Bribery

Grandma shared this story with me and I want it written down...

Grandma took the boys to Cole's soccer game so that we, Shayne and I, could attend a parent meeting at Hunter's school.  After the game, Cole was given a bottle of Gatorade. This is the conversation Grandma overheard...

H:  I will tell you about my science experiment at school today if you let me have 1 big gulp of your Gatorade.
C:  ::Grand Pause:: - thinks about it - then replies "I want to know the WHOLE experiment, what you did AND the results - not just the experiment.
H:  Ok, then, I'll tell you about the experiment from beginning to end AND the results for 3 big gulps of Gatorade.
C:  No way, that's too many gulps - it would be all gone.

Grandma was just giggling and I have to laugh too.... when do you hear kids bribing each other with details about their school SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS?   And I don't remember if Hunter did ever win a gulp of the beloved drink!

Kitchen re-DONE!

With help from my mother-in-law, I learned how to do DEEP cleaning!  We went through each and every cupboard and drawer in my kitchen - cleaning and reorganizing.  I really can NOT thank her enough for spending a week helping me with this DAUNTING task!

In the process...

 

The pantry before... 

It probably doesn't look amazing to you, but when I look in this picture I see ORGANIZATION and even floor space!!  

A love note from Shayne

It's a bag filled with my favorite candy - Cotton Candy and Vanilla flavored taffy.  He's so sweet!!

I love my simple garden...

BUT I HATE THE SPIDERS!

Adventures in Jackson

One of our favorite family vacations is to go to the Tetons and camp close to Jackson Hole - it's such an adventure every time!  This time we invited along our good friends Chris and Kristy and their family since they have never camped up there - I'm pretty sure they LOVED it.  It proved to be a fantastic vacation with a little "never will forget that ER" experience in the middle (more further down).  Here are a FEW of the hundreds of pictures I took!

Our campsite ROCKED.  It was a "group site" and since it's equipped to handle 50+ people, we had empty campgrounds all around us.  Our kids had free reign of the trees, rocks, and all that was surrounding us.

Our new tent - looks small from this side view though!

Another bonus of a group-site - we had LOTS of table space.

Plenty of trees to climb!

The kids made a "playground."

"Bed-Head" by Hunter...

I was trying to be a fancy photographer for them...

Wait?  The sports section in the woods?  I guess it got burned in the fire that night...

We did some fishing.  After setting up Cole's line, he immediately complained, "This is taking too long," "this is boring," "When am I going to catch one?"  and then he says within 5 minutes - "I got something."  Shayne didn't even hustle over there - we figured his line was snagged.  He started to help pull it in - figuring it was another thing to fix - and then exlaimed - "Cole really did catching something!"  It was a HUGE trout - and luckily it was such a fine catch since no one else had the good luck of making a catch that morning.

I'm so grateful that Taylor knew how to gut and take care of this guy for us - he was honestly giggling from the joy of gutting the fish!

Emily was very patient.... very, very, very patient.

I wish I had taken a picture of Max's line when he just left it there... he'd go wander and play - then come back for a 3 second check and back to roaming the beach area.  I thought that was funny!

 Danny ate all the snacks - and played with rocks.  That's what fishing is all about.

We hiked the "Hidden Falls" by Jenny Lake.  Before we started this little adventure, I kept complaining to Shayne about serious pain in my lower abdomen area.  I had taken some Tylenol and honestly felt a 15 minute break from the pain and though - oh good, it's over now.... whatever was bugging me.  So, here we are posing with the falls....  first this beautiful family!

then ours... (look at that belly!)

We got a group shot - I LOVE this picture.

