Golden Strawberries

OK I have NO idea why I cannot get the pictures where I want them. Something is different. Anyone want to help me figure this one out? I am a bit slow to changes. :)

Yesterday we went to a strawberry patch. The kids were so excited. I really LOVE fresh strawberries and they taste so much better when you pick them yourself. It was such a gorgeous drive too. It was only a 20 minute drive from our house. We got there and the lady gave us our SMALL containers that were $5 each. HOLY COW. There was no turning back now so we let each kid have a container and only allowed them to pick a few and then we combined them all to make 2 containers for a total of $10. Ok...that is a bit much in my opinion but we had fun and I do have to say that those strawberries were not even close to the ones we pick in Washington and we even tasted better from Walmart. OH WELL.

We also got a new dog. Her name is Nana. The last dog we had was CRAZY. He would never stay in our yard and visited ALL the neighbors whenever he wanted. He ran across the street ALL the time and knocked the neighbor boy over and took his hat. When he was inside the house he went crazy and ran all over the place knocking the younger kids down. He just wasn't right for our family so we had to give him away.

So Don thought we should try again and get a puppy this time so WE could do the training. I do have to say this is the cutest dog I have seen. She is pretty good too for being a puppy and the kids LOVE her. I didn't agree to the dog but I was overruled AGAIN. This is SO unfair. I always get overruled. :)

This dog is hilarious when she sleeps or lays down. Last night I missed an opportunity to get a funny picture of her sleeping. She was sleeping on her back. IT WAS FUNNY. Don and I were laughing so hard that we woke her up. I will get a picture soon and post it. When she is tired she will walk for a bit and then just plop down with her back legs left behind her. SO FUNNY. I have a picture of that. She is a pure bread Akita and so very pretty. Zach took her to class last week and all the kids loved her. I have to say.....that every person in the hall stopped us to pet her. Zach was holding her the entire time and by the time we got to the car he said his arms were so numb because we had to keep stopping in the hall so everyone could see her. She is cute but time consuming.

It's salad not candy!!!!

Yesterday I made myself a salad for lunch and Ethan and Mayah had peanut butter and honey sandwiches. We sat down to eat and as soon as Mayah saw what I was eating she asked, "How come you get salad?" Now that one took me by surprise. I have never had any of my other kids ask that. Gotta love it. :)

Friday Fun

On Friday I went to Lowe's and bought a HUGE piece of plastic to use for a slip and slide. It was hot and I knew the kids would have a blast. So as soon as I picked the kids up from school we headed home to set up the new toy. We put it down the hill so it would go faster. Well it didn't work so well and the kids kept getting scraped from the rocks underneath. It wasn't as successful as I had hoped. :(

The kids then decided to move it to another location and it still didn't do too well. So when I was checking on the chicks that we were chick sitting they decided to get the dawn soap. I had just purchased it and when I came back around the corner more than half of it was GONE. I wasn't too happy about that one. But it sure made the slide slippery. That is when they really started to have fun. The boys were the only ones in the soap and not a single one got it in their eyes. They tried running up the slide and it was pretty funny.

Then on Saturday we decided to drive to a cemetary and talk about why we celebrate Memorial Day. I was surprised at how interested Caleb and Zach were about those that died in war. We also took a drive. I was trying to find this cool park that I saw on the internet but it is still under construction so we had our picnic in the car and then we stopped at a small indoor farmers market type thing that had an icecream shop outside their building. They also had a small play area for the kids. It was a nice stop and they had fun. Don was at home all day in bed trying to recover from surgery that he had on Thurs.

I liked this video. It was short and to the point. Just click on the play button.

http://deseretbook.com/video/view/230

This is the best day

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY"......was what Rachel said last night. Don and the boys went camping for the night for the father and son's campout. It was the perfect opportunity for us girls to spend some time together. I took the girls out to eat at Tropical Smoothie Cafe. It was the first time I have been there and it was GOOD. Rachel has a sandwich with a smoothie and Mayah had a bagel with cream cheese and part of my smoothie and I had a flat bread sandwich with a smoothie. Then we went shopping and also had to return some clothes at another store. It was 8:30 by the time we were getting home.





But as we pulled up into the driveway I thought it would be fun to get into our fancy clothes and have a dance. The girls got all dressed up and then kept asking me to get my fancy clothes on. I don't really have anything too fancy so they picked out a church dress for me to where. We turned on the music and had a dance. The girls had so much fun and I really did too.









To top the night off I made some homemade oreo shakes. SHHHH.....don't tell my online personal trainer.





