Still Relaxing

I wanted to post this picture yesterday, but didn't have the patience. So, today it is. Not that I have learned patience overnight. It would take me years to learn patience. It's never been my strongest attribute.

This is Grandma Suzy, Noah, Emily and Ben mowing the lawn. The kids did this for hours. If Grandma stopped, Noah would kick his little feet like he was hitting a horse saying, "go, go, go." Did I write that yesterday or did I just think it? I don't know. Ben and Emily each got a turn driving. Suzy even made it into game and made Ben the Tall Grass Terminator. He was loving it.


This morning it was cloudy and windy, so it was a tad cold. Noah was none too happy about it.


By the afternoon, it cleared up nicely and we were able to ride the jet skis.
And skip rocks.


And jump on the trampoline.


We are going to try our hands at fishing tomorrow so we needed some worms. We went digging in my Dads soil and found 7 plump ones. Emily was thrilled to pick them up and put them in the cup while Ben squealed like a well, I would say little girl, but the little girl wasn't scared.


If fishing is as unsuccessful as it was two years ago, we'll have to try our same trick. Put the line in the water with a worm on it. Set up the pole on the dock and go inside. In the morning, there is a fish on the line and we make the kids think they just caught it. They fell for it two years ago, but something tells me Emily is too smart for that now.

Oh, she was the first one to crack and mention home. Noah has been getting up once during the night, so I take that feed and then put the monitor in the room with David and Emily after. Then, Noah wakes at 5:00 or 6:00 and they both wake up and can't go back to bed. This morning Emily was laying on the sofa sucking her thumb and she starting crying and saying she wanted to go home. I asked her why later and she said she missed her bed.

Funny...I don't miss mine!

Sunny Days

The rain that was in the forecast came while we slept. Which is always nice when you want to spend your day on a blanket in the grass.


And riding the John Deere with your Grandma.


And kicking your husbands butt in badminton.
Look at that form! I missed my calling.


Then, we got pulled around on a raft. David went with the kids.


Then, I went with the kids.
Then we hit some big waves and Ben said, "I almost throwed up."
And we stopped before he throwed up.


And my spitfire daughter just wanted to go faster.

Another wonderful day.

A Beautiful Day

It was another great day here in Idaho.

The kids spent some time out in the canoe on the Pend Oreille river with their Papa.


Then, we took the pontoon boat to Sandpoint. It's about an hour ride. It was warm, breezy and perfect. This little captain even took the wheel.


The kids went swimming in the beach area. Emily swam out to the dock with the big kids. She's on the dock, the third one in from the left in the blue life vest. I was sitting on the boat feeding a hungry tired baby.


Emily and Grandma Suzy made dinner. Suzy hasn't let me lift a hand to make or clean up any meals. I feel a little guilty, but I'm enjoying it way more than I'm feeling guilty about it.


The kids are always on their trampoline.
Or should I say Emily and Captain America.


It takes 30 minutes to upload 5 pictures to my blog with dial up. I start the upload, go eat dinner, and it's done by the time we are finished.

Tomorrows forecast calls for rain.
Luckily, Suzy is prepared with Candyland, popcorn and movies.
We'll see what the day brings.

Another Day In Paradise

Everyone went to the grocery store this morning. I stayed home to take care of Noah. I put him down for his nap, plugged the baby monitor in outside, and enjoyed a cup of coffee, muffin and my book on swing.
Just sitting on the dock, wasting time...and it was wonderful!


Ben thought Idaho was great before. Imagine what he thought when he opened his dresser drawer today to find this.

Suzy is spoiling them rotten! He said, "What the heck?" when he saw all the costumes, and he hasn't gotten out of them all day. He's in heaven.

Emily was practicing her balance beam on the wall my Dad just built.


Then, we took the jet skis out for a spin.


Both kids have asked if this is our new home. Wishful thinking.
Ben loves the stairs.
Emily loves the soft carpet and the soft toilet paper.

They'll be in for a rude awakening when we go home on Saturday.
Back to our boring home with no stairs and one-ply.

We Made It

We arrived in time for dinner and a sunset boat ride.



Life is very good.

Vacation...Finally!

When you buy plane tickets in January, it seems like your vacation will never get here. Then before you know it, you are packing and leaving on a jet plane or something like that.

We are headed to Idaho to see my Dad and his wife Suzy. We haven't been to their cabin in 2 years.

We'll spend our time driving boats.


