Beware of the Tie Dye Cowboy

I said, "Come here Tiger and let me take your picture."

"OK mama, I'm going to lean on the bed and look like this."

P.S. I love that he calls me mama. It is uniquely him.

On Sundays we like to go for a walk

 Here is Sparky educating all of us on some insect/animal/flower/plant that he has found. The kid is a walking encyclopedia and he absolutely loves everything in nature. His current fascination is birds, but that doesn't stop him from learning about everything else he passes along the way. He spouts off so many facts about things whenever we are out that sometimes I wonder if he really knows his stuff or if he is just making it up. Although in all seriousness, he probably really does know his stuff. After all, this is the kid who would ask for non-fiction books on spiders and stingrays and whatnot for his bedtime stories when he was a baby. I used to beg him to just let me read him a picture book. "Come on, please" I would say, "I don't want to read about the mating habits of sharks. Can't we just read Barnyard Dance or something?" He also likes to refer to his classmates as he colleagues.

 And the nature lesson for the moment has come to an end.

 Who loves Sunday walks? Tiger does!

Long ago Doug taught the kids that when you are leaning over a fence or a railing that is situated above a body of water then you are to spit. The kids all think this is great fun and so here they all are, leaning over the fence and spitting. I'm so proud.

Setting fire to minor explosives - aka, The 4th of July

I may, or may not have stopped at a fireworks store one afternoon and purchased some fun little explosives as a way of celebrating our nation's freedom. These fireworks may or may not have been legal, but since I don't have any actual pictures of those then I guess the world will never know.

Sparky had it in his head that he just had to have some army men to blow up this year. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but my husband kindly let me know that this is what boys do. So I stepped back and let my boys be boys. Many little plastic men were melted into unrecognizable blobs throughout the night and as a result my two boys discovered a new found love for these little army men. Since then many a battle has been fought between them in little Lego built forts.

On the legal side of things, my kids get quite a kick out of smoke bombs and they love to run through the smoke. They have each learned that you don't breathe while you run through the smoke. A lesson each of them only had to learn once.

Tiger gets so excited each time a smoke bomb starts to smoke. He jumps up and down and shakes his hands. He is very easily entertained you see.

Of course a night of explosives wouldn't be a night without sparklers. Always a favorite of the kids. Well, except for Tiger. He's a little too afraid of getting burned, but he is happy to watch the others run around with their sticks of fire.

Yessirree, we sure do love our fireworks. Hopefully next year it won't be so dry because we were a little too nervous to set off any really good ones this year. I don't think my neighbors would have liked it very much if we had burned down the neighborhood.

Blahs and birthdays

I have been hit with a case of the blahs this summer. I don't know why. Perhaps it has a little something to do with the fact that the Lord is once again giving me a lesson in patience and things are not happening when and how I want them to. Apparently I never learn and so I have a feeling I will be taught this lesson over and over again throughout my life. Sigh. Plus, I think the kids are driving me a little bit crazy. Anyway, since our little adventure out West, life has been pretty boring around here and so I had to reach back to June to find some pictures to post. Shockingly, I forgot to write about my little Tiger's birthday. My baby has turned 6 and I am lamenting the loss of his babyhood. He is officially a big kid now, with big kid hopes and dreams. Here he is dreaming about this chocolate cake that I made him for his birthday and hoping that he gets to eat it soon! Chocolate is his very most favorite thing on earth you see.

Since Tiger was turning the ripe old age of 6 this year, I thought that it was finally time for him to have an official birthday party. He has never really grasped the concept of a birthday party or cared for that matter, but it finally clicked this year and he was all about a party. Of course I was not going to disappoint my little man. We went to the party store and he decided on a pirate theme, Pirates of the Caribbean specifically. The boy just loves that Captain Jack. We invited all of the little friends that he wanted and headed to Grandma's backyard for the festivities.

Presents? Why yes please, I don't mind if I do.

Spiderman! Score!!

The kids basically just played on the giant inflatable water slide the whole time, but I did plan one game for them to play. We had a treasure hunt, because all pirates care about is finding their treasure. It was totally adorable to watch the kids race around the yard finding the clues that led them to the treasure. It also got a little heated at times as the competition to find the clues increased, but since no weapons were involved, everyone was able to make it to the end.

Here are some of the kids checking out their booty.

At one point Doug organized a competition to see who could climb up to the top the fastest. I don't remember who won, but it almost killed the kids to have to wait their turn. I tell you, this water slide is one of the best purchases my mom has made. The kids all love it, even though it is a pain to set up and put away.

Of course Captain Jack made an appearance to the party because it wouldn't be a pirate party without him. Yes, good times were had by all and the kids all declared the party a success. Good thing for me because those 6-year-olds can be pretty picky.

For the sake of the children

I am not sure when I realized that I seriously don't like crowds, (perhaps it was about the time I realized that I seriously despised shopping) but because of my aversion to crowded spaces I realized that my children have never been to a parade. But first I have to say that Doug dislikes crowds even more than I do and so that hasn't helped matters any. We also don't like to get up early on days we don't work or have school. So, you can see how attending a parade has been difficult. Well, no more. For the first time ever we took the children to a July 4th parade. Our church had a float in a local parade and so we thought that we would show our support by attending the parade and cheering them on. In full disclosure, we had the opportunity to ride on the float, but it was a million degrees outside and there was no way I was going to walk for 2 miles behind a car pulling a trailer. So, we found our spot of shade and did the best we could to cheer on everyone else who was willing to walk in the Hades heat behind a trailer.

Here's Sparky showing his total enthusiasm for the event. Sparky spent most of the time with a serious case of pre-teen attitude proclaiming that he just really didn't want to be by anyone and that he just wanted to be by himself. Tough luck my man. You are at a parade! There is not alone time at a parade. In his defense though, he was the only one who thought to bring a bag in which to hold the candy that the floats threw out to the kids. Sadly, it has been so long since I have been to a parade that I totally forgot that candy was a part of this experience. I think the candy was the only bright spot that Sparky was holding on to at this point.

Just another example of our inexperience. We totally left the house without a single thing to eat or drink. I refer you back to the fact that it was a million degrees outside, in the shade. My poor little lambs were melting and wilting and parched in the mouth. It was a sad state of affairs. Getting to the parade extra early because we got the time of the start of the parade wrong didn't help matters any. Luckily these two little troopers were able to keep their eyes on the prize, which was of course candy.

At last the parade made it to our section. Hooray! The kids perked right up and really got into the spirit of things. They even managed to get a little bit of candy which helped to brighten their spirits.

The parade was pretty dinky and by no means impressive by the standards of parades, but we still had fun. Hot, sweaty, sticky, dehydrated fun. We're totally going to have to do this again. Also, Doug totally saved the day by taking us all to the gas station afterwards to get giant sized slushies to quench our thirst and then picked up some pizza for us to eat for lunch. In the end, even Sparky admitted that it was a great time, although the sugar buzz from his monster slushy may have been the cause for his turn around in attitude.

Aunt Sandy

We had the great pleasure of having Doug's sister Sandy drive out to St. George from California to see us while we were on vacation. We were so excited because it has been many, many years since we have seen her and we were so grateful that she was willing to take the time off from work to come down and see us. This was by far one of the best treats of our trip out west. We definitely have to make sure that we don't let so much time pass before we see her again.