foreign oil?

You know, I could never get properly worked up about the US [myself in particular] being dependant on foreign oil. I mean, I try to walk wherever I can, driving only when I'm late or it's too far to be practical. However, this past week of internet woes has shown me how difficult it can be to have a problem that someone else has to fix.

A long time ago, people fixed their own things. Or their neighbors fixed their things. When I need to get my internet connection repaired, I have to call the company, spend 5-10 minutes on hold, then follow their instructions and hope that these actions will restore my link with cyberspace. After the second call in a week, I started taking notes on a paper. So *I* could try fixing the problem first, before I called and spent all that time waiting for help. And, after putting off yet another call since Monday, mostly because I was too busy to sit and wait, I called them again. While I was on hold, I thought I'd try some of the quick fixes they've told me about. Before the customer service guy had even answered my call, I was able to *on my own* get the internet back up and working! *sigh* vindication!!!

This past week, well, actually one week ago, we celebrated Morgen's birthday. My mom brought Alyson up, and my sister Emily came too. [thank you, Emily, for taking all the pictures of the party for me! And Mom, for helping supervise the kids, and watching Myles, and handing out cake and ice cream!] It was stressful for me- I really need to relax and let go of my idea of the perfect party. But it's over, and it was fun in retrospect, so I'll probably do it again next year. Having 12 kids was challenging, but not as difficult when there are a bunch of games planned for them. Have to keep that tip in mind next year for Walker's birthday party: plan about 5 more games than you think you'll need. Really, you will end up needing them ;)

And today we have yet another reunion! In Wallsburg, Utah. Which is a little town sort of by Heber. We always have the best fresh sweet corn available, thanks to Uncle Kent. Mmmmm!

Lost and found

Things I lost this past week:

* my temper [Walker dug a hole in the lawn in the front yard- absolutely forbidden, of course] ;)
* my internet connection [now fixed and working after 1 week, 6 calls to tech support, one in-person visit from tech guy, and a new cable]
* my cellphone [still missing, call Jared's number to reach me]
* my good-parent card [because of the lost temper]

Okay, so there wasn't a huge number of lost items, just very important ones in my life. And I'm planning to replace my phone this week sometime, but until then, I have Jared's. I guess what I really need to do [since this is the 2nd phone in 7 months that I've lost permanently] is have them implant the phone into my head. Sadly, this technology is not currently available.

procrastination

is a beautiful thing while I'm busy, but a horrible excuse when I'm not. Okay, I have been busy, but could have taken the time out from reading to actually post. And I tried; the pictures wouldn't cooperate.
So, this is what happened [in part] last week:
Tuesday-Thursday: camping up in Heber w/my in-laws. Wed [July4] had a huge family picnic- my mom's family- and saw one of my cousins for the first time in about 5 years. Kids got terribly muddy and had a great time exploring and playing w/each other.
Friday: unpacked, sort of, from camping. Spent time w/Jared's family. Tried to get laundry washed for Jared.
Saturday: Jared left for Colorado for a week [?may be a day or so longer, depending on drive time] Rest of the family went to his mom's family reunion. This would be the second year he's missed that reunion. I'm beginning to see a pattern... Had a great time- Walker has a 2nd cousin his same age, and they hung w/each other and had a blast!!!
Eventually got the kids home, tired and sticky, and began to wash clothes from camping trip. Dad cut down a branch on our tree- he was parking his RV in our backyard, and the branch was in the way. Also took out our mailbox while he was backing up said RV. Mom was standing right next to the mailbox, waving and shouting "STOP!" "CUT!" and there was a crunching noise, then he hopped out and said "Why didn't you tell me to stop?!?" Which set me off laughing, rather hysterically, as I was sitting on my front porch, watching. :) Later that night, I went to a crop at Vicky's house, and actually finished a few pages- thanks for all the inspiration!
Sunday: church w/family, playing games after.
Monday: I took Hyrum & Morgen to the dentist. Morgen got sealants on her molars, and Hyrum got a cavity filled. Washed a bunch more laundry, as did everybody staying w/us. Watched the fires in So. Utah get worse; then Mom, Melinda and Jon took off for St George trying to get there before the freeway closed. Had Ryan and Julianne over for Family night; they like it because they get to play w/my kids, and I like it because they play with my kids LOL. Oh, and Jared's phone prank called me 3 times, once at midnight. Apparently it misses my phone ;)
Tuesday: Rested, did more laundry, watched "Eragon" which was good, but I liked the book better.
Wednesday: Just got back from HP5. They left out a LOT of stuff, but it was still a pretty good movie. Hyrum kept saying, "I'm bored. When is it over?" which was how Morgen felt too, so they talked to each other for most of the movie. Walker was totally sucked into it, Myles ate popcorn the whole time, and I thought it was pretty good.
So, that was our week.

not one

Took my camera camping. Didn't take a single photo. Not even of all 3 of my walking children after they jumped into the river. Not even of my cousin that I haven't seen in about 5 years. We did have a blast, though. And, most amazing, the ground under my sleeping bag had *NO ROCKS* Seriously, I can never go camping again; I've used up all my luck for the rest of my life on that one.

So, we had fun. Kids got muddy, wet, dirty, cold, talked me into starting a huge fire, then got warm, dry, and noisy.

Had all my mom's family up there for a picnic on the 4th. Talked to a few of my cousins, and invited them up to my house with their kids ;). We have a yard, and water, and a box full of Otterpops, so we're ready anytime! Everybody left before dark, and we set out our blanket and watched Midway's fireworks- they set them off on a hill just out of town, and we had a perfect view from our camping spot.

