I kept thinking our A/C should be doing a better job at keeping our house cooler, but it was only the end of last summer that we got A/C at our old house, so I was unfamiliar with the whole air conditioning thing I guess. We have always had a swamp cooler. The first time we flipped the a/c on here it was on ALL day with no cooling at all. Finally I remembered someone saying that the breaker to major things were turned off. Our dryer needed to be switched on and the oven. Anything with the 220 I guess was the deal. I realized that the whole day when the a/c was on I didn't ever remember the unit outside making any noise or turning its fan or anything. I consulted with Robert about it and he went to check things at the circuit breaker. It was a simple switch and AWWWW, nice COLD air.
That worked for quite awhile with all the cooler temps we had and the rain. Recently when it has been getting hotter though, it just wasn't keeping things cold. By about 1 or 2, it would be warming up in the house with the air on all morning, and the air was not longer blowing out of the vents... it was like it was cold at the vent but it wasn't blowing out. Finally Robert said that we should just turn it off at that point not knowing what the problem was, not to mention it wasn't really doing any good anyway. We had several night of laying in bed too hot to sleep, not to mention trying to argue with the kids..."I know it is hot, and you can't sleep, but you have to stay in bed and try to get some rest."
Robert called someone (Anthon) to come out and look at it. He was like a KNIGHT in SHINING ARMOR! He came out, and in a short time had it all fixed. And for the rest of the night, I enjoyed the COOL air coming out of the vents instead of the lack of air... awww, it is so nice to have a house that isn't 85 degrees. At night when the sun went down was the only time it felt remotely cool in the house. That was only if we had the windows all open and if the wind was blowing out here... (which is frequently does)
Thanks so much Anthon! (maybe now the kids will go to bed before 10 or 11)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Grass
It has been about 5 days since we got hydroseeding... and as of now, there is NOTHING I can see. I am a little discouraged right now... but keep thinking I need to wait a little longer. The guy said we should see it in 3 days. We didn't. The internet says 5-7 days and sometimes 3-5 days. I am just waiting..... This morning as I walked around the perimeter of our yard, I kept thinking to myself, even if we have to re-do the hydroseed, it is still 1/2 less than sod... I hope my feelings of hydroseeding change soon. I don't want to be disappointed with my decision.
Meanwhile, my ears are peeling from being sunburned...
And our A/C doesn't seem to be working correctly after about 1pm. It just stops blowing air... even though it is still on.
Meanwhile, my ears are peeling from being sunburned...
And our A/C doesn't seem to be working correctly after about 1pm. It just stops blowing air... even though it is still on.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Man - it's been wild around here lately!
It has been so crazy, just wild around here lately. The days go by so quickly and I am so busy, I forget what day we are on because one day runs into another. We have been wildly trying to get our yard ready for the hydroseeding. Robert went off on last Friday to the Ragnar Relay Race, and left me here to finish up the yard.
I spent most the day Thursday in the yard, while Robert was at work, getting things ready for the seeding process. With all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, it has been so hard to finish anything. Robert left Friday morning, and again I spent most of the day out in the yard. I was out there from about 10am to 1pm, and then again at about 3pm I went back out, was sunburned already so I was trying to find things to do in the shady areas. I was out there for only about another 2 hours or so. Then I put Samantha to bed at like 8pm, and the other girls where up watching TV while I went out to try to finish the yard before I was left in the dark. I came in about 10:30 that night. What a day! Not to mention I had a bit of a cold, the coughing and the stuffy nose type that made it hard to do anything without blowing my nose all day.
The next morning I about cried when I saw that it was raining outside. I figured all my work was undone and that we would have to postpone the grass seeding. Luckily it all went okay. Robert got home later that evening from his race, exhausted! Sunday we spent some time setting up the timer for the sprinklers so that we didn't have to manually water the yard. It rained so hard on Saturday after our hydroseeding, I was afraid all of it would be spoiled. I still haven't seen any grass growing. They said it would be in about 3 days. I am hoping it will all be okay. I know there are a few washed out spots that will need to be reseeded. I kept thinking at the end that maybe it would have been better just to do the sod instead of the hydroseeding. The hydroseeding is like 6 cents a sq. ft. compared to the sod at like 26 cents a sq. ft. Seems like a no brainer to go with what is so much cheaper. At the end though, I was thinking, "Who cares, lets get SOD!"
Now it is just a sit and water and wait for the grass to come up. Luckily our crazy last few weeks or even maybe months are slowing down now to a normal life again. Robert and I are even going on a date tonight. I am not sure if we have done that this whole year, with the exception of when my parents have been here or when his parents have been here to watch the kids. I miss having babysitters. Okay, I just plain miss Orem.... but that is another post for some day later.
Today the girls got all WILD just like I feel like life has been for us the last 2 months! I painted their faces, but then they painted mine. Emily took a picture of my face, but it was really dark due to the windows behind me. They painted and painted my face, I mean LAYERS and LAYERS of paint. I thought my face was going to peel off with the paint. It was pretty painful, I had watery eyes. The type of pain when you pluck out a nose hair or something... Amber added orange to her face. I was wanting to send Robert a picture of my face telling him I was ready to go on our date... but the picture didn't turn out. I looked like some witch doctor or some dead person coming back to life... all purple and black everywhere. (Emily voted not to get her face done, but was eager to do my face...)
I spent most the day Thursday in the yard, while Robert was at work, getting things ready for the seeding process. With all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, it has been so hard to finish anything. Robert left Friday morning, and again I spent most of the day out in the yard. I was out there from about 10am to 1pm, and then again at about 3pm I went back out, was sunburned already so I was trying to find things to do in the shady areas. I was out there for only about another 2 hours or so. Then I put Samantha to bed at like 8pm, and the other girls where up watching TV while I went out to try to finish the yard before I was left in the dark. I came in about 10:30 that night. What a day! Not to mention I had a bit of a cold, the coughing and the stuffy nose type that made it hard to do anything without blowing my nose all day.
