Percy Jackson released on DVD

In an attempt to convince my children that I am not the lamest mother ever and they are not having the most boring summer of their lives, I decided to have a little celebration for the release of the new Percy Jackson movie on DVD. It was released to DVD on June 29th, so I'm a little late in getting this posted.

I have to admit I have not read these books or seen this movie so I had no idea what to do for a party. I googled "Percy Jackson Party" and found an idea.

Apparently, Percy's mother feeds him blue foods???? So we had a "blue" dinner. I made "blue" rolls, "blue" chicken salad sandwich stuff, "blue" jello, "blue kool aide, "blue" sugar cookies for dessert, and "blue" popcorn to munch on during the movie.

Before you begin to feel impressed, let me just add, it doesn't seem to matter how extravegant or how simple my plans are, I always seem to encounter bad luck along the way and the Rockwell Painting moment I envision in my mind....is just that: in my mind!

So, I originally thought "blue" jigglers would be fun for the kids. I made them and asked Zach to put them in the fridge in the garage for me since there was not room in the kitchen fridge. Justyn came in from helping him, grumbling about how the shelf was broke and Zach was rude and blah, blah, blah. That should have been my cue to investigate but it summer and my kids have grumbled at each other everyday, all day long for the last 6 weeks. Instead, I chose to ignore the arguement and work on my math class (yes, I am taking a 3 credit math class this summer and I am hating every single minute of it!)

I took the kids to therapy, feeling pretty good about the progress I had made on my dinner party. I returned home to find Ken very upset. He took me to the garage where he showed my a "blue" trail that led straight to my fridge.

Ken explained that he had asked Zach to clean it up and he had gotten the hose out and was preparing to hose the garage out. Now, this may have seemed like a brilliant and EASY way to clean up his mess, but the garage is in the far back corner with boxes, bags, lawn mower, bikes, 3 motor cycles, pictures, scrapbook stuff,..... you get the idea. A hose, water, blue jello and a 14 year old boy would not mix well with the mess I already have out there. Just a thought!

I opened the fridge and there was blue jello everywhere. The blue trail was not a result of spilling it as he took it to the fridge. No, it was because the shelf was broke and Zach didn't bother to fix it or work with, he just put the jello in and closed the door and it ran everywhere!

When I asked him what he was thinking (I know, great self-esteem building question right?) he said that jello sets up and gets thick so why would a broken shelf be a problem. Ummm....because it takes a few minutes for the jello to get thick. In the meantime, it's a liquid and liquids can make really big messes if not contained properly. Especially sticky, blue jello!!!

Needless to say, he spent a few hours cleaning the fridge and the garage with a bucket of soapy liquid. :)

Back to the dinner, I was grouchy and tired and left to go on a walk with Ken while the kids fed themselves and watched the movie. They took this picture for me.


I still have not seen the movie but the kids really like the idea of "blue" foods and thought it was pretty cool that I knew Percy Jackson's mother fed him blue foods without even reading the book. You know, mom's just know those kinds of things! *wink*

Wordless Wednesday

My Grandma and Grandpa Lowder
Robert and Nelda Lowder

Grandma turned 85 in February and Grandpa turns 86 next week! They have been married for 64 years. They have 8 children, 47 grand children, and 111 great grandchildren with at least 5 more on the way.

I am so thankful for the lives they have lived and for the examples they have set. I don't know how many more years we will get to have them around. Grandpa doesn't have much time left.

This picture was taken a couple days ago at my parents home at our Wilson family reunion. We treasure each additional day we get to have them around. This year at our talent show, Grandma read us a poem out of the red book she always reads from (it was written by one of her relatives) and Grandpa sang the mule song he has sung for years. It was priceless to have them participate with us. I loved that my children got to experience these treasures one more time.

Alexys' 9th birthday

Alexys turned 9 this year. I let them have a birthday party on their eighth birthday but Alexys did not want a party last year. This year she asked to have one friend over for a party. We invited Claire and her older sister, Elizabeth, to come celebrate with us.

