The crazy days of May!

How is it that this month is mostly over? I can't quite fathom it except to say that no other month barring December gets so much packed into it! Let's begin with May 1st which was Women' s Conference. The next day Saturday May 2nd always makes me feel like I should have the garden planted immediately! So the frantic yard work begins... We edge beds, shop for plants, go buy more plants, then start planting. Pots first, then hanging baskets. Back to Walmart for more potting soil. Back to nursery for more plants. One more trip to Walmart for more more potting soil. Now mind you these baskets pots and flowerbeds get done over several days, but my brain is clogged up thinking about them the whole 2 weeks! Today I will finally plant the rest of the garden (some of the plants were just too tiny two weeks ago when I bought them so I have been growing them on the porch). Besides all this planting there is the never ending grass issues. Dog pee has burned up twenty spots, two days later dog pee has burned up 23 spots. Randy spends most of monday cutting out dog pee spots and replacing with chunks of sod from the beds he is edging. Now there are only 8 spots but more new ones coming every day. Time to up the sprinkling system to help combat pee concentration, then it rains for several days so its hard to get any yard work done. Now it is time for the million trips to the Waste management facility ( the dump, only the other name sounds better) for loads of compost! My first trip this year was a doozey! I had Rhonda Perkins and her boys with me because we were taking a load of their stuff to drop off and then pick up the compost. The brakes kept squeaking all the way there so Christian age 14 can't stop laughing but the real comedy was yet to come. As we pull into the property there is a huge sign that says, "Beware of Signs" what does that mean? Are they attack signs? Then there are like 6 more signs posted one after another every 10 feet or so, that say things like no scavenging, speed limit 15, assorted other messages, none of them seem very threatening, but whatever. Then we get to the place where you're supposed to back up to the edge and unload the stuff. Only too bad for me because they want us to pull in between two other trucks and the edge is uphill from where I am. I pull up to the guy and tell him that space isn't big enough and he says " Are you serious?" No, I just like to make silly conversation with the dump workers! So I say ok, that will be fine and I try to concetrate,but Christian is really laughing now and I hate backing up, up hill especially when there is a light load. So I pull way forward to make sure I start out straight, but this was a mistake because now I have farther to go! I start out, but I'm nervous and the dump guy is watching so I go to fast and just about jackknife it so I pull forward again and then curve the trailer the other way! Christian is now nearly hysterical and so I make about 3 more attempts before getting it semi close and Rhonda says, thats good enough we'll just throw it from here! Bless her, I was mortified and shamed. Once we got unloaded it should have been smooth sailing, but we go to get the compost and I drive the loop that they had us drive last year which is behind all the trees they are shredding and suddenly there is a man chasing us and so I stop and wait for him and he says where are you going? So I calmly explain and he says ,"not this year you should have pulled over here"! Well where are the signs now I ask you? Beware of LACK of signs when you need them it should say! So we pull up to get the stuff and the huge front loader just about runs us down, I guess to prove the point that I was in the wrong area, anyway we get the load and head for home with the brakes really squealing now! Christian still laughing all the way. Need I mention that Randy went for the next few loads!?
Enough about the endless yard work! In May we also get to celebrate Sawyer's birthday, Mother's Day, Randy's Dad's Birthday and cousins Daphne, Benson, Isaac and Karleigh's birthdays! We also have Memorial Day, preschool programs, field trips, recitals, and year end school parties, and Field Day(twice if your in kindergarten). All of these things packed into one regular month! I realize we can't change bdays but what about field trips and programs, do they all have to be the last three weeks of may? Oh, and did I mention that summer semester began on May 11? We are a smidge overscheduled here and I am really hoping that June will at least be a little slower! Or at least I won't have any trips to the dump, or at least there will be no school programs right! No wonder we spend the first three weeks of summer just getting up when we want and eating dinner at 8:30pm instead of the lovely schedule I always envision of everyone up at 7 for scriptures then weeding for a 1/2 hour as a family then a healthy breakfast some quick house cleaning then little school workbooks for Sawyer and Zoe and piano practice for the girls then a picnic lunch to the park back home for naps for Zoe and reading time for the other three. What's next you ask? Well then we would prepare a lovely dinner to eat on the patio and then spend the evening playing baseball together as a family or going for a bike ride! This is really what I want to have happen during the summer, but we are lucky if 1 or 2 of those things happen per week! I have a hard time making my dreams a reality! I think I set my expectations a little high! Instead I should make plans for days when we will stay in jammies and watch 13 episodes of Monk in one day or we will go to the park but the house will be trashed before we go and will remain so after we come home. I need to accept that piano practice will rarely happen, that reading will probably be done in spurts like 3 hours one day and none for the next week ( that still averages 20 min. per day, right?) and that dinner at 8:30 on the patio is almost as nice as dinner on the patio at 6pm. Either way I am really looking forward to June!