The next morning I about cried when I saw that it was raining outside. I figured all my work was undone and that we would have to postpone the grass seeding. Luckily it all went okay. Robert got home later that evening from his race, exhausted! Sunday we spent some time setting up the timer for the sprinklers so that we didn't have to manually water the yard. It rained so hard on Saturday after our hydroseeding, I was afraid all of it would be spoiled. I still haven't seen any grass growing. They said it would be in about 3 days. I am hoping it will all be okay. I know there are a few washed out spots that will need to be reseeded. I kept thinking at the end that maybe it would have been better just to do the sod instead of the hydroseeding. The hydroseeding is like 6 cents a sq. ft. compared to the sod at like 26 cents a sq. ft. Seems like a no brainer to go with what is so much cheaper. At the end though, I was thinking, "Who cares, lets get SOD!"
Now it is just a sit and water and wait for the grass to come up. Luckily our crazy last few weeks or even maybe months are slowing down now to a normal life again. Robert and I are even going on a date tonight. I am not sure if we have done that this whole year, with the exception of when my parents have been here or when his parents have been here to watch the kids. I miss having babysitters. Okay, I just plain miss Orem.... but that is another post for some day later.
Today the girls got all WILD just like I feel like life has been for us the last 2 months! I painted their faces, but then they painted mine. Emily took a picture of my face, but it was really dark due to the windows behind me. They painted and painted my face, I mean LAYERS and LAYERS of paint. I thought my face was going to peel off with the paint. It was pretty painful, I had watery eyes. The type of pain when you pluck out a nose hair or something... Amber added orange to her face. I was wanting to send Robert a picture of my face telling him I was ready to go on our date... but the picture didn't turn out. I looked like some witch doctor or some dead person coming back to life... all purple and black everywhere. (Emily voted not to get her face done, but was eager to do my face...)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The most happiest place on earth
No it's not Disneyland for my kids, it is our old neighborhood. A few weeks ago we had gone over to pick up a friend for a sleep over and the next day when we returned her, we hung out and played with friends. The girls had a blast.
The day before when we picked up Emily's friend, the girls wanted to drive by their old school... the looked at it as we drove by, "there is our favorite school in the whole wide world!" The love to drive by it and also drive through our old neighborhood.
When we went back for the day, the girls went to school summer lunch. I must admit, I had as much fun as they did seeing all the old friends there that you just run into and you don't get a chance to see as much as you would like to in the busy hours of the day. It was a great thing for me too.
While we were over there, Lindsey did manage to fall off a scooter and hurt her wrist, which she still complained it was sore for about a week. She spent most of the week in a ace bandage to help it out. Amber fell down, scraped her knee and got a bloody nose. But beyond that, it was a great time. Neither of the girls that got hurt slowed down much. They stopped for a little bit and then just kept going from there.
As we left that day, it brought back such a flood of emotions again. I drove away with the girls complaining again, "why did we have to move? Why couldn't we just stay here?" I tried to keep it together although I wanted to sob with them and for them too. My poor girls! They just kept bringing it back up for the whole ride home.
On normal days, without going to the old neighborhood, the girls will ask why we had to move, or will say they liked the old house better, or talk about how much they miss it. I have came to realize that no matter how much I think this house fits us better, the girls will always want to have the old house and be there with all those wonderful friends and families they came to love there. I am sure as time goes on, this street or area we live in can become that same type of area, but it isn't that way now so you kind of keep thinking about the things you miss most.
So until that day when the girls feel like this is really HOME, our old neighborhood and friends that will continue to be the happiest place and the most magical place on earth!
The day before when we picked up Emily's friend, the girls wanted to drive by their old school... the looked at it as we drove by, "there is our favorite school in the whole wide world!" The love to drive by it and also drive through our old neighborhood.
When we went back for the day, the girls went to school summer lunch. I must admit, I had as much fun as they did seeing all the old friends there that you just run into and you don't get a chance to see as much as you would like to in the busy hours of the day. It was a great thing for me too.
While we were over there, Lindsey did manage to fall off a scooter and hurt her wrist, which she still complained it was sore for about a week. She spent most of the week in a ace bandage to help it out. Amber fell down, scraped her knee and got a bloody nose. But beyond that, it was a great time. Neither of the girls that got hurt slowed down much. They stopped for a little bit and then just kept going from there.
As we left that day, it brought back such a flood of emotions again. I drove away with the girls complaining again, "why did we have to move? Why couldn't we just stay here?" I tried to keep it together although I wanted to sob with them and for them too. My poor girls! They just kept bringing it back up for the whole ride home.
On normal days, without going to the old neighborhood, the girls will ask why we had to move, or will say they liked the old house better, or talk about how much they miss it. I have came to realize that no matter how much I think this house fits us better, the girls will always want to have the old house and be there with all those wonderful friends and families they came to love there. I am sure as time goes on, this street or area we live in can become that same type of area, but it isn't that way now so you kind of keep thinking about the things you miss most.
So until that day when the girls feel like this is really HOME, our old neighborhood and friends that will continue to be the happiest place and the most magical place on earth!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Guess what?
We are getting grass tomorrow! I am SOOOO very excited!! I can hardly wait! Okay, so not grass really, just grass seeds, but I am still super excited. Anyone want to come and look at my grass seed with me tomorrow? I am sure I will be out there all day just watching the little things grow (or sit there).
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Yard Work
I had planned on blogging today about the kids' activities we have been doing this summer, but lack of time and patience in getting my video camera to load the videos. Instead I am just venting in the frustration of your yard. Which I shouldn't really complain because the amount of yard work I have done is so small compared to Robert's part that he has done and our friend Josh with his bobcat, he has helped us out a TON!
We were suppose to get grass this last monday, but that didn't work out. Due to the rain they moved it back to this Saturday. Which is okay I guess. The silly rain keeps making things difficult for us to finish this project and move on to the next.
We (and when I say that I mostly mean Robert) rented a machine to fluff up the dirt and make it all loose so when they come in and do the hydroseeding it will take better. I am now thinking maybe the more expensive sod would have been better. Less work on our side to prepare the ground.
