Crazy!!!

Today has been a crazy day, and I can honestly say that I haven't handled it to well. I have snapped at the kids, and Chad and then just get mad about the whole thing. I have been trying to get ready for girls camp - we leave tomorrow, and I have so much to do still - yet I am blogging go figure!! I have been trying to get the laundry done, get the kids packed to visit their grandparents, clean the house, and go shopping for food for camp. I think I have finished one of those things because I had someone else going shopping with me. To top off my whole day, I went down to get a load of laundry out of the dryer, and an ink pen exploded all over my load of lights. Most of the kids clothes, lets just put it that way. I have spent the last hour spraying them with whatever I could find at the grocery store, and am hoping that it works. Well, sorry to complain, but I will get a much needed break from the kids for 4 days (don't worry we are going to a cabin where I get a bed, bathroom and electricity - otherwise no girls camp for me!!). I will let you know how it goes when I get back!

Island Park

This past weekend we went up to Chad's grandparent's cabin in Island Park on Bill's Island. His family was all there, and we had a lot of fun, food, food, food, and water activities - did I mention food??? I think I gained a few pounds this weekend. The kids had a blast. Claire was brave and took the plunge into the water, but Owen didn't think that was such a good idea. I finally put on the maternity swimsuit, but just enjoyed floating in the tube for a little while. Everyone had a blast with the jet ski they rented, and we were all surprised at how well it could pull people while skiing, knee boarding, or tubing. Hopefully we can do it again next year!
Owen just loves being outside, and had so much fun looking at the water, but never going in!
Chad tried to help Jeanna ski for the first time. She finally got up and did a great job!
It took us all day, but Owen finally went for a ride - with a little force. I think he ended up enjoying it!
Claire got a lot of practice on being a big sister while holding her cousin Brecklyn. She is very excited now for the baby to come and in her prayers she blesses that the baby will get big and come out of mommy's tummy. So cute!!!
Luckily Claire had her Aunt Shanna there to take her swimming. Her other favorite pastime was building sand castles on the beach. She loved the sand, and her and Owen would sit there forever. We had a lot of sand to vacuum up in the cabin though!
Jeanna - the wild woman!!
Kerri and Kate
Owen relaxing by the lake.
This is what everyone felt like at the end of the day, Kate was the only one brave enough to do it!

Lovebirds Tag

My friend Debra tagged me, so here goes nothing. Anyone who wants to join in, I would love to hear all about you! This was actually a lot of fun!

1. Where did you and your husband meet? We were actually in the same singles ward for quite awhile, but he was dating another girl. Once his on again, off again romance ended, somehow he ended up driving my roommates and a few guys up to Bogus Basin to go skiing. I guess that was our official introduction though I didn't think I had a chance.
2. The first thing you said to each other? I really can't remember. I remember the night before we went skiing we had a ward Christmas party and the guys called Chad over to give us his opinion on where a girl should sit on a bench seat in a car. He had this funny theory about A (next to the guy), B (in between the guy and the door), and C (next to the door). I'm sure I made some response to that. FYI, you should always sit next to the guy if he opens up the drivers side for you to get in. A little Chad wisdom for you all.
3. Where was your first date? Our first date happened accidentally. I totally liked him, but we had always done things with our friends. So the Olympic Torch was coming through Boise, so I thought I had a bunch of people lined up to go, but it ended up being just him and I. We saw the torch, then he took me to Red Robin (my favorite!). Then the funniest part was that all my roommates were gone, and our garage code would work so Chad had to break into my bedroom window for me. He broke his pocket knife in his nice gesture, but it was funny!
4. When was your first kiss? OK, this is bad, but our first kiss was horrible!!!! Chad took me to the Institutes Valentine's Dance, which turned out to be lame. So we went for a drive and we talked about how he wanted to take it slow, and so I figured we would just take our time. Well, when he pulled up in front of my house, he planted one on me, and I was totally off my guard. I was so scared that he would never come around me again, but I think I made up for it the next time.
5. When were your first "I love yous," said? Chad actually told me he loved me first. I think sometime in March his family came to visit and they stayed at a local hotel. His parents left the room to check on something and we were just talking and waiting for them to come back. Sometime during that conversation he told me he loved me. I can't remember when I said it back, but it wasn't right then. He actually wrote it for the first time on my Valentine's Day Card, which I read over and over again.
6. Long or short engagement? Short. We were engaged in the middle of June and married August 9th. If it were any longer he wouldn't have married me!
7. Where did you get engaged? He actually called and asked me out on a date, so I knew that he had got the ring. He took me to dinner at Jakers in Boise, then he drove to the temple. The funny thing was that the gates were locked so he had to ask me outside on a bench just outside the temple grounds. There were boy scouts coming out of the church, so it was kinda comical, but very sweet.
8. Where were you married? Boise Temple

9. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went (don't laugh) to Nashville, TN. We weren't sure why we picked that place, but we wanted to go somewhere and Chad just wasn't into the whole beach somewhere thing (I think I have sufficiently changed his mind now). Anyways, we had so much fun and had lots to do (although it was very hot!!!).
10. Where was your first home? I moved into Chad's apartment which I think was on Juniper, and we bought our first home about a year later at 811 W. Dewey in Nampa.

24th of July Parade

I think the biggest parade of the year in our town is the 24th of July parade. It is so much fun!! With a large LDS community it isn't hard to realize that this is a big deal! The morning starts off with a parade which the kids loved. They get tons of candy (mostly Bit O Honey - yuck), and have a blast. We met some of our friends so the kids could all sit together. The parade is about an hour and so much fun. Then at the fairgrounds they have games, food, animals, and all kinds of things. We ended up only taking Owen because we were supposed to work in a booth for our ward, but we signed up late enough that they were almost out of pizza, so we just had to help take down (actually Chad did), and Owen and I watch the kids get dunked at the dunk booth. If the line wasn't so long, Owen could have thrown a few balls. It was a fun/hot day, but we can't wait for next year!
Nice hat Dave!
Waiting for the parade to begin.
Scoping out the next float for candy.
Owen loved this train! It is all he talks about.
A few of the kids with their bags of candy.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

The other day I was working in the yard, while the kids played. I looked over, and Claire had moved some leftover pieces of plywood, and was laying on them. She looked at me and said, "Owen is going to give me true loves first real kiss (from Enchanted)." Then she told Owen to kiss her. He didn't want to, but he finally kissed her on the head. She didn't think that was a great idea, but decided that it would work.



Owen discovered that we had a sprayer for the hose the other day. I borrowed it from him to wash off our massive amount of cement in our backyard. He had finally had enough, and he looked at me and said, "Please, I got it for Christmas." Claire says that all the time when there are things she doesn't want him to touch. It was so funny because he didn't really know what he was saying.

Bee Stings Stink!!

No, this is not a picture of my leg, but of my arm. I had a little run in with a bee on Monday, and things have gone downhill from there. The bee landed on my shirt (I guess), and when I wiped my arm over my shirt, it stung me. I was fine all night Monday, and then yesterday I woke up with it itching a little bit and a little swollen. By last night it was huge. I called my doctor and they said to take Benadryll and put cream on it - so I did. It did nothing but it sure helped me sleep really well! Today I called back, and they told me to go to Urgent Care to make sure there wasn't an infection. Let me just tell you that this thing is huge, hot, and really hard, plus it keeps growing so I was sure that it is infected. The poor Urgent Care people were so scared to even look at me because I was pregnant, that he finally gave me a prescription for an antibiotic (and the lovely lines), and told me not to take it for 3 days, and only take it if the swelling continues. Now I'm not so sure how big my arm could get, but I don't want to find out.

