Smokin' on a Saturday Night

I know, just by the title you all think I've gone a little nuts and completely rebelled...NOPE. But it was fun trying to imagine me at a bar puffin' away, wasn't it?

So it more or less took me all week (and a change in prescription meds) to get my mood to improve this week...but IT FINALLY DID. And is every one in my household glad. Although, as a quick side note, they aren't cleaning up any better...but alas, it is what it is.

So after having such a difficult week with everyone trying to put up with me and my bad mood, Felix and I decided that we needed to do something fun. Yay us, we put a fire pit in the backyard.

Last year, when we did the addition on our house, we decided to have a trampoline hole dug so that the kids (especially the younger ones) could get on and off easier. The hole was dug in June, and we couldn't put the trampoline in the hole until October when everything was finished. And of course, when we put the trampoline in the hole the hole was over dug by 3 feet. Of course it was...what was I thinking...why should I have expected that it would have been dug to size. But wait...it gets better. The hole was dug at the wrong angle, and through the course of a VERY wet winter, the hole collapsed and completely covered all of the trampoline legs...GIVE ME A BREAK.

Well in early spring, we managed to get the trampoline out of the hole and beg our neighbor who was finishing up his addition to dump the dirt from his yard into our massively ugly hole. Okay, this story is getting way too long, to make a long story short (a little late, don't ya think?) as we were moving the dirt around, we decided that it would be cool to have a fire pit so we could make REAL LIVE S'MORES WHENEVER WE WANTED TO. And we did. It was a painstaking process and took way longer than it should have, but we have it, we love it and it's done. (Nice way to tell a story huh...by going around the block to get to the house next door).

Okay...so now you know how we have a fire pit...now it's time to tell about SMOKIN'. As I was saying, forever ago, we needed to lighten the mood so we decided it would be a good night for s'mores. We took the kids out to dinner (Because lest we all forget, I STILL DON'T HAVE A COOKTOP...dumb Sears), and we needed something other than the boring dinners I have been cooking in the oven.

So on the way home from dinner we tell the kids, who have naturally been bickering non-stop about the Earth's gravitational force or about the Pythagorean Theorum or something little, like breathing...AND I WAS SICK OF IT. So we decided to sweeten the pot, and tell them if they could make it all the way home (which was like three minutes), then we could do s'mores. And wouldn't you know it, World War 3 broke out in the backseat of my car. Okay fine...this was one of those, "If you can't get along, so help me I will turn this car around" moments. Except we were already going home, and that is what they wanted.

So how could I turn this little fiasco in my favor? No problema...when the house is clean, we can do s'mores. And, WOW, my house got clean fast.

Out the door for s'more we go. On the difficult side, we live in Utah, it is fall, and the ground is drenched. So with much kindling, LOTS of cardboard, and twigs galore, we managed to get the fire started.

Not exactly the raging inferno we made in the toilet (For all those who need to know, please refer to the first post on this blog). Nor was it the type of bonfire that would obliterate a marshmallow into nothingness just by thinking about it...but it was a small, cozy little fire, that would get put out if someone farted. Okey, dokey, now that none of you will ever eat s'mores again without thinking of passing gas...I'll move on.

Because it was so wet, and even though the fire was kind of small, man that puppy put out a lot of smoke. It was kind of like playing musical chairs with smoke signals. No one was ever in the same place more than 2 minutes and at one point or another, you would hear someone go, "AAAGGGGHHHH", and cover their eyes...It was kind of a Dr. Seuss moment. 'I do not like smoke in my eyes, anymore than I like flies. I do not like smoke from a train, I really think it is a pain'. Okay, I'll stop torturing you...I was having a moment, with a big red and white striped hat on my head.

So Savannah of course, had to dramatize the entire process of marshmallows, and put it off as long as possible, just because she couldn't get her 'pet stick' to catch fire. And I'm pretty sure that Caleb only managed to get one s'more before he started burning his marshmallows to a crisp and watching them explode in the fire (microwaves got nothin', nothin' I tell ya, on our fire pit). Noah, was content in his own little world melt, eat, burn...melt, eat, burn. He was working on a 1 to 1 ratio of eating versus destroying. And Baylee, well, Baylee was Baylee and was spending her time chasing people around the backyard...as usual.

We had a wonderful time, just not thinking about any of the stresses in our lives and enjoying each other and our friends that joined us. I can't wait until we do the first S'more party with snow on the ground.

