Criger News

We have had a fun spring and now we are ready for summer!

Carson turned 12 on April 21st. It is hard to believe he is so grown up. He looks sharp dressed in his new suit. Carson officially graduated from Primary and moved up to Young Mens. Now he passes the Sacrament each Sunday -it is fun as parents to watch him! Carson and Doug also went on a Scout Camporee with tons of other scouts. Doug described the camporee as "fun"! They went canoeing, participated in a log sawing contest, threw hatchets and hike a bunch. While they were gone Logan and I went shopping and did our nails. I think we girls had more fun - but I know the boys would argue about that.

A few weeks ago for a family night we took off bike riding on the Old Tobacco Trail in Durham. We had time to ride a few miles on the trail - we all decided we need to do it again since it is so much fun. The kids really liked stopping for yogurt after the ride. We bought yogurt at the Orange Leaf. It is a serve yourself style yogurt. We all tried different flavors and toppings. Between the 4 of us I think there were 18 flavors. I know we will definitely go back for more yogurt again.

Now that school is almost over we are enjoying music concerts. Carson has been playing the saxophone in beginning band. The spring concert was a couple of weeks ago and the band sounded great. They played "New York, New York" and "Over the Rainbow". It is amazing that the middle school band teacher can take kids who have never played an instrument - and within 8 months have them play songs that parent enjoy. Carson wants to continue with band again next year!! Logan joined the school chorus this year and had a bunch of fun. She really loves to sing! Her spring concert was last week. All through the concert she was bouncing and smiling and just loving the whole thing. She is planning on singing in the school chorus again next year.

Can you tell these two are related? While waiting for Logan's Chorus concert to start both Carson & Doug were totally absorbed in books!!!!

The kids have about 2 weeks until they are out for summer vacation. They both passes their end of grade tests, so now there are a lot of parties and fun activities at school. It seems every day there is a note coming home about a pizza party or ice cream party to celebrate the end of school. Luckily practice for swim team just started this week so the kids can have a bit of fun at the pool after school each day.

Spring Break

We have been on Spring Break for the past week. We started on Sunday with a brunch. We had our friends the Condies over for crepes. We filled them with fruit, chocolate chips, peanut butter and Nutella - yum -yum-yum! Everyone had to name their crepe creation before eating it - my favorite crepe invention was "Berry Bonanza - you can tell it was full of berries. After brunch we all watched General Conference together - it really does not get better than that!!

The week started out very YELLOW. The pine pollen appeared on Monday morning - it was all over leaving a yellow dust on everything. Every thing you touch outside is yellow . Even gettin the mail leaves your hands covered with yellow dust. We rinsed the car off one afternoon - but by dinner time the car was covered in yellow dust again. Luckily it rained last night and washed away most of the pollen.

We have done lots of bike riding this week. Logan is now an official bike rider. She has been very hesitant about riding her bike - so Logan Carson and I went riding one morning with Logan on her "party girl bike" which was a bit small and hard to ride.. She was amazing -riding around the parking lot for almost an hour. The next day she rode Carson's old bike and was again - AMAZING. This bike is the right size and easier to ride. She rode all over the school playground. I think she has really been secretly practicing and not letting us know about it. Today we rode over to the school on our bikes and Logan did a great job again. Now we need to get bikes for Kaylene & Doug and the whole family can go on a long long ride - What fun!!

The nice 75 degree weather made a perfect day for a beach trip. Since Doug had to work Kaylene took the kids to Carolina Beach for the day. We packed lunch, drinks and snacks, then hopped in the car for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the beach. The kids watched movies on the way down to the beach so the drive seemed to go very quickly.

The day was great - not too hot, not too cold. It was just a bit windy. The water was COLD, but Carson was very brave and jumped in. Logan said her favorite part about the beach was playing in the water. Both Carson and Logan loved making sand castles and digging in the sand. After about 3 1/2 hours of play time the clouds started rolling in and the wind picked up so we packed up the car and came home. We were all ready for a nice shower when we got home! It really was a fun day and we decided we will do it again in a few weeks when Doug can come with us and the water is a bit warmer.

Criger winter update!

Now that spring has arrived, it is time for an update on what we have done during these cold months. During Thanksgiving break we took a trip to The Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte, NC. of course the indoor water park was a perfect 84 degrees at all times. The water slides were tons of fun and the kids loved doing the Magiquest- finding runes and treasures throughout the lodge.The game took over 2 hours during the 3 days stayed at the hotel -there was plenty of running up and down stairs and in and out of hallways - but both kids finished the quest and had a chance to try slaying the dragon! The favorite part of the trip was going down the drop-off waterslide together as a family. We all think that Doug yelled the loudest because he went down the drop-off first and did not see it coming! The kids would have been happy to stay at the water park for a week- maybe we will head back next Thanksgiving.

Once winter arrived - it really came to stay. We even had some snow here in North Carolina - enough to miss 3 days of school (now we have to make up those days during spring break). Of course the kids spent every minute they could sledding and playing in the snow. Logan even went night sledding with the neighbors one evening. We did have a few broken bones this winter. Carson fell one day at school. When he came home his left hand was swollen and black and blue. The X-ray showed four broken fingers in his left hand (and a healed wrist fracture - the wrists were injured just after Christmas - but they did not hurt that bad and they were not swollen - so we never had them checked by the doctor - what great parent Doug and I are!) After a few weeks in a cast/splint, Carson's fingers are back to normal.


