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. :)