For the hydroseeding, we also have to have all weeds out of the ground and like I said have the dirt dry and loose. Today while Samantha was sleeping I took my chances with leaving the other girls in the house to govern themselves while I went out to prepare the dirt.
First our dirt was TOO hard, and now it is TOO soft, like soggy muddy soft. I couldn't even in some spots run the machine out there. I was getting the raking machine stuck in the mud, my shoes stuck in the mud, and it was all I could do to get out of the mud while losing my shoes. (Although Robert would argue saying flip flops aren't really shoes.)
While I was out there earlier in the day I was trying to adjust the sprinklers. Robert said, "good luck with that, I tried for half an hour with no luck," when I told him I was going to try to fix them. While I was dodging the sprinklers and trying to figure out how to make them not spray the house and get the place where grass will be one day, I heard thunder. I decided to keep working, until I saw a flash of light. I didn't want to continue in the lightning! As I rushed to manually turn off the sprinklers it started to hail. I then remembered the rented power raker was still sitting in the rain. I quickly put that away. I was soaked from the sprinklers that I was trying to adjust and having troubles maneuvering in the muddy areas.
I had gone out later when both the little girls where napping and it started to rain again... of course each time it rains, all my work is basically all undone, making it necessary to redo those areas to fluff the dirt up. I kept working in the rain, I didn't ever hear any thunder, or maybe I just didn't hear it over the tiller I was using. (I didn't hear Rob calling me on my phone.) I was SOAKED yet again... but I just kept working...and then it stopped raining.... and then it started to rain again! Can you believe it? What kind of summer are we having? It rained 3 times just today!
I managed to get quite a bit done, and dried off when the sun came out and the wind started to blow. My face felt sunburned, but it might have been more from the wind.
Once Robert got home I went back inside to do dinner and tend to the kids. At 9 pm I was able to go back out and help... although it didn't help much because the belt broke on the lawn raker, so that was all I could do. That left Robert out there again by himself to do the work.
I have more work to do tomorrow, and it will be all on my shoulders since Robert is going for his big race, the Ragnar Relay Race, or Wasatch Back Race or whatever it's official name is. The hydroseeders are coming tomorrow and I hope that I will do as good as a job as Robert would have done when they come. The bad thing is that the sprinklers aren't hooked up so you have to manually turn them on at the little boxes. Not to mention one station is TOTALLY off, they spray the neighbors rocks and our house and the door and the playground area which will have NO GRASS. I guess that is what I should work on first.
While all this craziness was going on. I thought I heard Amber outside. I looked on the balcony and didn't see her, then I looked on the front porch and I didn't see her. I looked in the garage and I could hear her but didn't see her. I finally asked, "Amber - where are you?" she answered me back, "in here mom," as she was sitting in the rabbit cage with the rabbit. I looked in there, she has a giraffe halloween costume on, a pair of sunglasses, and a Toys R Us Geoffrey the Giraffe hat which looks like a safari type hat with giraffe print all over it. Never a dull moment here, that is for sure.
I hope tomorrow's yard work efforts bring forth more positive results. Wish me luck!!
We were suppose to get grass this last monday, but that didn't work out. Due to the rain they moved it back to this Saturday. Which is okay I guess. The silly rain keeps making things difficult for us to finish this project and move on to the next.
We (and when I say that I mostly mean Robert) rented a machine to fluff up the dirt and make it all loose so when they come in and do the hydroseeding it will take better. I am now thinking maybe the more expensive sod would have been better. Less work on our side to prepare the ground.
For the hydroseeding, we also have to have all weeds out of the ground and like I said have the dirt dry and loose. Today while Samantha was sleeping I took my chances with leaving the other girls in the house to govern themselves while I went out to prepare the dirt.
First our dirt was TOO hard, and now it is TOO soft, like soggy muddy soft. I couldn't even in some spots run the machine out there. I was getting the raking machine stuck in the mud, my shoes stuck in the mud, and it was all I could do to get out of the mud while losing my shoes. (Although Robert would argue saying flip flops aren't really shoes.)
While I was out there earlier in the day I was trying to adjust the sprinklers. Robert said, "good luck with that, I tried for half an hour with no luck," when I told him I was going to try to fix them. While I was dodging the sprinklers and trying to figure out how to make them not spray the house and get the place where grass will be one day, I heard thunder. I decided to keep working, until I saw a flash of light. I didn't want to continue in the lightning! As I rushed to manually turn off the sprinklers it started to hail. I then remembered the rented power raker was still sitting in the rain. I quickly put that away. I was soaked from the sprinklers that I was trying to adjust and having troubles maneuvering in the muddy areas.
I had gone out later when both the little girls where napping and it started to rain again... of course each time it rains, all my work is basically all undone, making it necessary to redo those areas to fluff the dirt up. I kept working in the rain, I didn't ever hear any thunder, or maybe I just didn't hear it over the tiller I was using. (I didn't hear Rob calling me on my phone.) I was SOAKED yet again... but I just kept working...and then it stopped raining.... and then it started to rain again! Can you believe it? What kind of summer are we having? It rained 3 times just today!
I managed to get quite a bit done, and dried off when the sun came out and the wind started to blow. My face felt sunburned, but it might have been more from the wind.
Once Robert got home I went back inside to do dinner and tend to the kids. At 9 pm I was able to go back out and help... although it didn't help much because the belt broke on the lawn raker, so that was all I could do. That left Robert out there again by himself to do the work.
I have more work to do tomorrow, and it will be all on my shoulders since Robert is going for his big race, the Ragnar Relay Race, or Wasatch Back Race or whatever it's official name is. The hydroseeders are coming tomorrow and I hope that I will do as good as a job as Robert would have done when they come. The bad thing is that the sprinklers aren't hooked up so you have to manually turn them on at the little boxes. Not to mention one station is TOTALLY off, they spray the neighbors rocks and our house and the door and the playground area which will have NO GRASS. I guess that is what I should work on first.
