Paycheck

My cousin wrote on her blog about getting the 'paychecks' Mom's get (thanks Jamie). I've thought about that ever since & here's one I was paid recently. The boys have been getting themselves ready for school 100% on their own (paycheck #1). As long as my OCD self stays in bed (I'm serious) they get on the bus [almost always] without a hitch. I put their spelling lists in this recipe holder so they can quiz each other over breakfast & one morning I came out to find this message in place of their words. Oh, how it made me smile all-the-live-long day :) even in my typing, see? :) :) I love my boys.

Good-bye Uncle Devin...do come again

Man, some girl is going to be so lucky to get this brother of mine...later skater!

Other activities with Uncle Devin

Columbus, Ohio temple trip...we were all in the car before I realized we didn't get a picture in front & ALL the boys begged for me to just snap one of it all by its glorious self. I obliged.

Little dude sucking away on that thumb (he liked it for about a month, but doesn't seem to be pursuing the habit--can't say I'm sorry...he's content enough without ANYTHING so I am thrilled)

We brought everyone to the temple, reserved a couple rooms in the stake center that's about 100 feet from the temple & then switched off. This stake center is much-loved so we decided to leave it better than we found it & did some sorely needed cleaning of all the doors & such. Jyson was pretty sicked out--just look at that face :)

Grabill fair...but this is the only picture...one of the pet parade. The reason? Jyson & I were at home because he had a serious crick in his neck...the poor kid couldn't even move without loads of water leaking from his eyes. It was really sad.

This is him with the aforementioned neck--it was permanently stuck that way for almost 3 days.

Jaydon's experiment to see if our acorns would sprout. I am sad to say they did not, but it did lead them to another experiment...of their own volition they poured the nasty who-knows-how-old water into our new Brita to test it out. I am happy (?) to report (& they were ecstatic to see) that the water did indeed come out scintillating & clear. I, however, was still unsure how I felt about drinking that 'reformed' water.

Ari loves to back up her little booty into whoever's lap is available...usually without looking more than once behind her to make sure they're still there when she plops down.

Devin & Tony got to go on a tour of & get a free meal from Steak n' Shake courtesy of the boys' scout leader who is a manager there so here they are w/ their new church/scout pal.

Jumping in the rain...no one fall & break anything, please!

Our own 'Dairy Sweet' cafe...they have this slightly creepy dude dressed up in a different outfit almost every day. The first time I saw him I was sure he was was of those frozen-mime-dudes. And in the back-ground is a giant-sized sundae put in a boat & made from ?insulation stuff?

Making wheat-meat w/ Dev & Ari. They both got an education, but only Ari was in the picture.

August 26, 2011 she turned 2 :)

We celebrated a week or so late, but she didn't seem to notice...

I tried a new recipe for her 'doggy cake'...black bean chocolate sweetened only with stevia (I LOVED it & everyone else enjoyed it too :) with healthier cream cheese frosting, our berry ice-cream and then of course we had presents. She totally got the 'ripping them open' this year & of course wanted to play with all of them as we went. A few of the goodies: fun velcro dress-up dollies, play food & stacking cups from Nana Cobia, an adorable dress from Grandma Laretta, cute kitty shirt from Aunt Sarah, Amazon gift card from Brett, stuffed monkey from Grandma Debby...she's one lucky gal & here's the pics to prove it (though I only got 2 of the presents):

Jaydon is holding an awesome carved turtle from Grandma Debby's travels to Peru...

Here's my attempts to get Ari to pose for a picture in the dress from Grandma Laretta

"Why would I want to look up at you...leaves are way more interesting..."

Spread 'em wide girly...takes after a certain aunt of hers...hee hee

"Running away is so funny, right, Mommy?"

"Buh-bye."

The aftermath

After getting back most of us took a nap & this was Ari for a solid 5 minutes after she woke up...I'm glad Dev got a picture of this incredibly rare moment!

Before I found the bug spray I got bit over one HUNDRED times that first night...I'm glad I was the only one who got it this bad & neither of the babes got even one--blessings!

Then on Monday we got to work, being that it was 'Labor Day' & all...we cleaned out the garage! This is how it looked mid-morning after some work had been done already.

And this was the window...I could barely look at it long enough to snap the pic. The boys' bedroom windows were just as bad...dead, white ladybugs ALL over in them! So nasty.

Isn't she pretty now? One of my favorite things is to see our tools/96 hr kits hanging up all ship-shape-like on that brown-holey stuff that is often in garages...It's not a gorgeous brown, but the organization just makes me purr :)