Summer Storms

One thing I didn't realize I missed was Summer Storms.  I remember when I was little we would get our suit on and play in the rain at the first sound of thunder.  When I was very little I used to be afraid of the deafening thunder until my wise mother told me it was just the angels bowling.  When we heard an especially loud crack that ment someone got a strike. My mother took us bowling often when we were young and we had so much fun that I rationalized angels need to have fun too so it must be true.
When I got older we would watch the storms from the front porch or from ontop of the garage that had a nice little eave over it to protect us from the rain.  I am  always amazed at the pure power of thunder and lightning. There is something scary yet exciting, and beautiful about a summer storm.  the way the air smells when it rains. I run to open all my windows when it rains to let that wonderful smell come in my home.  Last night we had a huge storm roll in.  The power in the storm made the hairs on my arms stand up.   This video just doesn't do it justice but you can get the idea.

JUST LISTEN

Connection or Obsession

As most of you know Peter is a Daddy's boy!!!  All day long he walks around saying, "I want Daddy, where's Daddy?" Basically life is not complete unless Daddy is right by his side, he's a little obsessed.
The other day we were out running errands and it was time for lunch.  I wasn't planning on eating out, but the boys  were hungry and they had been good for me while I drove them all over.  We stop at a random fast food place, get our food and sit down to eat when Peter says, "Where's my Daddy?" I say like I often do, "He's at work today buddy."
Peter says "No, my daddy is coming HERE!" as points to the table at the restaurant.
"Sorry sweetie, Daddy is working now, we will see him tonight."
"NO MOM, my Daddy is coming HERE!!" (he was just so adamant about it.)
I didn't have it in me for an arguing session I just said "whatever dude"

So Peter started eating his lunch reminding us every few bites that his Daddy was coming to eat with him.
We were almost done with our lunch when who should walk in the door but. . . . . DADDY!  I was shocked. "what a great surprise," I said to Scott. "Peter said you were coming. He just knew it."
Peter gave me this look that said "See I told you my Dad was coming."
So then I had to fill Scott in on this amazing "coincidence" I  jokingly said "I think Peter as a GPS tracker on you. In reality I think this kid is just so connected to his daddy.

Fireworks

For the 24th of July which is a bigger holiday than the 4th we had an  amazing firework show put on by my brother.  Now that aerials are legal in this fabulous state there were plenty of good fireworks to enjoy.  He used to do shows when we were younger that had a theme with action.  One time it was James Bond with a car chase, another time it was Indiana Jones complete with the arc of the covenant. One of my favorite was a civil war reenactment.

This year with the little time he had to prepare he did a great slide show that was projected onto a large white trailer and surround sound with inspirational music choreographed to the exciting lights. It had an emphasis on my Grandpa who was in World War II.  He was a photographer who would go behind enemy lines and take pictures of the layout of the camps, giving us the advantage. He also is the one who took the original photo of the soldiers raising the flag.   It was really great.  It felt like the fireworks were right on top of us they were all consuming.

We were all a little worried because it started raining at 7pm luckily the rain stopped just in time for the show. (sorry about the video quality it was shot with my phone)

1st day of school

We had our first day of school at a new school and my kids couldn't be more excited.  We live about 2 blocks from the school so our dreams of getting to ride the bus were thwarted.  However a new adventure of getting to ride bikes to school was within our reach.
Our first morning came with excitement in the air and children eager to get things started. EVERYONE wanted to ride bikes to school. Everyone including Brennen and Peter, which was fine except they are super s ..l...o.....w.  Ellie and Will had time to go back and forth 3 times before we got within site of the school.  We eventually got there and had just enough time to take a quick picture before they scampered off to new friends.

 

we did have a couple of disappointed little guys when Peter and Brennen found out they couldn't stay, luckily we were going to a cousins house right away to distract them from dwelling on the thought.

We are "Later Gators" so we don't go to school until 9am. At first I was thinking what a bummer that was going to be, then I realized I could get everyone ready, the house clean, family morning prayers AND have time for family scripture study, before the day got away from me.

