New Paint!

It's been an exhausting week! Dustin has been sick again. He has a cough & stuffy nose right now. He also had a rash (I think because I fed him peanut butter cookies), and an ear infection. But even with all that he's been a happy boy. He just wants to be snuggled a lot. Life's tough when you're little.

Before: when we bought our house

After: We just love the grey!

This weekend I we decided to paint the house. The west side was getting pretty beat up from all the sun, and we figured while we're doing it, we might as well do a good job. Dave talked me into grey, and I picked a dark grey color that we absolutely love! Now that the house has a fresh coat though, I can see that the trim needs a coat too. So more work to be done, but isn't that always the case with a house? I will probably see if I can get that done during nap times this week or next week.

Friday we scraped off all the paint that was chipping, and Saturday we painted two coats (and a primer on the chipped spots). By 4:30 the boys were going crazy from lack of attention, so we called Dave's parents to see if they could come play with the boys and we could finish up. Logan loved playing in the sand box and having someone to read him a million books. I think we were done by 7:30.

Sunday Dave and I were both sore and exhausted! I was so glad we had an excuse to take the day off. Dave went to sacrament and Sunday School, then he came home to be with Dustin so I could go to Relief Society and pick up Logan. I swear, being RS Secretary is the busiest job! I spent half of the meeting running around making copies and getting stuff done with the Ward Clerks. I'm sure things will calm down in a month or so though.

Monday morning I went shopping at Savers (they had 50% off for Labor Day). I now have most of what I need for Logan to go through his next growth spurt. I also got a few shirts for me, and the last thing I need to make Dave's Halloween costume.

Speaking of Halloween Costumes, when we found out Dustin was going to be a boy Dave's response was "Can the boys be Batman & Robin for Halloween". Well, Dustin was born in November, so we didn't get that opportunity last year. So I told him this year we could make them Batman & Robbin. Dave decided we should be characters too. So I'm making him a Two Face costume (he's one of the bad guys), and if I can figure it out I'll make myself a Poison Ivy costume (another bad guy, and she used to date Two Face). But half the time when I bring it up, Dave asks if he can be Batman and Logan can be Robbin… Sigh! So we might end up with 3 Batman's come Halloween. We'll see.

New Calling

This week has brought about change. Well, one change, a new calling for me. I am now the Relief Society Secretary. Dave's response: aren't you too young to be in the Relief Society Presidency? Well, I guess it is just secretary. My responce: that will be a lot more work than RS teacher... But one of my fave ladies from the ward was called as second counselor (RiKelle, also in her 30's) and the pres and 1C were previously in the presidency. So we should have some fun and be able to get the job done too!

I am also still teaching until we can find replacements for RiKelle and myself. Sunday I taught a lesson on covenants, and the High Priests joined us, since their teacher called in sick. It ended up being fun (the high priests like to give me a rough time and I like to razz them right back). I actually miss teaching Sunday School (less tears than Relief Society), so it was a fun kind of a flash back to Gospel Doctrine teacher. 

Friday Dave's work participated in a volley ball tournament. They had a t-shirt design contest (for their uniforms) and Dave's design won! Also this year they wonder the loosers bracket! That means they lost the first half of their games, then they won the rest. Every year they swear to practice so they can win next year! It rained for most of the tournament, but the dinner after was under a pavilion, so that was good. They had a bbq company cater, and they had a fabulous chocolate mud slide ice cream pie for dessert.

Saturday I went to Dave's Brother Jon's baby shower. It was small, just family, and it was nice to get to see everyone. Saturday night we had a ward game night. We meant to just stop by and say hi, but ended up staying for 2 hours. Logan won the cake walk (I encouraged him to just take a cupcake rather than a huge cake). He also went fishing and won some play dough. Dave played some bang with the scouts he is over, and other leaders. Dustin and I played a word game (it required spelling, which meant I lost horribly). Logan had so much fun playing with the other kids.

Salsa & Alergies

It's been a busy week for us! We were supposed to go to the cabin this weekend with my family, but it got canceled, so Dave and Logan went with Dave's Dad to the Father Son Campout (our ward doesn't have one). They had tons of fun!