Today, Myles and I headed home after loading up the car. Jared, Jon, and Dennis took the three other kids out to Strawberry Reservoir to go crawdad fishing. They'll be home about 2 hours after dark. I am clean, and thankful for hot running water. Myles is clean, slightly sunburned, and thankful for his own little bed. I'm also thankful he is taking a nap ;).

Family fun

Today is the day. The big, big day. We're going camping- all of us- for a few days. Yep, this includes Myles.
Now last year we all camped, but Myles had private accomodations, as he was still in utero. This year we're packing his bed, his diapers, his food, his clothes, and his toys [also known as "mom" and "dog"]. Oh, and the rest of us also have to take bedding, clothes, and food. Lucky for us, Jared's parents are coming with, and they are bringing the motor home. Can anybody say "running water" ? ;) So it isn't as rough as it could be.
We'll be getting dirty, and playing in the mud, and scaring the cows. Hope your 4th is equally exciting!

cute faces

Just some cute pics from the past month- Walker showing me how big his fish was:


Morgen relating her hiking knowledge:


Hyrum with a rock buddy:


Myles pulling his "excited about something" face:

Entropy

You know how I painted my downstairs living room a few weeks ago? [well maybe you don't know, but I did, and it looked beautiful.] Morgen took a table through the alcove between the living room and her bedroom door, and scraped two big gouges in the new paint job. She spent about 4 hours on her bed so I could calm down.
Grrrrr.
Jared's phone prank calls me on a regular basis. Except for this week, since he's in a dead zone all week long. Apparently Jared isn't the only one who misses me when he's away from home... Kind of odd, though, to answer my phone and hear him talking w/his unit, or listening to the radio.
I've got a bunch of laundry to fold, and a CSI DVD to help me get it done.

FOUR!

Had an interesting weekend. Jared fished on Friday, and I visited w/Allison. We walked around Ikea w/my kids [they like that store a LOT]. I dropped them off at home, with a babysitter and a movie, and Allison and I headed out to Daybreak and spent about 3 hours walking through all their model homes. I am totally sore today, but I loved talking with Allison, and looking at the interesting decorating ideas. Saturday we had a mother/daughter craft day at church, and Morgen came with me at 8:30am to help set up. Crafts started about 10am, finished around 2pm, then we spent another 1 1/2 hours cleaning up. She was an awesome helper! We drove by the Orem mall to visit our SIU cropping friends, and stayed to chat and shop. Today she and I created a little book of pictures that she took last month. We used a $5 scrapbook we picked up at the crop, and Morgen provided the text. I wasn't super-excited to start this, but we both had more fun than we expected ;)

At Red Butte Gardens- of course, the only one looking at the camera is Myles! I'm anticipating our next visit there; the children's garden alone is pretty amazing!
And we celebrated Hyrum's birthday today. He's four, and totally excited about 2 things: his new watch, and the pocketknife/flashlight he got for his birthday. ;) He was pretty sad that he couldn't keep the pocketknife with him. It's for camping, so it goes with the camping stuff. Plus his mom has a suspicious mind, and doesn't trust him with a sharp object.
He got a lovely ice cream cake, and as you can see, enjoyed every bite of it.

decorating tips

If you go to Ikea's website, you can download this cool interactive 'design-your-own-kitchen' tool. And, since I was bored [I finished all my chores, and the kids were outside rehydrating the soil], I played with it a little. I designed myself a new kitchen, and liked it so much that I applied some of the ideas IRL. The cupboards over the fridge prevented me stacking things on top of it. And I couldn't stack things too high on the baker's rack because the top shelf is too shallow.
But, as you can see, swapping the two allows me to stack things on top of the fridge [my pressure cooker, for example]. And, I can now reach into the cupboards above the baker's rack, plus there's room beside it for my mop and broom. MUCH better, thank you! This "new" kitchen is more efficient; I think the only thing I'd want to buy would be new drapes, and a new curtain rod. And I can live with what I've got for now.
Oh, because I moved everything around, the kitchen floor also got swept and mopped, and the walls got washed. :) See what I can do when I'm not reading? LOL
Next job on my list is reorganizing the bathroom cabinets. Then my room, then the craft room. I've done the craft room a few times, and I'm pretty sure that what I actually need in there are some cabinets, mounted to the ceiling in the currently unused space there. And hey, Ikea sells cabinets. Hmmm...

la-dee-dah

Did you know that, for a mere $55, I can take myself, another adult, plus 4 kids to the Red Butte [that word rhymes with cute, not cut] Gardens for an entire year?!?! Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good deal too. The University of Utah runs the gardens, and they sprawl over the foothills on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley. I've been once, with Walker's 2nd grade class, on a field trip. We'll see how the other kids like it...
In other news, Myles is a sucking machine. If it will fit in his mouth, he will suck on it. If it won't fit into his mouth, he licks it. When Hyrum was this old, I followed him around the house one day and snapped pictures of everything he licked. I know, I need a life LOL, but when he's 18 and dating, it will be awesome blackmailing material ;)
Walker is reading Harry Potter 1-6 *again*, preparing for the release of #5 movie in July.
Morgen started piano lessons this week.
Hyrum tore a nice big hole in his sheet last night.
We went to mom and dad's for Father's Day dinner. Jared made home-made ice cream, then left it at their house, since it would melt on our way home :(
And I took the kids for a walk this morning- we're starting that "get into shape for summer hiking and camping season" thing.
Hope you get to do one thing you want to today. Mine for today is blogging.