Death of the Grass

I made a huge mistake after our Welcome Summer party (post details below). After I finished making the homemade ice cream I dumped the salt water from the ice cream maker on the lawn. When Chuck saw what I had done, he got a little upset. Chuck NEVER gets upset about anything, but he wasn’t very happy about this particular incident. He told me the grass was going to die and nothing would ever grow there unless he removed the contaminated soil and replaced the sod.

I thought he was being a little dramatic, which I should have know better because Chuck is not dramatic in the least little bit.

Sure enough a day or so later this is what the patch of grass looked like. And unfortunately it’s right up against the patio as you walk into our backyard. I really couldn’t have picked a worse spot to kill the grass.

Last night after we roasted hot dogs in the fire pit, Chuck dug up the spot.

 

Creating a dirt patch the kids couldn’t resist making a muddy mess with. That was a painful lesson to learn especially since I was thrilled when we covered up most of the red dirt in the backyard. The kids LOVE the red dirt, I’m not such a fan since it stains everything. Who knows how long we’re going to have this little mess on our hands – anyone planting sod anytime soon?

Welcome Summer!

The last of school we had a Welcome Summer party. I decorated the kitchen table with a Luau theme and bought the kids lots of fun little summer toys. I wanted Samuel to be surprised when he got home so I told Bella and Isaac they couldn’t say anything to Samuel when we picked him up from his last day of Kindergarten about the surprise waiting at home. The kids were a little confused and thought it was Samuel’s birthday we were celebrating so when Samuel got in the van Isaac said, “I can’t say Happy Birthday to you Samuel.” Then Samuel was a little confused wondering what Isaac was talking about.

I had purchased other decorations, but could not find them anywhere that morning. I looked everywhere and finally decided Bella must have packed them off. Sure enough a couple of days ago I found the decorations stuffed in one of her drawers in the laundry room.

When we got home it took Samuel a long time to notice the decorations and the other kids were dying trying not to spoil the surprise. He was too busy pulling papers out of his backpack and telling us all about his last day of school. Finally he noticed the table and then all the kids excitedly looked through everything.

I was racking my brain trying to come up with what could be our fun last day of school tradition and finally decided that nothing screams summer like homemade ice cream. So while Samuel was at school, the other kids and I made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream.

We went outside to eat the ice cream and it was so cute to watch Jenna feed herself. She was a total mess!

The kids stayed outside for several hours playing together and having fun in the warm sun. This picture just makes me smile because Samuel and Bella are loving relaxing while drinking lemonade out of their new summer cups.

We’re all super excited for summer to begin!

Fun Weekend Getaway

We had a great little weekend getaway over the Memorial Day Holiday. It was cold, rainy and at times snowed on us, but it was still fun to explore an area of Utah where I have never been. Chuck has been wanting to take a camping trip to Topaz Mountain for quite awhile and he talked his brother and their family into joining us for this adventure. Luckily I overheard a conversation Chuck was having with his brother when he was explaining that at the place where we were going to camp there was no water or bathrooms. Now I like camping, but I had to be the party crasher on that idea because I’m not sure what part of primitive camping with our young kids sounded fun!

And thank goodness we didn’t camp because it would have been MISERABLE with the chilly weather. Instead we ended up at this hotel with a very small room, but it was clean and in my book that’s really all that matters. The kids did really well at night despite the fact that we were all tightly packed in the room. Jenna got us all up and moving with her typical 5:30 a.m. rise and shine shout. I’m not really sure why no matter what time the kids happen to fall asleep at night they still get up before the crack of dawn. The second night I woke up and just had to smile with sheer joy as I saw Samuel, Bella and Isaac all sleeping shoulder to shoulder.

At our first stop we saw petroglyphs. Samuel just finished reading a Magic Tree House book about mummies and wanted to know the difference between petroglyphs and hieroglyphs. It’s nice to have daddy along to provide us with answers to some of these questions.

 

This was our first rock exploring site and when we pulled up Isaac exclaimed, “It’s a face!” and sure enough it looks like a face.

We hiked around, Chuck chipped away at the rock, Jenna loved trying to climb the rock and you know the best crystals we found were right where we parked the car. I was joking with Chuck that other rock hunters must have thrown the ones we picked up away, but they were good enough for amateur rock hounds like ourselves.

 

We stopped at an old fort. Samuel was still feeling a little under the weather.

We waved to trains. Isaac loves trains so he was especially excited to be so close and the engineer was honking and waving at the kids as he passed.

