Day 151

It was such a nice day that right when I came home from church, even before eating anything, I went outside and laid on the chaise and just soaked in some sun (in my church clothes).

Day 150

My friend Mari's son Micah had a reptile birthday party today.  The Lizard Wizard came and brought all sorts of creatures..it was so exciting for all the kids.  I learned more about our tortoise in 3 minutes then I have know for it's entire 3 years.  Most interesting fact:  that our Dygger James is in fact a girl, not a boy!  Who knew?  Ryder was fearless and held this snake with complete joy.

Day 149

It was a very busy Friday night at Enterprise.  We were returning Jim's rental..someone in his parking lot at work side swiped his car on the passenger side.  I'm surprised it only took 3 days to fix, but it looks as good as new!

Day 148

Tonight we had our "Leave No Trace" pack meeting for cub scouts!  I've been promoted {if that's how you look at it} to WEBELOS, so I never really get a break from my rambunctious BEAR boys who are all moving up.  It's all good though!

Day 147

Following a moving rendition of "You are my Sunshine", I immediately got a thumbs up from Ryder.  He was so pleased with himself throughout his entire performance!

Day 146

Oh happy day!!!  We have water!  

Day 145 {Happy Memorial Day}

I love AMERICA!!  Happy Memorial Day to all!

Day 144

It was a holiday weekend and seeing as we had planned to go out of town, until we learned that Skyler had a soccer tournament, we made a very rare exception and let Skyler play on Sunday. I was kinda hoping he had a terrible game and planned on using it as a teaching tool, but instead, he had a phenomenal 2 games and his team won the championship (after double overtime they won in penalty kicks).  

Day 143

Besides spending all day at another soccer tournament, this beauty was delivered! The fireplace makes the area so warm and cozy.  Now we just need to hook up some fake gas logs!  {were just about done with the backyard..some finishing stone work, a few new patches of grass (because not all of them survived out heat wave) and hooking up all the appliances!  Yay!  This has been a process and we're ready to swim!}

Day 142

Can you guess what this large thing is?  No, not a giant potato!  No, not a headless manatee! No, not a giant elephant turd!  It's an artificial boulder shipped to us directly from COSTCO.com {our new favorite store}.  Jim just had to have them for the backyard.  Apparently real boulders are quite heavy and quite expensive. {this thing is no light weight..it's about 90 lbs. and there are 2.}

Day 141

No Jayden, we had no idea you wanted to be a professional baseball player!  The things you learn at OPEN HOUSE!  I'm always amazed at how much they have learned over the course of the year. The classrooms are filled to the brim with art projects and as a past teacher, I love a colorful classroom!

Day 140

Our neighbors have been rehearsing for a play for nearly 6 months and tonight was their grand debut!  Royce was the lead (in the leather jacket) and his brother Max (the only other boy in the show) is in the back.  Even their little sister Aurora joined the cast.  It was a musical rendition of the Ugly Duckling called HONK!

Day 139

Went to Disneyland today and this is the only picture I took!  {Aren't these gorgeous!!}

Jim got me a FLIP video camera for Mother's Day.  It's as compact as a little camera and has 2 hours of hard drive for videos.  The best thing is, I just plug it into the USB and the video is instantly on my computer without using all my memory on my digital camera (whereas my other camcorder is somehow not compatible w/ MAC and I have not been able to download about 4 years worth of video) Ryder was having a bit of a meltdown and I had to capture it!  He wasn't so on board with the picture of the day!  There are plenty of "happy" videos in our collection...but I love the tantrums and meltdowns.  How rewarding it will be to show him this when he gets older.

Day 138

More Doctors appointments!  This time it was merely routine:  10 year old check-up!  Skyler is one healthy kid, with perfect vision - he can thank his father for that one! 

Day 137

Tonight I spoke at the YW recognition.  It was so nice to be involved with the YW again, even if for only 1 hour.  There are some amazing YW in our stake who did amazing projects.  I loved this tie skirt one girl made - years ago my sister made one too with all my dad's old ties!{laura, do you still have it?  better yet, does it still fit?}

Day 136

Spent all morning (after getting out of bed by 9:30) writing my talk for the Young Women's Recognition night tomorrow...it's noon and I'm done, yay!!

Day 135

It was father's and son's campout tonight so a bunch of "girls" got together for dinner at Pat & Oscar's and dessert at the ever popular Yogurt Island.  Sadly, because Jim is by no means up for camping, Skyler went with a surrogate father.  Jayden was the only boy at our party..he loved being surround by all the girls.

Day 134

Instant GRASSIFICATION!! (have no idea why there is a prominently lighter row of grass, but I'm sure once it grows and is mowed it will all even out!)  It's amazing how something as little as grass can make such a dramatic impact!!

Day 133

Jim had another procedure today: epidural of cortizone!  Our fingers, eyes, legs, arms, anything we can possibly cross is crossed that this helps relieve the intense pain he's been going through.  {he wasn't thrilled that I brought my camera in, but I wouldn't miss this REALNESS for anything! this is true life..this is our life!}

Day 132

This giant, 1,200 lb. box was delivered curbside today!! We'll let the workers figure out how to get it to the back!  

*i'm sorry my posts are pretty much either Jim's back drama or landscaping milestones.  It's what our life is right now!

Day 131

Yay!!  Jayden received his ORANGE belt today!

Day 130 {Happy Mother's Day}

The quick token Mother's Day picture before church! 

Day 129

Skyler had his first pre-season tournament today down in San Juan Capistrano!  We left home at 6:30 a.m. and didn't get home till 8:00 p.m.  They played 4 games and the boys were exhausted, I was exhausted! It was a very long day!  

{Jayden had Tae Kwon Do testing and a birthday party..Jim was still flat on his back so my dad came down to help out!  Thanks Dad, I couldn't have done it all without you!} 

Day 128

Part of the pergola went up today.  We're just waiting on the columns! Pools getting prepped for stone and tile.  Trees and plants went in this week {realized we need to order more..9 trees, 10 rose bushes and 40 green plants/flowers weren't enough}.  We're hoping to be done in the next 2 weeks! I hope so...it's starting to get HOT!

Day 127

It was my turn today to go to the dentist!  Unlike my youngest child, I had perfect teeth!  No cavities, no build-up, no stains..{that must be my 1 benefit to not drinking soda anymore!}

Day 126

Jim at the chiropractor having his electrical impulse machine thingy and Ryder giving moral support! {we've figured that Jim's back can't get any worse and he was desperate for some relief so we went to a chiropractor.  The electrical currents helped combat the muscle spasms and he did get some temporary relief..some is better than none!}

Day 125 {Happy Cinco de Mayo}

This is how we celebrated Cinco de Mayo!

Day 124

Seeing as Ryder just broke my watch, it was only fitting that the boys get me a new watch for Mother's Day.

Day 123

Decisions are the worst!!

Day 122

Went to the nursery today to pick out trees, plants, and flowers!  I thought this would be easy...umm, NO!  Way too many decisions.  I just want to close the windows and have someone else decide everything and when it's all finished walk out and say WOW!  

Day 121

Jim couldn't take the pain any longer and needed to go to the ER for some heavy duty narcotics! Thanks to our friend Jason who not only took him and sat with him forever, but took some pictures for me!