Now That's a ROCK!

Occassionally, when one rides, a rock can get stuck in his horse's foot. But, never have I seen a rock this BIG get stuck in a foot. Everyone was so shocked, we had to get a picture of it. No wonder Cherokee started limping. Poor guy. That thing was just the right size....any bigger and it couldn't have fit.....any smaller and it probably wouldn't have stuck.
I couldn't even pry it out with my leatherman. Jason had to hit it out with another rock.
One of our highlights of the ride or any ride....seeing the wild horses that live down by the river.

Makes A Father Proud!

So, Lance worked at the shop with Todd the other day. After work, Todd, Lance, and the employees went to lunch. The men decided that they wanted pizza. Well, Lance saw the sub. place next door and decided he would prefer that. So, Todd handed him some money to go get a sub sandwich. Lance is gone for quite a while. Hmmmm. Finally, he came back and Todd questioned him why he was gone so long? Was the sub shop really busy? Lance said no....and proceeded to tell Todd that there was a hardware shop next door so he went in to browse and lost track of time.

Todd was grinning from ear to ear. He had to hold back the tears in front of his employees. You know you've done something right as a father when your son loves to browse the hardware store. Makes a father proud!....at least it does for Todd:) (And, Todd was still grinning as he told me the story - too cute.)

Dirty Bums

Just why are we showing you our dirty bums?
To share the fun!

One thing I have always loved about Todd is his spontaneity. He doesn't have to have it all planned out in advance. He is ready for fun at a seconds notice. We just head out for fun as we think of it! So, I was saying that we needed to have some quality family time....maybe dinner and bowling? What does Todd come up with? Cave Exploring! More specifically....Peppersauce Caves by Oracle, AZ. So, within thirty minutes, we have everyone loaded up in the truck. We stop by ACE for flashlights and Blockbuster for dvds for the drive there and back.


Luckily, we have some friends just as crazy as we are....Sam and his kids (right pic) and Kevin and his (left pic) joined us in the fun.

Hmmmmm. We are going in there?!
Headed down.
Check out that small hole. Everyone had to lay down on their tummies to get through!

Wes and Zane both had mixed feelings. Sometimes they loved it. Other times, they were scared and wanted to get out. Zane was somehow convinced that we would get lost in there and not be able to find our way out.

Lance had fun exploring all the small wormholes he could find! I think this one was like twenty feet long. I'm glad he didn't get lost...or stuck...in one of those.

Sierra shows off her muddy hands and legs. You had to be careful in there because it got to be pretty slippery in some places. That's why sometimes, the kids just slid down on their bums....hence, the very muddy bums.
Zane looks like he is trying to convince himself that he is having fun:).

The Explorers. We got in the cave and turned off all our lights to see just how dark it was.

It was DARK!!! Not a light anywhere.

Yay, we made it out.....much to Zane's relief.

Thanks, Todd, for being so spontaneous and fun! Bytheway, Todd won the dirtiest bum award.

One Last Swim...for the season, that is.

Before the water gets too cold, we had to get one more swim in!

And the girls are off! Half the fun is just watching the younger girls lovin' it! They have soooo much fun. It's pretty cute. Sierra is on the far right side.
I think swimming is Sierra's favorite thing to do with Pepper.

Look at her SMILE!

Here's to my baby, Cherokee. Swimming was a lot of fun for me, too. Although, I'll still say lopin' is my fav. ....and I think it's Cherokee's too. We both just love to take off and RUN!!!

The hardest part of swimming, is getting back on your horse if you fall off.

No saddle means no stirrups.

I had to use Pepper (behind me) as a step stool:)

Even Sierra struggles to get up. It can be quite entertaining.

Well, we had a great ride and a great swim. It's been a fun summer. Now, we are ready for some cooler weather.

