Signs of Summer

It wouldn't be summer at the Petersen 1/2 Acre without a decent virus complete with five days of throwing up.   Yes, you heard me FIVE days.  No, it was not continuous.  It was nicely spread out throughout the occupants of this house and at decent hours of the night like 3 a.m., 2 a.m., 12 midnight, 1 p.m., etc.  We really know how to party around here. 

It all started when the cousins came to visit.  They arrived in shifts--one left on the doorstep by grandma.   Then four in a van with Aunt M.  They were armed with swimming suits and towels and ready for a party.   I reluctantly began to prepare Petersen Water Park.  I could feel the pukies coming on and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.  Somehow I also managed to whip up some cookies decent enough to feed hungry cousins and anyone else who cared. 

The cousins suited up and unknown to me the neighbors did too.  At one point I think I hid in my kitchen and peeked out the window while whining to my husband on the phone that there were at least 100 kids in my backyard (I think it was actually 12).  It turns out that the cousins scared off the neighbors and Petersen Water Park closed down just in time for Lydia to start her pukies.  Grandma showed up to take all the cousins back and somehow she left with the one she left on the doorstep.  Then in a strange twist the remaining partiers were picked up and we were still left with one cousin for an overnight stay in the Petersen Puke hotel. 

Somehow it is now Wednesday night and everything is somewhat back to normal.  We are down to no cousins, no pukies, and only two children (Austin is visiting relatives in UT).  I sprayed down the Petersen water park toys with disinfectant.  We have had some trouble with our water park toys and the wind.  I have fished out the Whale pool and the rectangle "big Kid" pool out of our neighbor's yard a few times over the past week.  After I woke up from my pukies yesterday we were again missing a pool.  I think it is a sign that summer is coming to an end.  Thankfully so have the pukies!

My Thoughts Exactly

It is the greatest desire of my heart to share my feelings about motherhood and my life in this stage.  I haven't quite mastered the ability to spill it as I would wish.  Today I was reading my daily dose of C. Jane Enjoy It by blogging author Courtney Kendrick.  At the risk of sounding stalkerish, I feel like she is my twin sister from another life.  We have had similar life experiences and similar life points.  She has inspired me and comforted me with her painfully honest and hilarious writing.  Her middle name is Jane and I am neither confirming or denying that I named my Lydia Jane after her.  Today's post, I'd Like To Think They Picked Me For a Reason struck a major chord of truth with me.  I can simply say, "My Thoughts Exactly!"  Go read it.

Staking a Claim

Who said "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail?"  I am not sure, but I am certain that their are forces at work, for good and evil, when it comes to the precious minutes in a day. 

My summer days are melting away with the 5000 popsicles we consume in a week.  I can't seem to get anything accomplished and there seems to be endless invitations for fun and sun.  I rise with the birds and don't seem to be getting any worms.  My daily battles revolve around the water faucets outside, naptimes, and getting too close to the road.  My secret enemies are the ants hanging around my garage waiting to slurp up forgotten popsicles and the greedy birds raiding my garden.  It may seem like a whole lot of nothing, but it is gobbling up my time like the hot dogs Rider eats for Breakfast, lunch and dinner---ewww!  I am nutritionally balanced Mother of the Year. 

We need a plan and we need more time.  I am going to get to work on that right after I rescue Lydia from Rider and the hose and begin the drying out process for the 4th time today and pick up their uneaten hot dog buns off the grass.  I don't need word getting out to the ant army about that feast. In the meant time I am staking my claim on my time so I can accomplish a whole lot of something before there is nothing left.

The Great Berry Heist

This is the very spot where it took place.  Although, not the very moment--this is a recreation.  I was inspecting my strawberries yesterday.  Some newly ripened berries had disappeared and I was trying to get to the bottom of the crime.  I interrogated Austin and the neighbor boys.  They seemed innocent enough.  As I kneeled down and rustled through the leaves looking for more berries there it was.  Right in the middle of my Strawberry pot was a big fat Robin.  It wasn't moving.  I was a little afraid it was dead, but its head was moving.  The closer I got with my team of investigators it began to show signs of panic.  It found the strength to hop out of the pot and hop across the yard.   I knew it couldn't fly and how did I know?  Rider chased it clear across the yard yelling "here birdie birdie" while it hopped as fast as it twiggy legs would go.  I convinced Rider with a Popsicle to call off his chase.   We went in the house discussing all the ways to help a bird.  Austin wanted me to go immediately to Target to get some bird medicine, "you know like the kind that you put on my owie." 