Deseret Industries

One of the great things about moving to Utah is Deseret Industries. Better known as DI.. Moving to this new house there is a lot of furniture I need because we didn't move any living room furniture with us, and this house has 2 living rooms. So, what's a girl on a budget do? .. You guessed it. D.I.


red couch $40/ storage ottoman on wheels $12

 I love D.I. Its like a treasure hunt for me.  Sometimes you go and find nothing, other times you hit the jackpot. Don't forget the wheeling and dealing. Everything is negotiable! There are a few things a novice D.I. shopper needs to know.
1. which D.I. has the best stuff (the one in Sandy is my favorite)
2. If you want to deal you can't be wearing nice clothes. You don't have to look homeless, just don't wear anything nice or fancy
3. The best day to go.  Usually Monday after they have had time to bring out everything from garage sale drop offs. Saturday late afternoon early evening is good too.


couch $20

4. Don't get discouraged if you don't find anything the first day.  You just have to get lucky.
5. Keep an open eye.  Somethings at first site can be quite tacky, but with a little paint or new fabric they can be great. So look at the shapes and sturdiness of the object.  Somethings just need a little glue or screws.
Here are some of the treasures I found there.  Most were in great condition some (the dresser) needed a little paint.  The dresser was a really ugly yellow/gold with brass handles.  I painted it a cute green apple with silver handles. (It goes in Peters room) The Banana chairs I know are ugly but we had some when I was little and we LOVED them!!!  It turns out my kids love them just as much as I did.
I also got all those little things you need with a new house at an amazing deal.
Scott doesn't really care for things bought at thrift stores.(He grew up quite poor and everything he owned was from garage sales or thrift stores.)  He tells me that he would prefer not to know where it came from and then he likes them
So hurray for D.I. this is really going to help my Christmas shopping.


dresser $20/ toy bin $5




banana chairs $2



cute ottoman for Ellies room $12



something fun for Peter $5



Validation

Isn't this what we all want, to be Validated? After seeing this it made me realize that I need to validate people more if I myself want to be happy. So I propose a movement, a sort of "pay it forward" but with kind words and actions. How many of us have felt beaten down by the day to day? Has it ever made your day when someone complimented you? I know for myself Icould go a good month with 1 good compliment. So in that spirit I challenge all to validate someone today. If everyone could do that just think of what a better place to live this world would be.

Boat Races

On our drive down from the canyons tin foil dinners I was inspired by the wash.  The area where overflow from the river goes.  I thought, “wouldn’t it be fun to make little boats and race them down the streams?” (At this point I am trying to think of anything to keep my children entertained over summer break without spending any money.)
SO I invited my sister and her kids to join us for a picnic and experiment.
We gathered a few  toy boats that were in our toy boxes just to see how they would measure up against our hand made ones. The material of choice was squash, mostly because there is a plethora of it this time of year.  The rest of the boats were made out of whatever the kids could find in the recycle garbage. 

It was great to see the creativity of the kids,, and how they tried to measure the buoyance and stability of their boats.  The trick was they weren’t allowed to test their boats until we got to the race.Each boat was different in style and ability.  Ellies turned out to be the most stable.  Williams was a good design with pontoons on either side.  Brennens was 2 cups taped together and that did really well never catching on anything.  My nephew Paul had the fastest boat made with 3 zucchini and a sail.  Little Jenni had the cutest boat that looked like one a fairy would have. (It was crocked neck squash hollowed out) Unfortunately hers didn’t work quite like she wanted it.  Shane's was quite detailed but too heavy to do well in the little stream. (His was made from wood.)  We also had one made from a bell pepper that did surprisingly well.
After the kids raced their boats a few times they decided to build a dam and that kept them entertained for quiet some time.  It was a fun way to spend a day with cousins.

