Nothing Compares to the Garden Tomato

I just had the first ripe cherry tomato out of our garden and I am reminded how much I lovvee the little red cuties, especially when they are 100% fresh. I am so excited to see my two tomato plants doing well and about ready to pop out a bucketful by next week. Yum. I have been enjoying the raspberry bushes too, but I have to sneak out and get them before my daughters discover the ripe berries.

In addition to devouring the garden sampler, I have been trying to find fun and cheap activities to keep my kids busy during these long summer days, so today we hiked the Lagoon Trail in Farmington - perfect for this hot weather because it is 90% shade. Kimberly and Alicia roller bladed while I pushed Natalie in the stroller. It was lovely with birds, fireflies, and even a snake. I think we'll do the trail again next week.

3 New Little Friends

We have some new friends at our house - three cute little water frogs. We'll see if they croak at night when it's quiet. I'm told they are easy animals to take care of, and since our beta fish died a few months back, I decided on frogs instead of fish this time. They are so cute and Natalie can't seem to get enough of them.

Sewing and Demolition

It's a good thing Kimberly is learning how to sew at Achievement Days, because she isn't learning it from me :) They have been working on a stitching project for the last couple of weeks. Kimberly ended up bringing it home to finish last week and she was so excited to work on it. The next day, she got out my sewing box and some scraps of old fabric and the girls spent the entire afternoon sewing up different creations - and I didn't even have to help (other than the occasional knot in the string). They made bonnets, aprons, and skirts. They even pulled it out again on Saturday for a couple of hours. I just might have a few seamstresses without even having to lift a sewing finger! Kimberly informed me the other day that we needed a sewing machine "because the needle stitches just aren't strong enough mom." Hmm....on second thought, maybe I don't want a seamstress in the house yet until I save up my pennies for a sewing machine.

We had a fun-filled weekend with Pioneer Day on Friday. In the morning, the girls enjoyed the humungo slip and slide at the neighbors house, then we had lunch out with Grandma Lynn, and then had a fun BBQ, game night and fireworks with some old friends on Friday night. On Saturday John pulled out the tub and shower from the bathroom, redid some plumbing, put in some subfloor, and wa-la...progress toward a new bathroom is on its way! Funny story - I was admiring John's work, and wondered why in the world there were some electrical connections of some sort right next to the plumbing tubes. John reminded me it was one of the stereo boxes from the family room ceiling. Funny how opening up the floor opens up a whole new perspective!



On Saturday night, John and I were able to sneak away for our date night to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was excellent, however still a little too frightening we thought for Kimberly and Alicia. They are quite disappointed as they had hoped we would approve so they could see it in the theater as well. Kimberly kept reminding me that it is rated PG, so they should be able to see it, at which point I had to inform her that PG meant Parental Guidance, which is exactly what we were doing :)

Easiest Birthday Cake Ever!

In years past, I have usually done a birthday cake with special pans, oodles of stars made from frosting, and hours of work later only to have the yummy cake devoured by the natives in seconds. I would like to say I decided to try something new because I researched for hours and took classes, etc, but alas, that is not the case.

It occurred to me just a few days ago that Alicia's birthday was just around the corner and I had not bought a pan or raided my mother-in-law's supply of pans. I have already used my sets of pans twice for the girls and decided a third time would definitely not be the charm in their book, so I went to my trusty internet, typed in 'easy girls birthday cakes' and wa-la! Beach cake won out and let me tell you, this was the easiest, most simple birthday cake I have ever done! Even better, Alicia got to help out and said, "this is the coolest cake ever mom!"

Since I am now the coolest mom by doing the coolest, yet easiest cake ever, I'm going to try these easy cakes more often in the future :)

Yes, those are a few dead fish in the water - Alicia's creative endeavors, not mine.

A Date a Week Keeps the Therapist Away

When John worked at LDS Family Services right before we got married, one of the therapists John became good friends with invited us in for a free one-hour session of pre-wedding advice. Sadly, I only remember one thing from the session, but we have followed the advice faithfully over the years. He told us that if we continued dating regularly over the years, we wouldn't have to come in for therapy.

I didn't really understand the significance of his advice, until many years later when I realized how much we needed those fun times together to remember just why we fell in love and got married in the first place. One of my friends follows this same advice, and it has also served them well over the years. Her theory is that a date a week is a whole lot cheaper than marriage therapy sessions.

John and I have a hot date tonight going out to dinner with some friends, and I have been looking forward to it all day! We have not been out on a date for over a month because of my dad's situation, the holiday weekend, and then my girls weekend. We are well overdue for some time with each other - out of the house.

Two Projects - Done!!

