Raft Swimming Pool - May 12, 2016

Thursday - May 12th

The kids really wanted me to set up a pool for them today, but I really didn't want to.  I had found my raft that I bought when I was 19 years old.  I had used this raft all the time.  I loved it!  It has been sitting in storage for a long time.  I wanted to see if it had any holes in it and how it was holding up.  I think it will be fun to take this to Bear Lake to play in.  So, I blew it up and it turns out that it is holding up pretty well.  It looks great!  Anyway, since I had my raft blown up and the kids were wanting to swim, I had the brilliant idea to just fill the raft up with water and they could swim in it.  They thought that sounded fun enough.  The neighbor kids came over and they all thought it was fun too.  I think what they likes the most about it, is that it is sturdier than our blow up pool and you can sit and walk around on the edges.  It was good entertainment for them all.

 I love sitting outside and relaxing with a good book while the kids swim.  I'm reading my bear attack book.

Cake Decorating With the Young Women - May 11, 2016

Wednesday - May 11th

Alissa's Young Women's class came over for a cake decorating activity tonight.  I think it went well.  The activity wasn't super organized... or I guess I should say, it wasn't planned well.  A few weeks ago, my neighbor, Autumn, came and asked me if I would like to teach the Beehives to do some cake decorating.  I told her that of course I would.  After that, I didn't hear anymore about it.  I kept thinking one of the leaders would call me to set something up, but it didn't happen that way.  On Sunday night I got a text from one of the leaders.  She texted to confirm that we were still good to do the cake decorating activity this week.  I was surprised that I had heard nothing more about it up until that point.  I explained that I didn't know what was going on, but I would love to have them come this Wednesday.  She felt bad that I hadn't been given any information about the activity.  She told me that Autumn was going to make cupcakes for everybody to decorate and they would meet at my house at 7:00pm.  I agreed to have the icing and other tools to teach them.

I got everything ready.  I decided that I wanted to try a few homemade cake recipes, so I made some cupcakes, but not a lot, because I knew they'd be bringing some.  They all came and nobody had cupcakes with them.  So, someone ran across the street to see if Autumn was coming and if she made the cupcakes.  She had forgotten about it.  She was really stressed out because she had some big school assignment she was working on, so she wasn't able to get the cupcakes ready or come to the activity.  It was a good thing I had made some cupcakes or we would have had nothing to decorate.  I was just surprised that they assigned all of the planning of the activity to Autumn and none of the leaders checked in with her to help her out or make sure the activity was getting set up and going as planned.  Also, only one leader showed up to the activity and she spent the majority of her time staring at her phone.  That was how the last cake decorating activity I did with the Young Women's went.  I did an activity like this for the 12 ward when we lived there.  The leaders had planned this one, so we had all the cakes and everything figured out, but it was similar to this in that the leaders spent the whole time staring at their phones.  The only difference was that there were more leaders at the last one and when they weren't staring at their phones, they were talking loudly with each other, while I was trying to teach the girls.  A couple of times, the girls had to ask them to quiet down so they could hear what was being taught.  Anyway, so the activity went good enough.  It could have been better had they made better plans and given me more time, but that's okay.

Abnormal mammogram - may 10, 2016

Tuesday - May 10th

I've been super panicky lately about my health.  Ever since my friend, Laurie, passed away, I've been even more worried at the possibility of dying at a young age.  I really don't want to die yet.  I want to be here for my kiddos as long as I possibly can.  In February my friend, Lori, passed away from breast cancer.  So, I have been really worried and freaking myself out a bit about my health.  I keep imagine that I feel a lump or something.  I finally decided to just go to the doctor and get everything checked.  Dr. Wilding was very nice to sit and listen to all my worries.  He did a good job at helping me calm down.  He checked everything and scheduled me for a mammogram, so that I could have peace of mind in that area also.  One funny thing from my appointment was that my blood pressure (that has always been normal when tested) was a little high this time.  The doctor was pretty sure it was because I was freaking out so much.  I just thought it was funny.  Anyway, so I left the appointment feeling a lot better than when I had first gone in.  My mammogram was scheduled for the following day.  I wasn't looking forward to getting it done, but I was excited to have some peace of mind.

