27 things I do from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm on a weekend

I am still having issues trying to figure out what to do with the morning hours over the weekend. "Shhhhh! Nate is sleeping."

"What? I get to choose?" 

"All by myself. 

"I get to do what I want?"

Well, this is what I have done so far.

1. I cook crock pot meals. 
2. What? I cook? 
3. Truth is, I am not a fan of crock pot meals but it gives me something to do and frees up our time when Nate is awake
4. I do yard work.
5. Which means (lately), that, I did holes.
6. I dug out a window well. (It still sits unfinished). Its a big hole. 
7. I dug out a path (unfinished)
8. I found some rocks so... I dug them out and filled the hole with cement
9. Which made me think the area next to it needs cement.
10. I started digging it out too.
11. The family thinks they have a pet lab. (But its really me.)
12. My arms are strong. Seriously! 
13. You should ask to see my muscles. They are huge! (at least that is what you should say when I show you).
14. I do house work. 
15. Nothing interesting there.
16. Tanner and I go outside and "whack bushes"
17. We are looking for insects for his frogs. 
18. Frogs are horrible pets because they like live food.
19. We have an official "whacking stick"
20. I often wonder what the neighbors think about us sitting outside, usually in our PJ's, I hold my morning brew in one hand and whacking bushes with the stick in the other. 
21. I finally found a website that will send me 50 crickets in the mail.
22. I wonder what 50 chirping crickets will sound like.
23. The other day Tanner and I went for a morning walk in Dimple dell.
24. Its hard concentrating on what Tanner is saying when there are birds and plants everywhere that I am interested in seeing.
25. (Does this  mean I am a bad mother?) 
26. Dont answer that.
27. Here are photos from our hike. 

This is when Tanner realized I was taking photos.

Bike:

Readathon

I heard about Amulet on NPR books but it wasn't until I read the reviews that I thought Tanner would like them. So, I immediately purchased all four books for him. I love Amazon.

The best part was the night he finished reading the first book.

He slowly closed the book.

Flipped Amulet over and looked at the cover.

After a few minuets of looking at the cover, he gently ran his hand over it.

Then while holding the book with both hands he gave a big sigh and said,

"That, was a good book."

Yup. Definitely the best part.

Tanner invited his friend over for a readathon. This did not last long but the effort was noted. Soon they were back to being normal little boys. Running around shooting things and making ruckus.

Climb on

We have not been climbing outdoors too much this year; Nate's schedule limits his time to go out, I would rather mountain bike, Casi is a busy Teenager, and Tanner does not climb. Somehow we managed a trip last weekend. Here is our day in bullet point form and iphone pictures.

• When your "I don't climb" kid says "I want to climb at Dogwood", you don't ask questions. You just go. 
• We should always bring snacks when we climb. 
• We were all hungry and irritable post climb. 
• Tanner would only go about 10 feet up the rock
• So Nate bribed him with gum and skittles.
• I did not recognize the power of gum and skittles to an eight year old.
• I loved seeing  my kids climb together.

Casi, having climbed once a week for two years at momentum, is fairly confident with the gear. She hooked Tanner onto the rope and belayed him during his climbs.

I love seeing her confidence and patience with Tanner as he worked out his fears on the rock.

I have video of them climbing together but I am having technical difficulties with the recorder and the download process.

Hmmm, maybe I will post it later. yea. MmKay!

Things I over heard: I am concerned for your safety

I would guess that this is going to be a little controversial and I may even get a few negative comments (Disclaimer: This is NOT about LGBT rights) but I have to post it because, I think there is a lesson in it. Besides I took pictures with my new iphone app and I think they turned out pretty awesome. So here is the story:

The kids and I went roller bladding and scootering at the Jordan River parkway (JRP) a few Saturdays ago. We decided to go while Nate was sleeping. He is still working nights, leaving us with another reason to leave the house on weekend mornings.

Casi and I skated while holding hands. (Love this)

We were having a great time with each other. Laughing, talking, chasing each other and all that stuff that comes with such activities. Of course, Tanner is spending most of his time jumping off of any bump in the trail. He rides without a care (for anyone or his own safety) When, Casi falls.

She gets up with a smile on her face and continues on. 

A few minuets later, a stranger comes up and starts to berate Casi and I with information regarding wrist guards, knee guards and helmets. "They can prevent scrapes." he says.

Side Rant 1: Scrapes? When have we EVER been worried about scrapes?

He continues on. Giving us lots of things to consider for the rest of the day and ending the conversation with “I am concerned with your safety.” 

Side rant 2: OMG! Really? I can see how I am living a dangerous life without wrist supports. Golly gee, I hope he has arch supports in his walking shoes. Can you imagine the possible feet problems he can develop if he does not? (sorry, I just had to let that out.)

Casi and I responded through out the conversation with confused looks uncomfortable laughter.

Now, the thing I have not told you is that as we were leaving for JRP Tanner tried to load Casi and my helmets*  ** and I told him not to. I did not think what Casi and I were doing required a helmet. Of course, this means I was taking some level of risk with Casi's head and my head. Although, it was a very, very, very small level of risk I will admit it  was there. I then told Tanner he would need his helmet. Knowing how he rides and his lack of attention of his surroundings.***
*This means that my kid is trained to wear a helmet and sees them as standard, necessary gear when riding wheeled items.
** I would never consider knee pads for the JRP unless my child was very young. In a fall on rough surfaces it can cause the person to stop too fast and slam their face into the concrete. Knee pads should be reserved for the very young and for smooth surfaces (such as skateboard parks, skate rings, and half pipes) where you can use the knee pads for sliding in a fall. 
***He ran 3 people off the trail and almost collided with one attentive (thankfully) bike rider. 

