Black Light Paintings

It was my turn to come up with an activity for Achievement Days.  For those of you who do not know what that is, Achievement Days is a church function for girls ages 8 to 12.  We get together about 2 times a week and do an activity to enrich and strenghen.  The three of us rotate turns with conducting an activity.  So, it was my turn.  Because it was the only activity before halloween I wanted to make it fun and a little halloween oriented.  I also wanted to do a painting activity with them, not a craft, a genuine painting activity. 

I googled halloween art activities and found this amazing blacklight painting project.  Check it out at:  http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/SubPlans/hween.ht  This page is full of Halloween art ideas.  You will find this one a little way down on the page under Ideas Submitted by Anne in Illinois.  Great Idea!  First I showed the girls a picture of Edvard Munch's "The Scream".  He was an early 20th century norwegian painter who was part of the expressionist movement.  This movement involved artists portraying a meaning in their painting or emotional experience instead of focusing on realism.  If you haven't seen "The Scream" you should:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream

I did a quick lesson on 20th century expressionism and Edvard Munch.  Then we painted our own "screamers" in black and multicolored flourescent Tempera paints.  While they were drying we enjoyed a Halloween treat.  Then we turned off all the lights and turned on the black light.  WOW!  Here is my painting in normal light and black light.  I painted mine ahead of time and took some pictures.  I forgot my camera the day of the activity, so I don't have any pictures of their paintings.  I know, I know....I will do better next time.  Then of course Bill has to remind me that I have a camera on my phone!  I felt like a real idiot. 

Normal Light

Black Light

Standing Back

Oden in Black Light!

We had a lot of fun.  The girls enjoyed creating art that was easy and left them open to create without restrictions or judgment.  I'm thinking of letting my kids paint flourescent pumpkins tomorrow!

Try Try Try Again

It has been exactly 2 months less than four years since I last posted on our blog.  I tend to avoid the blog because I feel so bad that I don't do anything with it, which in turn makes me feel worse because I want to do so much with it.  I also put it on the back burner because I don't have the time to learn more about linking emails and making sure it gets to everyone.  I found myself writing in the blog and then sending out emails to family to tell them that we blogged today and they need to check it out.  Well, that just became a nuisance. 

So today I found the link to our blog in my favorites column and decided to bite my tounge and do something with it.  I figured out how to link emails!  It only took me and hour to figure it out.  I'm home sick anyway, don't want to do much, so what's an hour to figure out email linking??  So, this blog is being emailed to family as soon as I push the publish button.  What a great way to say "Hey, I wrote something, come check it out!"  Now I don't have to email you all on top of writing this.  Unfortunately it would only let me put in 10 emails.  So, I had to leave out Landon, in hopes that Caitlin checks her email more frequently and would share it with him.  I had to leave out BJ for the same reason.  Nancy please share it with him. 

My goal is to blog at least once a week.  I don't think this is unreasonable.  I must have an hour to spare each week to post the highlights.  If you don't want to receive an email every time I post a blog, just let me know and I can take you off the list.  You can always wander into our blog when you find a minute to spare. 

Now for a little update:  We are here!  We are doing okay!  That is the most important part. 
     Bill is doing really well this year at school.  He is still teaching 8th grade integrated science, but he is also teaching 2 courses of 9th grade physics.  He is loving it and the kids are loving it.  I want to take his class!  They shoot of rockets, burn things with a GIANT magnifying glass, play with iPads, compasses, thermal readers, blinky cars, etc.  He's had students from past 8th grade classes tell him he is their favorite teacher.  This has really helped boost his confidence with teaching.  He really has a gift to reach these kids. I know I couldn't do it. 
     I am home taking care of the two little ones.  Right now I am trying to clean out and organize all the stuff that has piled up over the years.  I didn't realize how freeing it is to clean out your bathroom drawers.  I can't wait to clean out the medicine cabinet.  I'm also helping Q with her new found knowledge from preschool.  We work on her name every day and I'm helping her with her alphabet.  I am also helping Q and O both with various art projects.  Oden LOVES to paint while Q is away at school.  It is our special time together.  He is even painting faces all of his own creation. 
     Quickyn started preschool this year and is really doing well.  She can now write her first name and Oden's name too.  I love that her "c" is backwards and her "k" is droopy.  She is making lots of new friends.  She is also becoming quite the know-it-all too.  Hopefully I can keep up with her.
     Oden is now 2.5 years old.  He is just starting to assert his authority, so he is also just started to understand what it means to be put in his room.  He is talking so well now.  We worried earlier because he really didn't talk much, but now we have no worries.  His favorite phrase right now is, "no fair!"  He is also over his fear of being left without Mom or Dad.  We can leave him in the nursery now!  YEAH.  That was the worst 9 months of staying in the nursery with him or having him in Relief Society.  We usually ended up in the hall.  It is also nice because Bill and I can go on a date night without Oden in tow.  He is a delight to our family.  We couldn't do without his constant smile. 

So, just a little update.  No pictures this time.  I will work on loading them from the camera and phones for next time.  (Picture loading and saving is also another reason I avoid the blog, I need to learn this better so it doesn't take me an eternity.)

Love to you all!
Bri

I Like to Put Lots of Pictures on

Lost Pictures, Lost Time

Hey, sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog. We lost pretty much all of our Sept. and Oct. pictures. I actually dressed Quickyn in the pumpkin outfit again in Nov. to retake those pictures. Appaently memory cards have a poop out date. Well, can't cry about it any more. Here are some more photos. Quickyn started sitting up in Oct. She is now a champion sitter! She's starting to try and move, but can't quite figure out how to put it all together. I'll try to get some video of her on here soon. Love you all.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad Bangerter's house. Lots of food, lots of love. Thanks for a wonderful time!

