Opening Day

Yesterday was Opening Day for Little League. Joseph is playing T-ball and is on the Mets and Charley is playing Rookie Softball and is on Splash. For some reason Charley never made it to the door for her picture. So we will have to fix that this week before her next game.

It has been a whirlwind trying to get the uniforms in place and ready to go. I spent all morning on Friday running to 3 different stores trying to get all the needed pieces for each of their uniforms. I even managed to make it to JoAnn's for ribbons for Charley and her teams hair. The ribbons turned out pretty cute! (So unlike my kind of thing but it was fun.)

Saturday morning started off with an early morning phone call from the Head of AYSO soccer informing us that their morning soccer games were canceled due to the 1/2 inch of snow outside. It was then we pulled up the blinds. Crazy!

The weather was pretty crazy all morning and so we weren't sure what to expect when we made it down the the baseball fields. The sun made an appearance so things were a go. All the teams lined up and were ready to be introduced. Once all the teams were paraded in and standing in their designated spots the announcer began to give some info on the games that were scheduled for the afternoon. That's when the hail started to come down. At first it was just a few hail balls here and there. Then the heavens opened and chaos ensued! The hail came pounding and the coaches quickly had all the kids huddle together doing their best to protect them. Then all the parents swarmed in with umbrellas and jackets and anything they had to protect the kids. (needless to say not many pictures were taken at this point) The downpour lasted for about 15 minutes and stopped just as it had started. We all stood up and looked around at the 1/2 - 1 inch of ice pellets all around us. Then the sun broke through and the announcer canceled the rest of the ceremony. The decision to play the scheduled games was left up to the coaches discretion and of coarse they all wanted to play. Unfortunately Charley's game was before pictures so by the end all the girls were muddy.

Charley was the first to bat and belted one into center field (that's my girl!). She also made two outs on 3rd base in the 2 innings the teams played. After an hour in the mud and rain the coaches finally called the game.

Joseph's team showed up but the team they were scheduled to play didn't. I felt bad for Joseph but he seemed to take it in stride. He really enjoyed watching his sister play and cheered her on. We start 2 games a week per kid from here on out so we will be busy. We also have soccer on Saturday morning for the next 4 weeks. Here's to hoping the weather improves!

Technology has its curse!

As much as I love that we have new gadgets and gizmos to stay connected in many different ways it has its price which for the most part is pretty expensive on our extremely tight budget. Our computer (which was 5 years old) decided last night to stop recognizing any mouse whatsoever. It had been acting up the last few months but we were always able to turn it off let it rest and eventually it would cooperate. After questioning Ronny, somewhat like an interrogation, if we could find some way around this problem that resulted in NOT having to buy a new computer, in the end we broke down and went to the computer store. After hearing so many complain about Microsoft's Vista I knew I did not want to deal with that, so we headed to the Mac store. We have officially become an Apple only family. We bought a little Mac mini. Thankfully we did not have to replace the monitor, keyboard, and everything else, which made the purchase a little more doable. Ronny spent all day and night (literally) frantically saving our files and pictures to cd's and setting up the new unit.

I love that it fits in the drawer under the monitor and it is soooo quiet compared to what we dealt with before. I also love that I can sit here and not worry the computer is going to randomly freeze up on me. Now however, I must be schooled in all the new buttons and widgets and whatever else they call things on this system, then I have to teach the kids. That ought to be an adventure!

Thank You Teacher Carla!

Meet Spotty and Goldy our new goldfish, compliments of Joseph's kindergarten teacher Teacher Carla. Grrrr! Its never good when you go to pick up your kid from school and the teacher has promised the kids they can all take a fish home at the end of the day. Then your kid and the teacher do everything they can to guilt you into taking them. Of course your other son is there as well and wants one himself. So now we have two goldfish at home. I don't have a goldfish tank and I refuse to buy one because I know as soon as I do they will die. So, they are swimming in one of my crystal vases. They have lasted a week, much longer than I would have guessed.

On a side note, Joseph received his T-Ball uniform yesterday. He is on the Mets and is blue and orange. When we were getting in the car Charley asked what team Joseph was on again. I reminded her it was the Mets. She then asked why there was a NY on his hat. She didn't know why I was laughing, so I told her that her Dad and I have lots more to teach her and Joseph about baseball.

Eeeeewe, Gross!