Procrastinating the Inevitable

Yuck. That's all I can say when I think about potty training Weston. How long can I postpone it? He turned three at the beginning of the month. Can I hire someone else to do it:)? Anyone? Anyone? Can I just let him self-potty-train? When he decides that he is ready, then he'll do it all on his own....like those nursing mothers that let their children "self-wean" at the age of four, five, or six....gag. Sorry. I can't do that. It's just that potty training sounds so unappealing to me.....all the accidents to clean up....and all the mad rushing to find a public restroom whenever I am out. ...'Cause you know he will!!! (cause they ALWAYS do... say they have to go NOW and can't wait!) YUCK! And, the worst are the public accidents....in somebody's store....somebody else's carpet. Not that I like accidents in my home, but at least I don't have to feel guilty about somebody else's carpet smelling like my kid's pee.

My SIL, Jan, has a boy two weeks older than Wes. She is potty training him now, so I am feeling the pressure. Somebody come rescue me:) or give me some better excuses to postpone it more. I tried to potty train him a few months back. I could get him to go #2 on the toilet, but NEVER once would he pee in the toilet. go figure. It's usually the opposite. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal. I mean, I have potty trained three other children. It really wasn't that bad, right?! ...after that first week or so. Hmmm. Anybody just wanna do the first week?

Weston woke up dry this morning, so I put him on the toilet. Not a Drop. Poured warm water on him. Not a drop. He took a shower. Not a Drop. Gave up. Put on the pull-ups. He peed.

Now, I know....the real underwear work best when he can FEEL the wetness, but it also leaves a puddle on my floor. And, last time I tried to potty train him, I did try that. I put Wes in the BIG BOY underwear. Unfortunately, he didn't mind being soaking wet or the puddle that he left behind. argh.

On a positive note, I got him to go #2 in the toilet this afternoon even though he told me the toilet was scary. ??? But, he was excited to get his candy for his job well done. Maybe there's hope. Oh, such fun things to look forward to....unless someone else wants to come do it for me. Anyone? Anyone?! I guess I better pull out the wet/dry vac.

Who Can Resist?

So, Wes and I are shopping at Sam's Club today for all the stuff needed for the Ice Cream Parties that the top-selling classes earned from the fundraiser that I am in charge of....whew. Can you read that all in one breathe?

I have my cart full of stuff, but I can't find the maraschino cherries. As we were walking around looking for them, we pass the emergency doors. Yes, they must have called out to Wes. I didn't even see him do it. But, he couldn't resist, I guess. Well, I KNOW he couldn't resist. He ran up and pushed the lever on the door. TALK ABOUT A DEAFENING ALARM! My ear drums are even more blown away now. It scared poor Wes to death. So, I got to explain to the employees that came a runnin' that my kid did it!! Wes had conveniently run around and hid behind a stack of merchandise while I got to tell everyone "my kid did it." Lovely.

It brought back such fond memories of Sierra setting off the fire alarm in CHURCH after sacrament meeting. That was a good one, too! She was about the same age - threeish. As sacrament was dismissing, Sierra saw the RED HANDLE. And, before we can stop her, she pulled that handle. That alarm went off for about ten minutes. No one knew how to turn it off. Talk about embarrassing! Who was the smart one that didn't know red handles on the wall call out to children "PULL ME." Since then, they have put plastic covers over them. I guess Sam's Club needs to do that for their levers on the emergency doors also:).

Play Ball!

I have always enjoyed taking mom 'n'tot classes with all of my children. Of course, it is Weston's turn now. We are taking a sports class through the city. The first couple of weeks we played baseball. Now, we are playing football. Weston seems to enjoy the class, although he's given me some attitude. The second week of class he refused to participate. I told him that he needed to listen or to go to time out. He choose time out. WHAT?! I wasn't expecting that one. So, he went to time out. Later, he started misbehaving again. I told him we were going to go home if he didn't want to play. He said he wanted to go home! WRONG ANSWER, KID! Well, we went home anyways. I was a very disgruntled mother.

So, the next week, I had a plan...BRIBERY. There's a candy machine at the center. He gets to buy candy after class if he participates and listens to the coach/teacher. And, now he does. Although there are times when I need to remind him of that:). Either way, he's participating and seeming to enjoy it.

Wes has learned to put his fingers on the laces, put the ball by his ear, step, and throw.

Above, Wes plays with his coach. Catch the ball, Run, and Score a TOUCHDOWN!!! YEA!!!!

