Bee Repellent

I realized today that i've had this blog for almost a year now and I have only a handfull of posts. So here is what happened to us today. After Ash got home from preschool he said "Mommy I want to have lunch at the park today." I thought, what a great idea. The kids were going a little stir crazy and I was just reading a book. So I was all for it. We didn't have any bread so I couldn't make any sandwiches so I decided just to get something on the way. My kids seem to be pretty picky about fast food-nothing too spicy or too big or too bland etc...I chose Arbys because they seem to like the roast beef sandwiches pretty well. Heres the first misfortune of the day. I paid with the wrong card! Who pays for fast food with a credit card? So after calculating the amount of interest I will pay on that meal, we headed off to the park. We found a nice bench in the shade and proceeded to get ready to start eating. Getting ready to start eating takes a little time what with the opening wrappers, dumping out fries, squeezing ketchup, telling them no toy untill they eat something (at least 10 times) then we were attacked by a bee. The bee would not stop pestering us and I don't really like bees so we packed everything back up in the bags, gingerly of course due to the ketchup, and moved to another area. We were all good for a while. I had forgotten to grab some napkins so it was a little messy. I had seen the bee try to get into my soda through the lid and then through my straw. Since I didn't want bee germs I took the lid off my soda and threw it away. Pretty soon there were 2 bees, then 3 bees, then 5 bees. I was panicking and trying to shew them away without making them mad. It seemed like they just wanted soda. Very quickly I had enough and started throwing things out that had had a bee on it. I wrapped up the uneaten sandwiches and threw out the fries and half of my sandwich. I went to grab my root beer and noticed a bee down in my cup. He was either dead or very drunk. I guess taking the lid off wasn't the brightest of all my ideas today. Meanwhile Ashton had gone to play and came back with wet pants. After trying to clean him up, I decided it was time to go. The kids had played maybe 7 minutes at the park. Bummer for them. As we were walking back to the car Ashton slipped in a puddle of water on the concrete and got all muddy. Poor little guy!
It was a great idea Ash! Lets try it again tomorrow. We will bring a sack lunch from home and drink water instead.
Later in the afternoon, my sweet little boy took a nap and before I left the room he said "You are my best friend, Mommy."
I could just melt.

My Fingers are Numb...Isn't it So Cool!

On my long list of things I'd like to do before I die, one of the top things is to learn how to play the guitar. I have wanted to learn for many years and now I finally get the chance. I bought me a classical guitar! I bought it from Alaska's online Employee Assistance Fund auction which uses items left onboard and donated items to raise money to help employees in need.I feel like I got a good deal on it and it seems to be in very good condition. It looks brand new. And I LOVE IT!!!
I bought a few other things in the auction and instead of having them ship it down to me from Seattle, I decided to fly up there and pick them up myself. I felt so cool walking through the airport with a guitar on my back. 3 people asked me how long I've been playing....I had to respond truthfully and tell them that I don't play YET but I want to learn. One girl said "thats alright, Jimi Hendrix had to start somewhere."
I want to be that person that sits around the campfire and plays all the songs on the guitar to all the camp songs. I want to be able to sing to my kids while playing the guitar and instill in them a love for music.
I know you all have a "list" of things to do before you die, so what are you going to do to cross something off your list?
So far I have tried tuning my guitar which proved to be difficult especially because my piano is out of tune. I have learned 4 chords, C-G7-D7-G. My book actually said after learning those 4 chords and practicing on some short songs that "right about now, you may find that your fingertips get sore." Um, yeah. Numb. Cool.

Good Friends, Good Times

Well it is currently 4am and I am wide awake. It feels like 7am which is probably why 2 kids are also wide awake. We just got back from Washington DC where we spent a few days visiting my good friend Jill and her family. Jill and I go waaaayyy back to the 8th grade. She has 4 lovely girls who are very similar in age to my 4 boys. I've always wanted to visit the East Coast so when Jill invited us to come visit we jumped at the chance.
Our first day there we decided to drive out to the coast and play at the beach.






We drove about 2.5 hours out to Assateague Island which is a narrow neck of land off the Maryland coast. The sand was beautiful and the waves were huge. It was warm and humid so the water felt good. There were crabs everywhere and there was a warning sign to stay away from Jelly Fish-which sort of makes me wonder why on earth did I even get in the water? We stopped off at a little mart and got some sand toys to build sand castles with.


It started to sprinkle on us and we heard thunder in the distance. It was warm rain though so at first we didn't mind. Then it started to rain harder so we decided it was time to go. We packed a lunch but everyone was having such a good time we kind of just forgot to eat....But luckily enough there was a little crab shack nearby which Jills husband made reservations at for all 12 of us to have some dinner.






It was quite an experience learning how to crack open crabs. The kids loved using the mallet to crush the crabs into smithereens. We ate shrimp and fried chicken and corn on the cob. Some of the kids ordered hot dogs but ended up preferring to eat the seafood instead. Thanks to Jill and Russ for giving us that unforgettable experience. It turned out to be my birthday and they even ordered up some yummy cheesecake to top off the meal. I loved it!
The next day was a whirlwind day touring Washington DC. We first stopped at the Air and Space museum.


We saw all kinds of aircraft, spacecraft, astronauts and everything to do with flying. It was very cool. Then we made our way up the Mall with 8 kids, 3 strollers and bags full of snacks and food, stopping at the Washington Monument,


the Lincoln Memorial,


and the Viet Nam Memorial.


We then turned around and walked back up the Mall toward the Capitol Building.



