I'm Hearing Voices

Today is Grandpa Day.  My kids' favorite day of the week.

Every morning, we open the windows to get in some cool, fresh air.  As I'm sitting here reading the paper online, as I do every day, I'm wondering about all the sounds I hear outside.  I hear every car backing out of every driveway, every pedestrian walking down the sidewalk, every conversation going on in my neighborhood (there are a lot of people out right now!).  And I'm sitting here becoming distracted by it.  Because I don't usually hear it.  So I'm wondering why, today, all of the sudden, am I hearing it?  Why on Earth is it so noisy out there?  Did the rain last night make the sound travel easier?  Is there more activity in the neighborhood because it's garbage day today?  Oh -- wait a minute.  Duh.  It probably has something to do with the fact that my kids are gone and it's actually quiet in my house.  And now I can miraculously hear the sounds of the world around me.

I did this yesterday, too.  I think my mommy brain is extra slow.  Did you know that when a woman is pregnant, her brain shrinks by 8%?  I don't think mine ever reconstituted.  And I've had 5 kids.  That's a 40% smaller brain for me.  No wonder I only have memories of being smart...

But anyway, back to yesterday.  I was inwardly lamenting on how I'm sick of doing dishes.  I was trying to figure out if it would be more environmentally friendly to just use paper plates and cups, because I do two full dishwasher loads a day.  I couldn't remember how I used to only do one.  What am I doing wrong?  Why all of the sudden am I inundated with dirty dishes?  Oh ya -- the kids are home.  It's summertime.  That's probably why my house is so messy, too.  I remember being smart.  It was so long ago...

Here are some pictures from our Pioneer Day Celebration Picnic.  It all went according to plan, we had enough food, and the weather was great.  What more could I ask for?

Haley and I were the master face painters.  The kids came to get their faces painted, then went to play and sweat it all off, then came back for more.

We played water balloon volleyball, which was very fun.

One of my kids got ahold of the camera and started snapping.  I'm pretty sure it was Andrew.  But I'm glad he did, because now I have a new photo of my hunky husband.

And here is a pic of our little Gracie, Master Pouter.  She's had the lip thing down since she was an infant.  She can also turn on the waterworks in an instant.  She should teach classes.
Oh, and another Gracie funny.  She is still saying, "And thank you for having two Grandma Nans come to our house" in her prayers every night.  Cute!

We had a visitor in our garage on Saturday.  This poor little thing couldn't seem to figure out how to fly out under the garage doors.  He was in there for hours.  Ben finally had to borrow a net from the neighbors.  He still couldn't catch it, so he squirted it with a water gun, then caught it in the net.  Poor little birdie.  He probably won't do that agan.

I wonder if it's the same bird Andrew found in the backyard two days later.  This one had been the dogs' plaything at some point in the day.  Shoji is famous for grabbing animals and playing with them until they're mostly dead (you remember the rat, right?).  Ben went out to get the "dead bird" off the lawn, and found that it was still blinking.  Long story short, the kids were distraught over the bird, but he ended up being okay.  We set him under the tree in our front yard, said a little prayer, and he was gone by morning.  He must have made it back to his nest.

Shoji Gets Stuck, Face Paint, and Two Grandma Nans

Sometimes Shoji gets stuck in the door.  She doesn't make a sound, she just stands there and waits for somebody to open the door further.  I grabbed the camera just as she was pulling herself back out:

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We are having a ward party tomorrow, and I am in charge.  So much fun.  Face painting will be one of the activities for the kids, so Haley and I thought we should do some practicing.  The boys, of course, had to be the Avatar.  Not the new movie one.  We are boycotting that.  The one from the origional series.

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And later on that day, Nan's (Ben's mom) sisters came for a visit.  We were so happy, because we haven't seen them forever!  She has a sister, May, from California.  She also has a twin sister, Ann, from Colorado.  That was a little confusing for Gracie.  She kept saying that there were two Grandma Nan's.  Uncle Curtis (Ann's husband) came, too.  We all had a great time, and had tacos for dinner.  We wish they could come more often!  We really miss that side of the family.

From left: May, Ann, Grandma Bertha, Andrew, and Nan

Grandpa Fred and Curtis

The ladies enjoying some pictures

They were so nice to bring me some flowers!  My favorite color, too!

