Haircuts - April 30, 2015

Thursday - April 30th

Brinley really wanted her hair cut short again.  I was going to take her to a salon in Brigham, but I kept putting it off.  She was getting frustrated and wondered why I wouldn't just cut it for her.  I'm not great at cutting hair.  I have no training.  So, I really didn't want to cut it for her this time.  But, she was so frustrated and I didn't know how long it would be before we would get a chance to go and get it done, so I gave in and told her I would cut it.  I watched a few you tube videos for inspiration, then the cutting began.  I think it turned out alright.  She really loves it, so we are both happy now.  

 Alissa decided that she wanted her hair cut also.  She said she just wanted a trim, then she showed me how much to trim off.  It was about 5 inches.  So, I cut Alissa's hair also.  Her hair was really long, so 5 inches really wasn't that big of a difference for her.  She was happy with the end results also.

 The schools and Bell Photography do this mean thing each year to make you buy their pictures.  I really don't like it.  They take pictures, then send the kids home with the expensive packet with all the pictures in it.  You either return the pictures to the school so they can throw them away or you keep what you want and send money to the school to pay for them.  The reason I hate this so much is because the kids get all excited about their pictures and they whine and cry begging you to keep them, or they lose them.  It's just an added stress that I'd rather not deal with.  I usually copy the picture then send the package back to the school.  I just think it is not a nice way to do business.  I think, even if I had the money and we wanted the pictures, I wouldn't buy it, just because of the way they do things.  I don't like feeling pressured or forced into buying something.  I always walk away from those kinds of situations.  That's part of my issue with Apple products.  I think they are an evil company.  They have good stuff, but you have to get everything through them.  They don't offer anything for free.  They'll say something is free, but then you realize you can't get it or use it unless you have paid for another one of their products to make it work.  Anyway, I didn't mean to get off topic.  Here is Brinley's 2nd school picture this year.  She is a cute girl!

Blind Folded Makeovers and Fire Up the North Fork - April 26, 2015

Sunday - April 26th

Alissa and Brinley came asking me for some funny game ideas for them to do.  I couldn't think of any, so they said they would come up with their own.  The idea they came up with was Blindfolded makeovers.  They gave each other makeovers while they were blindfolded.

Kari called to tell me she sent some pictures of Kiara's new hair style.  Kiara likes really funky hair.  She's funny like that.  I like it.  I think it is fun.  I was going to post a picture of her hair, but the picture sent on my phone isn't working.  I'll try and figure it out
and post the picture later.

Kari also told me about Kiara's mechanical baby that she is having to take care of for school.  Kari said that she woke up this morning and could hear the baby crying, so she went downstairs to check on Kiara.  Kiara was so frustrated.  When Kari came in, she said, "Take it!  I've only had 2 hours of sleep!"  We had a good laugh over how realistic her
mechanical baby was.
I checked Facebook before I went to bed tonight and was surprised to see this!

There was a fire way too close for comfort!  It would be devastating to lose all that we have on that property.

I'm surprised that I didn't hear about this sooner and that I had to find out about it on Facebook.  It happened a week and a half ago.  I guess that's what I get for not being better at keeping in touch with family.

Search and Rescue/ Our New Little Pool - April 22, 2015

Wednesday - April 22nd

Roger got home from the search at 5:30 ish this morning.  So, he was gone all night!  Roger said that it was a family from Washington.  They bought some property out in the west dessert online.  They drove out there to see it.  They couldn't find it.  They ended up going off road looking for it.  Eventually they reached a place were the ground was like it is near the Spiral Jetty.  They hit an area where it turned into a thick wet clay.  Their vehicle sunk right in.  They were stuck and lost.  Roger said it was cold and pitch dark out there.  They were clear out past Kelton (a ghost town we visited 2 years ago).  It was not easy finding them in the dark.  Roger rode a 4-wheeler out there.  He loves the opportunity to go out 4-wheeling in all these places that he wouldn't normally go.  I think that's his favorite thing about being on the search and rescue team.  The family was not prepared.  They were all wearing shorts and a few of them didn't even have shirts.  Roger said there were 4 kids and 3 adults.  One of the search and rescue trucks ended up getting stuck also.  They had to dig and pull out both vehicles, then help the family find their way out of the west desert.  Roger came home covered in mud and really tired.  He took a shower and went straight to bed.

