Sunday, July 31, 2011

It Started Out Funny...

Our last date back in February included a call from Adam, where he informed me that the babysitter was asleep and he was wondering how long to warm Josh's milk.

I freaked out.

And decided to no longer go on dates until Adam was 12, and could babysit.

A few months ago, we won a certificate for a free night of babysitting. A few nights ago, Mike came home with some free tickets he has been given to see the comedian Louie Anderson.

He convinced me to give the babysitter thang another shot (hello free date night!). I checked out the tickets (because comedians aren't always clean), but his show was labeled as a "family show" so we went last night.



We had such a good time. Louie Anderson is funny.

Really, really funny.

I was wheezing, I was laughing so hard.

(That could have also been because we had to walk through a smoky casino to get to the theatre, but he was really funny).

It was so nice to get out by ourselves (even though Mike made fun of me like a gazillion times because I kept checking to make sure the kids were okay, before realizing they weren't with us).

A fun clean show + some adult conversation with my best friend + no stopping fights in the backseat on the drive there made it awesome!

Such a fun night!

And then we came home.

I don't want to say we had the world's worst babysitter or anything.

Because, it's not like she ate my children or anything.

They were alive.

But, here's what I wrote to my mom on Facebook about it:

Came home last night to find permanent marker everywhere-stove, freezer, walls, pictures, and table (the one and only permanent marker we own is kept on top of the fridge)... Grace had to finally take the marker away. Josh climbed into the freezer and got an ice cream bar (I said and wrote in the instructions that he is lactose intolerant and could only have an otter pop after dinner)... they tried to tell the babysitter, she didn't care. At bedtime he cried in his crib for over and hour, and Adam and Grace tried to calm him down with books and toys. His eyes were swollen today. There was toothpaste all over the counter and mirror, and dirty baby footprints all over the bathroom counter, too. Which meant that Josh was on the bathroom counter. They had to get their own toothbrushes ready. Adam did random Google searches on the Internet (which he knows better than to do, but I said NO computer allowed... she told him he could so she could have the Wii). It was a nightmare. The babysitter during all of this? Playing MarioKart by herself and watching hours of Disney shows on Netflix.

So.

My funny night didn't turn out being so funny after all.

I have again sworn off babysitters.

I don't really want to wait until Adam's 12 to babysit to go out again with Mike, though, so I decided if you are family and are visiting Vegas and are staying at our house, I'm probably going to dump my kids on you for a few hours.

In return, I will vacuum the carpet that you sleep on when you stay.

(So tempting, right?)

Just please don't eat them or anything.

:)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Adam the Bobcat

Adam has worked really hard since starting Cub Scouts. He earned his Bobcat badge and bicycle belt loop last night at the pack meeting!

For someone who has never been a big fan of the Scouting program (I had 4 brothers who were Scouts... that a lot of awards ceremonies and silly cheers), I have totally loved having Adam being in Cub Scouts. He loves it, he's made new friends, and he's having fun while learning.

Plus, I forgot that I got jewelery when he earns a new badge.

;)



After awards were handed out, they played broom hockey and had ice cream bars.


Mike was able to go with us and see Adam gets his awards (yay!), and we had so much fun there together!

Way to go, Adam the Bobcat!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Down the Drain

You know those beautiful fillings that the dentist gave Adam?

The ones that protected his teeth?

The ones that made his injury not look quite so bad?

The ones that (even with a discount) cost $250?

They fell out today in the bath.

He squirted himself with a rubber duck and they fell off.

Which means, I literally watched $250 go down the drain today.

Excuse me while I go hide under a pillow and cry.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Halfway Through Summer

My children recently discovered Phineas and Ferb on the Netflix.

And they are so in love.

That theme song ran through my head the entire time I was putting this post together.

It's only appropriate that it is sung while these pictures are looked at of our 79 Days of Summer so far.

So. Go ahead. Sing.

You've got 40 pictures to look at here, so ya might as well.

I'll start ya:

There's 79 days of summer vacation
And school comes along just to end it.
So the annual problem for our generation
Is finding a good way to spend it.

Like maybe:


Having a birthday party


Eating frozen custard


Visiting a pet store


Attending Adam's baptism in Phoenix


Melting broken crayons to make new ones


Having a picnic dinner at the park + playing at the park


Going to storytime at the library


Having family game night


Swimming in the pool


Celebrating the 4th of July


Making s'mores


Building a fort


Feeding the ducks at the park


Making homemade popsicles


Playing at the splash park


Walking to get ice cream cones


Having family movie night (with caramel corn)


Visiting the aquarium at the Silverton


Eating Frosty's at the park


Going to a magic show at the library (Adam was chosen to help!)


