Family Game Night

For family night last week I invited my whole family over for dinner and a "Minute to Win it" game night competition. I have never actually watched that show or played any of the games before but it looked like fun so I went ahead and planned the games. We ate tacos, sang a song together, and then my brother Josh gave us a thought. After that the competition began.

Grandma came and she was our timer/scorekeeper. I made everyone else team up. Joel was on my team, my parents were on a team, My sister Heather and my brother Brian were paired with their spouses and Alesha and Josh made up the last team. The little kids just got to play the games and watch. We started out with an egg race and a balloon toss. Then we played keep up with a balloon. One person from each team had to compete in the rest of the activities. We had to do things like pull all of the tissues out of a tissue box one at a time, then we had to tie the box behind our back and get all of the marbles out of it. We had to get a cookie from our forehead to our mouth, without using our hands. We also had to get a penny out of some tights by only using our hands. Then we had to put the tights on our heads and knock over a whole bunch of cups. All together we played twelve different games and they were a lot of fun. Some of them were lots of fun, some of them were really funny to watch, and some of them were really hard. There was some serious cheating going on from a few people and Brynlee and Jakobee tried to help out a few times and messed people up. Jakobee sabotaged his dad on the last game by knocking over his cup pyramid when he was almost done. In the end I think everyone had a good time and the scores were really close. I think Brian and his wife Heather were the winners. It was a fun night. We ended it with some homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream made by Joel. I am so glad I get to share these memories with my family.

Mayhem in the Chicken Coop

Our little chickens somehow all ended up becoming free range chickens this summer. It has been kind of nice in a lot of ways to have them out all them time. They are good at eating all the bugs in our yard. The girls love them. We started the summer with 13 chickens. They have been chased several times by the neighbors dog and there were some owls that we chased away from the coop one night. After that we had three chickens that disappeared. We thought they had died but every once in a while we will see two of them come around again. They are not usually around at night so they must have found somewhere better to stay.

The first night when we saw the owls sitting on top of the chicken coop, we chased them away and turned the light back on in the coop. That seemed to keep the owls away. I looked online and learned that owls will very rarely eat a full grown chicken. They like the eggs and they will go after babies but they can only eat the head of a full grown chicken. I figured the chickens were safe enough since we didn't have any babies. But then a few weeks later Joel found one of our chickens dead in the coop with it's head eaten off.

Joel planned on trying to fix the coop later that day but we were busy and didn't get home until late that night. It was starting to get dark when we pulled into our driveway and we saw two great big old owls in the chicken coop. We chased them away again and discovered that another one of our chickens had just been killed. The owls killed two of our white chickens. Joel boarded up the coop really well and made it so the chickens couldn't get out but while the owls were there the chickens had ran all over the place and hid. As soon as the kids were in bed I came out to help Joel round up all of all of the hidden chickens. The poor birds were scared to death and hiding in all of the bushes.

It was really dark so we were searching with flashlights. I heard something move under the kid's slide and I walked over and started to reach out to grab a chicken when a little black and white head popped out that did not belong to a chicken. There was a skunk under there taking all of the eggs that our chickens had laid. I slowly backed away and left that thing alone but it seriously startled me to death. Eventually we found all but one chicken and I guess that one found a safe place to hide for the night because it was around the next morning. Now we have to round them up every night and tuck them in bed so they stay safe. I was really devastated when I learned that two of them had died. I never thought I would get so attached to those birds but they are kind of like part of the family now. Hopefully we can keep the rest safe and away from all the animals.

Joel's New Adventure

Joel got a new job! His last day of work on the farm will be next Wednesday and then he will start working for a construction company in the area on Thursday. He is going to be in charge of a framing crew. The pay is the same but there is a lot more potential for growth and more money in the future. There will be lots of things Joel will miss about working on the farm but I think he is really looking forward to a new experience and there are several things about the farm he wont miss. I know I am not going to miss the long hours he would have had to work during harvest. We both feel really blessed to get to start this new adventure. 

Joel will actually be working for the construction company that is building my parent's house. We both always though that Joel's job welding for the farm would be temporary. But nothing else felt right and we were totally unsure of what exactly we should do. We both feel good about this job and we are looking forward to doing new things. I think Joel is such a hard worker and a talented builder and I have complete confidence that he will do this job (or any job he wants to do) well. I am so grateful that he works so hard for our family so that I can stay home with our girls.

