This and That Volume 3

It seems that for the last 2 1/2 weeks or so I've felt a little burnt out on blogging. Instead of trying to add a post for each thing that I didn't tell you about I'm going to copy my friend Kate and just give you a list of notable events...

*May 22 was our last day of school. YAHOO!! The kids and I are so excited for the break.

~We bought a used swimming pool--3 1/2 feet deep and 14 inches in diameter. When we filled it in the back yard we noticed that land is not as level as we thought. So we drained the near 3000 gallons of water in the backyard and I'm digging a 14 x 14 whole, 4 inches down so we can level the ground and try again. It should be ready to be refilled TONIGHT!

>We have been living in a hotel room since Friday. Ken was called out of town last week and we followed him when school was out. We are going home today.

! I've been informed that bull snakes will most likely show up in my back yard this summer. If you know me AT ALL, you might know that this is a deal breaker and I will NOT be living in this home for a very long time. I asked the neighbor how to get rid of them and she said we just have to kill them with a shovel. Everyone pray that if a snake shows up, it is when Ken is HOME. I do not consider myself helpless. I can handle A LOT infact, but I do not do snakes. (I just tried to pull a site up to link to the type of snake but a picture popped up and seriously freaked me out. Look them up on your own if you're interested!)

+ I am surprised to tell you that I do not hate baby cats. Don't get confused into thinking that I like them, but I don't hate them! When we get home today their eyes shold be open. The kids are excited for that. I'm looking forward to giving them away in 5-7 weeks. Does anyone want a little orange furball? 3 boys and 2 girls are available.

A riveting game of FOOTBALL-ish.

D.A.R.E. Graduation

It's time to make up for 3 weeks of no blogging...These posts are out of order, but here is an update of what's been going on...



Nicole had DARE Graduation a few weeks ago. Below is the video of what she wrote about herself and the pictures of are of Nicole and her 5th Grade Teacher, Ms. Shelton. (The best teacher on the PLANET!)

The kittens are here!

Baylee had 4 kittens in the middle of the night. We slept thru the whole thing! More pics to come.

Don't worry,

I'll be back soon...

Pinewood Derby and Powder Puff Races

Yea for Ken's computer at work..because of it, I have PICTURES!!

Each year at 'Pinewood Derby Season' our ward also hold a powder puff race for the little girls, age 8-11. Last year it was held on a separate night at the Daddy/Daughter Date. This year they held both races on the same night and made it a 2 hour event.

Since Ken has been out of town so much in the last 5 weeks I was the parent who helped the kids come up with weights to make the car heavier. Because we don't have a vast supply (or ANY supply) of washers and nuts/bolts, I suggested to the kids that they use pennies. What will they use to fasten the pennies to their cars you ask? Why scotch tape, of course! What else?

Last night we got the church, armed with light weight cars, a pocket full of pennies and a dispoable dispenser of tape, weighed the cars and then went to taping the pennies in place. VOILA! Pinewood Derby and Powder Puff cars!

Nicole won 2nd place in the Powder Puff race. There were 6 cars total. She was excited and loves her pink trophy.

9 boys raced in the Pinewood Derby. The first race that Matthew's car was in was a nightmare. We taped too many coins to the bottom of the car and dragged along the track, coming to an abrupt stop less than halfway from the end. YIKES! Total meltdown in about 7 seconds if we don't fix it FAST! Luckily the judges had mercy on my little cub scout and let him revamp it. (I thought he shold have just lost, but I'm grateful as well.)

Ben Bates helped Matthew fix his car. All the pennies were removed and were strategically replaced on the top of the car. This time instead of scotch tape (which was deamed UNlucky) Ben used black Duct Tape.

Matthew ended up smoking the boys in the last 3 races. There was a 4 way tie, the reraced each all the cars 4 more times and Matthew ended up as the winner. I wasw actually hoping he would get last place so I could title this post "My Best Boy with the Worst Car" but we still have next year. lol

Matthew's car during the race. There are no other cars in the picture because he was so far ahead...

Nicole's car barely ahead in the final race.

Kiddos with their trophies. Congrats to ALL the participants on the derby this year.

Adam Adam bo Badam Banana Fana Fo Fadam....