Bringing cookies to the firestation


Flying kites


Visiting the temple


Making a nature rubbing


Being aliens at the library


Riding the carousel


Watching a movie under the stars (Jumanji)


Making homemade ice cream


Having the missionaries to dinner


Eating lunch at work with Dad


Donating our clothes and toys to D.I.


Getting a free book from Barnes & Noble


Learning about a new culture (Egypt)


Making a new snack (hummus + baked pita chips)


Having a science day


Playing chalk games


(We also wrote letters to friends, did the kids' annual handprints, started the Friend Summer Reading chart and put on a puppet show).

Yeah, it doesn't rhyme. But you get the general idea.

And I was right. Having a plan for fun has made this summer so much more enjoyable. I'm loving it, in fact. I soooo don't want school to start again!

I am so glad there is still half of the summer left to enjoy!!!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Harry Potter Movie


My sister, Kayty, and I love Harry Potter.

I stole her books from her so that I could read the series. We went in on the 4th Harry Potter book together (and then fought over it). We've talked many a time about our theories and the plots.

It was only fitting that we saw the final Harry Potter movie together!

She drove up and we went to the midnight show. It was the first midnight show I've ever been to for a new movie.

We had SO much fun!

I loved being with my sister, seeing all the people dressed up in character, and the movie.

Fun night!

(Even though I was dead the next morning, it was still fun!).

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Teeth Fix: Part 1

Adam went to the dentist last Tuesday, where they x-rayed him, prodded him, and discussed what to do with his teeth.

The dentist said that she has no idea if the teeth are going to die or not. The pulp of the teeth weren't exposed when he hit them, but hitting them with that much force could kill them.

And until his teeth decide on whether to stick around or not, she doesn't want to fix them, because that will change the plan on how to fix them.

Does that make sense?

Today he went in, and had them filled, so that the "dentin" layer of the inside of his teeth aren't exposed, because having that exposed opens the door to decay. He goes back in a month to check on them and re-evaluate.

The stinky part is, is that our insurance isn't covering any of it.

Because, to them, it's just cosmetic.

(You know, because covering the tooth to prevent decay is totally cosmetic.)

The wonderful part is, is that their dentist (Dr. Laurie) is wonderful.

Today wasn't covered at all.

She gave us a discount.

The follow-up visit isn't covered at all.

She's only charging us $10.

I love her, like so much.

Before:


After:


The worst part right now, is that Adam is really aware of his teeth. He is not liking how he looks and how he talks. We thought we would have taken care of it before school started again, and that's not going to happen. So. I'm really hoping that his teeth don't die, and that we can get them fixed as soon as possible. And, that sometime between now and then, that our insurance realizes that these teeth are not just chipped. They are gone. So it's not just a cosmetics issue.

Ugh.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The W* Family Fasting Club

Adam turned 8 last month.

(I'm sure you all had no idea about that).

;)

In our family, we decided that we would encourage our children to begin fasting on Fast Sunday after they turned 8 years old. Awhile ago, we started talking about it with Adam.

He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea.

Then he found out about a month ago, that not only could he not eat for 2 meals, but he couldn't drink, either (he must have missed that in the initial discussions).

And then he really, really wasn't thrilled with the idea.

In fact, he told me that that in this heat, if he didn't drink, he would surely die.

And that I was trying to kill him.

One day I was perusing one of my favorite blogs, 71 Toes, and read about her family's "Fasting Club."

I LOVED the idea.

(Which doesn't surprise me, because I pretty much love all of her, and her parents'-the Eyre's-, ideas. And books. And columns. And programs. But that's a whole different topic).

Anyways, on Saturday I sat down with Adam and told him that since he could fast now, he was officially a member of The W* Family Fasting Club.

You would not believe how jealous Grace was.

Seeing Grace jealous of the club he now belonged to, made him pretty happy.

We began our fast together Saturday night. On Sunday, as Grace and Josh ate, we went into my room and read scriptures together. We prayed together. Adam talked about his testimony.

It was so ridiculously special.

Yeah, he still complained a little. By 4:30 he was starting to get grumpy.

However, being a part of something really helped him, and made the experience more meaningful for all of us.

It was a really neat day.

I love new traditions.

And I love, love, love my Adam.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Independence Day '11

We had a really fun 4th of July!

We woke up to Mike making us pumpkin waffles.

Because nothing screams "America" like pumpkin.

:)

We went for a swim in the early afternoon:




Had a barbecue:


Complete with s'mores, of course:



When it got dark, we had a little fireworks show a la Mike:



As you can see, none of us dressed up in red, white, or blue. I'm totally kicking myself for it! I had THE cutest outfit for Grace to wear, that I had bought on clearance last year. Totally forgot about it. The boys all have flag shirts. Totally forgot about them, too.

Most of the people in our apartment complex were playing around with illegal fireworks, so we went inside and played some games after we were done with ours. They were just a little too crazy out there!

We had a fabulous day!