For a really, really good cause

UPDATE:  We were able to raise over $300 for the Bonner family.  That's a lot of ice!


Our totally awesome neighbors from our old neighborhood, Wayne and Jeana, could use your help.  They are adopting a little girl named Victoria from Eastern Europe.  She is five years old and has Down Syndrome, as does their three year old daughter Kaelyn. 

Adoption is expensive.  Foreign, special needs adoption is really expensive.  When Ross and I found out what Wayne and Jeana were doing, we really wanted to help them out and the best way we figured to help would be with a fundraiser through Shavy Jones.

On Saturday, August 4th, all the shaved ice proceeds of the day will go towards this awesome family and their quest to bring their little girl home.

If you haven't made it this summer to Shavy and need to visit, this is the perfect opportunity for you to do some good and eat something good.  If you're a Shavy regular, make sure you come on Saturday.  We've got out best shavers scheduled to work and you won't be disappointed.

If you want to help spread the word leading up to August 4th, then click on the flyer and share it on your own blog, your own twitter feed, and your own facebook page.  (The flyer is just on my flickr account and you can just download a copy for yourself to share.)

We look forward to a great day with a lot of ice, all for a good cause.

Thank you, ancient China!

Last summer, in the new neighborhood, while Ross was gone to Australia, the Fourth of July actually terrified me.  There were so many fireworks being blasted off on my street and the circle next to me,  that I honestly thought my house might burn down.

The fact that a home in my old neighborhood did burn down because of some delinquent fireworks lighters last summer didn't help calm my nerves.

Anyway, last year I was up until almost 1:30 in the morning pacing, checking on my boys, and praying for the stupid aerials to stop so I could feel calm and go to sleep.  And then?  The fireworks went on for the next three days, but only until about Midnight.

Flash forward a few weeks to the 24th of July Pioneer Day celebration and it wasn't quite as bad.

Now, this year, I'd been warning Ross for weeks to get ready for the barrage of fireworks this July.  I'd been lamenting about how bad they are and how mad it was going to make him.  Well, we missed the fireworks on the 4th because we stayed at my parents house to light a few small ones of our own and by the time we got home, the neighborhood was mostly quiet.

That led me to believe, foolishly, that last night, the 24th would be pretty calm.  With the general ban on fireworks in areas across the state, plenty of big celebrations lighting off the big stuff I figured we were safe.  We got the boys to bed at 9:00, did our end of night routines and as soon as Ross and I climbed into bed around 10:30, the fireworks started.

At one point, I seriously thought that there was gunfire on my street.  I jumped, I started, and I cursed the bombardment for over two hours.  The light shows in my neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods were still going on, with hooting and hollering, until almost 1:00 am when I finally drifted off to sleep.  For a few hours, my neighborhood actually looked like a war zone from a movie with loud booms, gun shot sounds, and bright flashing lights that felt like artillery bombardments.

What's the point?

I'm a grumpy old woman and I despise fireworks.

It's totally cool to light off a few small things in your driveway to terrify your kids before they go to bed.  I like the "danger" of sparklers and to see the excited fear in the faces of my kids who are nervous they might light their jammies on fire.  I do not think that the same things shot off at Sugar House Park should be lit three houses down from me in someones front yard.  And, in a neighborhood full of small children like mine,  who are on year round school schedules that start back at school today, it's pretty inconsiderate to be lighting of those gun shots booms at Midnight, let alone 1:30 in the morning.

Now, when my boys are obnoxious teenagers I might change my mind.  But when my boys are small, delicate little flowers, I am not a fan.

In a nutshell....

We had a busy weekend.  Well, a busy Saturday.  I really love being busy.  My poor feet, not so much.  As of this weekend I'm officially down to two pair of flip flops and a pair of crocs.  That's all I can fit on my feet.  My beloved Birkenstock's, even when loosened, are too tight for these mammothly swollen feet of mine.  Six more weeks.  I can make it 6 more weeks.  (I hope.  I can make it seven if I'm lucky.)

Anyway, on Saturday we hosted a family BBQ in commemoration of Pioneer Day with my dad's family.  Ross and I hosted the same event last year and I think everyone had a good time.  We had great food and everyone hung out and enjoyed themselves (I think.  Right?  You all had a good time?)  And, we ended the evening with everyone trekking over to Shavy Jones with a shaved ice.  I made my brother and cousin work the "party" shift so that all the family would get the best shaved ice.  I hope it was worth it.  Willie did say a group of polygamists stopped by so that at least made the evening exciting.

Sunday was also a busy and good day.  The little Chick was a crazy out of control mess most of the day.  He was tired and had leg aches.  He's in this transitional nap/no nap phase and the days he doesn't have even a short rest he's a mess the day after.  But, all was well and we had a yummy dinner at my mom's and a pioneer day photo shoot of the grand kids with the ghost of Uncle Willie appearing in the some of the photos.

