4th of July -2009

Like I said before my parents and sister (Chantel) surprised me 4th of July weekend when they came to visit. We went down to Addison for "Kaboom Town" and had a great time. You can see the rest of the weekend here at my mothers blog (like I said before). Mostly these are just pictures of alex being a dare devil.

This is a plane that flew around right before the fireworks started doing loops. alex thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Alex's Chiny-Chin-Chin

It was all because of vanity. Chio, alex and I went to NM for some camping trips; while we were there I cut my hair and didn't tell Alex. So when we got back I wanted to take a shower before we went to his fire department to see him. We were trying to hurry because we really wanted to see Alex. While I was in the shower alex slipped on the bathroom floor and split his chin open on the toilet. If we would have just went dirty we could have avoided all this.

My friend was able to take Chio to play with her girls and we got a blessing from our home teacher. Everything went really smoothly in the ER - as fast as can be expected. I told alex if he would do everything the doctor asked I would take him to the store and get him whatever toy he wanted; that turned out to be a "Bakugan" -which is all he has played with since then. I'd never even heard of these things before but I'm apparently behind on the times because there was half an aisle devoted to them.

Now it doesn't even look like a wound that merited the hospital but when he got it it was open so much it looked like a circle. He didn't have to get stiches, just glue and ever thing was good again.

Camping in OK

These are way out dated. We went camping to go and check out the area we were going to be going to girls camp in and we brought logo (There is another story way over due but Alex said he wanted to do a "guest post" about why we gave logo back-if he takes too much longer I'm going to write it myself...hint to husband). But the crazy story of this trip isn't captured in the pictures. It's hot here. So, our tent is all screens so hopefully we can keep a little cool while camping, or at least not create an oven and it has a cover you can put over it if you want, but we left it off because it was so hot. Sometime in the middle of the night I felt some mist and woke up frantically to tell Alex we needed to get the cover on.

"No," he says, "it'll stop in a minute and it's not raining that hard."

20 minutes later it's pouring; I'm talking buckets. So we get up to put the cover on but Alex has put the tent bag along with the cover in it in the car so it "wouldn't get lost". Then he can't remember where he put the keys. So he is out in the rain (but really it was as bad outside the tent as inside) looking for the keys and I'm inside with the kids and the dog. Logo was just annoyed and rolled her eyes at me when I told her she had to get under the covers with us, alex thought it was a great game having to hide, and Chio screamed bloody murder every time I moved to try to reposition our stuff so it wasn't floating in the puddles.

We finally found the keys (they were actually under the blanket will all of us), put the cover on, bailed the water out of the tent and went back to bed on our wet bedding. Luckily it's still crazy hot here in the middle of the night and we can sleep in wet stuff; if this would have happened camping in NM we probably would have died.

Alex and I didn't talk about it while it was happening but about an hour after all this excitement the storm was so bad we were both thinking things like "At least we're all together if we die" and "I wonder what it's like to get sucked up in a tornado."

We were planning on staying two nights but after this excitement we went home the next day.

These pictures are pretty self explained and there is a video at the end.

This is the sulfur water that people go to drink for it's healing purposes. I wish you could smell it but if you've ever been around a ton of sulfur you get the idea. Also notice all the stuff growing in the water.

4th of July

Alex said all I do now is send people elsewhere to read posts. But at least you get something. Here are some pictures from my parents visit.

SUPRISE!

Okay, I'm the worst surprise/secret keeper ever, but Alex is really good. I had no idea that my parents and little sister were going to be coming to my house for the fourth even though everyone else has known for the last month. In fact I didn't even catch any of the clues. Last night Alex calls and says, "I had a really bad day at work can you make sure the house is really clean for when I get home tomorrow?" So I think that's exactly what is going on. Then this morning I get back from taking the dog on a walk and alex runs up and says, "Grandma's coming" (real subtle I know, you can see how I missed it) and I get mad at Alex and say, "You can't tell him Grandma and Grandpa are coming when they aren't because then he'll ask me everyday for the next month when he gets to see them!" He has some story about how alex had misunderstood something he told him and I believe that too. I didn't even suspect; good job guys I'm so glad you're here. (And we miss everyone who's not.)

