Cub Day Camp and more

This week was Ethan's Day camp for Cub Scouts. Of course because it was the hottest week of the year!!! He handled it like a pro and didn't complain. He even came home willing to mow the grass! He loved every day and had a great time passing stuff off, building things, and being a typical silly 9 year old boy. I went Wednesday as a parent helper, of course because I am 7 months pregnant and it was 106 degrees that day!!! I think I was more miserable then the boys but I tried not to complain because they were being so good. There wasn't any fighting, or complaining! I was so impressed with the boys. I also had to laugh because of all the times a day I think that my child is annoying, or goofy, I went there and remembered, ALL 9 year old boys act that way!!!! I am very very sad to say that I got there and realized that I had forgotten to take my camera! This is not a regular thing for me so I was sad to miss getting pictures of him shooting bows and arrows, Beebe guns, and building stuff. But a sweet friend of mine showed up the last hour and took a few shots for me so I am hoping to get a few of them later on so that at least I can scrap book it later. Brock and Amelia got to go to the child care there that is always really fun for them. They get to do lots of crafts and have tons of fun. They beg to go every day with Ethan. Hayden got to go play with her best friend all day because I knew she wouldn't take the heat, no nap, and port-a- potties so well. She had more fun with Claire anyway! The rest of the week we have gone swimming, played out side, (the kids NOT me!), and ate lots of ice cream (probably more me then the kids!). Thank goodness we have AC and I am able to sleep at night staying cool.
I spent Monday morning getting my glucose tested. I will find out the results Monday. I assume if it was to bad they would call before that. I don't know I haven't ever had a problem before. I hit 29 weeks tomorrow. Things are going pretty smoothly so far. I did go and pick green beans in my garden this morning while it was cool out. I did half of them and knew that I couldn't do any more. But it felt so good to be out in the cool, and working in the garden. I really do love gardening it is just hard when you have a giant watermelon in your belly kicking you and stopping you from bending very far. "Five" is very active lately. Larry can feel the kicks just while I am laying next to him snuggled up for the night. Sometimes they are so big the surprise me. I checked out a book from the library that was for the kids called "What's in My Mommy's Tummy?" It talks about how the baby grows from month to month, tells how big the baby is, what it can do, and all that kind of stuff. My kids thought it was really fascinating. It was kind of fun to show them in terms that they can understand and it seems more real to them. Just today Brock and I were talking about when the baby comes out and Hayden seemed very surprised and said "Baby! Come Out!?" Like she didn't understand yet that the baby was going to come out. I guess we hadn't talked about that enough yet. We will talk about it a lot more as time gets closer though I am sure. It has been a busy and very exhausting week, since we have been getting up earlier, and it has been so hot. So I am very much looking forward to next week while this children go to Grandma camp!!! They are all very excited about it too. Even Hayden can hardly wait to go to Grandma's house for a whole week! I have big plans too!!!

Hot days!

Today I made the kids help me dust and clean up all the mess from the wood floors now that they are all done! We spent hours dusting, wiping, and vacuuming. I promised them if we got it all done with out fighting we would go to the pool. This was the first time we have gone this summer. I know sad and what a bad mommy I have been but what else would I want to do on my 28th week of pregnancy. Of course put on a swim suit and head out to the public pool! So that is what we did today. Hayden is our "cautious" girl. She doesn't even get in the little pool a lot at home. She loves to play next to it all day and now she will walk around in. Anyway she was a little timid to get in to the water that was deeper then her tummy but she did really well. She fell and went under twice but she was a brave girl! Plus mommy pulled her up really fast!

Amelia and Hayden both played fetch with me almost the entire time we were there! They were my puppies and I just threw the ball for them the entire time and they would bring it back. It was pretty cute.

Brock loved jumping off the side and "swimming" under the water. He has no fear and is very comfortable in the water.