Taking out the jet skis.


Fishing.


Enjoying the green.


And having a morning cup of coffee on this dock.


This will be our first trip since October of 2008 and Noah's first plane ride. The Air Evac trip to Phoenix while he was in my belly doesn't count.

We are also telling Emily that we are leaving on Sunday instead of today. Our last trip, she was so excited that she was up all night and then threw up in the morning. So, we are lying to her, for her (and our) own good.

My Mom came up from Phoenix Thursday with my niece and they will be staying at our home watching Rocko. I got books 2 and 3 of a Nora Roberts trilogy from the library. I read the first one months ago, as in 10 months ago, as in before I had a baby. I'm looking forward to reading again.

I packed everything up and I almost fell over when I realized every bag checked is $25. When did that happen? Needless to say, my Dad has a washing machine, so everyone gets 3 outfits and that's it. I fit everything for a family of 5 in one large suitcase that weighs less than 50 pounds. Not to mention that days are hot and nights are cool which means everything from bathing suits to jackets. I love a challenge.

I'll try to post some photos during our trip, but my Dad has, gosh I can hardly say it...dial up!

We are leaving bright and early today.
I'm so excited.

She Got It!

My girl figured out her two wheeler.
That's what she calls it.


There were a few bobbles. And for laughing I will not win parent of the year.


But then she took off!


We're so proud of her.
My girl can do anything she sets her mind to.
Love her spirit.
Love her spunk.
Love her.

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

When it comes to geography, I would have to say that no I'm not smarter than a fifth grader. In fourth grade, I had to memorize where every state was and it's capital. The test was a blank map and we had to fill the entire thing in. I got 100%. Today, I'd probably get 50%. As for the rest of the world, I'm pretty clueless. When the geography category comes up on Jeopardy, I know to just shut my mouth because I will only embarrass myself.

Since I am doing some school work everyday with the kids, I decided to set up a better environment. Truth be told, I love the kids' Ikea stools and table but they are not designed for doing work. The table wobbles and they balance on one leg of the stool. It was making Mrs. G very angry. So, I pulled in their table from outside because it's too warm to be sitting out there anyways.

We put push pins where we live and where the grandparents live. And I tried to explain how the earth is round, but if we flatten it out we get the world map. I don't think they get that concept yet, but that's okay.

When they are older, I hope they will be able to answer at least one question right in the geography section of Jeopardy.

Even if it's the Junior version.

Size Doesn't Matter, Sleep And It Clicked

When we lived in Phoenix, there was no such thing as summer and winter clothes. Your summer clothes became winter clothes when you added a light jacket or instead of flip flops, you put on socks and boots.

But up here, I have to change out clothes to suit the season. Every summer, I pull out Bens shorts from the year before and have him try them on. I am still baffled by this pair of shorts that he can put on without even unbuttoning them.

The are size 18-24 months. Ben is 4 1/2. I know he's a little on the thin side and he's always a little above average for height, so I have no idea how these shorts have fit him for 4 years.

Just for fun, I tried them on Noah, who is technically 8 months old. They fit fine in the waist, but looked more like capri pants than shorts.

I wonder if next summer, they will share this pair of shorts. At least we got our money's worth.

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Emily has been enjoying sleeping in and I've realized that she needs 12 hours of sleep a night. During the school year, she was lucky to get 11. It was normally around 10 1/2. I'll have to remember this for next year and start putting her to bed by 7:30. She still sucks her thumb. A habit, we broke last year when Thumbelina came to visit. Then, 5 months later I went in the hospital to have Noah and her little world was rocked and she got reacquainted with her best friend, her thumb.


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These days if a kid can't start up a computer, go to their favorite web page and send an e-mail by four years old, it's pretty unusual. Up until recently, we only had one computer, so Emily would run it and Ben would sit in the chair with her happy to watch. He had no desire to learn how to use a mouse. I was getting a little concerned. Plus, it's good for his fine motor skills as he also doesn't hold a pencil properly. I think he is a little ambidextrous because if I put the fork on the left side of his plate, he will just start using his left hand to eat. I started working with him about a month ago and within a few days, he had it mastered. Now, I can't get him off of the computer. He's even on it with no pants on. Nice.


He loves all the basic kid sites, but our friend recommended one called starfall. It is wonderful for learning letters and makes it fun. Ben will say, "let me play on PBS Kids for 5 minutes and then I will learn my letters."

And that's fine with me.

