2nd Grade Here She Comes

Wow Summer has just taken over my life.  I made a goal at the beginning of the Summer to not be bored.  What I mean is that if I find I am bored then I would find a project.  Okay first let me start by saying that being bored in the Summer with kids is really not possible.  I also took the whole project thing a bit to serious.  Between all the Summer fun and then the added projects I came up with I can say that I have exhausted myself out.  Wow I am so physically and mentally tired.  Not to mention that I think I sweated at least 10 peoples worth of sweat this Summer.

I guess the fun all ends now that school has started.  Lily started 2nd grade this year and is in Mrs. Reese's class.  Where has the time gone.  That little girl couldn't have been more excited.  For the last two weeks she counted down until school finally started.  We are two days in and so far the bus cannot come fast enough in the morning.  I am so happy that she is thrilled about school.  Let's hope it stays that way.

Eve starts Preschool after Labor day.  She is very excited and I thought she would be upset that Lily has started and she has not.  I think she is really liking the "mom to myself" so that is helping.  Next week might be a different story.  How did my girls get so big?

Pooper Scooper For Life

I have been thinking about writing about poop for a while now.  Gross you say?  Yes it is gross and repulsive.  So let the yucky story begin.

Now some of my readers may remember this story from our youth.  Sad I guess I'm not in my youth anymore.  When I was in my youth I set out for yet another Girls Camp with my good and loyal friends.  I believe this particular camp was...hum I have no idea actually where we were at.  I do remember lots of trees and a rather steep path down into our camp site.  One day while walking on this path with some of my buddies we run into a pile of poop.  Gross yes.  Now here is where I wish I was A(you know who you are) to tell this story. She would have giving it justice.

Okay skipping right to the point because I can't remember how this happened but we all found out who left that pile of poop in the middle of the main trail.  It was another girl in my ward who shall not be named but pretty sure most of you can figure out who it was.  Yes you heard me right.  She needed to relieve herself so decided that "Hey why not right here in the middle of the trail where everyone walks.  Looks good to me and I have no shame should someone come upon me in the middle of my act of leaving droppings like a common forest animal."

Well the story went around and the leaders heard and decided that someone needed to remove the poop.  Now I would think that they would choose the girl who left it there but no they decided "Hey lets have the Kjar girl take care of that mess.  She seems like a perfect person to clean up someone else's poop ".  That is just what happened.  I was nominated to clean up this other girls poop who by the way was older than me.  Not only did I have to clean it up they were so kind as to give me the pooper scooper award on the final night where they give awards to all the girls.  What a slap in the face.  Here other girls were getting best smile award or most caring award.  No I get the pooper scooper award which everyone laughed not.  I have to wonder now that I'm an adult what were these leaders thinking and did they just not like me?

I did not realize at the time that this particular event was preparing me for a lifetime of official poop duty.  When I married Will he already had a dog.  I point this out because I wonder how this dog survived without me.  Since we have been married I am in complete control of all bodily needs and functions of the animals and children in my home.

Everyday I go into my backyard and clean up poop from two dogs.  If I did not do this the poop would remain where it was dropped.  Yeah for me I have lived up to my pooper scooper award that I received as a child.  Yeah for me!

Music Camp and New Bedroom

Last week the girls attended a music camp put on by a fabulous piano teacher in Layton.  For those interested her name is Susanne Moon and she is absolutely amazing and cheap.  Anyways she put together a week long music camp and the girls had a blast.  They were very worn out by the end of each day but isn't that the point.  On the last day of the camp the kids put on a show of what they learned for the parents.  It was so cute and again amazing!

The girls posing so I can take a pic along with their cousin Ella who got to come watch the show

On another note Will thought it would be a good idea to put the girls in separate rooms so they would stop keeping each other up at night.  I asked the girls how the felt about that and Lily was all for it.   Poor Eve was not so thrilled but went along.  I offered to move Eve in the bedroom next to mine but she didn't want to move but Lily jumped at that suggestion.  So Lily got herself a new room.