I started writing this yesterday and after I lost is TWICE I called Adam and told him I'd try again tonight...so here goes something! (This is now day THREE and my 2nd time tonight...UG!)


This post is to wish my little brother Adam a HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY!!!


Adam is #6 out of 8. I am #4 so we have 1 sibling (a brother) between us. This is how my first memory of Adam goes...


I was sitting on the couch with my Mom and Dad and they were telling me that I was going to have a new baby brother. One of them said I wasn't going to be the baby anymore. (They were talking about Garen.) The next thing I know, Garen has been in my life forever (I don't remember when he was born OR being the youngest.) and I was sent to the Cherry's. (A family in the ward) While I was there, either right before bed or right when I woke up, I got a call from my Dad telling me Gina was NOT born, it was a boy and his name is Adam. YEA! No little sisters yet! (see 4 years later :) )


Other memories I have of my 2nd little brother...


When we lived in Vancouver and Adam lived in Long Beach he would come over fairly often for breakfast or lunch. If he was ever in the area, he'd stop by. I LOVED this because we haven't lived near family in over 8 years and I MISS that so much. One specific day Adam came into town and we went to OMSI after the kids went to school. That place is WAY MORE FUN withOUT the kids.


Since I am scared of losing this post yet AGAIN, it is going to be shorter.

Adam, 3 days after your birthday I want to tell you that I love you! I'm glad you're my brother. I love hanging out with you and talking to you on your commute. I'm so happy for you and Cassie! Your new baby is beautiful and I know you'll be a great Dad. I hope your birthday was everything you wanted!

sorry, no pics, blogger is LAME!

Free KFC!

My friend called me tonight and she told me if you go to the Oprah Website you can print off a coupon for a FREE meal at KFC. I just went to the site and it worked. Once you pull the coupon up, type ctrl and P at the same time and then select how many copies you need. Have dinner on Oprah!

I love Ukuleles, Unicorns, Unicycles and YOU!

In honor of my 100th post for 2009, I think I'll just share a couple funny stories about my kiddos...

I like to tease my kids...ALOT. Often times at night when we are saying good night, one of the kids will tell me they love me and then I will responds, I love you...nicorns! or ukuleles, unicycles, Uhauls, US Airforce...you get the idea. Last night when I telling Matthew good night he said, "I love Ukulele's, Unicycles, Uhauls and Dad and YOU! I in return said I love Matthew-hauls. This is how the rest of our conversation went...

Me:I'm going to start calling you Matthew-S-Airforce.
Matthew: Can't you just call me Math Wizard?

I laughed and agreed and have been calling him Math Wizard as often as I remember.

My next story is not so funny and sadly not a story, but an on going saga for the last 2 weeks or so...a saga I fear will last for the next 7 or 8 years....

Nicole is discovering I don't know everything and I'm not as smart as she once thought I was. It started when I didn't know what was going to happen during the cat's labor. I just told her I don't know, she'll probably cry alot and then start pushing out kittens. (This seemed good enough to me!) Although the cat hasn't even gone into labor yet, she is certain it is going to be glamorous and that the minute the babies are born, she will hold them and take them out to play.

Example 2...We mismarked the time of Nicole's Spring Concert. When I say we, I mean Nicole did, but that little bit of info didn't come up! A few Sundays ago I drove her to the HS for the 3 o'clock show and NO ONE was there. I figured we were a week early. As we were going home she was really upset, certain it was that day. At one point I said to her that I will be glad to know that we were a week early so she wouldn't be sad anymore. She asked me why I say things to hurt her feelings!! AHH! Who is this girl and what has she done with my girl? I explained that I hope we missed the day so that would mean she didn't miss the concert. Once we got home I told her to change out of her clothes and it was then she let me know, (THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE, caps are when she was shouting) "IF I MISS THIS CONCERT IT WILL BE ALL YOUR FAULT!! (BOLD is to show you when her loud voice was not enough emphasis!) I asked her why it was my fault if we got the date wrong. (in a nice lower case, unbolded voice) Her reply?? I DON'T KNOW, BUT IT WILL BE!! Later on in the day when her teacher called and said it started at 2, I was disappointed but broke the news to her. She was over it! Blasted little girl! I asked her if it was really my fault and she said no. I coaxed her into an apology and RE-informed her that Mom's have feelings too and that under no circumstances was she to ever speak to me that way again.