Lessons Learned
1. When my kids tell me that I never let them do anything, I now have pictures that prove I let them play with fire.
2. I really enjoy my children...
3. Size (of fire) doesn't matter when it comes to making s'mores.
4. In the midst of all of the chaos in our world, it is so nice to have a place where you can spend time with those that matter most.
5. I really, really, really like toasted marshmallows...to an unhealthy point.

I Suck...'Nuff Said

I have been in an incredibly horrible and downright rotten mood...all day...and in retrospect...maybe a lot longer. Oh, but I digress.

And as an incredibly quick side note...my 8 year old son, who is apparently a fabulous over-the-shoulder reader, just pointed out that my blog would go over much better if I wrote about how incredibly wonderful my children were...

Back to the subject at hand. I suppose this is my apology blog. I don't know, not really for anything in particular, just me being short (not of stature, of patience...stay with me people). I think it all really started with my last post regarding the evil do-er that refused to fix my cooktop even though they said they would....hmmmm, don't get me started. I think I headed into a dangerous shame spiral. You know, just being mad at the world for conspiring against me. Oh, you know...you have all been there...some of us just admit it.

The last 24-48 hours have been kind of a general bummer, with bits and pieces of good flung in there somewhere.

I am not kidding, Sears threw me for a major loop...especially since I am still without a cooktop (it's on backorder and tomorrow there is going to be a phone call about me freaking out because of Thanksgiving...stay posted, I will let you know how that turns out). So while I have been trying to feed my family without a stovetop, and getting sick of the microwave meals and partials meals that can be cooked in the oven...the kitchen alone is enough to push anyone over the edge. And it did.

Okay, I will hurry and sum things up so I can get to the title of this post....

1. We got a shed....it is pretty, it is big and I am tired from moving stuff into it (and I have only made a tiny dent in the piles of crud that have to get moved in there). Unforetunately, my OCD has kicked in and there is one splotch of blue on the white and I have to get that taken care of before I blow my top. It completely freaks me out every time I go out there...I swear it is almost as if there is a giant spotlight with one of those flashing arrows pointing at the spot.

2. I found out that a combination of medication I am on can cause seizures...hmmmm, maybe not so hot for someone who already has a seizure disorder...that is on my to do list too.

3. Someone spilled red punch on the carpet, and hid it with a pillow because they wanted to make sure the stain was set. And it did...hope you're proud.

4. Post apocolyptic Halloween anxiety has hit my house way stinking hard...enough so that all of our heads have spun off, hit the ceiling and now someone has to clean up the bloody mess. Which is probably going to be me. And the chewed up pieces of gum I found couch (IN TWO PLACES)...shall I go on?

5. I have lost 15 pounds, great, right? Yeah until my friends Snickers, Butterfinger and Baby Ruth showed up on Friday...

Okay now to the title. This is actually kind of funny...well it was last night, today it just made me sad.

So we decided that since Halloween had already thrown us for a loop, and we were going out with friends, we were going to put our 'Lifestyle Change' (i.e. stupid diet) on hold and enjoy some good grub. We met our friends at Maglebys and had a wonderful dinner, except for having to keep asking for the yummy rolls because they weren't making enough. But once we got them, devoured them and begged for more, we decided that we would splurge and get dessert. Of course I was going for the chocolate cake with ice cream, DUH. This is a big deal...I haven't had cake in 2 months...I know, a record...2 months. Mind you, there were 4 of us at the table and we each had our own desert. After we were digging in for a little while the server (see how politically correct I am, I don't say waiter and waitress any more) came to check on us...he got about half way through his question, looked at my plate and said have you eaten that much by yourself? That was just you? Wow...you are good. And then there was me....Pause, smile and politely inform said server that we have all been given talents in this life, and eating was apparently mine. Stop camera, let's get the forklift and get the ol' girl out of her chair. We all had a good giggle until he came back and did it again. Okay, I am now officially in a self-esteem crisis (I need to be like my friend who is 9 months pregnant and gets hit on at the gas station...I could do with a little bit of that action). Honestly, atthis point I just wanted to get up and waddle out of the restaurant with the little dignity I had left. And I did...with my bag from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory snuggled up cozily in my purse. I really did get a good laugh, but today I felt kind of bad and think maybe I should give up food....FOREVER....WAAAAAAHHHHHH.

