Secret Santa

THANK YOU Secret Santa!!! When we got home last night, there on our porch, was a glowing gift from a secret Santa. Hyrum said "wow" more times than I can count, and Brigham and Joy were both convinced that the gift was put there by Heavenly Father, because he loves us. And, he does. He loves us enough to send us amazing, thoughtful, and kind friends. Whoever you are, THANK YOU!

You must be kidding!

I came home from work yesterday to hear a harrowing tale. Apparently, while John was doing some work on the computer, the destruction duo (otherwise known as Brigham and Hyrum) got a carton of eggs out of the fridge. They must have been pretty quiet, because John didn't hear anything until after they had gone to the top of the stairs and thrown every egg in the carton to the bottom! John thinks that Hyrum must have been the initiator because there was only one egg that made it half way down - Brigham has a much better arm. Thank heavens the floor at the bottom of the stairs isn't carpeted!

Bats in the Belfrey

At least, that's what it looked like on Halloween, and that is my long-lapse excuse.

So, I had to show off the cool costume Mom and I finally got done for Charlie. Yes, I know. Amazing.

And, Hyrum rubbed peach juice in his hair and the result was hair-raising!

Okay, for real, I am just way busy. Between work and the commute, my spare time just doesn't justify blogging. Don't tell that I wasted this!

We had an earthquake!

Hyrum woke us up this morning crying at 4:48am. Okay, he woke me up. It would take a chainsaw to wake John. Or, appearantly, an earthquake. I guess maybe I shouldn't mind Hyrum's 1.5 hour crying jag, because it meant I was awake to feel the 3.7 richter earthquake that hit at 5:09am. Cool. The following link gives all the details from the USGS. (Don't ask me what it stands for, but it is official.)

Memorial Day

And what a memorable day it was! We went to the cove this morning to see low tide off the pier. The pier is one of John's favorite places, and so we go there all the time, but I have never been during low tide, and it was quite a different experience. We had a ton of fun looking at all the crabs, starfish and fish in the water, just a few feet away from us.

While we were walking down the pier, Hyrum happened to look down through the cracks, and was all the sudden afraid to walk anymore.

If you want to take time to watch the video, it is hilarious! After we went down on the floating dock and looked closely at the sea creatures, we went back up again and looked out at the pier. Of course, the kids had to climb up the railing, and in the process, Brigham donated one of his shoes to the sea. We waited around for about 20 minutes hoping that it's course would intersect with the floating dock and we might be able to retrieve it, but it was no use, and we now need to get a new pair of "crocs" for Brigham.

You can't tell it from the picture, but this shoe makes a great sea vessel, it was about 50 feet out from us at this point.

In the afternoon, we went to some friends for a barbecue and had a lot of fun. However, we had several exposures I could have done without. Twice, my attention was pulled away from a discussion by the sound of several kids yelling, "Sister D, Brother D!" Not only was my attention grabbed by that, but so was the entire backyard's. And, both times, there was Brigham with his pants going down and the boy parts coming out. Let's just say that our friends don't need to water their lawn in several spots now. I swear, that child is going to be thrown into a cell for indecent exposure. Of course, I may not be too far behind him. I am trying to wear more skirts (that is a whole separate post I will have to do sometime) and so I wore one all day today. And all day, it wasn't a problem. So, I didn't think anything of it at the barbecue. Until I was standing chatting with some friends when I realized that something was fluttering behind my shoulders. Yes, it was my SKIRT! Fortunately, I was wearing a slip. Even more fortunately, the backyard behind me was clear. But, that was one gathering that had to be left early for the sake of all. The breeze picked up, and even with walking around with the skirt gathered in my hands, there was danger of exposure. So, the kids had to forgo root beer floats and I can still look my friends in the eye. Ah, life.

Holy Calories, Batman!

Did you know that in one serving of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese there are 410 calories? Wow! I don't eat them anymore (except for one or two bites because I just can't resist) but I figure they are great for fattening the kids! I know, better to stuff them with highly nutritious calories, but I am not always that on top of it. So, for lunch today, the kids eat Mac and Cheese and I eat a plate of zucchini. Unfortunately, I am not sure that the zucchini is that much more nutritious after I slather it with margarine!

Sixth folder

Sixth folder, fourth (last) picture. I didn't actually have six pictures in that one! I am obviously not the world's best photographer. Poor kids, they were more than a little scared of the sprinkler. Perhaps that is because it only came out three times the whole summer. I now understand why they don't sell many outdoor water toys here. I tag Brya, Erin, KellyAnne, Linda, and Angela!