This room used to be the office/craft room which has now been moved into the basement.  Good thing we have spare rooms to go around.  Lily loves her new room and wants to show it to anyone who comes knocking at our front door.  Eve on the other hand is lonely.  I just want to cry for this little girl.  Each night she says she doesn't like sleeping without Lily and she is lonely.  It just breaks my heart to leave her in that big room all by herself.  I have been leaving a dog to sleep with her on her bed at night.  Which ever dog follows me to put Eve to bed is the winner.  Still my poor baby.

O What Do You Do In The Summer Time?

The question is what do you do in the Summer time without money?  Will and I decided to really take a good look at our finances and try to become one of those people who call Dave Ramsey and scream "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!"  Let's just say we have a ways to go but hey now is  a good time to start...maybe.  I think maybe starting when school is in session might have been a better plan because I am not faced with how to entertain two little girls on a very strict budget.  I just keep repeating to myself "It will be all worth it in the end".

Last week I got pretty creative and I am happy to report that I did not spend one dime entertaining my kids.  Wow it is possible to do things without money.  I even kept within my gas budget so I'm feeling pretty good about myself.  Also it is Tuesday night and I have not spent money this week either...so far.

Here is a brief list of a few activities we did:

Story Time at the library (Okay this one is not new since I have been doing this every week since Lily was 1.  Yes really I am not exaggerating   The library knows my name as well as the girls names.  I don't even know where I put my library card because they have me pulled up before I get to the counter)

Day at the beach.  Pineview beach that is.  They have a free beach and well it was a relaxing day.  They girls made a friend and I read in the shade for hours.  I was too busy reading to take pictures.

Pretend fishing and reading books.  I took the girls to the river by the train tracks which is really pretty and we pretended to fish.  I did cut my fingers pretty bad when trying to unravel the stupid string and almost got a ticket.  Yes the DNR came to see if we had a fishing license which I didn't even think about.  He took one look at us and knew that we had not chance of catching any fish.  Yep that would take a hook with some bate and even then it's not looking good.

Splashpad at the Morgan Park.  Again I got to sit in the shade and read.  Yeah for me!  Again no pictures

Roasting Marshmellows in the backyard.  Hey the girls loved it!

 Don't worry there is not a fire yet.  They are just making a teepee

We also did lots of little crafty things at home and thank goodness for Lemonade Stands, friends and bikes.

That sums up last weeks event along with a few pics.  Stay tuned to see what other free things I can come up with.

The Logic Of A 4 Year Old

There have been many a story told of little boys dropping their drawers outside to take a potty break.  I have never really heard of little girls doing it.  If you haven't either well here is an example for you.

Yesterday I was outside watering my plants/grass which is something I do every night.  We have not sprinkling system or maybe I should say we do but it's in the form of me.  Anyways as I was walking onto my porch when I noticed Eve standing next to a tree talking to her little neighbor friend.  I wasn't sure what they were saying but I heard something a long the lines of "Jack you watch for people".  Now let me explain Eve is 4 and her little friend (who is a boy) is also 4 so yeah.  I thought now what are those to up to when I notice Eve dropping her pants.  I yelled for her to stop and asked what in the world she was doing.  It goes as such:

Me:  Stop! What are you doing?
Eve: (walking up to me with a perplexed look) Mom you know we do this when we camp
Me: Yes but only when we camp because there is no toilet around
Eve: (huffing her way into the house with perturbed look) Jack was keeping a look out for me
Me: Yeah great cause that's a good idea

Did I mention this was in my front yard?  Wow Eve is so different from Lily at times.  Lily will hold it until she finds a toilet even if that means hours or probably days if I let her.  Eve on the other hand gets excited to go camping because she gets to squat.  Now I should probably go next door and apologize to the neighbors about my 4 year old almost flashing their 4 year old.

8 Years

Will and I hit our 8 year mark yesterday, June 9th.  So glad we have made it is far.  It's amazing really because we have been through some really tough times together but we have made it so far.

Will and I take turns planning the activity for our big day.  This year was my year to plan which was probably a good thing since Will completely forgot.  In Will's defense he was been so ridiculously busy and had very minimal sleep.  Not to mention that he has been mostly in Montana for the past month.  Anywho I decided I wanted to so something a little different this year.  I decided that horse back riding sounded like fun.  After a bit of googling I found the there are horse back rides on Antelope island for a pretty decent price.  So that's what we did.  It really was a lot of fun and the temperature was perfect.  It helped that there was a nice breeze to keep things cool.  Luckily both Will and I have had experiences with horses so it was a nice no stress ride.  Perfect!