After consulting with Chad, I just headed over to my Midwives office, and she didn't look to happy with what they told me. She took me into another doctors office, and after he talked to a specialist to make sure I wasn't hurting my nerves (nice huh!), they gave me a different prescription, and told me to soak my arm in Epsom salt. Whew!! Hopefully there is an end in sight here.

Thankfully my mother and father-in-law have the kids for the day so I can get this all figured out. I hope the swelling goes down soon, and I hope the marker comes off my arm!

Anemic, Heartbeats, and Grumpy

OK, maybe it's just having two kids, and being home with them all the time, but I don't think that I can make it 10 more weeks of being pregnant. I have never been pregnant in the summer, so this heat (even though it hasn't been that hot), is killing me. Last night at Young Women's, they were making fun of me because I thought it was so hot in our room, and no one else did. Thankfully they turned on the AC for me.

Yesterday I took the kids with me for the first time to my doctor's appointment. Claire really didn't want to go, and Owen was banging on the bathroom door yelling at me while I was - well you know. Anyways, they were actually really great, and were intrigued by them measuring my tummy. Claire's eyes were so big when they found the babies heartbeat, and she was very excited. I hope it helps her get ready. The baby sounds great, and everything looks good on paper. As far as I'm concerned, it could come any day. My midwife was a little concerned about all my Braxton Hicks contractions, and told me that I need to stop doing as much, and drink more water. I kinda like the idea of not doing as much - I wish it were possible. I was watching a bit of the Today show today, and they had this whole thing on Kangaroos. Did you know that they have their babies when they are the size of a lima bean, and then they stay in their pouch until they grow up. I think I like that idea because giving birth to them would be so much easier!!!!

I also found out that I am anemic. I have never had that problem before, which could be why I am so tired, so now I get to take another vitamin (I hate taking pills), and I have to remember (I'm really not good at remembering). Oh well, it's just another thing.

I have to say that I have been grumpy!!!! I'm sure it is the heat, being uncomfortable, and being tired. So, I'm trying really hard to take an afternoon nap (if possible), and just trying not to blow up at my kids. They were so great yesterday because I told them I had to take a nap, and they let me have a whole 45 minutes to myself. Then Claire asked if I was feeling better. I guess they really do listen.

I guess I can't complain to much - 10 weeks will go by so fast, and then I will have other things to complain about I'm sure.

Happy 5th of July

We didn't get to have a fireworks show until Saturday night because we were camping. Roy and my dad got plenty of fireworks and the boys had a great time lighting them off while the girls sat back. It was a fun way to end our vacation. Right after fireworks were over we loaded the kids in the car, and headed back home. We traveled all night and got home about 6:30, just in time to take a short nap then get ready to go to Brad and Jessica's baby Brecklyn's blessing. I was a little to tired to think about getting pictures, but it was a nice day.
Claire decided after a few sparklers that she didn't like fireworks. Luckily Aunt Cody was there to hold her while Claire sat under a blanket. Eventually I just took her inside and got her ready for bed. I'm not sure if she was really scared of fireworks, or just really tired!
Owen in typical male fashion, loved sparklers. We couldn't light them fast enough for him. He just liked to watch them sparkle and burn, and then would bring it back to me and ask for another one. I guess I should be happy that he isn't scared of them.
Owen was so excited to see his cousin Orrin. He kept telling me that he "wanted to pet her." I guess that means in his terms that he wanted to hold the baby. Orrin didn't think that was the best idea, but we tried to make it work.

Fishing in the Pond

Before heading back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we stopped at a little pond we spotted on our way to our camp site. The pond was obviously stocked with fish because within an hour they had caught at least 15 fish. Everyone was very happy to finally have some fish, and the kids thought it was really great.
Claire has been asking us since Christmas (when she saw a princess fishing pole at Sportsman's Warehouse), if she could go fishing. She was so happy to finally catch a fish, and she was very curious about everything going on around her. She reeled in a few fish, and then decided that she would rather make lunch out of a bunch of rocks. I guess you can never get rid of the girl in her.
Grandma and Owen watching all the excitement!
Owen thought fishing was fun at first, but after awhile, he decided that fish were scary and he would rather just watch. We had a bucket with all the fish they caught in it, and Owen went around to everyone telling them to be quiet because the fish were sleeping. I guess it's a good thing that he didn't know that he really ate them for dinner.
Chad was very proud of his fish. He was happy to finally catch a few since the lake didn't have very many.

