Otto getting a bug

I was sitting on the couch one day and saw Otto desperately trying to get under the blinds. He must have seen a bug and it was too cute, so I grabbed my phone really quick...
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Sleepy boy!

Zach ended up staying at Mindy's house for two nights because she had a doctors apt the next day for Jordan and said she'd bring him over so I could watch Scoot and Ben. He said they woke up at like 4am and didn't go back to sleep. He wasn't lying, I guess they woke up and played video games! He was TUCKERED out big time and ended up falling asleep on the couch for hours. He slept all the way until bed time and then went right to bed!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Alan and I celebrated 12 years of marriage this year! Because he was working, it was much like any other day except for a little surprise I got in the morning. I woke up and did my usual things (take my thyroid meds, drink my water and make the kids something for breakfast while I wait to eat). I know this sounds horrible, but I was a bit bummed that there weren't flowers on the table or a card. I have always liked things in the morning because it makes me smile through out the day and just minutes after that thought entered my mind, I walked into my computer room to find a ring box and a letter. Alan had surprised me with getting my diamond put back into my wedding ring! It was VERY unexpected and greatly appreciated! Months ago (I don't even know how many), the diamond Alan's grandma Tissie had give him that was her grandma's had fallen out and luckily I found it on my lap before heading into Smith's. It's been sitting in his draw and I had been wearing the promise ring he gave me while we were dating. With money being tight, I didn't expect to have my ring fixed for a while. It was a GREAT way to start my day!

Taken from Facebook: "15 years ago, today, I met a cute boy on a blind date. I remember thinking "I'm going to be with this guy for a long time...I don't ever see us breaking up" and for the first time when his friends teased him with "you're going to marry that girl" he smiled and didn't deny it! Three years later, to the DAY, we got married and have spent 12 years of ups and downs, fun and happy times together. We have two beautiful children who complete our little family!

I couldn't have asked for a more caring, patient, honest, loyal, softhearted, hard working and trustworthy person to be my husband. I hit the jack pot big time! Happy 12th anniversary to my husband Alan!"

That weekend we had the kids stay over at Mindy's and Christi's houses so we could enjoy some alone time. We went outlet shopping and then came home for some dinner and Dexter. We are lucky to have found each other 15 years ago! Here's to many more!

 

Tiss is silly

So Tiss loves to go under the blanket when I have my legs up in a "tent". She'll mew and crawl under when I hold the blanket up, camp out there for a while and when my legs get sore, she'll crawl to the edge and peek her head out to finish her nap time. This time was different and she was cracking me up! I had the computer on my lap and really didn't want to move it so she could go under. She literally SHOVED and mewed her way under the blanket "forcing me" to put my legs up for her! I was laughing and grabbed my phone for a picture to show Alan. We both think she's a little silly, so I knew he'd "get this" picture!

Cards with dad

I came in one evening to find Alissa and Alan playing poker! Alissa likes to play games with us and It was funny to see them playing this together. We've always had fun having little game nights and playing poker! Good to see them spending time together!
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Tiss and the fish tank

Seriously, she LOVES the tank! It's warm and gives her something to drink from LOL! She'll jump up, take a drink and then just veg out there for such a long time!

Splash pad and pizza

My kids seem to be outgrowing all the fun things I wanted to take them to do this summer! I thought they'd be all over going to the splash pad, but Zach tried to get out of it and play with friends. Alissa couldn't find anyone to come with and we ended up bringing Conner with us. I think we have entered the ages of "this will only be fun if I can have a friend come with me" and that's okay, it's all part of the growing up process. So while the kids played for a short period of time, I read a Clean Eating magazine and somehow they convinced me to take them to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner. I ended up with a yucky belly and am reminded why I eat the way I do! Over all, we had a great little outing together. Alissa even found a girl to play with for a little bit before the friend had to leave!
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He's got a problem..

To add to Alan's sock addition, this is what I found the other day while cleaning our room and these are only 1/2 of his shoes! I lined them up nicely because they drive me NUTS but I know he wont keep them in the closet, so at least they aren't all under the bed and messy for NOW. And life goes on letting the little stuff go...
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Old fashioned fun with Grammy

Grammy came over for a visit and I really wanted to do something other than just sitting around while the kids were doing their own things. I remembered a game someone told me about years ago (maybe while I worked at the TLC Daycare, but I can't remember). To play, you have a person describe what they are drawing and someone draw what they hear! It's actually really fun and the kids had a great time. Grammy and Alissa went first and theirs were the most funny ones of the groups! Grammy clearly isn't an artist ;) ha ha! Conner and Zach were next, but Conner described something that they both knew, so theirs actually turned out pretty similar. Alissa and I had two rounds and the whole thing lasted over an hour. I'll have to do this one again, but not too soon because they might get bored of it if I try and do it often.
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Father's day

Father's day was sadly bust for Alan as he had a yucky belly and was down for most of the day. He was also tired because the night before he had a sleep out on the tramp with the kids, had horrible allergies and ended up taking some meds in the wee hours of the morning. He did get a yummy breakfast and cards, but felt lousy the rest of the day. The kids and I headed to Scott and Kim's house for a BBQ and fun. They have a pool and the kids are just like fish and love to swim, swim swim! So it was a nice day for us and hopefully next year wont be a bust for Alan!

