Thankful Thursday

Things I have been thinking about this week...

1. Water
I love to drink water but I know that I don't drink enough. I'm really trying to work on that. Did you know that some of the benefits of drinking plenty of water are: hydration of internal organs and skin, weight control, increased energy, immune system health, regulating body temperature, flushing out wastes and toxins, and many more I'm sure.

2. My kids teachers
Teachers work so hard and don't make nearly enough money for all that they do. I really struggled with one of my kids teachers last year...but I'm still grateful for all that she did. I really like my boys teachers this year. They seem very kind, excited to be teaching, and organized.

3. Zucchini
With putting the fence up this spring we never got a garden put in. My parents have a HUGE zucchini plant in their backyard and have been sharing their abundance. We are loving stuffed zucchini and zucchini muffins especially. YUM.

4. Rain
I love summer rain. I love the heat but I love when the rain cools things down too. I remember once seeing some kids playing outside during a summer rain and they were soaked! I saw their mom running down the street and thought she was going to get mad at them but the next thing I knew she was splashing in the puddles with them. I always try to take my kids outside to play in the summer rain.


5. My van
I know some people would rather die than drive a minivan but I love our van. It holds lots of groceries when I go shopping, lots of stuff when we are going somewhere, and lots of kids on a daily basis.

First Day of School

Yes it is July and yes Jared (4th grade) and Gabe (1st grade) started school this week. In July. The middle of the summer. Apparently it is the law or something that kids have to be in school. And because we live in a year round school area we had to start too. (Makes me almost consider home school for a tiny little milisecond, then I realize I'm not that insane.) I'm so not happy about it. Going to school in the middle of the summer goes against all laws of nature. It's too hot. The school is hot. It is too light out at night to be trying to get kids to go to bed at 8:30. They should be staying up late and sleeping in and waking up to grape kool-aid for breakfast and "The Price is Right" on TV like I did when I was in grade school. I'm not ready for "where is my backpack" and making lunches and permission slips and back to school nights and homework and spelling lists and the structure. (And I'm not tired of them being home yet. We were having fun.) At least Jared and Gabe are on C track and they go for three weeks then they are off for three weeks. So we will get three more weeks of summer.

And another thing I'm not ready for is the evidence that my kids are growing up. I always get nostalgic when school starts. It makes me feel like their childhoods are slipping through my fingers. I have a secret...I cried the day that I dropped Miquelle off for her first day of kindergarten, and I have cried the first day of school ever since. Not the ugly cry but tears because I know that time is passing too quickly. I feel like I have spent much of my time as a mom feeling like I couldn't wait for my kids to get older, to sleep through the night, to walk, to start school. And days go by and I don't always notice the little things happening but then something big like starting a new school year comes and I'm forced to see how big and independent my kids are getting. I love that they are getting bigger and experiencing more things. Let's face it there is a lot of world out there and many opportunities for them to have that I alone can't give them. But the beginning of school is just pure evidence that the years are passing much too quickly.

July 24th

I love living in Utah because we get another holiday in July. It was nice to have all of us home for the day and that evening we went to my sisters house for a BBQ. It was great to get together with my family, it had been awhile. And it was great to see these two

Julie (my niece) and Seth are getting married on September 26th. They are just so darn cute together and will have gorgeous (and very tall) children someday.

Cole got the award for enjoying his popsicle the most. He had orange streaks all down his front and even one down his back. I'm horrible with stain removal...let me know if you have any ideas for salvaging this shirt.


After dinner we did some fireworks. I don't love fireworks. They make me nervous. And does anyone else find it strange that we buckle our kids in carseats, put covers on our plugs and gates on our stairs...then we hand our kid a flaming piece of sharp metal and say "run around! have fun!"