Great Grandpa T

My dad's dad, my grandpa Jonny, lives all the way in Washington and I haven't gotten to see him in several years. My dad's half sister (my aunt Shirley) got my grandpa a plane ticket and flew with him to Boise so that he could see all of their family. Grandpa brought his little dog, Jade, and his caretaker Zen came too. They came on Thursday August 1st. This was the first time my girls got to meet their great grandpa. Joel was still camping with the scouts so he didn't get to be with everyone. My grandpa was definitely out of his comfort zone and not really sure what was going on. He has the early stages of dementia, but I am so glad that he got to come and meet my girls. We had a big barbecue at my grandma Verna's house, (she is my mom's mom) since that is where my parents are staying. It was especially busy there since my aunt Lisa, and my aunt Lora were both there with all of their kids. That night we went swimming at the hotel where they stayed which was a lot of fun. Brynlee was actually trying to figure out how to swim. I can seriously not take my kids swimming without a lot of help because they both kept trying to run off and go swim by themselves.

The next day, my dad drove my grandpa and everyone that came with him to Pocatello and Salt Lake so that he could visit with his sisters and several other family members that were there. They all came back late on Monday night and all of my family came over to visit with him one last time before he went back to Washington. This time Joel got to visit with him too. It was a short and fast trip for him but we took lots of pictures so that we will be sure to remember this visit. I sure am glad I get to have these memories of him. It is good to visit with family. It makes me learn so much more about my dad. We are glad you came to visit Grandpa!

The Month of July

July was such a fun and busy month for our family. We had fun celebrating the fourth of July and spending time with family. My girls sure are growing up so fast and I love spending time with them. They are also really busy lately. Annalyn threw my camera in the toilet earlier this month. Luckily it wasn't my good one but still, I wasn't able to take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked  because I don't want to risk packing my big one around and getting it broken.

Annalyn decided she was done sitting in her high chair this month so we got out the booster seat and moved her to the big table. Brynlee is quite sassy and she is really good at telling everyone what they should be doing. Annalyn thinks it is really funny to run up to her sister and hit her which makes Brynlee cry every single time. Brynlee is super dramatic about things like that. They drive me crazy but I sure do love them.

My aunt Lisa and her three girls (Hailey, Addison, and Kennedy) came down from Texas and were here for three weeks. We had a lot of fun spending time with them. Her little girl, Kennedy is the same age as Brynlee and they had lots of fun playing together; at least most of the time they did. Brynlee calls her "Kennsalee"We spent as much time with them as we could.

We had most of my family over for dinner one night and all the kids got to ride in the train and they had fun catching our chickens. Jakobee fell asleep while he was riding in the train which was really funny. His little head was just a bobbing away while he slept. Annalyn was hilarious out there trying to catch the chickens. She was so proud of herself when she finally caught one. She also got ahold of an uncooked ear of corn and ate the whole thing. Brynlee did the same thing when she was that age. It was a fun day.

Later that week Annalyn came down with a fever. I stayed home with her while Joel took Brynlee fishing on her first fishing trip with my family. Apparently Brynlee loved riding in grandpa's boat and had a great time but she never did catch a fish. I was sad I didn't get to go but I didn't want to risk getting anyone else sick. I kept Annalyn home from church the next day too. Her fever was gone and she was all better by Monday and I was excited to go do things again with the family but then Brynlee got sick. I ended up staying home for two more days while Brynlee was miserable and running a fever. She started throwing up the second day she was sick but she got it in the bucket every time. I was very grateful for that and I am grateful that no one else got sick.

The second day when Brynlee was sick, I went and laid down for a minute with her on my bed. Annalyn walked in a few minutes later and she threw something on my leg. I looked down at my foot and just stared in opened mouth astonishment. There Annalyn stood with a huge grin on her face, flour all over her clothes and her body, and the bag of flour in her hand. And she was reaching back into the bag for more flour to put on my leg. I jumped up and took the bag from her; getting flour all over my bedroom floor in the process. I had Annalyn show me where she got the flour from and she walked me into the kitchen so I could see. There was flour all over my kitchen floor. Apparently She pulled her little chairs up to the cupboard so she could reach the flour and then she had lots of fun playing in the stuff before she came to show me what she had found to play in. She is seriously so busy lately. Of course like any good mom I quickly snapped some pictures of Annalyn playing in the flour before I cleaned up the mess.