Will was riding Joe and I was riding Maverick.  Apparently Maverick is a movie star.  He has been in several films.  After we went out to dinner which was so nice without kids.  Overall I think it was a pretty successful night.

I couldn't have asked for a better friend to be married to.  Will understands me better than anyone and he treats me like gold.  We may have our struggles but I couldn't imagine going through life without Will.  Love you Babe!

Lessons I've Learned

I won't lie I've had some pretty hard slaps in the face in the last two years in ways I did not see coming.  Will and I have literally been to hell and back since getting married.  We've jumped over some difficult hurtles that I never thought I would have to jump over.  I thought I had some of the worst behind me.  However since moving to Mountain Green and really getting settled into a neighborhood I've learned some difficult lessons.

Let me start by saying that it's not Mountain Green that is the problem here.  It's just that since being married this is the first place we have really called home.  It's also the longest place we have lived since tying the knot.  I truly believe that some of the stuff I have faced could have and probably would have happened anywhere.  I just want to start this post by making it clear that I love Mountain Green and all of Morgan County.  It really is an amazing place to live and to raise children.

Okay with that said here is what I have learned
Number 1  There is at least always one crazy lady in the neighborhood.  I think I may have won the jackpot on the most crazy lady.  It's a never ending roller coaster of excitement with that one.  My resolve to that problem avoid avoid avoid.

Number 2  Even though I can officially say I am well into my adulthood years there are many days where I feel I may still be in High School.  That's all I'm going to say about that one.

Number 3  I will never keep up with the Joneses.  There are lots of Joneses up here and well it's just not even worth worrying about.  Let me state that there is nothing wrong with "The Joneses".  I love/like most of those up here that fit into that category.  I just find that some days I wish I was them.  For example I would love to have a house cleaner sometimes.

Number 4  It took me a bit to figure this one out but your closest friends (in the neighborhood) are not who I would have thought they would be.  I am extremely grateful for my friend and for knowing when I need a lift-me-up-call on that random hard day.  So blessed to have my friend who really loves and cares about me and my family.

Number 5  Not a surprise here but I do not belong to the popular club.  Yes there are popular clubs up here and I am so not in it.  I guess this could fall into number 2.

Number 6  This just may be the biggest lesson I have learned to date since moving here.  Keep to myself!!  I can't stress that enough.  Wow if there is one thing I have learned is that I am much better off not getting to involved or personal with people.  A close friendship can backfire in a huge explosion and the damage is extremely painful.

So with that said I probably said to much on my semi-private blog to have another explosion.  O well what do you do?

A Pretty Crappy Week

Last Friday I took the girls swimming at the Clearfield Aquatics Center.  We had a lot of fun practicing our swimming and going down the big slide.  Later that night however Lily started to throw-up.  I figured she must have swallowed a lot of chlorine water and her body was trying to get it out.  For the rest of the night and well into the early morning I sat with Lily as she hovered over a bowl.  I felt very bad for her because who likes throwing up.  On top of that she had some massive stomach pain going on.  I hate times like these because I feel powerless as a mom.  At one point in the night I tried to coach her through breathing techniques I used during labor.  I thought about arguing with her when she told me that I had no idea how bad it hurt.  O I do all to well but I decided that she did not need to listen to my lecture on that one.

Early Saturday morning Lily finally stopped vomiting and fell asleep.  I was relieved and knocked off as well. Unfortunately Eve was up at her normal 7am time.  Yeah for me but such is the life of a mom.  I was slightly jealous of Will who got to sleep all night and didn't pop open his eyes until about 11:30 Saturday morning.  I had to keep reminding myself though that he doesn't get much sleep during the week so needs to make up for it over the weekends.