We have two projects done now, so you would think we'd be celebrating, but for some reason, now it just feels like we've only put a teeny dent in our long list of projects for the summer...grrr. Okay, I'm trying to look at the bright side - atleast we have projects to keep us busy so we're not bored :)


John completed the closet in our bedroom complete with double the storage! Now he plans to move onto the bathroom, and we will get to share the main bathroom with the girls for the duration. Defintely NOT a pleasant prospect as they aren't very neat in the bathroom. My OCD will probably make sure I clean the sink, counter, and mirror every morning before I take a shower.

John also got all of the grass put in the backyard, thanks in large part to plenty of help from his dad, brother Justin, and two of our friends and their kids :) The older kids were actually quite helpful John said as they helped load up the wagon, and helped unroll grass in the back. I'm told it was quite the process and they had it completed in only a few hours. I of course was no where to be seen that day as I had a ladies weekend down in Salt Lake City with some of my gal friends.

I completely spaced it and forgot to take pictures, so you'll get my lovely description instead. We ate dinner at P.F. Changs Friday night, then headed back to the Red Lion Hotel for a movie, treats (lots of them), and beading our necklaces. We all slept well and got up on Saturday to a fun-filled day at Gateway brousing stores and finding good deals. We all came away with a pair of Gap jeans for $10!!! What a steal!! Too bad I have to wait 4 more months or so before I can wear mine (probably more actually until I get my pre-baby body back).

Babysitting a Teenager Hawk

John is babysitting a teenager sized hawk this week for a friend - more specifically known as a Goshawk. Since his friend is trying to imprint the bird (get it accustomed to humans), it needs to be kept in doors and we need to socialize with her regularly. Of course this isn't a problem for Natalie, who loves to pet her and tries to feed the bird her food. Not good for baby hawks, who prefer food of the animal variety.

Thankfully our babysittee is very quiet and we enjoy having the unusual company.

You may notice the tarps and tablecloths surrounding the falcon. This is because she can aim her poop 3 feet in any direction. And because she is loosing her baby feathers - the soft white down like stuff, fluff is everywhere in the living room :)

A Few Tidbits...and I do mean tidbits

Nothing like a blog posting full of nibbles of information...

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. It started on Friday night when we got to sneak away to the neighbor's to cook smores at midnight. Saturday was filled with the parade, BBQ with friends, fireworks, then the city fireworks show and finally crashing into bed late.

I did however accomplish something new on Saturday. I used a weed eater for the first time. No one told me that your hand would vibrate so badly! My hand was literally shaking for a good 15 minutes after I was finished :)

On Monday the girls started swimming lessons, something I have been doing with the girls since they were 4 years old. I am an avid believer that everyone needs to learn how to swim since it is a life saving skill. My kids are quickly becoming little fish (or rather big fish in Kimberly's case). Too bad Natalie has to wait until next year to start up her lessons. She was a bit perturbed when we showed up to the pool and her two older sisters got to hop in, but not her. I spent the next 10 minutes convincing her to stop trying to take off her sandals and shirt. Today she tried a different approach and just ran straight for the kiddie pool, getting several steps in before I caught up to her. She got to sit in wet shorts for the 45 minute lesson, hehe.

Yesterday we had zilcho food in the cupboard, and I had no desire to go grocery shopping until later in the day, so we all had to be a bit creative for lunch. Kimberly decided to bake some muffins, Natalie and Alicia had top ramen, and I made homemade pancakes with chocolate chips. I found the yummiest buttermilk pancake recipe on cook.com if you are interested. They were just the right amount of flatness with a slight amount of fluffiness. I hate big thick pancakes, so these were perfect!

Last night John finished prepping the backyard (in 90 degree weather I might add - I'm sure he is still recovering from heat exhaustion) for grass, which I ordered today and should be installed on Saturday if all our stars line up in the right place!! Too bad I won't be around to help as I have a fabulous girls weekend out - hotel stay included :) Luckily I've got a babysitter lined up for Natalie, so John won't have to worry about her while he and the older two girls put in the sod.

A Day at the Beach

Many of you may already know this about me, but one of my most absolute favorite places to be is the beach...preferably a warm one. Since there isn't much ocean front to be seen in the good ole state of Utah, we had to find another beach to make due. Enter Pineview Reservoir Beach...my new favorite place! Too bad they charge $10 to get in or I'd go there every week this summer. Actually, we might still do that and just budget that into our month. Much cheaper than a day at the local swimming hole where you have to pay per person, rather than per car load.

I was driving home from my latest OB appointment on Tuesday morning and drove past the canyon that leads up to Pineview Reservoir, which is located just past Ogden Canyon in the valley next to Eden...soo beautiful by the way surrounded by cool mountains. With the bright sunny day, it was a perfect beach day I decided, so when I got home, the girls and I loaded up the car and headed to the beach!!

I had only planned to stay for a few hours, but it was so much fun that we ended up staying most of the day, and now I have burned shoulders to show for it despite my constant applications of sun screen. Given the fact that my shoulders have not seen sun for a very long time, I guess that is the price I pay for enjoying the sun, sand, and water. Totally worth it in my book.