While all this craziness was going on. I thought I heard Amber outside. I looked on the balcony and didn't see her, then I looked on the front porch and I didn't see her. I looked in the garage and I could hear her but didn't see her. I finally asked, "Amber - where are you?" she answered me back, "in here mom," as she was sitting in the rabbit cage with the rabbit. I looked in there, she has a giraffe halloween costume on, a pair of sunglasses, and a Toys R Us Geoffrey the Giraffe hat which looks like a safari type hat with giraffe print all over it. Never a dull moment here, that is for sure.
I hope tomorrow's yard work efforts bring forth more positive results. Wish me luck!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
The problem with the rain...
Amber doesn't really mind the rain... or the rocks...
Poor Rob was sick with strep throat and he had to deal with this on Sunday in the middle of the day to prevent the concrete from cracking or breaking. Luckily the girls noticed it so we could fix it, or Rob could fix it anyway. There is a HUGE pile of dirt all at the bottom of the rock wall.
She climbs up....
and then slides down.... It doesn't matter that everything is all wet and soggy and muddy. She doesn't really care. The girls seem to find something to do no matter the weather. Like sliding down the driveway in the mud. (If you want to see the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgUWvUBpgbE or go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search for tag "utah girls" to see the video, the sound is bad due to the wind.)
Not only does the rain make it hard to set sprinkler heads, or pour concrete, or get any weeding done, or even finish the garden area so that my seedlings that we planted can go in there instead of die like they are now... rain also is hard on a yard that doesn't have any substance to it... no grass, not weeds, nothing to keep it from washing away.
Poor Rob was sick with strep throat and he had to deal with this on Sunday in the middle of the day to prevent the concrete from cracking or breaking. Luckily the girls noticed it so we could fix it, or Rob could fix it anyway. There is a HUGE pile of dirt all at the bottom of the rock wall.
CAN'T WAIT FOR GRASS!!
Stressful Sunday
In my opinion, most Sunday's are a bit stressful due to the 5 girls getting ready, trying to find the right thing for them to wear, forgetting that one of them (or more) needs a bath and trying to fit all that in from 7:30 until we need to leave about 10 minutes before 9 am. to get everyone loaded, buckled, unbuckled, and unloaded and then find a seat that isn't in the overflow area.
This Sunday, Robert had been sick and wasn't going to make it to church. He asked if I was going to leave the little ones with him, I am not sure if he was offering or hoping I would be taking them too. I knew he didn't want to have to worry about them while he was feeling so sick. (fever, body aches, soar throat) I had to teach a class, but I thought it would be okay.
We go through the whole struggle of getting ready for church, gave 3 baths and did 3 girl's hair... Emily was in her normal mode of "I don't have anything to wear... which I didn't have time for this morning. As I am getting Samantha buckled in her car seat Lindsey reminds me that she has to give the scripture.... then Emily remembers she is to give her talk today also. GREAT! The scripture was the 7th paragraph in the Family Proclamation, which of course is really long and would have been nice to have Lindsey read a few times before she was on the spot. I look around for out copy, can't find it quickly so we give up and decide to get a copy from the church library. Then I think about Emily's talk..... by now she is freaking out, and deciding she is not going to church since she doesn't have her talk. I remember a book on the shelf that I got from my mom, "Talks for Tots" or something like that. I am searching for it. I finally find it. I give it to Emily and tell her to read it during sacrament meeting to find a talk in there. I give her a sticky note to mark her place once she finds it. We head out the door 10 minutes after 9 -LATE!
Finally we are at church... I can relax a little bit. I am trying to rock Samantha to sleep which isn't working the girls are going crazy. Amber discovers some mint candies in my diaper bag from a wedding shower that I had attended a few days prior and had Samantha with me so Rob could keep working on the yard. I decide that it is just mints, so let Amber have it. The problem is then that the other girls want to have some too. We get through the meeting. Emily finds a talk I help her close it with the thoughts of the theme she was to give her talk on.
I take the kids to their appropriate classes except for Samantha which I keep. I go to the library to find stuff for Lindsey's scripture, we go into the primary... the class I teach is getting bigger and bigger... I notice we have all 8 of our kids plus the 2 new ones that moved in recently. We have so many kids, that there aren't enough chairs, and that leaves me standing and two kids sharing a seat already. After I help Lindsey do her scripture, I get a chair and add it to our row.
Luckily my co-teacher was there with me, so I wasn't alone with all the 10 kids. The lesson went horribly, as it is very hard to have that many kids sit and listen to a lesson, or it is for me anyway. I think every Sunday I must be a push over for them. I have a few that are REALLY good and then a few that are non-listening type that are getting out of their seats, and attracting the attention of the other kids. I also had Samantha who in the middle of the lesson decided that she was not going to sit quietly which then I was holding her and trying to keep her happy/quiet while I was teaching the lesson. Normally she falls asleep for Rob but of course I couldn't be that lucky on this Sunday when I had her. Although she did nearly fall asleep on the drive home.
My lesson was over, we even acted out the story of Abinadi which the kids liked. For the most part, the kids went to find their parents, I had a few still in class when my kids come in. I was putting all my things away with my back to Amber. She came up to me and hugged the back of my legs and then bit me on my bum. Of course it was quite a surprise, so I jumped, and quickly turned around to tell her how sad she made me and how that wasn't nice... (That is like the 3rd time she has gotten me lately with biting, although the first time on the bum. She pinches when she bites and it hurts really bad! She has gotten Rob a few times on the leg too.) Amber as I talked to her just kept backing up and backing up until she reached the wall. I think she knew she was in trouble.
I was glad that my Sunday was over... or at least the church part of it. I now have a week before we have to repeat the Sunday routine again. Hopefully Rob will be back to church next Sunday to help.
This Sunday, Robert had been sick and wasn't going to make it to church. He asked if I was going to leave the little ones with him, I am not sure if he was offering or hoping I would be taking them too. I knew he didn't want to have to worry about them while he was feeling so sick. (fever, body aches, soar throat) I had to teach a class, but I thought it would be okay.