Ethan is doing well with his swimming and will even jump in the deep end and is very capable of getting him self to the side and up and all of that. He only spent part of his time with us in the "baby" pool. The rest of the time he spent in the "big"pool. We were there just over and hour and someone threw up in the other pool and they had to close the whole pool. My kids were kind of sad but I was a bit relieved. I was ready to go home and I knew Hayden was getting ready for a nap! So it kind of saved me! Oh well we had a good time and cooled off. I will take them again very soon they were so good!
I think that "five" liked the water also. I felt a lot of rolling and kicking going on. It was nice to take the weight off for a short time. I can hardly wait to spend a week at the lake where I can relax on a floatie or with a noodle and really get the weight off! I think it will be very relaxing! I haven't ever been this far a long in a pregnancy during the summer before so this is new to me. But I can't complain about the heat since I have AC and a ceiling fan in my bed room! I am having trouble getting out of a chair lately, off the couch and I roll out of bed. I think I am out growing my clothes..... Oh well with any luck only 9 weeks left, maybe 10!

Fruits of our labor

So the labor is not so much mine but I did "help". Larry did all the prep work for the garden and I helped the children plant the garden on Memorial Day. We have had a few cucumbers, a couple of Zucchini... but a couple of days ago this is what I came out with in one picking! We are loving fresh stuff from our garden. Ethan has been a great weeder this summer since mommy is to fat to get down low enough to pull the weeds! What a good boy I have!

A Day at the Beach.

This morning Larry sanded and put a coat of finish on the floor and we figured in stead of being cooped up, and keep the kids out of the mess! So we headed off as soon as he got things finished up and I had packed a bag of clean clothes, and snacks. It was a beautiful day that the beach!!! I know I put to many pictures on but I thought I had some cute ones I wanted to share! Plus my batteries died while I was there and didn't get pictures of a few things I wished I had. Like Larry building a dam with the boys in the little river. Lincoln City was packed! The beach we normally go to (D's river) was so full and we weren't going to drive around and around till someone left. So we drove down the road a way and found a beach access sign and followed it. It was perfect. Much smaller, not so crowded! The kids loved finding a "new" beach. Plus because it wasn't so busy there were TONS of shells. And huge ones at that. I just loved these pictures of my girls feet! I was trying to be "artistic" and thought they were kind of cute. I love toes in the sand and water. Hayden was really hesitant about the water. She didn't want it to touch her. I am sure I have talked about her being our more reserved child. Not super adventurous, and a little timid about new things. But I made it fun for her and didn't push it and just made it kind of a game about the water getting our toes and she was soon loving it. As long as it was just our toes and feet.

Ethan on the other hand I have to watch because he would be out to his chest if I let him. But the waves make me nervous since he isn't a strong swimmer. But he is good about staying knee/ leg deep.

Amelia just liked chasing the waves and not really getting in.

Brock on Bay watch!

This is a very typical picture of Brock on the beach. I think most of my pictures of him on the beach look just like this. Brock digging! This is what he loves to do when we are on the beach!

I was taking some pictures of Hayden and she all of a sudden became aware that there was water out there! So she said "momma water, take picture of water!" So I told her go stand over there so I can see a pretty girl by the water. She is so stinking cute I could just hug and kiss her all day long!

Ethan was holding the kite while Larry was trying to get everything ready to fly them. It was a little windy which made it "cold" for some. Mostly Hayden but for me it felt like HEAVEN!

Larry working on the kite! What a hunk!

Yes I know there are no pictures of me but there won't be any till my mask of pregnancy is gone. It is getting much darker, and I really hate even looking in the mirror at this point so it isn't going to happen. Plus on top of it yesterday afternoon my eye started burring, then by night I knew I had pink eye! Good thing we have lots of meds at our house! It is all goopy and everything! I couldn't even open my eye this morning. Good thing is that the medicine is really helping and it doesn't even hurt this evening. It is still a little swollen but not painful. I am not sure where I got it though it is really weird. None of the kids have had it! Oh well, at least it is me who knows about washing hands and can keep it to myself I hope! Anyway it was a really fun day for all of us! We topped it off by eating at our favorite place in Lincoln City Mo's! YUMMM! (My favorite is the Marion berry cobbler for dessert!)

Larry's project!