My sister Alesha celebrated her 18th birthday towards the end of the month and we celebrated by getting pedicures with our Aunt Lisa. It was my first time getting one and it was actually a lot of fun. Then we went shopping at the mall and we ended the day swimming and eating cake and ice cream. My brother Brian and his wife Heather even got to come down for the weekend to celebrate and go swimming with us.

Both of my girls absolutely loved the water. Brynlee jumped in right away before anyone even realized it and after Joel told her to wait for an adult. My mom had to jump in with her clothes still on and save her. I think that scared everyone really badly. I know it scared me. A few minutes later Brynlee was ready to go right back in the water. Annalyn kept trying to get in the water too. Lately she hasn't wanted anything to do with a bath so I thought she would be afraid of the water. She wasn't. In fact she was simply determined to go down the big slide that they had. My dad helped her climb up and Joel caught her at the bottom of it. As soon as her head came back up she pointed to the slide and kept saying "mo, mo, mo" which means, "more, more, more." Every single time when she was done going down that slide she would do the same thing. Point, and beg for another turn. She would have went down the slide all night if we would have let her. She was really mad when we told her that was enough.

My mom and her sisters started walking every night and I went walking with them a few times which was a lot of fun. There was one day when most of my family went tubing down Indian Creek and we walked around the river path waiting for them to return. I had both of the girls in the stroller and they kept fighting during our walk. Annalyn kept trying to pull Brynlee's hair. Both of my kids had their swimming suits on and as soon as we were done walking, we let them play in the water until the tubers returned. The water was cold but we still had a great time.

We also went to the library with my cousins and my sister Alesha for the summer reading program and they had a fun little carnival with sno cones and a bouncy house. Brynlee was super excited about the bouncy house but in the end she barely jumped in it. She got really shy about it. We got free tickets to the Discovery Center as one of the prizes from the library so we all went and had so much fun.

Joel also finally got our van up and running this month. It only took him a little over a year but now it is registered, insured, and drivable. It still need a little bit more work. The air conditioner doesn't work and a few things like that but overall it runs well. I drove it around for a few day and I think I am really going to like driving a mini van.

We did a lot of painting with watercolors this month and we even made some flubber for the girls to play with. Annalyn really loves to paint but she also like to eat the paint and the paper. We played lots of dress-up this month. Kennedy even came over one day and played dress-up with Brynlee. Then we got out the little kiddie pool and played in it. The next day Brynlee got to have her first sleep over. She slept in a tent in grandma's backyard with my sister Alesha and my 8 year old cousin Addison. She had a hard time falling asleep but she said she had fun and she didn't seem to miss me too badly. She is already begging to do it again. 

Brynlee and Annalyn also got to watch their first movie at the movie theater. We found a place that was showing "The Croods" and a ticket was only $0.50 per person while you could get popcorn and a drink for only $1. I bought three bags of popcorn and three drinks but I forgot to think about how I was going to carry all of that while I had Annalyn and my bag. Everyone else had their own popcorn to worry about but somehow I managed to get it all. And then after we waited for several minutes, they made everyone get up and change theaters because apparently the wrong number was printed on everyone's ticket. Brynlee was great for the movie and seemed to really enjoy it but Annalyn is clearly not old enough. She would have been fine if she didn't keep throwing her soother and loosing it. She was tired.

Brynlee has also played a lot of doctor lately. She will come up to me and tell me that I am not feeling good and that I need a check-up. Sometime she is Doc McStuffins and sometimes she is Doctor Brynlee. She went in for her three year old check up and she was actually really excited to go. Of course she really just wanted the sucker and the sticker she knew she would get and she was pretty insistent that she didn't want a shot so I am glad she didn't need one. Both of my girls have been getting lots of rashes so the doctor recommended switching to a different laundry detergent and to stop using dryer sheet, and she recommended some scar reducing stuff for the scar on Brynlee's head, but other than that she is one healthy girl. She weighs 33.4 lbs (73%) and she is 3ft. 2(1/4)in. (74%). The doctor complimented us on what a great eater she must be. I am not so sure that she is a great eater but she eats okay.

For the last few days of July and into August, Joel is on a camping trip with the scouts. My brother Josh is up there with them and they are going to be doing a lot of hiking. It is a six day trip. Hopefully he is having fun because we sure are missing him. I am just glad there is lots of family around and lots of things to do to keep us busy.

