Just a little reminder for us so we can all see what Nick’s smile used to look like. Why do we need to remember? Well, in about 30 minutes he is going in to get his braces. Last week he went in and had 8 spacers inserted between some of his teeth. And today is the big day, when the braces go. Stay strong Nick! And remember, ultimately it’s for the ladies.
Do to the recent events that occurred on CA, I’ve put together a couple of links that Becky found that at the very least, each of you should browse through.
FTC What To Do If Your Personal Information Has Been Compromised
Identity Theft And Your Social Security Number
Identity theft, fraud or misuse of my Social Security card
These are all links to government websites concerning identity theft. After reading through these, if you haven’t already, please call one of the credit agencies and put a fraud alert on your credit. This makes it so that they will call you anytime any type of credit is being applied for in your name. You only need to call one, and whichever you call passes the the information on to the other two.
I called Equifax and entered some information. Then a real person got on the line to verify the information, find out the reason for the alert, give me some information, then try to sell a fraud protection package (the person I talked to wasn’t pushy or anything).
I also read that you should wait to order your credit report, somewhere around a month after you suspect you’ve been compromised. That way any unauthorized activity will show up on it.
So make the call, then order your free credit report in a few weeks.
Here’s the second song from the combined 7th & 8th grade orchestras. They are playing the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. I think this is my favorite song that Nick has performed since he started playing the violin. Enjoy.
This is the first HD video I’ve uploaded to YouTube. It’s Nick’s orchestra (combined with the 8th graders) playing the theme from Jurassic Park. I have one more song from their concert to upload hopefully later this week. So keep your eyes out for it.
Oh, there is a teenager in the house! Scary right?
I know you’re probably gonna ask if that makes me feel old. My response would be just like Meta World Peace… my three point shot has left me, my defensive skills are a mere shadow of what they used to be, I can’t move that quickly laterally anymore, and I’m only good for 1 or 2 plays every couple of days, but does having a teenager make me feel old?
My answer would have to be no, because despite all of that stuff before being true, at least I don’t have a grandchild that’s a teenager!
Happy Birthday Nick!
I know, a week late with the post. I meant to put this up last week but, you know, Mother’s Day and all.
As I was mowing the lawn and trimming the day before Mother’s Day, I came across a couple of little baby animals all around our deck. The first was a tiny burrow with 4 baby rabbits in it. I was lucky none of them got caught in the mower. I only saw 3 at first, they all took off running in opposite directions. I finally rounded 2 of them up and got them back. One escaped to the forest behind our house. Then, when I started up the mower again a fourth one I never even saw went bounding away. So I rounded that one up and put it with it’s siblings.
Later, I think it was Becky that spotted the bird’s nest in our deck, only a few feet from the rabbits. If you look closely in the last picture you can see 2 little picks sticking out the side. We think there were 4 baby birds total.
And as evening set in, the rabbit parents returned, and the baby that escaped into the woods was with them.
Check out what dropped in while we were eating dinner this evening.
The Bishop and his wife gave Nick a really nice journal set for turning 12. Nick, the belligerent, almost teen that he is, didn’t seem too understand why a journal is so important. Either he was joking, or he really doesn’t understand the importance. You never can tell with pre-teens or full teens for that matter. Anyway, Becky gave a really good lesson on journal writing that night so our goal is to write at least once a week. So I’m going to try and do something here more often.
So, now to the real story. The kids, again, being the pre-teens that they are, have taken up the funny (depending on who you ask) task of changing the emphasis of words to make them sound different. Now don’t act like you never did this or something similar when you were younger. I remember Justin, Will, often one of the Williams, and I would go through the hymn book during Sacrament meeting adding “in the toilet” to every title. See what I mean by funny depending on who you ask? Anyway, we were reading the scriptures the other night, and Ashlee got stuck on “hitherto”. Nick, ever eager to assist, told her that it’s, “hit her toe.” In these situations where the decision is to either maintain seriousness or break out and laugh, I tend to go with laughing. Which is what I did this time. Laughing some more as I write this.
Les Paul would’ve been in 96 today (9 June). In honor of his birthday, Google has created what I think is their best Doodle of all time. It’s an interactive guitar. You can strum the strings with your mouse, or play it via your keyboard.
Need a little explanation of the “instrument”? The Huffington Post has a getting started article. And here’s my short little creation using the guitar Doodle. Practice, record something, and leave a link in the comments. With the musical talents in our family, this should be fun!
And if for some reason you are just now reading this and it’s not the 9th anymore, you can see the Les Paul Doodle here.