A little funny to help your day along

So, Nate and I teach the six year olds in primary. Today was a wiggly day probably due to the primary program. I was having them do a coloring activity when Nate overheard two of the children talking. They shall remain nameless.
Kid 1 asked Kid 2 if she was Mexican. In a huff she replied, "No! I don't even speak Chinese!"
Unfortunately I didn't hear it, I could only see Nate doubled over in laughter across them room.

My poor dad...

So my dad has been suffering horribly from kidney stones as you can all imagine. I guess this morning my mom had to take him to the hospital because he couldn't control his pain. For some reason or another, it was making his heart wig out too. Apparently he has a kidney stone the size of a MARBLE! Can you imagine? And the one he is trying to pass is 4mm. So they admitted him to the hospital and they will do surgery on Monday. I guess the reason I am writing all this is because it has been so horrible for me to be so far away. I hate feeling so helpless, and I just want to be with my parents. 31 years old and I still need my mom and dad. I was ready to jump in the car and drive up there. I guess I would be getting there right about now, but decided to be rational and stay here. Nate is going next Friday anyway, so I am making the kids go and I will spend the weekend with my parents! Which is a good thing. I am glad he is being monitored and he is on a morphine pump. Hang in there dad! I know he has a lot of people watching out for him and thank you everyone for keeping me posted on his condition. I don't say it ever, but I want my whole family to know how much I love them. Love you guys!

This is the garden Jen built

On our walk the other day, Cara suggested that we stop at her friends house to check out her square foot garden. It looked great, and I've always wanted to do a square foot garden. Cara convinced me that I could build one and it would be simple, so I thought I would give it a try. Did I make it more complicated than it needed to be? Maybe. Did it take more time than necessary? Perhaps. But I did it!!! I think this is the only thing I have built all by myself. It looks like a fourth grade boy did it, but I'm so proud of myself! Imagine it, planting a garden in the last few days of September? Who would have thought? We thought we would try a tomato plant, strawberries, lima beans, soy beans, peas, lettuce, onions, carrots, and catnip for Stanley. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

In a natural progression of things, once Megan watered the new garden, a water fight ensued. I think you can figure out who won!




















P.S. A shout out to my dad who is suffering from kidney stones. Hope you feel better soon! Love you!

Gifts from Grandma

Well, I know it must be getting close to Halloween, because today we got our annual fun pack from grandma! It is always sooo much fun to get the mail and find packages inside. And I was included this time! Thanks mom for the fun stuff and for the cute scarecrows. You always make the holidays so much fun!

Ahhhh, fall (as we know it) is here!

The weather outside is unreal. We ate dinner outside, and we are able to sleep with the windows open at night. It is like heaven. I feel like we've all been slogging through our days, and now that the weather is cooling off, we are all perking up. I am starting to see neighbors outside that I haven't seen in months! So with the nice weather and playing outside, Sam decided it was time to learn how to climb trees. Megan is a great big sister, so she taught her how. Be patient with how many pictures get posted, I have been ordered by grandma to send more pictures!

With the nice weather, Cara and I have started walking in the morning. We get our kids on the bus and get together. I am having a great time. I also immediately got shin splints. Pretty pathetic I know, so I guess I won't be walking for a couple of days.

I had the bug guy come and spray yesterday. Always a good thing. I am just wondering though; why is it that when the bugs die, they all crawl out to the walkway to my front door?!? Can't they stay in the grass, or crawl to all these lovely rocks I have? It was like an ambush happened right outside my door. I'm happy to see that the spray is doing it's job, but it is so growdy to go sweep them all up.

Speaking of growdy, when I was getting in to bed last night, I stepped in something weird. I gave a little shriek, because with two cats and a dog, who know what it can be? So Nate turns on the light, and I happily discover a big wad of chewed up gum on my carpet. So now it is all over my foot, and mushed in the carpet. So if anyone has great solutions on how to get gum out of carpet, let me know please!

Nate is getting ready to head up to Utah next week. He will be going on the duck hunt with my brother. I would love to go and see the leaves and experience the weather, but it is a long drive for 2 days. I don't want to make the kids endure that. I hope he will take lots of pictures to blog!

Sammy just came in and saw the pictures. She was excited and asked if they were going on the "log". And then she said, "Oooh! I look good in those pants!"

Oh yeah, less that 24 hours to The Office premier! Woo Hoo!

growing up too fast

So, the girls have been home from school for about half and hour and I have noticed that Megan has been carrying this paper around with her. So I casually inquire about it and she tells me that someone drew her a picture. I take a look, and someone spent a lot of time drawing a picture of her. It's a great portrait! So, Sara, I guess Adam drew it of her:) He is a great artist. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I think it is cute to watch her go through all this fun stuff!