We go through the whole struggle of getting ready for church, gave 3 baths and did 3 girl's hair... Emily was in her normal mode of "I don't have anything to wear... which I didn't have time for this morning. As I am getting Samantha buckled in her car seat Lindsey reminds me that she has to give the scripture.... then Emily remembers she is to give her talk today also. GREAT! The scripture was the 7th paragraph in the Family Proclamation, which of course is really long and would have been nice to have Lindsey read a few times before she was on the spot. I look around for out copy, can't find it quickly so we give up and decide to get a copy from the church library. Then I think about Emily's talk..... by now she is freaking out, and deciding she is not going to church since she doesn't have her talk. I remember a book on the shelf that I got from my mom, "Talks for Tots" or something like that. I am searching for it. I finally find it. I give it to Emily and tell her to read it during sacrament meeting to find a talk in there. I give her a sticky note to mark her place once she finds it. We head out the door 10 minutes after 9 -LATE!
Finally we are at church... I can relax a little bit. I am trying to rock Samantha to sleep which isn't working the girls are going crazy. Amber discovers some mint candies in my diaper bag from a wedding shower that I had attended a few days prior and had Samantha with me so Rob could keep working on the yard. I decide that it is just mints, so let Amber have it. The problem is then that the other girls want to have some too. We get through the meeting. Emily finds a talk I help her close it with the thoughts of the theme she was to give her talk on.
I take the kids to their appropriate classes except for Samantha which I keep. I go to the library to find stuff for Lindsey's scripture, we go into the primary... the class I teach is getting bigger and bigger... I notice we have all 8 of our kids plus the 2 new ones that moved in recently. We have so many kids, that there aren't enough chairs, and that leaves me standing and two kids sharing a seat already. After I help Lindsey do her scripture, I get a chair and add it to our row.
Luckily my co-teacher was there with me, so I wasn't alone with all the 10 kids. The lesson went horribly, as it is very hard to have that many kids sit and listen to a lesson, or it is for me anyway. I think every Sunday I must be a push over for them. I have a few that are REALLY good and then a few that are non-listening type that are getting out of their seats, and attracting the attention of the other kids. I also had Samantha who in the middle of the lesson decided that she was not going to sit quietly which then I was holding her and trying to keep her happy/quiet while I was teaching the lesson. Normally she falls asleep for Rob but of course I couldn't be that lucky on this Sunday when I had her. Although she did nearly fall asleep on the drive home.
My lesson was over, we even acted out the story of Abinadi which the kids liked. For the most part, the kids went to find their parents, I had a few still in class when my kids come in. I was putting all my things away with my back to Amber. She came up to me and hugged the back of my legs and then bit me on my bum. Of course it was quite a surprise, so I jumped, and quickly turned around to tell her how sad she made me and how that wasn't nice... (That is like the 3rd time she has gotten me lately with biting, although the first time on the bum. She pinches when she bites and it hurts really bad! She has gotten Rob a few times on the leg too.) Amber as I talked to her just kept backing up and backing up until she reached the wall. I think she knew she was in trouble.
I was glad that my Sunday was over... or at least the church part of it. I now have a week before we have to repeat the Sunday routine again. Hopefully Rob will be back to church next Sunday to help.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What to do on a rainy day
When your yard is full of dirt, and it has been raining for the last 3 days off and on, and you got another load of dirt dumped into the driveway the night before... here is something fun to do!
Mud Sliding!! (I had a video but the sound was awful because of the wind and it wasn't downloading, but it was funny to watch!) Think of roller blading, but on mud and minus the roller blades.
Mud Sliding!! (I had a video but the sound was awful because of the wind and it wasn't downloading, but it was funny to watch!) Think of roller blading, but on mud and minus the roller blades.
We had some friends over and I was helping them get to their car... I was totally sliding down the driveway. Our driveway is sloped quite a bit. When I walked back up to the house, I was having a REALLY hard time walking up. I just kept sliding. It was so funny. (and a little scary, as I was afraid I might fall) Emily came out with me and next thing I knew everyone was sliding down the driveway but Amber who thought it was too dirty. (Samantha was sleeping.) Then... Emily fell and bloodied up her knee. Oops! It is always fun til someone gets hurt. The girls had so much fun, they ended up going back outside to do it again, even after we all showered and we got Emily all doctored up. I didn't do it the second time. :o)
The girls would slide down the drive way then run up the dirt yard since that was mostly the only way to get up without sliding back down. Although that was just adding mud to the mixture. Emily said it looked like Lauren had mud slippers on. I had some pretty good mud shoes on myself. (until I had to be the mom again and fix Emily up)
Lauren washing off her legs, she had it all the way up past her KNEES... deep mud in the yard where the rain spout was draining.
Emily's the one that got hurt in all the fun again... just like sledding. Poor Emily.
When Robert came home from work, he tried to snow shovel the mud, when that didn't work, he hosed it all off... for a really l o n g time. The mud it gone and now one can walk down and UP the driveway without slipping or sliding!
I really wish my video worked out, it is so much better to watch compared to me telling about it. Maybe I will try again later...
Thanks for the Birthday Money
In May we have Samantha's birthday and then the twins' birthday too. Sometime at the end of May the 3 birthday girls got cards and birthday money. The money didn't seem to bother Samantha at all, but it was burning up for Lindsey and Lauren and they couldn't hold it any longer, they HAD to spend it. Which then took us on a 3 hour shopping trip at a Walmart store.
I didn't realize how much Lauren is like myself, "it is just too hard to decide!" She couldn't make up her mind about anything. She would sit there and look at one thing and then look back at what she already had in her hand and then look again at the shelf... this went on what seemed like FOREVER! (Paybacks to me for all the horrible shopping trips I have taken my mom and sisters on!) I have a hard time making up my mind on things, but I think I am better at shopping in general. I lack decision making abilities in other areas though. Lindsey found what she wanted right away and stuck to it the whole time. Lauren had picked 3 or 4 things out and we had to keep going back and putting one of them back. Lauren's was cheaper than Lindsey's so she was able to get more than one thing. Lindsey used all of her money on one thing, and I had to pay her sales tax.