I made brussel sprouts for the vegetable at dinner the other night. (Believe it or not the kids love them!) Ronny was at soccer practice with Charley so it was just me and the boys. The boys were all doing a good job eating their dinner which is somewhat surprising as it is usually a battle. I told the boys if they hurried they could go outside and play for a few minutes until their Dad came home. Ben was making funny faces as he does sometimes at dinner and had us all laughing. He put a sprout in his mouth and then spit it out and declared, "Eeeewe Gross!" and then laughed and then ate the rest of them and asked for more. It was so funny not to laugh with him. I asked him who taught him that word and Joseph jumped up and said "ME"! Now everytime we change Ben's pants he tells us its gross. We agree!

Fuego

Have I ever mentioned how much our kids want a dog? Lets say its been a long time dream of our children (especially Joseph) in their few short years on this earth. Joseph repeatedly asks when we can have a dog. We have told the kids we would get a dog when the we "owned" the fence and the house we were living in.

This is Fuego. Fuego is Nana and Papa's new dog. Fuego and the kids did everything they could to become our new dog. Here's the story.


First thing Saturday morning after we arrived in California, the kids headed outside to swing on the swings and explore. I was in the house with Stephanie and she happened to mention they got a new dog named Fuego but they hadn't seen him in a few days (I think 4 to be exact). She said that Fuego had originally been an indoor pet before he had come to live on the farm. He was having trouble adjusting to the new environment, especially the lack of attention and having to compete with another dog.

Shortly after this conversation Charley came in the house and announced she had found Fuego in the cabin. He had been in there all week without food or water. He came out, did his business, and drank several bowls of water. Sam saw him and they immediately bonded. Sam sat with him most of the day while he lay recouping in the shade. We were worried he wouldn't make it, and I was a little worried he would pass away while we were there.

Then the trouble started. The three older kids really took a liking to this dog and the dog to them. Anytime the kids were outside the dog was with them. Anytime we went to get in the car the dog tried to go too. He loved the attention and the kids loved the idea of maybe talking Mom and Dad into bringing him home. Joseph had a few private conversations with Dad on the cell phone and begged me all week to take him home.

The day we were leaving I had left the sliding door open and the car door open. Fuego decided to follow the kids inside. When Papa discovered he had come in, he ordered him out. Fuego didn't move. I told Joseph to go get the dog out of the house. Joseph walked up, took him by the collar, and gently told him he needed to go outside. Fuego listened to Joseph. When we were getting the kids in the car to start our journey home Fuego decided he was going too, and promptly jumped in the car and made himself comfortable in the back with the kids. When we tried to get him out, he wouldn't budge. It took several minutes to get him out of the car and a few tears by the boys. They really wanted him to come home. Unfortunately we are not able to have a dog where we live. If we could I am sure Fuego would have come home with us.

A week Off in the Sun! (Spring Break)

We had a great time at Nana and Papa's during Spring Break this year. They were wonderful hosts and went out of their way to find new and fun things to do with the kids. Mom loved having an extra hand or two and some quiet moments to read a book or two. Here are some highlights.
We spent Easter Sunday at Barbara and Jared's for Easter dinner and fun with cousins. As if the great egg hunt at Nana's wasn't enough the cousins had another one after dinner.

Family night was spent at the park. We picked up Chinese food and headed over for dinner, park fun, and ducks! The kids had a blast and the adults laughed as the 4 kids decided to become their own flock of ducks and chased each other around hollering quack all the while. It was hilarious to say the least.We spent one day at the miniature golf course and arcade and another day shopping. Papa also volunteered to help with bedtime stories and flashcards! (Charley helped by correcting Papa when he mispronounced the names of the dinosaurs and forgot a few multiplication facts.)

On Thursday Papa declared he was going to teach the kids how to tie dye. Stephanie and I volunteered to hold down the fort inside the house while Papa took the kids to the shop to get to work. After about 20 minutes Sam was sent back inside much to the pleasure of all parties! Charley and Joseph had a great time and the shirts turned out really cute. Papa decided the kids should all wear them to Friday Night Date Night.

We were actually supposed to travel home on Friday but the Northwest got hit with a snowstorm that day so we opted to stay one extra day. The kids and the grandparents were both very happy. Mom was too, however she knew she would miss her day to get things back together at home before school started again. Besides, who would want to pass up a day spent playing in the mud! Friday Night date night started with dinner at Home Town Buffet and another night playing at the park and chasing the ducks. We all had a lot of fun!

