Stolen Identity, I've Been Compromised!

That's right, I am an identity theft victim. Someone, apparently a creep, stole my credit card, name and address and used it several times over the last week. All purchases were small and my bank caught the fraud before I did. I hadn't used that card for several years and all the charges were for Asian porn! Aghhhhhhh, a little embarrassing when you have to go dispute those at the bank and they look at you like, could it really be her? Or maybe her husband took her card? Oh, well, it has all been taken care of because of early detection. Besides, I'm not that into Asians, sure they are nice people and beautiful, but not my cup of tea! Maybe Italians??? I mostly prefer Canadians and those south of the border, such as my handsome and dashing husband.

Adios Elder Gulbranson

Elder Kasey B. Gulbranson is now serving his 2 year full time mission, on his way to Chile, Vina del Mar. We are going to miss you Kasey, you have been a great brother and uncle and most of all a great person. Thank you for your excellent example to our boys and we know you will be an excellent missionary and serve the Lord in a manner that you will be proud of and we will be proud to call you "our missionary". We love you.

Kindergarten "Graduation"

Okay, I 'm not a big fan of awarding kids for every little thing in their life, I believe they should try to excel just for the intrinsict rewards. I quite love the line from the Incredibles, "We keep finding ways to celebrate mediocrity!" With that in mind, recently we had Connor's kindergarten graduation. I was thinking, isn't this a little over the top, I mean isn't everyone supposed to graduate kindergarten? And, does that help you get a better job or into a better college? But I have to repent.

It was actually well done and fairly short. His teacher, Mr. Plott, was an amazing kindergarten teacher and I plan to put my other kids in his class if at all possible. He made a great slide show of all the kids throughout the year and it was quite fun to watch and see how the kids had grown and changed. Connor thoroughly enjoyed school and is looking forward to grade 1 next week.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Mr. Plott for instilling in Connor the desire to learn and making such a fun adventure for him. After expecting kindergarten to be like Magic School Bus I thought Connor might be disappointed with it, but he ended up loving it even more! So there you go Mr. Plott, you even beat out Mrs. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus, quite a feat!

"Something on my mind"

Recently, while visiting family in Canada, Connor came in the house from playing to reveal a secret to me. He was quite concerned that I keep it a secret, so I am going to tell all of you. He confessed to having something on his mind. I thought, maybe moving back to Canada, pulling a prank on someone, or something mischievous. But no, it was way worse than that. He confessed to having girls on his mind! WHAT? Is this normal for 6? Both he and his cousin, Coleson, have a special someone that they told each other about and evidently had quite a conversation regarding these unnamed young ladies. Unbelievable! So I asked him, "what do you mean girls are on your mind?" To which he replied, "I can't get them out of my head! They are stuck in there and it's all I can think about." I tried to think quickly and came up with, if he stopped thinking of girls so much and concentrated more on learning to ride his bike then he would be able to take the training wheels off. Well, the kid has fortitude, by the end of the afternoon he was riding a 2 wheeler and has girls back on his mind. He has also learned to tie his shoes thanks to this new anti-girl method. Now to think of other things he can accomplish, algebra, trig, biology....I'll try anything to get those girls out of his mind!

Shoe in for Mother of the Year!

Why I deserve to be "The Mother of the Year", Kara's top 10.

10. When I told my boys that if they touched something one more time that I would break their fingers, they actually believed me!
9. I did not yell at Tate when he cut his hair, mostly because I didn't notice it until out in public and that is not kosher.
8. I actually made jam for food storage, only to have Gage drop and smash the jars on the cement floor.
7. When Connor broke his arm I wasn't at home to get the phone call, but I did remember to bring Pooh Bear with me to the ER.
6. I let my Parenting magazine subscription expire, but not my Creating Keepsakes!
5. I convinced my boys that black ants are nice because they are ants, red ants bite because they are "uncles". They actually believe that now.
4. My boys love Gardner Village from all the brain washing and penny candy from the candy store. They now ask to go there!
3. I have taken the time to teach the boys how hilarious it is when someone falls or gets hurt, a big thank you to America's Funniest Home Videos!
2. I let my boys dress up in whatever they want, as long as they don't leave the house that way!
1. We are going to give it another go, baby due December 5th, wish me better luck with parenting skills, I am going to need it....it's a GIRL!

Oh Canada...and happy 4th of July!

Well, we are headed out of the country tomorrow morning for a few weeks. We decided to spend the 4th of July here in America and then head north to cooler weather and fewer fireworks. Our posts may be sporadic for the next few weeks, as we will be in a foreign land where the dogsleds are slower, the igloos are melting (darn global warming), and the pine trees are plenty. We'll make sure to take lots of pictures and do our best to stay out of the hayfields as we are going to be there in the middle of haying season, oops! See you soon.

Boo hoo...

It looks like someone was feeling left out of my blog as other "prominent" bloggers paid tribute to their spouses and significant others. I guess I am not in the running for wife of the year award! I wonder what I will get?... housekeeper, I do keep a clean house, oh right, this is not about me...

Ryan is a great man and wonderful husband. I think he might want me to go into detail here and tell about all the great things he does for me and the kids, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Sure, he works hard all day everyday for us, then comes home only to help take care of the kids and do dinner dishes, then there is the baths and bedtime routine that he is so great at. He forgoes golf and a lot of sports and hobbies for family time and school performances. Not to mention the sleep he misses so he can work late while we are all sleeping so as to spend as much time as possible with us. But we should all ask ourselves why he does this so faithfully, and I will defend that it is because we make home so great for him! Who wouldn't want to live with me and three little boys that never sit still? Now who is the one who needs the kudos? Where does it all come back to? Oh well, thankless job...

All joking aside, I love my guy and all he does for our family, he is pretty amazing and it's not even his birthday, father's day or our anniversary. But with a little prodding I too can be sentimental.