Pretty simple to entertain those two. I enjoyed spending time with the girls and they were very excited to get to sleep in my bed with me.

Catching up

We have been chick sitting for some friends for two weeks. The little critters are cute and the kids LOVE to take them out in the yard. The owners asked us if we could get them out every once in awhile. They are so cute too. When the kids put them out the chicks stay close together. We clean out their food three times a day and change their water a couple of times per day. I think the kids want some chicks.

So Saturday we were very busy. First off we had a little trouble with the boys. They had lied about each other and Don was tired of it so he sat them down for about an hour trying to get the truth out. He got the truth and he handled it so good. He made the boys sit next to each other and put their arm around each other for a long time. Then they had to hug and tell each other "I love you man". Then they each had to choose their own punishment. I am so glad Don is back. There is nothing better than sharing the responsibility of parenthood with another person.



Don and the boys went to Lowes to get some things for our 'fake' fence. The deer here are crazy and everyone who has a garden needs to put a fence up. It is too expensive to do a regular fence so we are making a different type of fence that is much cheaper. He rototilled a garden area but there were SO many rocks. We got more than half way done. The kids and I picked up a few rocks and raked but we are going to have to go over it again. This is one rocky place. It was supposed to rain but thankfully it held out for us. Then he had to dig some holes to put the posts in. That took quite a bit of time. And we still are not done with it yet. But getting closer and closer. The kids even put the sprinkler on and enjoyed getting wet. The wind was a bit chilly after they got wet so it didn't last long.




Later that night (and I mean late) Don, Caleb and Zach constructed a bat house. I think they stayed up until 11:30 that night. But they finished it. They still need to add 294 Bat Avenue to the front. And then we need to hang it on the house. For those who are wondering why they made a bat house??? They are supposed to eat bugs. We have tons of gnats and so hopefully after we get us some bats we won't have to deal with too many of them. It is said that they can eat up to 600 bugs in one hour. WOW. That is impressive. If it doesn't work OH WELL. The boys had fun doing it.





The FINAL bat house picture




Then on Sunday we took a drive. Don decided to have the kids play a game. He said that whoever could find the most LIVE animals would win a prize (but NO birds). It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun. Zachary found 2 animals and no one else could really spot anything and they were getting discouraged. Plus it was right after church and we get out at 12:30 and the kids were super hungry. It was already close to 2. SO they were grumpy from that. Ethan had fallen asleep. Everyone decided to stop playing the game and Zachary came to the conclustion that he had won since he found the most. He announced that he was the winner. NO ONE said anything and we just went on our way. About a few seconds later, Zachary said, "I don't hear any cheering". IT WAS SO FUNNY.

Then the kids started getting really whiney. We started to head for home. You would have thought the kids hadn't eaten for a month the way they were carrying on. Then Zach said, "see Ethan is so hungry he passed out". AGAIN we all started laughing. I am pretty sure he was just sleeping. :)

Monday after school the kids came into the garage where Don was making a homemade picture frame. Then Caleb decided to make a table. He measure out the boards and did it all on his own (except for cutting the boards). He used Don's drill to drive the screws in. He leveled it. He did a great job and that kept him busy for quite awhile.



Zach attempted to make a homemeade kite but it didn't do too well. I tried getting a picture but it didn't work out. Don is going to help him do it so he can actually use it. And since it is windy here it will work out perfectly. They are using bamboo sticks and an old tarp.

After the boys tinkered in the garage they went out to the garden. Don really wanted to get this HUGE rock out of the ground. He asked the boys about some ideas on how to get it out. Caleb thought they could tie the tow rope to it and pull it out. Don said he didn't think that would work. Well Caleb went ahead and tried it anyway and guess what? Don had to eat his words. :) Don said it was so funny. He was wishing I would have been there with the camera but I was making dinner. He said Caleb tied the rope to the rock and then Caleb, Zach, Rachel and EThan all got on the end of the rope and pulled. Then Don used something to help pry it. They were able to get that thing out of there but couldn't move it very far. I wish I could have seen that one.

Finally everyone came in to enjoy yummy leftovers. There was a bit of cake leftover from Mothers Day and we were going to use that for our Family Home Evening treat. Well Mayah had climbed up on the counter and eaten pretty much all of it. The kids were SO MAD. So Don pulled out some cookie dough out of the freezer and put it in water to try and thaw it. Caleb thought it would thaw better in the microwave (even though I told him NO). Pretty soon he called to us to come here. He had put the tube in the microwave and it had blown up in there. So NO treat for Family Home Evening tonight but we got a good laugh out of the mess in the microwave. GROSS. It was worse before I took this picture too.