The trip home went as well as could be hoped for and I thank the Lord he blessed us with good weather and much patience!

Easter 2008!

Easter this year was spent in Turlock, CA. I took the kids to see Nana and Papa for spring break in hopes of having Ronny get some work done on his last preliminary paper. (We are searching for the light at the end of the tunnel, we know its there somewhere!) We arrived late Friday night after having a great drive down. In the anticipation of our arrival Nana and Papa prepared eggs for dying on Saturday afternoon (timed around Ben's nap time!). Much to the kids delight they had prepared 2 flats of eggs for the kids to dye. They were delighted! They thought wearing Papa's medical gloves was pretty neat, however in the end the gloves became more of a hassle. Sam loved dying the eggs but once they were all done with the first color he decided playing with the new dog was more entertaining. More on that later.

Nana and Papa's church is bright and early at 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning so we waited to have the great hunt until after church. However the Easter Bunny (Nana) left a few surprises in their baskets when they woke up, including new sandals for each of them. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Saltwater Sandals? In my humble opinion they are the only sandals worth buying for 4 very active children! Here are a few pictures of the Easter festivities. I do hope to put a slide show together soon.

Joseph's New Do

Joseph was in need of a haircut and decided he wanted to be different than his brothers this time. He also promised to sit still. (He didn't do too bad.) He said he wanted to be able to spike his hair on some days or have it flat on some days. This is what we came up with. He's such a ham when it comes to taking pictures!

Ben's 2nd Birthday Pics

Here is a sample of the activities on Ben's Birthday. On Saturday we took the kids to McDonald's for lunch for his birthday as well. We sang to him there and then an older couple decided they also wanted to sing to him so they came over to the table and sang to him as well. Ben didn't quite know what to do with that and just looked at them really confused. It was pretty funny!




Ben watching "Signing Time" before getting ready for church.











We had a ward activity directly after church so Ben wasn't able to take a nap until almost 4:00. When he woke up he came downstairs and decided he wasn't done sleeping yet so he went back to sleep on the couch. What were his two brothers doing while he was sleeping, having an exhibition wrestling match right next to him. Apparently this didn't bother Ben.







Ben waiting to blow out the candles. (Mom trying to keep the fingers out of the cake!)


Mom gets distracted and the fingers go in the cake!



Time for presents!

Ben's Elmo Cake

This is Ben's Birthday Cake. Today he is 2. While I was making this Ben did everything he could to get his hands on the cake and the frosting. At one point I had moved the cooling cake over to one of the counters. Not remembering Ben had a growth spurt this week, I turned my back on him and the cake. When I turned back around Elmo was missing the hand that was holding the present. I looked at Ben, he had crumbs all over his face, then he sweetly looked up at me and asked for "more cake Mom?". Its a good thing this was his cake and not one of his brother's! So I did the best I could to fix the cake but Elmo did loose a limb. I'll post more pictures of him blowing out the candles tonight when we dig in.

February in Review!

February has come and gone without one blog from us. So much for the New Year's Resolution. Here are a couple of highlights from our month.
1. Valentine's Day - Charley, Joseph, and Sam all had Valentine's parties at school. For family night that week they all worked hard in writing out their valentines. Sam did an especially great job and worked for about 30 minutes straight which is saying something! Ben had a great time eating the candy that came home!

2. Girl Scout Cookie Season. This week brings to a close the long month of selling Girl Scout cookies. I volunteered to be the cookie coordinator for Charley's troop, not realizing everything that was involved. Charley did an amazing job this year and has sold 185 boxes. Way to go girl! She also volunteered to help out at booth sales when she wasn't even signed up. (There is a story behind that which we will save for another day.)

3. The stomach bug strikes again! I'm pretty sure this was not a highlight but everyone came down with a nasty stomach bug last week which put our schedules out of whack for a time. As you can see by this picture of Ben falling asleep in the middle of the floor (note the peanut butter jar!). We are happy to report it didn't last more than a day and everyone is feeling much better!

4. Ronny had the first of what we hope to be many phone interviews for an internship this summer. This one happens to be with Bosche and if he gets the job he will be in Pittsburgh for the summer. We should find out in a week or two. We are hoping for a few more interview dates with other companies soon.

March is now here and we are looking forward to Spring Break in a few weeks.

