Saguaro Lake

Here's some fun photos from our trip to the lake yesterday. All in all, we had a great time. Taylor got out first so he could work on his WaterSports Merit Badge. (One of the products of being the son of a Scoutmaster.) After a few attempts, he did the hardest thing on the list - cross each wake back and forth 4 times... so he had to cross over from side to side 8 times. It's harder than it looks, but he finally did it! I'm not sure I've been able to do that yet, so we are darn proud of him!

One of our favorite things to do is to anchor the boat in a cove and swim... well it often turns into a canonball contest... something we can't do in our pool at home because we don't have a deep end. Yesterday they discovered that belly flops don't hurt when you have a lifejacket on, so we got some great shots of belly floppin' supreme!

We tried a new type of tube yesterday and everyone loved it. We even got Brayden out there with Eric for a short run.... I was only going 4 mph, so it was a super safe adventure for him!

I'm so glad Ian is smiling in this photo. It seems we always have a "glitch" of some kind at the lake. Maybe this is normal, but we've never owned a boat before last year. We've had everything from flat tires on the boat trailer (with no spare and no store for 30 miles) to snapping the tube rope because we weren't using the right type of rope. Yesterday, Ian was in the water waiting for me to circle around and pick him up after kneeboarding and he almost got run over by another boat. It was a close call. Way toooo close. He was fine... but Eric and I were pretty shaken up about it. We still are today. We don't know if the other guy driving just didn't see him at all or if he was just a jerk who didn't care if he whizzed right past a little kid with less than a few feet to spare. We don't know because he never came back to see if we were okay or to apologize... and there's no way he didn't know what he'd done by the time he passed our boat. Eric was screaming at him like I've never heard him yell before. No profanities, though... I was grateful for that. :) I was very proud of Ian, too. After we swam for a bit (in a safer area, no wake zone), he got back on the horse and rode the tube around with Megan and Taylor. We also had a "safety lesson" on what to do if you are in the water and you see a boat coming. Everytime we go out, we have a new "learning experience" it seems. I guess that's life. I'm just so grateful that my baby is okay.

p.s. Mom, the boat photo at the top is for you! Sorry about the water spots on the lense... I took it from the water!

Adventures in Tie Dye

This week we tie-dyed pajamas. It was a lot of fun! We bought cheap white tee's at Joann's and some white broad cloth which I spent all day Sunday afternoon sewing into pajama shorts for all the kids... well not Taylor (he's too mature for such things as matching pj's), but I had enough fabric to make me a pair, so I did! (I couldn't have buzzed through this project so quickly without my serger and recent experience making pjs for the YW at Enrichment last month!)

We picked up a tie dye kit at Joann's that had three colors - fuchsia, yellow and turquoise. It always amazes me what you can do with just three colors... Brayden's pjs for example - they turned out lime green because we blended the turquoise and the yellow. This is one project that you just can't screw up!

Megan wanted to go for the "Uncle Jon" look. Years ago we did a tie dye birthday party for Ian and Uncle Jon did the craziest pattern with rubber bands and die but it turned out super cool, so Jon, I hope you are impressed... I think Megan's turned out the best and she didn't care one bit about what it looked like because she remembered how cool yours looked after everyone made fun of you for being "different"!

Ian wanted a "Power Ranger" theme... we did our best to create a yellow "V" in the center of his shirt and he is very happy with how it turned out. He was the most particular about how we rubber banded it all, so I was worried that he would be disappointed with the outcome, but he liked it. Whew!

For Brayden's, I wanted a green/blue Ninja Turtle look. I ended up using an old white tee of his that he stained yellow all down the front spilling top ramen on him. You'd never know this shirt was ruined before, would you?