The appointment went well.  The technician said that everything looked okay.  She explained that everybody's breast are different, like a fingerprint.  So, a lot of times, there will be something unusual that the doctor will need to take a closer look at, just to make sure it is nothing bad.  She told me not to panic.  It all looks good, but the doctor might call me back for more testing.  Then she handed me a paper as I left the office.  When I got in the car, I read the paper.  It read, "So you had an abnormal mammogram.  Don't panic".  It was really hard for me not to panic after I read the top portion of that pamphlet.  I just kept repeating to myself, "Don't panic.  Don't panic."  It was really hard to keep calm.  The technician called me a day or two later and said there was something odd in my left breast and the doctor would like me to come in for more testing.  

My appointment was today.

This morning, I did yard work.  I weeded and cleaned up the corner with the fire pit.  I did it to keep extra busy,  to help me not worry about my doctor appointment today.   The appointment wasn't fun.  They did another mammogram and then an ultrasound on my breast.  I survived the appointment, though.  The doctor said that it is just a cist and nothing to worry about. No more mammograms until I turn 40.  I'm so happy it was nothing and now I finally have a little peace of mind.  I was probably making myself a little sick with all of the worrying I was doing over my health.  I'm glad that everything was fine.  Hopefully I won't start to panic and freak out like that again.  It is just really hard when you have 2 friends, close to your age, pass away.  It really throws me off.  It just feels so wrong for somebody my age to die.  I don't like it.

Another Hat - May 6, 2016

Friday - May 6th

I made another hat.  I love these hair hats.  They are my favorite.  Brinley is getting really tired of modeling my hats for me, but she was nice and did it again.  I don't know what I'll do if I can't get Brinley to help me out any more.

Swimming - May 4, 2016

Wednesday - May 4th

We are getting too impatient for summer to be here.  The kids especially can't wait for school to be out.  They can't wait to spend all day playing with their friends, instead of just a few hours after school.

We love swimming in our pools.  The one we set up today is not in very good shape.  I'm pretty sure it is not going to last much longer.  Hopefully, I can buy a new one soon.

Retirement Party - May 1, 2016

Sunday - May1st

We went to Roger's mom retirement party after church today.  Apparently the party started earlier than the time we were told to be there.  We were told the party starts at 4:30.  When we got there, everybody had been there for a while and they had already jumped out and surprised Roger's mom.  Everybody we spoke to said, "You're late."  So, that wasn't cool.  Not fun to be invited to come late to a party.  Especially when you have to drive 2 hours to get there.  I think if your asked to come all this way for a party and you say you'll go, the person inviting you should at least let you know that you've been invited to miss the main event of the party.  Anyway, Roger's mom is excited to be retired.  I hope she has lots of fun.

Cindi asked us all to learn a funny dance, so we could surprise Joyce with a dance.  The video link she sent us to show us the dance, didn't explain what the dance was at all.  So, I searched for an instructional video to teach the kids the move.  The guy in the video Cindi sent did the move and added a whole bunch of other moves.  So, I wondered what dance move everybody would be trying to do.  It was funny practicing the dance with the kids.  I knew I probably wouldn't get up and try the dance at all, but I learned it anyway.
This is the video I recorded of everybody doing the dance.

A Different Version of an Old Hat - April 25, 2016

Monday - April 25th

Someone ordered this monster hat on my Etsy shop, but they asked to have it made in navy blue and red.  I really don't love the way it looks in these colors, but hopefully the person who ordered it will.

Bear Lake - April 23, 2016

Saturday - April 23rd

Linda and Dave had to deliver some wedding stuff to a house near Bear Lake, so they decided to go in their motor home and spend the night.  I was so excited to finally get a chance to go to Bear Lake with them.  But, it was as fun as I dreamed, due to the weather.  It was cold and rainy.  I had really been hoping and daydreaming about a day on the beach.  I knew the water would be cold, but I still thought it would be warm enough that we could put our feet in and chill on the beach.