Snow Days!

So we again ask ourselves, "How much snow does it take for the schools to close in Corvallis?" This answer, about 1/2 and inch. Crazy! Last Friday and Last Monday the schools closed here. Charley's class has a calling tree that notifies the students in her class. If her teacher calls me again at 5:30 am one more time, I think I will lose it! Can't we all promise to look at the news to see the school closures before we send our kids out to the bus? Seems pretty simple to me, then maybe I won't get woken up at the crack of dawn anymore!

The kids had a great time playing in the snow however. Their cousins in Utah have about 4 feet of snow outside. They have not yet had a snow day.

Ben's letters

Santa brought Ben the Leap Pad magnet letter set for Christmas. Ben loves them! He will bring us a letter and want us to ask him what it is. He doesn't tell you what the letter is, he tells you the sound it makes and sometimes will tell you a word that starts with that letter. He also loves to sit at the table with Mom or Dad and have us write letters that he wants over and over again. Ronny and I laugh about this most of the time and think to ourselves, Charley didn't do this this early did she? At night if he wakes up crying from a nightmare the way we calm him down is by asking him what each letter sound is. Did I mention he turns two in March? Crazy kid!

New Threads

Its been a while since I posted anything but I am repenting now and have a few things to publish today. We will see how far I get before one of the kids tries to kick me off the computer.

Earlier this month Ron and I testified in front of the Senate Education Committee about the kindergarten issue here in Oregon. Ronny's parents were very generous and bought him a new suit over the holidays to wear to our meeting. Doesn't he look great! The meeting went great and the senators thanked us for bringing the situation to their attention and asked us if we would be willing to testify in front of the entire legislature in February. We will see if that invitation really gets extended in the next couple of weeks.

We survived!

The first week of this month Ronny attended a Computer Science conference in Alberta, British Columbia, Canada. He was gone for week and had lots of fun networking with fellow students, professors, and hopefully potential employers. During his time away Ron's sister Anjanette came for a few days to help out. And oh let me tell you, did she help out. She's awesome and wonderful for just being willing to come. Our kids adore her and were so excited she could make it. We are also appreciative to James for being such a supportive husband in our time of need! You rock too!

We had great fun that week and I was able to get the great majority of our Christmas cards and packages mailed off. The week went by smoothly and without any great emergencies! We could definitely tell the Lord was watching out for us. That same week was the week of the great floods here in the Northwest. We didn't pay much attention to them until the announcement came that I-5 was closed indefinitely. This is the highway Ronny would be coming home on. Thankfully the waters receded and the road crews were able to get the road back up and running in time for Ronny's homecoming!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the time with Anjanette, however she did so you'll have to check out her blog.

Victory!

Its been a while since we have blogged but for good reason I think. Directly following Charley's baptism and Thanksgiving we finally received word from our school district regarding our kindergarten complaint. They have decided to comply with our three complaints and reverse and rewrite their kindergarten procedures. We informed the reporter who originally wrote a story about our process last June and she decided to write a follow-up story. This started the media frenzy we have had at our home the last two weeks. Ronny was interviewed for the News and to date we have had at least 6-7 articles written in various newspapers through-out the state and country about our story.

The State Attorney General's office has finally issued their opinion that no parents should have to pay for kindergarten (which was our hope from the beginning) and the State Board of Education Superintendent has told all districts in the state that they should no longer charge for full-day kindergarten and that they should consult their own attorney's regarding this practice.

This has all somewhat snowballed and escalated much faster than we had imagined. Yesterday we received an email from the office of our state representative who we asked for assistance earlier in our process. In the email we were informed the Senate Education Committee is convening a special hearing on our topic and has asked us if we would be willing to testify. We don't as yet have a definite time or place (although we assume it will be at the capital in Salem) so we will keep you posted on these events. If you are interested in our story you can Google Bjarnason Refund and find all kinds of articles. We have been doing this ourselves and keep finding new stories (some of which have quotes from us yet we never spoke with the reporter writing the story). You can find the complete story at our blog corvalliskindergarten.blogspot.com

Charley's Baptism

Charley Ann Bjarnason was baptized and confirmed by her father yesterday (November 17, 2007). It was a beautiful ceremony and both Ron and Charley did a great job. Charley's two Primary teachers spoke on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. They also did a wonderful job. Nana, Grammy Terri, Aunt Michelle, and cousin Anna all flew in for the occasion and many friends from here attended as well. We had a full house! A group of Charley's friends sang a song with her just before she was baptized and they brought many tears to our eyes. Charley was asked to give a talk and share her testimony in our Primary Sacrament Meeting Program this morning about her experience. She did a wonderful job! We are so proud of her! Her brothers were very excited to watch Charley make this step in her life and are eager to follow in her footsteps!