I'm declaring this project a total success - four sets of light weight summer PJ's for under $30 and the kids haven't taken them off in the last two days! They love them! The only bummer was not being able to do this with our good friends who decided to go to San Diego and play in the cool weather and the ocean instead of tie-dying with us! :)

Dirty Little Secret

Yesterday I heard my first cicada for the summer. They are this ugly little bug that sit on the tree branches and "sing"... but for us it's just any annoying buzz. When my father in law first came to visit us (in August), the first thing he said, was "I think the street lamp in your court is broken... it keeps buzzing." It took us a few minutes to convince him it wasn't the streetlamp. It was a bug... it wasn't until I walked over to the tree that was buzzing and shook the branches, that the cicada shut up and my father in law "believed". After 3 full summers, and well into my 4th one, I've discovered that when you hear the cicada's buzzing that means Monsoon is here. It's the part of summer that I love and hate all at the same time! The Monsoon is Arizona's "dirty little secret". When I told people I was moving here, I can't tell you how many times people would say, "well, at least it's a DRY heat." Yes, that's true... in May and June. But July and August (and sometimes even September?!?) Fuhgetaboutit... it's anything but DRY! Until this year, the monsoon was declared after we'd had 3 straight days with a dewpoint of 55 degrees or higher. Honestly, until I moved here for a summer, I'd never even paid attention to what a "dewpoint" was! (Click HERE to read more about "dewpoint" and how it works.) Dewpoint typically begins around July 1st give or take a week or two in either direction. With it come humid days, afternoon thunderstorms, crazy rain (not as often as we would like) and dust storms. I look forward to it because it's a change from the same old thing we've been dealing with for weeks, but I dread it because of the humidity. It's so dang miserable. And it know it's not as humid as living in Florida, but they don't get to 110 on a regular basis either... like last summer when we had 32 straight days over 110 or something like that. Let's just say it gets old after a while! I also don't enjoy getting woken up by a thunderstorm at 3 a.m. That has happened several times since I've lived here. I love thunderstorms, but I want them to be done when it's bed time. It's hard to sleep with lightening flashing through every window and thunder booming every 30 seconds. This year, the weather "gurus" have decided to change the monsoon starting date... it's now June 15 every year. Very early for most years, but they are using hurricane season as an example. Official hurricane season usually starts weeks before any real hurricanes develop, but it still reminds local residents to be "on their guard." I guess that's a good idea with monsoons, too. I was just hoping to get a couple more weeks of dryness before it began! Click HERE for some amazing Monsoon photos... I was going to copy a couple and paste them here, but there are too many good ones to steal them in good conscious! Enjoy!

It's Not Easy Being Green

I finally did it. I finally caved and bought some "reusable" grocery bags. They're bulky and awkward, but I did it anyway. Then they sat in my car through at least two grocery trips, because I forgot to take them into the store with me. Then I finally took them to Walmart and the poor checkout ladies had bagged half my stuff before I could tell them I brought my own bags. They seemed annoyed and flustered about moving all my stuff into the reusable bags and who can blame them... they don't fit very well on the walmart bagging carousel. And I've heard from a friend that using the reusable bags with the "self checkout" is a lot of work because the weight sensors freak out when you put them on the pad. The jury is still out on whether or not I like doing this, but quite frankly I feel bullied into it. Everywhere I shop (maybe with the exception of Walmart), I'm being asked when I check out if I'd like to purchase that store's reusable grocery bags. (Maybe Walmart doesn't ask me because I use self checkout 95% of the time I'm there.) When I finally did buy some, it was at Sprouts, my local Farmer's Market/Grocery store and I bought them because they didn't have any particular store logo on them. I don't want to buy them at one grocery store and then feel weird about bringing them into the competition. I already feel weird about bringing them anyway. Am I alone on this issue?

Speaking of "green living", I've also invested over $50 in CFL lightbulbs. The jury is still out on this too. I'll be perfectly honest... I didn't do this to save the environment. I did this to save $$$ on my electric bill. I don't like the harsh white light from CFL's and especially in my "earthtoned" house, they make my painted walls look... well, just WRONG. But, once again, I'm feeling bullied into this as well. The other day I counted the number of light bulbs in my house. It was shocking, even to me. 59 regular bulbs and 22 recessed bulbs. To change all those out will cost me a small fortune, but now that I have some done, I feel like I need to do them all so that I have a uniform lighting look. You can tell that my kitchen is still lit by incandescent bulbs and my nook is CFL. It's kinda weird in a room that's all connected. Here's my other beef with CFL's... in the 40 I've bought (bulk packs at Sam's Club) at least 2 didn't work right out of the package. That's over a buck a bulb. Then I've had 3-4 burn out after using them for just a month or two. Ouch! And did you know that you really aren't supposed to throw these away in the garbage? They have mercury in them and can poison the air in a room if they burst in the garbage can. Hmmm... maybe the environmentalist groups will wait 5 more years before most people's CFL's start burning out around the world to let us know what the proper disposal method of these babies are! One more gripe... they don't do so well with ceiling fans. Anyone in the desert knows that ceiling fans are a lifeblood in the summer (spring and fall, too) and if I have to choose CFL or fan, it's definitely fan. No question about it.

