Long over due carpet

Ever since we moved in, 7 years ago, we have wanted and needed to get new carpet. We couldn't convince ourselves to do it until the boys were old enough to not throw up or have an accident on the carpet. Well we are 2 out of 3 and we can't take it anymore! Darryl was the one who spearheaded it. He ripped out the flooring in the bathroom and laid tile so it would be ready to tie into the carpet-- the carpet we hadn't yet looked at. So we decided we better go look at carpet. We found some we liked called the carpet guy and then waited for an installation date, but instead he went on an anniversary cruise and left us hanging. I decided to paint the baseboards while we were waiting for him to get back. I really wanted to paint the walls but since they are connected to the downstairs I would have to paint the whole house-- a much bigger job. I cut the old carpet about 2 in. away from the baseboards so I could paint them. This left all the tack strip exposed so once the paint was dry I laid the carpet back over the strips to deter some little tikes from getting poked. The rollercoaster to installation time was: we were getting carpet, we weren't going to be able to get the carpet we want, then we can get the carpet in 2.5 hours! I found out they would be coming while I was headed to work. I would need to teach, pick up Cole, Alex, and James, then move the rest of the furniture, rip out the carpet and pad, pull out the staples, and then vacuum up all the dirt/debris, all before they came. Hmmmm, seemed impossible but I didn't care. I was going to make it happen I needed that carpet laid and if I didn't do it now I didn't know when it would happen. Well I made it happen and they showed up about 30 min after I was done. Three hours later the new carpet was in and I was so glad that was over. When I looked at this picture later I couldn't believe how we lived on that nasty carpet for 7 years.  The hallway is the before pic.  The other is the after.

Park City Farmers Market at the Canyons

We love the Farmers Market in Park City.  It is what I think of when I think of a Farmers Market.  They have many vegetable and fruit vendors, unlike the Heber Farmers Market which has mainly consisted of gift like vendors.  For the kids the best part is the ride on the cabriolet.  We happen to get there just as the balloon guy was leaving so he offered his samples to the boys.  Kade was polite and excited and took a snake.  Clint threw a big fit that he didn't have the animal he wanted.  And Cole was just ornery and didn't want one.  We've got to work on being grateful.  :)  Regardless we had great time riding the cabriolet and I was elated because a cute old guy, George, sold me a HUGE grocery bag stuffed full of basil for $10, plus he threw in a bunch of garlic bulbs because he guessed I was making pesto.  The garlic was amazing!  I went back a few weeks later to get more but he was sold out of basil and garlic. :(  I hope I see him next year!

A Classic Clint Moment

Picture this:  We're at church on our typical front row bench with the Wood family behind us-- a classic Sunday.  On our bench is Clint, Cole, Me, and then Kade.   On the Wood's bench is Daniel(age 12), Mom, Sarah (age 16), and Angela (age 20).  I'm focused on the speaker when I hear the Woods laughing.  I turned around and see the girls all wiping their tears of laughter.  They are looking at Clint and I get that he did/said something.  Oh no.  My first thought is that Clint said something she shouldn't.  I asked him what he said.  He turns to and faces away from me, then slowly turns his head around, looks at me, raises his eyebrow, and says in a smooth voice, "Hey, how's it going?"  I burst out laughing.  It completely caught me off guard.  He's such a funny kid.  How could you not love this kid!  I asked him where he got that from.  He replied, "It just came into my head."  It was such a classic Clint moment.

Made a circle!

I took the boys to Tarahumara for dinner tonight. Darryl was gone on a trip so it was just me and the boys. I wasn't really in the mood to cook and Kade said we needed to celebrate going back to school, so we headed out to eat.  While we were waiting for the food to come Cole was entertained by coloring on the paper table covering. He said, "Look! Made a circle!" I was shocked that he could do that, and that he knew what that was! You would think a mother would know her child-- I guess I just don't know their abilities some times.

Too Cool For School!

I'm not sure where the boys have been getting the picture posing training but it's was rather comical for me to snap some first day of school pictures. I tried to get them to stand "normal" but it wasn't happening.  Cole had to get in on the picture too.  I always love to see what they pick to wear.  There is always one with super school spirit that has to wear a JR Smith shirt even though it's likely the oldest shirt in the closet. :)  I love that lesson; At this age the kids don't care about what the tag says, how much it cost, or if other kids like it.  Life can be simple.  I wish they could stay young forever.f

Trafalga CON AMIGOS!

Wow we had a great time at Trafalga today.  We made plans to go with the Spencers and the Marshes.  The kids had a blast.  They ran all over the place just having the time of their lives.  My boys loved the water boats just because they do but it was especially great because they had friends to soak!  They all loved to play laser tag together too.  Cole was so cute on the tidal-wave like ride.  Even before the ride would start he would put his hands up and say, "Woooo!"  He would even check to make sure Wendy, Alex, and James were doing it.  :)   Kade and Abby's favorite place to be was the climbing wall.  Too bad the lines were as long as they were.  They only climbed a couple times.  Thanks guys for a totally fun day!

More Corn Please!