Saturday I just kept myself going by working in my yard which was been a huge mental stress reliever for me lately.  I had Lily take it easy by sleeping pretty much the whole day.  Sleeping during the day is something Lily NEVER does even when she was a baby.  This bug she had must have did a number on her though because she was asleep on the couch all day.  It wasn't even the couch in the same room as a tv so yep she was worn out.  Poor baby girl.

Sunday morning Will woke up feeling stomach pain and the next thing I know he is in the bathroom vomiting.  That's when I realized that Lily must of had a bug.  I like to think it was a present given to her on the last day of school.  Kinda like "Enjoy your Summer but let's give you a bug to start it off right".  Poor Will was sick all day.  I just closed the door to our room and left him to it.  That's the beauty of adults, they don't need help throwing up.  The best thing for adults is to leave them alone.  I felt bad but also relieved I was not needed to help out there.  I figured me keeping the girls away and giving him space was my way for helping out.

By Sunday night he finally stopped vomiting but said his body ached pretty bad.  He looked like Hell.  As I was getting liquids for Will to re-hydrate I prayed that Eve would not get it.  In fact I prayed that I would get it over Eve.  Well fate was not on my side.

Eve was sitting on the stairs and not looking so good.  I asked her if she was okay and well that's when the vomit starting flowing.  Here we go again.  My only question is why do kids start the sickness at night?  Why can't they start first thing in the morning and have it through the day?  Once again I spent the whole night helping Eve puke in a bowl.  It just sucks as a mom to watch your kids be sick and to not really have anything to help them out.  It's just a matter of letting it run it's course.

I thought by morning Eve would be done because it was just a 24 hour thing with Lily and Will.  Eve did pretty good during the day minus that fact that she was dead tired.  Unfortunately night came and Eve starting puking again...ALL NIGHT!  Morning came and once again I thought okay she's probably done now.  Again she did great during the day just super cranky from fatigue.  That night I was thinking that maybe I would finally get some sleep.  It was looking promising when I went to bed but at 12 am Eve walked in my room (yep so tired I didn't even hear you get out of bed which I normally do) telling me that she went potty in her diaper.(Eve sleeps in diapers at night because her body doesn't wake her up most the time when she needs to go).  I told her it was okay because she had a diaper on and went to take her to bed.  I then smelled it...the dreaded diarrhea.  O it was so bad I was trying very hard not to puke myself.  Poor baby though her little butt was just on fire from all that diarrhea.  I put her in a warm bath to try to sooth her which kinda helped but she was so tired that she was just miserable.  Long gross story short it was a very crappy long night...literally.

When morning came I woke Lily up to watch Eve(Will is in Montana from Monday to Friday every week) so I could run to the gas station to buy some pepto.  I was desperate.  The pepto did help slow things down for her which her poor little butt needed.  On top of all this the girls started swimming lessons this week.  Unfortunately Eve has missed pretty much the whole week and has to sit and watch Lily swim.  It helps though that Eve has had two sessions of swimming lessons very recently so she is not too upset.

Wednesday night I was praying that Eve would finally get a full nights rest and get over this stupid virus.  Luckily Eve slept great and so did I.  Eve did get up a 6am but was perfectly happy entertaining herself so I was able to sleep until 8am.  Wow I felt like a million bucks today compared to the previous days.

What a way to start the Summer break.  It didn't help that Lily was bored out of her mind and I couldn't take her anywhere because Eve needed to stay home.  On top of that it rained like crazy which made it feel like winter.  Don't get me wrong I love the rain but it just was not a good week for it or my depressive mood.

Hopefully things will start to go up from here.  Will is suppose to be home tomorrow and Eve so far has not had any symptoms since yesterday afternoon.  Now I need a mini vacation from life...yeah right.

Sisters, Sisters

Tomorrow is the last day of school and then Summer break has officially began!  I'm pretty excited about the break and I know Lily is also.  Lily was invited a few days ago to a 'End of School' party right after school tomorrow.  I thought it was a cute idea and thought it would be fun for Lily.  I have been concerned about Eve and her reaction when Lily heads out to the party without her.  I didn't mention it to Lily and have been trying to think of ideas of what to distract Eve with.

Tonight when I was tucking the girls into bed Lily asked me to call her friends mom tomorrow to ask if Eve can came to the party also.  I was touched by this request and had a small proud mamma moment in my heart.  Lily took it one step further by making me pinkie swear that I would call and ask tomorrow.