Dustin and I went shopping at Kohl's. They were having their 60-80% off sale and I had a $10 off coupon. They didn't have a lot I was interested in (tons of neon and bootie shorts), but I did find a pair of sunglasses for me and a swimsuit for Logan next year. I spent $7 "and saved $50. Just tells you how much things are over priced!

After Dustin was sleeping, I did some sewing. I started and finished my square for quilting class (appliquéd poinsettia). I decided to machine appliqué this year, and it went so much faster than by hand.  I also worked on a few of the 21 bags I'm working on. Oh, and I finished some spit up cloths and a baby blanket for a shower this weekend.

Monday I started doing daycare for the 2 girls down the street. It went really well. Logan and Abby (the oldest) had so much fun playing with every toy Logan owns, and jumping on the Luv Sac. I would hear giggles and shrieks from all over the house. And Madelyn would crawl after them to see what the big kids were up to. I think it will work out well.

Tuesday the boys had doctor's appointments. They're both looking good! Logan's had a runny nose and a little cough lately. The Dr said it's just seasonal allergies. I have really bad outdoor allergies too, so I shouldn't be surprised. She prescribed him some medicine, but it doesn't do much good. I'm hoping to try some essential oils next week. I have to purchase them first, but then we'll see how they do. We just love them to clear up stuffy noses for colds, and the lavender was a life saver when I had shingles.

Wednesday I was supposed to babysit again, but the mom canceled, so we spent the day making salsa! It took all day to chop up the peppers, onions, and blend up the tomatoes. Dave had scouts Wednesday night, and I was able to convince him to take Dustin with him. We got it all 29 jars canned by 9. Hopefully we can do one more batch later this year, and we'll call it good! Dave also wants to can Jalapeño jelly and some spaghetti sauce. We'll see what we can squeeze in!

3rd Birthday!

Building a garage for his cars out of gifts

Friday was Logan's 3rd Birthday! He's been excited for it all week long. Wednesday and Thursday nights he woke up several times in the night just to ask "is it my birthday yet?" I wrapped his gifts on Wednesday and put them in the living room too. He would bring me one at a time, asked me who got it for him and guess what it might be. He would also use the gifts to make towers (like blocks). They were so tempting!

So when he woke up Friday morning he was so excited! He asked to immediately open gifts, but we decided it would be best to wait for Dave to get home from work to open them. We played all morning and went to the park to enjoy the swings and slides. When Dave got home, Logan cheered and rushed into the living room to the stack of gifts. So we opened them immediately. 

We went to the library and discovered a little chlorinated river behind it that we had to splash in (and get completely soaked). So with our new books and wet clothes, we headed home for dinner and dessert.

Logan requested eggs and hot dogs for dinner, so we compromised and had eggs, sausage and grapes. For dessert Logan requested blue cupcakes with a turtle on top. I was able to make turtles out of candy.
Since Friday is also our anniversary, Saturday my parents offered to watch the boys so we could have a little date. They took them to the aquarium! Logan has been talking and dreaming about it ever since! He loves fish and turtles.

What can I say, the progression of cupcake eating was so funny, I had to document it all! Especially the "if I close my eyes and wiggle my fingers another cupcake will magically appear... Nope, but oh! there's frosting on them! I must eat it!" He totally cracks me up! Dustin enjoyed the blue too.

Dave and I stuck with the aquatic theme and went to Red Lobster for a quiet lunch. It's so nice to get to eat and talk without wrangling little people! After that we walked around downtown. We then stopped by Target and bought a few fun things. It was a nice little break. Nothing earth shattering, but just what we needed.

Sunday was more casual. After a rough church, we baked some cookies for a sick neighbor, then decided to visit the park. We swung, slide, and walked on the trail until bed time. It was very relaxing and the weather was perfect! We just wish we would have brought bread to feed the ducks.

Monday evening Grandma Linda and Papa Bill came over to bring Logan a birthday gift! It was nice to visit with them. Logan loved asking Papa Bill what animal he had again and again.

Last week I accepted a daycare job. I will be tending two girls (Logan and Dustin's ages). It's only for 3-4 hours Mondays and Wednesdays (so 7ish hours a week). I'm excited to have a way to make a little extra money (for Christmas & our trip next summer to NC). I know the older girl (Abby) from Nursery, but I don't know the baby (Maddy) and am a little worried about taking care of two babies. It's like two sets of twins! But I'm sure in a month we will have settled into a routine and will be fine! Kids adapt well, and it's not like it's an 8 hour a day job.

