A peek at summer time in my busy little life #3.

I don't have time to get bored during the summer, there is always plenty to do (isn't it that way

year round?!) BUT when the wind blows, it only creates trouble around here.

Mother Nature is determined to keep me busy, she thinks if she doesn't create work for me I will have nothing to do but watch TV and EAT chips...therefore she is constantly making a mess

for me to clean up, making the weeds grow faster than the plants and 

making the grass grow faster than I can keep it mowed...no doubt I have plenty to do...

Summer round here means:

FIXING things that the wind has damaged...

FINALLY (after 3 months) finishing a book!!!

Putting together a NEW YARD SWING 

(really, Cam putting it together with a small amount of help from me)

It was Mine and Deron's  "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY"

to each other~

My endless craving's for Cinnamon Rolls..........ahhhhhhhhhhhh....

Lunch on our new picnic table...a daily, sometimes 3x daily FUN summer experience!

These darling little flowers that have grown every year BUT never bloomed...

finally this year they are out in hoards!

loads and Loads and LOADS of laundry...it doesn't seem to ever end!

AND...last but not least, Halle getting to take some time to REST and RELAX and READ 

on the outdoor swing........Happy Day to her too!

and so goes another week of summer...its going by so quick!
June is disappearing quick, which makes me so so sad. Its my favorite month of the entire year and its
going so quick....I've decided that I am putting in my request for an extra week (or 2-3) in June! AND while I'm requesting, I will put in for an extra week or 2 in July and August too...because after all, doesn't our
calendar end come December 31, 2012?! If we are going to be making up a new one, why not make
some of the FUN months LAST LONGER!!!??!
EVERYONE in favor say "I"!!!

My boy, "Bob"...the builder~

Cam loves to tinker...he always has. From the time he was little, he has always loved to build. He would play with legos for HOURS and HOURS building, creating and inventing all kinds of cool and exciting things. When he grew up, so did his projects....they are now on a bigger scale and much more exciting. He likes to always have a project that keeps him busy (preferrably an OUTside project) 

We bought some wood and thought we would have him build us a picnic table and take 

advantage of his "want to be busy", and our "want for a table". I honestly thought

that this little project would take a few Saturdays, maybe some evenings after work...give him 

something to do for AWHILE!

 But I forget sometimes how much the two of us are alike, we both like to finish a project

that we are working right away...not leave it for days and weeks, but finish it ASAP. 

He went out after breakfast today and started pulling wood from the truck...piece by piece 

he built the most amazing table I've ever seen...AND ALL IN ONE DAY (about 6 hours)! I AM super impressed, not surprised that he could do it, because I knew he could, but impressed

at his amazing talent and skill!!

 It's extremely sturdy...strong as an ox~

 He even customized it to fit the "needs" of our TALL family 

and their LONG LEGS by extending the seat by 6 inches...

its amazing what a little 6 inch space can do for a 6' 8" boy with legs that go on forever. 

 I LOVE everything about this gorgeous table. I couldn't be happier!!

Come Monday morning we will move it to the back

yard where we can begin using it for some fun outside morning meals 

along with dinner in the evening.... 

Cam is my hero...and a very talented one at that!

Bet your jealous huh?!....its pretty darn cool if I do say so myself!

A peek at summer time in my busy little life #2~

Summer time at our house means:

 NEVER getting to bed BEFORE 10:30 and usually NOT by choice, it just seems

to happen that way. With the sun not going down until after 9, the day just doesn't seem to wind 

down until 10:30-11PM...........makes for a tired family come morning~

It means:

 planting flowers.....I don't usually plant petunia's because I seem to kill them every time I do. It's been  about 5 years since they last tried to grow in my yard so I thought I would try it again this year. So far so good...I love petunia's, they smell divine when there are hoards of them covering my flower beds!

This summer I wanted to "start a collection" of something.......

I collect spoons and have always had a fascination with old salt and pepper shakers. NOT the novelty ones so much. Dayna bought me my first set of antique shakers (on the left). 

They are adorable!!!, not to mention I LOVE THEM...the other set she found at 

a thrift store for $.50 a piece...DEAL, so I grabbed them!!!

and so goes the bucket list....and my infamous daily pictures~

A peek at summertime in my busy little life #1

Part of my Summer Bucket list 

was to "take a picture every day of something to do with summer"...(starting June 6-Sept 6)

WELL..I kind of wanted a "theme" to go with my pictures...so its going to sort of go like this:

I am going to take pictures of  "MY favorite things about summer"...

