Rocks And Weeds Growin' Up Like A Tree

So with our last house, we had what we thought was way too small of a backyard. When we were looking for a place to build, we knew we wanted a big yard. But we are finding out now that we really didn't have any idea what that would mean, a big yard. Silly, silly us. Well, we have us a big ole honkin' yard now. And we are fully aware of what that means. We now have a sprinkler system and a combination of grass and somewhat manageable weeds in 1/2 of the yard (which if you read my Monday Morning Musings this week you know takes 3 hours of non-stop mowing and a couple tanks of gas to keep it in check) and we are trying to finish the sprinklers and plant grass on the other half. We were working on a section this morning. Steve and Zac were installing the sprinkler heads and the girls and I were on rock removal. I can't even begin to tell you how many rocks we have displaced since this whole thing began. We are always and forever picking up rocks. ALWAYS. and. FOREVER.

Well, there were two girls who were very unhappy about having to work in the rock business this morning. So whenever anyone is unhappy I just do what comes naturally, which is sing. Only somehow my singing doesn't help ease the unhappiness. It only adds to it. I was makin' up all kinds of good lyrics to songs we knew. And for some reason when I make up words...oh, if you think my kids are annoyed by my singin' a plain old regular song...well, stand back when I start to improvise. They REALLY hate that. I was trying to find a song they would sing with me so I started singing the popcorn song. They wouldn't sing along, so I made up my own lyrics:

I looked out the window and what did I see?
Rocks and weeds growin' up like a tree
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise
Weeds were growin' right before my eyes
I can take a shovel full and make a pile
Of rocks and weeds that would go for a mile
It was unfortunately so, and it seemed to be
Rocks and weeds growin' up like a tree.

I thought I did a mighty find job pullin' those lyrics right outta my head like that, but...sigh...my kids just have no appreciation for the endless talent I posess. They put down their shovels every time I started singing my song. They wouldn't pick them up again until I stopped.

Oh well, the next section of sprinklers is in. We only have a few more piles of rocks to eliminate from that section before we can put in the grass seed. One of these day...one of these days...

Flasback/Flashforward Friday

On Wednesday I had a dinner at my house with some old and dear friends. These are friends I had when I first moved to Utah after I graduated from high school in 1992. We used to be inseparable. We had a little group of us and we did everything together, every day. John lives across the country now and he was here in Utah visiting so a few of us got together. Not everyone was able to make it and we missed y'all, but we had fun. It has been over 14+ years since the last time we saw each other.

Christina, Allyson, Jon, Greg

Allyson and Jon circa 1992
Allyson and Christina

Greg, Tina, Allyson, Christina

Monster Baby Strikes Again

How can someone so downright cute, be so downright naughty? I ask myself that question every day. Last weekend, Addy got in my van and turned on all the lights and I didn't know it. It totally drained the battery. We have been trying to charge it but it is so dead it won't even take a charge. So I have been driving my dad's truck this week. My plan was to buy a new battery for my van today while I was out running errands. Well, I went out this morning to take Zac and a neighbor to summer band and my dad's truck wouldn't start. It appears that someone (ADDY!) turned the headlights on yesterday and left them on. So I set the keys to both my van and dad's truck down and am calling trying to work out rides to and from band. Then next thing I know Addy is bringing me the keys to my van, but not the truck. Yeah. We couldn't find those. She picked them up and did something with them. So I am freaking out trying to find the keys. We finally find them out in the middle of the street. Then I am moving the battery charger from my van over to the truck and when I am done I get Addy to bring her inside and she has been playing in paint that she found in the garage. She had paint all over her hands and arms and face and clothes. Today has started out so fun, can't wait to find out what the rest of the day brings!