Despite Carson's broken fingers he managed to complete his science fair project. He completed the experiment and typed up the project with one hand. Using the paper cutter and gluing things seemed to be the most difficult part. Carson was surprised and thrilled when he won 2nd place in the physical science division for his project. He brought home a big red ribbon and a big smile!



Finally - we have completed a couple of projects around the house this winter. I was going crazy with shoes and coats scattered everywhere so - we had a coat rack with shelves and a shoe storage bench built in right near the door! It is a great solution. Everyone loves stopping to hang things up and put shoes away as they come inside. I just hope this lasts a long time! The other project was the dining room. The chairs have been recovered, window treatments made and hung. Now it is time for a nice dinner party to celebrate!

The Good - The Bad - And The Shiny

The best way to describe last week end is The Good - The Bad and The Shiny!
First the Good - We have been looking for a dishwasher for a few weeks. On Saturday morning I went to Lowe's and purchased a nice new dishwasher. Free delivery and haul away of the old dishwasher was included. Doug disconnected the old machine and installed the new one on Monday when it arrived. The machine has room for lots of dishes - it is nice and quiet and has a delay function. This is all GOOD. Even better news. Lowe's has a low price match guarantee - so if the item you purchase is advertised at a lower price they will give you the difference plus 10%. Today in the Lowe's ad all dishwashers were 10 % off. So Lowe's gave me the 10%+10% off . This makes it REALLY Good. We have already washed a full load of dishes.

Now for the Bad - Well the picture pretty much says it all!! Doug was going out to do some Home Teaching on Saturday afternoon. He had been gone for about 30 minutes when he called and said he had been in a car accident and needed a tow truck. The picture pretty much tells it all. The car looks bad. Luckily Doug only had a few scratches and the other car did not have much damage. The insurance company it totaling the car since it is 14 years old and had 168K miles. We are now looking for a replacement car for Doug - one that will transport scouts and camping equipment since he is the new assistant Scoutmaster. I think Doug is almost sold on a Volvo wagon - a safe car and plenty of room for scouts and their stuff.

Finally for the Shiny!! Carson just started middle school band and will be playing the saxophone. We picked up his saxophone and he immediately started making noises with it (maybe this should be noisy instead of shiny). The instrument is very nice looking, bright, lots of buttons, knobs, keys, etc. Just what a curious boy wants and needs. The biggest issue to day was where to keep the saxophone during the school day since band class is his last period. I did assure Carson that the band teacher has a place for students to store their instruments each day so they do not have to carry them around all day. We cannot wait to hear some real music in the next few months.

We are hoping for a nice quiet Labor Day weekend.

Summer Update

So much for blogging this summer!! We did have a lot of fun - but summer was way too short.
June was spent with our swim team the FIVE OAKS STINGRAYS!! Carson & Logan practiced everyday and swam in 5 meets. They did a great job at champs.
We always have a great time with all our Five Oaks friends and we miss not seeing them as much after swim team is over.
In August we vacationed in Denver and Utah. All of our Ostler cousins got together in Denver when Eli was baptized. Paddle boating on Soda Lake was Carson's favorite activity. Logan loved the Butterfly Pavilion where she attracted several butterflies We flew from Denver into Salt Lake City so we could spend time in Utah visiting grandparents and more family. Every day of our vacation was packed with fun - ice blocking, water park, and a trip to Park City really made the trip exciting. We all enjoyed meeing our newest cousing Summer Slye - we hear she is even more adorable now !!

Summer officially started last Wednesday when school let out. Carson graduated from 5th grade and elementary school - so it is off to middle school in the fall. Logan was voted "Happy McSmiley in her 3rd grade class! I think I should have received the award for "Mommy

McWalker" since I walked to school with the kids almost every day! I will miss the walk to school every morning- but I am glad to get a break from packing lunches every morning.

We are right in the middle of swim team. We have practices every day and 2 swim meets this week. It seems that we are living at the pool for the next couple of weeks. Just keeping up on laundry with wet towels an swim suits seems to be the biggest chore I have each day.

Once swim team is over in July we have tennis camp and a trip to Denver & Provo planned. I am really excited for all the fun we are going to have this summer.

February 22, 2009

Wow - I am such a great blogger!! I seem to get around to it about every 6 months. Life just keeps happening - nothing super exciting - just life.

We had a great trip to Utah for Christmas and had so much fun visiting and playing with cousins and family. There was plenty of snow for the kids to play in so we would not need to be wishing for any in NC.

It seems that Logan & Carson have been losing teeth every week. One of them is always saying "I have a loose tooth". The tooth fairy is very poor right now! At least the teeth come out the right way - rather than being knocked out during some dare devil stunt.

Logan had a great time at the "Daddy-Daughter Dance" last week. All the dads and daughters dressed up for a dance at the church on Friday night. Doug said the girls seemed to like eating the food and giggling most of all. After the dance Doug & Logan met Carson and I at the movie theater where we all watched "Corlaline"

I am on the search for a good piano. Doug seems to laugh at me every time I mention it I am very serious about it so hoepfully in the next few weeks we will have a real piano - I may even start taking some lessons too. I might even start blogging regularly now too.