I was lucky to grow up with 4 beautiful sisters.  I was really close to one seeing as we were only 2 years apart.  Tricia is older than I am and could have picked on me and made life miserable.  Instead we were the best of friends.  We would tell friends we could not play because we were too busy playing with each other. Tricia made sure that I had someone to walk home from school with and looked after me.  In High School she would let me tag along with her and her friends.  Many weekends just the two of us would drive to Sugar House to see a moving.  I was very lucky to have her as my sister and friend.

As an adult my relationship with my other sisters has grown into deep meaningful bonds.  I love them all deeply.  When I was pregnant with Eve(before I new that she was a girl) I secretly hoped for another girl.  I new that I should want a boy but I just wanted a sister for Lily so much.  I wanted her to experience the bond that I have with my sisters.  I see that bond between these two little sisters and it just melts my heart.  They don't even realize how lucky they are but over time they will.  I am so touched by Lily's love for Eve tonight.  What sweet girls I have been blessed with.

Building A Retreat

I feel that all I do these days is pull weeds, move rocks, mow the lawn(over and over) and pick up dog poop.  I love my large yard and all the possibilities.  Will have put a lot of work into it in the short amount of times that we have been here.  Now that he is gone all week long I need to step it up an take over.  Wow what a job I have.  I have been pulling weeds every day (minus the very rainy days) and it looks like I have done nothing.  It doesn't help that my weeds have already grown massive in size and have woven their roots deep into the earth.  How come it is that weeds can grow in any climate or location.  There is no such thing as too much or too little sun, water or no water.  It doesn't even matter what kind of dirt or any for that matter.  They will thrive under any condition.  Flowers and pretty plants are a whole different story.  If you do not give them your constant attention they will shrivel up and die.  So unfair.

This picture shows what my wheels barrels look like at all times.  I look at it and think I made progress and then I turn around and see how much I still have to go. (Above picture is not my yard.  I'm too tired to take one to post).

As for mowing the lawn I do not mind that.  I have been mowing long for a long as I can remember.  I enjoy it because I can see progress being made, it's loud and let's my thoughts flow and for the most part people leave me alone.  Really my complaint about the lawn is dealing with how to dispose of the clippings.

Next is the forever hated poop control.  Why is it that I was the chosen to take care of all the pets needs?  The dogs only whine to me early in the morning for food or to go out.  I am the one the seek out whenever they need something.  On top of that I have complete responsibility to cleanup the dog poop.  If I don't do it it doesn't get done.  I can't stand poop in my yard so I am out there at least twice a day cleaning up after them.  I hate it but not much I can do there.

Moving rocks and tree stumps is really not something that is required.  I just have thoughts which turn into projects.  I also have this thing where I feel that I can do most anything or I will at least try before asking Will for help.  Last week I moved several very large rocks to build a fairy village in my yard.  I say it's for the girls, which it is, but I am really excited about it.  I have some sore muscles to show for my excitement.

Long boring story short all my time lately has been in my yard.  I'm really hoping that the image I have in my head will one day be a reality.  Here's to hoping.

Loser

The other day I was making dinner and Eve started talking to me about her other mom.  I had to stop her and ask what she meant.  I had no idea she had another mom.  It goes something like this:

Eve: So my other mom is really mean
Me: What is your other moms name?
Eve: Her name is loser and she is really mean
Me: Lose huh, that's an interesting name
Eve: Yeah my other moms name is Loser and she punches me in the face.
Me: (Looking at Lily who is reading a book but stopped to figure out what this is all about) Lily what is Eve talking about?
Lily:  I don't know mom, Eve is just weird sometimes. (Lily had checked out of the conversation)
Eve: My other mom punches me in that face and punches Daddy in the face.
Me: Do you have two dads also?
Eve: No just the one and my other mom punches him and then he died and then she killed me and I died.  But it's okay we came back to life and the other mom died.
Me: (Speechless)

Later I had Eve tell Will the story which pretty much stayed the same.  We have no idea where she is getting this from.  Eve comes up with all sorts of interesting stores and has a unique imagination.  Will did say that he may be concerned that we will have Child Protective Services called on us though.  This mean mom named Loser sounds like a violent killer.