For the past year Larry has been telling me that we were going to refinish the wood floor in our kitchen THIS summer! I kept thinking yeah yeah... But I knew it had to be done. We planned on doing this while the kids go to "grandma camp" in 2 weeks but since we had to move vacation, he couldn't get time off during the week of "grandma camp". Soooo he had Friday "off" ( I say "off" because as usual he got called in to do 2 jobs.) Anyway Thursday night he came home with all the supplies, and sanders, and set to work. He was up really late Thursday night sanding away! Friday a little more sanding and the first coats of sealer, and stain. He told me he was surprised I hadn't blogged this yet. He knows me too well. But I told him I thought about it but realized I hadn't taken a before picture so I could do a before and after shot... But I need to recognize all the hard work he is putting in anyway so here I am! He has been working hard and is ALMOST done. There will not be any other pictures of my house!!!! What isn't sitting on the back deck is in my living room so we are living in a mess, with a thin layer of dust on everything. I am not even going to bother to clean it up until it is all the way done since he has to do a light sanding between ever coat anyway. What would be the point. We have to only go in and out through the garage because he figured while we are at it we might as well do the landing at the bottom of the stairs at the front entry. The kids are being good sports about it. The main issue is cooking... We fix simple things, on the bbq, or eat cold cereal all on the back deck. Good thing the weather has been so nice. Hope it holds out for about a week because we don't want to move anything across the floor till it is really set. You can walk across it when it is "dry" but you don't want to slide heavy stuff on it till it is really hard. So we will be eating outside for a few more days/week. Not sure what I am going to do for Sunday dinner tomorrow...

Here is a picture of my hero husband working away on the floor. Don't look too closely or you will see the next project that is to come! Since we moved everything out and could see more clearly then ever the disgusting walls in our kitchen Larry and I are both wishing we could have painted before doing the floors. But Money is the issue and one project at a time. It is sad because washing them does no good! The paint that the people used is super cheap and when you try to wash them the paint comes off and the mess stays! What is up with that!!!! We would like to have this project done soon but have to plan ahead... The living room is in desperate need of paint too. They are the only rooms left we haven't painted (other then the up stairs bathroom I just realized) Every thing else we have painted since we moved in. So hopefully soon we will be living in new colors and washable walls! Anyway yeah for my handy husband and his skills! We are the proud owners of a new shiny floors!

Our little celebrity!

Last week we went to the park for the Library's activity. They were having a "Reptile Man". He has done this for several years but this has been the first time we have made it to his show. Hayden loves snakes, bugs, frogs.... He was asking for volunteers and Ethan got to go up and hold a turtle. Then the next time he asked for help he picked Hayden and she got to hold a snake! I backed off as soon as he put it on her because I DON"T LIKE SNAKES! But she was in heaven! Several times we have been some where else and I hear kids tell their mom's hey that was the little girl who held the snake! Kind of funny having your 2 year old get recognized. I was waiting for the picture to come out in the paper and nice lady that serves the free lunch at MES saved hers for us. (I don't get the paper.) She gave it to us today so I thought I would post the cute picture of her! Here is a link to an even better picture!

http://www.itemizerobserver.com/DIOImages.shtml

Sprinkler Fun

You gotta love running in the sprinkler on a hot summer day! Today my boys went out to ride bikes on our street and play "police." But our neighbor was out washing his truck and ended up hosing the boys down as the rode by. They loved this and quickly got Amelia and Kade involved. Then before I knew it our sprinkler was in the road also! They were having so much fun!

Brock liked the puddle too!

Here is Amelia getting hosed down on her way by! If you look close her eyes are probably shut which lead to lots of head on crashes!

This is the only picture I got of Ethan on his bike because he kept jumping off or riding by very fast. If you look carefully you can see that he is also running over his little sister Amelia. As soon as I snapped this picture I was picking her up. Luckily she only had one tiny scratch but she cried like she was mortally wounded. It has been a long day of library, picnic in the park and now running in the sprinkler! She really needs a nap, on Wednesdays. We all had Popsicles and then went back for more!

Change of plans....