Chillin' at the Hill

There is a little family fun spot in Kaysville that we love. It is small, but big enough that the kids think it is great. There aren't really any "thrill" rides there. Some blue waterslides, cardiac canyon, the lazy river, pirates cove play area and a couple of pools. Plus mini golf, batting cages, aero ball, and a rock wall. I grew up going there. When I was little it was just the blue waterslides (you got a wristband that got you 10 rides and they punched it each time you went down the slide) and mini golf. They built cardiac canyon when I was in Jr. High and we thought it was just the coolest thing ever.
Now we love taking our kids. Last week we met Trev's two sisters and their kids and his parents and spent the day there. We rode the blue waterslides, relaxed in the lazy river (where else than northern Utah can you float down the lazy river and listen to "Give Said the Little Stream" playing over the speakers) braved Cardiac Canyon, played mini golf, got a little too much sun, and had a great time with cousins.
Here are a few pictures. Well a lot. I warned you.

Something we hardly ever see around here.

Favorite Photo Friday

Daddy and Gabe with matching haircuts. Summer 2006

Happy Pioneer Day!

Miquelle, Jared, and Gabe getting ready to march in the Days of '47 youth parade. Summer 2006

Thankful Thursday

1. Books that I lose sleep over
I know that I have said before that I'm thankful for good books. I'm saying it again. I especially love books that I can't wait to get back to reading. Right now I'm reading "The Book Thief". It's excellent.


2. Time spent with family
On Tuesday we spent the day at Cherry Hill (water park and mini golf and such) with Trevors family. Tonight we are having a BBQ with my family. When my kids are bickering all.day.long I try to explain to them that someday when they are grown up they wont live together and may only see each other a couple of times a year. It doesn't usually make a difference. I love being able to spend time with my siblings.

3. My sense of smell
I have a very sensitive nose. Good at times, but also awful when I can smell something in the house that stinks and I have to search it out. But I love great smells. Especially those smells that bring back memories of other things. Here are some smells that I love.
*Lake Tahoe. Seriously nothing better than that. Pine trees and sand and the water...heaven!
*Fresh laundry
*Little boys that smell like sweaty little puppies after playing outside all day. Weird. I know.
*Christmas
*Popcorn
*Sweet Pea lotion from Bath and Body Works.
*Sunscreen
*(This one is really weird) The Hospital. Ok, believe me there are some nasty smells there for sure. But I love the clean antiseptic smell.
*Books

4. Watermelon
We are loving the watermelon this summer. Everyone in the family loves it. It's always nice to find a food that everyone agrees on!


5. My house
There are still a lot of things we would like to do to it. But I really love our house. It is perfect for our family.

Mamma Mia!

My sister called me yesterday in need of some girl time. So last night we had an impromptu girls night out (with our mom too) and went to dinner and to see Mamma Mia! (I have to stop here and quickly say what an amazing husband I have. He "gets it" when it comes to women needing a time out and spending time laughing and talking with other women. Especially moms and sisters.)

So back to the movie. We LOVED it! Some highlights...

*The girl who played Sophie was adorable and had a great voice.

*Who knew that Meryl Streep could sing! And to look that rockin' in spandex at age 59? You go girl.

*Pierce Brosnan cannot sing. We wondered if we were supposed to be laughing during his songs. But he looked great so we forgave him.

*Colin Firth in little plaid shorts. Hello Mr. Darcy.

*Mrs. Weasley can shake it! She (Julie Walters)played Rose and was hilarious.

*The scenery...WOW.

*The "Dancing Queen" scene. We all said we wanted to do that. (Of course I have always wanted to live in a musical where I could just burst into song in the middle of the grocery store and everyone else would know the song too and sing along. Maybe we would sing about cereal. Or popsicles.)

*The music was great! I knew all of the songs before (hello, I was born in the 70's) but didn't know the story at all.

*The audience was so fun. I think it was 93% women all laughing and clapping (and some singing along, hey I was quiet) during the movie.

I have not had so much fun seeing a movie in the theater since...forever. I'm buying the soundtrack tomorrow!

