Garden Thoughts

So I came to a realization this summer: Yard work is not my thing. I don't really enjoy the heat of summer, (OK, I hate being hot in a serious way) so going out into it to dig, prune,weed, etc. is not something I enjoy. So this realization begs the question: why the hell would I want to size up and own a bigger piece of land?! I fear I am going to have to face this question someday. I have always had dreams of owning a full acre and having chickens, goats, and a huge garden. I'm starting to think that this might be an unrealistic dream. My .3 acre is really about all I can handle.I am not great at the gardening thing. There are only two things that I can consistently grow with success. So here are a few pictures of them.


My mom used to plant marigolds all the time when we were growing up. I kind of hated them. I thought they stunk. I still think they stink, but the fact is, they are easy to grow. So they are the flower I go back to year after year. They always grow and thrive. And actually I have become quite fond of them.



I love fresh tomatoes still warm from the garden. Again this is something that I can grow with relatively consistent success. We have 4 tomato plants this year (my neighbor has 32!) and all are doing well, even after one had a fairly serious run-in with the tiller.
The cherry tomatoes are starting to turn red and I can't wait to eat them. I love how they pop in your mouth.BTW- I didn't even notice there was a grasshopper in this picture until after I took it. Sneaky little guy!
That's all. How are all of your garden's doing this summer?
PS- I canned 51 pints of beets today. That may have a little to do with my pessimism toward gardens tonight. :)

Happy Birthday to My Girls!

Syd and Brynn both had their birthdays this month. Syd turned 9 and Brynn turned 7. My big girls!

For Syd's b-day we took a friend with us to Build-A-Bear in Salt Lake. They all has a great time making and naming their new friends. Later on we had a little party for Syd. She got some new clothes,an Origami set,a bow and arrow, a subscription to Ranger Rick (thanks B & K) and HER OWN ROOM! We did some switching around downstairs and Syd now has a room all to herself. That meant that Claire moved downstairs and is bunking with Brynn now. Such grownup girls I have!Time to open presents!

Build a Bear Fun. I did think it was funny that not one of them chose to get a bear.

Bow and arrow from Grandma Julie

Outside of the Build-A-Bear Workshop at the Gateway.

For Brynn’s birthday we went to Toy Story 3. It was really good. Brynn said her favorite presents were her Zhu Zhu pet and a pool she got. The pool holds 150 gallons of water and has been put to very good use in the past week.

Pipsqueak the Zhu Zhu Pet.

Cute shirts from Aunt Robyn. Thank you!

Blowing out her candle. She really wanted a number "7" candle this year.

Hooray for a pool!

We had a fun month with all the birthday partying. Happy birthday, girls!

Dance and Tae Kwon Do Videos - See post below for details

A post of randomness

We had a fun weekend with lots of great events. So here is a post covering those things. Brynn had her big ballet recital on Friday night. She did a great job! Her class danced to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Very cute.


On Saturday Sydney tested for her green belt. She passed with flying colors. We are so proud of her and how far she has come in Tae Kwon Do in the past 8 months. Afterwards we had a lunch with all the members of her class and their families. It was fun to meet and see all of them. This is her teacher, Master Goonan.
These are the boys that are the same belt level as her. They have been advancing together since no-belts.
Saturday was also my mom's birthday. It was a big one. Can anyone guess how old she is? Mom and Dad came to our house for some cake and ice cream. They had been out of town Friday night so they asked Brynn to give them their own dance show. She was more than happy to oblige. After seeing the dance one time through, Grandma and Grandpa decided they wanted to join it. Seriously some times I don't know what happened to the strict, seemingly grouchy parents I thought I had. My kids will probably think the same thing some day.

In the past after the girls have had big events we have taken them out for dinner or dessert to celebrate. This time we tried something different. After Brynn's recital on Friday we put Claire to bed and left Syd home to babysit and went on a parent/daughter date with Brynn to Firehouse pizza. She ate 1/2 a pizza and dessert. It was hilarious to see her tuck in like that! On Saturday we switched. Brynn stayed home to babysit a sleeping Claire and we took Syd to Chili's. She wanted ribs. So we sat back and watched our girl pound a 1/2 rack of ribs. Awesome! It was so fun to spend some time with each girl one-on-one.