*sigh* ...once for the day when it happened and again for right now when I'm reliving the verbal slashing!

In the end, I know how she feels, being frustrated. I was a young girl once also. HOWEVER, I never thought my mom was stupid. A little bossy at times but never anything else. *sigh* again...just for fun. It's special to rethink the good ole' days of teenage/adolecence. Ready or not, here come my kids!

Create...

I am copying off of my sister's sister in law's blog...I LOVE IT!! Thank you Felicia for sharing it!



This can also be viewed on the Relief Society page at http://www.lds.org/.

Nicole's Dress...

I'm posting this picture for my Mom.
Don't feel obligated to coment on it. I've seen the error of my ways. From now on I'll stick with a pattern.

Excuses Excuses!

Okay, so as you can see there AREN'T 4 more posts like I previously mentioned. There are 2 reasons for that...#1, my computer is LAME! Don't buy dell laptops! I bought this in December and it has seriously been nothing but trouble. Reason #2 has a little bit to do with reason #1, it takes so long to upload video (which I also blame internet connection...alltel) that I don't have the patience to blog.

I'm also feeling a little burnt out on blogging for the time being. I'm not quitting and I AM going to update, I just need to find some time that I can do it at Ken's office with a good computer and faster internet.

Now that I've griped, here are some goings on at the Cheney's...

1. I made Nicole a new dress tonight. I was going through all of my fabric tonight and she asked if I would make her a spring dress. I of course said yes and then didn't have a pattern to use, so I made one up. It's a rather cute dress but the problem with using remnant fabrics and not using a pattern is sometimes you resemble a court jester's girl friend...that it was this dress looks like. She loves it though. If she wears it tomorrow and I can get over my pride, I'll post a picture of my little jester in training. I actually think it would make a nice Halloween Costume...yikes!

2. Summer break starts in 19 days!!

3. Ken was offered a new job in a town about 4 hours from here. Although it would have been a step up from the job he has now, we have prayed about it and he has turned it down. It looks like Great Bend is stuck with us until further notice.

4. I slept in my contacts again today during my nap...BAD IDEA.

5. My kids have rebelled against bedtime...little free thinkers! (Stinkers) They've been up until sometime between 9 and 10:30 everynight this week. That's a far cry at 7:30!

6. Today is my little brother's birthday. Adam is 27 I think...I'll check with him. I'm going to add an extra dose of lame and wait until tomorrow to write his special birthday blog. Since my kids didn't sleep until 10:30, and I'm falling asleep writing this, I've lost my window for writing AWESOME blogs.

Until tomorrow! ttfn.

Emporia,KS

We spent last weekend in Emporia Kansas. Ken had been there since Wednesday, working at a Funeral Home, and we went over Friday after school and stayed with him until he was done on Sunday at noon. It was a pretty relaxing and totally laid back couple of days.

We went bowling while we were there. We all got really low scores and I think we made over 30 gutter balls collectively in the hour that we played. BUT, we all had good sportsmanship and it was as fun as bowling can be! The kids and Ken loved it, I enjoyed watching the gutter get so many of the balls.

On Saturday night we were in a Tornado warning. Luckily none of them touched down where we were, although there was some damage about 50 miles east. Sunday morning we were in the clear but Great Bend was woken up at 6am by the sirens. I was grateful that I was NOT there for that. Sadly, we did have to drive home through the storms. We were really blessed thoguh. IT seemed like the beat each storm by 10 or 15 minutes. They were just south of us, or we somehow missed them. Nicole took a video of some of the rain while I was driving. Ken was in front of us. The only reason I could see anything was because he had his hazards on (I had mine on for the car behind me and so forth) AND thank goodness for the solid white line on the side of the road. Once the trucks decided to pull over and wait the storm out it was less stressful, but still a scary drive for about 50 miles...sorry if the video makes you a little dizzy. p.s. I just watched the clip and I can actually see the road better on this video than I could when I was driving...

I'm just glad we made it home safe! It was a super fun trip.

More posts to come...I think 4 more. They'll be here by the end of the weekend. ttfn