Some Pictures

 Brooks doing the tango... and LOVING IT!

 Drake blocking a bayonet charge with Ernie.

 Not a Gatorade Ad. Drake and Carson after our Olympics FHE. Carson is from Egypt, and Drake is from another country.

 Carson's nasty scab after two weeks of healing.

 Backyard camping.

 The boys less Brooks.

Funny face.

I hiked a "Fourteener"

Mt. Bierstadt aint got nuttin' on me. I hiked to the tip top summit of 14,060 feet with my gimpy leg and all. We did it with the youth this weekend and it was a blast. I will post more pictures of it later, but for now, here is one I stole off of facebook.

*The instruction from the photographer was to "look excited" that we just summited the mountain...pretty sure I nailed that :).

Proud New Owners!

(This isn't our actual car, but our looks exactly the same...color and all)

The title of this post is a bit deceiving, because if you know us (well), you know we have had this car for almost two years, but it wasn't entirely ours because a portion of it always belonged to our lender. But, NO MORE I SAY!! But we paid off our car this past weekend!!!!! I despise having any debt so even though we did have a fair amount left on the loan, we decided it would be a good plan to pay it all off and try to save a little more in place of the car payment. It feels so very, very good.
Let's just hope our trusty little Corolla goes a bit longer before biting the dust. It does have 180,000 miles on it, but I'm going for a million :).

The "H" Word

I have reserved the "H" word for this post. I try not to use the word...much. I find it inappropriate, and offensive. It is a poor substitute for words which could work so much better in describing our feelings. That being said, I hate Vertigo.
It had reared its ugly head again today. This time, with a vengeance. My poor husband went into work early. It is a busy day, lots to do, lots of pressure.
It was early enough, I wasn't out of bed yet. I did however, leap out of bed to yet another round of feral screaming sometime later. The minute I did, the house moved around me, including the floor under my feet. and vomiting has ensued.
In fact, this is the first time I have had my eyes open all day (it's 11:00am) since fist thing this morning, and I haven't been sleeping. Really, I hate Vertigo.

Mystery Solved

In the record breaking heat (July was the hottest month on record that CO has ever had...yipes!), we have been doing a lot of swimming. Besides the utter mayhem and LOADS of stuff and prep it takes to get to the pool, I love it. (Getting to the pool makes getting to church seem like a walk in the park).
The one thing that makes me BONKERS whilst (don't you just love that word?! ...and the fact that I have used a whole lot of parenthesis) swimming is the fact that Drake has to go pee literally every 10 minutes. The boy already pees three times as much as he drinks, but it is very much magnified when we go to the pool. It wouldn't be that big of a deal at all, except Drake can't reach the light, so I have to get out of the pool every time, baby in tow. After he is done, he can't get his wet swim suit up by himself and stands there, naked by the pool and screams until I do it which, inevitably turns into yet another power struggle because I want him to try to do it himself first. It makes me was to cry every time I hear, "Ah, hahf ago potty!"...whimper, whimper, whine. At first I thought it was the fact that we are swimming and the water makes him feel like he has to go. Wrong. Then, I thought it was due to swimming right after breakfast where he loves to drink a big cup of milk. Wrong. I then figured it was because he likes the bathroom at the pool. The boy can't seem to get enough of public restrooms (much to my horror). WRONG.
After the 6th time going potty at the pool today, (that is the actual number), I had a light bulb moment...he drinks the pool water!!!!!! Ugh...

He's a Dreamer

When Carson wakes up in the morning he likes to go all  non-stop, steady stream, verbal vomit on us until he has told us all the vivid dreams lingering in his brain. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes. While some of it is certainly intriguing, most of it is random. Dave and I listen and give appropriate nods, and "wows" and "that is incredible!", etc. Even though we might not be as drawn in as we try to seem, there is one very captive audience member.
Drake can't get enough of these stories, his little jaw hangs slightly open, his eyes stay WIDE under his constantly raised eyebrows. He doesn't even blink...seriously. And he remains statue still, staring Carson down the entire time.
Another dream"...and there was a house, a BIG house, and it was all made of ice cream. And then, Drake ate it! All of it!! And it made him fat, but not just a little fat, REEEALLLLLY fat. He was so fat, he couldn't even fit in his bed!..."
Drake was so enamored he couldn't contain himself. He whipped his head toward me, "Weeeeeee (really) fat?!?!?!" He needed some sort of validation. What Carson says is always the gospel truth to the little guy and this information was hard to wrap his head around.
"Really fat" I confirmed. That was all he needed. His head whipped back to Carson and it continued, but by this time we were onto monsters and guinea pigs.