When Roger woke up, we left to go and meet them.  They were just chillin' in the motor home, waiting for us.  We visited for a little bit, then they called around and found a place to park for the night.  We went to the RV park with them and hung out for a while.  The kids had fun playing on the little playground for a little bit with their cousin Mathew.  After eating some dinner and watching a movie, we decided to walk around the campground.  Then we decided to start a fire and sit around the fire for a little while.  That was fun.  I'm still really bummed that it wasn't warm enough to hang out on the beach, but I guess I'll get over it eventually.

Slip N Slide - April 21, 2016

Thursday - April 21st

The last time I made a big bubble for us to play in, I used black plastic sheeting.  I though it would be fun, because we could take glow in the dark stuff in there and have a dance party.  It wasn't as fun as I imagined it to be.  I think I will stick with the clear bubbles from now on.  Anyway, so I had the black plastic sheeting from our last bubble sitting around.  I decided to use it to make a really fun and big slip n slide.  We had a lot of fun playing on the slip n slide today.  I am really loving our large yard and the warm weather.  It is so nice to have all that space outside that is ours.  We don't have to share it with a ton of neighbors, like at the town house.  It is really nice to have our own space.  I love it.

Linda and Dave's Motor Home - April 10, 2016

Sunday - April 10th

Yesterday, our niece, Aurora got baptized.  We were late getting there.  We missed all of the talks, but were there in time to see her get baptized.  So, that was good.  After the baptism, we went to Tyler and Melissa's house for some lunch and a get together with family.  It was nice to see everybody.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins.

When we finished there, we followed Missy home, so we could see her new house.  She has a nice house.  I'm excited for her.

We left from Missy's house to go to Lehi, where Linda said she would pick me and the kids up, so we could spend the night at her house.  My dad was the one who came and got us.  Roger dropped us off because he had plans to go hang out with his friend, Dan.  The drive to Linda's with my dad was nice.  We had a good conversation and he drove us past the Timpanogas temple.  The kids have been asking to see it, because that is the temple that Roger and I got married in.

When we got to Linda's, the kids ran outside to play and jump on the trampoline and I stayed inside and enjoyed the yummy steaks they had made for dinner.  They were really good!

We had a fun weekend.  I love to hang out with my sister.  We had a lot of fun talking and watching movies.  Linda is doing weight watchers right now, so she didn't pig out on lots of treats with me, but she had lots of treats and junk food she wanted me to eat, so she didn't have it in her house anymore.  I was happy to do that for her.  It was a yummy weekend filled with lots of unhealthy food for me.  I enjoyed it.  While I was there, she taught me about weight watchers and how it is working for her and Dave.  She gave me some good advice and ideas on how to get started.  Roger and I plan to start tomorrow.  I'm not really excited about starting a diet, but roger really wants to and he doesn't want to do it alone, so that's why I will be doing it also.  I promised myself to never diet again, but I'm breaking my promise so I can be supportive of Roger.  Last weekend, Linda and Dave came over for a little visit and while they were here, Dave had told Roger about weight watchers and how it was working for them.  As soon as they left, Roger started talking to me about it and how he wants to do it.  He had been talking to me about how he wants to loose weight, before they came and told us about weight watchers, so I wasn't surprised.  After talking to Linda about it yesterday, I'm feeling better about it.  I think it will be a really good thing for Roger and I.  So, we are going to start tomorrow.

Linda and Dave got a motor home.  It is so nice!  I'm so excited for them!  I couldn't wait to see it.  I was terrible at taking pictures all weekend.  I normally take a ton of pictures, but I just didn't think about it until the end of our weekend.  On the way home, is when I finally thought to take some pictures.  Linda and Dave drove us home in their motor home.  It was so nice.  I love traveling that way.  It was so comfortable.  At the start of the drive, we finished watching a movie we had started watching before we decided it was time to go home.  It was a movie called, Celine.  It was about Celine Dion's life.  It was interesting.  I liked it.  I mostly liked that the drive went faster while watching tv and I was happy that it didn't make me car sick to sit and watch it.  I took a few pictures of us on the drive home.