Lazy weekend

We had a fun and relaxing weekend. Friday night we had the chance to watch Cara's girls, so we took them with us to Nate's softball game. He was asked to pitch this game, which was exciting because he hasn't pitched since high school. We won our game that night, and that's always a good thing. The girls, as you can see, enjoyed their ballpark snow cones.

I am very excited about the weather cooling off. I came home from church today and threw on a sweatshirt and I was telling Nate how I love fall weather, and I can wear my sweatshirts and jeans again. He just gave me a funny look and informed me that it is still 90 degrees outside. After a few hours I finally admitted I was hot. I was able to finish a new shelf for the kitchen. I bought it last July, but finally got it painted. It is helping me get more into the new season. I figure it will be easy to change out season to season!

Last night we made home-made playdoh. I can't believe the hours of entertainment this gave the girls! We made two batches, but ran out of salt for the second one. Just so you know, we don't recommend using kosher salt for the doh. Unless you are desperate like we were. Here is Megan with a doh rose she made.

Nate was able to get a lot of daddy daughter time in this weekend. The girls went into work with him and the three of them changed out the transmission pan in his car. They think it is so cool to go down in the pit. Sammy needed new sneakers, so Nate took her shopping. Imagine my surprise when she came home with brown and blue sneakers. What a relief to not see any lights, or flowers, or pink. She won't take them off. Dad's are a great influence on their daughters, that's for sure.

Well, Nate is in watching the Cowboys play. If you have read my previous entries, you'll understand why I need to sign off now and go join him;)

Dollars and cents

Sammy saw a really cool toy on t.v. she wanted. I noticed it was quite pricey for what you got. $30 for the toy and $10 shipping. I said, "wow, that seems like a lot of money for a toy. It's $40."
She replied, " I have $4."
"Four zero Sam."
"Cool! I only need zero dollars more to buy it!"
If only it were that easy!

The color orange

Orange is vibrant. It's a combination of red and yellow so it shares some common attributes with those colors. It denotes energy, warmth, and the sun. But orange has a bit less intensity or aggression than red, calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.

Orange aura color: friendly, open, approachable, very independent, easy-going, highly intelligent and creative, love to partake in high-risk, physical challenges.

I am always calling Megan my orange M&M. She thinks it is cute. She always wants me to explain it to her. I can't think of a better description of Megan than the color orange. She is one amazing kid. (I could be biased) She is thoughtful, energetic, out-going, adventurous, kind, and steady. She loves a challenge, whether it is cliff jumping in Moab, or the scariest rides at the amusement park, or giving speeches in class to be nominated for class rep for student council.

The older she gets, the more amazed I am that she is mine! It is really exciting to watch her mature and get glimpses of the woman that she will one day be. Years ago, she received a blessing from my dad, and in it she was told that she was a Messenger of Love from Heaven. I have never forgotten that. I love you Megan. Thank you for all you do for our family! We love you so much!

My day with Mom

I had Sammy stay home from school today so we could give the medicine thing another try. She did much better today. She wanted to write a story, and she wrote down everything we did today. In case you can't read it, I will type it exactly the way she wrote it. Too Cute!

The smornying weh I wock up I bid not fil good. So I stad home with mom. My mom gave me metsen. So I wood fil good. The metsen made me fil good. And I ate toste for dreckfest. And snugld with mom. Then we playd school. And ate lunch. And read books. And took a nap. Then we wocht tv Then we calrd.

I figure anyone with kids will have no trouble reading this gem!

Sounds like the perfect day to me! One thing she failed to mention was my new talent at catching lizards in the house. We have a feisty cat named Stanley, ( the girls wanted to name him Prince or Snow or something equally cheesy, so we are happy with Stanley) and he keeps thinking he needs to bring his trophies inside. They tend to hide under the couch and I know they are there because the dog and cat are trying to dig under there. I have caught two tail-less lizards already this week. Hopefully there won't be anymore.
Doesn't he look innocent?

Sammy....need I say more?

So, poor Sammy had a difficult weekend. It is not fun trying to get her to do something that she doesn't want to do. Like drink 3oz. of mineral oil. Twice a day. To say she is stubborn is not quite doing it justice. So she and I stayed home from church yesterday and I decided to call a cease fire. So we are sitting at the table having a mature :) conversation. Half jokingly I told her, "you know, you can sure make me mad sometimes." And she gives me a big grin and replies, "I know mom." Then she told me she loved me. I think that right there is the joy of motherhood. It doesn't matter how exasperated you are, or worn out, or even really mad! They give you that little grin and none of it matters anymore. Sam definitely gives me a workout in the mommy department, but I wouldn't trade her in for anything. She came up to me last night and asked if she could tell me a story. I said yes, and she came up and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. I think we will have a happily ever after....

Football Season

I think I finally figured it out! It is no secret that I am not a fan of the sport of football. My husband is a huge fan. I can honestly say I have tried to like the sport and in the last couple of years I started watching it with him. I just realized that it is a great time to get some cuddle time and I usually get a back rub. Maybe this sport is rubbing off on me. Just don't tell Nate my secret ;)

Busy days...

