Thankful Thursday

1. Antibiotics-this one has an obvious reason I think this week. I have only been taking my antibiotics for 1 1/2 days and already there is a huge difference in my leg. The swelling is all gone and the infection is rapidly receding. I can only feel gratitude for modern medicine. A hundred years ago I probably would have been a goner! : )

2. Dima- Dima is Dirk's cousin's son. He is staying with us for a couple of days. I am so glad. I have really been relying on him to help me out and he is doing an awesome job. For a 12 year old boy he is extremely patient with my kids!

3. Rocking Chair squeaks-Last night was a hard night and not just for me. It took me a LONG while to finally fall asleep after treating my leg. I woke to the sound of the rocking chair squeaking in the nursery. Dirk heard Simon wake up shortly after I had fallen asleep and he went in to calm him down. Simon doesn't normally wake up at night anymore but he is really congested right now. I think it is from teething. He didn't sleep very good but Dirk was up with him before I could even stir. Those squeaks were the sweetest sound I could have heard in the middle of the night. Thank you so much Honey for taking care of Simon and me!

Can My Luck Get Any Worse?

I know I have mentioned a little bit about Dirk's and my streak of bad luck lately. It seems to have struck again! Saturday on a whim I decided to try to ride Dirk's Bobber for the first time. I should probably mention that I have never tried to ride anything that has only two wheels by myself before except for a bicycle. His Bobber has a motor and power!!! (Okay so how many of you are saying what I am saying now...What was I thinking!?!) Well I took it around the cul-de-sac without incident so I decided to ride it up one more road to the cul-de-sac above us. I was turning it around to head back home when tragedy struck. Don't ask me what happened because I don't really know. One second I was riding the next second I was sprawled across the bike on the ground! I was going really slow luckily, but I did manage to hit my leg on the exhaust pipe. It took me a minute to realize I had burned my leg. I know in this picture it looks pretty gross!

It hurt but I didn't think much of it until this morning when it really started to hurt. I have been keeping it clean and all but I still managed to get it infected. I went to the doctor today for it and she drew a circle around the infected area. I guess it is a pretty serious burn. She put me on some antibiotics and told me to scrub, yes scrub, off the scab that has formed. I am really not looking forward to doing that. I have to keep my leg elevated and go back on Friday for a checkup. If the infection has spread they will either try a different antibiotic or put me in the hospital. The main concern right now is trying not to get staff infection. I want to keep my leg!

Now I need to sit down and have a talk with myself about doing stupid things I know I shouldn't. My nickname isn't FlapJack without a reason. I SHOULD know better then to do things that require balance! : )

Thankful Thursday

I almost forgot that today was Thursday! So here are my thankful things this week.

1. Spray Paint-Yes spray paint. I have been doing some home/craft projects around the house and I don't know if I could make them work without the wonders of spray paint. It is handy and quick and gives a great finish! I love this stuff almost as much as I love power tools!

2. Chicken-It is the one meat that Rayden will eat without complaint. I can't believe how he struggles with eating meat but he LOVES chicken. So I am grateful to have chicken to make sure my son gets enough to fill his belly. It's a good thing the rest of us love the stuff too!

3. Modern Conveniences-Since Simon was born Dirk and I have had like 10 things at least break on us. The first few weren't really big deals, yes, things I have been missing but can live without, like the dishwasher. Lately more stuff keeps going that I don't even want to think about living without like my wash machine! So I was sitting here thinking how lucky I am to live in this day and age. A hucndred years ago they had it much harder so I am extremely thankful for all my modern conveniences that are in working order and even for the ones that are "temporarily out of service!"

New Do

So I have been pretty indecisive with my hair lately. Here is a picture of me at Lexi's preschool graduation in May. After this picture I decided I definetely needed a change so...

...I cut my hair like this. Here I am at Simon's blessing earlier this month. A definite improvement but summer is hot. It has been a long long time since I cut my hair short but I decided to go for it.

I had my friend Hayley cut my hair today to look like this. I absolutely love the way it turned out! She did an awesome job. So let me know what you think!

Twin Lakes

What do you get when you have three waverunners, two campers, and one boat? A weekend full of fun in the water! We had such a blast at Twin Lakes! I think Lexi's favorite part was the waverunners! Dirk took her and Rayden on numerous rides. Dirk even let Lexi drive for a little bit. I think she did better then I did on them!

