Summer Fun

I wanted to write more often this summer about all our activities and projects but, yeah, we can see how well that went. We had great plans of doing something everyday to help entertain the kids but I forgot how tiring being pregnant and the heat of summer makes you. We did get to go on two trips for vacation. We went to Philmont which I loved and I think the kids enjoyed. I want to go in another year or two when I am not so pregnant that I can actually walk around with my kids. Then we went to Southern Utah to the Elliss home. We saw my whole family in a matter of two weeks, except Glenn. Sorry Glenn, at least we got to see you after your trip to the junkyard earlier in the month of June (BTW, Sam thinks we should ask you how a car works since you spent "a whole week underneath a car"). We saw Jenni and her family on our way to and from Philmont. I know the kids liked that, especially since Dan shared his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books with Sam and then also taught him a game to play with Pokeman cards. Now he wants us to buy him Pokeman cards. We saw Amber for a couple of hourse before she headed back out on another mountain trek. We of course saw my parents (the main reason for the visit). Justin hiked the Subway with some friends and coworkers and killed his camera. Fortunately he just reached his goal weight and now gets to buy a new one anyways. We visited Heather in Cedar City. The kids loved taking Zoeken for a walk to play at the park and then feeding her ice cubes while they enjoyed their popsicles.

Some pictures from the summer. We have done things at home and gone on some excursions (mostly swimming at the rec center, free summer movies, play dates, and running through the sprinklers at our house, library trips). We have done some projects (ice melting and then just throwing the ice into the street, making popsicles, making ice cream, decorating sun catchers, and discovering K'Nex).

First we have Michelle and her fascination with bugs. She will always point our the bugs that she finds outside or inside. Now we are working on not trying to poke the "flies" that are really wasps.

Next we have one of our wear out the kids activities. Katryn has stayed at our house several times in the last bit (thus we have seen Krystal and her family also) and her and Michelle have loved riding their bikes down the hill. They go down, and then push them back up and go again. This can last at least 30 minutes. What do I do, sit in my chair and watch.

Almost everyday we have popsicles for a snack. Krystal said Katryn hasn't had too many popsicles before. Never fear, she learned quickly how to eat them. They both have gotten quite good at not making too big of a mess with them. Of course we go outside to the porch to eat them.

Our most recent activity was trying to make homemade ice cream. This recipe came from the Children's Friend Magazine June 2010. 1 cup milk, 2 Tbsp sugar, a little bit of vanilla. Put in a ziplock bag and then inside another with ice and rock salt. Shake for several minutes. This picture shows Michelle and Hannah taking their turn at shaking the bags. We then resorted to putting it in a can and rolling it down the driveway. After a while a of that we just put the bags in the freezer to thicken. It made really good ice cream, it just wasn't ready when I was expecting it to be (I got the impression that it should be ready after shaking it for the time it said, no such luck).

We are having a good summer so far. We'll see if we can get some more pictures from other activities as we finish out our summer. :)

Quick update on the various things we've been doing. First, I ran up to some radio towers the other day during lunch - it was awesome!


















Next, a picture of Sam's soccer team - we're going to have to sign him up again for the fall season soon and need to decide if we want to go with the same league or go with the West Valley Fitness Center league.























Next a picture of a summer storm coming across Salt Lake - I submitted it to KSL for their weather gallery.
















Finally a shot of what Sam and Hannah are doing a lot of lately.

Quilting Trick--Half Square Triangles

I finally have tried this technique and love it, especially when you need lots of small half square triangles. I learned this technique from Cathy U'Ren and I am sure it is out on the internet somewhere. I did this for my friends who keep saying they need to sit down and do it with me but we of course can't make our schedules work out to be able to sew together.
For this example the pattern called for 2 3/8" squares to be made into half square triangles (and I needed 20 squares, or 40 finished half square triangles!). I cut 5" squares to start out. These 5" squares will give you 8 half square triangles. Draw an X on the back.
Sew your 1/4" seam on both sides of your X lines.

Cut the square in quarters and then along the X lines.

Iron your seams flat and then trim to the square size you need (not the finished quare size, don't forget the 1/4" seams). So mine were 2" squares. (Not in this picture, I hadn't trimmed them yet.)

One final note, I added just a little bit to have to trim them down. My pattern said 2 3/8" squares so I just figured 2 1/2" per square and then you put four of them in a square, hence the 5" square to start with. It worked wonderfully. Yes each one had to be trimmed but I didn't have to sew 20 separate squares to get my 40 I needed. I only have to do the 5 squares! Woohoo! Happy quilting!

Test slideshow!

What my kids do

We have to make regular trips to the library. Not a bad thing at all. We love to go to storytime and Sam always loves when he comes home from school and he has new books to read. I loved the day I saw Michelle lay down next to Sam and open up a book. She kept looking over at him until she was convinced that she was ready to look through her book. Now when she reads she makes noises or identifies objects (her favorites being dogs).

This picture shows exactly why I often cannot get Sam out the door on time. Fortunately this day he was already dressed. He sees a book on the floor and has to look through it. On several occasions I have gone to find him, calling out as I go that it is now time to go to school only to find him still in his pajamas with a book. And he gets quite mad when I take it away, even if he has read it a million times.

And this picture is just for fun. This is one of Michelle's lastest favorite activities: empty the pots and pans from the cupboard. Hannah taught her how to drum on the them one day. I just let them because it kept the happily occupied for about 45 minutes. Justin wanted to throw the wooden spoon away when he was doing dishes that night (it is broken, taped back together and we really don't use it). I told him absolutely not, it kept the girls quiet while I did stuff that morning. His response, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Just some fun photos of things we've been doing lately. Hannah here is having fun climbing rocks during our hike near Red Cliffs in Southern Utah.




A volcanic rock in the same area. That was basically the most green available and it was just in the crack of a rock. Spring had not quite reached there.



A lens flare along with turning the photo to sepia in Picasa created the cool look above. Temple Square




Finally a fountain near Temple Square with a longer shutter opening.

Springtime Fun

We have had spring weather and then snow and back and forth. I guess that is what spring is all about. On one of the nicer days we got out in our yard and started our garden. This is my birthday activity. As soon as it starts warming up Sam always wants to start planting things so we try to wait a little bit. Fortunately, peas, carrots, and broccoli can survive getting a little snow.

Here is the start of the garden. First box planted. And for an update, it is now growing. We have peas sprouting up out of the ground. I love it! The kids loved planting the garden.

Here's the smoothed out dirt and the drip system laying out and us with our seed packets.

Dad has finally decided to finish the last garden box (or probably the last one). Sam wants to help Dad grow corn. I already have the other boxes claimed with what I will plant. Corn had to wait for that last box. Hannah loved helping Dad. She handed him the screws and held the boards up for him while he drilled the screws in.

And this is what Michelle did during any of these activities. Dug in the dirt or bark quite happily.

That's the start of our spring adventures. We are keeping busy with the regular activities. Maybe, just maybe I will get around to posting pictures of more of them later on. At least you have these to enjoy for now.