Bee Stings and The Coolest New Toy!

This post has a little of everything...

Last night the girls were playing outside when Charlee ran inside screaming. She had 7 wasp stings on her right arm. Her arm was a little swollen and all the stings were bright red. There was a wasp nest on our fence...needless to say, it is now gone. We put ice on her arm and gave her some Tylenol. This morning you can barely tell that she was stung. She is pretty lucky.

We were getting into our camping stuff in preparation for a trip and the girls thought it would be fun to watch AFV while sitting in their chairs and eating some cookies.

This is where Justee decided to take her nap the other day. She also loves to lay down in Dozer's kennel with him.Now for the part about the coolest new toy... Puzzlekins! My sister Vicki designed some awesome puzzles (that are more than just puzzles) and ended up getting a toy company to manufacture them. The pieces to the puzzles are also fun figurines you can play with. They are really creative and my girls love to play with them. Click here to read more about how you can own the coolest new toy and see more pics of them.

Last but not, well yeah, it is least...who can resist a stupid picture like this: Cash watching the fish. I know, one word...Breathtaking

And the Award Goes To...

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in a while. For starters, I have the best husband ever. Not only did he keep our 3 girls so I could go to a relief society activity (that's not the big deal, every husband out there better at least do that) but he kept Trisha's twin boys and Tami's 3 girls. The Nicholls boys even came over for a while; which added up for a grand total of.....12 kids! Not only did Justin watch the kids, but he made them lunch and cleaned up after them. I know I can always count on Justin to do these kinds of things for me. He is not one of those selfish husbands that only thinks of how he can have fun. He is always willing to do what he can in order for me to have fun too. So Justin gets the award for "Best Husband".

So, on to the fun that was had...I got to go to the relief society beach party. We went to the lake at Sister Larson's house and kayaked, tubed, and I even water-skied. The last and only time I ever water-skied was in Maryland when I was 13, so it was fun to get to try it out as an old lady. It was so much fun to get out and soak up some sun (I may have soaked up a little too much) and I'm very grateful that Justin watched the kids, so we could actually enjoy ourselves.

Last night Justin and I decided to go to a movie since it has been a while since we have been to a non-animated one. We passed on the Dark Knight and went to Hancock...good move...We both loved this movie...of course it didn't hurt that Will Smith was in it. I have to admit that I have a hidden talent or maybe it's a gift, whatever you want to call it I have it...(drum roll please) The ability to predict the endings to movies. Justin might be the only one who can vouch for me on this, but he has witnessed it on many occasions, like last night. Once in a while I am wrong...well not really wrong, but a little off...and that is rare, most of the time I nail it. Justin always accuses me of seeing the movie before or hearing about it from someone. Nope, I'm just good...so I get the award for "Smartest Moviegoer." I would tell you my predictions but I don't want to give anything away if you haven't seen the movie, and if you haven't seen it, you should...

What's a post without pics? So here are a couple of pics I took at Syd's t-ball game the other night. Another reason why Justin gets the best husband award...(Husband should be synonymous with dad, you can't be great at one without being great at the other. At least that's the way I see it.)

Winona Pool

There is a pretty neat outdoor pool here in Loveland that we enjoyed today for the first time. Cherelle brought her 3 youngest boys and I had my 3 girls. Sydnee and Quinn had a really good time going down the slide over and over. (Sydnee just had a lot of fun hanging out with Quinn.;)

Sydnee going down:

Here goes Quinn:It's a pretty good sized slide:

The rest of us pretty much hung out in the kiddie pool. Justee loved crawling around in the water and Jace liked following her and giving her a little boost.

Charlee was not in the picture taking mood. Every time I tried to get a picture of her, she ran away.
Justee and Jayden:

It was a lot of fun and we definitely have to go back again. Now we just have to get ready for Syd's t-ball game tonight and then Justin's softball game.