July really was a fun month. I really love these long summer days spent playing outside with my kids. They are both getting nice little tans and I have a really nice farmer's tan going on right now. I especially cherish these moments spent with family. I am so grateful my girls get to grow up and be friends with so many cousins. I am glad my aunt got to come down from Texas. I love her and her girls so I will miss them. Now I am really itching to take a trip to Texas so we can visit them.

Brynlee's First Cavity

I was going to write about this in the June update but I forgot. At the beginning of June I took Brynlee in for a dental check-up. I first took her a year ago the week before she turned 2. I wasn't sure if I should take her that early or not but I know that some dentists want to see kids six months after their first tooth comes in. That seemed silly to me since Brynlee only had two teeth at that point. I figured I should take her in before she turned two so I took her into the dentist that I went to years ago when I lived in Kuna. They were one of the only close places that would take her insurance but I was not happy with them at all.

I had several questions I wanted to ask the dentist and I never got a chance to ask them. They sat Brynlee in the big dental chair and had her brush the teeth on this stuffed frog that they had. Brynlee really got into that. Then the dental hygenist asked Brynlee if she would open her mouth so that she could count her teeth. Brynlee told her no. So the lady said all right and went and got the dentist. I told Brynlee if she wanted a prize, she had to open her mouth and that really motivated her to open up wide. The dentist looked in her mouth really briefly, told me the molars in the back were still working on coming up, and then he left. I couldn't believe that was all that they did. I felt like they should have at least brushed her teeth or talked to her about how to brush or something.

This time I decided to take Brynlee to the dentist that took my wisdom teeth our. Since I went there, they would take Brynlee's insurance. Before our trip I told Brynlee all about the dentist and what to expect and she seemed really excited about this new adventure. I ended up having to take Annalyn with me but she was good while we were there. The girls did get into a small fight over a toy that they found in the waiting room. Brynlee shrieked really loudly and tried to hit her sister when Annalyn took the toy, but other than that, she was great. This time the dental hygienist and the dentist both started working on Brynlee together. The dentist looked at Brynlee teeth and right away, she found a cavity in Brynlee's tooth. It was back in her bottom left back molar. That tooth hasn't even been in there for a year! Apparently she has really deep grooves that are hard to clean and that will be prone to cavities. We will have to get her sealants as soon as her permanent teeth come in.

Luckily it was just a small cavity so the dentist recommended having a silver filling put in it. And she was able to put it in right then. Everyone was amazed at how good Brynlee was while they filled that cavity. The dentist told Brynlee that she found some bugs in her mouth and that she was going to take all the bugs out and put in a silver star. (As she was taking them out she found out that the bugs were pink.) Brynlee was really intrigued about the whole thing. She looked at the "silver star dust" and seemed to like the idea of having that in her mouth. The dentist told her what would happen and then asked her what she thought. Brynlee responded by saying "yeah but, I don't know about those bugs." The dentist assured her she would get the bugs out so Brynlee just sat back in the chair and opened her mouth. They had a TV set up with a movie running and Brynlee told them that she really liked their movie. She seemed to just sit there and watch the show. I was so impressed with my little girl. Once the cavity was filled, the dental hygienist cleaned her teeth, and then had to put on some fluoride. The fluoride was the worst part of the whole thing. Brynlee didn't like that stuff at all. As soon as it was done Brynlee got a new tooth brush and she spent forever choosing a prize from the prize bucket. Eventually she picked out a sticky hand. Overall I was really proud of my little girl and how well she handled everything. Now I just have to make sure I help her brush better. She likes to brush her teeth by herself and it is far to tempting to let her do it on her own.

And in case you were wondering, the dentist I went to recommended taking kids in for their first check-up at two. Although she said every dentist has a different preference I will be taking Annalyn in sometime after her second birthday and Brynlee will be going back in December.

A Princess Tea Party

The other day the girls and I had a tea party in our beautiful pink castle that Joel made. We all dressed up like princesses and Brynlee was our lovely hostess. Brynlee even made me dress up with a feather boa and a fancy skirt. Brynlee was a lady bug princess. She sent Annalyn and me off to play while she fixed our food. Once everything was ready, and after we said a prayer, we feasted on fruit snacks and water from Brynlee's kitchen stuff. It was a lot of fun. I really love spending these moments with my girls. They make life so much fun.

After our tea party was over, we collected some squash from our garden, went on a wagon ride, played on the slide and chased the chickens. Brynlee has been obsessed with packing those chickens around everytime we go outside. We also found a lady bug outside and Annalyn was so entranced with watching it crawl on her fingers. I love days like these. They really make me enjoy being a mom.