This week I have been making plans, gathering things, and have done some shopping... All so we can leave on vacation on Saturday. We look forward to this every year. A week of water skiing, swimming, playing games, fishing, and being lazy by the lake. Last night Larry was loading some of the things we have bought to take with us and cut his knuckle open on the truck. He was going to just bandage it but after I looked at it I knew he needed some stitched. We called our super hero baby sitter at 8:50ish and asked if she could come and stay with our kids we had just put in bed while I take Larry in to the ER. Her very nice mom brought her too us and we headed off to Corvallis. We have several choices where we live but with all of our ER experiences we have found that Corvallis is the most efficient, and competent service. We got there and I sent Larry to check in while I made a potty stop and when I got there he was getting checked in and triage at the same time. The immediately walked us to a room and we were taken care of and done in about an hour! He ended up with a small cut into the tendon and six or seven stitches. I am not a queasy person when it comes to blood but I couldn't watch as the doctor was poking around inside the wound. He told Larry to not get it soaking wet, no dishes, no long bathes, swimming... I said but water skiing is ok right. The Doctor thought I was joking kind of laughed and said no. I said no I am serious we are suppose to leave for vacation on Saturday. He said it was not a good idea and he wouldn't do it. With it cut into the tendon if it gets infected and the infection gets into the tendon they could have a really hard time getting rid of the tendon! Sooooo We are changing our plans. We haven't set our date for vacation yet. We are still trying to get a hold of his boss to give us a week in August that will work. So there was some excitement last night and hopefully this will work out for the best. Our sweet friends who were going to come with us were only going to get to be with us about 2 1/2 days now maybe they will get to spend more time on the lake with us. The kids are a little sad that it isn't just a few days away now but understand that it wouldn't be any fun if it were them that couldn't swim, ski.... So we just modify our summer plans and move on. It will be great what ever week we go anyway! Poor Daddy! Hopefully he will heal quickly and everything will be good as new. Dr. says 2 weeks till the stitches come out since it is right on the knuckle. Anyway he is doing ok and we will carry on!

Play time

I enjoyed just sitting in my chair watching the girls play on the swings yesterday. Amelia was being quiet the performer for me!

She kept twisting the swing up really tight and then riding it as it untwisted just like this!

Hayden loves riding on her tummy! She flies like a bird or a fairy depends on which she feels like that day! It is pretty cute.

Amelia kept saying "take a picture of me take a picture of me!" Then she would just make a silly pose or face... this was one of the many.

Today we did something I have wanted to do for a long time. I got the kids to clean up the living room and we brought down ALL the Little People we own. They are in clean up mode here and I should have taken a picture while it was all out but didn't get to it till they were cleaning up. You can kind of see that the big tub is already half full!!! Larry and I fell in love with Little People when Ethan was a baby and always bought a set for Christmas, or Birthdays. We stopped after Hayden's first Christmas because we obviously have ENOUGH! These will be the one toy I will save for when I have grand kids. I think it is a pretty universal toy since my 9 year old and my 2 year old will play with them for hours, plus they are safe for babies too! So they will be here for a long long time!

As a side note today I hit 26 weeks in my pregnancy. We have joked about naming the baby Breaker if it is a boy since this is the tie breaker baby. It is also the tie breaker in the grand kids in my side of the family also. It is starting to grow on me more and more and I am actually leaning towards naming the baby Breaker if it is a boy... I get mixed reactions about this and think it is kind of fun... we have also joked about naming the baby Five no matter if it is a girl or a boy. This one won't stick. One guy in our ward thinks we should name the baby Breaker Five, that way he will have a built in trucker name! I think we will opt out of that one! I am still clueless about the girl names. I am not totally in love with any of the ones we put up for vote... I might have a re vote later if I find a few that I really like. I would love suggestions if you have any!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July. We do the same thing every year and love it! This holiday is second in my book. (Right after Christmas) It is always full of fun, excitement and tradition. I am always way ready for bed when it is over but so happy we had a fun filled day. Ours started on the 3rd when we went to the fireworks show in town. The kids loved it and it was a lot of fun! I was really surprised when Hayden liked them and wasn't afraid!

