We're busy...

We're busy...

There is walking being learned

Climbing being mastered

Eating by oneself is being further skilled

Removal of baby quails from window wells (6 to date)

Daily check of window wells for baby quails

There is jr life guarding to be done

Soccer tournaments have been attended and cheered at

Weeds have been pulled and pulled again

There are friends to help move

New callings vying for attention

And friends to play with

Before summer ends.

Family Weeks

A tradition was started in our Stake about 15 years ago where 2 weeks were dedicated to family.  No church meetings (outside of the 3 hour block on Sunday) allowed.  So this time around, since we didn't make plans to go anywhere we planned a "staycation".

On Monday we went to Owlz game.  Jadey and Max both got foul (I almost spelled that fowl) balls and due to a promise made pre and mid game we are now going to be enjoying shaved ice and night out to dinner...nice job Reed :)  Also, Grandma Price took them swimming at the pool.

On Tuesday we hit the $1 movie Hannah Montana movie.  Not too bad.  I actually like the song The Climb and nearly got up to dance during "Bop it, Pop it, Polka Dot it" (and that is my own wording to the song...I guess I should look it up to see what it's really called.)

On Wednesday we hit fat cats for the family deal of 75 min of bowling and some Costa Vida.  I did not win.  Hadley got a strike...with bumpers and a ball going maybe 1 mile an hour.  Actually I think we all got strikes and Reed I both embarrassed each other with double gutter balls at some point.  

Thursday we went to Monsters vs Aliens (it was okay) and took Reed up on his dinner he owed us from Monday.  We chose Wallabys.

Friday/Saturday was another fun swim day with Grandma and Grandpa Price.  Then we went camping.  Well it was in a motor home, but we had an open fire that we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows on, and we pulled out the Coleman stove outside for pancakes, sausages and eggs for breakfast.  We did lots of 4 wheeling and had a great time.

Monday: We went miniature golfing outside and tried shaved ice at a different joint then our usual.  The ice was really soft, but it wasn't as tasty as our favorite place.

Tuesday: We rented a movie and watched it on the big screen downstairs.

Wednesday: Reed had a meeting and we just chilled, but the kids were pretty disappointed.

Thursday/Friday we went camping again.  We had a grand time roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. My dad told us about these Sand Cranes that were nesting in the field next to his.  He tried to hike out and see if he could scare them up, but just ended up scratching himself up on the thistle.  A short time later the two Sand Cranes flew in together.  Talk about majestic.  They have sort of duck style head but their wings were huge and they flew so gracefully.  It was so cool to see.  We took a ride on the four wheelers at dusk and Reed's group scared a doe and fawn that raced them on the other side of a fence because they were trapped in by some sprinklers (hard to describe, but it was fun to watch).  The next morning my parents and Mark and Kattie (it was her birthday) and Will, and Bryan and Stan and Andrea and their crew went to a little town parade and rodeo.  Jadey and Max tried to ride Stear and Emily did Mutton Bustin'.  Now that we have tried it, we will stick to things we are familiar with :).  I was not excited about the possibility of them getting injured.  But they had so much fun.  Then home for dinner with our great friends and then out for a neighborhood gathering of water balloon launching and fireworks...and someone had just gotten back from Wyoming, which meant a great show.  Fun times.

I will edit this as more happens.

We are such fun parents.

The best.

And this is proof.

Two weeks of the year we are really great.

:)

When to switch to a booster

I have been doing some online research on when to switch a child from a 5 point harness to an adult seat belt with a booster.  

There is nothing stated by law except to follow your car manufacturers instructions.

I came across a story of two sisters though.

Both of them were in boosters, the younger was nearly 4, when they were in a low impact accident.  The younger one didn't make it.

Turns out children should be kept in a 5 point harness until they are at least 5 years old.

I thought this was good information to pass along.

What have I got to show for it

We just finished hosting family for two weeks.

For one of the weeks all of Reed's siblings were here.

I don't have one photo to show for it.

His brother downloaded everything together so all the pictures would be in order.

But with 7 siblings and their cameras we ended up with 24 MB of photography.

How many discs would it take to burn all of that?

I am looking forward to going through them all.

It was such a great time.

Eventually I post pictures.

I also want to record the menus and schedule.

Free Paint

I'm in the middle of lots of fun visitors but I just had to let you know.  FREE PAINT.  I just ordered robins egg for the laundry room.

I happened upon a blog today: Dare to Dream

I glanced through the stories.

Inspiring people, a lot of them mothers, with inspiring stories.

One in particular caught my attention.

I actually recognized her maiden name,

read her introduction and knew who she was.

In my freshman year of college there was a girl on my floor that I really admired.  She was upbeat and fun and I enjoyed spending time with her.  She was one of 10 children, and during our freshman year her mother died of cancer.  It was hard to watch her go through this hard thing.  It truly left a lasting impression on me.

The first ward I was in after being married I heard a girl telling a story about her mom passing away while she was serving a mission.  I made the connection (they looked a lot alike) with my freshman friend...they were sisters.

So today I read Rebecca's (the girl from my ward) story about a certain journal entry her mother had made and how it had influenced her life.  

There were some things I took away from it:

A personal journal.  Our public posts are not usually our hearts.  They don't tell the whole story or let the reader really know the person, but a personal journal provides insights into how we deal with the struggles we are faced with and can provide teaching to those that come after us in a way others couldn't.

How do my children see me?  What will they remember?

It made me think about the kind of mom I always wanted to be and why.  Am I being that kind of mom?  Do my kids see me laugh enough?  Will they remember the fun times we had?  Do we have enough fun time?

Am I living the life I want to be living?

I loved what she said, "I don't exist to fit another person's mold, but to be true to my own self, to grow at my own pace."  I tend to compare my inadequacies with everyone else's best.  What a great reminder to look at my life and live it the way I want to remember it and not try to fit any one mold.  And it also reminded me that I only get to do this once.  I don't want to look back and regret having not done things, having not shown enough love, or not created enough fun memories for my children to look back on with fondness.

Sometimes it is good to realize we won't be here forever (even 99 years isn't forever) and look at our lives with the idea of what do we want our families to remember about us. 

The dresser

I also finally printed some pictures from some slides Reed had from his mission.  They are kind of silhouettes of castles.  I am secretly hoping they will urge us to go to Prague sooner then later.

We finally got a bed (headboard/footboard) a couple of years ago.  It's black.  Our dresser is green.  Not really working.

Paint.

I finally decided just to paint the green part black.

This is really cheap...but I just used black acrylic paint in Gloss (the bed had a gloss to it, and gloss hides fingerprints better).