I was reading my friend Sarah's blog and she was talking about autumn, and the cool weather, and she hung up her beautiful fall wreath. I was so jealous! I love autumn, it is by far my favorite season. One problem....we don't seem to have it here in Arizona! That didn't stop me from putting a few decorations on my front porch though. I about gave myself heat stroke out in the garage trying to find them. I am aware it looks a little funny for it to be 107 degrees outside and to have pumpkins on the porch. You will have to humor me:)
So, all in all, it has been a great week. I was able to go help my friend Samantha in her classroom on Tuesday. I always enjoy going in there. Thanks Samantha for the fun opportunities! Wednesday I FINALLY got the yard work done. It's hard to get out there when it is this hot. Usually I love to do the yard work, but living here I have become so afraid of the biting ants that it is hard to find the motivation to get out there. That and the all consuming heat. You have to start first thing in the morning. That afternoon we had Lunch Bunch for Relief Society. We met up at Ruby Tuesday and had a great time. Thanks for the invite Sara. Only five of us made it, but that's okay. I will have to make sure I go every month. What a great way to get to know others in the ward. I am serving in the primary and I feel like I miss out on a lot. Thursday I helped Megan's teacher. I am her room mom so that will be fun. I really missed being able to volunteer in the girls classes last year when I was working, so I am taking full advantage of going in whenever I can. Thursday night we had a great R.S. dinner. It was a great social. They had a four course dinner, and you had to switch tables in between each course. I had such a great time! Friday started off great! Nate left me a lovely note on the bathroom mirror and that put a smile:)on my face! Then it was off to the dentist. Not too fun, yet not too traumatic. I had to take Sammy back to the gastrointerologist that afternoon. Even though I feel like we are making some headway with her condition, we aren't there yet. The doctor prescribed 3oz. of mineral oil twice a day. I was looking at the bottle, and a normal amount is a tablespoon. You can just imagine how much 3oz. looks like. The poor thing. I was dry heaving trying to watch her drink it. You can't exactly mix it with juice either. The whole oil and water theory. So, she got one dose down and then flat out refused to do any more. If any of you have any idea how stubborn she is, you will feel for us.
But anyway, back to our weekend! Nate recently joined a Gilbert Rec softball team. We have his games every Friday night. We went to Barro's pizza after the game and then headed off to John and Samantha's house to play cards. It was a great time, but we were all wiped out the next day.
So, I have had a busy week! I usually don't, so this was a nice change. I will try to make more entries so I don't have everything mashed into one entry.

Goofy Girls

I have to start out by saying, this blog was a lot easier to pull off. Hopefully this is a good sign that I am not going to let this get the best of me. Well, we had a pretty good weekend. Since we were gone for Labor Day, I decided this would be a good time to clean out the rooms and make a trip to Goodwill. I cannot believe how much my girls are able to accumulate. I don't know where it all comes from! I found all of Sammy's candy from last Easter. Megan had birthday cards from last October! I let them take a break and go to a friends house for an hour so I could more easily throw some things away.

Sammy had a birthday party in the afternoon and then Megan had a party at night. I love those opportunities to have them one on one. They are totally different children when they aren't with each other. I guess they don't feel the need to compete at those times.


I am so pleased with the way they are turning out. Megan is such a sunny, sweet person. She is certainly a peace maker. Sammy is really something else. She has a sharp sense of humor. She has come really far this year with her temper and we are really proud of her. It is never dull at our house with these two drama queens! We love you guys!

Labor Day Weekend

Well, I think this last Labor Day takes the cake on all Labor Day weekends! On Friday morning, Nate and I decided it would be fun to pop over to San Diego for the weekend. Our kids had never been to the ocean, and we have all had it with the heat! We took off on Saturday morning and arrived at about 2:00. First we went to La Jolla Cove. We had read how much fun it is there and how you can find sea anenomes. After spending an hour there and seeing the third life guard rescue, we decided to head over to Mission Beach and spend the rest of the day. We were sold on the big waves and the soft sand. We rented body boards the next day and had fun riding the waves!

Sammy was a little nervous to try it at the beginning, but once she got the hang of it, we couldn't get her out of the water. Megan is always at home in the water. I don't think she came out of the ocean until we threatened to leave her there!We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a 20 degree break for us. While all of Southern Calfornia was suffering from a heat wave, we were in heaven! After we had enough sun to last us for quite a while, we walked around Sea Port Village in San Diego and bought some dead sea horses and sea shells for the girls. They have a fireworks show every night, so we were able to enjoy that as well. We couldn't have asked for a better time. I'm thinking this could be the start of a beautiful tradition....

As you can see from our temperature gauge, we weren't too anxious to get home!