We stopped at another spot to try and chisel more crystals. Chuck finally convinced the kids and I to get out of the van. There were GIANT mosquitoes swarming right outside the van. We don’t have mosquitoes here so it’s been years since I’ve been bitten and I think I scared the kids with my stories of swelling and itching spots. The wind was really howling so as soon as we cleared the van the mosquitoes were gone.

 

The next morning we headed out to Topaz Mountain. As we got close it started to snow, but that wasn’t going to stop Chuck. There were small crystals lying all around, but they were a little difficult to see since the sun wasn’t shining. The kids finally had their fill since it was cold and wet. Good thing for the DVD player so the kids could watch a video while daddy still looked around.

After a rest at McDonalds to warm and fuel up Chuck convinced us to go dig for Trilobites. The road into the dig site was muddy, slick and steep. Somehow the minivan made it. The boys were having a great time splitting rocks and excitedly examining them for fossils. The kids got muddy, wet and cold and were in the vehicles before the dads were ready to leave. Poor Samuel was trying to hang in there despite the fact he was shivering. It was fun to see the little fossils they were uncovering despite the unfavorable weather. This is not going to be a vacation we forget!

The next day we went to Great Basin National Park. It was a beautiful drive and so fun to see a new area.

We toured Lehman Cave. Chuck was having a difficult time trying to keep Jenna from touching the formations. If you’ve ever toured a cave you know they stress that if you touch the formations you will ruin them. You hate to be the people with the baby that is going to ruin the cave! And she was squawking up a storm about not getting her way. The kids loved the cave. We have a book about caves and so Samuel was especially excited for the tour. I was proud of myself for taking this shot without the flash. I kept my old Rebel camera for just such outings as this. It’s pretty hard to get a steady picture without the flash in a dark cave, but it worked. I took a few pictures with the flash and the pictures just looked like a boring plain cave. But without the flash you can see the amazing formations.

We had a picnic and a snowball fight.

We took the minivan on another 4-wheeling adventure to see a little ghost town we spotted off the side of the road. Who needs the jeep with the lift!

We hiked to these crazy structures and Chuck made a guess as to what they were once used for and you know what when we got home we looked it up and he was right! I married me a Smart one!

We had fun exploring the rest of the ghost town.

All in all it was quite the adventure!

Not Again!

I can't believe it, but this week we have had our 5th case of a stomach bug make it's way through the kids. Yes, that's right, in the last 6th months we have had 5 different weeks where all of the kids have been sick throwing up! I'm starting to think our house is contaminated with some horrible virus that is resistant to clorox and lysol.

This little machine has been one of the best purchases I have ever made. When you have an obsession with keeping the carpet clean and kids who can't seem to make it to the bathroom when their sick, this little tool is invaluable. I seriously LOVE it.

I was so worried about Jenna this go round because I could not get her to eat anything and she would barely drink. I was sure she was going to get dehydrated and then on the third day I decided I needed to visit the doctor because she was no longer whining or crying she was just laying on the ground not moving. The doctor had me lay her on the table and suddenly she revived and started kicking, screaming, rolling and trying to escape. The doctor said, "She's a feisty one isn't she!" That is exactly how I describe Jenna, she is feisty. Since I couldn't get her to eat or drink, the doctor suggested I dip a sucker in Gatorade and give her little licks. I now know how long it takes to finish a sucker one little lick at a time - that would be 1/2 hour. As soon as she finished the sucker, she was practically back to her old self.

Now I have to document this funny story about Bella. I had been reminding the kids all during the day to pray that Jenna could get better. That night as I knelt by Bella's bed, I again reminded her to pray for Jenna. She let out a giant sigh and said, "We've been praying for Jenna all day. Why can't Jesus just remember?" Oh, I laughed.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. I bought new sheets and they are wonderful. I haven't slept so well in years, which is why I obviously didn't hear all the nightly happenings. I was, however, woke once from my state of slumber when I thought I heard someone throwing up. I listened and sure enough someone was throwing up, but Hallelujah it sounded like whoever it was had actually made it to the bathroom. Chuck went to investigate and sure enough Samuel was sick, but he had made it to the bathroom. I was elated and felt like we were turning a corner, with at least one of the kids. I went to sleep and didn't wake till morning thinking how wonderful this was.

