tradition is back. What a gorgeous day! We tried to walk by the river but there were to many bugs. We headed back home for some time with our BFF's and a pizzookie (never had one? I am SOOO sorry). We ended the nice weekend cuddling and listening to the thunderstorm. It was a much needed kind of weekend.

It's been a while.....

So, its been a few weeks since I have posted and I thought I would give those constant readers a little update on what's going on in the Larson household or lack there of these days! It has been absolutley crazy!! I can't tell you the last time Dennis and I sat on the couch together or had a normal face to face conversation, o.k maybe a little to sarcastic there!

Last weekend, I accomplished the task of cleaning the ENTIRE apartment (o.k I understand its not that big but all the crap in here makes it seem so!) I then decided to trot over to my B.F.F Nicoles new house in Montgomery (she moved further away) to help her unpack some boxes and give my input on what I thought went where. After about 3 hours I shot over to pick up my Dennis and we were off to pick up my cousin Kody and head over to the ward BBQ/ auction. Oh what a night, $90 later we made it home with Jenni Mumfords famous choc. chip cookies in tow, a huge glass jar full of 5 bags of chocolate chips, and a night of feasting at Cheataeu Ziegler. Aaron, being familyless decided to grace us with is presence and we watched the Interpretor until 1 a.m Needless to say "headless" Aaron paid for that the next day in church!! Sunday was Donna's 47th birthday and we had dinner for her at our house complete with a 3 layer (devils cake, brownie, devlis cake) yummy cake and my famous white spaghetti. We chated for a bit and looked at some of our pics of Arizona and then we were off for the evening to visit Josh and Nicole in there new home. Dennis helped Josh fix some things while Nicole and I watched some t.v, ate some cake and hung out. O.k, I did change the laundry. What a crazy weekend! It only gets better.....

Monday- I worked until 6:30, had a late night stroll with the hubby and crashed somewhere close to midnight.

Tuesday- I worked until 3:30 and then headed over for my first day as Office Manager at Pointe pest control. I made it home by 9:45, paid some bills, fell into a comma by 11. Perk of the day, Aaron was suspended from school today, what an easy day.

Wednesday- I worked until 3, went to the dermatologist, went to Megans sexy lingerie party/bridal shower which was a BLAST!, came home for like 2 seconds, went to the grocery store, went to Aaron and Lindseys to catch up on some much needed friend time, crawled slowly into bed by midnight.

Thursday- Worked until 3:30, got tires rotated, got emissions done, caught up on blog, made and ate dinner, went to mother in laws while Dennis worked on car and checked out Ruperts car that Dennis may possibly buy. Expected bed time...... sometime after 11, I am sure.

On the agenda for the rest of the week.....

Friday- work until 3:30, go to Pointe until 9:30, come home and go to bed!!

Saturday- Sleep in, Lia Sophia jewelry party at 1, nap, temple with the hubby. Estimated bed time.... after 11 I am sure.

Sunday- church, nap... I might eat, I might not!


It's not easy being me but somebodys gotta do it!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Deanna

Yesterday was Deanna's 3rd birthday. We had a family party complete with dinner and this cute barbie cake that Shanna & Nicole made. (Hey guys, I want a graduate barbie cake for my party!) The day started off with me picking Deanna up and whisking her away so that Shanna could decorate and make the party a complete surprise for Deanna. Our first stop, Dairy Queen. This was the first time I had eaten ice cream with Deanna and I didn't know what a 3 year old would like- I mean anything should work, right? Wrong. I let her pick something that were on the window and she picked a star kiss. As we were standing in line the teenaged boy in front of us noticed the pin on her shirt that said I am # years old today. As he proceeded to tell her happy birthday, she hid behind me and acted like she was shy (which she is not). So we got out ice cream and automatically her little eyes lit up when she saw my twist ice cream cone. "Rarah, can I have some of dat, peez," were the words that came out of her mouth. Of course she didn't want her starkiss, just Aunti Tara's ice cream. So i did the nice thing and shared it with her but she ended up taking over full force and ate the last of it. As we sat their eating our ice cream she looked over the the middle school aged kids at the table across from us and said "Hi guys." This was so cute. She sat there watching them and then looked at me and said "I like boys!' I had to laugh so hard at this one. We finished up our tasty treat and headed to Jewel to do some grocery shopping. The entire ride there all I heard was "I like boys Rarah, I like boys!" Come on girl, you are only three!