Cole has been loving the corn on the cob this summer and the evidence is all over his face.  We stop him after 2 or 3 ears of corn but he could eat more-- I'm scared to think how much more.  :)

Redmond Minerals Lagoon Day

What a super fun day!!!  Kade and Clint were just barely tall enough--(Clint thanks the Heely shoes) to ride the big roller coasters this year.  They love that kind of stuff so much and so we knew it was going to be great watching them have a blast.  Initially Clint wanted nothing to do with the coasters so Darryl and Kade went on them while Cole, Clint and I rode the more mild, aka kiddie rides.  Cole was ecstatic.  When we'd go over by the roller coasters he would pull us toward them.  Unfortunately he's got a few years before that will happen.  We bribed Clint with some time on the I-pod(how terrible is that) and he went on the Colossus.  He LOVED it and went again and again.  He went on all  of the coasters and thought they were great but the Colossus was his favorite as well as Kade's.  We were split up so much this year that we didn't get any pictures except this one of Kade and Cole on the helicopters.  Cole could have stayed on the ride all day.  He was okay to get off just because we told him he could go ride the train again or the airplanes with the guns.  Kade had the time of his life this year.  He was tall enough to go on the Sky Coaster.  It's like a gigantic swing that you are harnessed into.  He and Darryl went on the ride and though he said he was a little scared at first in the end he couldn't say anything except, "that was totally awesome!"  That pretty much summed up the whole day.  :)

Another Swim Level Achieved

For the past 2 weeks we've been doing our daily drives to Kamas for swimming lessons. I love these two weeks. We pretty much don't do anything but swim all day and then go home. However, this year we did have many days that we needed to be somewhere so we didn't stay long afterwards. AND we were sick one day so we didn't go that day, and the next day I didn't want to keep them there any longer than we had to. Even though they hadn't thrown up in over 24 hours I was still nervous about it-- who wants to be the one that causes the pool to shut down because your kid threw up in it. :) Both the boys excelled in their classes and were swimming all around the pool. It's so fun to see them really enjoying what they're doing.

Ahhh.... Running

Oh I never thought this day would come. I'm finally a runner again! After 3 years of trying to get my knee happy I finally gave up in 2010 and let a Dr. figure it out and fix it. I had surgery in Dec. 2010 and because I'm a cheap skate and didn't want to pay for something I could do I didn't go to physical therapy. Well it may be something I could do-- but I didn't take the time to do it so my knee didn't get strong very quickly. Well a year after surgery I started doing lots of stretches and leg strengthening exercises. Then in January I started running again. I started out really slowly. I only went short distances and my pace was slow(just over 10min/mi). I also started running "barefoot." These are my barefoot shoes. I love them. It feels so great to have such a light step. It really changes your form. My calves were constantly cramped for the first 5 months. :) Even though I was starting out slow and I never thought I'd be running long distances with a quick pace over time I found myself running again! Yea! I did have a scare but found out I just shouldn't be running everyday-- at least not in the beginning. So here we are in August and I run at least 5.15 mi. every other day at a 8.5 min/mi. pace. I love running I just feel so free while I'm out. I really forget all worries and just get a chunk of the day where I can escape. Ahhh. . . running.

Get your Fruit Snacks!

 

The second summer started the boys began begging to set up a "lemonade" stand. I didn't want to deal with lemonade so they decided to sell fruit snacks, & fruit roll-ups. The made their sign on a rainy day with no intention of selling that day but they wanted to be all ready when a great sale day came. Today was that day. They were so excited when their first customer came that they ran over to me shouting, "We've got our first customer!" The customer was left there wanting to buy. :)   They had a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning.  They would holler out, "Get your Fruit Snacks and Fruit Roll-ups!"  My favorite was when a customer would come Clint would say, "Make sure you tell your friends."  They were so funny to watch.  Well the first hour was pretty slow.  They were ready to pack up and go back home but then suddenly a rash of people came and they were excited about the sales again.  It was so great to watch people that knew them support them and make them feel so great by coming to buy something from them.  It was also great to watch people who were just genuinely good people come and "play along."  People are amazing.  While we were sitting there I saw a little red car come flying around a corner where there are typically many kids crossing.  I thought, 'Boy I hope that kid dies before he hits an innocent little kid and kills them.  What a punk!'   About 15 minutes later that same car came and pulled up to the boys stand.  I sat there thinking, 'The nerve of that punk to stop here!'  Well he got out taught me a lesson.  It was a teenage boy and he walked up to the boys and made them feel like they were a million bucks.  He asked them what they were selling and then acted like they made his day with what they had to offer.  The boys were loving it.  Then he asked if he could buy two fruit snacks.  He gave them each a quarter and then said, "Here's a tip for you guys since you're so awesome."  He handed them a dollar bill and their eyes became as big as lemons.  They looked back at me and you could tell that it didn't matter if another customer came.  That "punk" made their day.  The lesson I learned is that we're all people, we all matter, and even though we may make poor choices that doesn't make us less of a person.  I was so thankful for that moment.  What a neat day.  I drug my feet hard trying not to go through with this lemonade stand but it turned out to be a pretty magical day.

"Black"

When we got home from church today Cole was lagging behind in the garage so I left him out there so I could go get lunch cooking. He burst through the door a few minutes later saying, "Black! Black! Black!" Black was right. I'm not sure where "black" came from but it was black alright. What a handsome little mischief man.

 

I'm Wicked Again!!!!

Over a year ago Darryl was given the opportunity to purchase tickets to Wicked at the Capital Theatre in Salt Lake.  We love the show so much that he wanted to give the opportunity for others to be able to attend it as well.  He bought 6 tickets and we thought we'd just see when it got closer who would want to go.  We had two great friends that were excited for the chance to go and we were excited for them to finally be able to see the show.  Brendan and Karen, and Chris and Becky were just like I was my first time.  They felt like they were living a dream.  They loved the show as much as we do.  It has so many morals you can take away from it.  It is also written so well.  They way "The Wizard of Oz" is woven into the play is so impressive.  Every word is imperative.  The songs are so great.  It is just perfect.