Birthdays, Field Trips and Projects

I had a wonderful birthday a few weeks ago.  Bill splurged and got me a Kindle.  I absolutely LOVE it!  My favorite part of this birthday was the cake Quickyn picked out for me.  I was planning on baking a little cake, but then some friends of mine came over to spend the afternoon and I didn't want to be baking while they were there, so Bill took the kids to the store to pick up a cake.  Quickyn picked out a little white frosted cake with pink frosted edges that had Disney Princess rings all over the top.  She comes home and tells me that she picked it out for me and was so excited to show me all the princesses.  Of course I had to wear one for the rest of the evening, but it eventually found its way into her dress-up box.  Priceless.  I will always remember that cake. 

I loved having time to be with friends and family that night.  My parents invited us to birthday dinner at their all time favorite restaurant, the Timbermine, in Ogden.  It was so wonderful.  I can't even consider my year as complete without one dinner there.  Yum!  I even got the chance to talk with Heidi when she and Bill Sr. stopped by to drop off a present.  We haven't made it over to see them as often as we used to so it was a nice treat to talk with her.  By-the-way Bill, Dad, I love the book!  Historical fiction is one of my weaknesses. 

So, a great birthday.

Quickyn went on her first field trip that same week.  Her preschool class visited the Fire Station and learned about fire safety and met Sparky the firestation dog.  She thought she was so cool!

I will also never forget Quickyn when we went to the Timbermine.  After being seated she immediately tried to get the waitress's attention, "excuse me, ma'am.....excuse me, ma'am".  She needed a booster seat, can't forget that.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for being so patient with our kids, they had a great time.

I've been trying to get back into my painting and have been working on a few projects.  They aren't paintings, exactly.  I like to think they are part painting, part craft. 

Hand Print on Canvas and Fabric Trees

These were a lot of fun. I think any art that involves children and family is a lot of fun!  You can't see it in the picture, but the background on the canvas is mostly brown, but I also blended in a little green and cream to match our living room.  Then I had us all make handprints on them.  Oden was the most difficult, he thought it was more fun to smear the paint all over, so I had to redo his twice before we got it right.  The fabric trees are a cool.  I was sceptical at first, but once you add a little ribbon they are cute.  I still have the tallest one, in green, to finish. 

Scorpio Word Panel

This one I made for my sister's birthday.  Again, the picture does it no justice.  I could not find a decent place to take this picture and we had to rush because I needed to wrap it and get out the door in the next five minutes!  The background has some very deep reds mixed in with the black to add some depth instead of just a flat black.  I had to use stencils and also free hand paint the letters.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would.  For those of you who don't know, my sister really enjoys astrology in all its forms.  She is a scorpio, so I put together this list of words that are part of the scorpio personality.  I painted them in scorpio colors too.  I'm just so mad I didn't get a decent picture of it. 

"Gifts"

 

These "presents" I actually painted last year.  They were a lot of fun.  The picture doesn't show it, but the "wrapping paper" has a texture to it that is really cool.  Bill hung them up for me, the bottom picture shows his version of straight!  We laugh because we both think we know what straight means.  I have a lot more ideas and Bill is being understanding of the messes and craziness when I get creative.  I hope to show you more as I get them completed. 

Looking forward to Thanksgiving.  Hope you all enjoy the holiday.  Lots of Love.

Spooky Halloween, Giant Holes, Swinging Success & Yeah Oden

It has been quite an eventful week!  I don't feel like I get to say that often.  Things tend to stay pretty usual around here.  Well, this week was full of surprises. 

To start, we had an excellent Halloween.  We started by carving all the pumpkins we grew in the garden this summer.  Q and O went out with me every day to check on them, Oden had to pat them all and Q had to kiss them all.  On Halloween day, Quickyn got dressed up in her costume for her preschool Halloween party and had a great time.  Then we went to the ward Halloween carnival and played games that included pumpkin bowling, musical cake walk, mini golf, candy rocket blast (Bill spent some time talking with these guys about how he can turn his rocket launcher into a candy launcher, which he informs me is now complete), fishing, and of course the bean bag toss.  Quickyn won a cake at the cake walk, she did last year too, and was very proud of herself.  Then the Trunk-or-Treat started, which is fun, but not so fun.  I feel like it is more of a candy grab, so Bill agreed to drive the kids to Grandpa Bill's house for some traditional Trick-or-Treating.  What a fun and long night!  I was just happy we were done by 8:30, bedtime.





















After Halloween we got to watch the City dig a huge hole in front of our house, but it was not on our property, just right next to it.  Later that day they accidentally cut the power lines, so we were without power for 2 hours, but I couldn't complain when I think of all the people who suffering back East.  The next day they knocked on our door and said they dug the hole to the wrong box and that they needed to dig the hole to the box on our property, so we got to watch the big tractor dig a hole in our yard!  Quickyn felt it her duty  to inform the man that he was responsible for turning off her power the other day.  He was really nice and told her they were sorry and would try not to do that again.  She said, "Yeah, you better not!"

On Friday, we were in the backyard getting things ready for winter.  Yes, again we are very behind, but poor Bill, he's been buried at work.  Any who, Bill was doing the last string trim and the kids were playing in the sandbox when Q decided she wanted to swing.  Nothing new here, we swing all the time.  I get her in the swing, pull her up and get her started and to my surprise she starts swinging herself!!!  She was pumping her legs, the right way, she had the swinging rhythm down!  Now, you have to understand that Bill and I have explained swinging to Q every time she swings.  She never gets it, she is always putting her legs forward when they should be back and vice versa.  It has been very frustrating trying to help her learn this skill.  Then she just DID it, on her own, I didn't even have to ask her to try.  She gets it!  This is going to make swinging with her even more fun.  She loved that she could swing herself higher and had to brag that she goes higher than I can push her.  Yeah for Q.  We Love You!

And in conclusion, Oden decided he want to start using the potty!  We started showing him what the potty was all about when he turned 2, but he never had more than a passing interest in it.  He will use it first thing in the morning if we make him, but if we put underwear on him he just wets it within the hour.  Well, this Saturday morning, Bill got him to use the potty, then he put real underwear on him fully expecting to be cleaning up a mess soon, but then Oden kept using the potty, he didn't pee his underwear, not ONCE!  He even slept through the night without wetting his bed.  We tried to get him to wear pull ups to bed in case of an accident, but he refused.  We put towels under him, but he didn't need them.  We had some trouble with him today after church, but so far he is on his way.  Bill and I felt like we missed the gold star, pat yourself on the back, you've worked so hard to get to this point, parenthood moment.  Oden did this on his own.  We are so excited and we are so very delighted with him.  We Love You Oden!

We love you all too.  Hope you all have a great next week.

Oh, you want to know why they were digging holes in our front yard?  They are for our new street lamps.  There are holes all over the neighborhood.

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.