The Doll

Like most little girls (I guess) Chio has a doll she loves. She carries it around like alex does with his cars; lately she has been wanting the doll to match her exactly.

Sometimes this is convenient, for example: dressing. She won't wear the first dress I ever made her, I made a dress for the doll and suddenly Chio loves her dress.

Sometimes it's inconvenient, for example: writing. Last night things were getting a little out of hand so I brought Chio with me to ward council (first and probably last time) she was taking notes while I was...on her face. So after someone pointed out what was going on I took the pen away from her. She turned around and asked me if she could have the pen to draw on her baby's face too (she said it so I knew exactly what she had asked but luckily no one else could understand her) I said no but because I'm such a great mom after she threw a fit I gave it to her (these are the people who watch me take care of my kids during sacrament meeting, I get enough evil looks from them as it is) and she drew on the baby's face so it exactly matched her.

And sometimes it's downright exasperating, for example: painting. Today I was out getting paint for Chio's bedroom walls. She took the little bottle of acrylic paint and smeared it all over the left side of herself and all over the left side of her baby doll on the ride home (I thought the silence in the back seat was from her sleeping so all I would have to do at home was pick her up and lay her in her bed, not stand her in the front yard and hose her off.) Actually I didn't even have to clean this mess up my mom did while I was in a store (THANKS mom!!!) bring back any memories?

The Dog Story (Guest Post by Alex)

We got rid of our old dog and got a new one. I'd like to say we had rational reasons but we didn't. Some times I see things at work I wish I hadn't, and suffice it to say, I saw something involving a Pit Bull. Logo is a great dog. I unfairly judged her as a Pit Bull, because of the large white spot on her chest, her ears started sticking up, the shorter snout, the muscular jaw and her front legs started to bow. Well after the work incident happened, I couldn't get these features out of my head, then she snapped at alex, like a puppy does and I lost it. I didn't hurt her except slapping her on the nose. Then I thought to myself, there is no way I can take care of this dog anymore. When I got her, the people that we bought her from said that if things didn't work out we could take her back. So I called and took her back the next morning. I'll never know what breed the dog is, but it didn't look lab and we miss her.
That night I talked to the kids about taking the dog back, and they were disappointed, but I promised them a new dog. So that same day we took her down to Mckinney, I looked up and found another dog and we went back to Mckinney. We wanted a beagle and the craigslist ad said that it was a male beagle the lady had found while camping. We found out this lady didn't know what she was talking about as soon as the dogs rolled over. None were males. This one is a redbone coon hound we think. She'll be bigger than a beagle, about 45-65 pounds. Her name is Waffle, she is great, loves being with the family, and loves to play (too rough some times). She is very smart, which I see as a potential problem. I think she'll be a great dog, my wife thinks otherwise.

The greatest benefit of this new dog is that alex isn't allergic to it. With Logo he'd wake up every morning with congestion and big puffy eyes. The day after Logo left, alex didn't have any more allergies. The coat is much shorter, like a beagle. She is calmer too. We love our new dog and miss the old one.

Painting

I talk a lot about the difference between mom's and dad's when it comes to raising children and here is another example. I was out side painting Chio's table and the kids wanted to paint too; so I got out our chairs from the front porch (the ones we got from DI when we first got married for $5) for them to paint and I also got two paint brushes and two plates with little dots of paint on them. I then put them in their painting clothes and set them up on the other side of the yard from me so they wouldn't want to "help" with my project. I was half way through a layer when the needed more paint so I called Alex to go get it for them. Being the perfect husband he is, he just asked where it was and brought it out. Being the perfect dad he is, he just gave them two bottles of paint to do with as they liked. Cleanup was a little more involved than I had anticipated but they sure did have fun.

alex the dog

The other day we had one of alex's friends come over to play. She left her shoes here so I told alex that we would take them back to her the next day; alex said, "I don't know mom, let me check to make sure they're really hers." I was thinking what the heck is he talking about? But he goes over to the shoes and sniffs them for a while and then says, "Yeah, they're hers." Then he just walks off.

I guess the dog is rubbing off on alex.