Chuck went running early the next morning just before Samuel came downstairs. When I saw Samuel, I told him how excited I was that even though he was sick he had made it to the bathroom. Samuel looked at me and said, "Well that was just the first time. The second time I tried to throw up in the bowl but got some on the bed. The third time I leaned over the bunk bed and threw up." My elation quickly faded as I trudged upstairs to survey the damage. As soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I was greeted by a mess all over the floor. I sighed and said, "Who threw up all over the hallway." Bella piped up and said, "I was trying to get to the bathroom, but I didn't make it. I also got sick in my bed." All I could do was sigh and get to work. It literally took me 45 minutes to get everything cleaned up.

Poor Samuel was so sick yesterday. He loves science and talks a lot about the scientific process. I kept telling him he needed to drink Gatorade. Finally he told me he just wanted water and that he wasn't going to drink anymore Gatorade. He said, "I've come to a conclusion. The Gatorade is the problem. Last night I drank Gatorade and it made me sick. Every time I've drank the Gatorade today it's made me throw up. That's my conclusion, the Gatorade is the problem." I love to see this guy's mind work!

Here's to hoping this is our last round of stomach bug, at least for this year!

Happy 30th Birthday!

I just had to wish my beautiful, sweet, baby sister a Happy 30th Birthday!

I feel blessed to have a sister that is also my best friend. My relationship with my sister is the reason we decided to have a 4th baby - I wanted so badly for Bella to have a sister. I hope Bella and Jenna will someday have a close friendship like Trina and I do.

Love ya Sis!

Fun Happenings

There have been lots of fun things going on the past week or so.

Chuck and the boys went on the father and sons campout. They all had a wonderful time even though Samuel returned home with a pretty good burn on his leg from touching a hot dutch oven and had a scrapped up nose from a little incident with another boy and a stick.

While the boys were gone, Bella, Jenna and I had a marvelous time together. I could not believe how calm and quiet the house was with the boys gone. There were no crazy boys running around the house screaming battle cries, endless light saber fights or wrestling matches. I didn't realize how extremely LOUD the boys are until they were gone for a night. We just did whatever Bella wanted and that night when she said her prayers she thanked Heavenly Father that the boys could go to fathers and sons and repeatedly said how much she loved her mommy and asked that I never die - it was really sweet.

Samuel started t-ball. We have karate just before t-ball so it's a mad rush to get changed, everyone loaded and unloaded etc. which may explain this funny story, at least that's my excuse.

For the first game, Chuck got home just in time to jump in the van as we were already loaded and ready to go. As we all piled out of the van, Chuck took one look at Samuel and asked, "Why are you wearing your soccer shin guards?" I was totally puzzled since I had told Samuel to run upstairs and get the black "t-ball things" out of his closet and then I helped him get them on. Have I mentioned I'm not an athlete - just checking :)! Yeah I'd totally got the kid dressed for the wrong sport!

While Samuel played ball, Jenna ate rocks.

Samuel and Bella had their Let's Play Music recital. They both did a great job singing and Samuel played the bells. Notice how the two of them are not standing together. Those two when their together tend to cause trouble. Bella has started to learn that she can't do anything even remotely wrong when Samuel's around because he is quick to inform mom with all the details.

Samuel had his Kindergarten Graduation. I can't believe how fast this school year has flown. I have a sinking feeling that is going to be the norm from here on out - the years just quickly passing by. I have loved Samuel's teacher and while it was fun to watch their little program I was a bit sad thinking how he was going to be gone all day next year. I have loved being able to volunteer in Samuel's classroom this year by reading with the kids (Thanks Kristen for taking the other 3 so that was possible!). It was also fun that my mom just happened to be in town for my nieces birthday and so she was able to stay at our house for a few days and see the graduation and the music recital.

We also had a swimming party for Bella's 2nd year Joy School Graduation. I have loved teaching her little Joy School group again this year. What a group of sweet girls!

So many fun things to experience as a mother!

Who's that Guy

Today after lunch I was quickly going through some old photos I had scanned a few years ago. I had such a good laugh with my 80's hair picture I wanted to see what other crazy pictures I had on my computer. Isaac was sitting next to me and when I opened up the file he took one look at this picture of me with my dad and said, "Oh, that's Jesus." I thought you'd get a good laugh out of that dad! I guess the long hair and mustache threw him off!

And speaking of Isaac he actually picked out his own clothes and got himself dressed this morning without me even asking! I came out of my room and he was pleased as could be to show me what he had done now that he's 3 and big. Amazing!