Summer Reading Club Fair

Sariah enrolled the kids in a summer reading program and based on how much they read during the summer, they received tickets to this "carnival". We also got a free hot dog and some soda out of the deal. Plus Reese won one of the raffle prizes! It was a pool floaty/boat you sit in, and it looks like a dog. They also got reading certificates. But by far, the coolest part was the 50 million trolls they gave away as prizes. Every game had two prizes; a big troll or a little troll. We have 9 of them documented on film, but the kids actually walked away with about twice that many. So we now refer to this reading club as Troll Fest 2006. Enjoy!

Girlfriends RULE!!

This past week I was super blessed to be able to spend time with my long time girlfriend (aka,..Wonder Woman or lovingly referred to as "The Police" by the Haslam Family) Melissa Magpie. We have known each other for over 20 years now! By far the longest relationship outside of my immediate family, I have EVER had! She knows me well,...maybe, too well. :-) However, while she was down here visiting relatives, we were able to spend an afternoon at none other than...McDonald's Playland! Can't beat that! Our first borns', Gavin and Shelly, got along really well. Aren't they cute?

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Gavin took this next shot for us, and, let's just say we are impressed all of us are actually in it! Shane, her son, Melissa, and Reese and I.

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Later, it was a girlfriends night out with Marni (my saving grace back from vacation) and daughter Blakeley! We haven't been out for one of these without kids for some time, due to kids,...and it was nice to start it up again,..at least temporarily before my baby is due!

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And a super blur vision picture that only Marni and I will ever really know the history behind,..and we can laugh hysterically about it! Thanks Aaron!

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A little girlfriend affirmation and rejuvenation goes a LONG way! Here's a shout out to all my ladies! I love you all and I wish we would do more together,...and see each other. Time and distance aside,...let's get you all BLOGGING!!!

Gavin's Dentist Trip

PART ONE

Today was Gavin's big day at the dentist. He had a check up a while ago that found 2 cavities behind his front two teeth, so this morning was time to fix 'em up. If you know anything about Gavin, you know he is a spaz about anything like this (just like his mommy in general!). This post is on the beauty and miracle of SEDATION DENISTRY!

Gavin's reaction to his name being called for his "spider-man drink", aka...the sedation dope. Little does he know, once the drink has done its job, he will be lovin' life!

Yes, yes my son, the "spider-man juice" is working!

With blanket and pillow in place, Gavin is ready for the good stuff!

Sedation wasn't enough for this little man,...time for the Nitrous oxide or lovingly referred to as "Laughing Gas".

Gavin having his x-rays taken. This procedure took a while b.c Gavin was REALLY loving his gas. He would start yelling,.."I like this stuff!", and then sniffing with pure delight! He had us rolling on the floor laughing at all his random comments. He truly was "high".

Gavin's Dentist Trip Part 2

PART 2

(Blogger has not been the greatest in trying to upload pictures,...so sorry for the double post.)

Gavin and a big ball of gauze in his mouth!

Look at that HUGE needle of novocain being shoved into his gums and Gavin didn't flinch a bit!

Front tooth being drilled on....didn't phase our big boy!

Getting his teeth filled with porcelain to become pearly whites again.

Check out the heart monitor and all on his finger! It was actually a little traumatizing on me,..his mommy!

All done and if you notice, Gavin made sure he got to take home his "yummy nose"! Now he keeps buggin me to "make it work". It still smells of oranges!

Hooray for sedation dentistry! We could never have had Gavin's teeth fixed had it not been for sedation! Hooray for great dental insurance as well! With all the sedation it took, we might have had to make a second mortgage! :-)

JJ and Matt's CD website

Two of my good friends I've had since I was young have decided to start making CDs. Check them out, they're pretty good!
Here's the link:
http://www.vankindle.com/

Beat the Heat

It's so hot down here. We aren't even allowed to play with the water hose unless it's Thursday because our reservoirs are so low!

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I mean seriously, look at this picture... You'll notice it's 8:00 pm and it's still 104 degrees outside! And if you'll look outside you'll notice everything is brown.

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So, to beat the heat, we go to our friend's neighborhood pool after I get home from work! BOOYA!

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"I'm only wearing these water wings because I don't want Gavin to be jealous of my wicked fish-like swimming skills."

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"These aren't water wings, these are my HUGE MUSCLES.. grrr!

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Reese is a dare devil! I can't seem to throw her high enough. She keeps wanting me to throw her higher and higher every time we do this. Gavin on the other hand won't have anything to do with it.

Christopher and Sariah

Well, I noticed that some of you were wanting some pictures of Sariah and I. So, I've decided to start from the beginning with this slide show. We'll add more as time goes on with more up to date photos. Keep the suggestions coming and thanks for checking out our blog!

Chuck E. Cheese Time

Yesterday, Christopher flew home from being in Utah for an entire week and met us as Chuck E. Cheese. We used some cupouns we got online to make the prices more reasonable. As you can see, we had a blast!

My brain,...is like Playdough!