On The Road Again

Will is going to be in Montana and Wyoming(maybe) Monday through Thursday for the next two years.  I have been asked by those few that know "How will you ever survive that?".  Now the thought that ran through my mind is "Really, Really how hard is that".  Will and I have a very different life than most of the friends/family/neighbors that I know.  When you work in construction there is no set schedule.  I learned long ago that to survive I must simply go with the flow.

Aren't we cute

When we were first married I was okay(somewhat) with the late hours because I was working myself and kept pretty busy.  I was used to only really doing things on the weekend.  I was also pregnant two seconds after saying "I Do" and slept a lot because making a baby is tiring.

Then came baby (Lily)

Wow did things change!  I remember crying each morning when Will left for working because I was so jealous that he got to leave and go out into the world.  That's a whole other story so I won't go there.  It's when Lily came that I began to realize that Construction is not all it's cracked up to be.  Okay maybe it is because most people don't have awesome things to say about it.

Anyways, Will was a new husband and Father very quickly and was doing what he thought he was suppose to do.  Go to work and bring home bacon, which is the roll of that man right? Right!  Now Will is not a normal man.  I have been calling him a rare breed from day one.  He works and works very hard.  Not only mentally but physically.  He can work harder, longer, faster and better than most.  I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife, I'm saying that because it's fact.  Don't believe?  Take any man you know and put him against Will in a typical work day and Will is going to win.

Back to my point.  Will worked from sun up to WAY PASSED sun down.  His normal work day was from 6am to 11pm.  No I am not exaggerating. It was rough adjusting to that.  Since then Will has seen that coming home earlier when possible is important and he works hard to divide his time.  However he is still in construction and you work when you can get it.  That means that I have learned to be happy on the days he comes home early(early is 6pm) but not to expect it.  I find that if I think each night is a late night than the early nights are like my reward.  It works for me.

Now finally to me point...I did not see Montana as a big deal because I figured it would be like those late nights when I see him, say hello and then goodnight.  This is also not the first time that Will has been out of town for work.  There have been times when he has been gone for a week at a time here and there.  So again I don't see what the big deal is because this is our life.

The problem however came late last night when I finally decided to go to bed.  I could not sleep without him and my bed felt very empty.  I don't know why this time is different but I had a hard time last night.  The days are fine but going to bed without Will is not working for me.  I guess it's the thought that hit me as I lay in bed last night.  Will is going to be gone 4 to 5 nights every week for possibly two years.  Hum this is a new hurtle for me.

As I was feeling sorry for myself I then thought about Will having to be away from home living with a bunch of annoying men.  I stopped feeling sorry myself and started to cry for Will and his situation.  O Will the things he does for his family.  I just hope that he makes it through this okay.

And that's my story.  

Time to take charge

I was sitting in the salon chair about a week ago getting my hair cut.  Now this is not something I get to do often maybe 6 months to a year.  Yes I know that I am suppose to cut my hair on a more regular basis but it's expensive and I can't just go anywhere.  I have been spoiled so I need the best or close to the best.

I'm getting off the subject.  As I was sitting there I looked at myself in the mirror.  What I mean is I really looked at myself in the mirror.  I am not a big fan of mirrors so I try to avoid them or just glance when needed.  As I was looking in the mirror I noticed lots of wrinkles and very tired eyes.  I realized that I had aged.  What when did that happen?  I decided that I needed to get out of the chair and get rid of all the mirrors in my house.

Since then I have been thinking a lot about what I saw in the mirror.  I also thought about a youtube video going around about women and how they see themselves.   If you haven't seen it you need to:   http://youtu.be/iswiKQbtwXQ

As I watched this I wondered how I would describe my face.  Now this may sound vain but I have always thought that my face really isn't that bad.  It's one part of my body that does not disgust me.  It's from the neck down that I do not like.  Now that my face seems to be going down hill I've decided that maybe I should work on it.  Then I thought maybe I should stop complaining about my body and work on that to.  Easier said then done.  It's not that I haven't tried before with many successes and failures.  Well here we go again.  Now to change your body I think the first place to start is food.  You can work out all you want but to improve your body fully and for the best food is the place to focus.