One more thing.... I drive a gas guzzler. I have to. We have 4 children, a tent trailer and a boat. I have to be able to tow and go on a road trip with six people and room for suitcases in the back. I actually love my gas guzzler and I figure if I'm willing to pay for the gas, no one else should be able to complain about it. My Chevy Suburban is equipped with a "flex fuel" option. This means that I can run my car on regular unleaded or E85. Our first E85 station just opened up 20 miles from our house. Three weeks ago they were selling E85 for $3.42 a gallon and Unleaded for $4.15. So, for fun, we drove the 20 miles and filled up on E85. What a waste. I got 4 mpg less with the E85 than I do with regular gas. I figured it out and it was costing me 34 cents per mile to use E85. At the $4.15 price, regular gas was 29 cents per mile. Reg unleaded would have to climb to $4.80 while E85 stayed at $3.42 for me to break even in the cost. So, I will never get E85 again. So, I have to wonder with such poor efficiency, why on earth are we using up our country’s food supply making a very crappy gas alternative? I love what Glenn Beck says on the topic of SUV emissions: "Just the increase in the amount of coal that China will burn by 2020 will send as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 3 billion Ford Expedition SUV's. At it's current pace, it would take Ford 15,000 years even to sell that many."

Here's my take on "green living". Moderation in ALL things. I think it's important to "do our part" to help conserve resources, but I don't condone all the extremism. And I really get annoyed by all these "celebrities" who fly all over the world in their leer jets promoting conservation. Do you think people like Cameron Diaz ride on commercial flights? (If you know the true answer to this, inquiring minds want to know!) Hey, in my mind, by choosing a commercial airline carrier when I travel, I'm essentially "carpooling", right? I loved the blip I heard on the radio from John McCain a couple weeks ago. He suggested that he should be joined by Barrack Obama at some town hall meetings around the country during the campaign season. He even suggested that they share a plane while they travelled around to the different locations. What an awesome idea!

I challenge Al Gore himself to buy a Prius (one of the ugliest cars ever made), drive it himself to AZ and live here with his thermostat at 85 degrees in July. I don't think he can do it!

Not Enough Hours in the Day

Now that my teenager is home from his week long trip to BYU, I have a never ending struggle on my hands... I never get a chance to get on the computer for more than 5 minutes without someone standing over my shoulder nagging me to get off so they can have a turn. We did get enough equipment to run a second computer downstairs for the kids, but the desk we ordered last month still hasn't arrived, so we haven't set it up yet. I'm so sick of fighting for computer time, I'm about ready to set it up on a cardboard box, just to get these guys off my back!

I have lots of things I want to blog about this week, but it's late and I was up at 5:30 a.m. If I can ever get this darn 3 year old to go to sleep, then I can crash and go to bed! More tomorrow, I hope!

Survival Swimming

This was the best money I have ever spent. I've never had a child who could swim at age 3 before. I think some of my kids have a fish gene somewhere in their DNA makeup. Brayden is one of those! He has absolutely no fear of the water and thinks he has superman-like powers or something. The entire goal of this class is to teach the kids to swim to the side and climb out (without the help of stairs or ladders.)

Here's some pictures from his last couple days of class. I have the video of him getting tossed in with clothes on, but it's too big for blogger to upload, and quite frankly, it's not a happy moment for him. He knew that "street clothes" weren't supposed to be in the pool, and try as she might, Miss Michelle couldn't convince him for anything to jump in with clothes and shoes on. (Secretly, I was rejoicing at this moment, because it gave me some hope that he won't ever willingly jump in with his regular clothes on.) She eventually just gave him a push into the water (9 feet deep). He did struggle more than normal to get to the side, but he did it. He was angry, too... came out of the pool screaming like I'd never seen before. But we stripped off the wet clothes, threw on his swimsuit and he was more than happy to finish his lesson with all smiles. That's my boy! (And yes, he is grinning at me under the water!)