When we finally made it back to the car we had some very tired and cranky kids and parents. We still wanted to see the White House so Russ was going to take us on a driving tour to see a few more buildings...almost immediately our caravan got split up so they went on home and we stopped and hopped out to get a closer look at the White House, (and to find a bathroom). We were unsuccessful at finding the bathroom but got right up next to the fence at the White House.


Driving through DC is as crazy as it gets. the streets dont make sense and if you miss your turn it takes you 15mins to get back to where you were. We drove by the Pentagon (Jake didn't believe us that it really is in the shape of a pentagon untill he saw it from the air) and Arlington Cemetery.
The next day was Sunday and we decided to visit the Washington DC Temple visitors center. It is really stunning to see the gold spires ascending from the trees.


Its very green there. It reminds me of Seattle a lot. We watched the Joseph Smith movie which was really good. We spent a good couple of hours there before going to church with Jill and her family.It was good to have a day of rest-we needed it.



On Monday, our final day there, we decided to visit Mount Vernon, George Washingtons home. It was beautiful! There was more than 800 acres of farm land, orchards, grassy fields, animals, and his mansion, servant quarters, smokehouse, storage, burial grounds and much else. The view out the back of his house is breathtaking. It looks out over the Potomac River. I can imagine him sitting on his back porch pondering really heavy things and getting divine inspiration. After lunch we went back to DC to see one more museum, The Museum of Natural History. The kids loved it and I so wish we had more time there. We saw Dinosaur bones and fossils of all kinds. They especially loved the gem room. The crystals and gold nuggets were just so fascinating. We of course saw the Hope Diamond in all its exquisite glory. Since this was on a Monday the side street meter parking is only valid untill 4pm so we had to leave at 4p and head home. It took us a while to get out of there due to all the traffic and we tried to get a closer look and the Arlington Cemetery but they don't just let you come in and drive around. You have to pay to park and get out and walk. Its probably a good thing but we didnt stay. We decided to rent a GPS this time with the rental car which turned out to be a really good thing. Except for when it decides to send you on side street tours just to avoid traffic....yeah....it didn't save any time. Oh yeah and when it tells you to turn on a street that no longer exists...then the female voice sounds so exasperated when she says "recalculating." I'm pretty sure we were more exasperated than she was....
Overall we had so much fun. I'd love to go back and see more of the city. We could've spent the whole day in just one museum. So I fully recommend visiting the Nations Capital if you've never been there.

Breaking A Sweat

I started week number 4 of my new exercise program with running a mile straight this morning!!!wooh hooooh! Week 1 was really sad. Ken and I started walking one morning and tried to jog a little but I think we only jogged for about 5 minutes of the 30 minute course. So slowly, slowly, we have been working on increasing our endurance and it really is improving. I love Ken for supporting me and encouraging me even when he would like to run on ahead and at least break a sweat.
On week 2 we decided to try out the track at the Hish School. We loved it because its squishy and not so jarring on the knees. There are a lot of people out at 630am working out with us and so far it hasn't been 100 degrees at that hour. I like to know how far I've gone and how far I have to go. I like to sprint the last 100 yards. Its exhilerating to force your body to move fast. Its hard to do it for long periods of time but to make this old out of shape body move fast for 100 yards is kind of fun. Plus I know its the final piece before I'm done!
We come home and do a few crunches and a few push ups then get ready for the day.

CHANGE IS GOOD

A few weeks ago I decided that I need to start updating this house. The bathroom was my first victim. It desperately needed some work from the baseboards to the wall paper to the light switches. I was going to do it all myself but as it turns out I needed a little help (thank you Ken). My lifelong dream is to be an interior decorator, not because I have tons of experience, because I don't, but because I love to feel spaces. You know there are just some places that just make you feel good....and thats because of the way its decorated. I needed to create a space comfortable for boys...since thats all that we have in this house. So after I decided that I needed to start with the bathroom, I went and found a shower curtain that I loved. That led me to find the paint for the walls and that led me to want to change the covers to the light switches and I am still looking for a great clock to hang above the laundry chute and another fun picture to hang by the small sink. We redid the baseboards and changed the towel rings and added a standup TP holder. I only went a little over my 100.00 budget. So here are my before and afters and perhaps when it is really done I can post my final 'after'.

derby update

The boys had a blast at the Pinewood Derby. Their "cars" did well. Since they were in the 'open' class there were no standings or awards. After the regular cub scouts derby they opened up the track to whoever else wanted to race. They actually had 1 heat where it was just Jakes "Bullet Bill" against Cougars "Fighter Jet Car". Bullet Bill won by a hair. The boys got to see a whole lot of different designs in Derby cars. One kid painted his block like Spongebob. No cutting required. Another kid made his block into a pile of bricks. It actually ran pretty fast. Our neighbor made a car with a shape of a hand reaching for a cookie. Its name was "Give me back my cookie." I wish I had a picture of that one. It was pretty cool. All in all we had lots of fun and I think they will be excited to do it again next year.

Derby Dad

Our ward is doing a new thing this year with the Pinewood Derby. They are inviting anyone who wants to join in the fun to do so. So Ken thought it would be fun to help Jake and Cougar build their own pinewood derby cars. So Jake thought about it and decided to build a "Bullet Bill" car. Cougar decided on a fighter jet "car". Ken has been very busy just making the basic shape of each car so the boys can "do most of the work themselves" by sanding them and painting them. You should see these cars. I don't know if they will race down the track but they sure look cool. Ken has been anticipating this day for as long as we have known Jake was a boy. He can't wait for scout camp and hikes and eagle projects. I feel so blessed to have a husband who participates in his childrens lives. Ken, we love you! Thanks for being such a great Dad! May this Derby be the first of many!