I completely forgot about my little Strawberry thief.  Later that afternoon the little bird rescuers came in to report to me that their patient had hopped into my window well.  I was relieved it wasn't Rider again, although it is much easier to get Rider out than a scared bird who can't fly.  We had to wait for the cavalry to arrive (Daddy to get home) and he somehow trapped it in a bucket and delivered it to the field across the street.  Luckily nobody but me heard him exclaim "okay, lets take him to the field so the kitties can eat him!"  Yikes!  How would I explain that one. 

I checked first thing this morning to see if maybe by chance he hopped back to the safety of my strawberry pot.  Apparently word travels fast in the bird world.    I noticed all his little friends were there having a feast or maybe it was a bird wake.  I allowed them this one indulgence,but I can't promise anything tomorrow. 

Feel the Love

My friend is trying her hand at photography and our kiddos were volunteered for practice.  I think this picture turned out so fabulous!  Austin is missing his two front teeth and I think he has done a nice job inventing his new smile.  Just had to share.

Thirty-nine is fine

In two-three weeks I will be turning 39.  It is dangerously close to rolling over to 40.  I remember when that 3 was a 2 and I was approaching the big 30 and wondering if I had reached any of my goals set at the tender age of 18.  I don't even have a "by the time I am 40 " list.  I am just not that kind of girl. 

I am preparing to teach a lesson in Relief Society about temples.  I had forgotten that it took 40 years to build the Salt Lake City Temple.  That number has new meaning for me.  In my current lifetime the temple that I love so much and has blessed my life so much would be in the final year of being built.  Amazing!  I can't even begin to draw comparisons about what has been built in my life over the last 39 years.  I desire so much to have something as beautiful, inside and out, as the temple to show for my life here on this earth.  I have to say we are still under construction here.  I plan to spend more time at the temple that is only 5 minutes away from my home.  I know that going to the temple is a sure place to find the peace and happiness that everyone is searching for (including me), but strangely it is usually the last or final resource after stumbling through the trials of life.  My birthday present to me is to modify that behavior.  Won't it be exciting to see what will be built over the next year?  I can't wait. 

The Long and Short

For every short story there is a longer version.  I am not very good at short stories.  I feel like I need to tell the long version for the story to make sense.  This is probably annoying to some people who are really more to the point in life.  I can appreciate this.  A simple comment of your grass sure looks nice may result in a campfire tale of how the grass came to be at our home, which in my opinion is a much more interesting.  I am sure a simple thanks would suffice in this situation, and save the poor soul who offered the compliment from a long drawn out story that really doesn't need to be told at that moment.  

The short stories to be told right now are;

We enjoyed a long bike ride around the Snake River greenbelt on Saturday with the kiddos.  Rider pedaled his little heart out on his two-wheeler with training wheels.  The water was over the sidewalk in places and he didn't even blink an eye.  Danny's favorite part:  we loaded up the bikes in the back of his beloved Orange Pumpkin truck and cruised around the greenbelt like we were the cat's meow.

I planted my garden seeds about 3 inches in the ground and wondered aloud to my farmer husband why I had not seen anything come up yet.  Yikes!  He then offered this sage advice of planting the seed about as deep as the size of the seed.  I am still holding out hope for my carrot seeds that are planted safely about 2 inches in the round. 

We played with brand new baby kitties at Grandma and Grandpa "Too's"  yesterday.  Rider launched four week old Tiger off the front porch and he indeed landed on his feet.  I am happy to report he is better trained in kitty handling now and by the time he left was placing them softly in there beds with two hands. 

We have had a patch of dirt next to our driveway for a couple years now.  We ran out of sod and then it became the favorite neighborhood digging hole.  Then a lovely bike jump was built and we didn't have the heart to take it away.  On Saturday some very generous neighbors offered us their extra sod rolls and we couldn't resist, so alas the dirt pile is gone.  We had some unhappy neighborhood friends in the 2-4 age range, so Danny built a jump for them out of old plywood and a tool box.  It worked like a dream.  I love my husband and his ingenuity. 

Austin is away for a few days.  We don't know what to do with out him.  Rider asks to go in the van about once every hour to find him.  He is the party planner of the family and we can't seem to get a good party going without him.

Danny just stopped home for a bit of oatmeal and some toast and to tell me that a conscientious neighbor had called the Norco Industrial Store (not where he works) to tell them that parking his Norco truck AND The Great Pumpkin truck on the street is a gross injustice of the Subdivision covenants (we don't have any).  I felt sad and angry and then sad again.  They are probably one of those "to the point" kind of people.  And the short version of this story for them would be that they are annoyed with a big white Ford work truck blocking their driving path and don't even get them started about the white trash orange truck. My husband's response is "wait until they see the NEW Norco truck next week!"   It's a Dodge Ram and it might as well be Christmas around here.  We are very excited, well Danny is excited and the rest of us are playing along.

That is about the Long and short of it.