I've been praying about finding a way to earn just a little extra money without having to work outside of the home, and this seems like an answer to that prayer. It's not a ton of money, but it's just what I was looking for.

Vacation!

We decided to plan a "Stay-Cation" this summer. So when Dave found out he got the 24th and 25th off work, we decided to make a LONG weekend out of it and took the following Monday and Tuesday off too! So 6 days off. It was such a nice break, and quite possibly more relaxing for us all. I mean, we slept in our own beds (which means we actually slept well). There was minimal packing, unpacking and laundry (ok, some since we went camping).

On the 24th (Thursday) we woke up bright and early to go watch Dave run his first 1/2 marathon! My mom picked us up so we could drive home with Dave. When Logan saw Dave all dressed up, he insisted he got some numbers for the race too! So we made him some.

Dave's parents came too, and we all waited for Dave to run by!

 And he went cruising by! I ran after him for a while and got a few pictures of him running.

This face says it all "what are you doing following me?"

He finished the race (13.1 miles) in 2 hours and 19 minutes! It's about average, which is fabulous for his first race. The sky was overcast and a little rainy for most of his race, which was perfect weather.

He finished, got some snacks, a massage, and iced his calves. After that we slowly walked back to my mom's car while watching the Days of 47 Parade. We saw horses, motorcycles, a few floats, and even the Prophet.

That night we got to see most of Dave's siblings (and the cousins) at a family BBQ. The kids had fun time playing in the pool, and we also got to enjoy some peach frozen yogurt and raspberry sherbet. It was a very relaxing evening.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are all a blur! We went to the splash pad every day (and Wednesday night too). Logan LOVES the splash pad, and by the end of our week, Dustin was having fun too. 

The best way to describe Logan is to imagine him dancing around the splash pad. He jumps into the water, waits for it to shoot up (in his face), and begs for Dave or myself to join him!

 At first Dustin would cry every time he even got a little water on him (he hates the cold), but he got a little acclimated at a time. By the end of Sunday we had him reaching for it and splashing in it.

We also got ice cream a few times in there and made a trip to FYE to get Logan a new movie. We got the Lego's Star Wars Trilogy. They're 20 minutes a piece so throughout the day Saturday we watched all three. They're actually quite funny for those familiar with Star Wars, but also kid friendly.

 Monday morning we packed up and went camping up Albion Basin! We got up to the site, set up our tent, and it started torrential pouring. Sigh, so we spent the first hour and a half playing in the tent. Logan was bored by that point, so he said a prayer that it would stop raining so we could have fun!

We moved to the car out of desperation (and need for Cheetoes). We hung out there for about a half hour before the rain calmed down to a little sprinkle!

So we hiked to the bathroom and saw three moose on our way back! The park ranger joined us and commented that he had never seen three together at once. By then it had started raining harder again so we went back to our tent. We decided to call it a trip and packed up our tent.

But by the time we were done packing the tent the rain had practically stopped. So we decided to hike until the rain started again.

The mountains looked really cool covered in clouds, and the alpine flowers that are always there were beautiful!

We ate rice cakes, granola bars, and fruit leather while enjoying the scenery. I tried to teach Logan how to play i-spy. Our version goes like this "I spy something purple, it's a flower!" he doesn't quite get you let the other person guess, but it's cute anyway.

We loved touching and smelling the flowers, and playing in the mud!

Dave decided to climb this boulder, and of course needed a picture at the top

After being coped up in the tent for almost 2 hours we really enjoyed our time! Both boys were just laughing as we hiked around.

When we got back to our site, it was 7pm and the rain hadn't come back (well, no more than a drizzle anyway). So I unpacked our tent and Dave cooked our foil dinners. We were glad we decided to stay, even if it rained all night. Logan kept telling us it was an adventure. But by Tuesday morning we were all ready to eat and head home.

That evening we ate at In-n-out for dinner and stopped by the library to get some books. It was casual, but just what we needed to unwind.

As for today, it looks like rain outside (although it hasn't actually rained yet). Logan, Dustin and I have been cleaning up the house, washing dishes, and doing laundry. Nothing major, but after so much fun, it was time for a down day.