Lindsey ended up with a FurReal pet dog that walks, barks, and chomps, and will follow a bone. Lindsey named her dog Cookie.
Lauren also got her ears pierced again! A real shocker is that we spent like $39 last time to get them pierced to find out that Walmart does it free when you buy their earrings. Lauren spent a little over $10 to get her ears pierced and earrings.
Amber kind of got a bonus out of it... since she and Samantha wear the same size... she gets to share Samantha's new pajamas that Samantha got with her birthday money.
And here is Samantha in her birthday pajamas. I was really happy to get Samantha some new jammies, since she seemed to not have any summer ones. Mostly she has the really warm blanket footed type jammies. You would think that her being our FIFTH girl we would be swarming in all sorts of jammies for her. Somehow that isn't the case.
I didn't realize how much Lauren is like myself, "it is just too hard to decide!" She couldn't make up her mind about anything. She would sit there and look at one thing and then look back at what she already had in her hand and then look again at the shelf... this went on what seemed like FOREVER! (Paybacks to me for all the horrible shopping trips I have taken my mom and sisters on!) I have a hard time making up my mind on things, but I think I am better at shopping in general. I lack decision making abilities in other areas though. Lindsey found what she wanted right away and stuck to it the whole time. Lauren had picked 3 or 4 things out and we had to keep going back and putting one of them back. Lauren's was cheaper than Lindsey's so she was able to get more than one thing. Lindsey used all of her money on one thing, and I had to pay her sales tax.
Lindsey ended up with a FurReal pet dog that walks, barks, and chomps, and will follow a bone. Lindsey named her dog Cookie.
Lauren ended up with a FurReal baby duck, that quacks and drinks a bottle. She picked out a duck in WA (of course we had to leave it there) and then something killed the duck. She thought this was a replacement for the duck that got eaten by something up there. She named this duck after her other little duck.... Ming Ming.
Lauren also got her ears pierced again! A real shocker is that we spent like $39 last time to get them pierced to find out that Walmart does it free when you buy their earrings. Lauren spent a little over $10 to get her ears pierced and earrings.
Amber kind of got a bonus out of it... since she and Samantha wear the same size... she gets to share Samantha's new pajamas that Samantha got with her birthday money.
And here is Samantha in her birthday pajamas. I was really happy to get Samantha some new jammies, since she seemed to not have any summer ones. Mostly she has the really warm blanket footed type jammies. You would think that her being our FIFTH girl we would be swarming in all sorts of jammies for her. Somehow that isn't the case.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Our "almost" yard
I will have to post some pictures when I have a little more time. Our yard is starting to look more like a yard. We put up some retaining rock walls to help even out our yard to give the appearance of a bigger yard, and to give more usable space for the kids to play. We (okay Robert) got our sprinklers in. We have a designated garden spot and a playground area. Today they came to do curbing, which will be going around out rocks and bordering some flower beds. I will go out later to take a picture of it to show what it looks like. The curbing helps keep the grass out of the rocks. I am so excited!
When we moved in, our yard was really rocky and weedy and filled with stickers. I didn't know that the tumbleweeds were so just a big sticker bush basically. Our place is looking better and better all the time. Robert has been working so hard to get it all done so the kids can have a place to go outside and burn off some energy. One windy day one of the neighbors came over to complain about the moving of dirt around in the wind and how all the wind was blowing the dirt to his place onto his windows that he just paid to have washed. Oops! I guess we aren't scoring any points with the neighbors!
When we moved in, our yard was really rocky and weedy and filled with stickers. I didn't know that the tumbleweeds were so just a big sticker bush basically. Our place is looking better and better all the time. Robert has been working so hard to get it all done so the kids can have a place to go outside and burn off some energy. One windy day one of the neighbors came over to complain about the moving of dirt around in the wind and how all the wind was blowing the dirt to his place onto his windows that he just paid to have washed. Oops! I guess we aren't scoring any points with the neighbors!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Big Mama
Sometime after the twins were born, I was setting up a new email address or something. I was trying to think of a screen name maybe? I can't really remember. I came up with bigmamaof3. I had 3 kids at the time, figuring that would be easy to remember. Since then I have kind of used that BIG MAMA on other things. I get a paper cup, write my name on it, "Big Mama" so I can use it and reuse it and no one will use it as theirs. I will also put it on a water bottle I am using and reusing. (Lindsey one time crossed off BIG and wrote HOT so it read "Hot Mama." I automaticly thought it was Rob, but had to really laugh later when I found out it was Lindsey... she has a really good sense of humor!)
A few days ago, I was drinking from my water bottle, that said "big mama" on it. Amber wanted it. She asked if it was hers or mine, and I told her it was mine, it has my name on it. I told her it said big mama. Then she wanted a water bottle with her name on it. I got her a water bottle and wrote "Amber" on it. Then she said, your bottle says Big Mama and mine says Little Amber.
I didn't think it was a big deal, until she was telling some of the friends at our front door that her name was Amber and my name was Big Mama. Not too bad, kind of funny. Then at church when Lindsey and Lauren went to pick up Amber from her class, she was introducing them to her teachers. "This is my sister Lauren and this is Lindsey. My mom is Big Mama." When the girls told me, I wasn't sure if I should be really imbarressed or laugh. I did laugh. Although now I think we should lay off the big mama stuff for awhile.
A few days ago, I was drinking from my water bottle, that said "big mama" on it. Amber wanted it. She asked if it was hers or mine, and I told her it was mine, it has my name on it. I told her it said big mama. Then she wanted a water bottle with her name on it. I got her a water bottle and wrote "Amber" on it. Then she said, your bottle says Big Mama and mine says Little Amber.
I didn't think it was a big deal, until she was telling some of the friends at our front door that her name was Amber and my name was Big Mama. Not too bad, kind of funny. Then at church when Lindsey and Lauren went to pick up Amber from her class, she was introducing them to her teachers. "This is my sister Lauren and this is Lindsey. My mom is Big Mama." When the girls told me, I wasn't sure if I should be really imbarressed or laugh. I did laugh. Although now I think we should lay off the big mama stuff for awhile.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Girls' at ONE year old
I thought it would be fun to look at each of the girls at their first birthday... maybe I should have done their birth pictures. (Maybe that will be later.)
