Reason #562 That I Heart Being a Pack Rat

When your computer freaks out again and the computer fixer guy says that the screen is dead and that it will cost $300 (it was going to be less, of course) to replace it, you have a spare computer screen just hanging around. Yep, all you keep-it-simple people, an entire computer screen just cluttering up my house. So, feeling very MacGyver, I just hooked it up. When this one is completely useless, I will consider Mac... because all five of you said to.

Old Habits Die Hard

My brother in law's mom was going through some old church news and found this picture from 1978.

Some things that I noticed:

• My mom was a babe.
• My dad had an awesome tie.
• My brother's bangs. Look familiar? I thought they did. Wonder who cut them? I don't.

You can tell I graduated from high school in 1994 because...

I carry a big canvas messenger bag as a purse. It is just so durable and practical. I need purse help. I am starting to get embarrased.

Free babysitting

I am so grateful for my parents for watching my kids while we were in Sun Valley.

I love that my kids can spend time with people that love them. It is also nice to not have to pay a 16 year old to come watch my kids. Now, I use the term "free babysitting" loosely because (notice Samuel's cute shag haircut above?) apparently there was a price to pay.

Note to self: When Mom has been suggesting haircut ideas for Samuel, she will take the initiative if you leave him in her care for 4 days. Now mine and my siblings' childhood hair "don'ts" are making so much more sense. She just wacked his bangs into some drunken mullet Bjork type thing. Mortified, I said, "so they went to church like this?" She said, "No, I cut three days ago." Three days. Like this. In my home town.

I made an emergency phone call to the salon this morning. My favorite girl wasn't there but it had to be fixed. We tried to give him a regular haircut but it wasn't working. Those "business in front" bangs were having none of that business. We tried three different styles, one resembled Moe of the three stooges and one resembled my dad's, each getting progressively shorter and ended up just taking it all off. Fans of Samuel's previous hair do, I mourn with you.

And Eva, gentle, innocent Eva. Although Eva has had some hair traumas in her lifetime. She just needed a little trim today. She is was so stinkin' calm it was cracking us up. (See that haircutter lady's hair? Is that what my mom was going for with Samuel's hair? They look strangely similiar don't they?

African Ice... for the Whole Family

I usually post food reviews on my CYI blog but this was such a great family activity that I just had to share here. I read about African Ice in one of my favorite blogs http://www.yourheartout.com/ and loaded up the kids the first chance we got. For more details on the place check out their post. For a dollar extra they can sweeten your snowcone with agave nectar instead of sugar and it was so good! If you don't know what agave nectar is you can ask my friend, Courtney, who could be the Agave Nectar spokeswoman. Eva got caramel (I was wary but it was delicious), Samuel got Mango Madness, and I got Mango Pina Colada with a dash of cream (yep, heavy cream... ). Usually with a fruity frozen treat I am over it by the time I am 2/3 done but finish because I paid money for it. Not this one, I wanted more. For every snowcone you buy, they give you a Kenyan coin and they have little donation funnels set up under a description of three different African people that will benefit from your snowcone purchase. You get to choose who you give the coin to send it down one of those twisty funnel things. The kids loved it.

I haven't had shaved ice this good since Matsumoto's Shaved Ice in Hawaii.

Yum. I will go back often, way more that five times.

Note: I just talked to Courtney and like a true Agave Spokeswoman she has already tried this place out. She went to the one on 21st and 21st and said it was, "eh." So, if you are going to go, go to the one on Bengal Blvd.

Goodbye, Sun Valley

Things I will miss:

The beautiful scenery

Karl took these photos by a river.

Things that also took place here:

Skipped lots of rocks.

Admired the mansion that backed the river.

Karl taught me how to do "lazy eye." The photos were too close up so I won't share.

Karl decided we needed a slice of a log that is 3 feet in diameter and about 1 foot thick so he seriously loaded into the back of the car and brought it home.

The amazing shopping
I got all this stuff from the Gold Mine Thrift store and a gold mine it was. Ice skates (practically new) and some pants for Eva, 3 shirts for Samuel, 1 sweater and some Paul Frank pajama bottoms for me, two games, one book, and 1 pair of tiny Keens, all for $24. I love thrift stores in rich people lands.

Since the bed is in the photo, I should mention that I will miss not having to make my bed myself. And if I want chocolates on my pillow tonight, I will have to put them there myself, too. This is also where I read Austenland (I should probably be embarrassed by how much I loved it) by Shannon Hale from cover to cover and it didn't matter that I was up so late because no one needed me in the morning.

The great restaurants

Rickshaw, Ketchum Burrito, Ketchum Grill, Cristina's (the guy told me, "We should be able to get you right in since the place is named after you), Il Nasa, Buffalo Bites, Vintage... Karl's meals were paid for so our excuse for indulging? "It's half price." I also will miss the fact that calories don't seem to count when we are there. Maybe it is all the walking. Or maybe it is being around all those people that are exercising. I don't know.