So then at church today (and this is really a good thing because it came from a woman, if a man had said it, he would be castrated), I was talking with my really good friend who somehow makes me feel okay enough about my life that I have a horrible tendency to dump on her. But as I was explaining everything, she realized I was PMS-ing. DUH. I haven't done that in so long I completely don't recognize the signs (and thank you, you know who you are for telling it to me straight). Not that it stopped me from being psycho when I got home from church.

So now that the 2 events that really pushed me over the edge have been published for the entire world to see (and I just turned the cookies I was making into charcoal), I suppose I owe everyone an apology for being ornery, needy, pathetic, weepy and just plain mean to my kids. A super big apology to my kids for not being very nice, but remember, if you don't start cleaning up after yourselves...so help me...and so REALLY help you.

Lessons Learned
1. The server from dinner last night really needs to get married...I mean, why didn't you just ask me how much I weigh for the love of Pete....do you want to know how old I am too? SHEESH.

2. I miss the hormone balance I got from Depo....I hope things level out soon...and so does every one else.

3. I love my friends that tell me to take my head out of my bum and deal with the fact I am PMS-ing.

4. I really need to get over the fact I feel yucky and get back on the treadmill tomorrow, because I know that will make me feel better.

5. With as impatient as I am, I realize my children must have been blessed with way more patience because they have to deal with me....

What did I ever do to Sears? And then I got transferred...

This post is simply for me to get this all off of my chest. I have no expectation of being entertaining or funny, I simply want to share my little adventure with Sears and why I will never spend another penny on appliances from them, even if I have to fix it myself or become a back woods mountain man who doesn't believe in appliances. And by the way, please be singing the Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song in your head...and you know you know it.

Lately, we have been in somewhat of a destruction spiral. Everything has broken. And I mean everything. It started with the car battery (that was defective when I had it replaced in August), then the washing machine, the DVD player, the cooktop, a crystal mug and a few other things that I have already blocked out (my therapist thinks blocking is healthy in my case).

So let's start with the washing machine, shall we? We have made all major appliance purchases through Sears. They are typically averaged price, but they have a really good Master Protection Agreement that covers darn near everything that you can renew for like ever. So here goes the saga.

The washing machine dies on Sunday night. Ordinarily this wouldn't be to big of a deal, but I was going out of town in a week and a half, and seriously needed to do laundry (with a household of 7, it tends to pile up). So I call Sears first thing Monday morning and schedule service for Saturday. Since it is Saturday, the time they give you is from 8 am to 5 pm. So I cancel everything we have going on for Saturday and deal with it.

The week more or less rolls around with only a few smaller things breaking, like the DVD player. And on Friday, at about 4:30, I get a phone call from the Sears technician telling me that they don't have enough techs and they are cancelling my appointment the next day. I told him that I was going out of town and was desperate, and needed my washer fixed ASAP. He said that he could get me in on the 21st. I was like, ummmmmmmmmmm, no. I told him he needed to get me in sooner. So he agreed to fit me in on Tuesday. I asked him how they determine who gets bumped when they are understaffed, and it apparently made him angry. He told me that it just depends, they have to pick someone and it was just me. Okay, whatever. I told him at that point that I would need to have service Tuesday morning then because of my schedule, and he agreed.

So the Saturday that I cancelled everything on happens, and so does a jar of pickles. After a trip to the grocery store, a jar of pickles met my cooktop with an unfortunate amount of force and the entire corner of my year old cooktop is shattered. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH. So I call Sears again. I explain the entire situation with the pickles, tell them I can't find my paperwork, but want to know whether or not this type of thing is covered or if I need to buy a new cooktop. I am put on hold and after a few minutes the representative comes back to tell me that my Service Agreement is 'All Inclusive' and it is for sure covered. I ask if the entire unit is going to be replaced or if they will just swap out the top. She says they will swap out the top and we made an appointment for a week and a half later. And then I head to the laudromat.

And Monday rolls around and I get my confirmation phone call from Sears for between 1 and 5 on Tuesday for my washing machine. I explained that I was promised the morning and the Customer Service Reps response was, and I quote, "Well, that's just not going to happen now, is it?". I said it was what I was promised, and she told me that was too bad and the only way my washer was going to be fixed was if the repairman came in the afternoon. Are you kidding me? Really? Fine. So I cancel all of my afternoon plans, except for the dentist. And my grandma had to cancel her plans so she could be here just in case.

