Projects....

Yesterday we were having problems getting along. Trying the old distraction trick, I came up with an idea of filling water balloons then suggested that they treat them like babies. Yeah, bright idea. It has been going on (non-stop) for 48 hours
Which is pretty cute

Except for the fact that I'm going crazy because they won't let me pick up their clutter. Seriously, what is wrong with me? I have been pacing around the living room silently begging them to finish with this terrible display of creativeness.

Full Moon Rising

To my utter disbelief, my sweet mother informed me this afternoon that Garrett mooned her yesterday while she was watching him. But that's not all, the prior babysitting episode he told her that she was old and wrinkly.

What is happening to my innocent boy? I mean we don't go around our house mooning each other...wait, oh. I forgot, Jeff does repeatedly do that. Now that I think of it, on one of our first dates he showed me his full moon so maybe this apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. And my mom could stand for a few botox injections.

two weeks at a glance part deux

I was fortunate enough to be asked to watch my nieces for a few days. They are probably the most imaginative kids I know. Each day we conquered new forts and reenacted the sinking of the Titanic. Funny, Jeff volunteered to be the butler, now they call him Uncle Butt. We finally decided that we needed to get out of the heat and venture to the mountains
Em sort of ripped up the Alpine slide, she had NO fear.
Abby making sure that she knew how to apply the brakes correctly

And Jeff and Gil getting ready to race Em. The greatest part about our trip to Snowbird was not one of the kids asked for a Webkins. But I'll save that for another post.

two weeks at a glance

So there has been lots happening lately and unfortunately for this blog I have been reading the absolute best book (seriously it tops my list). Its called A Thousand Splendid Suns and I highly urge you to go get it, it will change how you look at the Middle East. Aside from my reading joys we have been: riding with no training wheels! (yay Garrett!) The only thing that spooks me is this kid has one speed: FAST. He is a maniac.
Decorating our bikes for the Primary Pioneer day parade. Yeah, can you tell that she is still enamoured with horses?
Going to Gateway Discovery Museum via Frontrunner. This is Gill and Kella holing hands and if he knew I snapped a picture he'd throw a fit.

Our only chance at riding a horse this summer due to the closing of Aarowhead stables.

just...so.....sleepy

As I'm getting ready to post this I realize how many posts include Garrett sleeping. Maybe we need to see an MD about his narcoleptic tendencies. That or just put him to bed before 10 PM.

dinnertime

So after a day at Cherry Hill the kids are usually VERY tired (that includes me) and I find it challenging to say the least to cook a healthy dinner. Take Monday night: I cooked, called everyone to dinner, and this is what I got....A very happy Abby (because she just has a great disposition)Gilly falling asleep at the table (because he generally just doesn't get enough sleep)

And no Em. why? because all she wanted was bean burritos and she spent all of dinner crying because I "didn't like her" since I wouldn't go get her burritos. Sometimes I just want to throw them a loaf of bread with spray butter and let them fend for themselves. Is that a bad attitude?

Water for sale!

A few mornings ago I heard the water running from the front yard. I looked outside to see that Em and Gill were selling water in the cups we use to rinse after we brush. At least they weren't used cups. For one cup it was $0.25, or if you happened to have three people in your party it was $0.35
we thought spelling was one of her stronger subjects but I think we need to call Sylvan

Oh, they also had their glow in the dark jelly fish available to look at. I wonder why they didn't make any money.

forts

With summer boredom comes creativity. My kids built "forts" in the storage room. They brought me in to show off their creations and all I could think about was the bunks in Dachau. They had full intention of sleeping on the cold hard floor until I took them into the furnace room where we have sticky paper to catch mice (which we don't have, that paper has been empty for two years) and its full of dead spiders, big dead spiders. They decided not to stay much longer in their concentration camp like bunkers. I kind of felt bad for Gilly, he didn't have much room.

the farm graft......

Since I'm not as talented on the intra-net as my dear husband I am unable to post a chart graft like I would like to of my enthusiasm about the farm. It started out high with the goats, went up a little as we got the chickens, went down a bit with all the poop, went up a bit with the purchase of the baby chicks, it evens out at this point. It stays even with the purchase of the calves. Goes up as I see the calves and bottle feed them, goes down as I see how much energy it is zapping from my husband who has to get out to the farm at 5 A.M. Goes down even more with the smell (warning: its all downhill from here), goes down with the death of our first calf, down with my brother leaving to Europe for 10 (yes thats ten) days (Jeff has to go out to South Weber twice a day with him gone). Plummets with the death of cow #2, #3, and #4.

They are dropping like flies out there. They have caught pneumonia due to the weather going from abnormally cool to outrageously hot. Why can't we just be happy with a dog I say?

Celebration week......

