They're here!

Mom and Pop arrived in Hyrum yesterday afternoon. They were so glad to leave Las Vegas where it was ungodly hot even after the sun went down. We enjoyed catching up with them over dinner and, later on, drinks (beer and/or tea) on the patio. Gavin is still warming up to them and we're hoping it happens fast because Brandon and I are going to SLC tonight to see Neko Case in concert (an event we planned back when we thought Mom and Pop weren't arrving until today or tomorrow). Mom and Pop's friends George and Linda (from Truckee, CA) will be arriving here any minute and will be staying with us - or rather in their camper out front - for a couple of days.

Pets and Pizza

We finally caved and gave into the children's requests for a pet or five. We are the proud owners of somewhere between 3 and 5 baby praying mantises. Our friend and science teacher, Kim Smith had 4 praying mantis' egg cases. One recently hatched and she offered a class on the bugs and helped the students make habitats for them, yesterday afternoon. Sami was given 3 mantises but as of now we can only see two of them. Chris had a smaller container and was given two. We can find one of them. I'm pretty sure the other escaped while we tried to put the food in the habitat. I'm not sure what our neighbors think of the kids running through the yard dragging butterfly nets behind them, trying to capture tiny bugs to feed their pets. We aren't very good bug hunters, so the pets may not last long. About three months ago, Kim had an incubator and a couple dozen chicken eggs, that she hatched. The kids got to watch a few hatch, and had a class where they were given a chick to study, the chick was taken a way and later they got another chick and had to decide if it was the same as the first. The chicks were given to a farm, I think I would have rather been given a chick to raise, then a praying mantis. Sami is very excited, Chris not so much.

With another gloomy day before us, we decided to make pizza from scratch. Once the dough rose it needed to be rolled out and placed in the pans. We only have one rolling pin, so my conservationist children found an interesting way to reuse an empty beer bottle. Chris used it as a rolling pin, Sami then decided to use an empty whipping cream container as a rolling pin. Surprisingly, neither attempted to throw the dough in the air and catch it. I was impressed that they didn't overload their pizzas with cheese and pepperoni.

I am being summoned to cut the cooled pizza. Take care.

Hey everyone!!!

We had a great weekend. We were very blessed with beautiful weather. We were able to get all our yard work done. We pulled weeds and more weeds, put sand in between our patio blocks and planted some hostas and flowers. It looks lovely. :)

We are seriously considering looking in the foreclosed home market for a new place. We plan on staying in this area. We think we are going to try on the landlord hat and rent out our townhome?!? We'll see how it goes. We are getting the paperwork ready to apply for a loan this week.

The top pick is of Evelyn trying a teething biscuit for the first time. She liked it. :) The next pic is her in the bike carriage. She sits so contently and looks out the window while we pull her along on our bikes. It's adorable to watch Dave pull her along.

Flights Booked

I bought our plane tickets for Lollapalooza this morning. Here's the nitty gritty:
Tuesday 8/4, Delta 4638, arrives ORD at 12:50 pm
Monday 8/10, Delta 1235, departs ORD at 4:10 pm

The concert is Friday to Sunday 4/7 to 4/9. Can't wait to see you all!

Giardia

Gavin has Giardia. I'm educating myself about it right now online while Brandon is out picking up Gavin's flotilla of prescription antibiotics. At least now we know. I have no clue how he might have gotten it. They say it takes a week or two after being infected for symptoms to start. I keep thinking about those cows at our back fence that Gavin loves to feed grass to....

Have a wonderful day, Mamas!

Thinking of you on this, our very own day. Is it just me or should Mother's Day be at least once a week? Brandon is busily assembling a breakfast of fresh fruit and waffles while Gavin and I veg out in front of Sesame Street (ok, so I snuck into the computer room for a minute). Missy, I hope your first Mother's Day is being given the recognition it deserves. Hooray for mommyhood! Michele, no doubt Chris and Sami have wonderful things in store for you today. Enjoy! And Mom, we early-career moms thank you for providing us with the sweetest, most caring role model we could ask for. Love to you all!

after 7 comes...

Yes, today I'm 8 months old.

I've had a pretty busy month. Thanks to Daddy, I'm a rolling-over fool! :)

I love touching peoples faces, especially their mouths. It's crazy how they move.

I really enjoy eating bananas and today I tried mangoes.

I'm learning sign language at school and I go to a class called Busy Babies on Friday mornings with Mommy. We sing songs, read books, play with puppets and even parachutes. Every class is different. I loved the puppet time so much Mommy and Daddy got me a monkey puppet. He and Chloe are not friends. Maybe that will change???

I love to talk and scream. I can even say "baba". Mommy and Daddy are not sure what it means because it is not related to a bottle. It's fun to keep them guessing, although I'm not sure I know what it means. :)

Evelyn is a...

She's trying to decide which shades she likes more.

Chard Update

Hello, family! Thought I'd throw a post up here before Evelyn's 8-month update. That way she'll have top billing for awhile :).

On Thursday Brandon and I went to a wedding in Sandy (south of SLC). Our good friend Pat Brown's daughter Larissa got married and many of our river rat friends were there. Brandon & I opted to stay at Sean & Emily's house in SLC afterward, which meant we would both be away from Gavin overnight for the first time. Grandma Debby came up to Hyrum to stay with Gavin and they had a great time, but on Friday morning when she went into Gavin's room to get him out of his crib Debby discovered that he had thrown up. He also had diarrhea. He spent most of the morning throwing up anything she gave him. Brandon and I got home around 11:30 and by then Gavin was napping. He slept for 3 hours and when he woke up he seemed to be feeling a lot better. Of course by this time I'd called the pediatrician's office. They said that there's a stomach virus going around and assured me that if Gavin didn't have respiratory symptoms and a high fever then he didn't have the 'swine flu'. He's still not 100% but at least he's getting re-hydrated. Anyway, despite Gavin getting sick I think our first overnight away was a success :).

On Thursday morning I went to the orthopedist to have my shoulder looked at. I've been having some numbness/tingling/weakness in my left arm and hand and it feels like it's connected to my broken collarbone. Its been almost 12 weeks since I broke it and it genuinely seemed like it was all better until a few weeks ago. I had an x-ray and it turns out the dang thing is still broken. So now I get to use a bone growth stimulator for an hour or two every day. The doctor wasn't sure why I am having trouble with my arm and hand, so on Thursday of next week I'm going back to have a nerve conduction test. Jeez.

We are really looking forward to Lollapalooza - especially now that Dave bought tickets. We haven't booked our flights yet but I think we'll probably fly in on Tuesday 8/4 and out on Sunday or Monday.

The weather this weekend is so-so. Currently it's raining, but we're conditioned to appreciate what rain we get. Yesterday Brandon installed a trailer hitch on the Toyota (hard to believe it didn't come with one) and planted some bare-root Saskatoon Serviceberry bushes along the west side of the yard (along the sloping hillside). I got them for free from work and they're more like little twigs right now but we're hoping they'll grow into a nice hedge that will offer food and hiding cover for birds and will also screen our house from the neighbor's house. Today's rain should help them to get settled in their new home.

Love to all of you!