When we got to Jewel Deanna immediately set eyes on the big (ugly) butterfly cart for kiddos. Number 1, it made a loud noise when you pushed it, kinda like wind going under a closed door and secondly, it was hard to push and manuver around corners. But I did it for the love of my niece. I even bought her mini chiquita bananas and a pink ball.

We then ventered back to g'ma Larsons where Deanna discovered her party. The little stinker got a barbie t.v and DVD player and alot of cute clothes. I really enjoyed spending the day with her, it seems like only yesterday Shanna brought her home!

T.G.I.F.

Ok, I don't think I have ever been so excited for a Friday as much as I am today. Just the thought of not having to go to work for the next 2 days is very relaxing. It's been a day let me tell you. First, I went to yoga lastnight with Janel. It felt so good to do all of the deep breathing and get a load of stress (alot of stress) lifted from my shoulders lastnight (literally, I felt it lift as I breathed and lifted my arms to do some odd yoga pose). However, as my kneck and shoulders hurt today, it's not such a great feeling anymore. Maybe after yoga the stress came barreling down so hard that it did a little damage. I have knots people! So after a perfect month of no temper tantrums or yelling and kicking, Aaron decides to show his old self again by yelling No! No! all morning long- and I mean YELLING. So what do I do as I look at the Megan with such annoyance (you have to understand that when Aaron does this is makes you cringe and just want to grab and shake him until he shuts up) I tried bribbing him with M&M's (oh yeah, side not. The left over Easter M&M's are 33 cents a bag at Walgreens, atleast the one by me) Ok, they work.... for about 5 minutes. I then try stuffed animals from one of the other teacher. BINGO and he's off the the LD teacher for 30 minutes, comes back grumpy and then goes to lunch and BAM!! He's a new kid after lunch. What the heck! Now it's off to babysit for the next 6 hours! I can't wait until I can sit at home all day and let my husband make the dough. It'll be nice...until the duty of mommy comes to play.

It's my party.....

Happy March Birthdays! We had a birthday bash complete with a giant chocolate chip cookie! The kids loved it! Look at all these cute faces we have in our nursery.

What 3 boys can do with glasses and eggs

So I came across a few pictures that I forgot I had. The Woodbury's came over for dinner and the boys got a little crazy with the easter eggs and big sunglasses. The girls just sat back and laughed! Enjoy!

Calendar Confusion?

Ok, so I woke up this morning to find nothing other than snow outside, yeah snow! It's April 11th- the thought of snow should be far from anyones mind. So, I awoke in a grumpy mood to say the least. I scrambled to get ready for work as I was thinking about the events that unfolded lastnight while I had a discussion with my parents that didn't end to well- so my mood only worsened (if that's even a word). I rushed out the door to make it to the Kane County Regional Office of Education to drop off some papers for my application and nearly slipped and fell on my behind! Oh geez, what a great day not to mention the fact that I got in my car and realized that I was on E and needed to get gas before heading to work. I stopped at the only gas station on the way and put the nozzle in and crawled back in my car to avoid the wind. All of a sudden I heard this weird noise- Oh the pump must have stopped I thought. WRONG! I stepped out to find gas spilling everywhere so I lept to stop the nozzle from dispensing more costly gas onto the ground, pulled the nozzle out the find more gas spewing out of the car just as a big gust of wind came and splattered gas all over my shoes, pants and coat. You have got to be kidding me I thought as I got back in the car to make it to work on time. Upon arrival to work, Ms. Butterworth said I smelled like gas (well no duh, it was only all over me!) so I ran to the office to see if one of the secretaries had some perfume to mask the odor. After talking with one of them, I was sent home to change because I was flammable. Now I know I am good looking but geez, no one has ever told me I was flammable before! So I journeyed home to find something to wear, mind you I have a mound of clothes that need to make it to the cleaners and was running low on work clothes. Here comes the highlight of my day, making it all brighter. I walk in the house to find Dennis just stepping out of the bathroom. He looks at me and screams as he walks into the bedroom, BINGO, I have scared him once again. For those of you who don't know Dennis loves to scare people and is quite good at it but his hard to scare. In the entirty of our 9 years together, I have managed to scare him 3 times. This was a major accomplishment. So back to work I go to find the kids all excited that I was there and find out that Aaron kept asking every minute when I was coming to school. Ah, the little stinker cares!
So that's my Friday the 13th that arrived early and better stay back on Friday. As for the snow, I am giving it less than 24 hours to get the heck out of here before I boycott winter this year.