My boys absolutely LOVE their Uncle Willie.  They have such a good relationship with him and I am so glad that he loves them back.  Last night they had a lot of fun playing outside, learning new words (Babushka) and running around, singing, doing interpretive dance, eating at least half a dozen Popsicles a piece and getting really sweaty. 

What better way to spend the weekend than with lots of family and fun.

Now, if only I'd slept last night instead of being awake from 1:00 -5:30 am I wouldn't be dragging quite as severely from the busy weekend this morning.

Oh well.

Enjoy some pictures.

And, what Sunday night would be complete without a little bit of personal grooming and hygeine. My brother is super hairy and until last night, had some pretty wild eyebrow action going on. After watching a video on eyebrow grooming for men on youtube, the two of us hit the bathroom with some sissors, a come and some tweezers to clean those bad boys up. I must say I did a pretty good job even though we didn't tweeze. Tweezing is a little too rough for a 17 year old boy. But, he did decide to trim some nosehairs to, which is pretty brave.

I used to be the officially little brother toenail clipper. Trimming up his eyebrows was the least I could do. I'm sure his football helmet will fit better now.

Boys of summer....

I love basketball. I don't mind being at a live football game.  Soccer, baseball, golf...these sports are not my favorite but I'm good for a game a season, usually (Except golf.  Not a sport, just an expensive hobby!  Look at the shape of the majority of men who play golf, professionally or otherwise, and you'll have to agree!)

Anyway, after Elliott has such a great time playing baseball in the spring we decided to sign both boys up for the summer league sponsored by the Salt Lake Bees.  The kids got t-shirts, hats, 2 tickets each to a Bee's game, and last night got their trophies and pictures.  They've already used half their baseball tickets to have a night out with dad a couple weekends ago and are going to another game in August - mom gets to stay home and the boys get a great night out with their dad.  Awesome!

Anyway, last night was the last game.  We've had 8 games in 5 weeks and the boys, especially the littles on Wyatt's team, really improved a lot.  Technically, the boys played "t-ball" but by the last game last night, every kid on both teams was hitting coach pitches and were really doing well.

Ross was the coach of both of the boys teams.  He is such a good dad because dealing with a bunch of crazy 5-6 year olds and 3-4 year olds for a couple hours a week is pretty crazy for a dad whose used to sitting next to the CEO in a meeting.  But, he did an excellent job, the boys loved him and he even got a couple of hugs last night...not from his own kids.

I was proud of all my boys.  I was even more happy to have the cool weather last night - it was cloudy and overcast and a great night to sit and be fat and swollen in my folding chair.

A pretty good summer day!

It started out by blasting the Monkey and the Squirt out of bed to drive them over the river and through the woods to grandmama's house.  They were hanging out because I had an early morning appointment with some monitors.

I guess it's cool to spend over an hour a week listening to the not born baby's heart beat in stereo and watching the little guy squirm around while fluid levels are checked but, I'm only three NST's in this time around and I'm already tired of it. Only 8 weeks to go?

After that, I met the kiddos at the pool and relieved grandma of her babysitting charges. I got the full report on what they ate, whether or not the went to the bathroom before swimming and who was sporting a little bit of mascara and rouge.

It was a perfect day to sit and watch swimming lessons, too. 81 degrees and breezy. I couldn't have asked for better.

Then it was home for lunch - french fries, hires fry sauce, and strawberries - playing with toys, making messes and a couple of errands to the pharmacy and grocery store. We had quiet time, pbskids.org time, homework time (for me) and time to e-mail the last 10 days worth of blood sugar stats to the endocrinologist. By the time we got through all of that junk, it was time for t-ball.

The first game of the night only had 6 players total - five from our team and one from the other. It became a hodge podge of parents and kids having a lot of fun and even though they are supposed to use the tee, because they are all three (and four) Ross pitched to all the kids and they all knocked the balls out of the park the entire 45 minutes they played.

The second game was a bit out of control, but my left-handed batter did a great job and for the first time in two seasons of baseball, I caught him sitting in the field picking at the grass.

After that, because it's just what we do, we all ended up at the patio of Mt. Mike's pizza for the nightly special and some shaved ice shaved by one of our favorite shaver's, Uncle Willie. Things got hoppin' and we stayed until close...and until said Uncle got his stinker nephews pretty wet with melted ice.

We found our way home well after 9:00 pm and the boys had the fastest double shower of their lives. They were jammied and in bed, though not asleep, by 9:30 at which point I disappeared leaving their hyped up sugary little selves in the care of their t-ball coaching, ice shaving dad.

Yes, I'd say it was a pretty good summer day.