One Crrrraaaazzzzyyyy Summer

Here is my riduculous summer (in no particular order--I changed over to Netscape so I could load all the pictures but now I can't move them around like I could in Internet Explorer. . .ugh)Here comes the Ox Cart, OH, how slow. . ..It's hard to tell from the picture how huge these Ox really are. HUGE!! We got the last ride of the day in Nauvoo, the days were too hot so they usually quit around 11 am.
I think every 16 month old has done this. . .doesn't she look so pleased?? (I was helping give my nephew a mini bath in the other room and I guess Whitney decided she was thirsty. . .)
My brother Todd and Whitney at the big family dance.

The girls in the kid parade before a big show in Nauvoo
Hannah was baptized when we got back to Tooele after family camp was over. Cutie.


Whitney and Annie taking a dip in the pool at family camp.
Lisa and I just kept trying to get Whitney and Hugh to kiss!! Hey watch it with that open mouth Hughie!! They were adorable!
All the kiddos in the big tree at El Clarkos.
Miss Phoebe
Provo 4th of July parade. . . .
We stopped to visit our friends the Robisons. They adopted our nephew Xander 10 years ago (2nd from the left), and went on to adopt 3 more and just had their 2nd biological babe. They are an amazing family. It's an incredible story how we all got back in contact with each other. . another day, another blog.
How the heck did we get here? Aren't we still 12??
Molly riding our friends horse Sunny. She asked if she could ride him all the way back to Nebraska.
The Clarks at the parade. Classic 8 year old boy evidence in the front row.

My nephew Justin. . .remember when he was just little like this???
Yummy late night shakes courtesy of Rod.


Get ready for installment 2 and 3 of our crazy summer. . . . .I'm still recovering

A time to DANCE!

This summer we did a fabulous hula for the big family talent show at Aspen Grove!! Check out little Whitney right in front!!

Todd totally smoked me in DDR (come on guys, get with the 00's--that's Dance, Dance, Revolution!!
Mom even tried it out with Heidi!
The homies were just chillin' at the big family dance the last night of family camp.
Uncle Scotty gave Molly a big fly ride
Do you recognize that sweet 80's move I'm demonstrating for you?? My niece Sarah looks totally perplexed by my obvious talent.
Please ignore my outfit. . .we came straight from playing sand volleyball.

Mark Burnett where are you?

Ok, in the last few years we've had some long vacations with family and I have a fantastic idea for a new reality show!!

FAMILY VACATION SURVIVOR!!

See, each day you get to vote someone off the vacation!! Can you just hear it now?

"Hey, I'm just playing the game!"
"It's not personal"
"This is just a strategic move. . .my vote is for. . ."
"We've got to break up that kid alliance. . .they'll never see it coming and we'll bust this game wide open."

So, who would you vote for??

What I learned from my summer vacation(s). . .

Having spent 3 of the last 4 weeks on vacation with extended family here's what I've learned. . .
--I'm not sure I believe in that "you get to pick your family" pre-mortal business. . .
--games are fun but not the "pass-around-the-stomach-flu" game.
--not everybody "parents" the same
--sibling rivalry still exists, well past the ages of 10-12 (I think it maybe just got worse--oops.)
--When you're 32, you can't survive on 4 hours of sleep a night, like you did when you were 22.
--having not played golf in 8 years, you may not want to pick it up and play for 1 hour solid on a "golf simulator" game.
--DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) put me in my place.
--Sunscreen is a good thing.
--2 out of 3 kids puking in a car for 14 hours does not equal a "good trip."
BUT
--Apsen Grove is an amazing family camp

The leader of the pack. . .vroom. . .vroom. . .

So, I'm fresh from vacation. . .many blogs to come, but I had to post this one first (technically, it's the second one since blogger ate my first one, so just a note of advice, always save as a draft THEN publish. . .grr.) Anywho, one of the highlights from the last two weeks was the blogger dinner. I was so excited you guys could come, and on such late notice. We had Oh judy, ~j., me, luckyredhen, pottymouth, the jet set, compulsive writer, oh judy's sister ("tina the sistah, who promised to start blogging if she could come. . .just a reminder!!), melody's garden and tiffany twisted.
It was funny that we introduced ourselves by our names and then our blog names just so we could go. . OH! I love you! When Shannon walked in I said to Lisa, "Oh, it's lucky red hen!" So, she sauntered over with her pink leather jacket and a sweet helmet and we just had to know. . .she rode her orange harley!! Oh, do show, do show! So after we all had a great time talking and laughing and eating too much (I'm still dreaming about those avacado eggrolls!) we headed out to the parking lot and waited with anticipation as she suited up, then came revving by! CW even got to go for a ride!! Here she is doing her best impression of Marie Osmond at Chick-fil-A!!

