Cabin and Critters

This is our home away from home in the summer. We left to go to Grandpa's cabin the day after school was over. As usual, the kids couldn't wait to get there. It seems like so many times the pictures we bring home from the cabin are the same as the year before except the kids are a little older. Then there are always a few fun experiences that make each summer stand out from the others.
During our time in July we made a few new friends and had lots of good laughs. Our first little friend was the inch worm that Jaden found. He was really cute and so fun to watch inching along his way. They really are amazing little creatures.

The other friend we made, the kids were not so excited about (and Grandma was very upset about). This snake was living under our dock. The second time we saw him out sunning himself we yelled at Darcy to catch it. One of our first good laughs was Darcy dancing around on the broken dock pretending to try to catch this snake with a stick in his hand (he was actually scared of the snake and didn't dare touch it with his bare hands). It was hilarious! Finally the snake jumped into the water and slithered towards the shore where we were all standing and yelling for Jeff (he is our reptile/critter lover) so he ran down from the cabin to scoop the snake up.

I'm sure all the neighbors were wondering what the heck was going on because all of the kids were screaming their heads off (and Grandma was really screaming)!

Finally after Jeff got the snake coiled around his arm some of the kids were brave enough to touch it. He then took it over to show our friends a few cabins down the way where he also subtly let it go around their dock (this made Grandma happy).

Our next adventure was with some black crows that were waking us up really early in the morning. They would caw and caw at each other so loud. Finally after a few days Grandpa had had enough and he came down and said "Jeff, get your gun and get rid of those birds". You didn't have to tell Jeff twice that he was aloud to shoot something besides pop cans or targets so that night we heard the crows come back and he ran out to dispose of them. He shot the first bird and the other dispersed. (Needless to say they never came back to bother us again!)

This happened in the evening when Grandma and Grandpa were out visiting some friends and Carson was out playing with some of his friends. Of course the devious boy that Darcy is decides it is prank time. Darcy and Jeff hang the crow from the clothes line and then drape a few towels over the line and one covering the crow. The prank was to be played on either Grandma or Carson. With the right timing Carson became the bait and I asked him to run out and grab the laundry off the line while I dished him some ice cream. We had the video camera going and boy did we get a great reaction when he realized it was a dead bird hanging under the towels. We all had a great laugh and it took Carson a few minutes for his heart to start beating normal again.

Ham and Fresh Bread

So I had pulled some fresh bread out of the oven and was doing some dishes when Jordan comes running in the kitchen and says "Oh fresh bread, my favorite!" He climbs up on a stool, puts his face as close to the bread as he can, is inhaling the aroma of the fresh bread and gets this dreamy look on his face. I am laughing inside at what a "ham" he is. I say to him "Jordan, are you a ham?" He looks at me and says "Well, I'm not a chicken and I'm not a weiner. . . actually I think I'm a steak" and away he runs from the kitchen. What a little stinker! I wonder where he gets this from? Any ideas?

Super DAD!

Happy Father's Day to the amazing Dads out there!

This dad is #1 in my kids books!

I don't know a dad out there that loves to play as hard (or shall I say harder) than his own kids!

He is always trying to get others to play with him! He gives a lot of his time to coach and help others learn how to have as much fun as he does!

He is so patient when it comes to teaching and coaching on and off the field - in game situations and life situations.


He is just pretty super awesome if you ask us! Happy Father's Day honey! We are so grateful for you and how awesome you are!

Simply Fun!

We spent the first weekend in June down in Taber and Barnwell with Brandon and Candice. I realized just how much my kids are city slickers and they absolutely loved the simpler life of a small town. When they saw the hay stacks stacked up in the field behind Brandon and Candice's house they thought they had died and gone to heaven. Right away Carson was out there jumping from hay stack to hay stack having the time of his life. Who needs a play ground when you have hay?
My kids always ask me when we will have trees big enough to climb and build tree houses in. I tell them probably never and so just being able to climb trees this big was exciting.

Of course my kids have never had a chance to ride a horse and so this was very exciting as well. Not to mention riding it right in the back yard!

Jordan wasn't sure if he liked the horse or not but he gave it a go!

Kailey and Carson got the hang of it quickly and they were riding all over the place by themselves. Then of course they were begging me to buy them a horse. I reminded them that our backyard isn't big enough!

Hang on Sister - I'll just give you a little pull on this swing!

OK - now this is what we are talking about! All laughs and fun times!

Jordan thought the horse was OK, the swing and climbing trees was pretty darn fun but then Logan pulled out . . . . (dun, dun, dun) the ride a LAWNMOWER! This is where it is at! "This is TOTALLY AWESOME!"

We had so much fun that the kids wanted to move to Barnwell and live with Brandon and Candice. I guess we'll just have to visit more often!

Stitches for JJ

Of course the day we are all running around getting ready for field trips JJ trips in the back entry and smacks his head on the stairs. I hear the blood curtling cry and know that he is really hurt. When I get to the back entry he is holding his head and blood is streaming down his face. As soon as I look at it I realize he needs a couple of stitches in his head and that he will not be going on his field trip to Spruce Meadows to watch the horse jumping. I throw the kids in the car (JJ holding a wet cloth to his forehead with some ice) and drop Carson and Kailey off at school so she won't miss her field trip. Then we drop Sadie off at the Atkins so she can head out on her field trip and then JJ and I are off to the Emergency to get stitches. I work for doctors but with my luck the day I could use stitches they are not available. (I keep telling myself I should just keep a stitch kit at my house so I could stitch my kids up myself and not have to go to the hospital).

When we arrive at the hospital they wrap JJ up like he is a wounded soldier at war. He says to me "mom, why do I have to wear this big bandage I just cut open my forehead?" The nurse tell him it is because he will get more sympathy and smiles at him.

It was the first time in my life that we basically walked right into Emergency and didn't have to wait. The only waiting we did was when we were put in a room and had to wait for the doctor to see us. We finally go the bleeding to stop and I took one picture for the records before he was stitched up.

Two stiches later and we are out of there and off to his field trip to Spruce Meadows. Too bad it was poring rain by the time we got there and the horses weren't even jumping because it was so wet! Aaaahhhh the life of a 5-year-old! Of course the best news was that he had his stiches just in time for his team soccer pictures 3 days later. Boy oh Boy!