A Whale Of A Time

So we are at the water park today and we are in the little kiddie play area and Aubrey lies down under this spout of water that is pouring out of a tower. She starts going on and on about how good it feels on her back and it feels like she is getting a massage. I am standing there with my back that has been bothering me for the past few days thinking, DANG! That does look good! I was half tempted to get down there and try it out myself. But then I started thinking about how much I would resemble a beached whale and decided I didn't want to scare all the kiddies away. But Aubrey kept doing it. And I so longed to join her. I thought maybe if I could convince all the other moms that it would feel like a massage, and if I could get a few of them to do it with me, it wouldn't be so bad. But then I looked around me at the extreme fashion show we had going on at the water park. What, with all the moms in full makeup, hair and hair accessories that can't get wet, sunglasses, earrings, and high heels and decided they were probably a little to good to get their massages in the kiddie pool. So now here I sit, slumped over the computer, my back still aching, thinking: beached whale or not, I am gettin' down there with Aubrey next time!

My Life. Right Now.

I am sitting at the table trying to eat my lunch. Aubrey is wailing and gnashing her teeth on the couch because she wants to eat. But I gave everyone a job they had to do while I was making lunch and she won't do hers because it is harder than the jobs I gave everyone else. It would take her all of 60 seconds to do it and I offered to help. But no. She is too hungry so she would rather cry on the couch for 30 minutes. Zac keeps sticking his burrito in his mouth and making a loud humming sound, then he takes the burrito out and says is a computer generated type voice, "Unable to process data analysis. Object unknown." He has done that about 10 times now. Emily, I don't even know what she is doing or saying, but she is being her usual loud self. My sister Lauren keeps trying in vain to get Addy to stop yelling. What she is yelling about, I have no idea. When I wasn't looking, she walked over to the counter and took two huge handfuls of shredded cheese out of the bag and then walked the long way around the kitchen back to her seat. So now there is shredded cheese in a trail from the counter, around the island, to the table. I have people coming to my house for dinner tonight that I haven't seen in 14+ years. My house is in no way fit for company right now. I have a load of laundry in the washing machine that is probably going to have to be rewashed because I never put it in the dryer yesterday. I haven't showered yet. There is chicken poop all over my back patio. And I have at least an hours worth of paperwork Steve needs me to do ASAP. And I have two movies that are overdue at the library. So...how's your day goin'?

Monday Morning Musings - Alicia, This One's For You

MIA: Summer Fun Chart

My Computer is actin' a fool, so I ain't got no chart to post. Just know that it is summer here and we are for sure having fun! Most of the time.



I was chastised at church yesterday for not posting more. Apparently it is my responsibility to entertain my neighbor Alicia over the summer break. (We saw you and your brood walking in to C.H. as we were leaving this afternoon) And so far, she has not been very entertained. I told her I would go home and do 10 posts that day. As you can see, that was a big fat lie. Sorry Alicia. I will try my hardest to squeeze out a post on a more frequent basis.



Do you know how much pressure is on me now? I mean what if this post is totally boring? I feel like everyone is looking at me now and I have nothing to say!



I did something really really stupid last week. I made a deal with Zac that I would mow the lawn for him if he did something for me that he didn't want to do. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Hannah. Banana. I mowed for three hours straight. Seriously. Well, except for twice when I had to stop and fill the gas tank up again. I thought I was going to die. I now have a new found respect for my son and the daunting task he is faced with on a weekly basis. You know what the best part is? We only have grass/weeds on 1/2 the lawn! What the heck are we (and by we I mean Zac) gonna do when we have the rest of the lawn in? It'll take 6 hours to mow! If Zac mowed an hour a day every day, by the time he got to the end, he'd have to start back over at the beginning again. Next time Steve says something about needing to buy a riding lawn mower, I will go down to the store myself and buy one. Heck, I'll even skip a months house payment to buy it if I have to!



You know last week, I said something about Europeans being at the water park? I have been feeling really bad about that. I mean, anyone who is that comfortable with their body (especially when it looks like that) should be admired. So I take it back little European family, I take it back.



Steve and I are on the Youth Conference Committee this year. We are working along with another couple in our ward to plan a 3 day Youth Conference for the 14-18 year olds in our ward. It is quickly approaching and I am getting so excited. We are doing "The Amazing Race" and we have been planning and working on it for the last 6 months. It will be fun to finally see all our hard work play out.