I got to go to Alissa's school to attend a career planning meeting with Alissa.  At the start they gave us a paper with a bunch of qualities written on it.  They asked us to circle all of the words that describe or are qualities Alissa has.  We ended up circling all of them.  I just think my little Alissa is the best.  The lady was kind of surprised.  She said that nobody has ever circled all of them before.  All I can say to that is that Alissa is amazing.  I love my little ones.

We set up new pool, so the kids could cool down after school.  Erin came over today.  Her mom had to take Ben to a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake, so nobody would have been home to keep Erin company.

Of course, since the pool was up the neighbor's came and swam with us.  That's the hardest thing about living in the town houses.  You don't have your own backyard, so anytime you set up something fun, all the kids around can see it and they all come running.  It's overwhelming.

 We had to take a break from swimming to go to parent teacher conference.  Alissa did well.  It was fun to talk with her teachers.  One of her teachers thought that Alissa and Erin were sisters.  Her math teacher wished she had known that Alissa and Erin were friends.  She said she would have put them in the same class just to see Erin smile.  That was nice.  It's sad, that it never occurred to me to ask the school if they could have some classes together.  They had no classes together last year and this year they had one class during their last trimester.  It's so sad.
They really miss each other.

After parent teacher conference was over, we came home and I let the kids swim again.  Swimming got a little crazy, though, when too many neighborhood boys showed up.  I told them they could play if the were nice and not too rough and rowdy.  They said okay, but shortly after, they were wrestling and trying to push each others heads under the water.  I ended up sending them home.

Then the kids came in and played Minecraft while I cleaned and folded laundry.

Improved Slip 'n' Slide - April 21, 2015

Tuesday - April 21st

It was really hot again today.  We were really sweating by the time we got home, so we decided to set up the slip n slide again today.  Parker helped me tape the plastic sheeting together before we left to get the kids from school.  When we got home, I went to the storage unit to get the tent so we could use it's stakes to hold our slip n slide down.  I blew up an air mattress to make the first part of the slide more comfortable, different, and fun.  We were excited to try it out.
On Alissa's first try, she landed hard on her hip bone, as she came off the mattress.  It hurt her really bad, so she went inside.  She has a big bruise now.  After it happened, she said she wasn't going to even try it again.  It was too painful.
The other kids had a lot of fun.  They played for a really long time.  Alissa's friend, Malaiyah, kept asking if Alissa was going to come back out and play.  She was bummed that Alissa wasn't out sliding with us.  We all were.  It felt weird to be out here playing without her.  It's always weird for me when one of my little ones aren't out having fun with us.

When we finished slip n sliding, the kids all changed back into their regular clothes and were trying to figure out something fun to play.  Malaiyah discovered a Ghost app on her tablet.  It is supposed to be able to see ghost and show you were they are in your house.  The kids were all freaked out as they walked around and their ghost app showed ghosts in different areas of the house and outside.  They had fun with it.

Brinley had Activity days.  Her friend Layla came over and they went to their meeting.  This was their first time with this new activity days leader.  She lives right across the street from us, so that made it nice and really easy to get the kids there.  Brinley had a lot of fun.  she really likes the new leader.

After dinner, we all went outside to get some fresh air and throw the football around for a little while.  Actually, I didn't go out to throw the football.  I had no intention of doing that.  I went out to take pictures.  I love to take pictures, so we can always remember the fun happy times we have.

 Brinley's friend, Kylie, came out after she finished her dinner.  She was like, "Why do you have a camera?"  I explained to her my hobby of taking pictures and documenting everything, then she said, "Take pictures of me and Brinley."  So, that's what I did.  Alissa snuck up behind them to give bunny ears for a few of the shots.  Then, Kylie's Brother, Porter came out.  He had the same funny idea Alissa had.  He snuck up behind them to give bunny ears also.  I think it's funny how big the smiles were on Alissa and Porter's faces as they gave the bunny ears.  They both thought they were so funny.

We started reading 'The Work and The Glory' as a family, every chance we get.  Tonight, we really wanted to read.  I had the kids get all ready for bed a little early, so we could read for a bit before they headed up to their beds.  We got all settled and comfy int he living room and Roger was just about to start reading to us, when he got a text message from the search and rescue, saying there was a stranded motorist in the west desert.  Roger had to leave as quickly as he could.  He apologized, then we jumped up and helped him gather his things so he could be out the door as quickly as possible.  It was kind of a crazy way to end the day.

Now, the kids are all in bed, Roger is out with the search and rescue looking for the stranded motorist, and I'm here, worrying about him and scrapbooking.  I'll head to bed soon.