Today we went to a pool party out in Queen Creek. Wow, that's the sticks! Anyway, there were a bunch of neighborhood friends at this party with probably a dozen toddlers. EVERYONE was amazed at Brayden's new skills and I enjoyed bragging about this class we just finished. Halfway through the afternoon, one of the other three year olds fell in sans water wings (not sure if he fell or jumped). Two adults saw it at the same time and jumped in after him. He was okay, shaken, but fine. It made me so grateful we did this class. And the poor dad who jumped in the water had his garage door remote in his pocket (yeah, it was in a swimsuit, weird, huh?) That was their only means to get back inside their house after the party, so in the end, they finally called AAA to help them out!

And the Winner Is...

..... Adria S.! Congrats Adria! If you want to email me your address, I'll put the Blockbuster card in the mail asap! Too bad I didn't know this before the baby shower last weekend, huh??

Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions on movies - I can't wait to start checking them out at the library this summer!

Here are some of my favorites that I'm surprised no one mentioned:

Much Ado About Nothing (starring Kenneth Brannaugh and Emma Thompson) one of the cutest Shakespear adaptations I've ever seen!

Love Affair (starring Annette Benning and Warren Beatty) a modern day remake of An Affair To Remember... I ball like a baby every single time I watch this and I LOVE the music in it, too!

Notting Hill (starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant) yes, I know the humor is crass, but it's so funny coming from the Brits!

Future Olympians???

Ian and Brayden working on their Track and Field skills. The very last two words Brayden says before my camera shuts off due to a "full memory card" :

"high jump!"

***No toddlers or stuffed animals were harmed in the making of this movie.***

The Curse of the Broken Microwave

I now believe this house came with a curse on it. We have gone through two perfectly good microwaves in the last year. The first one came with the house - it's a built in microwave/oven combo. Great idea until one of them breaks... near 2k to replace entire unit, which is just throwing money out the window when the oven works just fine. While we were in the process of shopping for a new microwave, someone at work offered Eric a freebie. It was a GE Spacemaker that fit over the stove, was stainless steel to match the rest of the appliances and brand new, still in the box. We gave him $40 for it because we felt bad taking it for free. Eric installed it last September. Just this week, the magnatube went out. It works like it should except that anything you put in it gets no heat whatsoever. Unfortunately, since it's a "freebie" and a "hand me down" at that, we can't get it repaired. The GE repairman said that without the serial number he can't work on it. It's basically a worthless piece of junk. Are you kidding me??? So, we are in the market (again) for a new microwave - an over the stovetop model would be best - any recommendations???

Therapy

I'm going to make a confession - I'm addicted to Audio Books. It all started 5-6 years ago for a book club. We were reading The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (an excellent read, by the way) and the only copy my library had left was the audio book version. So, I checked it out and by the end of the book, I was absolutely hooked.

In the beginning, I couldn't really multi-task while listening to a book. If I got even slightly distracted, I'd have to skip back and start the track over. My favorite place to listen was in the car - I spent lots of time in the car back then. Over time it slowly evolved and I got better. At first I could fold laundry and sweep floors, while I hung Taylor's CD player with case over my shoulder. I think I got more milage out of that portable CD player than he did. (This was pre-ipod days of course!) Then I figured out that I could scrapbook, as long as I was doing something mindless - no "planning" and no "journaling". I could also paint rooms and clean kitchens while listening. Now that we have a gym membership, I don't enjoy a trip to the gym if I don't have an audio book qued up. I have lots of music on my ipod, but the audio books are my favorite!

These are the audiobooks that got me through my two bathroom remodels... I listened to Twilight (Stephenie Meyer) while I chipped old tile out of my bathroom and I listened to Empire (Orson Scott Card) while I grouted and painted it. I listened to The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) during all of the kids bathroom remodel (much less hours were invested in getting the second bathroom done than the master!)

