Summer to do list

We made this Welcome to Summer poster closer to the start of summer. I had heard of this idea on other blogs- making a summer "bucket list". I decided it was a good idea so the summer didn't just blow by without doing some things the girls want to do. I sat down with Sekoya and went through a bunch of ideas that she might like and printed them out on little strips of cardstock. Then I let them decorate a poster board with puff paints. We've done pretty good at doing some of them- making popsicles, treasure hunt at the house, scavenger hunt at the park, fishing, campout in the backyard, outdoor movie theater, and making journals. Summer is coming really close to being over an we still have a lot of things on our list. I hope it doesn't make me feel like a failure if we don't get them all done!

Fishin' and four wheelin'

Backyard campout

One of our summer items to do was have a backyard campout. I made indoor s'mores and we played bunko until it got too dark to see the dice. Jason even had fun with that game. We had intentions of stargazing, but we fell asleep before all the stars had come out. I had even printed out a map of what constellations we should be able to see in June. The girls slept great. I wish I could say the same for Mom and Dad. He couldn't sleep because of the air mattress. I couldn't sleep because I got cold and was worried that the girls were cold. It was fun though and it put a smile on the girls' faces. I just hope they realize how much we do for them when they are older!

Summer lovin', had me a blast!

Some of our fun so far this summer.....

Playing in the rain. It was funny to watch the difference in my two girls. Sekoya was running and splashing as hard as she could through the puddles. Her pants were wet clear to her knees. Katera was tip toeing and holding her pant legs up so they wouldn't get wet. Sekoya could have played in the rain all night while Katera was done in about five minutes. I love warm summer rain!

Sekoya is such a good reader and sometimes I catch her reading to her sister. It's hard to get them to play with just each other when there are friends coming by to play all day every day. I love it when Sekoya will be the loving big sister that she really is instead of tormenting. This day we were coloring streaks in their hair with blue kool-aid. It didn't really work because they wouldn't leave it in long enough.

Swimming. The girls love our big backyard pool. So do I- it means we don't have to pack up and go to the city pool where I have to swim too. Some days they will swim for about 20 minutes and others they are in it all afternoon. Occasionally they will get me and Jason in with them. We're pretty big wimps about the cold water though.

Father's Day

We cooked Jason a big breakfast on Saturday because we have 9AM church on Sunday. Sekoya insists on making breakfast in bed for any special occasion. I did manage to talk her out of the 'in bed' part since it's just to hard to eat in bed. We made biscuits and sausage gravy. Then the girls gave him the gifts they picked out themselves. Sekoya gave him a wallet and Katera gave him some golf tees and a golf towel. Grandpa Kirk took the top off the jeep and Katera wanted to go for a ride so we picked up Sekoya from gymnastics conditioning and went for a long jeep ride, stopping at Bullie's for lunch. We had full intentions of going to church on Sunday, but when we woke up with only 1 hour to get ready and girls that did NOT want to get out of bed we decided to bag it. We spent the day where Jason would rather be anyway- on the mountain. I packed a quick lunch and off we went up the west mountain on the rhino. The wildflowers were in full bloom and so pretty. The girls picked us a bouquet of pretty yellow flowers. I didn't want to hold them all the way home so I took a picture of them. We spent some time throwing rocks and finding the prettiest ones to keep. Sekoya is such a turd about getting her picture taken. She always runs or turns her head when she realizes I am taking pictures. Now Katera has caught on and does it too. I have to either be really sneaky or threaten them to get any pictures. I wanted a picture of the big grins on their faces through their helmets. By the time I had to make threats to get the picture the grins of pure joy were gone. At least I can picture them in my memory!

Incriminating pictures

Glad this didn't fall on them!

Playing dead???

Always doing acrobatics!

This is what happens when you leave a couple of mischievous 7 year olds to their own imagination and a camera laying around. Sekoya had her friend Nora over and this is what I found a few days later. Sekoya knows she is NOT supposed to climb on the couch and playing with the elk? I think that is one that doesn't need an verbal rule made- can you say common sense? Silly girls!!

No more fingers

We took Katera's fingers away.



What? How is that possible? That's the reaction I got from several people when we told them we had taken her fingers away the last two weeks. Well, since she was born she has sucked her two middle fingers when she sleeps or gets tired. I thought it was great since I didn't ever have to worry about losing a binky. Until now. She is almost four and still sucking her fingers. When we were at the dentist he checked her overbite- which is quite pronounced. I asked if he had any suggestions for getting her to stop. He gave me some stuff that you paint on her fingernails that is really nasty tasting. It was really sad the first few nights. She would go to put her fingers in her mouth and then wimper. She had a really hard time going to sleep and would tell us-"But I just like to suck." Thankfully that only lasted about 3 or 4 nights. Now she is a big girl and hardly even thinks about it. Yay! Now I don't have to clean up drool rings on my microfiber couch from her sucking her fingers when she watches TV.

She is getting to be such a big girl! She is not my baby anymore. I just realized when I was getting summer clothes out of storage that she is now the same age Sekoya was when I had her. We have been trying to get pregnant for a while now. I kind of wanted to have another one 3 years apart again. But, either the Lord or my body is telling us that now is not a good time. I have gone to the temple and prayed about our family and whether we should have more kids, but I never get a definite answer. Maybe I am not in tune to the spirit to hear the answer. I just think about the future and how lonely it will be really soon when both girls have graduated from high school. That day will come sooner than I think. On the other hand, I really like not having a baby and everything that comes along with that- diapers, toting a diaper bag, sleepless nights, shots, baby food and formula. Our girls are at really good ages right now that we can go do fun things without having to leave one of them behind because they are too little. I have been taking Chlomid for about 9 months now. My doctor just upped my dosage to double. After a couple months if we still haven't gotten pregnant she wants to test his sperm and blow out my tubes. Both of which are expensive and not covered by insurance. Now we really have to make some decisions. How much do we want to spend trying to get pregnant? Do we try the adoption route? I am just so not sure what to do. I don't want to go broke trying to get another baby. I want to be able to afford the kids I have and be able to provide them with necessities and fun things in life. I am hoping to either be pregnant within the next year or be at peace with only having two children.

Mormon Miracle Pageant

We decided to take the girls to see the pageant this year. It had been about 8 or 10 years since Jason or I had seen it too. The girls were excited, but weren't sure what they were excited about. We got there really early so we could get good seats. We claimed our seats and then walked about 6 blocks to the church where they were serving marinated turkey dinner. We had to stand in a long line in the really HOT hallway. Katera had a meltdown and so did Jason- other than his meltdown was not quite so pronounced as hers. I could just see him fuming! Once we got out of the hot hall and got our dinner everyone was better. We stopped on the way back to the temple grounds and let the girls play at a little park. We got back to our seats and still had an hour until it started. We went for another walk, shorter this time, and found some treats- funnel cake and cotton candy. We got settled back in our seats and the play finally started. I explained what was going on as it played out and I think they were both pretty entertained. Katera was really concerned at one point when they threw a wicked Lamanite woman into the volcano. They both fell sound asleep about half way through. We decided to leave early so we could carry sleeping kids without having to make our way through a crowd. It was a fun night, but I think we will wait to go again until the girls are about 12 and can stay awake!