Every year Monmouth has a children's parade. Our kids love to ride their bikes in the parade. Hayden got to ride in the wagon with Dotty. Dotty normally walks but it was so hot that the pavement was to hot for her feet. So she got to ride too. We watched the parade and the kids got TONS of candy!!! You would think it was Halloween. I think some of it might disappear! I have enough dental bills....

We had a great BBQ with some of our wonderful friends! Lots of our friends were out of town this year but we still had lots of fun. I wish I had taken some pictures of the BBQ but I was busy enjoying good company! I think this part was a lot of fun for Ethan because he got to have a big water fight with some of the kids and even daddy, and Bishop Gatherum got in on it. This was a highlight for Ethan and fun for the rest of us to watch!

At the end of it all is of course some fireworks. The kids had lots of fun watching and lighting them. I didn't think Hayden would like this part at all since she is afraid of fire! But she loved it all! She was dancing around and asking to do more more more!

Here are all the kids lined up watching the show! They were so cute dancing around as they watched. It was kind of funny because the line kept getting closer and closer and we would back them up and it would get closer....

Hayden and her favorite person! ANNA!
Ethan was so proud of "His" firework. It really was a great one and lots of fun to watch. Now just if he would get the idea of holding still and not pointing it at people, cars....

What a great day and aren't we blessed to live in the USA!!!

52 weeks to a more loving home

One of my most dear friends and her wonderful family are doing an experiment. Each week there is a new challenge and if you do it, it will help your home be a more loving place. She asked us if we would join them to help her a long this journey. I more then gladly accepted! I am always interested in trying new things to make our home a better place, be a better mom... So I am really excited when each week we get our weekly challenge by email. I asked her if I could blog this journey and she said ok. So I thought I would just do a little entry to say this is what we are doing, then each week I will update the thing on the side bar as to what the challenge is that week. If you want to join in Great!!! The more the merrier! I would love to hear others progress if you want to share. We are already two weeks in so I will always keep two weeks posted for those who are just starting now and want to join in. There will just be a quote on the side and do what the quote is suggesting. Good luck.

Week 25

So I am now 25 weeks along. I went in for my monthly check... which I often wonder how necessary it is. All they do is weigh me, take my blood pressure, and listen to the baby's heart beat. Which is all well and good, but wouldn't I know if there was a problem. Oh well I am sure it is good just to check in. My next appointment I have to do the wonderful glucose test. So as of week 25 I have gained a whopping 6 lbs. I am up a little higher then I would like but the Doctor is happy so I guess that is good. I can't complain anyway. Things are going good, baby is growing, moving, and all that good stuff. My blood pressure was a little high which is unusual for me. She wasn't worried though. My blood pressure is never ever the same it varies but it is always a "good" number they tell me so I doubt it is a problem.

Now onto earlier this week. Monday Morning I set off with the kids to visit my family in Prineville. My nephew Brigham was getting baptized on Tuesday evening so we went for a short visit. It was a lot of fun! My mom bought this pool the night that we got there and the kids could hardly wait to get it set up and in on Tuesday morning. We had to fend them off the whole time it was filling! It was hot and sooo tempting that even Grandma, Aunt Jenniann and I got in for a little while. (no pictures required!) The part that made me laugh was that the kids kept saying "Grandma is the best Grandma ever! She is awesome....."

This is a picture of Brock having some time to himself in the pool. He was having a blast making the "seas" be rough and crashing his plane in!

My brother Sam's horse Luna had a baby just a week or so ago so we had to go see the baby while we were waiting for the pool to fill. Hayden was very excited. She loves all things that are mammas and babies. She calls everything where there is a big thing and a small thing mamma's and babies. It is pretty cute! She loved seeing all the animals on our trip. (We drive by lots of cows, sheep, horses, llamas...)

The highlight of the trip was getting to see my nephew be baptized. It is always so amazing to me that they are getting big enough to be making these choices and that they are so ready for them. We are all proud of you Brigham!