Summer Fun

We are having a great summer and doing all the things that are required.

Like jumping in the pool with friends.


Hanging out in the hot tub with friends.


And doing the Nestea plunge.

Which sparked a huge debate poolside. David had never heard of falling backwards being called the nestea plunge. The older kids at the pool were calling it fallback. No, no, no...it's the nestea plunge. David thought I was crazy. And I started to think that maybe it was just something us kids on Paradise Drive made up. I specifically remembered the nestea plunge commercials. And then a man stopped texting on his cell phone to confirm that it is known as the nestea plunge. A You Tube search confirmed it.

Apparently, Nestea didn't show these commercials in Canada, so my husband missed out. Now, Nestea needs to put these commercials out there again, so kids today stop calling it fallback, and start calling it what it is...the Nestea Plunge!

And we've been having Emily's friend over to play before they move in a few weeks.


We went to the library today for a puppet show. My kids are always a little freaked out by puppets. And this character, The Moon Man, didn't help.

Emily: Is there a person in there?
Me: Yes, those are her legs.
Emily: So, she has a really skinny neck?
Me: laughing...no, she's behind the cloth.
Emily: Oh, so they found someone with no head?

Then, the actual puppet show began. And it was about a little girl and her dream.

When it was over, Ben asked where the puppets were. Um, we've been watching them for the past 20 minutes. I think he thought they were all real.

I don't think my kids will be puppeteers.

Bragging On Noah

I'm doing this entire post just to show Noah asleep in his stroller.


I took the kids to an indoor fun place (games, slides, machines eating my money) and Noah was in his stroller. He ate about 100 Cheerios and complained a little. I reclined him back and get this...he fell asleep! Emily and Ben NEVER would have done this.

Since I'm bragging about my little man, he was thrilled with his new big boy pajamas.


He's 10 1/2 months (8 1/2 months) and he really wants to crawl. He tries and he gets so mad that he can't move. He does this great butt scoot. Where I put him in one spot and he'll end up in another spot all together. He just scoots.


I imagine he'll be crawling soon.
I need to lock up my tupperware now!

Father's Day

We had a pretty low key Father's Day.

We started off the day with some cards and new shirts. Exciting, right?

I wanted to make David breakfast in bed, but to do that, the kids and I would need to get up by 5:00. So, David made us all breakfast at 9:00. Hey I offered, but he makes a better breakfast than I ever could.

Then, he mowed the lawn. The grass doesn't care if it's father's day.

Then, we ran some errands. I told you, not very exciting. But, we did make a special trip to Baskin Robbins since David likes their sundaes.

We were going to go out to dinner, but David likes how we make steaks at home better. And he's right. It's so sad, but I have to say we make better Mexican, Italian, steaks. The only point in going out to eat is the bread. Love Outbacks bushman bread, Olive Garden's breadsticks and Texas Roadhouse's sweet rolls. Seriously, we should just go to restaurants and eat bread. We made a wonderful dinner at home.

Then, we went to the pool which was almost empty, so that was nice.


Rocko got David's rib eye bone since he is a Dad too. Before we got him (and neutered him), he got busy with some pretty golden retriever. I'm sure he made adorable puppies. But he deserves a little something special too.


The best part of the day was dinner when I asked the kids what they liked best about their Dad.
Ben's answers -- he likes that Dad makes him coffee and he makes the best bacon and smoothies. He also likes his cap.

Emily's answers -- She loves Daddy because he loves on her and she likes his shirt.

It might have been a pretty low key day, but I think David knows that we all think he is the best.

Friday Night Fire

Last night, our friends invited us over for smores. Friday night for us usually means a trip to Costco and eating pizza at the food court. Smores at our friends sounded much better. So, we finished dinner and headed over.

Their home is gorgeous. They just bought a 2 story home in our neighborhood for way less than what we paid for our home. They have 5 bedrooms and 4 garages, so nice. They also just got a new swingset that needed to be broken in. The kids were happy to help.


Emily thought she was a trapeze artist.


Noah was so good. He just chilled out on his blanket and played with toys. He's trying to crawl, and last night, I was thrilled he isn't there yet.


We hung out around the fire.




The kids roasted marshmallows for the first time around an open fire.


Ben wasn't so sure about a smore. He thought it was too sticky and I ended up eating it for him. He ended up eating an entire chocolate bar though.


Emily loved her smore.


We all had a great time.
I'm so thankful that we've met such great friends up here.