Estes Park and Syd on 2 Wheels

We had an eventful weekend. On Friday we went up to Estes Park to take in the mountain scenery. We had a little picnic and went on a little hike. We found a water snake next to a little stream and the girls were very worried when Justin asked them if he should catch it. Sydnee said, "Daddy, I really don't want that snake to bite you." Sydnee loved climbing up and down the steep hill. It reminded me of the time we took her down into Porcupine Falls. She was only four and she kicked Justin's and my butt. She was getting so far ahead that we were constantly yelling at her to slow down and wait for us because we couldn't see her. On our way home, we stopped at a little place in Estes Park and played mini golf and the girls and Justin went down this big slide. Justin and Syd rode some bumper cars and I think...wait, I'm sure that Justin had more fun than Syd.

When we got home Syd decided she wanted her training wheels off of her bike. Justin took them off and started teaching Syd to ride. I tried to help her for a little while and then decided it was best for both of us if I just let Justin do it. (I could never home school my kids; I just don't have the patience for it.) When I first rode a bike, I asked my dad to take my training wheels off and I just got on and rode. I didn't realize that it would take Syd a little while to catch on. After about 30 mins of practice we called it a night. Here's Syd's 1st try:

On Sat. we went to Water World and had a great time. Sydnee went on the slide called Storm with Justin. It took some coaxing, ok bribery, to get her to go down, but she finally did and she was very excited about it and says that she will do it next time we go too. When we got home, we pulled the bike out again and Syd can now ride pretty darn good. She can start on her own and ride around the block to the Nicholls house. Justin came around the corner to find her ringing their doorbell so she could show the Nicholls boys that she could ride her bike. She definitely needs more practice, but she is officially on 2 wheels!

Water Silhouettes

Justin had a short day of work yesterday so we decided to get some yard work done. After we finished pulling weeds the girls wanted to play water baseball (soft baseballs soaked in water and then just play.) Sydnee's neighbor friend came over to play and they decided that they weren't getting wet enough, so they pulled out the hose and started spraying. I lined them up against the fence and made silhouettes of their bodies. They thought it was the funniest thing ever. We did it over and over, but by the time I got the camera, Charlee decided that she was too cold.

Sydnee and Katelyn

This pic has one of Charlee's on the left. In the lower left you can also see the hole in the fence that Dozer made into the Nicholls' backyard.

Things that Irritate, Annoy and Drive Me Nuts

1] I have three left shoes here...Where are the right shoes to go with them you might be wondering? That is a good question. The right shoes have been missing for at least a month. I have searched high and low for the other shoes in hopes of finding at least one to complete a pair. What makes this worse is that Justee hasn't even worn one of the pairs and the other 2 she wore once or twice. We have two places where we keep her shoes: the closet by the front door and Justee's closet. I go to whichever closet I know the shoes I want are in, and there sits one (the left one) right where I left it, but it sits there lonely without its mate. I just don't get it!

2] Why is it soooo hard for Cat Deeley to say JessicA instead of JessicER?! I know it's the whole British Accent thing, but seriously...It's not that hard to say JessicA.

3] Whiny kids...enough said.

4] Public restrooms (especially the ones at Water World, because they are always soaking wet everywhere and just plain gross.) Now, I myself don't have a real problem with public restrooms, but when you have to take a 3 and a 6 year old to use them, it is more than gross. First of all, why do they flush so hard that they splatter all the sick substance that is supposed to go down, back out? Second, what is that split at the front of the toilet seat for? That filthy nook that is left exposed is the first place that little girls' legs go. (This nook MUST be covered with a nice padding of t.p., if no protective seat covers are available.) After little kids have put their hands all over the seat and everything else disgusting, you want to wash their hands as well as possible. Would it be that hard to put a step stool or something by the sink so they could wash their hands without having to be held in a strange position that seems to get water everywhere?
The other thing about public restrooms that makes me mad is that the men's rooms don't have baby changing tables (they are getting better about it.) That is just ridiculous. What is so hard about putting a changing table in the men's room too? Even at most churches there aren't changing tables in both restrooms. That seems really unfair to any single dads out there. (Hmm, maybe Justin is just trying to get out of a few diaper changes? Actually I have not believed him before and gone into a restroom to check for myself...I know, this does really irritate me.)


