Biking in the moonlight

There is nothing like a great moonlit bike ride. My Friend, Heather, her sister Ashley, and I attended the annual Moonlight bike ride this year on Antelope Island. It was 22 miles and started at 10 p.m. It was a hot, windy night filled with bugs and the smell of rotten eggs--but it was a blast! I took my work horse one-speed beach cruiser and made two goals 1.finish 2.no walking. I accomplished both of my goals. What a fun ride, but next time I think that I will try to get a bike that is more fitted to the job. Thanks Heather and Ashley for coming and thanks to my friends Katy and Jason for telling me about it! It was great to see you on the ride.

Hill Airforce Base

This was our first trip to Hill Airforce Base. It was a fun, short and free get-away. We loved looking at all of their old outside airplanes and their indoor museum was amazing! We read a very touching story about a POW while we were there. Everything that must go on behind the scenes to keep our freedom amazes me, and makes me sad at the same time. I wish that we never needed a nuclear bomb called the "peacekeeper". Why can't we all just get along? I could never be soldier, but I am greatful for those men and women who fight for our freedom.

Bugs? We know about bugs!

Summer has brought plenty of bugs our way, especially ants. So why not study them? We checked some ant books out at the library and learned some amazing things. Did you know that Queen ants use their wings to mate high in the air and after they mate they discard their wings?

Neither did I.

Did you know that some birds catch ants and tuck them under their wings because they secrete a certain acid that kills ticks?

Neither did I. But now I do.

Maddie has gained a compassion for ants that I don't care to cultivate. The other day she found an ant in our house and wanted to give it a cracker. I told her "don't feed it!" and I got a tissue to squish it. She started crying "But it's HUNGRY!"

Here are a few other interesting facts that Hannah wrote on our back porch amidst all of the ants today. A bit of reading material for our little friends.

(another interesting fact: Ants love aphids, they gently stroke them until they secrete a sweet substance which they eat...weird.)

Hannah also knows about dragonflies and has spent hours catching them this summer. After looking it up in her insect book and researching wikipedia, she has decided that this dragonfly is a twelve-spotted skimmer. She has also caught at least 30 tiny dragonflies and put them in zip lock bags with plenty of air and vegetation to give to the neighbor kids. I don't know whether to be proud of her or mourn the deaths of so many dragonflies.

Bibity BOBity BoO

It's summer time, time to simplify. Let's start with hair. I'm loving my little girl's bobs. Hannah's and Lucy's hair-do's look so cute straight, and they dry beautifully. I like to curl Maddie's hair because she has a bit of curl already and straight just doesn't work for her. Plus it shows off her fun girly-girl personality. I also love that I can walk right across the street to my neighbor's basement hair salon to have it cut. Can't get much simpler than that!

Lucy Magoosy

Our little Lucy is growing up so fast. Her favorite words now are "I did it!"

So what can Lucy do now that she is two?

She can talk in sentences (not that we understand everything she is saying).

She can tell "Knock Knock" Jokes. Her favorite one is "Knock Knock" "Who's there?" and then she blows a really wet raspberry.

She can make up songs to catchy tunes, my favorite is "I want water...I want water...I want water." sung to the tune of "the wheels on the bus."

She can spell her name :) Seriously! Not in writing, but the other day she traced her finger under the word octopus and said "L...U...C...Y"

She can pour her own milk. This was actually discovered by accident. Two Saturdays ago, I walked into the Kitchen and heard Lucy say "I did it!" And she did do it. All by herself. She didn't even spill a little. Yep, she's pretty amazing!

*I realize that this is the second time I have posted a picture of our sinful Cocoa Roo's, so I just need to note a disclaimer that we have "Sweet Saturdays" at our house. All other days we have homemade granola, steel-cut oats, oatmeal, homemade yogurt, bananas, grapenuts or cornflakes with honey (for Johnny, my picky one.) I know most people don't care, but I have to mention it as one of my saving graces. :)

The Golden Rule

This summer has been a blast for us so far. We have been able to go to the Library, the Natural History Museum, have a sleep-over with cousins, soccer camp, swimming lessons, and we have logged in hours at our local parks and swimming pool. Yes, so far, it has been an ideal summer...except for one thing, and I hate to mention this, but along with the laughter and love we have had more than the usual chaos and contention. This Sunday, as I spouted off orders to my children, I was reminded of an idea that I found in the Ensign this month. Even though we were in the middle of dinner, I grabbed a pen and paper and started writing down "Our Family Rules". As a family we came up with 34 of them. Sadly, these "rules" are actual things that were said in our home in the few hours that we did this activity.