I like to see the comparison of the girls and who they look like and what not. If I had a picture of Robert and I at a year old, I would put them on here too. BUT - I don't. It would be fun to compare though. Maybe I will have to track some of those down for later.
Here is Emily at a year... March 2001 (Notice her hair being SO long we put it in a pony to keep it out of her cake. She had TONS of hair when she was born and she kept growing more.)
Here she is again smiling.
I like to see the comparison of the girls and who they look like and what not. If I had a picture of Robert and I at a year old, I would put them on here too. BUT - I don't. It would be fun to compare though. Maybe I will have to track some of those down for later.
Here is Emily at a year... March 2001 (Notice her hair being SO long we put it in a pony to keep it out of her cake. She had TONS of hair when she was born and she kept growing more.)
Here she is again smiling.
Here is Lindsey at a year... May 2003
Lindsey again, smiling... sort of.
Lauren at a year, of course that would be May of 2003.
Lindsey again, smiling... sort of.Lauren at a year, of course that would be May of 2003.
Lauren smiling kind of...
Amber at a year.... Oct 2007 (this is right before she got her cake)
Here is Amber just starting to dig into her cake.
Here is Amber just starting to dig into her cake. This is Samantha smiling, and with her cake. Samantha is a year old... May 2009.
This Samantha again. 
Looking at these pictures, it is funny to see how much hair Emily had, and to really see how bald Samantha is. I think Samantha is by far our most smiley baby... Amber hardly smiled at all when she was little (although she smiles all the time now). Samantha is always smiling, and has been for such a long time.
This Samantha again. Looking at these pictures, it is funny to see how much hair Emily had, and to really see how bald Samantha is. I think Samantha is by far our most smiley baby... Amber hardly smiled at all when she was little (although she smiles all the time now). Samantha is always smiling, and has been for such a long time. Hulk Cake Tutorial
I made a cake for a friend. Her son was turning 3 and was wanting a hulk cake. After posting about it, several where wondering the "How To's" so I thought I would just give more details on it.
I baked just a normal cake mix in a 9x9 square pan. I used two of them, putting a cake mix in each pan, so it was a taller cake once I layered it.
After I had leveled off the cake tops, and cooled them, I put them on a cardboard square I cut out of a box around the house and covered it in aluminum foil. (You can also buy cake boards for this purpose, but I am cheap.) I frosted the top of the bottom layer and then stacked the cakes. I frosted the cake... all of it. (Funny thing is I had left over pink frosting in the fridge from Lauren's birthday cake the week before... turns out the pink goes into grey pretty good. Which made it less frosting to make.) I normally make my own frosting since it is thicker and holds up better. I did see a recipe to use can frosting and then add powder sugar to it to make it thicker. Haven't done it to see how that works.
I used graham crackers broken into the quarters. I used royal frosting that was thinned down tons! It used probably like 4X the water you are suppose to put in it. I made it runny enough to have it just pour out and drizzle, but I wanted it to harden also. I put my graham crackers on a cookie sheet and then drizzled with frosting, then let them sit for awhile so they could harden.
I put the graham crackers on the sides of the cake, and then cut the crackers when needed to fit into the corners or the edges. I then piped some frosting that was left over from the cake into the cracks around the grahams, like you would do with grout.
I had previously out of fondant (dyed green) shaped a hand and covered until later use. I also used a knife to kind of score up the knuckles and the fingernails. I put the hand on the cake, and then piped frosting around it and added some more grahams to kind of support the hand from falling over, although it wasn't falling over, I had nightmares that it might. I also kind of gently broke or cracked some of the grahams to look like the broke as they hand came though the bricks. I also piped some grey frosting around all the grahams on the time. They seemed kind of naked without it. I also added the boys name on one of the bricks (grahams) on the top in front of the hand. Perhaps if you click on the pictures they would be bigger to show more details. I wasn't super impressed with the hand, I saw fault in it, but that is how everything I do goes, I have a PERFECT picture in my mind and it doesn't match the end results.
So that is that. If anyone is making one, and needs help, let me know. I love doing cakes and would love to help... or do one for you! :)
I baked just a normal cake mix in a 9x9 square pan. I used two of them, putting a cake mix in each pan, so it was a taller cake once I layered it.
After I had leveled off the cake tops, and cooled them, I put them on a cardboard square I cut out of a box around the house and covered it in aluminum foil. (You can also buy cake boards for this purpose, but I am cheap.) I frosted the top of the bottom layer and then stacked the cakes. I frosted the cake... all of it. (Funny thing is I had left over pink frosting in the fridge from Lauren's birthday cake the week before... turns out the pink goes into grey pretty good. Which made it less frosting to make.) I normally make my own frosting since it is thicker and holds up better. I did see a recipe to use can frosting and then add powder sugar to it to make it thicker. Haven't done it to see how that works.
I used graham crackers broken into the quarters. I used royal frosting that was thinned down tons! It used probably like 4X the water you are suppose to put in it. I made it runny enough to have it just pour out and drizzle, but I wanted it to harden also. I put my graham crackers on a cookie sheet and then drizzled with frosting, then let them sit for awhile so they could harden.
I put the graham crackers on the sides of the cake, and then cut the crackers when needed to fit into the corners or the edges. I then piped some frosting that was left over from the cake into the cracks around the grahams, like you would do with grout.
I had previously out of fondant (dyed green) shaped a hand and covered until later use. I also used a knife to kind of score up the knuckles and the fingernails. I put the hand on the cake, and then piped frosting around it and added some more grahams to kind of support the hand from falling over, although it wasn't falling over, I had nightmares that it might. I also kind of gently broke or cracked some of the grahams to look like the broke as they hand came though the bricks. I also piped some grey frosting around all the grahams on the time. They seemed kind of naked without it. I also added the boys name on one of the bricks (grahams) on the top in front of the hand. Perhaps if you click on the pictures they would be bigger to show more details. I wasn't super impressed with the hand, I saw fault in it, but that is how everything I do goes, I have a PERFECT picture in my mind and it doesn't match the end results.