After our hike, the pain returned and it was a fierce, sharp pain in my left side.  There happened to be an "OB" in line with us and he suggested that it was a muscle spasm from my hike and told Shayne to rub the spot.  It helped a tiny bit - but then again, not much.  By the time we were back in the car, I was in agony.  I couldn't sit, I couldn't lay down, I felt nauseated, and I just wanted to throw up and shrivel into a ball.  It hurt SOOOO much.  During our 15 minute drive back to the campground, I called the on-call Dr at home and he said "go to the ER."  So, we did.  The boys stayed at the campground with our friends - and Shayne and I drove for the next MISERABLE hour to Jackson Hole for their little hospital ER.  I made threw up on the way there (I don't throw up, not even when I'm pregnant) and I really wanted Shayne to get pulled over so the police would just escort us there even faster.  The ride was too long.  I really can't express how much pain it was - or how fiercely constant it was.   By the time I saw an OB, it ended.  The pain was dull and honestly - it just ended.  She ran a series of tests and determined it was an infected bladder  - it couldn't possibly be a kidney stone since I certainly wasn't acting like a person with a kidney stone.  That's when Shayne spoke up and said, "oh not - you didn't see her an hour ago... this is what it was like."  He describe how it had been for the afternoon and then she (the Dr) knew it was definitely a kidney stone.  Unfortunately, they did not give me any pain meds until AFTER the worst of it.  Memories, sweet memories.  I didn't have to stay the night - but it was definitely appealing to get meds into me, sleep in a bed (rather than on an air mattress), and I didn't know if it wasn't going to come back or not.  The pain did not return and sure enough, I passed a kidney stone the next morning.  I should have had a picture of it - but it was a lously looking prickly thing - kind of like a burr.  All that for that?!?!?!  The boys came to pick me up the next morning...

And we continued our vacation as usual!  Our traditional photo op by the park.

A hike in the woods - where is everyone?

catching frogs...

Rock skipping contests can entertain kids (*and husbands) for hours...

They rescued a butterfly from the lake.... so sweet.

Sarah caught a fish!

Food, lots and lots of food.  Nothing healthy of course.

Having fun hanging out by the fire.

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it.

Ummmmm, it was Shayne's idea to let him learn.  We stopped before anything(one) got caught.

Thanks for going with us Kristy and fam!!!  I hope we do this again NEXT YEAR!

School time!

Cole is a full-time 1st grader this year.  He loved his first day but does complain about being at school for SOOO long.  Sweetie, you've got a LOT of years ahead of you of these LOOOONG days!!  (PS both boys requested pictures by their respective playgrounds - sounded good to me)

Lining up with friends in his class line...  why do I get teary eyed?

Hunter is at a new school with all new kids...  I think we've made the right choice for him but it was still an intimidating day for him.  So far, he LOVES everything about his new school, teacher, and class - I'm in awe of his teacher and so excited about his enthusiasm for learning!

Really, I'm happy that my kids are back in school just because there are a few perks - routine, less fighting, less messes at home, and more time with just Danny and myself.  But, I'm sad too - I'm sad that our "freedom" of summer fun has ended.  I like to go and do things with my kids - not quite as easy with school schedules, soccer practices, and all that fun stuff that makes our lives crazy.  My constant prayer is that my boys will love to learn, find ways to be kind to others, and give their very best effort in all they do.  So far, so good!

Just a glimpse of our lives the week before school...

Playing with cousins at Nana's house - and when we play, we play MUSIC!  ha, ha, ha!

How does my garden grow?  huge raspberry bushes and you can't see the tomato plants to the left - but I HATE, HATE, HATE the spiders!!  I muster the courage to pick once a week....

Day before school starts - we had fun at the Gateway fountains...  I'm learning to play with my manual settings on my camera and was pleased with a few of my shots.

8 years and 11 months

I have been officially changing diapers on a regular basis for 8 years and 11 months... and suddenly I have found myself in a whole new territory of NO DIAPERS!  Our big 3 year old decided last week that he wants to wear underwear (uh-er-ware) and he is so proud of his cartoon undies!  And I'm sooooo amazed that he DECIDED and I'm not fighting for it.  I fought Hunter and Cole for a good year each - both of them completely capable and able, and simply did not care if they had a dirty diaper on their bum.  So, I've laid back and bit my tongue and just encouraged Danny whenever possible - without force.  It's a miracle (I keep singing the song from Fiddler on the Roof in my head)!!!  I even returned a recently purchased box of diapers for the big guy, so it's official - we're not going back.  I'll have a nice little break...  then just 3 years more, or four.  I'll do my best to wait for this little guy to decide on his own too.  And I'm sure this will be a process with Danny too - but so far, this process has been a 180 compared to his big brothers.  I'm so GRATEFUL!!!  Thank you Danny and you are AWESOME!