Favorite Photo Friday

Just for the record I never would have thought that a picture where I was in a bathing suit would qualify as anywhere near a favorite. But look at the kids! They are so dang cute. And little. And I could still (comfortably) hold them both at the same time.
Summer 2006

Three year check up and ill fated library trip

Cole and Cagney had their three year check up this morning. I LOVE our pediatrician. She is awesome, just the greatest. The kids all love her too. I didn't think that Cole and Cagney would need any immunizations today but they did each need one. So I warned them about it. Told them it would just be a little pinch, "just like Blue in your book at home remember?" (We have been reading that book to get them prepared.) When the nurse came in to do the shots Cagney asked her, "you gonna pinch me?" She didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that this woman was going to "pinch" her. They both actually did great. Cagney didn't cry. Cole did. But not a hurt cry, more a -I can't believe you just let her do that to me mom!-cry.

So here comes the library part. I have been telling Miquelle, Jared, and Gabe that we would go to the library ever since they got off for "summer" break. (I put summer in quotes because three and a half weeks is not a summer break. Darn year round school.) We just haven't been able to do it yet. So I told them earlier this week that we would go on friday. For sure. Completely forgot about the check up for the little ones though. By the time we got home from that it was 11:30. I decided we would do it anyways. I knew I was playing with fire. It was dangerously close to lunchtime and nap time.

We talked about our "library rules" on the way there. The kids did great. They were all on their best behavior. They chose their books, walked quietly and used quiet voices the whole time. And I started thinking that I had worried for nothing! They were doing great! Then we went to check out. I'm not sure what dimension we walked into but everything changed. There was a little toy by the check out that had has the metal wire things that you move the wood beads around on. A toy just like the one that Cole and Cagney had been happily playing with 30 seconds earlier but this time they were fighting over the beads, it went from screaming to tackling and hair pulling in about 2.5 seconds. Meanwhile I'm trying to check out about 25 books and my older kids all decided that their books couldn't be on the check out pad with any other books. See that is the tricky part about being a mom. You never really have "control" over the situation. I went in feeling like a normal everyday mom and left feeling like I had one of those big signs above my head...with a lit up arrow pointing at me...and the sign said "this mom has no control over her kids". But hopefully the other moms could read the real sign that said, "this mom is trying really hard to meet all of her kids needs at the same time, and yes she did leave the house precariously close to lunch time and nap time, but she only has so much time in one day and she has a lot to do and falls short everyday, but she is really trying. And give her a break, her kids are tired and hungry." Maybe they didn't even need to take the time to read the whole sign. I think moms usually just know. And sometimes I think the frazzled mom is the normal everyday mom.

So earlier before the library trip I was thinking that maybe after nap time I would take all of the kids to the grocery store so we could get the stuff to grill hamburgers for dinner. Hmmm. Maybe not.

Thankful Thursday

1. My bed
The frame is squeaky and the mattress is old and way too soft. But I still love my bed. I love sleeping, and I'm grateful to have a place to crash after long and busy days.

2. Overcast days
Yesterday we went to the park for a picnic with two of our neighbors and their kids. It was quite a cloudy day and there was a lovely breeze. It was a nice little break from the blazing hot temperatures we have been having.


3. My Sister
We have the same silly sense of humor. She is always there when I need some adult conversation, a different perspective, some advice, or just to vent for a few minutes. She is sixteen years older than me and I don't remember the only time we lived together (only until I was two) so we didn't have the typical sister relationship when I was growing up. We are really close now and I'm so glad she is my sister.

4. Our denim watermelon quilt
Trevors' mom made it for us for Christmas a few years ago and we use it all the time, especially this time of year. Soccer games, picnics, watching fireworks, etc. It pretty much goes everywhere with us.

5. Spinach
I'm always trying to think of things I can do to be a little bit more healthy (perhaps to make up for the things that aren't quite so healthy). Lately I've been making green smoothies with mango and spinach and they are really good! I also really like spinach on sandwiches.

What are you thankful for?

welcome

Welcome to our newest neighbor here in South Jordan, arrived here on friday. Cagney and Cole are very interested in watching the temple being built. Everytime we go by Cole says, "The Temple! It's not done yet." They were excited to see it with the Angel Moroni on top. Cagney said, "It is a guy!" I asked her what color it was, she didn't know "Gold". So we settled on shiny.