1. Don't suck on your hair at the dinner table
2. Use correct Grammar.
3. Don't pretend to cry like a two year old (it hurts Lucy's feelings.)
4. Don't lie on the floor and tip your chair over on you like a tent while at the dinner table.
5. Don't blow bubbles in your drink at the dinner table.
6. Don't keep shouting "Rule #5" over and over again at the dinner table.
7. Don't throw batteries
8. When you skip, don't hit people with your swinging arms.
9. Don't tip your chairs back on two legs.
10. Don't hit your sister (or brother) with light-sabers
11. Don't get hurt!
12. Don't throw the Lego container at your brother.
13. No teasing!
14. Don't fight with light-sabers while you are on the stairs.
15. Don't throw books over the railing.
16. Put your clothes in the laundry basket.
17. Don't call your sister a "Grammar-head".
18. Don't put fake cockroaches in the sink.
20. Flush the toilet and wash your hands.
21. No shouting "Rule #7" at Lucy over and over again.
22. Don't issue the Heimlich maneuver when no one is choking.
23. Don't interrupt mom while she is making rules.
24. Don't climb on the railing.
25. No whining.
26. Don't jump on the couch.
27 Don't suck whole grapes into your mouth like a vacuum.
28. No hitting...EVER!
29. Don't wipe your crumbs on the floor.
30. Throw your banana peels in the garbage.
31. No potty-mouthing.
32. Put your toys away when you are finished with them.
23. Don't write on the wall.
34. Don't sit on the counter tops.

Now you would think that following these rules would create the perfect home environment, but no, I could have written down 100 more and it still wouldn't be enough. On Monday, for FHE, we pulled the list out again, and went over the rules. Then I wrote down one rule on a separate piece of paper "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." We replaced all of our family rules with our one family rule. So far this week has been a little better, usually just the mention of the Golden Rule will make them stop and re-think what they are doing...though I am sure that I still have many years of "spouting off rules" ahead of me.

Having a ball

Question: Is the in-ability to use a ball in a graceful and organized manner hereditary?

If so, our children are doomed. A ball is a very complicated and unpredictable object, but I'd like to believe that it isn't completely impossible to learn, even with inferior genes. This is why I have named this year our official "Learn-How-to-use-a-Ball" Year.

Hannah and Johnny have already had their summer Soccer camp (unfortunately I didn't get any pictures), and Maddie is enrolled in Champ Camp. Now this may seem like over-kill to enroll my 4 year old in a camp, but she is having a lot of fun with it. I am starting to have hope that my children can do this. In fact, they are pretty amazing if I do say so myself. The past two sessions have focused on Basketball. Maddie will also get to try soccer and t-ball in the upcoming sessions.

Memorial Day

As I was looking at our pictures of the past few weeks, I realized that I never recorded the special experience that we had on Memorial Day. We spent the day doing projects at home until around 3:00, then we took our homemade flowers to place on John's Dad's grave. We were able to use the time to tell our children stories of the Grandpas that they have never met. We all felt a witness of the spirit as John and I reminded them that someday they will be able to meet them and be with them forever. What a wonderful reunion that will be for all of us.

My dad (and mom and 8 of the 11 children)

John's dad (and mom and 7 of the 8 children)

Grasshopper hunt

For the past few days this grasshopper has been showing up in the most unfortunate places. It all started on Saturday when Hannah sweetly and innocently gave her dad a bowl full of sweet Saturday cereal for breakfast. John was grateful that Hannah would show such consideration by preparing breakfast for him, that is until he dug up a big, green, juicy grasshopper. Since then, it has been a game for them. When John finds it, he hides it for Hannah, and Hannah is more than happy to find a new hiding place for the grasshopper where it will surprise John the most. Since Saturday, it has been on Hannah's night lamp, the toilet seat (luckily, that was after it was in John's cereal bowl),Hannah's bedroom mirror, the sink, and inside a pillowcase.

Boys will be boys

Flooding the sandbox is a tradition that has been handed down from father to son in our family. John has told me about his summers spent in his sandbox making irrigation canals and reservoirs, and seeing Johnny do the same makes him feel a little sentimental. He was having the time of his life on Wednesday. Nothing attracts little boys like sloppy sand and mud, so our neighbor's four boys came over to play. Unfortunately they weren't wearing their swimming gear like Johnny was, so their mom was less than happy about the end result. I felt awful about that and apologized, I hope she doesn't feel like we are a bad influence.