Time in the Canyon

 We did our annual Tin Foil dinners up in the canyon.  The mountains were absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect. My parents were riding their 4-wheelers all over the mountain and saved a campsite with a table for us earlier in the day.  It was a good thing because by the time the rest of us got there all the sites were full.
  It was nice getting all the sisters and their  families together and enjoying their camaraderie and silly camp songs. The husbands thought we were crazy, but it was all good.  The little boys had a great time exploring the mountain, playing with sticks and fire. (Thanks grandpa) A couple of the little one got super dirty, playing with a charred log they just had to push around the entire campsite.
The dinners were pretty good because I remembered to pre-cook the potatoes, but the gooey smores were better.
We stayed until dark just enjoying each others company.

 We did our annual Tin Foil dinners up in the canyon.  It was beautiful

The Joy of Work

One amazing thing about this house is the garden.  It has 12 grow boxes + grapes, raspberries, strawberries, Arctic kiwis and a small orchard.  The Orchard has 3 kinds of apple trees, a peach tree, a pear tree, and an apricot tree

With all this extra land it equals extra work. With my broken  hand I decided it was time to teach the kids to use some new tools.

Ellie learned how to mow the lawn.  At first she was NOT happy for the extra work,  but when she was finished she was so proud of the work she accomplished.  I was glad she  was learning the value of work.  I m not sure how old I was when I learned to mow but I think it was around her age.  In any case I was well versed in many different kinds of labor at a young age and I am so grateful my parents taught me how to work.
William was a little too small to use the mower so he got to learn how to use the weed whacker a much simpler and less dangerous machine.  William did not get the same pride that Ellie did on learning a new skill.  However the next day he used  his new skills to weed whack the neighbors yard for $2 such the entrepreneur.

New House

The good new is that we finally moved into our new house, and I am proud to admit it is 99% put away and organized.  The house is more space than we need , however it is a possible buy out so I thought it would be great not to have to move again, and we couldn't beat the location.  It is right between the payson and Sandy offices. 

 

The house comes with a lot of extras. Extra rooms, extra space, an extra kitchen and even extra kids. apparently the whole neighborhood lives at this house.  Everyday there are kids knocking on the door to see if we can play. Its nice that there are built in friends here and my kids don't have to go looking for them.  Its also nice that I can keep an eye on everything they are doing.  We did have to put up a sign that say "The stringhams can't play until this sign is removed"

because one day I came out of my room in the morning and found 7 kids that weren't mine playing in the house.  Another extra is pets. All the neighbors have pets so the kids get their fill and don't ask for one of their own. My favorite extra is land.  This house is on a half acre so there is a great backyard!!!  You know me I love a great back yard. 

The bad new is with all this moving I broke my hand.  With all the moving of  boxes and heavy lifting and me trying to do it all myself. (I know its a flaw of mine) I created a few stress fractures. 

It all started with me smashing my hand while trying to carry a box a little too heavy for me, then me ignoring the pain and continuing to use it.  After a week of it not getting any better I finally went into urgent care where I was x-rayed and told the good news.  Now I have to go see the orthopedic specialist to make sure I didn't do any permanent damage.  Hopefully I get to stick with the brace and don't need a cast.  the Dr. instructed me to stop using my hand, but I am finding that almost impossible to do.

foam day

 Foam Day was a fun new adventure.  In the city of  Lehi they have what it known as foam day.  Its free!!  And I am all about free.  Something the city puts on they have these special guns that just shoot out tons of foam.  They had an area roped off so they could build up the foam so that it went over my head.  They did have and area for the little ones so they wouldn't get trampled in the blinding foam. When there seemed to be enough foam they let us all in and just play in the foam till our hearts content.  The foam gun continually added to the foam pile.
It was interesting to see the kids reactions.  They either loved it or hated it.  My kids all loved it.  One of my nephews on the other hand seemed terrified, even when his dad was holding him. 
When you were all done with the foam they had fire trucks with their ladders elevated and hoses spraying down like a giant shower. ( The hoses were not anywhere near full power.  It was more like a really thick mist.)
They also had free watermelon and other arts and craft type booths.  It was all so much fun to swim in the foam.  I will defiantly be going again.