THE first one being "MY birds"...I put bird seed out in the bird feeders JUST so they 

will come hang out at my house, chirp and eat all the sunflower seeds they want!

 I don't know, maybe its because I'm getting older (we won't discuss that matter) or maybe I

am just taking more time out to "stop and smell the roses", either way...I love watching and listening 

to my fine feathered friends!

I love them, I adore them and ....

I anxiously await their "chirping" alarm clock at 3:32AM every single morning! (really I do)

PRETTY much on the DOT!

Good Ridden's!

Okay, lets get one thing straight here...I am not afraid of mice, I just detest them in a way

that makes me want to cause them bodily harm, even death. I don't jump

on the counter, I don't scream....I chase- until they are captured and on their way to "Mouse Heaven"...

HAVING said that, the other day while I was hanging in the kitchen cooking up a storm

a little ARROGANT fur ball of a mouse comes out to say HELLO! (not cool Ms Mouse)

WELL, in my house, if you are mouse- you certainly don't go around showing your ugly little mug, your just asking for trouble and its sure to bring death upon your sorry little soul!

I just sat their and stared at the sneaky little monster...having a stand off. Who's going to win? I was hoping to get to the broom and beat her with it before she ran for cover.

SADLY enough, she scurried away before I could get to the broom.

THERE was no time to waste~

I turned off the stove, left Ms. Mouse to the house for a short time (figured I would give her a head start to HIDE) and headed to the store to arm myself with ALL

the ammunition needed to kill this furry little invader. 

 Although I'm not a huge fan of d-con (only because the little rodents often die in the 

wall and leave such a stench that you want to move out of your humble abode for a week or two), IT WORKS! I came home and put d-con in every room...sticky traps in all the corners and behind the washer

and dryer and then we set traps in places we thought

 ONE naive' little pest MIGHT lurk around to look for food.....

THEN I waited...and waited and waited, checked the traps over and over until I headed to bed at midnight.

AT 2:45 I couldn't sleep, SOoooo upstairs I came to make another round of checking the traps.

LO AND BEHOLD...there the fat little mama was (I'm sure she was going to give birth

somewhere in my house and expect me to play hostess to her and her little mongrels), 

smashed (yes, that might be TMI for some of you) in my $2.00 trap, deader than a door nail, on her

way to mouse heaven. I'm not going to lie, I did a little HAPPY DANCE AT 3am right there 

by the garbage can where she took her last breath!! 

She took the bait ( a little peanut butter with a pistachio on top) 

and I am sure, has regretted it ever since! NOW, 

hopefully she was a loner...and didn't bring any brothers, 

sisters, cousins or friends along as she scoured my house for crumbs...

BECAUSE they will meet their death as well. 

I replaced the trap that she so kindly pounced on and have yet to see any trace of another 

terrorist sneaking in or around my house.

I feel I have done a great service to all mankind...I have terminated another USA

invader (she lived here in the United States of America and SHE invaded my home), stopped the spread of disease (one mouse can cause a lot of havoc), even if its only in my house...and maybe even saved the life of some poor unfortunate soul who might

have otherwise had a heart attack and died from intense fear of this beady eyed fur ball.........

SO LONG and FAREWELL Ms Mouse

Happy Hunting in Heaven!

Cold, WET, Sand~

AND let the FUN begin~

About a week ago we headed up to the Lake for a "nice afternoon" of fun in the sun...YES there was SUN, and YES, there was FUN...but there was also WIND and it was a BIT CHILLY for lake activities. I think with the wind the temp was probably in the low 60's...left goosebumps on my poor white legs! 

BUT we stuck it out and laid in the sun and ate some lunch anyway,

 after all...what else were we going to do~ 

Halle came prepared to play in the water...but IT was WAY TOO cold (not just the air, but the water was freezing too), so she pulled

out her book and read (because you can do that in the cold)

We wandered around the shore...NOT looking for seashells, because there aren't any...but looking for

some way to stay warm and keep moving!

some of us relaxed~

and tried to enjoy the DAY on the BEACH~

 After walking around a bit (to stay warm) and checking out the status of the lake (how high it was

this year and what might be lurking in the water) we decided to make sand sculptures 

(AND...yes, that happened to be on my summer bucket list).........

 AND so we begin collecting sand in our designated area.....piles of cold, wet sand~

 IF you haven't tried this beachy activity...you should! Its fun to see what everyone comes

up with.......