Where else but blogger?

So, just last night I told the kids we were going to play at a park with a friend of mine that I had never met. They were awfully confused. So I explained. . .see, you know how I write my blogs? Well, sometimes I read other peoples blogs and that's how I met her. Lucky huh? So, we're friends, even though we've never even met. Cool. So, we headed off to the park to play with ~j. and her sis-in-law and the beautiful kiddos. I even wore the shirt so she'd recognize me!?! I was happy that they were willing to let me come and meet them and play even though they were probably exhausted and are in the midst of a crazy road trip. So thank you! I had a lovely time. And ~j. it was a little scary how similar our parenting styles are, especially when it comes to our whiny 7 year olds. "Really, could you please stop talking? You NEED to stop talking. Oh, wait, ask me again if you can have a drink so I can tell you that we don't have any water. . ." Totally my life. I've been telling Madison for the past week, "No, I told you we were out of Ranch dressing and if I had a spare minute I could run to the grocery store, but I don't, so we're out so deal with it!" (2 minutes later--Mom, can you get me some ranch dressing. . .agh.) Hopefully we can get together when I'm out in Utah in the next couple of weeks!!

Good Pickin'

A few weeks ago I tricked my kids into some good hard labor. Strawberry picking. I was in the mood for some strawberry shortcake and some yummy freezer jam to get us through.

So, we headed out to Roca Berry Farm. As soon as you stepped out of the car you could smell them. It was unbelievable. Super sweet and tangy. They also have a pumpkin patch that is a big hit in the fall. I remember going out to pick berries with my family once or twice but I hadn't done it yet with my kids. They were all excited until we got there and they realized they actually had to do this the hard way. Squat down and get your fingers all messy and pull the strawberries (wait, miniscule strawberries) off the vine. They were awfully tiny but they were packed with flavor and sweetness so they made up for it. We did find a couple of big ones that had managed to hide so far. Ha ha, you're mine now.

She looks happier then she actually was.

Well, we ended up with a pretty good crop. And the girls got to hear some of their native language since I think the entire Chinese population of Lincoln was there. Hmm. Maybe it was some sort of meeting or family gathering. I guess we were in the right place. There was a really beautiful little girl toddling around in a little sundress with a strawberry moustache. I would've taken a picture, but her family was getting plenty already.

Oh, and the freezer jam was a smash!! And the shortcake was delish.

The "Good-neighbor" hook-up!!

So, Matt works for State Farm. You know. . .everyone sing. . ."Like a good neighbor. . "

So it turns out that State Farm is also a main sponsor for the new Disney/Pixar movie Cars.

Saturday they had a special screening for the employees and families to see the movie. The kids LOVED it. It was pretty good. Not my favorite Disney/Pixar but it had enough humor for the adults to keep me entertained. I think the footage that runs during the credits of all the Pixar movies is my favorite part and this one didn't disappoint.

This past week they also had a couple life-sized versions of Lightning McQueen and Tom Mater at State Farm for the kiddos to check out.

Yep, we're enjoyin' the fringe benefits of a big company.

Who's more fun?

My idea of fun. . .a little late night sprinkler running. . .

I think Madison is doing some sort of interpretive water dance.

Even this was a little crazy. . .Whitney loved it!

I get home from work and the babysitter says "Oh, and there are some pictures on your camera. . ."
The babysitters idea of fun. . .

















keep scrolling. . .these are some good pictures.























Whom do you suppose Molly's vote would go to?

I can't just throw it away

(OK, so I tried, and tried and TRIED to get a picture to post here, but blogger and I are not very good friends today I guess so. . .just use your imagination!!)

Since our remodeling project, I've been trying to become one of those people that can just throw away/give away things. I tend to hold onto too much, in many different ways. "I might need that. . .someday." It's hard to throw away things I've worked on, worked for or worked through. That brings me to this. Breastmilk.

