time capsule

years ago,

when I was a councellor in the young women program in our ward at church,

we did an activity where we made time capsules.

we sealed them in large cans at the church cannery, and there it sat for a long time.

the label got wet, and I couldn't remember when we were supposed to open it,

so we rediscovered it in the garage recently,

and decided to open it in our family home evening last night.

we discovered it was supposed to be a 10 year time capsule, and I sealed it up in 2004 or so,

so it was opened a bit early, but fun to see.

the boys had put in toys, a spider man figure, a hot wheel motorcycle thing, some yu-gi-oh cards, I had put in a few flyers from the grocery stores-

but the funnest thing was a cassette tape we had made with little interviews with the kids.

how fun it was to hear their little voices again.

Ben when he was 8- and was talking about the rescue hero toys he got for Christmas,

Jack when he was 6, and what he would buy me if he had a lot of money- (a black cowboy hat ?!) - he had the cutest little voice - he couldn't say his r's. adorable.

and little Jed. so sweet. even sadie was talking a bit- she was only 2.

what a fun reminder of when those boys were sweet and little.

now they are just big stinky boys.

sheesh.

why do they grow up so fast?

funny girl

Maggie randomly came in the kitchen and said

-I didn't know fleas were white.

I said

-they're not. they are black.

Maggie said

-but in the song (then she sweetly sang) Mary had a little lamb whose fleas were white as snow.

hahaha.

I explained all about the fleece,

and all was right again.

summer time

it just wouldn't be summer without a run through the sprinkler with an umbrella,
right?
we are just happy it was a warm day.
those are getting hard to come by around here this summer!

it was wicked

a couple of Saturdays ago,

Sadie and I had the opportunity

to go and see wicked.

I had seen it before in Chicago with my sister,

but that was a while ago,

and well, we had the chance,

so we jumped at it!

it was so good.

as we walked out Sadie said-

"that was wicked!"

indeed.

you can't really tell, but she is wearing a wicked shirt we happend to buy at a DI in Utah on our vacation, it was perfect to wear to the show.

I think we paid maybe $2 for it, and they were selling the same one there for $40.

such a steal of a deal.

man, I love DI.

and I love wicked.

our favorite summer treat (this year)

this was discovered by accident a while ago- I think I bought a pop somewhere, but didn't want to bring it inside, so I put it by the back door,

and it was winter,

and when I went to get it it was a bit slushy,

and so delicious!

so, now we make frozen pop.

I haven't really tried any other kinds of pop,

but we really like sprite. or 7 up. or spritz up.

(hey it was only 77 cents. more bang for my buck. and still tastes fantastic)

so, here is what you do.

pour the pop into a bunch of cups.

not too full, because it will expand when you freeze it.

(I can't get the pictures to move where I want them, so this is the final picture.

maggie chipping away, and enjoying her frozen pop)

carefully transfer all the cups to the freezer,

let them freeze for a few hours,

and enjoy.

I think I got about 12 of the smaller ikea cups full -

for 77 cents, I think that's a pretty good deal.

I think I will go stock up on some more pop while it is on sale!

yum.

this week

all week I have had blog posts going around my head, but getting to the computer, and uploading pictures was just too hard.
(those incredibly lazy days of summer are in full force around here)
but I finally did it, and here is a summary of this week for you!

our house is undergoing a bit of a facelift on the outside.
it looks much better than this now,
but that is another post for another day!




this guy had a birthday.
the big 1-2.
he requested skor trifle for his cake,
so that is what he got.
yum.
and we all went bowling.
except ben, because....




early monday morning Ben headed down to Calgary for EFY.
I can't wait to pick him up and see how it all went,
although I am sure he won't tell me too much,
being a teenage boy and all.
but I am excited that he had the opportunity to go,
and I hope he is having a great time!

found

well, the laptop has been found-
(right where I put it, of course)
but time to blog is hard to find.
because I am busy doing summer stuff-
killing ants
(we have an infestation in our kitchen. disgusting)
deep cleaning my kitchen to try to get rid of those nasty ants,
and sometimes just doing nothing.
so I will share a picture of us in Salt lake city.
this was just after we had lunch at the lion house.
so delish.
if you happen to be in SLC around lunch or supper,
my whole family would recommend heading there.
don't go to the golden corrall. not so delish.
just our opinion though!

snippits

the search for the lap top will be in earnest today- maybe even a reward offered.

do things always turn up in your house when a reward is offered?

that is when kids start to really look and things are usually found.

anyways,

some pictures that were took with an itouch-

it was getting dark, but Maggie (and Jack) got to ride Cory's uncle Jack's horse Maggie.

so fun!

we saw the beautiful

Salt Lake City temple.

first time my kids have been to Utah-

and the first time Cory and I had been there together!

riding the carosel at Lagoon- I told my kids that every time I drove past there as a kid- on our family trips past or to utah, I always wanted to stop there but we never did- and here they are on their first time to utah, and at lagoon. they said they never even had the opportunity to want to go- they just got to. lucky ducks.