Okay, the dark photo in the middle? Two reasons it is dark 1)My cell pone has no flash 2)The dessert was slightly obscene but not so obscene that I couldn't post it. A mousse filled chocolate shell complete with a hazel nut on top. Appropriately (and comically) named the Chocolate Chi-Chi. Guess who ordered it? Hint: it wasn't me, I don't really like mousse.

The great atmosphere

Chili pepper and Zucchini growing behind me in my patio seat, people being all outdoorsy and healthy...

Things I learned about myself:

I don't like dogs.

There are dogs everywhere up here. I found myself taking the long way around stuff to dodge them. This dog followed me around and the owner acted like I should be all flattered instead of scared. This is the baby/pet isle in the fancy grocery store. Yep, babies and pets in the same category. There was 3 times as much pet crap as there was baby stuff. I do like people that like dogs. But I have been bit twice and one time when we were house/ dog sitting in Palo Alto I was so scared of the dogs. They cornered me into the laundry room downstairs. I had to call Karl to come home from work to get Eva (who was a baby at the time) and me out. Dumb dogs.

If I had $674 to spend on a dress it would be easier to find a cute one that covered everything that I want it to.

I have never seen a crack addict when they are going through withdrawal but I don't need to. I am pretty sure it looks just like Karl when he is away from his blackberry (crackberry).

I love the movie Mamma Mia (we saw it there) and wish I knew songs from beginning to end (I am one of those people that only know the chorus of any song) so I could belt them out.

If I want to look half as good as the ladies at the Zumba class that I went to, I need to start now. I was seriously at least 15 years younger than the average age in there (the teacher was 55 and was such a babe with tons and tons of energy) and definately the least fit. I was trying to hide in the back and the cute teacher kept talking to me the whole time while she danced because I was the new girl.

She said, "So how many times have you done this?" I should have lied and said never and that I have been in a coma for two years and that is why I am so out of shape.

She said, "Look at you! You have done this before!" I tried to respond but it was messing me up and ended up smiling and saying, "I can't talk and move at the same time."

Sun Valley, thanks for the memories!

Stupid Stupid Technology

You know how on the Jerk he names his dog Stupid (on the TV version, this is a family friendly blog here). That is my computer's new name... Stupid. I took it the the computer doctor so it would be less stupid and for 200+ dollars (sorry Karl) and it helped a little. Now, it came up with a new trick. The screen goes mega dark after about 48 seconds of use and the only way to make it so I can see the screen again is to close it (it's a laptop) completely, open it completely and then bring up it until I can see it. So Stupid, just so you know, I was hoping to blog my trip since this place is so great.
Times I shut and opened my computer to make this blog entry: 8. Now that is some blog dedication.

aaahhh, Sun Valley

ATM Machine?

Would you also like me to enter my PIN Number?

Us being us, we left 5 hours than we planned. Dropped the kids, who could not care less that we were leaving, at the Grandparents house. Hit traffic. Karl endured by listening to a radio show on CD that I got from the library, "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves." The book (there is a book with this same title) is based off this show and is completely about GRAMMAR and he loved it like I love things that are actually interesting. One entire show on apostrophes. No kidding. I endured by sleeping through it. I did however learn a great tip that all you Pinks would like to know. When a possessive and a conjunction (ie. its and it's) are both fighting over the apostrophe, the conjunction always wins.

After that winner of CD and my nap was over I was getting antsy so we stopped at Jakes Over the Top. I love their ice cream but once my shake was gone I was antsy again. So I pulled out this thing that I bought from my friend... a bunch of questions all on a handy ring and started firing away. Things like, if you could be an animal what would it be and why? Karl would say something like, "A Liger." We quickly realized that the pattern went like this: Question, Karl's joke of an answer, my sarcastic response, a really long time and then a real response. Unless I got too impatient and just moved on to the next question. I am pretty sure that isn't what Family Fun (the company that makes it) intended. But it passed the time, I highly recommend it.

Karl is up here for some work thing and so I get lots of solo shopping time. They have so many great restaurants up here and those of you that know me, know that is what makes the place great. We have lots of favorites but we tried a new place, Rickshaw, today and loved it. I give more details on my CYI blog. In the morning, I am going to wake up whenever I want to and relish in the fact that by doing so, I am not neglecting anyone.

The Bees Game

The Bees Game "Bests"