One through five comes and goes...not a phone call, not a technician. We call at about 5:15 ish to find out what is going on. We are told that the tech is about 3 stops behind and he will be at our house shortly. My question was, if I was stop number 3, how did he get 3 stops behind...had he just not started yet? The rep on the phone said that we would receive a phone call within 30 minutes. Now, mind you, it was my anniversary...it wasn't looking so hot at that point. After 45 minutes, we called Sears back and they said he was coming and he would call. I explained how many things I had cancelled and that I needed to know whether or not anybody was going to show up...I didn't have confidence at that point. She said we would get a call...hmmm....I think I heard that before. After about 45 minutes, we got a call from the tech letting us know that he would be at our house soon. So I cancel my anniversary dinner...groovy.

The technician show up at 7:30. Are you kidding me? He comes, he's crabby. And I let him go to work. After 30 minutes he is done. My husband said was it easy to fix or are you just that good? He said he fixed it the easy way so he could get out of here. Yes, that is really what he said. But hey, for our trouble we got a 15 percent off coupon that was only valid FOR THAT DAY. Thhhhaaaaaannnnnkkkkkks.

We are able to make it through the next little bit with little trouble (probably because we were on vacation). But we made it back and got ready to have the cooktop replaced.

The day before I never received a confirmation call for my appointment, so I call Sears...I'm a little wary because of the washing machine. He tells me I am still on for between one and five. Okay, fine.

The next day, one and five rolls around and then leaves. As usual, no phone call, no tech. but before I can call and be huffy, the tech shows up at 5:15. He comes in and asks what happens. I explain the whole pickle scenario, and he makes a phone call. He finishes on the phone, and tells me that it is not covered. I explained no, your CSR told me it was covered. He said no it wasn't. He gave me an 800 number, tells me that it will be $1300 and leaves. So I call, I explain the situation, and tell them that I felt like I was being punished for exercising due diligence. They said, well, you broke it. So I told Sears that I wanted to cancel my service agreements. And I got transferred.

And I explained everything AGAIN and told them that I would like to cancel. And I got transferred.

And I explained everything AGAIN and was told that she could cancel everything but that I should probably talk to the National Center before I made up my mind. I told that rep that I was looking for a reason to stay. And she said well, our Service Agreements cover everything. And I said Nuh-uh. And she said, except for that. I told her that I had a problem with giving them money to treat me badly. And then I got transferred.

The next person that I talked so said they could definitely do something for me. That I shouldn't have to bear the burden of the cost by myself since I was misinformed. She put me on hold for a few minutes, and then I got transferred.

I finally end up talked to some high up on the chain dude who is in charge of something. I tell him the entire story...again. He says, that sounds to high, I will check on it and then we can figure out how to break this all up. I am on hold. He comes back and says he needs to make another call and I am on hold again. He comes back and tells me that it will be about 975 plus labor, and since it was my fault that it got broken, they couldn't do anything to help me. But to take the sting out of the cost, they would give me a 100 dollar gift card.

So basically what it all boils down to, is that 3 weeks of my life is worth 100 dollars to Sears. I politely told him I would consider his offer and get back to him. And then I hang up and let the Turrets Syndrome in my head take over. It wasn't pretty. to get a brand new unit it was any where from 1100 to 1500. Felix and I found the part for 580 and we are going to do it ourselves.

Oh yeah, when I get my 100 gift card, I am cancelling my Service Agreements and never setting foot in their store again (except to redeem my 100 gift card). Because if I have my way about it, I will do everything in my power to make Sears feel the economic crunch.

Lessons Learned
1. Sears DOES know how to take your money.
2. Sears DOES know how to keep you money.
3. Sears DOES know how to tell you what you want to hear.
4. Sears DOES NOT care what you think.
5. Sears DOES NOT value you as a customer and thinks that you and your time are completely worthless.

I think I feel better, thanks.

Smashing Pumpkins with the Children of the Corn

I hate to travel. For reference, please see previous blogs that mention how anti-social I am. However, we just took a long, long, long overdue family vacation. We packed up the kids, the grandma and ourselves, and headed out to wonderful Ft. Collins, Colorado. My uncle, aunt, cousins and their myriad of wonderful children were our hosts for one of the best vacations ever.
After our record 7 hour, 20 minute drive we were greeted by my aunt and uncle and our two new best buddies, Evie and Alex. Evie is the adorable Doberman, with the sweetest nature you have ever seen. Alex (a girl) is the alpha male...and we love her dearly.

