MAN WORK!!!

So, being an engineer, I spend a lot of time sitting at a desk looking at my computer. When I do get out of the office, most of the time it is to watch someone else work, very rarely do I ever do any actual physical labor. I kind of miss it. I spent all of my childhood helping on the farm. Carrying siphon tubes, shoveling to get the potato rows watered, rolling hay bales, feeding the cows, digging potatoes, even working in the garden; weeding, picking, watering. I started building when I was 10 years old when we started remodeling and building the house that we lived in. I worked building apartments when Erica and I first got married and were living in Bountiful. I worked for a general contractor when we moved to Logan to finish school for two years before I got my job at the water lab. So sometimes I miss doing some good old fashioned work. MAN WORK!!!

I got to do a little MAN WORK this weekend. For those of you who haven't heard, I bought a new dirt bike. It is a Yamaha WR450F. I bought it from a guy in Idaho Falls and since I don't have a trailer (or a truck!) Dad took it to his house with his truck. Here is a photo real quick:

Not my bike, but this is what it looks like. Some actual photos will be posted as the summer progresses.

Anyways, to remedy the fact that my new bike lives an hour away, I started building a trailer to haul it this weekend. Well, more like remodeling. Dad and I salvaged a little boat trailer a couple years ago that has been sitting out in the junk pile. It was in pretty bad shape and Dad had taken the rollers off it to use for a trailer that he was building for a boat. We looked at this old trailer and decided that it would work pretty good for a little motor bike trailer. So this is where the MAN WORK comes in. Dad had to go work on fence for a while so I had to cut the supports off for a boat. Nothing like using a big grinder, hammer, and cold chisel to break loose some welds. After repositioning the brackets for the leaf springs we bolted the axle back on. The tongue was way too long so we cut it shorter and will put a new hitch on it. We welded some additional braces across it and are just about ready for a deck. Some tires, lights, and a bike frame and we will be set!

It was very satisfying to see sparks fly, metal being melted and cut, and to use a big hammer. Everybody needs to do a little MAN WORK sometimes! Especially us desk jockeys.

Oh and on a minor side note, Jamison pooped in the toilet today. Pretty exciting for the people who have to change his diaper!

"That is not a good picture!"

That is what Gavin said about this picture taken the weekend of general conference. We went for a short hike and picnic up a trail called city creek. I wanted to take a picture with all the kids, so we stopped at the bridge. I didn't know that Jamison grabbed Gavin's hair until after it happened! Matthew thought it was hilarious! Such a sweet baby brother.
We've been out of the game......again!! Just for a few days. Our computer got sick and I had to take it to the computer doctor. That's what I told the kids. Apparently we had 87 malicious and unwelcome items and 1452 mis-linked and incorrect entries. Whatever it was, it made our computer do some super weird stuff. Nothing too bad, just irritating. Its good to have it back in working order.
Not much else is going on. An elder from my mission was on "Dancing with the stars". He is a ballroom dancer, and I knew that, but he is good!!! I didn't know him well as he went home soon after I arrived, but still, it is cool to see someone you know on the TV.
I'll leave you with another beautiful picture of our child.
Love that spaghetti!!

Being a parent can be...

AWESOME! Like last Sunday afternoon when we didn't make any plans for dinner and didn't feel like cooking, we had crackers and cheese for an appetizer and then two huge bowls of popcorn and orange julius for dinner. It's kind of fun to be able to be the one in charge and decide what's for dinner.

DIFFICULT! Like last week when Jamison got pink eye, McKinley threw up on Tuesday night, Gavin wet his bed three out of five nights, and all three of them had fevers at different times throughout the week.

AWESOME! Like Jamison learning to feed himself and loving to eat.

DIFFICULT! Like when Jamison throws handfuls of food at you and then takes his whole plate and throws it, and the remaining food on it, as far as he can.

So as you can see from our recent activity, being a parent has its ups and downs. There is usually something exciting going on! We have a lot of fun with the kids. I love playing with legos and needed a good excuse to buy some again. McKinley, Gavin, and Jamison all like to play with legos. They make any easy birthday present (hint, hint). We got an origami calendar for Christmas two years ago and are still working on it. There is a sheet for each day. We've had fun with it. Our lastest favorite is jumping frogs. Here is a link to make your own!

http://seagrant.wisc.edu/frogs/origami_instr.html

I bring home scrap paper from work for the kids to color on. We have a drawer set just for the kids to store paper, crayons, scissors, glue, tape, stencils, construction paper, little scraps of paper that have been cut up into tiny bits, and other stuff. I get regular 8.5 x 11, 11x17, and big 36x48 sheets. It's fun for the kids.

Like I said, there are ups and downs to being a parent, but its a good thing. Kids can be really funny. Just borrow ours for a day and you'll see what I mean!