I have started but cutting out all foods that are not natural.  This may be difficult but I figure it's a really good thing for my body.  I am also hoping that this will limit or even eliminate all the junk my girls consume.  I am not a big candy bar person or fast food even though I do have it from time to time.  I do love my licorice and Diet Coke pretty much everyday.  Also with Summer coming that means more on the go which brings in Fast Food.  I've decided that I will cut these things out altogether.

In order for this to happen I will have to plan ahead so that when we are out on the go and meal time comes around I will need to have food packed from home.  Hey this may even help out on the wallet.

I've also decided that I can have desserts but there are plenty of desserts that I can make from home that do not require preservatives.  The name of the game here is Natural.  No desserts that come in a package.  I would like to think that I am living back in the time of the pioneers where they didn't have all the fast food or limited supply of sugar treats.  I am extremely grateful to take advantage of all the other modern stuff such as indoor plumping and air-conditioning. 

So there you have it that's my new goal.  Now feel free to share things that work for you and your families.  I'm all for new ideas.

Moab Adventures Part 2

Last weekend was our second trip to Moab this month.  This is a huge and lucky thing for us.  Normally we only go out of town maybe 2 times a year.  Look at us we are making progress.  Now if only we could save some cash to go to California we would be set.

We left Thursday after Lily got out of school and man did I work hard to be prepared for this trip.  The last one I packed in an hour and we left.  Amazingly I didn't forget anything and we camped.  Still can't believe how prepared we were for that trip.  This trip I spent the morning baking all sorts of things to take for breakfast and dinner's while we were there.  Will and I normally only eat out once while we are in Moab if even that.

After baking up a storm I took Sissy to the doggie hotel.  Wow this is a big step for us.  We have never done that before.  Our last trip Sissy just came with us and our neighbor watched Lucy.  See Lucy has a heart attack riding in cars so we can't travel with her.  Sissy has to come because she is a terror while we are gone.  I decided that I was done worrying about our neighbors trying to take care of Sissy.  Our last trip proved that she is just too old to handle that kind of vacation.  It really took it out of her.  So off to the doggie hotel which was totally worth the money!!!

We stayed at the Riverside Oasis in the little cabins they have.  It's what I like to call luxury camping and it was fabulous!  We had a blast down there as always but I also found that I am getting bored of a few trails such as Poison Spider.  Listen all my friends I am done with that trail for this year.  I've been to Moab twice this year and have been on that trail 3 times.  It's not even that fun of a trail.

I have to mention that one of my favorite times is when Will and Wade took off to the parts store and left me and the girls at the cabin.  It was a nice warm day which I haven't seen in a long time.  I laid on the grass and watched my girls play.  It was so relaxing and the girls were having so much fun.  I love to just watch them when they are getting along so well.  It reminds me of me and my sister, Tricia, of when we were little.  I'm so glad they have each other.

Before I post pictures I have to mention that I had a first in Moab.  I drove a trail all by myself without Will even near by.  Wade's Jeep broke and Will told me to take the girls on the trail while he worked with Wade.  It was not a difficult trail but man there were a ton of rocks.  It was fun for me to test my skills without Will coaching me.  Eve was not happy however.  She loves how Will drives fast and crazy.  Lily was positive and kept telling me I was doing a great job even though I think she was bored to.  O well  it was a good experience.

Wade vs the Rock (Poison Spider)

The Rock Won

Steel Bender

Old bridge by the Overlook Trail

The girls and I at the top of the trail that I drove by myself

Moab Adventures Part 1

We had the chance to go to Moab twice this month which is not something that happens for us really ever.  The first trip was very spur of the moment.  Will did not have work and decided to just get in the car and go.  Here are some pics:

Dead Horse Point

Long Canyon Trail with Rand Ridges and Bryan Rockwood

Easter Morning.  The Easter Bunny found our campsite!

My favorite Trail - Hell's Revenge

Lily was so proud of her tepee she built to start a fire.

We are all packed and ready to go home with no extra room to spare.