Ahhgust Fuhdee-fuhst

Is Drakes birthday. And he swears he is going to be 49 years old on this day. Hmmmm.

Blog Morph

I feel like my blog is morphing a bit. Life has exploded on me and I am furiously working trying to stay on top of things. I am maintaining everything that I REALLY want to but spare pockets of time where I can create and "play" and discover are all but gone. I know someday they will return, but my blog is kind of one of those things. Alas, I have the GREAT desire to record my life, and this is where it happens. I suppose my blog will have to change from occasional creative writing, to fingertip vomit because I need the therapy of getting it out and simply expressing how I feel.
Today for instance, I don't really have anything to say. At least, nothing that anybody else would care to read, and that is ok. Today, I write to myself, for myself.
I feel like I had a good weekend with the boys. Slowly but surely, they WILL teach me patience. Carson has been bickering with Drake a fair amount and I am tired of the teasing. Drake has no fear of rising to the occasion. Oh well. They are both incredibly sweet boys, and perk right up, and behave beautifully with a little extra attention and one on one time. They are good boys. Above everything, I want them to feel like their parents and especially me (because I am the one with them all the time), love them more than anything. And that they feel like mom and dad think they are the neatest people in the whole world, and that they view themselves that way.
Brooks is a mama's boy. This is a first for me. By now, the other two have preferred daddy. While it is kind of exhausting, and really hard to get things done because he wants to snuggle me ALL the time. I secretly LOVE it.
I got to play the organ today. I am not an actual organist, but I kind of like the pressure of getting up there and doing my best (especially with only 12 hours notice). I tried to go a practice last night only to be kicked out almost immediately by a baptism. I thought I'd be safe on a Saturday night. Oh well.That is one of those areas where someday, I would love to take the opportunity to groom and grow my talent, but right now other things (three cute ones) are pressing. I can feel that I have a knack for it, but it would require practice, just like anything else.
Another reason that I love to go to church is because I love people. I have come to the realization that I really need and love having good friends. I have come into this more and more since my college years. Now that we are all alone out here with no family, friends are THAT much more important. It makes it hard though when they leave. We had some good friends move back to Boise last month and as embarrassing as it is to admit it, I am having a hard time with it. I miss them -  a lot!
Lastly, I want to recommit my self to a good morning time scripture study...again. I know that is where the strength that I so desperately crave will be found. Couple that with frequent fervent prayer and I think we will have a recipe for success!

A "rocky" experience

There is a first time for everything I suppose. And as a mom of three boys - it had to happen sooner or later...
We got a knock on the door this afternoon from one of our back-door neighbors. She came to tell us Carson was throwing rocks over the fence and almost hit one of the kids in her backyard. In her fist she held a rock the size of a tennis ball.
Seizing the opportunity to teach Carson a life lesson, I promptly took him around the block to ring the doorbell and apologize to all parties involved.
"Carson, this is a good opportunity to turn a bad choice into a good choice. What should we say when we get to Mary's house?"
After some prompting and discussion, he practiced the line, "I am sorry for throwing rocks over the fence. I won't do it again."
We reached the house and Carson rang the doorbell. Simultaneously, the invisible rubber band that was very short, and very strong snapped Carson back to my side and wrapped him around my right leg.
Of course the mom knew exactly why we were there (she was SO kind about the whole ordeal and was SO understanding), and led us into the backyard where she was entertaining her guests which included a small pool full of kids.
Carson froze. Shocker, right? There were tears, threats, hugs, and a whole lot of fear.
The sweet kids stood there wide eyed in the pool waiting so patiently for Carson to "make it right". They kept encouraging with phrases like, "It's okay". "Don't be sad, Carson." "Thanks for coming to say sorry."
In the end a muffled and shakey "sorry. I won't do it again" came out of his mouth. Lesson learned.
While it wasn't my favorite mommy moment, I was grateful for Carson doing something that was hard for him, and "making it right".
Any guesses on how long it will take for something like this to happen again?