Halloween

This is the adorable pumpkin outfit that my mother made a long time ago. It was worn by me and my siblings. Mom was so nice to bring it up so that I could take Quickyn to Bill's work for halloween. Even though she can't have chocolate yet, she sure does enjoy chewing on the wrappers.

Randomness

Here is a video I made up from a bunch of clips. It is not in chronological or any other kind of order. It was just for fun!

Videos

Busy Busy

Sorry it has been awhile since we updated. I was sick and then we traveled a bit and then quickyn was sick. Some of these pictures go back awhile, but hey, I got them on here didn't I?

Here she is with Uncle Ladd and Grampa Buff. After her bath and outside in nature. She loves trees! And here is the only picture we managed to get on her blessing day. Sorry mom! It was a busy busy day and we forgot to take more. We can't always remember the camera, but we do our best.

Quickyn Laughs

Quickyn laughed for the first time on 8/10/08. It was only a short laugh. We've been trying to get her to laugh again ever since. Today she laughed for Bill for the longest time and then I realized I should video tape it. So here is about a minute of her laughing. We have been playing it over and over laughing so hard. We are so excited to watch her growing and changing. Hope you enjoy and laugh as much as we did.

Even More Favorites

Here are a few more. These were taken when she was 7 weeks old. This is her Uncle Troy and his family spending some time with her.

Some of Our Favorites

Hello everyone,

I'm taking a much cherished moment to myself while Quickyn takes a rare long nap. She's been napping for an hour on her own so far! The first picture is when she was 3 weeks old and fell asleep in her carrier after Dad walked her around everywhere. The next two were taken when she was one month old. The last two were taken when she was 6 weeks old. The one with me was the only and is still the only time she took a bath and didn't cry through the whole thing. We wonder if she'll ever enjoy water. And the one with her Dad is one of my favorites because he's the only one who can hold her that way and she loves it.

Thanks for enjoying them with me.

Bri

Quickyn 10 days old

This is Quickyn when she was 10 days old on 5/24/2008. She had some newborn pictures taken that day. It was her first car trip too. We had to travel to her Grandparents home in Bountiful.

Visitors

Quickyn had lots of visitors. Her uncle Ladd came up from his busy life as a Phoenix police officer. She spent some snooze time in her Grandpa Buff's arms. Her Uncle Landon enjoys holding her whenever he has a free minute. Grandma and Grandpa B just can't get enough of her, and my dear friend Deb fresh off her mission came up to visit for awhile.

Our Jaundiced Baby

Quickyn had jaundice pretty bad,so she had to sleep on a light bed 24/7 except for feedings and diaper changes:) You can see how yellow she was in the picture where I was holding her. I included the picture of Bill holding her because it reminded me of the precious moments Bill got to enjoy her before she went back on the light bed (even at 2:00 a.m.). It was hard for both of us, so we took every chance we could get.

Because of our diligence she didn't have to go to the NICU and she was at normal levels within 4 days.

Happy Birthday Quickyn!

Quickyn Sheryl was born on Wednesday May 14th, 2008 at 9:25 p.m. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19 in long.

I had an easy labor. It only lasted 11.5 hours and the first 4 hours I didn't think I was in labor. We are so delighted to have her here. These are photos taken at the hospial.

Two Months Left

As of today I am two months away from my due date. Our little girl will be here soon! This is of course only an estimated due date. She could show up early or even late. At 7 months I feel huge and can't believe that I will get bigger.

Bill is doing well at Logan River. He is teaching Physics, Chemistry and Earth Systems. He is busy as can be and wishes he had more time to help me get things ready. A few days ago he bought two baby mice to feed to the class snake. We had to keep them in the house overnight and they managed to get out! Bill woke up, walked into the bathroom and there was one of them sitting on the heat vent looking up at him. He was not able to catch it alone, so he woke me up. We caught one of them and couldn't find the other. I had to stay at home all day knowing there was a mouse, dead or alive, still in the house. His snake only had half a meal that day. Well, we found the other one later that night hiding under the water heater. He was quite a pain to catch, but when he finally ran under the fridge, he left his tail sticking out. Not quite as smart as he thought.

Bill is No Longer Jobless! And We are No Longer Homeless!

Bill accepted a job at Logan River Academy! He will be teaching science to kids ages 12-17. Logan River is a very nice school and Bill will fit in wonderfully. We both feel he will excel as a teacher here.

We have also found a very nice apartment in Logan that is only 15 minutes away from the school. Bri will also be able to finish her education at USU since we will still be in Logan.

We're getting that excited, anxious feeling as the date is drawing nearer. We are wrapping things up and look forward to seeing those of you who can make it on June 10th. We will miss those who cannot be there and send our love and friendship to them.

Thanks for checking in!

Bri and Bill :)

Pictures

This is us posing for a picture on the "moon" at the Clark Planetarium in SLC, UT. Since we both love science we were contemplating taking our engagement photos here, but we decided on outdoor pictures instead.

Moving Along

Well, at least we know that it works! Sorry there aren't any pictures yet. Finals were over on Monday May 1st. YEAH! Bill finished his student teaching on April 25th and is now a college graduate! Congratulations! He is currently going through the stresses of job hunting. I believe he's filled out quite a few applications and has had numerous phone calls. We'll let you know once he says, "I'm your man", to an offer.

Now that we have a little more time we will see what we can do about adding some pictures.
Thanks to our friends and family for their continued encouragement through this stressful time.
If you would like to get in touch with us please send us an email at the address listed in the column on the right.

We send you our love.

Bri & Bill