• The Bees game tickets were free, they gave them to us the last day of T-Ball.
• I decked the kids out in all their T-Ball gear because I have a lack of gear phobia ever since, according to Karl, I failed for their first T-Ball game. They were a sight.
• Since the kids had the Bees logo on their T-Ball shirt they yell, "Look! It's our T-Ball!" every time they see it on the bus, the banner in the sky, Trax, the entire stadium...
• Eva loaded up a purse that I had in my childhood but never had the nerve (or the muscles, that thing is heavy) to actually take it anywhere.
• The Big League Chew. It entertained us for the first 90 minutes of the game. Besides its brief appearance in Napoleon Dynamite, I haven't seen that stuff in forever.
• After telling my kids over and over that you don't touch other peoples' gum, I catch Karl on camera contradicting me.
• I found great nachos (Roasted chicken, fresh salsa, guacamole, at a baseball game? Yahoo!)
• After the charm of the Big League Chew wore off, Eva reaches into her 1970's stamped leather purse and pulls out a hair net full of taffy... the one that we got from the Sweets Candy Factory tour.
• Eva saw a "Little Person" (is that PC? I am not good at being PC) and yelled, "Look, there is a little daddy!"
• Samuel was fascinated by the train. We just waited until he figured out that he could ride it. By the time he started begging, we were too late, they closed. But they did gave us free tickets for the Heber Valley Railroad as consolation.
• They have this great playground... so great that we had to use all our parenting force to get our kids off.
• Eva got to run the bases after the game. Samuel, who spends all his waking hours running, refuses to run on demand and stood there with a stubborn I-am-not-going-to-budge-and-am-just-going-to-stand-here-and-make-you-look-ridiculous-while-you-try-and-force-me look on his face.
• Oh, and those guys down there on the field in the Bees uniform playing, uh, baseball, I think it was? I think they won.

4th of July Barbecue

Steaks, marinated pork loin, pork surprise pockets, corn on the cob, pear salad, cole slaw, illegal Black Forest Cake (ha, ha Paula), ice cream, watermelon... ahhh the memories. Of course there are also the fireworks. Paula bought those snake things that just seem to "poop" when you light them. How would it be to come from Brazil, unknowingly buy them, light them, and that is all that happens? All was fine until Karl and Marcus aimed two of those little tank fireworks at eachother and Paula line up a few little fireworks to get ready for the next round. They lit the tanks and it was total chaos. Stuff was shooting everywhere and the tanks were lighting the other fireworks. Samuel got shot in the leg and wouldn't come out of the house after that because he was afraid his other leg would get shot. Um, anyone want to sign up for our firework safety class?

It's all about the candy

We went to the Hyrum Parade for the 4th. For the kids, well, it was all about the candy. Samuel had a hard time dealing with the fact that when 5 kids are going for 1 piece, he isn't always going to get it. Eva figured out that if she waved her arms, she would get more candy. The third photo is one of Samuel with two great things in hand... his Great Grandma Gutke and his candy. The funny thing is that after all that effort, I think we left the candy at Grandma's house and the kids haven't said anything about it.

The 3rd of July

This is the day that Eva learned to blow a bubble. This is the day that Dad and Uncle Ryan reminded Samuel that you can do stick a helicopter seed thing on your nose when they are still green. This is the day that we got to spend time with Abbi, Ryan and cute Freya (I always forget to take family pictures). This is the day we went and watched the big show, loaded with lots of local talent and great fireworks up at USU. This is the day Grandma and Grandpa Geddes housed us all... thank you! (and thank you for the great food and letting us swim the next day)

Another SUPER day

This cape was a one of the best purchases I have made. Here is Samuel "flying" on the swingset.

Notice he is just wearing a t-shirt (I know some moms might not want you to notice but, well, I do),

that is because...

The kids decided to add some extra water to my friend Mo's garden. Sara was actually making "snow angels." I was glad that, for once, it wasn't my kids leading the trouble. To think people pay money for these mud treatments. We, of course, had to hose them down and that is why Samuel is sporting just the t-shirt.

Soccer

If you look closely at this cell phone photo of my kids, you can see that soccer is going just a little bit better than t-ball did. Samuel is the flasher in the black shorts and Eva is the one doing some sort of contortionist trick. But at least both kids are standing.

A monumental moment

Two summers ago I had visions of us spending the summer at the Rec Center pool, splashing, getting tan, having a great time. I convinced Karl (though he was never really quite convinced) that a year membership was a great investment and got one to start my summer dreams... After several attempts it turned out that a trip to the pool with a 3 year old and a 1 year old was in fact not much more than two hours of straight panic. The experience kept me, to Karl's relief, from renewing my membership last summer and from the pool all together.

This year we tried it again and it was so much different. Amazing what two years can do. The first half hour the kids had gone down this slide at least 20 times (much to the dismay to the kids that actually knew how to wait in line). I am so so so grateful. Hooray that my kids like to play together! Hooray for being able to be at the pool and not worry (as much) that Samuel is going to either take off or drown any second!

A Septitude

Samuel just walked in and the conversation went like this (note: it is past midnight):

Me: Samuel, what are you doing?

Samuel: I am awake

Me: Why?

Samuel: Because I am awake

This is how Samuel always answers "why" questions. Another example goes like this:

Samuel: Mom, what does that say?
Me: Sears Auto Center?
Samuel: No, it says, 'work'

Me: Why do you think it says 'work?'

Samuel: Because I think it says 'work'

According to Eva, this manner of answering questions (or rather not answering questions) is called a septitude. A septitude seems to occur over and over because I keep forgetting that I already know exactly what the answer will be. We have no idea where she got it. Like other families we have words that we just come up with and somehow they just seem to stick and become a regular part of our vocabulary. But this one sounded so real that Karl even looked it up and apparently the word has not been taken yet.