Some time later, before we pass this nosy stranger a second time, Casi feels weird and wonders what to say. I respond “You should tell him that his hair style is outdated and you are concerned with his social standing.”  She giggles because he sports the long wavy 80's hair that strangely match the Standard poodles he is walking. Then, more seriously I say “You did nothing wrong and it's just his opinion. We have our own feelings about the subject. I would say nothing.”

Of course, Casi and I discussed this issue the remaining time at the park. “I wish I would have said something when he said that." she says.

“Why?" I respond. "What you said was perfect." 

After our trip down the Jordan River parkway, Tanner and I raced down a short hill.
Tanner said "I think Mini Man would like this!" and sat down on his scooter.
"MiniMan"is what he calls his alter ego; the sitting Tanner.

Me racing down the hill. Being helmetless never felt so good!

So I have two questions on this:

1) Are we so trained as a society, that we can not allow others to evaluate their own risk?

2) What things do you feel so strongly about that you feel the need to share your thoughts to a perfect stranger? 

My list of things I feel so strongly about that I (may) feel the need to share them:

1) LGBT rights. J

Monthly photo: I'm Ready for My Close Up

This months Monthly photo landed on our sliding glass window. Carol from amazing nature tells me this is a Western Conifer Seed Bug. You can my photo on her website  here.

"Well, it looks like you have the Western Conifer Seed Bug. It's in the family of Leaf-footed Bugs. You've probably noticed that the rear legs have a spot on them shaped like a leaf. They feed off trees and pines cones, etc." 

The Western Conifer Seed Bug flies like a wasp, they lay eggs in rows on pine needles, have 6 stages of life (performing all six within the warm months of summer), they produce a funny smell if alarmed (smells like pine- similar to stink bugs), and the adults (shown below) overwinter by finding a warm spot to rest -this means he will try to winter in your house. There is a funny poem about a Western Conifer Seed Bug  here.

 Tanner posed with this bug from the inside of our sliding glass doors.
(Yes. This is yet, another iphone picture. I can not help myself, its so convenient.)  

Western Conifer Seed Bug's are not dangerous but they do look very similar to a Western Leaf-footed Bug (squash bug) that are known predators of squash plants. So I made a list of how to tell them apart.

To tell a Western Conifer Seed Bug from a Western Leaf-footed Bug:

• The Western Conifer Seed Bug has a thin zigzag line across his back
• The leaf shape on the back legs is symmetric (the Western Leaf-footed bug is Asymmetric)
• and lastly the Western Conifer Seed Bugs are from Europe so they will have importation documents

Win-win

This school year, I made the obvious realization that ugly, plain notebooks are 10X cheaper than the cute ones with buggy-eyed cats and purple swirls. This realization may have caused a slight upset in Shopko but I assure you no teenagers were harmed in the purchase of said cheaper notebooks. And now, since I spent $25 less on Casi's school supplies, I was able to buy me new undies! A much needed expenditure. Of course, Casi has already done an excellent job creating personalized and unique covers for all 6 of her school notebooks. I think they reflect who she is better than anything we could have bought. 

Swimming pool deprivation

and 95 degree weather may lead to sticking your head in the beer cooler.

Five minutes after I took these pictures I went back outside. He had added soap to the tub and was, once again, sticking his head in it. He sat up with bubbles foaming in his hair and running down his chest and said "I needed a bath". Now thats a boy who can multitask.

(Disclaimer: Bathing outside is not due to lack of a tub.)

Atherley Campout at Joes Valley: 2011

Sometimes it happens... we manage to get everyone together for an extended family trip. 

We took turns making the meals (fish tacos anyone!), played many card games, went running (I relearned I am a really poor runner), played in the water, 4 wheeled (the longest ride was 47 miles. WOW!) fished, got sunburned (sorry Jeremy),  rode bikes (Braxton enjoyed tandem riding) around the camp loop and up on the trails (you rock Lisa!), identified plants and birds, read so many books, hiked, had a rousing game of keep away (boys vs girls and grandma no one got ticks), napped, saw a double rainbow, got rained in and most importantly, simply enjoyed everyones company.  

Best trip ever!

On the first day we all climbed onto 4 wheelers and trucks and drove to the 10 miles to Pete's Hole. I rode with Nate, Sheri, DJ, Braxton, Ryker, Emily, Emaleigh, and Casi on the 4 wheelers. It rained as we drove through mud puddles. We all ended up muddy but happy as we finally reached the small lake.

A (almost) group shot.

 

Having a house full of girls gives Tanner red finger nails.

Tanner LOVES to fish and because of this he only caught one.

 

What is it about teenage girls and Dr Pepper?

 Our loot!

Nate spent the whole time loading worms and unloading fish.

There were many card games; 13, phase 10, and Trash. 

The kids were constantly playing Trash (thanks Emaleigh for sharing such a great game).  

Many hours spent at Joes Valley reservoir rearranging docks, kayaking, floating, and having water fights with Uncle Jed.

The girls (Casi and Emaleigh) spent many hours rearranging the docks.

One of my favorite photos. I just love both of their expressions.

During one rainy outburst all the grandkids ended up in Grandmas small trailer. Grandma was prepared with glow sticks and chaos ensued.

Words to remember:

"Ninjindian"

"Chimpmonkey" (thanks Katie)

and "Socks with sandals. What? What? What?"