I especially love audio books when they have sound effects, multiple readers (Ender's Game is a great example of this) or if there is background music at all the appropriate moments (like tense scenes...) And I love being able to put them on my ipod, so I don't have to lug around a CD player anymore! I check them out at the library, rip the CD's to my computer and then sync them to my ipod. Once I've listened to it, I delete the whole thing (since it's the library's copy and not mine.)

Another confession - I HATE cleaning my house. I really HATE it. I'm much better at organizational projects, than just plain scrubbing something. But with my kids home all day, the house is in constant need of "something". So, I've made a goal to spend one hour each day cleaning something that isn't an everday chore (laundry, dishes, etc.) So far it's working... yesterday, I even worked through two CD's worth of New Moon (my current read) which is actually more than 2 hours! So, as long as I have a good audiobook to escape to, I should be able to accomplish my goal!

Do you have a favorite Audio Book?

Lessons I've Learned from my DADS

Three Things my Dad has taught me:

1. Go With The Flow - my dad is a really relaxed individual and when everyone else around him is stressed to the max, he knows how to stay calm and calm others down. It's a wonderful gift!

2. Be Responsible - for 30 years my dad was a cop, so responsibility in all aspects of life was a key ingredient in his make-up

3. Enjoy Life to the Fullest - since his retirement 2 years ago, my dad has been enjoying every aspect of life he couldn't do before - travelling, playing video games, cooking elaborate meals, visiting his grandkids often, etc.

Three things my father-in-law has taught me:

1. Be generous - Dad is one of the most generous people I know... even to those who might take advantage of his generosity

2. Serve with the True Spirit of Charity - Dad is always doing something for someone else. When he comes to visit, the first thing he says in the morning is, "What can I do for you today?" If I don't give him a "chore" he gets a little cranky sometimes!!!

3. Be Honest - we were laughing the other day when we found out his car insurance went up $10 a month because he had the honesty to call the insurance company and report extra miles he would be now driving for a new church assignment each week.

I'm grateful for each of these men and the life lessons they have taught me over the years!

And to my hubby - LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!! I can't imagine the life we'd be living today without you in it! We all love you to pieces! Happy Father's Day to ALL!

Sacrament Meeting Gem

During a Manitoba Canada stake conference a few years ago, Sister Karen Beaumont described her feelings about the raging winter storms that come to their area. She said:

“I love a winter storm. … When the wind starts to blow and the snow begins to fall, a feeling of excitement starts to build. … When I can’t see the trees at the neighbor’s farmyard, … I phone my husband! … He then picks up the children who are at school. … It is hard to describe the feelings I experience as our family is gathered home, and the storm rages outside. … And I love it! Everyone is safe; we are together. We have lots of food and water. The longer it lasts, the better. … We are shut off from the world. … We bask in the warmth of our home and in the warmth of our love. My heart is full, and I am at peace. Sometimes, I wish I could just stay like that forever, with my family gathered around me, protected, shut off from the evil influences of the world. But alas, the storm blows itself out eventually, we dig ourselves out, and off we go to face the world again.”

AMEN!!!!!

Chick Flick Giveaway!

Summer is upon us, even here in Phoenix, where we actually got a late start to summer this year. No complaints from me! We are now officially into "hibernation season". Every week we go to the library to scour the racks for movies to check out... watching TV/movies always ends up being a big part of our summer vacation here! I often feel left out when we check out movies and because I'm usually chasing around a toddler through the library, I don't often get to browse the adult movie racks for wonderful gems!

So, here's where the fun begins - I'm asking for your help! Leave me a comment with your top three favorite chick flicks (available on DVD) and I'll put your name in a drawing for a free $5 Blockbuster gift card!!! I have one still sitting on the counter from Christmas and I'm willing to share it for some really great movie ideas! (Hey, it's not much, but enough for one free movie rental, right???)

Here's the guidelines:
1- no Jane Austen movie recommendations - I already have them ALL and watch them often!
2- please no rated R movies - not my thing!
3- make sure your name is somewhere in your comment so I can put your name in the drawing
4 - you can leave multiple comments which will give you more than one chance to win as long as you leave three different movie titles in each one!
5 - contest closes next Friday at noon (pacific time, which is Arizona's time zone when the rest of the world is on daylight savings time....)