A new family member?

No! Don't get the wrong idea! We are definitely not having another baby, but we do get to have another dog for just over a week! Yesterday sweet Bree came to stay with us! She is a wonderful well mannered dog and we are loving having her around! Especially Hunter! He was so pooped out last night from running around with her during the day that he could hardly walk. We think that's a good thing... Anyway, she is full of life since she is just over a year and it is so fun for us. She runs after the kids and is so curious about everything in our house since it is all new to her. It was pretty funny last night when Randy got home from work about 8:30 and came in through the garage door, Bree was asleep next to me and 4 nieces plus our kids and when she suddenly saw a strange man standing there she freeeakkked out! Her hair stood up on end, she barked like a maniac and growled too. I was holding the baby so I couldn't really grab her, so she headed toward Randy and he was smart and just stood still and started calling to her and she crept up to him growling all the way and then sniffed him a little and then started wagging her tail! Good dog, Bree! Nice to know she'd actually protect us if someone broke in! Randy said it scared the crap out of him, his heart was pounding, but now they are best friends. She wouldn't go to bed until he did and she followed him around all the rest of the evening. Maybe they aren't friends, maybe she was just keeping an eye on him! Either way we're glad the Mills Family asked us to babysit.

spring or not to spring!

Are we done with winter or what! Are those scientists sure we are experiencing global warming? I don't remember too many March 20 somethings that have lows in the teens and highs in the 20's! I know it often snows even in April, but bone chilling wind and snow that stays more than a day is not normal, is it? I love the end of March it makes me really excited for Spring. My friend Devri's crocuses are blooming and her other bulbs are almost ready, when I see them I can't help but smile! Our bulbs are just babies (I planted them in the fall) so they are a little slower, but clumps of green are poking out of the ground all over the place. I can't believe it has been 2 years yesterday since we moved to our new house. We love it here and feel so blessed. It is also Reed and Angela's Anniversary this week and I love that too, we have lots of fun memories from their wedding! Easter is coming, General Conference is next week, everything is so good! Out here in the country it is so fun to drive past the huge fields of cows and see more babies every day! Zoe, Sawyer and I try to count all the new little calves with their spindly legs and then we try to guess which cows are still pregnant, a little hard to do as we fly by at 50 mph. Our neighbors across the street have new baby chicks that are so sweet! We just try not to think about how big and chickenish they will get in a few months and relish in their sweet yellow fluffiness and their soft little peeps! Oooh, I love spring!

Garside Family Christmas Party!

This year we hosted the Garside Family Christmas Party at our house again and it was so fun! A few years back, we started getting together the Sunday before Christmas for dinner and a party and a chance to exchange gifts with each other and we think it is a great tradition! When we are all together( minus Rhonda, Mike and the kids who are in Conn.) there are 31 of us and we got a surprise treat with Randy's cousin and wife who were stuck in SLC due to weather on their way to Hawaii! So it really was a party! We eat, sing songs, read the Nativity and then open gifts. The only thing that could have made it better were if Rhonda's family could have been with us too!

Happy Valentines Day!

