Drinks of Water

This all started when I was pregnant with Jerrica.  I just couldn’t get enough water and made a contest out of who could bring mom the most drinks during the week.  Well, of course all the kids were constantly bringing me drinks and keeping me hydrated.

Then I had Jerrica and nursed her.  As some of you are aware, you are constantly thirsty when you are nursing.  Once again the kids were always kind to bring me drinks.

However, Kaylee still keeps up this little drinks of water routine.  Almost every night before she goes to bed, she scurries down to fill a cup with crushed ice and water for me.  Then brings it in to me or sets it on my nightstand for the night.

Well, the other night Stephen and I were out on a date and when we came home this was on my nightstand-

She had a sweet note with drinks for each of us.  Her note said, “Mom good night, I love you love Kaylee.  Thanks for being a great mom.”  She is sooo thoughtful!  How could I not love being a mother with little sweet things like this being done for me!!!

Summer Concerts in the Park

Stephen took us one time for Family Home Evening and we have kept it a summer tradition.  We were supposed to meet Trenya’s family there tonight, but they had just gotten back from Utah yesterday.  We missed you!!!

Anyway, we LOVE the concerts!  The kids climb up on the big rocks right there and actually sit and listen.  Well, there might be a little climbing up and down on the big rocks.  There are soo many instruments to watch and listen to.  I love how energetic the conductor is and how much each of the musicians enjoy playing.  Stephen and I were getting a kick out of one of the percussionists tonight (and no it’s not the guy from our church)

A lot of older people come out to these.  Rebecca leaned over and asked me if they come because it’s “old” music that they play.  Just then they played the theme song from “Pirates of the Caribbean” and all of my kids’ faces lit up.  They did an incredible job with it. 

We make the kids sit and listen during the first half and then they can play at the park, which is right next to the concert pavillion, during the second half. Well, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the park has changed.  They had a lot of cool equipment.

 

The next thing is some sort of teeter totter that moves up and down.

As we were leaving they announced and played a John Philip Sousa march.  Kaylee turned to me and said, “you like this one, don’t you mom?”  I was like Yes, how did you know.  She then told me that she remembered them playing it last time and how I commented on it  It’s exciting to me how kids learn and absorb without even realizing it.  I hope that every time Kaylee hears John Philip Sousa she will remember the fun that we had at our Summer Concerts.

Blisters and Backaches

I have been dying to work more on our backyard.  So after our hike we all got to work.  We pulled weeds and leveled the ground until all of our backs had spasms.

Then we let our blisters heal over Sunday.  However, on Monday we were back at it.  Pioneer Sand came and dropped off some of their Planter’s Mix Soil.  We then shoveled and spread all of that until we got more blisters.

OK some of us might not have gotten any blisters, but they sure got dirty!

Then we spread on the grub killer pellets, the fertilizer, the grass seed (yes I did say seed and not sod, remember I’m married to Mr. Frugal), and then these fun little pellets that expand with water to help keep the seed wet and in place.  After we finished it looked beautiful.  The dark soil all spread so evenly, AND THEN the dog raced through it, the girls “forgot” and walked on it, and I about lost it!  I looked at Stephen and told him with our luck, it probably won’t even rain anymore!

I hope it grows.  We sure worked hard on it.

Hiking with the Mumma’s

Lance was out of town this weekend putting some of his art in galleries in New Mexico. So on Saturday we decided to take Kim and Mallory on a hike with us. It is such a beautiful hike up Cheyenne Canyon on Mount Cutler. The weather was PERFECT! Here are a few pictures from the hike.

At the very top we had those yummy frozen sorbets that come in the real fruit shell from Costco. Those are so yummy! I haven’t decided which one is my favorite because I like them all.

Kim had me laughing so hard. She has such a funny sense of humor.

When we got back home we started our big backyard project. We weeded and shoveled and raked until we all pretty much had blisters on our hands. Tomorrow the fun continues on the project. Pioneer Sand is coming bright and early at 7:00am to bring us a load of planter’s soil. I’m EXCITED!!!

My Little Sweat Shop

I went over to Becki’s the other afternoon and she had her kids sewing these pillows out of bandanas.  I remember last year how she taught all of her older kids to sew PJ pants.  Her kids were so excited about their project and didn’t even realize that they were learning very important skills at the same time.

So guess what Shauna did a few days later?  You are right!  I copied Becki and gave my kids a little sewing lesson. 

We first went to Hobby Lobby and I let the kids each pick out their own bandana from the plethora there.  Then we came home and I set up a little sweat shop in our living room.