Good Luck - I can't wait to see what fun movies ya'll recommend!

True Fear

Nothing instills true fear like this... I run into a dear friend in Walmart and she asks me what happened in church on Sunday - were there any big calling changes??? Hmmm.... I think about it.... No.... we got another gal to join our Enrichment Committee, but I think that was it.

Then I remember that the rumor is going around that our Young Women's President is getting released... this is bad news on more than one front. Our Relief Society President has also been told that her tenure will be up at the same time as the YW's pres... she's been bugging them for a while because her house is on the market and they will likely be moving soon. And now I hear that there could be big changes in the other organizations as well - this is HUGE people. So... who knows what is coming down the road in the next couple weeks. I think the happy place that I'm situated in right now is going to go away, but I don't know if my new responsibilities will be a welcome change or not?!? Or maybe there are big changes in store for Eric... he's dropped more than one hint that he's long past burnt out as a Scoutmaster, but I keep telling him be careful what you wish for... you might just get it (and then some!)

And isn't it funny how all of this going down is not at all "top secret" anymore? I remember when I was a kid, calling changes were some of the most sacred things in the church. Now, the rumor mill gets started and EVERYONE knows what's going on. When my friend asked me if I knew the "low down" in Walmart yesterday, when I said, "no".... she didn't even believe me at first. She thought I was lying or pretending not to know. I assured her that I really don't know what's happening and I hope never to find out until it's announced from the pulpit. I've been telling our bishop for some time now that whenever he needs a Nursery Leader, I'm there for him. He keeps laughing in my face. I think it's a very benevolent gesture... the Nursery Leader is one of the hardest callings in all the church to staff - it must have 75% turn down rate! But considering all I'm responsible for now, 2 hours of breaking up toddler fights each week seems like a walk in the park! But, we already do have a wonderful nursery leader right now, so it's unlikely I'll get that job anytime soon... UNLESS she gets to be the new YW or RS pres or something really great like that! Hey, you just never know! I've heard this Sunday will be exciting and I won't want to be late.... hmmm... too bad we can't Tivo our sacrament meeting!

Drive-In Movies

I don't know why I love the Drive-In, but I do... maybe because it's such a rarity these days! We have one about 20 minutes away and we love to go see movies there. Tuesday night is discount night... adults are $4 and kids are $1. Four and under are free! You can bring all the food and drinks you want guilt free and you can camp out in camp chairs, on sleeping bags or I've even seen people bring bean bags!!! Our friends took the seats out of their minivan and parked them in the dirt for a very comfy place to sit!

Last week I decided I wanted to take my kids to the drive-in before it got too hot or monsoon made the weather too unpredictable. When I made plans and invited a bunch of friends to join us, the forcast was for 101... hot, but bearable as soon as the sun goes down. It ended up being 105 or 107 today! We must be acclimating to the heat here, because I wasn't really miserable at all. Two summers ago I took the fam to see Over the Hedge and I remember being so hot and sweaty and miserable that I couldn't even enjoy the movie. It was the longest 2 hours of my life out there in the dirt! My kids must be getting used to it to, because as soon as all the friends got out of the car, they started a game of tag! Tag... when it's over 100 degrees outside!!!

We had a great time and watched Kung Fu Panda - very cute - predictable, but still funny!!! Jack Black does such a good job... I think this role was made just for him! Now that I've gotten my drive-in movie fix, I can wait until fall for the next movie experience... although I think my boys are going to be begging me to take them to see the new Star Wars movie in August!

Sacrament Meeting Gem

"Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs. When the spiritual light of the Holy Ghost is present, the darkness of Satan departs."

-Robert D. Hales
July 2002

Starry Safari

Friday Night the Phoenix Zoo started it's Friday Night Starry Safari. They open the zoo from 6-9 p.m. on Friday nights and charge very discounted admission. We decided to go since we haven't been to the zoo in a couple years, and Taylor was still at camp (he thinks he's too "mature" for the zoo now...), and it was only 98 degrees on Friday... cool by Phoenix standards in June. Admission for all people (3+) is only $4 and they usually have some extra festivities going on too. This time they had different team mascots there with fun games, sack races, balloon animals and waterslides. We had a fun time... the animals were great and most of them were very cooperative about getting their photos taken!