And, on a side note, Miquelle arrived home from camp safe and sound, and tired and a little smelly. She said everything was great except the hike was too long and too hot and the bathrooms were really stinky. Yup, sounds like not much has changed since I went to girls camp.

Favorite Photo Friday

Jared Summer 2007

Thankful Thursday

1. Long Walks
I told Trevor the other day that if my schedule would allow it I would go for two 3-5 mile walks a day. First thing in the morning and again at night before going to bed. I just love it. I love when Trevor goes with me and we can talk. (We went the other night after the kids were in bed, Miquelle was more than happy to babysit and watch a movie while we were gone.) I love when the kids go with me. They almost always complain at first but then start having fun on their bikes. I LOVE when I can go alone and listen to my ipod.

2. Dora and Diego
Cole and Cagney both love Dora and Diego. They just love watching them and making up games about them when they aren't watching. It gives me some precious time each day when they are both totally happy and not arguing over anything! And I love that they learn things in the process. And it is even worth getting the map song stuck in my head.

3. The garbage collector
Our garbage day is friday. Since last friday was a holiday it was picked up on Saturday. Really early. Much earlier than usual. We didn't get our garbage out in time. It is getting really full and really smelly. Makes me very grateful for that blue and white truck that picks my garbage up each week and takes it away!

4. Sleeping In
I have so enjoyed our summer schedule. We don't have to be up by any certain time so I have been sleeping until 8:00 most days. I'm not really getting any more sleep though because I just stay up later at night. I'm just loving not having to hurry in the morning.

5. Grandparents that live so close by
I love that my parents live just up the street. (Close, but not close enough that they are in our same ward. That would be weird.) The kids love being able to have them so close, they are always there for a hug and a cookie or some jelly beans. And they have helped us so many times when there are too many things going on and we need a hand. We love them.

A few tidbits

1. Miquelle went to girls camp for the first time today. She was excited and nervous. She doesn't actually enter the Young Womens program until August, but they invited her to go to camp with them. She had a few packing mishaps. Mostly due to the fact that she took the list very literally. The list said comb/brush. So she packed her brush and said she needed a comb. She doesn't use a comb. But thought that she had to have one because it was on the list. She picked out the nicest shirts that she has. I asked her if she realized that she was going to be outside. "You mean the whole time?" Oh dear. She also thought that when the list said she needed a hat that meant a winter hat. Not sure where she got that idea. But we finally got everything packed and took her over to the stake center this morning. I expected to feel nostalgic. How could my little girl be old enough to go to camp? I also expected to feel a little worried. What if she doesn't like the food? What if she was cold at night? What I didn't expect was wanting to jump in one of the trucks and go with her. Not only so I could make sure there was food that she would like, and wasn't too cold...but because it looked like such a fun group of girls and leaders! I'm sure she will have a great time.

2. I love my Independence Day decorations. It may seem like I am showing them late, but I put my things up on flag day and leave them up for the whole month of July. I love making decorations (like the pinwheels) or looking for clearance sales after the holiday (like the star on the front door) and adding new things each year.



3. We saw Wall*E last week. It was so cute. I highly recommend it. We hardly ever take the whole family to a movie. Specifically a full priced movie, but decided to splurge on this one. It was totally worth it. Cole and Cagney were even entertained for most of the movie. (And at least quiet once they started to lose interest a little.)


4. We sold our old kitchen table and chairs. I love ksl.com. It is a great place to buy and sell. Kind like a garage sale online!
That's all.

Independence Day

This is a long post with a lot of pictures, I will not be offended at all if you skim.

This is one of my favorite holidays. I love the fact that it isn't a holiday that I have to put a lot of work into for my kids to absolutely love it. No shopping, no big planning, no worries. And I also love the fact that we do the same thing every year. That may sound boring but we LOVE it.