So that is that. If anyone is making one, and needs help, let me know. I love doing cakes and would love to help... or do one for you! :)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Spelling for Amber
I was just stopping to get a drink. Of course I had 5 little ones in the car, and as soon as they knew I was stopping for a drink - they all want to get something too. I of course feel guilty normally and cave and get them something. Lauren wanted a "Frosty," Emily an "icee and if they don't have one then some fritos, and if I can't have fritos, then a vanilla frosty." Lindsey just wanted "a donut," and then Amber shouted out, "I want a donut too!"
I go into the store and get all the things everyone requested, including a soda for myself. I get back to the car, hand out everyone's things. Amber is looking at the donut I gave her and not eating it. She saw Lauren's ice cream. She then starts asking, "where's my Q-P-3?" I am trying to figure out what she is saying, and I ask her to tell me again. "Where's my Q-P-3," she is getting really mad now, "I want a Q-P-3, E-F-G!" Then I start cracking up, realizing what she is wanting....ICE CREAM! The kids try to code the word ice cream by spelling part of it out so Amber doesn't know what it is. They will say, "can we have some I-C-E cream?" Amber knows what that means I guess.
Too funny! She cracks me up! The kids will also spell out A-M-B-E-R really quick when we are talking about her taking a nap or things that we don't want her to know. The way the girls spell it out it sounds more like a word then letters, Aim-be-are said really quickly is how it sounds. Of course Amber has figured that one out too.
I go into the store and get all the things everyone requested, including a soda for myself. I get back to the car, hand out everyone's things. Amber is looking at the donut I gave her and not eating it. She saw Lauren's ice cream. She then starts asking, "where's my Q-P-3?" I am trying to figure out what she is saying, and I ask her to tell me again. "Where's my Q-P-3," she is getting really mad now, "I want a Q-P-3, E-F-G!" Then I start cracking up, realizing what she is wanting....ICE CREAM! The kids try to code the word ice cream by spelling part of it out so Amber doesn't know what it is. They will say, "can we have some I-C-E cream?" Amber knows what that means I guess.
Too funny! She cracks me up! The kids will also spell out A-M-B-E-R really quick when we are talking about her taking a nap or things that we don't want her to know. The way the girls spell it out it sounds more like a word then letters, Aim-be-are said really quickly is how it sounds. Of course Amber has figured that one out too.
The pool is up.
Samantha got a little pool for her birthday. We put it up, or should I say, we filled it up. Bad thing is we don't have grass, and until just a day ago, we didn't have a level place in the yard since our yard is in trenches for sprinklers. The only good place to put the pool is in the drive way RIGHT behind my car.
Samantha was having a great time in her birthday pool. She loved the water, even though it was pretty cold.
This is our family pool. I am not sure there is a place for me and Robert to go in it, but the girls seem to think it is okay. I could hardly believe they ALL wanted to go in it.
Samantha was just splashing away. Her hair was wet from her splashing so much. Okay, if she had any hair it would be wet. :D
We had to empty some of the water out of the pool because she kept trying to crawl in the pool, and she was getting her mouth and nose in the water. She didn't seem to mind much about it but I was a little concerned about it.
Now only if we had a place to put the pool in the yard so we don't have to dump it out every time I need to go somewhere in the car. Maybe next month we will be ready for the pool in the yard. **fingers crossed**
Samantha was having a great time in her birthday pool. She loved the water, even though it was pretty cold. 
This is our family pool. I am not sure there is a place for me and Robert to go in it, but the girls seem to think it is okay. I could hardly believe they ALL wanted to go in it. 
Samantha was just splashing away. Her hair was wet from her splashing so much. Okay, if she had any hair it would be wet. :D
We had to empty some of the water out of the pool because she kept trying to crawl in the pool, and she was getting her mouth and nose in the water. She didn't seem to mind much about it but I was a little concerned about it. 
Now only if we had a place to put the pool in the yard so we don't have to dump it out every time I need to go somewhere in the car. Maybe next month we will be ready for the pool in the yard. **fingers crossed**Thursday, June 4, 2009
Making a cake...
Our ward had a YW/YM fundraiser with a auction. They were wanting people to sign up for services or what not that they would donate. I thought, I don't have any thing and I can't really DO anything for anyone... then I thought, well I guess I could do a cake, I love to do them and as long as it isn't SUPER hard, I can fake my way through it. The lady that got it, wanted me to make a cake for her son's 3rd birthday party (today) and her son wanted a HULK cake. I was like, uh... how about a butterfly or princess castle? I can do those, I can't do a HULK cake. With much thought and experimenting (and internet searching), I came up with a cake.
The bad thing is when I do a cake or something time consuming... Amber is on the loose to do whatever she decides to do. This morning, she colored herself like a "giraffe" and even colored Samantha's face like a "giraffe." Although you can't see Amber's face too much in the picture and I didn't get a picture of Samantha since she was sleeping. Even with a few giraffe's in my house, I managed to get the cake done. Phew!
And I was okay with the results. The hand looked better before I put it on the cake, and it looked better yesterday. Today it got all flat from laying on the plate and I had a hard time making it more 3D. I hope the lady likes it, or more so, I hope her son it good with it.
The bad thing is when I do a cake or something time consuming... Amber is on the loose to do whatever she decides to do. This morning, she colored herself like a "giraffe" and even colored Samantha's face like a "giraffe." Although you can't see Amber's face too much in the picture and I didn't get a picture of Samantha since she was sleeping. Even with a few giraffe's in my house, I managed to get the cake done. Phew!
And I was okay with the results. The hand looked better before I put it on the cake, and it looked better yesterday. Today it got all flat from laying on the plate and I had a hard time making it more 3D. I hope the lady likes it, or more so, I hope her son it good with it.
It seems kind of yucky, grey frosting? But it does taste normal. And the bricks are graham crackers in frosting too.
I love doing cakes, I just stress out too much over it I guess when I do them for other people.
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