I first made them press their bandanas.  They probably didn’t need to do this step but I thought that it was good practice for them to iron.

Then I made them fold their bandana in half and pin the three open sides.  Once again not a necessary step, but good practice.  After the pinning, we started sewing on the machine.  That is always fun with the “gas pedal”.

Then the stuffing came next.  I LOVE the “Cluster Fill”!  It is sooo soft and comes in little clusters so that it doesn’t all bunch together.  We had a lot of fun playing with that as can be seen on Ashley’s face and Becca’s skirt.

We sewed up the open end and tried our new travel pillows out.  I was excited at how excited the kids were.  Kaylee was sweet and made Jerrica’s for her after she finished her own.  She has had a couple of sewing classes at Joann’s and really enjoys sewing. 

Anyway, thanks for the fun idea Becki!  Now on to the bandana quilt!

Family Photo Shoot

A sweet friend called me the other day and asked if she could do a photo shoot of my family.  I have seen her incredible photography skills in her blog and thought how can I be this lucky.  Take a look for yourself at how good she is www.sophistimom.com. Well, of course I immediately agreed much to my husband’s chagrin (he doesn’t care much for family pictures)

She came over Thursday morning and we headed a mile up the road into Blackforest with the trees and wildflowers.  And here are a few from the shoot -

What do you think of the colors?  I have a tendency to be a little tooo matchy.  The girls have similar dresses and I tried to pull colors from them for the boys and my shirt, instead of all of us in the exact same attire.

The next one is of my little witch that found a brightly colored mushroom in the forest.  I didn’t say “witch” did I?!?

Some horse riders came thru and of course the girls had to see them and find out what their names were.

Stephen didn’t even realize that Jaime got this next one.  Since he works from home, Jerrica is quite attached to her daddy and is always wanting to be in his arms. 

And last but not least is my favorite.  It’s a Daddy and his Daughters picture.  Little Jerrica is trying to hide her daddy’s grey hair.

So tell me what you think of the little photo shoot.

Bike Ride to Bemis

Our family loves this bike ride!  We have taken Grandma and Grandpa Coley, the Spillane’s, Aunt Tanya and a few friends.  On Wednesday we took the Webb’s with us.  We love this bike ride for the bridges, scenery and most of all it’s a nice downhill ride.  It is probably 7 miles.  Heilala brought her famous cookies so we took a halfway break and had a yummy  little snack.  The ride ends at the base of Bemis Art School where there is a fun park to play at.  Stephen met us there to take us back up to our starting point.  What a fun bike ride!

His Own Business

Jacob started his own business mowing lots.  We live in a development with 2 1/2 acre lots and are required to mow them at least twice a year.  He took around signs and had his little sister Kaylee do all the talking.  He charges $65 and has to give $15 to his dad for the gas and use of the mower.  It’s good experience for him and a good deal for the neighbors.

As you can see little sisters always like to ride with him.  He should charge for the rides that he gives.  Well, last night the mowing came to a halt and I thought that something had broken.  Jacob had seen this little horny toad and stopped to pick him up and bring him over to show to all his brothers and sisters.  He had such bright colors and sharp little spikes all over him.  Even look at the scales on his legs. 

Well of course all the kids cried to keep him as a pet.  I know that I’ve posted how pets are the best toys, BUT we do already have a dog and two kittens so we HAD to let this little fellow go.  I couldn’t believe that my girls wanted to hold him and coo over him.  I just never have gotten into reptiles!

My Very OWN Strawberry Jam

I’m very excited about this-

We have had an incredible amount of strawberries this year.  Even with Jerrica plopping down in the middle of the patch and forging for herself, we are still bringing in bowl fulls each day.  We like to pick them just before they are really dark red and let them ripen inside.  It seems like 24 hours after we bring them in they are perfectly ripe. 

Well I made my very own batch of strawberry jam with my OWN strawberries.  Lorinda came over a few months ago and we tried out the Ball pectin and I have made a few batches since.  The Ball pectin is kind of similar to the MC brand but uses less sugar, cheaper, and is totally the easiest ever!

2 pint jars of my very own strawberry jam.  Isn’t it just beautiful!

We have also had a ton of spinach.  You have to constantly pick it so that it doesn’t go to seed, and so that it will produce more.  I add leaves into our green salads and have made quite a few strawberry spinach salads.  And yes you guessed right, I used my own strawberries once again.  I just love walking out to my garden and having FOOD! 

I have my eye on this little beauty right here:

This will be our first year to have peaches from our tree.  Our apple trees are loaded as well,  I’m excited for Fall to make fruit leather out of them.  I might make a pie or two while I’m at it.  At any rate I am just so thrilled that I have fresh produce to can, cook with and especially to EAT!!

