Saturday

Saturday was a play day for Brett, even though we were all very tired. Jason decided it was a good idea to be up from about 1:30am-5:00am. So you can imagine how wonderfully awake Brett and I were.

The Priesthood had a golf tournament in the morning, and Brett went and had a fun time. He doesn't golf very often so I wouldn't say that it's his game, but he had a good time.

Then he came home and we went shopping, and he got the ingredients for his chili for the ward chili cook-off. He did a really good job and it was quite enjoyable. Although it was quite warm to the taste buds.


They had police officers, fireman, and EMT's come and judge the contest. Brett's cousin Lisa Sharp took first place. I'll have to have a taste of hers the next time I have the chance. The kids played at the park most of the time. Samantha had a ball playing with her buddies from her church class.
After dinner, the boys played flies up. Tori was the only girl involved. I think Brett took out the Elders Quorum President at one point. I think he's trying to avoid anymore callings.

Sam loves those recycled tire shavings. At one point I turned around and her shirt was completely full. Needless to say she REALLY needed a bath when we got home.
Jason played the whole time. He could have cared less about dinner.

Saturday

Today was a bit of relaxation. We needed a vacation from our vacation.

The momentous event of the day, was getting Tori ready for the first day of school. She has been telling me how scared she is for school to start, so I'm hoping I can boost her confidence some how.

I taught her how to shave her legs, and we waxed her eye brows. Wow. What a weird experience that was.

Well, hopefully I can help Tori figure out how to be happy. At the very least, I hope to convince her that she generally only gets really upset when she's tired. Which means, it's time to go to bed!!!

Waxing! Grandma Siddoway would have done a better job I'm sure.
Before

After. Not much different but she can tell, and she likes it.

Saturday

We went grocery shopping this morning. Jason really hates sitting in the carts lately. Last week, when Duncan and Brett were at Soccer, I tried to use the baby-leash on him. That ended up with a broken spaghetti sauce jar on the floor. So after we finished up at Costco I gave him my list and the marker. He just laid his head down and started coloring. That was kind of a nice break.

We had the Missionaries stop by again. That's twice this week. I guess we are their favorite now. They wanted to ask Brett something, but he was picking up a new tail-light for my van. So I told them I'd have Brett give them a call. They said something about a Family Home Evening with them, so I told Brett to ask them when they want to come to one with us. I never thought we would have the Missionaries over quite so often.

Jason's been spending a lot of time in his room the last couple of days. It's been quite lovely. We've been discussing getting a twin bed for his room soon, but we've been debating the funds that would require. I was reading online, about good beds for Autistic children. I stumbled across a question about water beds being good for Autistic children. The beautiful thing is, Brett had a Super-single water bed when he was younger. Even better my Mother-in-Law kept it, and it's in their garage. The only thing we will have to do is buy a new bladder, some water bed sheets, and maybe a new heater. Woo-Hoo!!! This might be a way for me to get him into his room. If he enjoys his room, maybe he'll stay in it.

Samantha has been playing with the neighbors this week. She has spent this whole week in a swimming suit. Even if she doesn't end up getting wet, she is in her suit.

Tori had her first Activity Day's with the 10-11 year old girls this week. She was VERY excited to be one of the big girls.

Duncan of course went camping, and then has spent the majority of the week jumping back and forth between our house and Britton's house to play on the x-box. He did actually play in the sprinklers with Tori yesterday, so I can't say he's spent ALL week playing video games.

Brett has been working a lot, of course. He's had his regular job, and then my boss has been having him program a bunch of stuff. Hopefully he'll finish up soon so we get a huge check! =)

I've just been trying to survive one day at a time. Having a clear idea of the Brett's schedule has sure helped. I hate it when I don't know when he's going to be home. I guess I'd get used to it if I had to, but for now it's really nice to know the details.

Saturday

We had breakfast with our ward this morning. It was our Patriotic Celebration. I really didn't plan on going because I didn't have a casserole to bring, and I was tired! Duncan called from the church to make sure we were going because he had to help with the flag ceremony. It was lovely. There were quite a few people there, and then a bunch of Missionaries showed up to polish off the remainder. It has been quite a nice do nothing kind of Saturday.