Did I lose anyone?

Whitney was a tough baby. You can read more about our fun time here. She was diagnosed MSPI finally around 8 weeks. I then embarked on what I thought was "Mission Impossible." A dairy, soy, nut free diet. It may not seem so bad, but that stuff is in everything. EVERYTHING!! Yuck. I had to starve myself, or work very hard at fixing my own meals while watching Matt and the girls eat something I really wanted. I'm amazed that I talked myself into it, struggled through it and actually triumphed. I never want to have to do it again, but I did it. And the real benefit? It worked. Whitney actually became a mostly happy baby. After around 6 months of the diet, she started to be fussy, inconsolable, and have yucky diapers again. So frustrating. Nothing like not knowing if it's you, or teeth, or some illness, or the bananas, or squash that she ate that is making her angry. Time and again, I was convinced it was me, questioning every tiny thing that could've passed my lips. So, we gave in, examined our finances and tried the formula. Not just regular run-of-the-mill formula, but the expensive stuff. Yeah, if you thought just formula was expensive try this. . . she had to be on Alimentum formula. For a 16 oz. formula (ready to feed-no adding water) container, it's $7.49. And that's at it's lowest price we've seen. Oh, and once it's open, you have to use it within 48 hours. I don't do math, but even I knew it was going to be a pinch. On the advice of the pediatrician, we decided to do a trial run on the formula to see if she could tolerate it and if it would help. So I continued to pump for two weeks while we tried the formula. No bad reactions and her attitude did seem better and best of all. . .if she was fussy or gassy. . it WASN'T MY FAULT.

Fast forward to this month. Whitney is a fabulous kiddo. She toddles around and loves to grin and make you laugh. Totally independent and loves her sisters. She's eating great and just this last month is finally tolerating regular milk (a little gassy, but nothing like before) for her morning and night time drink. This week she even had a grilled cheese sandwich, bites of ice cream, cottage cheese and regular cheese. I cringed this first few times feeding her something with dairy but it's getting better. I'm SO glad she has seemed to grow out of it.

Every time over the last 6 months, I would go to our big freezer in the basement and I was forced to use my Tetris skills as I manuvered the food around the bags and bags of frozen breastmilk. Now, 6 months after I stopped pumping, it's offically past it's "use by" time so I need to throw it away. THROW IT AWAY? After all that I put into that? I can't do it. I know, I know, I should have given it to the milk bank at some hospital or given it away to someone, it just didn't get done. I don't know if I was just lazy or I just didn't want to, but in any case, it's still sitting in my freezer, staring at me.

What have you found??

Hmm. . .what could I do with this? Oh, I KNOW!!


I'm sure that I utter "What have you found?" to Whitney at least 10 times a day. Thank goodness she was holding the grater the wrong way as she licked it. Shredded tongue anyone??
MMM. Good stuff.

No more pencils. . .no more books. . .no more teachers dirty looks. . .

Hello Summer! Yesterday was the last day of school. Remember how great that felt as you raced out of school for home and popsicles?

Back in my school days the last day of school weapon of choice was shaving cream. Good 'ol Barbasol. Creamy and thick in your hands just as you smash it on your bestest friend and make fabulous hairstyles!! (See example below. . .)Growing up our house was just 2 houses away from the school playground. If you were caught with shaving cream at school. . .BUSTED. It got taken away. So our front yard bushes became the safe ground to stash the shaving cream until after school. That picture was taken in front of our garage on the last day of 6th grade. (ew, that ackward 11/12 year old age)

This year some moms in the neighborhood decided we'd put together a little water balloon fight. (It's easy clean up. . .we figure they can graduate to the shaving cream later. . ) So we headed to the school butterfly garden park to let the crazies run around for some fun!Ah yes, a little sister rivalry!!We instituted a new rule. Instead of just throwing them (and letting them bounce of the person and just break on the ground), we told them they had to squish the balloon over the person. . .usually the person doing the popping got the most wet. The balloons lasted much longer!!

Whitney even chilled in her stroller and watched the craziness!!

So, Happy Summer. . .here's to popsicles, water balloon fights, trips to the pool, water gun wars and fireflies!! (What? You don't have fireflies??. . .oh, wait for my late summer post about those!)

Any good last day of school memories?? I always wanted throw all the papers out the top windows of the school just like in Grease!!