(and the real reason we got to go to lagoon is because we crashed Uncle Jack's family reunion- and we didn't even see all the cousins there. it was crazy busy, and crazy hot.)

there is a taste of our holiday.

hopefully more to come soon when the laptop is found.

home again

we were off on a fun family vacation-

we headed to Utah, to extreme heat,

and lots of fun.

lots of driving,

and lots of shopping.

everyones favorites included DI and Target.

we hit sonic happy hour a couple of times.

(so good!)

saw old faithful blow twice.

drove and drove.

and now I can't find my laptop to download my pictures on.

but hopefully it will turn up soon, and I can share!

so check back. if you want to see what we were up to!

okay, I learned more...

I learned that big families= big fun.



those marshmallows are so big.
yikes.





and why didn't I bring a beautiful white dress for fantastic pictures in the pretty yellow wild flowers? possibly because we don't have one-
but wouldn't that have been great?
maybe next time!

what I learned at family reunion

say no to crack!

hee hee!

a relationship

I have a love/hate relationship

with peonies.

I love them for the 1 week they are beautifully blooming,

and I hate them the rest of the year.

I loved them last week.

now,

I do love that the girls have cleaned up all the petals that were dropped when it rained and rained.

it might be time to dig them out.

maybe.

you know it's summer when...

your kids make sure the watermelon has a safe ride home from the grocery store.

rainy days and wednesdays always get me down

last week we had sunburns.

this week they are fading away.

our internet wasn't working for a few days.

and that was hard. let me tell you.

but it is back.

and hopefully the sun will come back soon.

I miss it.

but I don't miss the sunburns.

must remember to apply more sunscreen more often.

the boys are back.

they had a good time.

if you call having porta parties in the porta potties a good time.

and I think they did.

sheesh.

boys.

this week

the boys were at scout camp,
so it was just me and these two silly girls all week long.
we had some fun-

watched Monte Carlo,
ate pizza,
too many late nights,

but man, today we headed out to 2 places and I was just telling them to shh, and stop touching each other, and just be quiet for a bit.
yikes. is it really only the first week of summer vacation?

heaven help me!

it was a...

happy Canada day!

a parade,

(the picture is Jack hugging a mascot guy that was in the parade)

a bbq,

our own private bouncy house,

more bbq,

boys sleepover at uncle matt's

the beach,

fantastic fireworks.

what a great day,

and a great country to live in!

it's been a while

it was a crazy week-
Kindergarten graduation on Friday
handbell concert on Monday (picture above)
celebration of learning Tuesday morning-
this is where every kid in the elementary school gets a certificate for something-
not the most exciting thing ever.
Maggie kept asking when we get to go to the festival of fun.
unfortunately it was not a festival of fun. but a celebration of learning. very little fun involved.
Tuesday afternoon was the grade 6 grad.
wednesday was the last day of school- and awards ceremony at the Junior high school.
today no school. what a glorious day!

the floor

A little while ago I posted a picture of me stencilling a floor-

this is a bit of the floor finished-

(since I have had a couple of requests to see it lately)

it is just a small snippit of the floor-

just beyound what the picture shows is a mess on all sides.

there is a few more things I want to do in the girl's room-

I need to hang pictures back up on their wall,

get those girls to tidy up (an on-going struggle)

then maybe I can show the big picture!

last days

well, Ben is done classes, he only has one more exam on Thursday. then on to grade 11 for him.

Jack had his last day of classes today, has a few exams, and the awards ceremony is on Wednesday. then grade 9.

Maggie has a big day on Friday- kindergarten graduation.

- I was shopping with Ben yesterday and found the cutest dress, so I bought it for Maggie with the excuse that it could be her grad dress. yikes.

then next year all day - grade one for her!

Sadie and Jed have one more week. Wednesday is the last day- but really, I think these are just fun days. track and field tomorrow afternoon, Sadie is heading on an all day field trip on Thursday- just killing time until it is all over.

then onto junior high for Jed, and Sadie moves up into grade 5.

I am feeling sad about it all. (summer holidays, that is.)

my afternoons alone will be a thing of the past

- but we will definitely be sleeping in,

- we do have a great vacation planned,

- but I am seriously looking forward to the fall when all my kids will be in school all day.

it will be a long summer for me!

up on the roof top

so , the shingleing is still going on-

well, actually, I think that part of it is done now,

but man, this last weekend was a bit of a fiasco.

it took more time, and work than was anticipated since there was rotting wood on all the edges of the roof.

and one night there were no shingles on half the roof, and of course it rained that night.

and of course it dripped in the house.

so now there are a few more repairs to be done.

good times.

some day it will be done, and look fantastic.

some day.