My Vacation

So this wasn't exactly the plan for my vacation post, but you can go to my mothers blog and see part of "The Visit :0)".

Our family has a new logo

Or, more accurately, we nave a new dog named Logo. They're not sure what she is, but she seems to be mostly lab. She's not that bright, but she's incredibly sweet and obedient. And she seems to fit right in with our family. Especially in the picture taking department; we got her Wednesday night and I've been trying to get a decent picture since then but every time I get the camera she runs over to me just like some other small things I know.




alex saw this post and the pictures and said, "Mom, those pictures aren't very good. Can I please go outside and take pictures of my dog."
For those of you who know alex, no, that's not how he usually asks but apparently occasionally he knows how to get what he wants. These are what he came back with:

You Lose

On this vacation we just got back from, my parents and us each took a car to church; so on the way home of course we had to race. We ended up winning by quite a margin because on the way out of the parking lot someone stopped my parents to ask for a ride home. At their house, while we were waiting on the porch, we told alex that when he saw Grandma and Grandpa he needed to say "We won, slow pokes."
Then we asked him, "Okay, what are you going to say?"
He replied, "You lose, pokey losers."
By the time they got home he ran up with the first quote, but we all got a kick out of his adaptation.

The Perfect Craft Rules

I was looking though drafts I had started and didn't post because I wasn't sure of spelling or other things and found this. I thought I'd post it now for your summer craft enjoyment.


I have developed rules to apply to all crafts found on the internet that will make your life easier and your crafts always turn out exactly as you planned - especially the "kid-friendly" and "fun" ones.

1. Always increase the time needed for each step by 1 hour to 1 week.
2. Never show your husband the end result and the example picture at the same time.
3. Always know you'll have to substitute materials because "available anywhere" and "inexpensive" actually translate as "non-existent" and "WHAT?" respectively.
4. It's best to embrace feelings that inevitably follow when admiring the end product.
5. The well lit internet photos picturing crafts being assembled by smiling children two feet tall are meant to make you feel guilty and should only be thought of as one scenario- yours is good too.
6. Remember that kids gain character when cleaning up craft messes.
7. Be thankful you won't have a cluttered house because nothing in it is " just so cute I can't throw it out".
   

If you remember these simple rules your craft time enjoyment will increase exponentially.

Facebook

Okay, before tonight people would say, "Do you do face book?" and I never really got it. Yeah, I know what it is, I have an account, I look at it sometimes - is that what they were talking about? I would log in once in a while when my friend requests would build up (or I had so many email notices in my own email my husband would get annoyed), or when I needed to look up an email or blog address; but I have just discovered that face book is crazy addictive. I think I could spend hours on there without even realizing it. So I'm going to ban myself from it until my house is more under control (did you know right when you get back from vacation is a very bad time for your washer to break) - and I have more projects finished than started- so I may never do face book again.

But now I know when someone asks, "Do you do face book?"
I say, "No, but I have an account."

And here is a picture of Chio because I found it.

Camping with Friends

I was intending to post a ton of vacation pictures and explanations but I can't find the pictures I just put on my computer-pitiful. However, this may be due to very little sleep over the past few days so I'll try again tomorrow (it will also be helpful that Alex is home). In preparation for this I'll post these camping pictures from before the vacation. We went camping with some friends and the kids seem to have way more fun when they outnumber the adults. We had a blast - thanks for coming guys.

We forgot to get the camera out until we were ready to go home so you don't get the whole effect but it was a great site, and great weather.

This is a picture of the camp site taken by one of my kids while they were hiding in the car enjoying the great outdoors.

Gone Fishing

We went fishing earlier this week and these are some pictures.

And this video shows why we didn't catch any. Good thing no one else was trying to catch any either.

Cleaning the Counter

Unfortunately, after I pointed out to Alex what was happening alex stopped but you can still get the idea. We have stains on our countertops which don't come out - so it takes the kids a long time to clean. alex was over there cleaning the counters but after he got the brush wet he would wring it out and say "ouch" while he was doing it. It was really cute - here's my little cleaner.

DDR

This was supposed to be Chio's debut DDR video but somehow hers was erased from the camera; so instead you get to see Chio patiently waiting her turn.