On a side note....at the candy machine....he doesn't pick out m&ms or skittles like a typical kid would. He picks out FUNYUNS! Todd would be proud.

All One Needs Is A Little Incentive

Our sweet, good boy has just a touch of the wiggles....okay, so A LOT more than just a touch:). Zane has a body and a mind always on the move....which makes it a little hard to sit still and get some school work done. After a couple weeks of 2nd grade, I ran into his teacher. Of course, I asked how he was doing. She looked at me and said "He's not get any of his work done." I was a bit taken back. Hmmmm. What to say? In fact, I don't even know what I did say. That was all she said to me! Nothing about his cute, bubbly personality. I wasn't very happy. So, I went home, slept on it, and awoke with a plan:).

The next morning I sent off an email to his teacher asking what we could do to help Zane do better. He was already on his medicine. I really didn't want to up the dosage. I thought of how his 1st grade teacher had a sticker chart for him. (Although his first grade teacher also went on and on everytime I saw her about how much she loved Zane). So, I mentioned that idea to his new teacher and she gave it a try. It wasn't an overnight fix, but each day he got better and earned more stickers (ie. completed more work). I told him that I would give him a reward if he could finish ALL his work EVERYDAY for a WHOLE week.


And, so he did it....all for the want of a BAKUGAN! (and, no I have never ever heard of these until now). He had a great week this week. He says it was hard, but he did it! Hopefully, Zane can do it every week....with a little bit of incentive:)

Sierra's First P.O.A. Show

We had one LONG day yesterday, but to Sierra, it was one WONDERFUL day!

We were gone for almost 12 hours - 8am to 8pm. I was exhausted. Sierra loved every minute of it. Don't get me wrong....I was happy to be there with her. But, I about died though when I heard that they do this one weekend a month for about 8-9 mos. of the year. Talk about committment!
Sierra started off the morning in the "Western Pleasure" shows. All of the girls dress us up in these fancy,western clothes. Luckily, Sierra's riding teacher had old hand-me-down outfits that the younger girls could wear. Check out Sierra in her Lavendar:). Unfortunately, there were about 15 or so girls in her western classes, so she didn't get a ribbon. She was a little sad as she told me "I lost". I tried to cheer her up as we knew she had more classes to do. Also, we knew that her pony, Pepper, really wasn't a "show" pony - he's a rock solid trail pony...and he's even becoming a good gaming pony. But, we tried again as we moved on to the "English" shows.
Doesn't she look cute?! Trotting around in the "English Pleasure" class. It was the same as the western pleasure classes though - too many girls that had well trained show ponies:(
But, she still enjoyed doing it. Finally, in her fifth class, she earned in her first ribbon due to the small amount of girls in it:) - in "Hunter Under Saddle 18 and Under".
Then, it was time for "Hunter Hack Crossrail." Pepper is a pretty good jumper. Unfortunately, he hit the last jump with his back foot. BUT...she ended up 2nd in her open class (out of three:). WooHoo - that meant another ribbon for the "Hunter Hack Crossrail"!
This was a shot of her in the English Pleasure class. The girls would have to go around the arena and change gaits for the judge as it was announced (walk...trot....lope, etc). Sierra loved it!

At the end of the day, were the GAMES. The most fun part for sure!
Here, the Flags game, was simple....pick up a flag from one bucket, run around and put it in another bucket as quickly as you can. Most of these games she had never done before, but she had a lot of fun trying.

She earned a 1st place in the "Figure 8 Barrels" and the "Single Pole".
Have you even seen soooo many spots? All of the girls and their POAs - Pony of the Americas - (a breed that was a cross between the Shetland Pony and the Appaloosa horse). Sierra's at the very end enjoying a cupcake.

Overall, she came home with eight ribbons (most for the games of course). She was in heaven. I was a bit relieved though to hear her say she would be happy doing it once a year....not every month. Well, maybe we'll try for every three months or so since she did enjoy it so much. It was great to see her soooo happy - in her element. It was a LONG, but WONDERFUL day!

Have you walked with them?