As a side note: Our Primary Program was this morning. All the kids were given speaking parts. They all did a great job. It was especially comical to watch Sam try to climb over the stand, lay on the stand, and do everything he possibly could while singing each song and avoiding eye contact with Mom. He however dutifully announced to me that he was a good boy and did not blow in the microphone during his part like he was instructed. Next year Mom will be more specific on the instructions.

Charley Turns 8

Charley turned 8 yesterday! Can you believe it, I surely can't either. Where has the time gone. Well Charley has been very excited about this day for a very long time. Unfortunately it didn't go as smoothly as we had planned, but in the end it turned out alright.

While getting ready for church that morning my back went into spasm (as the urgent care doctor told us). Ronny helped me into our room and quickly found neighbors to take the kids to church. After sending them on their way we visited the brand new urgent care right around the corner. I explained to the doctor that it was our daughter's birthday and I had a flower cake to frost and needed my mobility back. She examined my back and announced that it should be back to normal in about 3 days. WHAT!!!! (Jonny where are ya when I need ya?) She prescribed same pain killers and a muscle relaxer and sent us on our way. I was of course in tears trying to figure out how to salvage Charley's birthday.

Well Ronny stepped in and completely took over everything (Have I mentioned that I married the world's best husband and father?). Ronny took over the task of frosting the cake and did an amazing job as you can see. Some good friends came over and helped celebrate with us. We gave Charley a pink CTR ring and a watch (I bet you can't guess what color the watch is!). She also received a much needed winter coat from Nana and Papa and is anxiously awaiting a white dress for her baptism that Grammy Terri is making. Dad surely saved the day!

Charley will be baptized on November 17th at 3:00 p.m. All are invited, it will be a wonderful event!

Halloween 2007

This was a typical Halloween for our family. What does this mean you may ask? This means Dad is MIA for most of it if not all and Mom scurries around trying to make sure everything is ready so we can get out the door. Ronny has been serving on a jury all week for the county and the judge decided to give them instructions that kept them longer than usual. (Apparently he didn't have kids to take out Trick or Treating!) A group of parents and friends in our little complex all get together for soup and appetizers for dinner at our community center and then head over to the Church for Trunk or Treating. So I cheated this year and did a quick soup from a pouch and pizza bites for the appetizer. After dinner we walked back home and I finished getting the kids into their costumes. I had to bribe Ben to put his on so I waited until we were headed out to wrestle him in it. As we were walking out the door Ronny walked in so he made it to a little of the festivities.

So here is our little costume parade. Yes by the way, I did make the costumes (all except for Ben's, you'll notice its a hand-me-down). I only wish you could hear Sam growl "Aargh, Matey!" Its hilarious. We named each kid and their costume: Charley Cat, Joseph Hood, Captain Sam, and Ben Dragon. These pictures aren't the greatest but I did my best! Joseph didn't have his crossbow during the picture and you can't see the feather we made for his hat either so you'll just have to pretend. When we asked the boys what they wanted to be for Halloween, they first asked what kind of swords or weapons they could have with their costumes. They are truly boys! The kids all designed their own Jack-O-Lanterns and drew them out so Dad could cut them. Unfortunately Dad forgot to cut Ben's out. Oh well.

Sam Turns 4!

Friday was Sam's 4th birthday. He was so excited for this day. He asked every morning this week if today was his birthday. This was a birthday of all things dinosaurs, including the cake. Sam had 3 friends and their families come over for cake and ice cream. Then he opened his presents and it became a dinosaur feeding frenzy. They all had fun playing with the dinosaurs and putting together the puzzle. It was a great day and Sam enjoyed it which made all the time the cake took worth it.

A friend of mine came over and helped me put this cake together. She piped almost the entire thing green herself before having to leave. She was quick! Start to finish it took about 2 1/2 hours including baking the cake to put this together. I found the instructions online and jumped in with 2 feet. We had a lot of fun putting this together. Now we are on the hunt for a fun cake for Charley. Any ideas?