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Haley had to capture this one of Matt.  She caught him outside wearing Gracie's boots and drinking out of her Hello Kitty water bottle.  Daddy's gonna be proud of this one.

Play Dough, Camping, and Red Lodge Trip

One random picture of Andrew before I get started.  He had quite a production going on here:

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I went to check on Matt before bed the other night, and found the little Miss asleep like this:

I guess she proved me wrong the other day when I said she was sitting at the movies like a barbarian.  She really is a lady!

The house was a mess last week, so we broke out the play dough with the Utah cousins.  We found out it's time for new play dough.  Most of ours is disgusting.

Matt was using the squirt gun to put water in the empty containers and drink it back out.  Gross.  I put a stop to that.

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The boys had a great time at Math Camp, and all the cousins were just happy to see each other all week.  Grace cried for two days before Emma even left.  She was just so sad to see her favorite cousin go home!

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The boys took off camping for the weekend.  Joey wanted to stay for a week, but one night had to suffice.  They roasted in the heat, but had a great time, as usual.  They ate Dad's famous foil dinners.  They just love camping and fishing.  I'm glad they could all spend time being boys together.  Better in the wilderness than in my living room.

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We and some friends of ours took off for Red Lodge on Monday.  We were a little concerned about the number of bikers that would be left over from the weekends' festivities, but most had left by the time we got there.  Haley and I decided to count the number of bikers we saw between Laurel and Red Lodge.  The final number was 92, although it was shaky getting to that number, because Haley was having some trouble counting.  It is summer, after all.  She did fine until we got to 38.  There was a large group headed our way, and I think she got a little nervous.

She said, "38-39-40-50!"

My new nickname for her is "40-50".  I called her that all day.

She had a little trouble adding 4 to 76.  I told her it was 80.  She had to count on her fingers.

She had a little more trouble between 88 and 92.

And this is the girl who just signed up for honors' math.

Good luck.

Just kidding.  We laughed so hard, we almost peed our pants.

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The Beartooth Center was great.  We saw lots of animals.  You can get right next to them (with a fence in between, of course).  We were three feet away from a mountain lion (who was growling and hissing at the kids -- they were noisy), a bison, coyotes, wolves, bears, donkeys, and deer.  The kids loved it.

Then we took over Red Lodge Pizza Company, my favorite!  The staff did a great job handling 11 kids with only two mommies.  They asked if we were a birthday party when we walked in, needing a space for 13.  I said, "No, just two families."  We got a smokin' good deal on the lunch buffet (four of our kids were free!), and then we hit the park.  They have a beautiful new park, and we were the only ones there for most of the time.  The kids had a blast playing with their friends.

Then we hit Rockvale's drive-in for ice cream.  The kids slurped up their melting cones while Melissa and I talked.  I think we could talk forever, if we had the chance.  We talked for three days straight a few months ago when we went to Bozeman (sans children!).  It's so good to have friends.

Painting and a Movie

This week we did some more painting.  This one was much easier.  We just did the top half of one wall.  We had quite a lot of fun doing it.  Just so you all know, Haley picked the color.  It's her favorite, and I said it was okay as long as we didn't do the whole room.  So we compromised.  That's what life is all about, right?

Haley decided to leave me a handprint in the midst of my painting:

I decided to leave her a message:

Haley got a little crazy with the war paint.

Then she did Matt's hair.  Spikey!

In other news, we have been having a blast with the Utah cousins this week.  Last night, Grandma Jane and I took all of them except for Zach and Matt (they stayed home with Uncle Andy) to the movie, "Dispicable Me" (which, by the way, is totally a winner -- go see it).  It was pretty cute to see all the kids lined up.  We took up a whole row.

I had to laugh when I looked over at Grace and Emma.  Grandma Jane and Emma were sitting right next to each other.  Emma was curled up, cuddling with Grandma, cute as a button.  Grace had her feet together up on the chair, her knees fell out to the sides, she picked her nose, and then burped.  That's my girl.

Haley and I have to cut some vinyl for her room.  Then we'll take a picture for you and post the finished product.

If you're interested, visit our website at

http://www.wordsofvinyl.com/

for some vinyl wall art of your own!