We all enjoyed the Monkey Village - where the squirrel monkeys can keep you entertained for hours... this one was just posing for me to take his photo... I think he wanted a handout from the zoo trainer, but he held still for a moment none the less.....

This is a picture of the boys watching the Orangantans(sp?)... they were really fun to watch. The baby was sooo darn cute!Brayden and Eric looking for the zebras... they were fiesty and we walked up just as they were being fed. Ian, Brayden and Megan at the Giraffe Lookout... it took a long time to coax Brayden down from this thing... he could have stayed up there all night! We got to see the Giraffes eating too... they were so cute!Two hours later... it's hot, our backs are sweaty, but we're still smiling. And no stroller either (notice the backside of B's head in the photo... he didn't run away once!) Brayden is getting to the point where we can do short excursions like this without the stroller! Yippee!!! I think we are almost to the point of being done with it for good! That will be a day to celebrate in our house!

Brave Brayden

This week Brayden has been taking swimming lessons. These are not the typical 3 year old, "let's blow bubbles in the water" type lessons. These are survival swimming lessons. He's half way through his session and by the end of next week, his teacher will toss him in the pool (with clothes and shoes on) to make sure he can get out on his own if this happens at home. Anyone who has seen my backyard setup knows that I worry about this constantly. Our pool was designed (by a single guy, not me) to be right outside the back door. Beautiful, yes... safe for kids? No. We gone over a million different options on how to make the pool situation safer. The bottom line is that I need to make my "toddler" safer. So, we got wind of a class that was affordable and available (not easy to come by around here) and signed up right away! Our teacher is Michelle and we LOVE her. Ours is the last class for her after 3 hours of swim instruction and she still has amazing patience and dedication. She's amazing... she can make the kids do what she wants even when they are screaming back at her and she still calls them "sweetie" through the whole thing! Brayden is unique among her students. He is not afraid of the pool but doesn't understand that he can't really swim yet. He loves swimming and isn't afraid of any of it. He can now swim 15 feet across her pool all by himself and can pull himself out of the side of the pool without the help of a ladder or stairs! I'll post pictures next weekend of how our "big finale" goes!!!

Funnies from Megan

I want to write this down before I forget it... Megan is my 11 year old pre-teen daughter who is so precise, logical and pefectionistic... she's not really me at all! Definitely more like her dad (except her love for music... that's me....) It's been a long time since she's said something really silly and funny - until today:

Anyway, we were on the way to her Activity Day leader's house. I handed her a check for her to give to her AD leader...

Megan: what's this for?

Me: I bought a candle from her a LONG time ago and never picked it up. (Gold Canyon Pomegranate... heaven on earth)

Megan: I wonder what they make candles out of....

Me: They melt wax down to do it.

Megan: I hope they don't use ear wax!

Me: (silently giggling....) no, they don't...

Megan: (dead serious) Cuz' ear wax wouldn't make a very nice smelling candle, would it????

Me:......... (speechless)

Interesting...

Go HERE to read a very interesting article about the potential relationship between heart health and grape juice...

Lethargic

My body must know it's summer vacation. Usually each morning, I'm awake about 6:30... 7:00 on a late day. The kids have to be leaving the house by 7:45 to catch their bus, so sleeping in just isn't an option. But, this week, even though I have very LONG "to do" lists, I just can't drag my body out of bed... Today has been the earliest I've gotten up and going, but it's still at least an hour later than normal. I want to enjoy sleeping in, but I don't like feeling so groggy and tired all the time... the lethargicness (is that a word?) has been lasting until 11 or noon when I finally break out the Diet Coke!

I have been working on my paper work clutter ... I recycled a TON, threw away quite a bit, filled my whole shredder, and filed a stack of paperwork that was several inches high. There is still much to do, but I have tackled the "phone counter" and the "computer desk"- these are the two worst clutter spots in the whole house. My room gets bad too, so I'm hoping to tackle that today.