It was perfect weather for camping. It got hot but not unbearable. The kids loved playing in the sand on the beach. They would find rocks and build 'castles.' They dug a moat around it and down towards the lake then they would run buckets of water to the top and dump them. Simon loved being able to lay on the air mattress that Sarah brought down to the beach. With the slight incline there he was able to roll over and over and over! Now he needs to work on doing it without the help of gravity! Isn't he cute with his bandanna? Hey, I didn't have to worry about his head getting burned!

We spent most of our time on the boat. We got up and went wakeboarding in the morning while the water was smooth. When the wind picked up we pulled out a new attraction, the surf board! This was so much fun to do and to watch. Who knew you could surf in Utah!? We had to make a HUGE wake to ride so everyone got to ride in the boat. Whenever we turned the boat around whoever was driving had to be careful not to submerge the bow in the waves. It happened a couple times though! One time everything got drenched! We didn't have a dry towel in the boat for the rest of the day. My camera became a casualty when that happened. Luckily my brother-in-law let me keep his REALLY nice camera to take pictures. He might not get it back! I love this picture of Dirk surfing the curl.

Needless to say we all had so much fun getting to kick back and relax. We wore ourselves out! (Hmm that sounds kind of like an oxymoron doesn't it? You know what I mean though, right?) The kids could barely hold themselves upright by the time we came home. It looks like we came home at the right time though because it is raining today. A trip back to the lake will have to happen again soon!

Thankful Thursday

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Church callings-I was released from the Young Women's program on Sunday. On Tuesday I was called to serve as the Jr. Primary Chorister. I am grateful for the oppurtunity to serve in many different callings at church. I learn so much from each one and it also helps to mix things up a little. I am going to miss my girls SOOOO much but I am looking forward to being with the little kids. I love music and the gospel. I now get to share those two loves with some very special little kids!

2. Vacations-We are heading out this evening to Twin Lakes with some neighbors. We are going to go camping this weekend. It is so nice to know that we are going to have some family time with no interuptions! My kids have been looking forward to this all week long. I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to post when we get back!

3. A Good Boss-I call myself a Stay-at-Home Mom but technically I do have a part time job. I go in once or twice a week in the evenings to do some computer work for my sister at her company. I usually take my kids and they run around the warehouse while I work. A few months ago Dirk joined the crew and is learning all about business by working for my sister and her husband. So they are really swamped right now but they are still very understanding about Dirk taking off time to take a vacation with us for a weekend. This is something Dirk didn't have at his old job so I am very grateful to have people who 'get' what we need as a family. Thanks Trav and Liesl. We hope to see you at the lake this weekend!

Memories

Hayley was doing this on her blog and I thought I would give it a shot!

1. Leave one memory that you and I had together, as a comment on my blog. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Eating Goober Peas

Every Friday I get to go to town with my mom and sister. We usually will have lunch together with my father. Yesterday we went to the park. My mom brought peanuts for the kids to feed to the squirrels. The squirrels were being elusive so the kids decided to eat them by themselves.

Watching my kids cracking the shells to get to the nuts reminded me of when I was little and we would do the same thing. I remember my father teaching us how to crack the shell and then he would sing the 'Eating Goober Peas' song. Yes he did sing the song for my kids yesterday! Lexi didn't believe us that Peanuts used to be called Goober Peas. She still is giving me a funny look whenever I mention it. I think she is suspicious of us trying to pull her leg!

Here is a video of my kids learning the correct way to crack a peanut shell from an Pro!

Thankful Thursday

I have seen this idea done in other blogs and I really like the idea of taking a minute and listing some things that I am grateful for this week.

1) Dirk-He has had to work really hard this week yet he still comes home in a good mood, plays with the kids, and is still willing to babysit so I can go to Young Womens, the store, etc. Thanks Honey you are the best!

2) A clean house-Last week was a stressful time trying to get everything done around here before the blessing. I am so thankful that it all got done and we have been able to spend this last week in a completely clean home. Having an infant can humble you!

3) My Young Women-It doesn't matter how my day has gone or what mood I am in. Seeing my girls faces on Tuesday night always cheers me up. They are so positive and loving. They give me the best kind of high possible!

Simon's Blessing

Yesterday was Simon's baby blessing. I want to explain to those of my friends who aren't members of our church. In our religion we don't baptize infants. We give them blessings. Someone who holds the proper priesthood authority gives them a name and a blessing from the Lord. When they reach the age of accountability, 8 years old, then they can choose to be baptized. Dirk blessed Simon. As soon as Dirk headed up to give Simon his blessing with all the men in our family around him I was bawling. Yeah it doesn't take much to make me cry when it comes to my family! It was beautiful blessing that I know was straight from the Lord. Even though I was shaking to death I was grateful for the oppurtunity to bear my testimony and thank the Lord for the blessing of my family.
Everyone came over after church for a barbecue in our backyard. Hamburgers and hotdogs, YUM! The kids ran all over the place and had a BLAST. We made snowcones as dessert. They ate them until the ice was gone.

