Out on the Water



We headed out to the lake one afternoon, it was warm and clear and the water was like glass.  We all had a great time. 

Zoe kept asking for more crazy 8's and Keira bounced up and down. They loved the being in the water as much as the tube, maybe even more.






Grandpa brought the boat and we got out the ski, wakeboard and tube and jumped on in :)







My brother Tanner came with us and after only 4 tries got right up on the wakeboard like a natural! He did great!

Keira helped us with the flag and telling Grandpa when the skiiers went down.  Sharing some goldfish with Uncle Tanner.

 

 

Zoe cheered for the skiers and made sure she sampled all the treats we had.  She got a bit cold but it didn't keep her out of the water.  She just wrapped up in a towel while waiting her turn.

Sweet ski shot of Kevin, if I do say so myself.  Not bad at all for bumping along, camera in one hand and baby in another

Kevin grinned the whole time we were out especially while skiing and pulling munchkins on the tube.

Sweet crash shot of Kevin, I think you can see his foot

Penny and I helped hand out snacks and snap a few pictures. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon. 

 





Sasha kept trying to climb over the back of the boat when we would stop.  We asked her where she was going and pointing, she said "watuh".  For a girl who talks all the time, about everything, she got right to the point.  She knew what she wanted and was going right after it.   









Top 10 - Picture Books

Goodnight moon (grew on me)
We Went Walking
Goodnight Gorilla
Emma's Pet
Tiger's Bedtime
Bubble, Bubbles
Nighty, Night
Dinosaurs love underpants
Love you Through and through

Top 10 - Kitchen Items

Wusthof Chef Knife
Pyrex Glass Serve and Save bowls
Nonstick pan for eggs, Square pan for pancakes and french toast
Silpat
Kitchen Aid
Digital Thermometer
Brownie Spatula
Scoop
Immersion Blender
Misto Oil Sprayer

I built this!

For my birthday I got some cash and decided to spend it on a Kreg Jig, it is a guide to drilling pocket holes.  What inspired this build?  To start with I have drooled over this website, http://www.ana-white.com/, for probably a year.  She is an amazing mom that lives in Alaska, started building furniture to save money, built her house with her husband, blogged about it, put free simple furniture plans up, and now has a book deal out of it and is DIY building a duplex for her mom and his mom.  I have like 10 projects I would love to build from this site.  A lot of her plans call for a Kreg Jig and having newly acquired one I felt like I could tackle a simple project to start out with.

We needed a shelf and I needed a project to try out my new toy.  I learned a lot doing this project.
Measure what the home depot guy cut before you screw or glue it to any other piece.  It's probably not quite exact.
Taking your time pays off.
Clamps are very helpful.
Countersink bits are great.
Preparation takes the majority of the time for most projects.

Tool list:
Drill, mitre saw, circular saw, Kreg Jig, countersink bit, coping saw,
sandpaper, wood filler, pocket hole screws, nail gun, wood glue
It still needs to be stained or painted to be called finished but

Pile of wood I started with

Frame is done

Completed shelf with finishing trim

Conference Weekend

For conference weekend, we decided travel down to my grandparent's house in Wayne County. We've gone on this same trip a few times in the past and have really enjoyed it. The kids love going because the get to see Poppa Mont and Grandma Elaine and get to have all sorts of fun playing in the dirt, going on 4-wheeler rides, and playing on grandpa's pool table. I love going because I get to go to down to Bicknell and enjoy some pristine landscape away from the city as well as take in conference with family. Conference was great, as usual. In particular, I enjoyed President Uchtdorf's Preisthood session talk (http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/04?lang=eng&vid=880211641001&cid=7).

It's raining, it's pouring

The last few weeks, have been busy for us and honestly not very high on my "lets do this again" list.  We've been sick with everything from colds and coughs, fevers, ear infections, pneumonia, throwing up flu, my tummy hurts, my head hurts, you get the idea.  Even the cat has been on the mend from shots and a spay visit to the vet.  And I will say that I'm not a huge fan of the cat being just as needy as sick kids who don't feel well and let the cranky monster appear. 

In the middle of all this my grandfather, who has been sick for some time, took a turn for the worse and passed away on Valentine's day.  While it was a blessing for him to go, he was in pain near the end, it was still sad to lose someone.  Between his passing on Monday and his funeral on Friday we had the flu at our house.  We were well enough to attend the funeral and then travel to Idaho on Sunday to attend his burial on Monday morning.  After a fun evening swimming at the hotel and a quick dinner I somehow stepped funny and dislocated my kneecap.  After a slightly scary call to 911 and a ambulance trip to the ER I had an awesome brace to sport and quite the gimpy limp.  If I thought putting pants on while 7 months pregnant wasn't hard enough, it's even harder trying to do it with one leg completely straight in a brace.  A follow up visit to the doctor earned me 3 more weeks of wearing this brace followed by another type of brace and physical therapy.  When I haven't been lamenting all of the things that have suddenly become very hard to do, I've tried to look on the bright side.  Here are a few of the things that I have come up with.

We are all finally healthy so at least I don't have sick people to take care of right now. 
Kevin was around when I hurt my knee and I didn't have to deal with the event by myself. 
The baby was not harmed at all, I could have definitely hurt my abdomen or head but didn't as I fell between a dresser and desk.  The paramedics were really nice.  We discovered family staying at the same hotel only minutes before everything happened and when the paramedics asked if we had someone to take our children we could answer yes and I could feel completely comfortable about leaving them.  I have had so many offers for help and random kindness that I wasn't prepared for.  People have watched my children, transported them to and from school, brought us dinner, done my dishes, helped with laundry, brought me cookies, taken over classes I was supposed to teach and been understanding when I had to flake on plans we'd already made. 

All of these things have been really wonderful that I sometimes feel bad for wallowing in a bit of self pity for the things that I feel like I've lost because of this.  I can't carry my littlest much at all and she really hates to go down stairs herself and it makes me sad to have her wait at the top for a mom who usually would just scoop her up but instead has to hobble up the stairs and then slowly coax her down.  I get a little sad that I had to stop teaching my weekly yoga class and struggle with the uncertainty of when and if I will be able to return to teaching.  I had looked forward to the time I had with my kids off track just before the baby came and I had all sorts of plans for us to go, go go before a new baby changed our pace.  And mostly I dislike the feeling of not being able to take care of my kids and family the way I am used to doing.

I think though that I am realizing a change in perspective every once in awhile is good, even if it is inconvenient and slightly unwelcome.  It helps me to better appreciate what normally I take for granted.  And I guess that isn't so bad after all.