That night we were treated to a giant spaghetti dinner with the fam. It was so much fun to have all of the munchkins running around us, and me catching up with a few of my cousins that I hadn't seen in forever and ever.

On Friday we took a trip to Old Town, which we thoroughly enjoyed. They even had a store that sold cookie dough. They had cookies that were cooked too, but they sold cookie dough, in cups, with spoons as a snack food....that is my kind of place. then we kind of kicked it for the afternoon and got ready for the (imagine a musical crescendo) for the corn maze.

Okay, this was the coolest thing ever. The place we went to is run by individuals who have had past issues with drugs and alchohol and are trying to get their lives back together. It is a real working farm, and a fabulously inspiring place.

We started our evening at the pumpkin cannon. Yes, you are correct, I said cannon. And who was the first to try it...the three year old. And let me tell you, from my own experience with the canon. THAT WAS SO COOL.

Once we all had an opportunity to blow stuff up (nothing brings a family together like a pumpkin cannon and corn cob guns), we headed over to the pumpking smash. The kids are all natural athletes. And I am not so bad myself.

And after watching our group of 18 thoroughly enjoy hitting pumpkins to smithereens with a baseball bat, we headed off for the traditional hay ride. We went around learned about how the farm operated and how the individuals that lived/worked their managed it all.

After the hay ride, we sent the munchkins off for a barrel ride. A barrel ride is a unique invention, I don't know if it is indiginous to Colorado, or if the phenomenon has eeked it's way through the nation. Just remember, I am anti-social and hate to travel, I have a very limited amount of life experience to refer to.

A barrel ride is about 10 of the giant water barrels, with holes cut cut for you to climb in, and the entire lot is hooked up to an ATV and off you go for the four wheeling ride of your life. I didn't go, but I was waiting for someone to get thrown out and run over. But it didn't happen and they all survived, even though they are a little wind blown.

Here is the whole crew, right before the all important...PIG RACES.

In my oh so humble opinion, life is not complete until you have had a chance to observe pig racing. And with top notch contenders like Kevin Bacon, Hamgelina Jolie and Big Red who could resist?

Once we watched the champion edition of the pig races, it was time to head off to the corn maze. And you have never experienced a corn maze until you have done it with 10 kids, 6 adults (a few of which were directionally challenged), a stroller and more flashlights than we could count.

We started very enthusiastically until we realized that we were going to have to do a kid check every turn or so. But the kids were great at following directions, like the one they heard the most, "Wait here while I figure out where we are." Thank goodness for the maps that were placed every so often to tell you where you were in the giant maze.

Now, to be fair, Joe did a fabulous job leading us. Chris did an amazing job hauling all of the kids on his back when they got tired, and I did a great job hiding my claustrophobia while I was hyperventilating.

And major kudos to Savannah and her incredible sense of direction that managed to get us through the maze in a whopping 30 minutes. :D

So to try and shorten this already incredibly long blog, on Saturday we went up to Estes Park and visited the fabulous Stanley Hotel (where they filmed the Shining). However, I still think they had to have filmed the Pirate Movie there as well (you know, the one with Kristy McNichol and the dude from the Blue Lagoon).

But it was a gorgeous day and we had the most fabulous barbeque at a restaurant called Smokin' Daves. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the neighborhood.

We had another wonderful family dinner on Saturday night, brunch on Sunday morning, and a barbeque Sunday night. And for good measure, we sang Happy Birthday to Felix (a couple of days early) and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Thanks to all who made our trip wonderful. I can't wait to see you all again.

Lessons Learned

1. Even if you hate to travel, every mile is worth it to spend time with your family.

2. Corn mazes in the dark totally freak me out...and I loved it.

3. My kids are better behaved when they travel...still not perfect, but definitely closer.

4. I can no longer drive long distances without my eyes crossing...don't ask...it's a long story.

5. I need to check out Corn Belly's for a little bit of closer to home fun.

Let Your Southern Shine - Take 2

Alas, this too shall be a pictureless blog. Not that it wouldn't have been enjoyable, but he who caused the offending toilet clog, refuses to be pictured....

As we noted in the first edition of Let Your Southern Shine, little boys, with little toy balls can cause irreparable damage. In this second and less humorous edition, let's just say that grown men, with toilet scrubbers, can be just as damaging.

