Milwaukee Memories

Today when I was out running, I ran into (pun intended!) an old seminary student of mine! It was one of the Rummler girls (our Milwaukee/dental school friends will know her). She is going to USU and we have seen her a few times since she moved here, but it has been about a year. She has a boyfriend, is going to school, and is planning to serve a mission! It was so good to see her. She even volunteered to babysit for us!

It's been over 3 years since those days in Milwaukee, and call me crazy, I miss those days of being poor students. I also miss Milwaukee, and all of our old friends. It was such an important time of life for us. I remember when we left for dental school, Mark's mom told me the next 4 years would be some of the best times we will ever have. She was right. I look back on those days with nothing but fondness. Our first two boys were born in Wisconsin, and it was where Mark received his education for his profession. I do love living in Logan, and we are very happy here. I wouldn't want to have it any other way. I am just really thankful for those days in Milwaukee. I know I did a lot of growing up there. Ahhh, memories!!! Sorry for the poor picture quality.

Here we are at a birthday party for our friends daughter (the one I am holding)

This is a picture of 2 year old James at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago-2004.

This is me and baby James (he looks like Caleb!)in our apartment in Milwaukee

Here is my handsome hubby doing what he does best!! This one was taken in Logan soon after we moved back.

Lost Camera

I lost my camera. I was scrambling trying to get to Andrew's Joy School Halloween parade and I can't remember if the camera even made it to the car. I am actually afraid it did make it to the car and fell out somewhere. So, no Halloween pictures (the boys were the Chipmunks-Alvin, Simon, and Theodore), no race pictures (I ran my first 10k today-56:37 was my time), and no game pictures either (the Aggies miraculously beat Hawaii and I didn't even get to document it with pictures). I hate losing things, and I do it quite often. Luckily I had downloaded all the pictures onto my computer. I've searched everywhere. If I don't find it next week, I guess I'll go buy a new one. :(

Good little helpers

Last night while I was partying with the young women, Mark was home with the boys. He noticed that James and Andrew had made a mess (a very common occurrence). He asked them to clean up before mom got home. He was busy with Caleb, but he could hear some little grunts and could see them walking from the upstairs to the downstairs numerous times, but didn't think too much of it. A little while later, James and Andrew were so proud, they had to show Mark that they had "done the laundry." It turns out they had taken all the clothes from the clothes hamper (which was quite a lot) and had taken arm fulls of clothes downstairs and stuffed ALL the clothes in the washing machine. Laundry is DONE, right? Oh, if only it was that easy.

How do you spell......

James is learning to read. He is really making a lot of progress and is starting to sound out words. However, the English language is really messed up. First of all, James is now just getting the "r" sound down. Any word that has an "r" in it he really enunciates. For example, grrrreen....rrrrrrred....etc...(Andrew has also started to do this. It's helped him learn his "r" sound, plus it's pretty cute!). Before James learned the "r" sound, he pronounced it with the the typical "w" sound. For example, gween, wed. So, he has dropped the "w" sound to some words that are supposed to have a "w" in them. Yesterday he was telling Andrew he was going the wrong way. He pronounced it, wrong ray. So I had to remind him of the "w" sound, and that "way" is spelled with a "w." Then he asked me how to spell "wrong way." I thought about this for a minute and thought, oh no, they both start with a "w". I then proceeded to tell him (very badly I might add) about silent letters. Sheesh, who ever thought that up was messed up! James is always asking me how to spell words, and more and more I am realizing how much of it is memorization, because just when you think you have a letter sound down, it changes. He asked me how to spell "one." I asked him, "do you mean the number 1, or like, I won a race." He meant the number. So I told him, O-N-E. He replied, "shouldn't it start with a "w"? I said, "well, if you are talking about if you won a race, then yes, it starts with a "w," but the number 1 starts with a "o." Why????? Who knows????? I think I am doing more harm in trying to "teach" him to read. I think I am doing it wrong. And yes, that is WRRRRong, with a "w!"