A picnic in the South Hills

On Monday July 12, we took the kids up to the South Hills to spend the afternoon.
On the drive we saw whatlooked like cows,....or horses,.... or moose?????

We pulled over to watch them for a few minutes. At first we only saw the two babies. Not sure how we didn't notice the mama but she was VERY aware of us. They were so big. The babies were the size of full grown cows. The mother was 3 times their size!

After about 5 minutes, they disappeared into the trees and we continued to our favorite picnic spot. We packed a picnic lunch of fried chicken, sweet dinner rolls, fresh pineapple, bean dip and chips, go-gurts, jello, and Ken made some homemade root beer.

It was funny to watch as everyone adjusted to the bugs and dirt. Obviously we don't get out much! Zach had a huge bug-thing land on his shoulder. He felt it hit him and when he saw it he freaked! It didn't just fall off so between his screaming and jumping around we all got a pretty good laugh.

Ken had taken Henry off to help him go potty. About the same time Zach started screaming, we heard a little Henry scream off in the distance. Ken came back laughing and explained that just as Henry was about to "go", a huge bug landed on "him". Needless to say, he was unable to pee after that and refused to try again.

After Zach refused to get out of the car and rejoin us, we decided to pack up and move a little further down the road to one of our favorite hiking trails. The kids were excited to venture into the woods.

We hiked for about a mile when we decided to turn around. The kids were getting tired and most of the trail was uphill back to our car.


Henry had a little "accident" and wanted someone to piggy back him back to the car. No one volunteered so he had to walk. In order to get him out of there, we started to find small broken branches that looked like really cool "guns" and other violent weapons and he war games all the way back to the car.


Kate was struggling to keep walking so we looked for pretty wild flowers along the trail. We found so many and luckily for us, we kept finding flowers of different colors and shapes all the way back. By the time we reached the car, she had a beautiful bouquet. She proudly presented it to Alexys for her to enjoy.

Back at the car, the kids noticed some big rocks in the parking lot and while I cleaned Henry up, the kids climbed.

By the time we headed home, everyone was covered in mountain dirt. It was fun to watch everyone relax and enjoy the atmosphere. All the way home the kids laughed and sang and played together.

It seems like it's been a long time since we have felt those kinds of feelings of unity and togetherness in our family. Our lives are so crazy and full of busy-ness that we don't take time to just relax and enjoy the beauty around us. Working together to come up with creative and distracting games to help the little one's hike out of the mountain trail was fun for everyone. For a few hours, no one argued, or whined, or complained. It was almost...peaceful!

Ken commented as we drove home, "There are some experiences and feelings money really can't buy."

Teddy Bear Tea Party

On July 8th, the girls invited some friends over for a "Teddy Bear Tea Party". It was fun!

We had about 20 girls total that came to party with us. They each brought their special teddy bear to show off.

Shaelynne and her friends were in charge of pulling the activities together. They had the girls tell about their teddy's and why they were special to them. Then they played "Honey, Honey, Teddy Bear" (Duck, Duck, Goose) and "What Time is it, Mr. Teddy Bear?" They read a couple stories about teddy bears. For a craft, they had the girls make bracelets and/or necklaces for themselves and a matching one for their bear. Snacks were Teddy Grahams, Gummy Bears, Fruity Treats cut into bear shapes (Rice Crispy treats made out of Fruity Dino Bites Cereal instead of Rice Crispy cereal), sugar cookies that they could decorate themselves, and ice cream bars.

My girls had a fun time. It was very casual but a fun excuse to play with some friends we don't get to see everyday.

Wordless Wednesday

I asked the kids to hoe the weeds on the side of the house. They claim they got distracted!

See the small yellow wire near the bottom of the hole next to Henry's left arm?????

Yea, that's why we don't dig holes unless we have asked permission first. Also, we shouldn't let small innocent children play in holes with exposed underground wires unless we first know what they go to.

So far everything still works so it must not have been damaged.....

How many weeks are left in summer vacation??????

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!