Camping Part 2

Crazy as it might sound, over the 4th of July we went camping with my parents and Amber. We had a lot of fun. We went to a place called Crazy Horse (I think it is in the Frank Church Wilderness). Wednesday night we drove from our house to my parents (7 hours), got some sleep and then headed out for our camp site on Thursday morning (about 2 more hours). It was worth the trip because it was absolutely beautiful up there. We were obviously the first people to camp in that spot all summer because we had to cut trees down to find the table, and rake away all the debree from the winter. My only specification on a campsite was that it had to have a bathroom (which it did, but it was very small, and very low to the ground. Try being 7 months pregnant and doing that!)

The kids had a blast. They loved riding the four wheelers (which they did a lot), playing games they made up, and fishing. Owen actually caught the first and only fish in the lake (thanks to Amber who hooked it for him). He really didn't care that much, but Claire sure thought it was cool. The last night of our stay it got cold, so the kids ended up with us in our sleeping bags (you have to remember that sleeping bags are not that big), so Chad got up about 5:00 to go fishing, and I moved onto the measly mat that the kids were sleeping on, so by the time we actually got back to my parents, we were very tired.

We had a great time, but I don't think I will be camping again this year. Those chairs are getting to hard to get out of. Thanks mom and dad for a fun time!!

Brittany

Claire and Owen's cousin Brittany came to visit us for a week. The girls had so much fun. Brittany is 5, so they get along so well. They got to hang out with Uncle Chad for a few days while the girls went away, but they were very happy to see us. We kept the girls very busy, they went shopping, to a movie, to the park, swimming and to the zoo all in two days. Brittany should sleep well when she gets home. We can't wait for her to visit us again soon!
The girls are all ready for church - Claire could hardly wait to take Brittany to her Sunbeam class. Notice Claire's hair? She wanted it in two pony tails just like Brittany's. I was a little worried at first, but it turned out somewhat cute.
Grandma took the girls shopping where they each got to pick out an outfit, some jewelry, and of course they got Popsicles to share with everyone. They had so much fun, and could hardly wait to wear their new outfits. They both picked out Tinkerbell shirt with shorts. They are turning into true shoppers! Thanks Grandma for the fun trip to the store.

Girls Weekend

This weekend, my mom and sister Amber came to visit, and we headed for Salt Lake, leaving the kids with their dads. It was very nice!! Amber had a LDS musicians conference, so we all got to go. We did a lot of shopping, eating, and just having a great time. While mom and Amber were at her conference, Heather and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. That was a fun experience to see the whole thing live. We were all very sad to come home and face reality again.
We had dinner at the Mayan our first night. It was a lot of fun. We ate to much food, and had a lot of fun!
This was one of the Cliff divers, and where we were sitting, apparently he could climb up the side, and he stopped right where mom was. I thought that she was going to have a heart attack. He was affectionately known as mom's boyfriend the rest of the trip.

It was so great to see my friend Tania. We met in SLC for some dinner, and great conversation. All I can say is I'm so glad that she is having twins and not me!

We were all craving ice cream, and stumbled upon a Leatherbys. This is the place we used to go all the time when we were kids. After every dance recital, or something important, so it was fun to go there again. I don't remember the ice cream having such big portions!!
Heather seriously ate most of this monster sundae. We should have all shared this!!
The main reason we went to SLC was for Amber to go into a studio and lay down her first real track. She did a great job!! She will find out if she is one of the finalists in a couple of weeks - good luck!!