We went to Scrappin' Girlfriends(a scrapbook and bead shop located downtown)to make bracelets.

Then we went to Daisy's (an old-fashioned ice cream parlor) to open presents and have volcano drinks and ice cream cones.




That evening she invited another friend and her family over for cake and ice cream and a couple more presents.


For her cake I made her a rainbow cake. I got the idea from here who got it from here. The kids all wanted to help make it and Zach took on the job of decorating the outside. Obviously mine was lacking in presentation but Alexys loved it anyways!


And here is the inside...

That evening we took her shopping to spend her birthday money. Ken and I couldn't decide what to get her so we just gave her money and a date with us to spend it. She bought and i-pod shuffle and a pink scooter. It was fun to watch her shop and spend that time with her.

We also went to the park for lunch and she had speech therapy that day. We couldn't have squeezed one more thing in. It was a fun (and exhausting) day!

Justyn turns 13!

Justyn turned 13 this year. For his birthday he invited Forest and Sam Radmall to come stay the night. They spent the afternoon hiking around Dierke's Lake. That evening they rented movies and played outside games.

We had the entire Radmall family over for cake and ice cream. Justyn wanted a Butterfinger cake. It was yummy!!! I think there was at least a 1000 calories per slice! (I couldn't get my camera to work so I missed all the good shots.)

His birthday present was his dog!

The next night we took the family to the drive in movie to see Shrek 4 and Iron Man 2. Even Dad went with us! It was a fun weekend!

School Talent Show

Girls & Dads

Proof!

After Zach's first drive! (Zach and the two boys we car pool with: Mitchell Nielsen, Thomas Heath)

Alive and mostly smiles!

Actually all three of these boys were a little discouraged with their first experience behind the wheel. They thought it would come more naturally to them. They were pretty nervous and humbled that they really don't know everything about cars yet!

One year ago...

It was a rainy Friday morning June, 2009. I was headed to the school to pick up the kids year book. We were leaving for the weekend to attend my newphew's baptism as soon as I got back. I had Zach in the front with me. Shaelynne, Henry, and Kate were with me. Alexys and Justyn stayed home.

We pulled onto the highway near my home and I told Shaelynne to make sure the two younger kids were buckled up. They weren't so she put their seat belts on them.

Less than 5 minutes later I rear ended a truck. I have no idea where he came from. He was just suddenly in front of me, stopped and waiting to turn onto a side street, and there was nothing I could do but hit my brakes and pray. We were traveling 45 mph. I hit the breaks as hard as I could. We hit the back of the trunk and bounced off the truck.

We didn't stop. We were still moving....FAST! The impact bounced us off the road so we were traveling down a grassy patch along the side of the road. I hit the brakes again. NOTHING!!! They were broke. I tried the E-Brake. NOTHING!! It was also broke.

We were still traveling about 35 mph hour. I had no brakes, very little steering, steam was coming out of the hood of the car, 4 of my 6 kids in the car with me, and I had no way of stopping the vehicle.

The grassy lane was coming to an end and then what. My only thought was that I had to find something else to hit so the car would stop moving. But what damage would that cause? And what was I going to hit?

I screamed, "Zach, I can't stop the car! The brakes don't work!"
He calmly said, "Turn the car off!"
"What????"
"Mom, Turn the car OFF!!!"
"How?"
"If you turn the key to off, the car will stop!"

So I did! And the car slowed down and came to a peaceful stop. No one was hurt. I only scraped my big toe because I was wearing sandals. The air bags never deployed. The kids were all buckled in. And Zach saved us from further damage.

Later, I asked Zach how he knew what to do. He said that he had been reading on the internet the night before about what to do if your brakes don't work on your vehicle. One of the things it said to do was turn the key off. So that's what he told me to do.





When they repaired the vehicle, they told me that they had never seen an accident like this. According to all the figures, the damage should have been different and worse. The way the car hit was a miracle. I think the whole accident was filled with miracles. Do you believe in tender mercies from the Lord???