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?