On Friday night, Linda and Dave picked up their friends and went in the motor home to Wendover.  Linda won $1000.00!  She was super lucky.  I just thought that was exciting, so I had to share.  Also, Linda was super nice while we were there and she gave Kristin some money to take Alissa dress shopping.  They only went to one store.  Alissa found one dress she liked.  It is cute.  I'll have to get a picture of her in it at some point.  They weren't out shopping very long, because Kristin ended up having to go in to work.

Roger said he had fun hanging out with Dan.  They didn't get to spend a lot of time playing their game, like they had planned, because they were too busy dealing with work stuff at Dan's shop.  Roger didn't stay the night.  He went home on Saturday night, because he didn't want to miss church.  He needed to be there to teach the lesson.  He left to go home around 1:00 in the morning.  After he got home, he went to bed, then he woke up and went to church.  As soon as he got home from church, he ate some food, then went straight back to bed.  He said he pretty much slept the whole time we were gone.  He was really tired, because he worked all of Friday night, then only had a few hours of sleep before he had to get up to take us all to the baptism in Salt Lake.

Also, Roger's friend, John, texted him yesterday.  Roger's brother, Todd was in his class at church and had just introduced himself as a visitor.  So, John texted Roger to let him know that his brother was in his ward today.  They were able to figure out that John lives near Tyler and Melissa and is in their ward.  so, next time we go and visit, we will stop by and visit Roger's friend, John.  I can't even picture who he is right now.  It's been driving me nuts.  I know I've met this friend before, but I can't think who he is.

More Pretend camping - April 8, 2016

Friday - April 8th

I was pretty exhausted after our last day of pretend camping, so I didn't plan to do this again for a while.  But, yesterday, when the kids and I were going through and unpacking our books (the last of the boxes to unpack from our move), we found a bunch of my bear attack books!  So, naturally, we had to play pretend camping again, so I could sit around the campfire and read my books.  It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.  This is the mess I have in my living room from unpacking.

The kids did their school work in the tent.

Alissa stayed home, because she got sick in the night.  She woke up feeling better though.

After lunch, it got really hot.  All the kids were begging me to set up a little swimming pool.  I told them to ask their parents.  All the parents agreed, so we set up the pools.

Roger came out and sat with us for a while.  He brought his sunflower seeds.  Alissa, Roger, and I sat around the fire pit eating sunflower seeds.  The neighbor girls, noticed us when they took a break from swimming and they all wanted to try some.  It was kid of fun sitting around the pretend fire, eating our sunflower seeds, all of us trying to spit the shell into the pretend fire.  It was nice.

I put the pools away around 4:00pm, so I could go in and make dinner for Roger.  As I was bent down emptying one of the pools, I heard Roger giggle.  I looked up and was face to face with him.  He was bent down and standing in the pool.  He made this mischievous face, then started splashing all the water on me.  The water was really cold!  It was funny how he laughed at himself before he did it.  Even then, I didn't see it coming.  We all had a good laugh over that.
Alissa's friend Erin came over to hang out for a while.  Alissa is always happy when Erin comes.  She really wishes that we lived closer to Erin.  They liked it best when they were next door neighbors.

After Roger left to work, we went back outside to sit by the pretend fire.  I taught the kids a fun craft.  They worked on their crafts, while I read them bear attack stories.

It was a big job cleaning it all up when we were done, but it was worth it.  We had a good day.

Brinley and Parker went across the street to our neighbor's house to sit around their real fire and play ghost in the grave yard with their friends, before they came in to go to bed.  Erin was able to come for a little while and they came inside to play Minecraft.

