May 29, 2024

Memorial Day Weekend Part Two

During all the years we have had married kids, we have rarely asked for their help in family projects. My sweetie always figured the kids at home could handle it, but this weekend, I finally convinced him that getting everyone together to remove the broken pump and get the garden ready to plant would be a perfect way to end our weekend.







Weird camera settings from the Dog Walker... the day was perfect! Lots of hard work, trimming, weeding, tilling, repairing, cooking, eating, playing, and working together.

Sure love my family.

May 27, 2024

Memorial Day Weekend Part One

After church, we headed for Sanpete County. Our first stop was the cemetery in Ephraim where we put flowers on my mom's grave.




Then we headed to my amazing sister-in-law's house for a huge party. She invited all her siblings and their kids. We all had lunch and the kids played air hockey.




Then we went to the cemetery.  It is the first Memorial Day we are celebrating without my mother-in-law and everyone was a bit teary.






Since my sweetie has his infection, we decided we would only make 2 stops this year. So when the party was over, we piled in the car and headed for home.

May 25, 2024

Last Minute Project

Don't you just love those last minute projects? Curly told me on Thursday evening that he needed a sock puppet dressed like a bride for school on Friday morning. So much for my evening plans...



I think they turned out pretty cute.





May 21, 2024

Guest Blog: The Vacation Every Kid Wants to Do by Princess

On Thursday, Tadpole had his last day of Kindergarten. He had to go back to the school Friday morning to pick up his report card and do a last, quick test. Well, while he and I were doing that, The Frog was getting a surprise ready. And as soon as we got home we told the kids to load in the car for lunch. 


We had loaded a bunch of suitcases and stuff in the trunk, and they were well into the visible-from-the-front range, but we threw a blanket over the top and the kids didn’t question it. In fact, the only thing the kids thought was suspicious were the water bottles in their cup holders. 



So, we made it interesting. We got in the car and drove an hour towards Grandma and Grandpa’s house. That kind of backfired, because Polliwog was very upset when we passed their neighborhood, but we got him Wendy’s a few blocks away and then he was happy. After lunch, we pulled out tablets and then the kids paid zero attention and no one seemed to notice that we drove in the opposite direction of home. 


We made another stop in Brigham City to see the house where The Frog’s dad grew up and play at a playground. At this point, the kids were starting to notice something was different, but we promised them we would tell them everything when we got to our next stop. 



And the next stop was a hotel in Logan. 



The look of surprise and excitement was 100% worth it! 



And we had a great trip! Our “theme’ for this trip was “the vacation every kid really wants” and we figured that had a few factors. 


  1. A roadtrip far enough away that you can play on a tablet, but close enough no one has to stop to go potty. 

  2. A hotel 

  3. Everyone having their own bed

  4. Swimming

  5. Playing at multiple parks

  6. Lots of snacks and chicken nuggets and ice cream!

  7. A new fun adventure (AKA feeding ducks at Zootah Park)



We spontaneously drove a few minutes into Idaho just so the kids could mark another state of their list. 


But mostly our weekend was filled with snuggles and kid sunscreen and hide-and-seek in our hotel room. Maybe, it was “the vacation every parent really wants” too. 




May 20, 2024

My Poor Sweetie

Ok, so yesterday, the Dog Walker talked about my poor sweetie. Yes, he has been in the hospital for the last 4 days. He has an infection in his wrist, but it has NOT gone septic. Yesterday, they opened up his wrist and did a wash.


Today, he is doing much better!! He is still on IV antibiotics, so we might be looking at infusions again, but we are hoping he will be coming home tomorrow. 



Guest Blogger: Scout's Graduation Party by the Dog Walker

 Mom asked me to write a post for her because she's been feeling exhausted not only from her cataract surgery, but for smiling and telling the same story over and over at Scout's graduation party. Speaking of which, we celebrated it a week early, just because we have plans for Memorial Day Weekend.  


The party was quite crowded, with not only relatives, but there were also some of Scout's friends that came over to congratulate her. It was hard to tell of how many really came, but Mom guessed it was sixty people. Anyway, we served tacos and sweet pork burritos to the guests along with nachos, and homemade desserts. Almost everyone told me that they loved the cinnamon chip cookies that I made. Maybe by Christmas, we can the recipe to the updated family cookbook.


Scout really loved the special gift I made. It was a Graduation goblet filled with her favorite fruit snacks, Gushers. Bossy was a little jealous of it since she also gave her a ceramic mug with something that looked like a chocolate truffle ball, but Scout managed to switch the places and they seemed to have similar fittings. 


I was obligated to play Spike Ball with Sport, Curly, and Crafty. Sport was always asking me how I got so good at Spike Ball even though I never play that game very often. I don't know how myself. Maybe it's just instincts or something like that. We played a lot of game rounds, despite the sun shining in our eyes. I ended up getting a set of hats with visors to help us see. Some of the kids even played in the backyard while we were playing Spike ball.


Dad's usually in charge of making sweet pork, but before the party, we had to make the sweet pork and lime rice ourselves, since he has been hospitalized again. 


The party was meant to last from 4;00 to 6;00. After the party, Mom and I went to visit him. We weren't going to stay there for very long, but Dad was feeling quite lonely after his surgery, despite feeling pained and groggy. So we stayed and visited for a couple of hours, until we heard from a nurse saying that he was going to be transferred to another room at another part of the hospital. 


It was a good thing that Mom and I didn't leave before that, because we had to make sure all of Dad's stuff was packed so the staff members didn't have to do a scavenger hunt. He should be able to be released from the hospital by Tuesday.


Mom and I drove home a little later than we planned, probably because of a police invasion on the roads with a possible crime scene. Mom and I at least ended up avoiding it, because she always finds those intense. Anyway we made it home safely. All I have left is to show you the pictures of the party. We're so proud of Scout being able to graduate from high school.