I need to backtrack a little bit though first. My Sister in Law Jeanine's father passed away last week. His funeral was on thursday in a little town called Bear River. It was a long drive and I almost didn't go, but decided that I would. I was very glad that I did. I got the chance to talk with my parents and brother and his wife as we made the long drive. I'm so grateful for the knowledge of God's plan that we have. There was such a sweet spirit at this funeral, and it was so fun to hear their family tell of memories of their dad. At the cemetery he was honored with full military honors. There was a three gun salute and Taps was played. It was so moving. Wow. I have seen it on movies and TV shows, but never participated in real life. It was a very powerful experience.

So because I was involved in the funeral all day we got a little bit later start than we had planned on. We always go to Trevor's parents house in Centerville on the evening of the 3rd. This year we decided to stop on our way and put out our chairs for the parade the next morning. I'm not sure why we hadn't thought of that before, but it was so nice to have a spot ready the next morning and not have to rush through breakfast so we could hurry and find a spot before the parade started. These people are serious about their parades. The parade route was full of chairs but we found a really good spot. We got to Trevor's parents house and had a great BBQ dinner. We headed back down to the park and let the kids play in some inflatable bounce houses and on the park playgrounds. It was crowded, but this is the one time of the year that I don't mind crowds. Weird. Once it got dark we snuggled down on our blanket to watch the fireworks. Cole and Cagney weren't sure about the noise at first but were soon "Oohing" and "Ahhing" with the rest of us. We got back to Trevor's parents house late and got the kids to bed. Again...one of the one times of the year where I don't get stressed out because the kids are in bed so late.

Since Cole and Cagney were born Trevor and I have never been able to get ourselves down to the breakfast in time. His parents have always taken the older kids for us. But this year we made it! I'm not a big breakfast eater (we often have breakfast for dinner) but I love fourth of July breakfasts. The parade always starts with a fly over by some big jet planes from Hill Air Force Base. The weather was perfect. It was overcast so that definitely cut down on the heat. The parade was great. The kids love to see how much candy they can catch. I'm usually not to keen on my food flying through the air but, again, I don't mind this one day out of the year. Am I the only one that gets a little lump in my throat when I see a marching band?



After the parade we found a nice spot under a couple of trees and spent the afternoon watching the different performing groups, the kids enjoyed the bounce houses again. Miquelle, Jared and Gabe each won a new little "carnival" frog. We had one lone surviving frog from last year. He didn't seem to mind having three more frogs to share his bowl. Jared didn't like the idea of putting all of the frogs in one bowl because we wouldn't know which one died when one of them died. Here's hoping we have better luck than last year. Miquelle has had a certain pride all year that her frog lived the longest.

Every year I say I want to try a chocolate dipped frozen banana and I finally did it this year. I only got one bite before Cagney wanted a taste. She ate off all of the chocolate and gave the banana back to me. Thanks.


We left the park all hot and sweaty and ready for a little break. When we got back to Trevor's parents house they filled up a little outdoor pool. They kids all played outside while the grown ups collapsed inside to rest for a few minutes. We played a really fun game called "Wacky 6". It was nice to spend the afternoon relaxing and talking and the cousins all had fun together. We were so tired by the time we got home. But it was a good tired. A we had a lot of fun playing tired. The best kind of tired. We can't wait to do it all again next year. We get a little bit better at it every year. Every year we say, "next year we have to remember...".

Favorite Photo Friday

Happy 4th of July!

Thankful Thursday

1. Independence Day
*It is a day spent with family
*It is hot outside
*Yummy summer food
*parades and fireworks
*It is a chance to remember those who are serving our nation and preserving our freedom
*Red, White and Blue

2.My Ipod
I love my little green ipod. It is so great to have all of my music in one place ready for any mood that may hit me.

3.The end of school
Tuesday was the last day of school. Finally! We are in year round school and I especially don't like it in the summertime. We are still in school when we should be out and we have to start school when it is still summer! We have three and a half short weeks before Jared and Gabe start school again (Miquelle starts later since she will be in middle school) and I am so ready for the break. I think we all are.

4.My DVR
How did we ever watch TV without being able to pause, skip back and skip the commercials all together?

5.Freedom
I'm so grateful to live in a land of freedom and opportunity.
"We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it" William Faulkner