I also just decided to switch over to SRP's "Time of Use" plan. This is a plan for "heavy" electricity users (like us...) to try to save money. Essentially, you pay double the normal rate from 1-8 p.m. (M-F) and half the normal rate during all other times (including all weekend). I've heard that if you are a "stay at home mom" or if you have a home office, this plan won't save money, it will cost you more, but we are going to give it a shot. Last year, my most expensive electric bill was $475... I'm just sick of paying that kind of money! So, the deal is, that you have to time all your major electricity usuage to be before 1 p.m. or after 8 p.m. Major juice suckers include the Washer/Dryer, Dishwasher, A/C and Big Screen TV's. I'm just a little happy to have a really good excuse to severely cut back on the TV time in the afternoon! I'm also going to try a new strategy with the A/C... run it colder than I normally do in the morning and then for the afternoon, set the thermostat at 85... we'll see how many hours it takes to warm up and have to click on... hopefully when it gets too hot to stand, we can go outside and swim... that always makes a huge difference when you can cool the body temp down. Then after 8 p.m. we can turn it back down and cool it down for bedtime. With this new plan, we get a three month "trial"... if at the end of three months, we've spent more than we would with the traditional plan, they will credit back the over charge to my account, so at least for 3 months, we don't have anything to lose!

Too Much To Do...

I'm feeling very frazzled the last few days... so much going on at once! School got out on Wednesday, it was Brayden's birthday, plus Eric's been off work since Wednesday... I just can't seem to find time to get anything accomplished!

Thursday we went wakeboarding and I should have quit while I was ahead... I ended up pushing too hard and woke up Friday with a muscle spasm in my upper back that made it difficult to turn my neck or use my right arm. It's better now, but I'm still really sore.

Friday we got the water softener fixed and cleaned up some of the garage. We need to get it finished soon... once we get into mid June, it will be too hot to spend more than 5 minutes in the garage... even in the middle of the night. By the way, we got a really nice repairman, who fixed our softener for free. Parts were covered, but he was supposed to charge us for labor. I was really grateful to have my soft water back!

Friday night we watched the Lost season finale... WOW... WOW... and... WOW! I was estatic that Desmond and Penny were reunited. Sad about Jin and Michael, but I sensed it was coming. I'm so happy that I think I'm finally getting it... sort of. I was thrilled to find out that my "epiphany" a couple episodes back seems to be true. It finally dawned on me a couple episodes ago that the "end of the show" will not be about the survivors of the plane crash getting off the island... it will be about them getting back "to" the island (and saving the island from dangerous interests.... like Dharma and Whitmore). But I was wrong about the coffin... I was sure... I mean SURE... that Ben was in that coffin... not John Locke... and what's with this fake name he's using???? Does anyone understand the significance of that? And, the one thing that really blew my mind was when Kate dreamed about Claire visiting Aaron and telling Kate NOT to bring Aaron back to the Island... why??? And will Walt go back, too? Ah... many questions have been answered... but many remain and now even a few more have arisen.... how long until Season Five?????

Saturday, we went to the temple in the morning, then I took Megan to an Activity Days thing for the 11 year old girls... then we tried to get some things done around the house, but I ended up taking a nap while Eric went to the "cash cow" (aka scout shop). We ended up going out to dinner at YC's Mongollian Grill (my favorite place for Asian food because I can pass on the sesame oil) and seeing Indiana Jones. The food was great... the movie... well, not so great. I was really skeptical about this movie... I mean how long can Harrison Ford pull off this character successfully... he is getting old, you know! But, in the end that's not what disappointed me... the whole premise of the "treasure" was a JOKE! If you liked the movie, "Close Encounters".... and you think it would be fun if Indy met one of those aliens in his search for buried treasure, then you might really LOVE this movie! That's all I'm going to say about it... I was disappointed in the story... and even more disappointed that Harrison Ford didn't have the good sense to say... "this is a stupid story line... this isn't Indy... it's Close Encounters!"

Eric and Taylor leave for Scout Camp tomorrow morning at 3:30 a.m. I will not be up to send them off. Eric can only stay two days, so he is coming back Tuesday night. While he is gone, I plan to unbury our house from the sea of paperwork we've been drowning in for several weeks. Every flat surface of my house seems to have a pile of papers on it that need to be sorted, filed, shredded or recycled.... it's probably going to take me the whole two days to get through it, but I'm determined to do something productive while he's gone!