This is so sad.....

I was going to blog about something funny, not having to do with our children. I can't remember what it was. Pathetic.
That being said, I might as well say a little something while I'm here. I've been reminiscing a lot lately. Most people who read this know that I served a mission in Argentina. Lately I've been missing the experiences and people I met there. Our stake has set the goals of getting to know your neighbors and loving them. How hard it is for me to go out and meet the neighbors who live behind us!! Being in the mission field, you are constantly knocking on doors, sharing your testimony, sharing who we are. Why is it so hard now? Anyhoo, I'll get to it-on a bread making day. Warm bread should warm over any neighbor, right?
I got an email a couple days a go from a family in Argentina. He was the ward mission leader. Such sweet people!! I really want to go back when the temple in Cordoba is completed. He said it will be 3 years out. That is good news for me, not so much for them. I might have enough time to save enough money by then!! It was fun to hear from them.
My mother in law got remarried this last week to the guy she's been dating for the past several months. Kinda weird, but she is extremely happy. I like the guy. He's really good to Janean. What a surreal experience to go through divorcing parents as an adult. You never get over being the kid. If anyone ever needs to talk........
I found some fun pics to post...because I always like to look at pics...
Gavin, me, and Janean. Gavin likes to run over your shadow. Its a good game to help him turn.
These are ice crystals on our kitchen window. Sophie, you'll appreciate this picture. Matthew took it. He's getting pretty good with our camera.
Us with McKinley. She's an awesome little skier. We need to work on getting her doing Christy turns. Its nice to have a picture with both of us in it.
If you don't laugh at this, there is something wrong with you! I'm not sure what she was looking at! We have a second one where she was looking at the camera and looking normal, but where is the fun in that? Oh my! Just makes me laugh!

Three Blind Mice

Last week our renter in Rexburg called to tell us that the ceiling in our bathroom downstairs was leaking. All of our family that live up north were out of town, so we decided to make the trip to Rexburg after Matthew got off work. McKinley stayed with our neighbor, so we just had the boys. In our attempt to keep Gavin awake, we taught him a new song-Three Blind Mice.
This is how it went, over and over and over again!
Gavin: Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice
Us: See...
Gavin: how they run, see how they run
Us: They....
Gavin: all run after the farmer's wife
Us: Who....
Gavin: cut off their tails with the butcher's knife
Us: Have you....
Gavin: Ever seen such a sight in your life
Together: As three blind mice.
Gavin: Yahoody!! Let's sing it again! Hock a Loogie!

After about the 5th time, we stopped laughing when he said that. But it was sure funny the first time. Obviously he doesn't really understand what it means to "hock a loogie" but he's heard it before! He is such a silly kid!
Oh-and we didn't find a leak. But there is a lovely hole in the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom now!

How to Wean the Babe from the Binky

So, Jamison decided he was done with binkies. I really wish he wasn't as it makes me so sad to hear him cry himself to sleep, but he's done. The story.....
We only had two binkies for Jamison. One got really disgusting and we threw it away. The other one got misplaced in Salt Lake I think. We stole a third from my brother, who's baby decided she was done with binkies. Earlier this week we misplaced that one as well. So, Monday night, after Jamison wouldn't go to sleep without his binky, I ran to albertson's and picked up a 3 pack. Jamison picked up the first one, looked at the cool design on the back of it, put it in his mouth, GAGGED, and threw it to the floor. He picked up the second, examined that design, put it in his mouth, GAGGED, and tossed that one. He didn't even bother checking the third one out. He just picked it up and chucked it.
We have tried time and again to get him to use them. I did have some success last night putting one in my mouth and one in his. Needless to say, he can go to sleep without them and will go back to sleep at night if I rock him. We are prematurely done with the binky. Oh well, at least he won't be 3 years old sucking on a pacifier.
Lesson: if you want to wean your kid of the binky, buy him some that are not the same shape as what he's been using. Problem solved. (at least for us!)
The kids are sick. Lucky us. Jamison has been sick all week. Nasty little cough and huge amounts of snot coming out his nose. McKinley just has a cough, nothing too serious. I thought Gavin was going to come out clean, but last night he woke up coughing and wheezing. He sounds like an asthmatic when he gets a cold. Last night he was trying not to breath and when I asked what he was doing, he said, with a very angry look on his face"That sound bugs me" (the sound of his wheezing). Silly kid. We are staying inside today with no visitors. Hopefully Matthew and I will stay healthy. Its the worst being a sick mom. You still have to take care of the kids and there is no one to take care of you. Shout out to Nat who has more sick problems than me!
You know, blogs are funny. I always wonder if people find my life as interesting and funny as I find it. Its always funnier when you are there. However, its fun to record silly little stories, even if it is just for us.