Thursday night, the kids and I went to see "Walking With Dinosaurs" at the US Airways. I knew the little boys would really get into it, but I invited the big kids to come along also if they wanted to. We had a great time! I think Wes was a little scared when we were first walking in....a little late (we got lost!) so it was dark and dinosaurs were roaring. But, then he quickly warmed up. I think he thought those dinosaurs were REAL. When the tall Brachiosaurus came out, Weston waved, "Hi Dinosaur, Hi, Hi!!" It was a cute little wave - fingers close together, hand curved slightly - like one was signing the letter c in sign language:). Wish I had a picture of that! He was in AWE. And, Zane thought it was pretty cool too. The dinosaurs were so neat to just sit and watch move around. It was a great show. I think even the big kids enjoyed it.

Our Life Scout

So, let me take this opportunity to brag about my boy. Last Wed. night he earned his Life Scout along with several merit badges. Todd and I are so proud of him for working so hard...and having so much fun (I always wanted to be in scouts! I was one of those girls jealous of the fun things they got to do in the name of merit badges:)
He is already talking about how quickly he can earn his Eagle. What a good boy!
And, since I am on a bragging kick (and it's good for my boy to know how proud I am of him...and how much I love him).....let me tell about another thing.

A couple months back he was called to be the Deacons Quorum President. When the Bishopric member came to our house, he asked Todd and I about it first. Hmmmm. Our son? The one that we have to DRAG to church and MAKE him go to scouts half of the time. Was he crazy? Think about all those meetings. I was stressing just thinking about trying to get Lance there. Well, we told Bro. Whitney when he asked Lance to do it to make sure that Lance was aware of all that it entailed. So, Todd and I nervously awaited the outcome as Bro. Whitney asked Lance to do it in another room.

So...he asked....and so Lance accepted.

And, a miracle happened. My boy is growing up. Every Sunday he has to leave an hour earlier for his presidency meeting. And, here's the kicker...HE GETS OUT OF BED AND INTO THE SHOWER WITHOUT ME EVEN ASKING. Every week!!! He never complains about it...well, almost never:). Last Sunday, he went TWO hours early for two different meetings. Then, he had the three hours of church. THEN, Lance went to several houses to deliver Fast Offerings. AND THEN....(yes, there's more)....he went to visit a boy at his house.

WOW! I am Shocked and Amazed and oh, so Proud. He's becoming quite the young man....until he reverts to his old habits of tormenting his sister. Have I told you about that one? Sierra can reach the highest pitch known to mankind when she shrieks his name. But, that's for another post.

Todd Goes Deep Sea Fishing

A beautiful sunrise taken from the boat.

For Labor Day weekend, Todd took his employees, Devon, Greg, and Jordan, on a dish sea fishing trip. They headed out of CA and went down south into the waters off of Mexico. There, they fished for dorado (sp?) and albacore tuna! It sounds like it was a great "guys trip."

Here, Todd is with one he caught. He is insisting that Jordan (who took the pic and emailed it to him) must have photoshopped...and shrank....his fish:). Sure, Todd, we believe you if that makes you feel better! I think he caught a total of three (or 2?) fishes. They all had a great time.
Jason decided to also come along with the Mow Power group and caught some of his own fish!

Then, Jason and his family came over for dinner last night and we all had some very tasty fish to eat! Thanks, Jason and Todd! It was delicious!!

Pucker Up, Dad

So, Lance hands Todd a piece of Warhead candy ...with no warning of course. (yea, Lance is a lot like Todd is his own conniving, trickster way). Todd, expecting a sweet piece of candy, gets caught off guard....just a little:). It was soooo funny. I missed the first minute or so (the best part -i.e. the best facial expressions) cause I wasn't expecting this kind of reaction. I couldn't get the camera out fast enough.
Todd actually took the candy out and was going to toss it cause he couldn't handle it. But, I told him that I'd try one if he could be man enough to finish his candy.

I guess I got a milder flavor - cause mine wasn't that bad. Or I'm just that tough:).

So, we had to have a rematch. And, I got lemon. WOWEE!!! Whoever could keep it together with wa straight face was declared the winner.

Lance took the picture - hence the nice cropping job.