So in the lump sum of six days we have celebrated an anniversary (our 14th), Fathers Day, Jeffs Birthday (his 37th), and killed a rat. For Fathers Day I had the kids decorate some ties for Jeff. Being the good sport that he is, he wore two at the same time.
This is the rat that my mother reported seeing in the garage while she watched the kids on our anniversary. My mom exaggerates a tad so we figured she really saw a baby mouse. Looks like we were wrong, we caught this hum dinger on Fathers Day. It turns out that after my kids heard my mom talk about it they started spreading dog food around to "lure" it into the garage. Thankfully it didn't make it in the house. (Please remember that our back yard has a huge field behind it and I think thats where all these varmits are coming from).
And this is not a pound of bacon sitting on my bed, this is the fabulous "bacon wallet" that Jill sent Jeff for his birthday. The best part is that she suggested that this would be a great place to store all his farm earnings. We are still laughing. Thanks Jill, it was a hit.

some pictures of where Jeff is in his spare (and not so spare) time....

Can you believe that the two farm boys (Jeff and John) bought eight new calves? They have to be bottle fed twice a day. I am begging for the animal buying to stop, its turning weird.but they are cute. kinda. (they slober lots and look for udders under each calf. They are all boys so I think it can get a little iffy when the kids watch if you know what I mean)
Abby and the farm dog, Rocky
Em with Geronimo and Gilly the Billy
Can you believe how big the chicks got? The two white ones are turkeys. The farmers think our Thanksgiving is going to be free range this year. Yeah right. And the best part of a farm is the fashion that goes with it.

Jason the BULLY

Okay, I need some help with this one....... We all know that Gilly has an imaginary friend (named Jason) who is usually an okay guy. He treats Gilly pretty great and he runs really fast. On occasion, he can be a twerp, like the times he tells Gill to say bad things and then messes up his room but for the most part I like the guy.....except.....well, the other night Gill started telling me that Jason punched him in the eyeball and at times he is kind of mean. So here is the dilemma...What do you tell your kid when he is being bullied by someone who is a fragment of their imagination?

6 cows, 13 chickens, 5 goats, 2 turkeys, and a......

(this picture really doesn't have much to do with this post but I am noting for the record that I feel really bad for this chicken)
SNAKE! Yup, Em caught the first snake of the season. She came walking in the house with it all wound around her arm. Ick, ick, ick! Oh my _____ (insert profanity here)! What am I going to do? We aren't zoned for a zoo.

Memorial Day

So I just finished reading my sister (who journals every waking moment) blog and it inspired me to write my own Memorial Day entry. These are my grandparents that I miss the most, I think of them daily.

Rulon Williams

Oh Grandpa, thank you for sneaking me nickles from your plastic coin holder when I was little. I will always miss your big worker hands and your tin hat. From you I learned what hard work was and regardless it needed to be done. I also learned that even when you don't have any money you still need to pay your tithing. I love that when he saw me, I knew by the look on his face that I was the favorite (sorry Michele, Rachel and John. You really can't deny it though).

Viola Ruby Williams

Grandma was the pure picture of love. In her quiet way, she always made everyone feel loved. Whenever one of us made her laugh she would just smile a big grin and look the other way. I will always remember playing with her "falsies" down in the basement. She looked so fragile and loved watching trashy television shows like Silk Stockings.

Angus Stevens

I didn't get to know Grandpa very well since he died when I was just little but I do remember him standing on his head. His legacy lives on through his children who are fabulous people. I know its because of him that my dad is such a hard worker and has such great business foresight.

Lona Stevens

My dear Grandma Stevens, always so happy to see me and Michele. The food, oh my, the food. She was a fabulous cook and there was always fresh food out when we would come. At Christmas time she would always have a flocked white tree and everyone would cram into her house for a Christmas tradition that continues to this day. I will always remember her smell and her funny sense of humor.

Nan Jones

Now this was one fine lady. In the short time I knew her she made an impression on me, I always felt like I was the favorite grand daughter-in-law. Well, come to find out I guess everyone felt like they were the favorite. I am impressed with how she so could smile right down to your soul and you felt and instant connection.

Jerry Jacobs

The most handsome grandfather I have. With a beautiful white head of thick hair and a twinkle in his eye, you knew this guy was pure class. When I look at Jeff I see Grandpa Jacobs more than I see anyone. Jerrys drive to succeed and have a loving family, his love of fine things, and his charisma are all alive today through his grandson.

Jetta Jacobs

Grandma we will always miss your raking at the cabin. I am sorry that I never got to meet you but Jeff mindlessly humms and rakes while we are camping.

My date to the dinosaur park

With all the end-of-school field trips the girls have been going on I decided that it was time I took Gilly to the one place he asks to go every morning: the dinosaur park. Imagine my surprise when he started naming the different dinos (not many were correct but he did get a few). At first he was a little scared because of the large speakers hidden in the trees blaring live dino sounds (Pam, this is NOT a good place for Milly).As you can see, he was a bit frightened of the T-Rex, this was as close as he would get. He kept asking "Are dey real?" or "Is dat real blood?" He found a tatoe bug that I ended up carting around in my purse so he could take it home to Em.He thought this one was pretty safe because it was a cartoon.

And by the end of the trip his courage increased although not by much.