My hubby

So I was very skeptical about Dennis doing sales this summer- I guess you can say not looking forward to it! I mean who wants to not have time to spend with their husband, missing out on all those awesome summer activites! Summer is by far my favorite season and yet it is cancelled this year. However, the ability one has to make a killer living selling best control makes it worth while- I do want that house with the big yard! It has amazed me how much it has actually drawn us closer to each other in the last few weeks. We fight less, are more affectionate towards each other and just in all have a better attitude towards things. I guess I can look past the fact that I am the daily dishwasher, laudress and cook but if that's what it takes to achieve a dream or two, then I can deal with it (for now atleast) Besides, summer comes around every year- I'll catch it in '08.
Dennis really is amazing as I sit back and think about it. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into when I married him- it's more than I expected. Each day I view him in a different light that just seems to get brighter everyday.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter. What a great day. The day started off with our usual church routine. When we were sitting in sacrament, Suzanna Chocks nephew peeked his cute little head around the pew and gave me the cutest little smile- the kind of smile that makes you want to jump up and down and makes your day so much better. As I sat there listening to the talks my mind began to wonder along with my eyes to all of the family sitting near us. They looked so happy. I then began to think about all of the people I have met that don't want to have children and I began to think WHY! I mean isn't our purpose to mutiple and replenish the earth?? How can one be so selfish? I can't wait until we have children so we can rasie our children in the ways of the church and have a happy little home (not that it isn't now, I just can't wait for the joys of having children.) Ok I am off my soapbox now!

We then went on to our weekly nursery responsibilities. There were some kids missing today and I was kind of sad because I missed them- it just wasn't the same. I really enjoyed being able to sit there with Delaney and Alexa and play barbies and actually be able to interact with them. A few weeks ago it was very hard to get them to talk and now they won't stop! Snack time came and Hayden was quickly shoveling strawberries into his mouth and asking for me, he cuddled on my lap during lesson and even tried giving Dennis a kiss before he left! These are just a few of the things that make me happy to be in the nursery. The kinds of things that have made me reconsider asking to be released. This is where the Lord wants me and this is where I need to be. Nursery is one of the most important callings and I am glad to serve.

Dennis' mom decided to go to Iowa to be with her mother in law for Easter. Us kids were left to fend for ourselves. Luckily, my other "mother" invited us for dinner and welcomed us with open arms. Deanna and Shanna came too. We brought her easter basket and she devorered the bubbles. We went out in the cold weather to make and chase bubbles. We made some pretty big ones Needless to say we left stuffed, soapy and tired!

Lucky #8

Ok, so Dennis went out and did some selling today while I sat at home and was lazy. I feel really bad about the amount of time I have wasted the last 2 days doing absolutely nothing! I have just been very exhausted lately and have had a lot on my mind. Dennis came strolling through the door at 4p.m today and informs me that he got 3 more sales today. That brings the total for the week to 8! What a great way to end the week.