My last real conversation with an adult has been exactly 3 days, 21 hours, 53 minutes and some odd seconds ago. Yes, last Sunday, the 9th of July, in the afternoon. That's when I said good-bye to Christopher as he went out of state on business. Earlier that weekend, I had said good-bye to my sanity anchor of a friend Marni, as she went on her 2 week vacation. So, here I am all alone with a 3 year old (almost 4) and a 21 month old and weeks away from delivering our third child,....staring at walls and looking forward to putting the kids in the car for the occasional adult interaction at the Chick-fil-a drive thru! Keep in mind we aren't outside much as it is 104 degrees, and like 115 with the humidity factored. We play in the pool for like 15 minutes before we're already burning through our sunscreen. Then, it's back inside the house for the rest of the day. Oh, and a little girl that wants to try being potty trained. Agh! Yes,...my brain is like playdough! I'm exhausted. And I have no backup support until Saturday night! I've done this many times before, however, this time it is especially trying. I need my support team members to keep me running. This too,..shall pass! Right?!?! I have to remind myself!

Looking at the bright side or for the good in all this,...here are some fun shots of the kids. Like Reese for instance. She stole Gavin's "laser" that he got from some kids meal a while ago, and she hasn't put it down for like 2 days now. She just walks around with her jewelry "pretties", sometimes with a doll in one hand, and always with the laser in her other. Zapping things and laughing. It's hilarious.

Here she is first distracting you with her "pretty" before she strikes!

She's getting ready to aim,.... (serious death look on her face)

You're toast!

And my favorite,....when they actually are playing together,...NICELY!!!

Notice the "laser" still attached to Reese! Some silly kids I have.

Could it really be over!?!?

So, yesterday I'm having a conversation with Gavin:

Me: We need to take our books we borrowed back to the library today.
Gavin: Why?
Me: Because they are due today and we don't want to have to pay for them.
Gavin: OK

WHAT?!?! No, but why,...why....but why that. I was a little excited and quite relieved that we didn't have to go through all that again. However, I was thinking that maybe he was just not feeling well and forgot. Then, later that day,..this conversation happened.

Gavin: I can't find my Grandma anywhere in my house!
Me: I'm sorry, Gavin. Grandma is at her house in Washington.
Gavin: Why?
Me: Because that's where she lives.
Gavin: Bummer, I want her here.

And that was that!!!! No more harassing WHY questions to follow? I was awe struck! Could we really be at a turning point in the 3 year old forever a why phase? I can dream right?

Never Running Alone

Some days are just hard and I feel like I'm all alone in my daily struggles. I have a hard time remembering I am in control of my life and I've been given my agency to choose the way I want to respond to life's challenges. I can be happy in finding the good, or I can be depressed in dwelling with the bad.
My dear friend shared this video with me this morning and it really put things in perspective for me. There is good all around me and I am never alone! I want to share it. Maybe y'all have heard about Rick and Dick Hoyt already, but their story is compelling and very inspirational. You can watch the video here.


If you haven't heard about them, or would like to know a little more,

this is another great video explaining their journey.

I worry about how to teach my children about good and choosing good over evil, when evil will be more attractive? After learning about the Hoyt story, it has helped me realize that when we look for good, we can find it everywhere, and it too is attractive.
Just as Dick is running with Rick, we too, have people everywhere running beside us, carrying us, on those rough days. Look to our family and friends, and the Lord, they will always be there.
So, here I go looking for good today. How 'bout you?!?!

Fun on the 4th of July

July 4, we woke up early and went to the church for a flag raising and breakfast. Sariah was in charge of the center piece decorations and turned 50 cents into something cool!"Ya, it's early. But I'm always ready to eat food you pour concentrated sugar on. BRING IT!"

"Gavin ate my pancakes... and then the plate they were on."

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Later that day we went to Granna and Pa's to shoot fireworks where they were having a ward party. Once he pulled out his bottle rockets, Christopher was quickly swarmed by the primary boys eager to blow something up. It didn't take them long to aim the rockets into the lake. The underwater explosions soon had schools of minnows leaping out of the water! "AWESOME!!""Listen closely, boys, and I will teach you the ways of mischief and mayhem, but if anyone asks, I was never here."

Gavin exerts himself in a vain effort to lift his soon to be 5-year-old cousin, Russell.

Reese looks on from a safe distance while nursing a cold one.

"Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sparklers and said..."

"This is so pretty! I wonder if I could wear it in my hair."

"Voo woov vooom... if Darth Vader where here he wouldn't stand a chance!"

All this firework business really works up a thirst.

4th of July Eve

July 3, Sariah, Gavin and Reese decided to get this party started with some patriotic pastries. They were very proud of their work and Daddy was pleasently surprised to find that there were much fewer egg shells in this batch then in the Father's Day batch."I pitty the fool that don't like my cupcakes!"
"I pledge alligence to this sugar packed cup of cake of the United States of America..."
"I'm the naked chef!"

"Look at me, I'm crazy pinwheel head! Now give me some candy!"

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Later that night Dallas had a free firework show at the Texas State Fair grounds and we decided it would be fun to attend. Reese was very excited to wear her "pretties" and Gavin couldn't get enough of his pinwheel ears. He ran all over the house to make them spin.While waiting for the show to start we ran into a couple of our friends from our ward and they invited us to sit with them in the back of their pick-up truck. The kids had their glow sticks Grandpa sent them and they were ready to go.
"Let the fireworks begin!!!"

The Amazingly Tame Mr. Cat

This sequence of pictures was covertly captured to demonstrate just how incredibly kid friendly Mr. Cat really is.

Gavin decides Mr. Cat needs a blanket so for the next 10 minutes he meticulously covers Mr. Cat with grass.

Mr. Cat decides it's time to shake off his mound of grass clippings and mosey to a new spot. AMAZING!! If I were this cat I would mosey as far away from our house as possible. However, I am no Mr. Cat.