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Little Lake visit

After Alan and I's date night to this little lake, I knew my kids would love it! Well, Zach opted out to play with friends, so I took Alissa and picked up Sophie on the way. They had a great time playing in the water and building in the sand. Holly, Tim and Madi showed up just as I was about to get up and leave, so we stayed and let the girls play and have fun together! We walked around by the little stream, found a lady bug and they had fun seeing each other. We'll for sure go back there, it's a little hidden treasure to have a lake near by they can play in!
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First ever trampoline sleep out!

Alan was brave enough to volunteer to sleep out on the tramp with the kids! They thought it would be fun and it was until about 3am. They got to stay up watching a movie on the Ipad while Alan and I were inside watching an episode of Dexter and about midnight Alan joined them for bed. Some time around 3am, they all came in because Alissa woke up cold and was crying because Zach had more blankets than her. I guess they'll try it again when it's a bit warmer at night ;)

He loves his foot rubs!

Alissa earned some mula by rubbing Alan's feet! It reminds me of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when the grandma says "Rusty, Grandma's got a real painful burr on her foot, and if you rub it for me, I'll give you a quarter. Rusty: Wow, a quarter. Grandma: ...and I'll give Audrey a quarter too." ha ha! He loves his feet rubbed!
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New trampoline

We finally got another tramp and it's nice to have. Just to recap, our old trampoline flew over into our old neighbors yard one windy day in Pleasant Grove and the kids were so bummed because they really had a lot of fun on it. So far they've done water days with the tramp, mom and dad have both jumped on it with them and Alan was brave enough to sleep out on there with them the other night. He hooked them up with a movie while we were inside watching Dexter and apparently in the wee hours of the morning Alissa woke saying she was cold and freaked out because Zach had more covers than her. They all ended up inside! Here's to our tramp not blowing away (Alan took precautions this time and had them hooked down into the ground).

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Yard work and a mishap with the garbage can!

I was out doing yard work one day. I was enjoying the sun and giggling at Otto because he was SO happy resting and playing under the bush I was working on. I had decided to rip up some dead ground cover and was putting the chunks of dirt into the top 1/4th of the trash can. It was getting really full, but I keep piling it on and kept on digging my little bed out front. When I was done, I felt the garbage can and knew it was going to be heavy, but thought I'd be OK rolling it over to the curb. I grabbed the handles, kicked it out with my left leg and it came crashing down on top of my left side. I was stuck and knew I wasn't going to be able to get it off alone. I started yelling for Zach and realized that my "panic yell" wasn't as loud as I'd like. I yelled and thought he would be able to hear me because his friend had left the door open when he went into play (thank goodness because I don't think he would have been able to hear if the door were closed). After about 10 yells to "ZACH", I just started yelling "HELP!!". It was pretty scary, but thankfully he and his friend ran out. Zach looked at me kind of confused and I had to instruct him to "help get this off of me" and we were able to roll it over onto it's side. I sat up and realized I might be hurt, but I could bend my leg and move my foot, so I figured there were no broken bones! They helped me wobble inside and right away noticed I had scraped the skin off my new tattoo. That area seemed to hurt me the most, but as the hours went on, it was my knee and foot that were hurting. It took me about 3-4 days until I could walk on them with out pain. Yep, that was the day that I fought a garbage can!
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Dance party for Grammy's birthday!

For Grammy's birthday, uncle Ryan got us all on a conference chat call and we danced to Neil Diamond! I didn't dance, because my foot and knee were hurt from the garbage can beating me up, but the kids had a lot of fun!
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I love this boy, he's growing so quickly!

I will be the first to admit that because Zach and I are very similar, we butt heads at times. I can't even remember why we butted heads this day, but he was sitting on the floor upset. I pulled him up to sit with me and I just held my baby boy. We talked about how he's growing so quickly and how I love to just hold him like a baby. I apologized for whatever it was that I was being a meany about and we sat for a good 20 minutes like this. He sure is growing too quickly!
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Oh our lazy Otto

I love that when Otto gets really tired and lazy he just pretty much takes whatever you do to him! I was sitting watching TV and he was out of it, so I threw my foot/leg under him and he ended up snuggling up to me for a long time. He's such a sweetie.

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Tiss taking it easy

I peeked out side and found Tiss happy as can be laying in the bushes outside in the back.

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A quick date night

The other night a brave mom in my neighborhood had a kids night movie night so the parents could, if they chose, go out on a date and we did! We grabbed some food and took it to this man made lake near by. I didn't know this thing existed (although I was told that I have in fact been told about it before) and it was really great. Peaceful, beautiful, calm, warm and we had a great conversation about life. It was perfect.

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First water day of the summer

So summer has been pretty low key for us. This is the first time Zach has really had a group of friends so they are either here playing a video game or off playing at other friends houses. He gets his stuff done asap in the morning and he's off until check in times through out the day! I decided that we'd plan to do something fun once a week (if not more, but for sure once a week) and we started with a water day at my house. Mindy and the boys came over as well as Alissa's friend Madison and a few of Zach's friends. They had moments of "this is boring" but all and all, I think it was a good time!

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