Water Fight - April 7, 2016

Thursday - April 7th

Brinley and her friends were bored, so they decided to have a water fight.  We got a bunch of little squirt guns from Linda at the last family get together.  So, that's what they used for their fight.  They had a lot of fun.  I was super comfy sitting on the bench seat by the window.  I love sitting there and relaxing in the warm sun.  It is so nice!  Anyway, I was too comfy to go outside and take pictures of them, that's why all of the pictures I took, were taken through the window.

Playing Camping in the Backyard - April 5, 2016

Tuesday - April 5th

All the kids were feeling bored in the afternoon after Alissa got home from school.  Alissa came outside to hang out and I really didn't want her to go back in.  She doesn't hang out with us very much anymore.  So, I had to think of something fun, to keep her outside.  I decided that we should play pretend camping.  We set up camp.  Autumn (our neighbor) helped me get everything set up.  She was a big help.  Alissa didn't stay outside for too long before she was bored and wanted to go in.  I think I teased her a little too much.  I just miss her hanging out with us.

Roger came out and we had a fire and roasted marshmallows.

Our 'Fight Song' Music Video - April 4, 2016

Monday - April 4th

We worked in the yard a lot today.  While I was doing schooling with Parker and Brinley, Roger got a lot of the tree pruning done.  The trees are looking nice!  After school and lunch, Parker and I went out to help with the yard work.  Brinley went downstairs to play the computer for a little while.  We got a lot done.  The yard is looking nice.  But our yard is really big, so we still got a lot left to do.  I'm thinking for our homeschooling tomorrow, we will spend our time learning about gardening, so we can get things nice and how we want it out there.

After I picked Alissa up from school, Parker and Brinley came out to play with their friends.  Roger and I went out and visited for a while with our next door neighbors.  It was fun visiting with them.  We are really enjoying our new house and our neighborhood.  We love it here!

Yesterday, I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me find a way to make some money.  I don't want to go and get a job outside of the home.  I just need something that will give us a little extra income.  I've been trying to figure something out for a while now, and nothing is working.  I've been working on my crocheted hats, but nobody wants to buy a hat in the summer time.  I decided that I will just keep crocheting and build up my inventory for November and December (that's when my hat business is booming).  Anyway, back to my prayer.  I might have gotten an answer to my prayer today.  When I was talking to our next door neighbor, she said that she knew of someone in the ward who knew another person who is looking for a babysitter.  She told them that she would ask me if I was still planning to do daycare.  I'm not planning to do daycare, because the licensing process and having a big daycare seems like it will be too much too handle and will be too stressful and not good for me.  But babysitting 1 or 2 children for someone would be perfect for me!  It's like a tiny daycare with out all the hassles of licensing.  Plus, one of the children is a little baby.  Who doesn't want to snuggle a cute little baby all day?  Anyway, so I called the lady who had talked to my neighbor.  She said that it is a couple in our ward.  It sounds like they might have moved in to the ward around the same time we did, but I don't think I've met them.  She said that she would give them my information.  That would be awesome if it works out, but if not, I guess it was not the answer to my prayers like I thought and hopefully something else will come a long soon.

Back to the kids.  Eventually the kids got bored, so I pulled out my list of what to do when we're bored.  I started giving them ideas.  The idea they liked the most was to make a music video.  So, that's what we did.

These are the girls that live next door to us.  They were so cute and funny while we made the video.  Here are the few pictures I took during filming.

Playing with Bubbles - April 3, 2016

Sunday - April 3rd

In between sessions of conference, we went outside to enjoy the nice weather.  I pulled out our old bubbles and the big sticks from last year.  The sticks were all tangled, so it took me a while to get them ready.  When we finally had them ready and we tried them out, we were so excited about how well our bubble solution worked.  It made the best bubbles.  I remember when I made the solution last year, that I read that the solution gets better the longer it sits.  Our bubble solution has been sitting for almost a year and it works awesome now.  Alissa told me I better make more and put it away for next year.  We usually run out, so I'm sure I'll have to make it a few times before next year, but I'll remember before we put the bubble stuff away for winter, to make more, so it will be extra fun next spring.