Pirates Cove

It is FINALLY getting warm and the rain is staying away.  A few nights ago we went to the Berryman’s for a swim and BBQ.  They have such a beautiful in ground pool.  I was too busy chatting and forgot to take pictures, however we are going back for more swimming this summer and I will get some then.  The same thing happened today.  I got to Pirates Cove first and took pictures of the kiddos (you can tell we were there early because no one is in the backgrounds), and then as others arrived I just got too busy talking and hardly took any other pictures.

Anyway, this Baywatch Babe, Angie thought that since the weather was going to be in the 90’s that we should go up to Pirates Cove.  So a few of us made the trek up to Littleton.  Most of these ladies have younger kids so I let the boys invite the Webb brothers to be their playmates.

The boys had a ball on the waterslides and the drop slides down in the deep pool.

Since the boys each had a friend, I had Kaylee and Rebecca partner up with each other and then told Ashley that she was partners with me.  She was excited, but probably felt she got the short end of the stick.  I did try to keep up with her!  She kept telling me today, “mom we are friends and buddies today”  I thought that was cute.  I hope she keeps telling me that when she is a teenager.  We did lots of rides on the lazy river together, played shark in the shallow pool and played in the sand.  She is fearless and just takes off here and there.

  The girls would get sooo excited for the pirate’s bucket to ring and then dump the water on top of them.  You can see the giant bucket up above the girls by the palm tree in this next picture.

Then here is my favorite part, the lazy river.  Maybe it’s my favorite because I’m lazy!

Above is Spencer and Jacob and then my two little twins below in their twin suits.

And then Boyd and Nathan.

What a beautifully warm day!

Stephen’s Birthday

Today is my Stephen’s birthday.  I had a fun weekend up in Denver all planned, but all plans went out the window when I found out that my parents were going to be in Utah this weekend.  Soooo we will have to replan that, but I did manage to do something a little lower key here.  I hope he had a happy day.  The kids and I were gone during the day at a playdate with friends over at Blackforest park, so I think that he did have some peace and quiet here at the house for part of the day.
There are so many reasons why I love my Stephen.  One of the top ones is how he is always thinking of others and helping others (especially ME)!  He is so easy going as well, which creates such a peaceful atmosphere here at home.  He is a wonderful provider for our family.  He is so willing to help around the house and help me in the kitchen.  He is always so supportive in all that I do.  He is the perfect husband and father and that is why we love you so much Stephen!!!
I let the kids help in his present this year.  It is always a giant task to buy Stephen a present because he is so practical and doesn’t want to spend money.  This year I bought him some new dress clothes.  All the kids helped me stuff them with newspaper.  The boys tied one of the new ties around the neck of the shirt.  Jacob drew a cute face on a white helium balloon.  We filled the pants pockets with all his favorite candy bars.  The two little girls stuffed one of the pairs of new socks with paper.  The one request he did have was new guitar software.  It hadn’t come yet so I had Jacob draw a guitar and the two older girls colored and cut it out, so that he would know that it was on its way.  We set our balloon “Stephen” up in the chair ready to greet Stephen in the morning on his birthday.  The kids were so excited to do this!  Jerrica kept cocking her head to the side and talking to our balloon man.  Anyway, here he is without further adieu-

Happy Birthday Stever!  I sure do love you!!!

Riding in Red Rocks

So I have this cute little pregnant sister that has horses.  She decided that her horses needed some riding, and guess what?  We got to do the riding!!!  We took them to a trail in Red Rocks, which was gorgeous.

Doesn’t she have a cute little belly!?! 

The next pictures show Ashley thanking Lady for the rides.  The hugs started out sweet and innocent, but then kinda advanced into headlocks.

  Jerrica just gave Lady sweet love pats on her mane.

Next we have three smiling girls and one shy horse.

Ashley Madsen came with us.  She LOVES animals.  I had to get some photos of the two Ashleys.  My kids kept calling Ashley Madsen “the big Ashley”, which would make our Ashley mad because she is ”big” too and wanted to be known as the “big Ashley”.

  

I love the next one that I took.  We had a picnic lunch and as we sat there eating the horses grazed on the grass.  Jerrica kept looking up at them.  To her they must seem enormous.

I love Kaylee’s pretty smile and Rebecca’s profile in the next one!

Here is the gang below a hiking and riding along.

What a beautiful afternoon!  I enjoyed watching the rock climbers, chatting with my sister, seeing the wonders of nature, and hearing my kids laughter.  Thanks for the fun afternoon Tanya!