Please Mom?

This is often the face that will greet me when I ask Olivia different questions....  You know, questions like...  "Are you ready for bed?"  or "Can you pick up your mess?" or "It's time to take a nap" or "It's time to leave the park now... Are you ready?"  I LOVE THIS FACE!!  (Thanks Amie for capturing it so perfectly!)

When I look at this photo, I can't help but wonder how many more times I'll see this face show up in the future...  Only I'm sure it'll be over things said like, "No, you're too young to date."  Or "You. Are. Not. Wearing. That!"  Or "I'm sorry, You can't have a dog because I'm deathly allergic to them."  Or "Yes, you really do have to get a job if you want a car."  Or "No, we are NOT buying you a car."  I'm sure there will plenty of opportunities for Olivia to use this face and many others to try to get her parents to sway in her direction.  I hope that it won't melt my heart as much as it does now, or if it does, that I'll still be able to stand my ground, and help her become a better person, in spite of my weakness.

But, I think that's what this 'parenting job' is all about.  Helping our kids become better people IN SPITE of our weaknesses.  Helping them learn how to do things better than we did them.  At least, that's what I'm trying to do.  I know parenting isn't easy.  I know it's a never ending battle... not necessarily with your kids, but with the influences of the world.  I'll fight those influences with all I've got to make sure Olivia turns out better than I have.  That's my mission. My lifetime mission.  What's yours?

We've returned!

Our glorious camping trip was so much fun.  

As you can see, we had a lot of fun eating chocolate cake...

we enjoyed singing around the campfire... (this is "Popcorn Popping 

on the Apricot Tree") as Olivia "looked out the window..."

Taking lots of 4-wheeler rides... motorized and non-motorized...

many adventurous hikes with our cute cousins...

loads of laughing with the family...

a trip to Bear Lake to play in the water...

(Bear Lake = a very very red and uncomfortable sunburn for me)

Burying ourselves in the sand and wanting to stay FOREVER...

AND... getting Aunt Jenn to read many good books to the kids in camp.

We really had a fantastic time.  The vacation was MUCH NEEDED, MUCH DESERVED, and VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!  We had so much fun spending time with my family. However, I will say that the SHOWER felt fabulous, and I can't wait to go jump into my bed!

Vacation at last...

This weekend, I get to go on a little vacation with my family. We're heading to the great outdoors to go camping.  I can't wait. We're having a family reunion with my family for the weekend.  I'm excited to see everyone and to catch up again. Mostly I'm excited to just get away from home and all the stress of life and enjoy sometime in the splendor of the mountains.  Eat some good dutch oven cooking, roast some yummy marshmallows, go on plenty of hikes, read many good books, listen to the coyotes howling at night, and see all the glorious stars in the heavens again.  I hope you all have a fantastic weekend too!         

         

O.C.D.

So, I'm sure I've told some of you about my daughter's O.C.D. issues.  She is a CLEAN FREAK. This is the child who will take a wet wipe and clean my walls, floors and anything in between.  She is also the one that will 'change' her doggie's diapers a couple times a day.  So, this morning I wasn't at all surprised to see this...

Yup, this is all of her diapers out a brand new package surrounding her on the floor.  Is this the epitomy of 'surround yourself with cleanliness?' Should I be worried?  She spent at least 5 minutes arranging these diapers in this particular order.  No lie.  She then proceeded to turn then over to make sure that Elmo was facing up on all the diapers.  She's one funny kid.

My New Motto!

"Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could. 

 Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with 

too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Isn't that fantastic!?  I love it!

FIRE!!

I've had quite the exciting day today. I was changing Olivia when I looked out my bedroom window and saw smoke.  Ok, at first I thought it was someone's sprinklers...  But, when I came into the other room, I couldn't see the sprinklers anymore.  I looked a little closer to home, and saw this little shed just past my back fence SMOKING!  Now, being the seasoned firefighter that I am, I didn't get too excited at first.  I thought, mmnnn?  I wonder if they have smoke machine in there that they are smoking meat. Or, maybe the owners set it on fire hoping to collect insurance. I watched it for a little bit and it only continued to get bigger. I thought, if I call 911, I'm going to get the whole brigade here (3 engines, a Battalion Chief, the Chief, and a rescue) for this tiny little fire.  They would SO make fun of me.  So, I'm going to be honest here... I debated with myself.  "Do I let it keep going and get really big so it's worth the call?  Do I just call the chief and have him send over only one engine?  Do I go over and put it out myself?" I decided the last option was the best because I don't even know the address for the backyard neighbors.  So, I hurried to put Olivia in her stroller, got my cell phone, and headed around the block.  On a side note, as I was walking down our driveway, I set the brake on Olivia's stroller so I could get my sunglasses out of my car. I turned around and she was ROLLING DOWN MY DRIVEWAY right toward the mailboxes! The brake didn't work!! I couldn't run fast enough to get her, and she did a total endo over the curb in her stroller!  Poor kid!  She came out of it pretty unscathed, just a little raspberry on her elbow, and a lot of tears. So, after soothing her cares, we took off around the block.  By the time I got to the house, I decided I should knock to see if anyone was home. Some teenager, who I'm pretty sure I woke up, answered the door.  I said, "Hey, I'm sorry, but your shed out back is smoking. Actually, it's on fire." He gave me a shocked look and said "I'll get some water!"  I walked back there and sure enough, there were 6 inch flames coming off the edge of the roof. (Sorry, didn't grab my camera for pictures at that time.  Wish I had.)  He walks out with a little cup of water, tries to throw it on the roof, and misses completely!  I saw a garden hose, picked it up, and told him to turn it on.   I sprayed the roof, putting out the little fire.  He looked at me like I was some weirdo.  I then realized, he doesn't know me, and some GIRL just took charge and put out his fire.  I thought I'd make him feel better by telling him I work for the fire department.  I then asked him to open the shed to look for any fire extension. He did as I asked. Everything inside was safe.  I thanked him, told him to keep on eye on it, and left!  The whole time Olivia is clapping and saying "mama!  mama!" It was really funny! If you look at the picture on the right and enlarge it, you can see where the fire was by the charred black part.  It even made a hole in the roof.

A Child's Delight!

 

Brad and I took Olivia to the Children's museum down at the Gateway on Saturday.  I've seen too many fun pictures of that place, and Brad has been on a tour there for work before, so... OFF we went!  I can only say this, WHERE WAS THIS STUFF WHEN I WAS YOUNG!  That place totally rocks! What a dream place for kids. Olivia really like the little house area and of course the LifeFlight helicopter.  (She's a girl after my own heart.) It was fun to watch her run from spot to spot trying to take it all in.  We're definitely going to have to go back there OFTEN. These are a few of our fun moments while there.  (Sorry for the massive amount of pictures.  I was going to use picasa, but alas, it won't work with a Mac.)