After the barbecue Dirk and his brothers flew airplanes at Elk Ridge Park. Once again Dirk's plane came back in two pieces. Luckily it won't cost anything to fix. Two of his brothers had a dog fight with their airplanes. It was so fun to watch. It looked like the planes were dancing with their streamers flying behind them.

The day ended up at my sister's house again. Guitar Hero was such a hit that they went and bought ROCK BAND. We had a blast taking turns on the drums, guitar, and singing. Ray was quite the rocker...

...and Dirk's got rhythm! I think we are becoming addicts to this game.

Cruise In

An essential part to our Fourth weekend is the Cache Valley Cruise-In. Dirk has always been into cars hence the reason he was a mechanic for so long. He started rebuilding motors when he was sixteen. That also is when he got his '71 Chevelle which is sitting in the garage in pieces. He plans to someday get it running with Rayden's help and maybe Simon's too. Anyway, we love to go down to the fairgrounds and check out all the cars. Lexi was on the lookout for a paint color she would like for her '69 Cougar which Dirk bought for her when she was only a YEAR old. Yeah I know jumping the gun just a bit! She decided on a black with sparkles! We will see if she changes her mind in the next 11 years. We always meet up with our friends Brett and Britney to walk around. This year Brit's parents joined us and we had an awesome time. It was HOT!

Dirk's brother Matt took his and Dirk's Bobbers to the fairgrounds to show off. What's a Bobber? It is a scooter that looks like a custom chopper. With gas prices the way they are Dirk bought his little beauty awhile back and it has been great! He fills it up with only $6 and it lasts him all month. Dirk still has to teach me how to drive the thing but Britney and I are determined to ride these babies to Young Women's one week! What do ya think, do we look like tough biker CHICKS?

We went and had lunch at Sizzler and then Dirk and Brett headed back to the fairgrounds while Britney and I went home. I had stuff to get done for the next day. We met up to watch the parade of cars that evening. Rayden thought the low riders were kinda SILLY! He laughed at them everytime they drove past!

Our Fourth

There are certain holidays that I love to get the kids new outfits! Christmas and Easter they get new church clothes, but the Fourth of July is when they get a new everyday outfit. I love picking out red, white, and blues! My kids think it is pretty cool to get new clothes too, especially Lexi!

We started our celebration on the night of the 3rd by going to the fireworks. My kids LOVE the fireworks and so do I. We met up with Dirk's family and some of mine and we all watched them together. I took the carmel popcorn which is always a favorite. Wet wipes were essential to clean up. While waiting for the fireworks to start we all hung out talking and Dirk's mom told us about the year the sprinklers kicked on while they were sitting in the grass. Five minutes later guess what happened?! Yeah the sprinklers kicked on and everybody was making a mad dash to MOVE! Rayden was really freaked out about it. Someone was able to go shut off the sprinklers before the ground got to wet and we were able to enjoy the show!

Friday we went to the parade in Lewiston with the same group of people. Lexi's favorite part was the 'princesses' and the flags with the marching band. Rayden's favorite part was the CANDY! Simon enjoyed a good nap!

After the parade we all decided to go to Adam's park for lunch. The kids had a great time running around but I think Dirk had the best time...

We sat at a table under this big willow tree and Dirk found a sturdy branch. What can I say I married a MONKEY! The park was fun but we had these tiny aphids that kept climbing all over us. You could barely see them but they tickled like CRAZY when they would crawl on your skin.

We ended the day at my sister's house where the guys went and played Guitar Hero and then some tennis in the dark.

Last week I got a call from my neighbor letting me know that her husband had just found my kids 4 blocks away trying to cross a busy road on their bikes. I just about had a heart attack! He had sent them home so I ran outside and down the street and very calmly instruct them to get home! We sat down and had a little talk about what was wrong with their decision. It turns out they wanted to head to Grandma's house which is just on the other side of the busy road. I told them next time to ask Mom or Dad to ride with them.

On Sunday they wanted to ride their bikes again so Dad got to ride with them while Mom drove the truck with Simon. Since I got to drive I decided I had to take pictures of my kids riding to Grandma's house. They were so proud of themselves. They made it all of the way there and home again on their own steam! Now if only we can convince them to get rid of the training wheels...