 Dayna made an IGLOO (probably because it felt like winter...almost)

 Halle made an "I luv u"....(probably because she's 15 and thinks about boys ALL the time)

 

 I made a mermaid...(probably because the CRAW FISH I was trying to make didn't turn out)

 Cam and Ave's spent the longest working on their master piece...I 

thought it was funny how they put a "rock" under the "sand girl", representing Averee,

because thats what she would need to be head to head with Cam...too funny!!

It was a GREAT time had by all............

What a FUN way to spend our afternoon!!

Lists...lists and MORE lists!

I'm a "list person"...I have lists for everything; to remind me to pick something up at the store, to remind me what I need to do for the day, to tell me where I put a specific thing, to remind me what NOT to eat and WHAT I should be eating...I also have them posted in random places with little "thoughts" and "smiley faces" to keep me thinking positive thoughts. About a month ago when I was watching/ listening to one of my favorite TV shows, they were discussing "Summer activities" and things to do throughout the state of Utah that could fill up your long, hot "summer days"....they suggested making a "SUMMER BUCKET LIST" of new things that your family would enjoy doing during the few "GOOD" MONTHS that we have in our state. I LOVED the thought of making a LIST of things to do and then getting to cross them off as I experienced them, a list of things to plan and look forward too, a list OF FUN activities (vs work and chores) to do....THIS LIST idea is a must for my summer FOR SURE!!

SO.....I sat down the other day and made my Summer Bucket List! Some of the activities will include the family, others won't (only because sometimes my teens "don't want to go" with me because they have "other plans"...therefore I will go alone if I must...but I will have fun and go none-the-less). I plan on taking pics and documenting our fun activities...so you my faithful followers can experience the journey with us!

Woo Hoo...such excitement is brewing around my house~

(actually its only brewing in my head...no one else seems to be that excited...just me)

SOOOOOO....maybe I'm a little "OCD" about lists, but hey, they get things done around here and 

hopefully this summer bucket list will make for a memorable summer, full of fun activities!

trip to the zoo

trip to Lagoon (amusement park in Utah)

camping

hike the Moon Lake trail

build sand sculptures at the lake

picnic in the mountains

photo walk

hike to a waterfall

go to the drive-in (to watch a movie)

go on a scenic drive

fly kites

have a hot dog roast in the back yard

go fishing

go horseback riding

read a new book

take a picture every day of something to do with my summer (June 6-Sept 6)

sleep outside on the tramp

visit Kim and Mike on the farm

visit Dayna and Jack in the city

go on a bike ride

visit a ghost town

help Halle cook some of her favorite recipes

take a nap on the grass

eat breakfast outside

make a picnic table

have an outside movie party

go to the lake for an afternoon

watch the sunset

learn something new

These are the things I am starting out with...I am sure as time goes on, I will think 

of more things and add them to my list. What I don't get done this Summer will 

be carried over to next years "Summer Bucket List".

I plan on making a new list each and every summer from now until.................who knows~

So let it be written....so let it be done~

Part 2.. Spontaneous FUN

 As we ventured down the road on our "Auto Tour", our first stop consisted of petroglyphs...we couldn't decide if these people were crying for help as they were captured by aliens or if this was their family portrait and they all had horns.... 

 Another one of our stops was Split Mountain where we stopped to see the river come between two mountains (I think you must have to hike in to actually see the "split"....

 Split Mountain...too bad these pictures don't do it justice...it was pretty cool!

 and then we came onto "Turtle Mountain"...can you see the "turtle"?

It took me a minute but eventually I saw it.

 Our last top was at the "Josie Basset" ranch. A little lady built this beautiful place, planted an orchard, took care of the ranch and lived as a single lady while doing it. It was an amazing little hide-a-way tucked underneath a beautiful rocky mountain...I have to say, I would loved to have lived there "back in the day". It was so quiet and peaceful, and just made me want to sit under a tree with a good book!

 She had a GORGEOUS Magnolia tree in full bloom...I had never seen one of these tree's up close before, 

I would have to say, they are one of my all time favorite blossoming tree's now!

 This is the first time EVER that Deron and I have taken any 

trip with JUST our OLDEST and YOUNGEST children...

this "special" event called for many pics of the two of them.

It was such a fun day, full of many "photo op's", beautiful scenery and WONDERFUL memories...

Love my cute little family and this beautiful land we have to live in!