Again, the girls played in the water. Our back yard is kind of getting swampy. They are going to have to let it dry out before they play in the water again.

So they went into the front yard. Fine with me. It's pretty dry!
The Elders came by to see if they could transfer some things off a voice recorder. They were singing at an activity tonight, and they wanted to get it on "tape". They stayed at our house for about 2 hours, moving things around for Duncan to make his computer go faster.
Jason went outside with the kids to play in the water, but ended up in the backyard.
We roasted marshmallows tonight and the neighbors were out back. They had marshmallows as big as your fist, so they came over and we had some fun.
Jake had to light off some fireworks. The kids thought they were awesome! Truth to be told, I did too! There just isn't anything like good fireworks.

I love this picture!!! It makes me smile!
Samantha wasn't quite as adventurous. She wanted to stay back on the porch.
Angela, came over and just plopped down on Bretts lap. She is so dang cute!
Sam looking up at the sky.
I thought this was a cool picture. Just caught the tail end.
Here's my Sam.
Sparklers. Gotta love em!
Jason was doing this the whole time. He crashed before dinner. We were out too late last night!!

Saturday

Brett got up on the roof pretty early on Saturday. It's time for the swamp cooler to be turned on. The nice thing was, he only had to buy a new belt. Most of the time, it's a new pump or motor or something. Winter can be hard on the swamp cooler.

We have a sweet family in our neighborhood that had a fund raiser yard sale. They had all sorts of goodies, so I sent the kids up to buy some. They had a clown there, and Sam told them her birthday was soon, so he made her this awesome hat!
After Brett got off the roof, he started on the fire pit again.
I think this was the only time that Brett laid down all day. He didn't stop moving until it was dark outside.
We picked up some paver's from my sister Kristen's house. She is moving and doesn't want to bring these with her. We'll make a patio around the fire-pit. It will probably not be too huge but it will be fun.
Here is the finished fire-pit and our soon to be garden. They got it leveled and all the dirt turned over. Jake has access to a bunch of nice top-soil, so we'll get some of that soon. Then the Stahle's have a farm so we can get some manure from them. We'll have to get both of these done soon because planting season is almost 1/2 over.
We roasted marshmallows in the new fire-pit. It was a lot of fun, and the kids are REALLY excited about this summer.
Sam loves Marshmallows!
Duncan went to a leadership training for scouts her wore his shirt all day, and was proud of his Trained patch he gets to put on his uniform. At least when I finally think about it!
Duncan's Double Decker S'more.
Tori had to have one too.
Jason woke up at 3:00am and didn't go back to sleep until 5:30pm. He woke up while we were outside. He wasn't as thrilled about the S'mores as the other kids.
Samantha has learned how to flip. She's very proud of herself!!

Soccer, Birthday, and Beans

Yesterday ended up being a lazy day for me. It probably shouldn't have been. I had a lot to do, but I just couldn't make myself do anything. So there you go.

Duncan had a soccer game yesterday. I actually got to watch the game, because my Mom took Samantha, Tori, and Jason. Thanks Mom!

The game started out looking like we weren't even going to stand a chance. They were up 2-0 pretty quick. Then it seemed like the boys decided they weren't going to let this happen and they won the game 4-3. Duncan SCORED!!! He was so excited. I haven't seen him smile quite so big in a long time!!!

The girls were at my Mom's house because it was my nieces birthday on the 30th. So they got to play while Duncan had his soccer game and we had cake and ice cream. Jason has decided he REALLY likes black beans! He went over to my Grandmother and invaded her dinner. He ate them by the handfuls.

Saturday Morning

The girls watched T.V. downstairs again. We finally got the T.V. set up in the family room.

Jason and I slept until about 9:00am. OK Jason slept until about 9:00am, I tried to sleep until 10:30am.

Brett was up and moving, I have no idea when.

Jason seems to have an ear infection. He's doing better with some Motrin in him. Samantha got up to bug him and he gave her a slow motion punch in the nose. Pretty funny, but I could tell he was not ready to deal with Samantha.

Duncan spent the night at my Mom's house with Max. They are going to see the Lightening Thief this afternoon. Duncan is VERY excited. He has read the first 4 books of this series and really can't wait to see it in the theater.