This year I spent Valentines Day with many of my favorite valentines! We had a little party at our house with Oma and Papa and Brady and Wendy and the boys! We had a great pasta bar and Papa brought Marie Callendar pies for dessert. The girls spent time decorating the house and planning out games and they turned out to be the best part of the evening. Addison had played this game at school the day before and it was so fun! You try to pick up candy hearts with a straw while the rest of the table takes a turn rolling the dice and when you get doubles you get to suck up the candy until someone else gets doubles! Needless to say things got a bit exciting and it was great to see my little 3 yr old nephew Carson be just plain amazing at picking up the hearts! I can't remember who won, but everyone had a great time! Then we played bingo and after that sent the kids to one TV to watch Cheetah Girls 3, while the grownups watched Nights in Rodanthe! I picked it up thinking romantic chick flick perfect for Valentines but when the main love interest ended up dead I can't say it was my favorite! I should have known better, Nicholas Sparks likes his books to either begin or end with a death, sure wish this one would have started with one! Anyway, I think this was a great way to spend Valentines rather than waiting 2 hrs for a seat in a restaurant or getting to the movie just in time for it to be sold out! Both of which we have done numerous times on Valentines so this was definitely better!

Happy Anniversary!

February 10th was our 13th anniversary! How can it have been that long ago? It feels more like 5-7 years. I am so thankful for my amazing husband I can't imagine my life without him. I am going to copy a friend and make a list of some of the great qualities that Randy has so here are the top ones:
Randy is- an incredible handy man, we joke and call him "Handy Randy" he can do just about anything he puts his mind to including but not limited to finish carpentry, sprinkling systems, plumbing repair, electrical work, cement work, car repair and maintenance, electronic repair, painting, sheetrock, framing, etc.
Randy is- not afraid to do things that traditionally are womens work, obviously all his hairstylist skills, but he can also use a sewing machine, design a pattern, wash dishes by hand, clean a bathroom like noone I know, rock and sing to a baby and buy tampons with out a second thought

Randy is- not afraid to try new things and learn new skills. He took up Wakeboarding several years ago without knowing how to swim very well and without owning a boat, he took a class and reupholstered our couch, he has learned how to dutch oven cook, how to lay tile, how to roof a house, how to build a fence, he takes every opportunity to gain more knowledge from people.

Randy is- a great father. He loves to play with his kids and loves to work with them as well. They all know that if Dad can just get something accomplished on Mondays then he is usually up for some sort of play. He is great to bring home little treats or suprises for everyone when they least expect it. He makes up fabulous bedtime stories that all the kids look forward to, the big as well as the little.
Randy is- kind and generous with his time. He is always thinking of ways that he can help others whether it is snow shoveling or just being a friend to someone who might need it. He is quite often busy doing things for other people, but never forgets to count the cost on his family first.

Randy is- a thoughtful husband. He wakes up in the morning and will rub my back to loosen it up without being asked, in fact, I think he does this because his back hurts in the morning so he thinks mine probably does also. He is so supportive of me in my callings at church and with my school work. He makes dinner, does laundry and cleans the house on mondays so that I can spend the entire day studying. He tells me he loves me several times a day and if the kids mouth off to me, he quite adorably tells them that I am his wife and they had better not speak to me that way!
Randy is- tall and strong and handsome. All the more so because of the wonderful qualities he has. He loves to throw parties, to laugh, to camp, to watch movies, to ride the 4 wheeler, to boat, to garden, to work hard and to play hard. He is a fantastic person and one I want to be more like. He is my best friend and my love forever! Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

Everyone needs an antibiotic!

I am totally sick of all this sickness! Since Christmas everyone has been sick at least once and there was a point last week when 4 out of 6 of us were on antibiotics! Zoe's eardrum burst, Taysom had her first ear infection of her life, Sawyer had some unexplained rash, Randy had a giant sinus infection and Addie who has been the healthiest of us all has had a stomachache or headache or sore throat about 10 different times lately. I went ahead with my vein surgery on my leg on the 29th of January ended up with a skin infection, so we are all visiting the doctor lately and filling prescriptions. Apparently this is a yearly phenomenon, since as I was gathering all of our end of year things for taxes, I realized the last time we filled a rash of prescriptions was last Jan-Feb. then things seem to calm down considerably. I hope that is how it is this year as well, because I am almost out of Lysol and I am going through Clorox wipes by the dozens each day!