I am patiently waiting for my sister Farrah to post her pictures from her trip to Boston. And I am also patiently waiting for my sister Kristy to post her pictures from her trip to Paris. And for my friend Dianna to post her pictures from her trip to Germany. If you are going to go on a trip like that, the least you can do is post some pictures and rub it in our faces. Get with it girls! And I, I will post pictures from my trip to...uhhh...my latest trip to...the grocery store. Yep. Because that's about all that's trippin' around here.



This is really getting long. Alicia, I think you should count it as 10 posts.



I LOVE my husband. He works harder than anyone I know. He has been working the most insane hours this month. Last week, he worked over 100 hours. This morning, he got up at 1:45 AM to go to work, and I am not sure when he will be home. I hope soon. I am not complainin', I am glad he has work, but I do miss him terribly. Here is a picture I found of us the other day. It was taken in 1996. Stephen! I love you!

Monday Morning Musings - She's A Yankee DOODLE Sweetheart

There is nothing I love more than free shopping. The kids and I went to IKEA last week. A few months back Steve and I went there and we took a bunch of stuff back. We didn't have a receipt so we had to take store credit. My favorite kind of return. Because that means you have to buy something else. Well, for some reason we had to leave before we found something we wanted to buy. So I figured I would go back another time and use it. I totally forgot how much money was on that card they gave me. I was thinking it was like $20. So I had them scan the card and tell me what was on it when I got to the store. WOO HOO! There was a lot 'O money on it! Well, a lot 'O money for me, who was expecting to go and only spend the $20. It was fun going on a little "free" shopping spree.

I have been thinking that I might pile all my kiddos in the mini van and take a little drive to the Big D. Tejas. The Lone Star State. That place where everything is bigger and better. I'm missin' my hometown and all the people I left behind. So anyhoo, I was thinkin' about driving there. Just me and the kids (Steve has to work far too much). Then I took the kids to IKEA. And on the way home not only did they fight and argue and make me crazy the whole time, but I kept almost falling asleep. I decided that if I can't make the drive home from IKEA, I probably couldn't make the drive half way across the country. Dallas will have to wait for me another day...

All I have to say is, Europeans at the water park today. If you are European and you are reading this, I am sorry, but....uhhhh.....uhhhh.....uhhhhh....

I bought me some worshshable markers down at the Whal-mhart last week. Zac has been using them to doodle upon his little sisters face:

Flashback Friday - This Time Three Years Ago

It is hard to believe that three years have gone by already. Three years ago this month Steve's sister Heather and her husband, also a Steve, came all the way from Missouri with their family for a visit. We had the best 2 weeks with them. We did all sorts of fun stuff. Here are just a few of the pictures from that trip. The kids (and I, unfortunately) have all grown so much since then. Here, if you are really bored you can go back and read all about our trip. Just click here. I am being lazy and only giving you the link to July 2007, you can scroll down and find the posts. It will be good exercise for your fingers while you are just sitting there.

This was the trip with the infamous strawberry ice cream incident when we had to take baby Addy to the ER in St. George:

A Day In The Park

The kids and I took a bit of a nostalgia trip today. We drove back to our old neighborhood and went to our old park with our friends. We were a little early for park day so we drove past Miss Margene's (where the girls took dance and preschool) and we went by Zac's old Taekwondo studio and then we drove all around the old hood. The kids BEGGED me to try our garage door opener on our old house. I have it programed into my car and I haven't reprogrammed it for the new house, so I am sure it would work. But I was mean and said no. I mean, that's the kind of thing you should do at night when it is dark with your headlights off. Not in broad daylight. Anyhoo, we had so much fun. All the kids were so excited to see each other. It was fun to watch them play together. These are kids that have known each other their whole entire lives. And up until 2 years ago, we spent almost every day of the summer together at this park. It was a fun day!

An American Birthday

Since the 4th of July was on a Sunday this year, all of the festivities were on Saturday the 3rd. We went to the parade in the town where my mom lives. We love going to that parade. There is always a little bit of sadness when we go though. When my dad moved from Big City Texas to Small Town Utah five years ago, he was so excited. He loved his small town. And he loved his small town parade. I can't go to the parade without thinking about him and his enthusiasm. After the parade we went to my mom's house for a yummy lunch. That night we went to see fireworks.