As this is my fourteenth anniversary, I'll go light on the guy. Because let's face it, I am a lucky girl. However, it was never as clear as it was last night, who does the bulk of the household chores. (And yes, I'm a kept woman.)

My dear, sweet, kind husband, a true gem in a world of coal was cleaning the toilets, just to help me out. Unfortunately for him, sometime in the past year, I switched from flushable toilet scrubby things to the much more macho Clorox brillo pad scrubby dee-li-bobs. The Clorox dee-li-bobs are NOT flushable. I repeat, they are NOT flushable.

In all of his vast knowledge and wisdom, he waited about an hour before 'fessin up. The toilet would flush, and thankfully not overflow (as per past blogs, I have just about enough of water woes), but would drain excrutiatingly slow (there was no mo poopin' in that toilet). As it was ten o'clock in the evening, you couldn't pry me out of the house to go find a pipe snake. So it waited until morning.

Just a little side note: In a house with 6 bathrooms, why does it matter when one toilet is down for the count. Well, in my infinite wisdom, let me share. It is 25 more steps to the next nearest bathroom when you have to get up at 3:13 am and you are tripping all over the crud that was left out from the night before. Okay, I feel better, I just had to get that out.

Once the little monkeys were taken to school, I went and got my very own pipe snake. NO MORE BORROWING. In fact, I may etch my name on that sucker for a badge of honor (and maybe put a toilet sticker for each porceline menace I conquer). I was worried that it would be a harrowing, frightening experience (just like the first one).

And gratefully, it was one shove with the pipe snake and that sucker was clear. I was so proud of myself that I flushed the toilet 10 times just to admire my handiwork.

Lessons Learned:

1. If your spouse is not completely familiar with the cleaning supplies....supervise the introduction between the two.
2. I'm grateful that my husband works to hard to make sure I have things to do during the day.
3. I'm starting to think I could have a real future as a plumbing apprentice.
4. I couldn't blame Caleb for the toilet disaster this time, however, I'm sure he did something last night that he got into trouble for.
5. Life goes on....even on your anniversary.

My Spacebook?

Okay, I was invited by a wonderful and very dear friend to join Facebook so I could read her profile. By the time I was done, I had my own account and found all sorts of wonderful people who touched my life in so many ways. However, through this experience, I discovered how very anti-social I had become.

Just to be perfectly clear, I am anti-social, and proud of it...(insert expletive here) straight. If you are still wondering how I could be anti-social...just this morning I had to wait for the mailman to leave so I could go to my car. I wasn't in the mood to say hi.

Okay, back on subject. I was so excited to see so many old friends, and see their beautiful families. It was truly a blast from the past. And then I came down from the high and felt incredibly old. I think it really hit when I gave an old chum a brief 20 year history of my life. And eventually I may even let people see my phone number and address...I'm working on...this is like a 12 step program...I have to take baby steps to socialization.

I am really not very good a keeping in touch, and Christmas Cards are strictly taboo. I have come to the conclusion that Facebook was made for people like me, who prefer to email and tell stories electronically, instead of calling or even worse seeing each other face to face. Which made think of how ironic it was the website was called Facebook...hmmmm.

Lessons Learned:
1. I am apparently in a very brazen mood to be sharing my anti-social behaviors on a blog.
2. Facebook is a fascinating web site.
3. I only want people to know I am alive, NOT where I am (that is why there isn't any info showing on Facebook).
4. It makes me happy to see people I care about happy.
5. This was a really lame post (but I was desperate, give me a break)

Summer Lovin'

Okay, I know, I know. I have had several requests for an update on the blog. It was such an insane summer that it flew by, without me blogging. And I am paying for it with all of the comments of why haven't you updated? So how 'bout a synopsis? That I was I can catch everyone up and you people can stop bugging me...fair enough?

May-Grandma was finishing moving in. That was an incredibly exciting time. We are so grateful and feel very blessed to have her here and part of our little home. There were boxes everywhere and her shredder was going non-stop. But we managed to get through it and we didn't kill each other. It has been a very smooth transition, and we are all loving it. The kids really enjoy having an extra ear to bend, especially when they are mad at us. Grandma is a fantastic ally for the kids (and a wonderful help to me).