5] I try so hard to keep flowers and plants alive. My parents are great gardeners and my sister Ashlee has had the same plants for over 10 years. Where is my green thumb? I water them as often as I should without over watering, I place them in the appropriate sun exposure, why do they always die? My potted plants that I got this spring were really starting to look sad. While I was in Lovell over the weekend, I had a neighbor come and water my plants. I gave her the same instructions that I use and they look better than ever! Maybe I should try singing to them...no, that would just kill them faster. ...Plants just don't like me.

The list could go on and on, but I'll end there...maybe I'll follow up with a more positive, things I like post. ...someday.

Family Pictures

Here are some of the family pictures that my sisters took for us on Sat. Each family wore a different shade of blue and I think the blue looks really good in the outdoor settings. I think they did a great job and all the little kids did great too. It makes picture taking a lot harder when you have so many little kids, it's amazing all eyes are open and looking at the camera.

Daddy and his girls...

We had to get a pic of how Justin carries the girls up to bed at night. I wonder how big they will have to get before he can't do it anymore (or how old he will have to be.)
The girls were wiped out by the time we got to this last pose. Charlee was given a sucker to keep her from crying, but Justee had had it. I just thought it would be fun to include these pics anyway. The girls did really good considering we had been taking pics and watching other individual families take pics for 2 hours.

Farewell to Elder Hyde

This weekend we went to Lovell for Mark's Mission Farewell. He is going to be a great missionary and we are sad and excited to see him go. He actually goes into the MTC on Wed., but we saw him for the last time for 2 years this morning before we left town. He was packing all of his stuff up with help from the professional packer Vicki herself. (You should have seen how much stuff she fit into her van!) Mark spoke in church and did a great job. Gerry, Jake, Justin, Rob, and Mark sang a song and it sounded really good as well.

On Sat. we took advantage of having everyone together and took family pictures. It will be the last time we are all together for a while, with Justin leaving for a year and Mark gone for two. It is so hard with such a big group, but I think there were some good ones. Here is Mark with all of his nieces and nephews.After the pics we went to the park and had a picnic in Mark's honor. We threw around Rob's favorite thing ever...the aerobie. It is like a frisbee, but 100 times better. We always have a lot of fun with it. We started a competition (there always has to be a competition of some kind with our family) to see who dropped it the most. Dad, Vicki, and I were on one side and Rob, Justin, and Jake were on the other (Mark had to leave to go play in the volleyball tourney.) Jake took off after one aerobie and failed to spot the tree in his path...he hit the tree going full speed and got whipped back...boy was it funny (only after we saw that he was ok of course.) We all had a good laugh, even Jake, and Jake got some scrapes and bruises from his encounter. Poor guy, but even he wishes that we would have gotten it on camera.

Go, go Gadget arm!Justee really enjoyed some watermelon and chocolate cake.

One of the highlights of going to Grandma and Grandpa Hyde's for the girls, is getting to drive down their road. Here are some pics of Charlee showing off her driving skills:

My parents are getting new carpet in the upstairs of their house while they are gone taking Mark to the MTC. While we waited for my parents, Uncle Kendall and Aunt Beverly to get back from a drive, we decided to decorate the old carpet. The kids traced their feet and hands and we even traced Charlee and Azurdey's bodies. The kids had a lot of fun and the carpet looks better than ever. ;) (Now we all hope they don't try this on any other carpet.)We stayed in at Justin's parents house on Sat. and Sun. night, so the girls got to spend a little time with their cousin Sienna. I took some pics because I don't think I have any of the girls with her.