I finished sewing the girls' Easter dresses. Only 3 months late! They looked cute.


Oh and just as a side note: To all of you who doubted out ability to trash our house, here is what the girls' room looked like at the end of The Official Week of Doing Nothing:

The Offical Week of Doing Nothing

School is out! Hooray for summer! We have been so busy with book reports, soccer, ballet, TKD, homework, etc. that I decided that the first week of summer would be the Official Week of Doing Nothing. You say you want to sleep until 11:00? OK. Mom, can I watch TV? Sure! Don't want to make your bed? Don't do it! So far that is pretty much how thing have been going. Lots of sleep and TV. Maybe tomorrow we will get crazy and go somewhere. Or maybe not.


I'm pretty sure that I might be paying for this a little bit next week. The house is starting to look kind of scary and it's only Tuesday. But dang it, we earned of week off from being responsible.


So if you need a nap or want to watch a movie, come to our house this week. We may not have a clean floor, and the bedroom may be messy, but we are relaxed!

The Saga of the 5-Minute Fan

For Mother's Day Shawn bought me a ceiling fan for our bedroom. I always get hot when I sleep, especially in the summer so I was super excited about this gift. We went to Home Depot and picked out a fan together. We chose the fan we did because 1: I liked the way it looked and 2: it boasted about it's easy installation as you can see from this picture.


Well, 5 hours and 4 trips back to Home Depot later, the fan is finally up and running. I really won't bore you with the details of what we had to go through to get this fan up but let it be said that I am married to a saint of a man.
I came home from running errands in town and this is what my bed looked like:


Hooray! it works and Shawn didn't even say any bad words. If it had been me doing all that work it would have been a different story.
My fan. Pretty, huh?So even though it was 37 degrees outside last night we slept with that fan running, dang it!

Sick Baby

Claire had a slight cold on Saturday. When she woke up on Sunday though, her cough was much worse and her breathing a little weazy. A few times during the day she coughed enough to make herself sick. Her breathing continued to be labored and we worried about her all day. In the evening we called the doctor to see if there was anything we could do make her more comfortable. He said there probably nothing to worry about unless she was taking more than 40 breaths a minute. A quick count later we realized she was taking about 60 breaths a minute. Instead of heading to Grandma and Grandpas for mothers day, we went to drop off the older girls and headed to the Instacare. Dave and Leslie are our amazing helpers. Not the first time this weekend they saved our bacon.

The nurse measured her blood oxygen and found it low. So the on call physician started a nebulizer breathing treatment.

After the treatment they wanted to do a chest x-ray. Good news is - no sign of pneumonia.

The breathing treatment calmed her cough and eased her breathing a little. So they sent us home with a nebulizer of our own (for treatments every four hours), two prescriptions, and instructions to follow up with our pediatrician on Monday. They also gave us a list of symptoms to watch for- reasons why we might have to go back to the emergency room in the middle of the night.

On the way out the doctor wished Mindy a "Happy Mothers Day." She had forgotten all about that. Mindy is a great Mom! So worried and focused on the kids.

Ashley and Jon helped us out with a run to WalMart and a blessing. Thank you both.

Claire continued to have an upset stomach so between that and treatments she didn't go to sleep till about 2:30 A.M.

We all got a little rest and were lucky enough to get an appointment with our doctor first thing in the morning. She was good to wear a mask in the waiting room. Don't want to share those germs!

At the doctor she got a double dose breathing treatment. The medicine is a form of adrenaline and the nurse said it was about like drinking a gallon of Coke. We played some games while waiting for the Doctor to give her the all clear. Her breathing eased some more and we got to take our jittery, shaking, hyper baby home. We still get to give treatments every four hours for a day or two. All told she is doing fine and her Doctor expects she will be back to normal in a few days. Yay for Doctors and Medicine!!
Thank you so much to our wonderful friends and family. We have had many phone calls, texts, messages, and support. We love you all. We are so blessed to have so many people who love us and our kids!