We have enjoyed having her dog too. Missy is a nut (we think she needs therapy), and although the cats have not made the adjustment, the rest of us have\. We could do without the licking and the foot fetish the dog has, but overall, we have become quite a happy little family.

As the end of the school year approached, it was time for the dance festival. It is a favorite time of year for us, and as usual LOADS of fun. The dance festival is great way for me to see how much they have grown and changed this year.

Baylees' class did the mexican hat dance. Unforetunately the night before, she cracked her elbow and was in a sling. So in a move of desperation, her partner would grab the sleeve of her jacket to spin around with since he couldn't touch her arm. It about pushed him over the edge...but they all made it through.

Noahs' class did a chinese ribbon dance. Those poor boys, you can tell they really had to struggle through it. I think they would have been content just skipping the whole thing, too bad their PE grade depended on the dance.

Savannahs' class did an awesome recreation of an early pioneer dance. It was really cute, and the girls tried really hard to get it right...the boys, not so much. But overall it turned out fantastic.

Every year at the end of the festival, all of the students (all 180 of them) get on the field and do the electric slide. It is a great way to finish off the fun and everyone loves it.

Okay, so that pretty much raps up the big events for May...and onto June.

June-School officially ended. Yay. We were so excited for summer. It was time and we were ready.

We kind of took it easy in June. Getting ready for the company we were going to have in July. We spent most of our time at the pool and just sleeping in and being lazy. The kids were kind of bummed at the rule for summer that you didn't get to play until chores were done. The first few days were pretty funny, since nobody got anything done until about 4 or 5.

But we also got to have Baylees' birthday party. We have usually done something small for her birthday, but this year she wanted a PARTY. So we invited 11 little girls for a late night (I wasn't ready for a slumber party of that magnitude). We had pizza, movies, popcorn and candy. And at the very end, when they were completely full of sugar...we had dancing. They had a blast. But I discovered that most of Baylees' friends are posers, just like her. So trying to get any spontaneous pictures was impossible. So I went for the traditional group photo.

And then July rolled around and things got REALLY crazy. My sister was getting married on July 5. My cousin and her family was staying with us (which is a wonderful tradition that we love). We had a houseful, especially when my aunt and other cousin would come over. We had a wonderful time.

Unforetunately as they were showing up, we found out that Noah had contracted another serious staph infection due to his eczema and wasn't allowed in water and we had to be extremely careful to keep him away from everyone until the antibiotics kicked in.

So on the 4th of July we all spent the day at my parents house for some water fun, and Felix took Noah out and about for some Father/son time since he wasn't allowed to do any of the activities. It all worked out, but we missed having Noah around for the fun.

The wedding was down in Manti and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. It was great to see family and friends that we haven't seen for a while. And it is always wonderful to be reminded of the promised made when I got married. Karey and Shawn were absolutely spectacular and it was a wonderful, beautiful day.

So July, just kind happened from there. We kept enjoying what we were doing and having a grand time. But at the end of the month, Noahs' staph infection was back with a vengeance and he was very ill. He was banned from all water sports and pretty much the outside world because we were concerned about what he could catch. It was a bummer. And because I am who I am, if Noah couldn't go in the water, neither would I. Which pretty much ended things for Caleb, Baylee and I too.

As Noahs' illness spread into August, and we were doing everything we could to keep him out of the hospital and get ready for school...it was wild.

We got everyone ready for school and School started. WAHOO. (Just imagine the happy dance that I am doing right now). Everyone was ready for a schedule and organization...neither of which I supplied this summer.

But right after school started Noah had to have a small surgery to remove some growths that were causing his staph infections. So he was pretty stoked that he got to miss school right away. He wasn't very excited about school...the transition is always hard.

But now that all of the scary stuff is over, we are all starting to fall into our place and get used to the new routine. They still can't play until their chores are done...so on lazy days, we are still spending a lot of time together. I don't know if they like it, and when they are screaming, I don't either. But on lazy days, when everyone is happy, it is truly bliss.

Lesson Learned from Not Blogging All Summer

1. I am incredibly boring when I try to recap the action. Seriously, I would make a lousy sports announcer.

2. When I blog right away, I can really capture the moments so much better.

3. My kids are really lazy...but that doesn't have anything to do with blogging, I just thought I would point out that we have really spent a lot of time together.

4. Blogging is a lot more fun in little pieces.

5. I need to take more pictures, so that my blogs are a little more lively.