The Mother of Geese

Dear Heidi, I don't know why this amuses me so. I have your pictures. I don't email them to you. I blog them. It's funny to me. Just so I know, whose wedding was that? When did Mateo graduate? I might as well get the details right seeing as I have them all. I think it's funny AND convenient not bringing your camera everywhere. And seriously, its not like YOU were ever going to blog them, Facebook girl. (I suppose this means you're not going to be emailing me the pictures from the caves and canyon then right?) Heidi's kid Sarah experiencing J-Dawg love Heidi's other kid Mateo munching the Dawg

(in the spirit of full disclosure these pictures are from Heidi's camera. I was supposed to email them to her about 2 weeks ago. But come on, like SHE is EVER going to blog this. Not judging. Just saying.) On our way to the museum one day we stopped to watch the fire department doing some drills. They generously invited us to come over and take a tour of the truck. Max's head nearly exploded he was so excited. Fire fighter Tino Sarah Mateo Abbie Amelia Getting fitted with the mandatory ropes. Tino and Mateo took a ride up 110 feet in the ladder. It was so great for them. I love Mateo's face. Up And Up. We enjoyed the view from the safe ground below. 110 feet is a long way up. I think the cats in Lehi who get stuck in a tree will be just fine.

This little "joker" really likes black beauty smoothies (blueberry yogurt, blackberries, soy milk) No matter how I attempt to style her hair she pulls a strip straight down the middle of her forehead. I spend most of the day putting it back where I think it should go. She also made a sign for her bed with a red x and the words NO HUMANS allowed. She really doesn't like people on her bed. Hey exterminator man, buy some spray from Home Depot rather than taking on the wasps by yourself. Check out those impressive implants on his hand and lips though. Hazen is running around realizing that we came wholly unprepared with our bread rations for the sea of ducks awaiting us. Run Hazen Run! Hazen decided to eat the bread himself then chuck hunks of mud to the ducks. I made the boys wear matchy matchy because I could keep track of them. I didn't want the ducks to carry them off somewhere. First day of school (a week ago). There are 84 kids that get picked up on the 2 stops in o...

yes I said adventure...I'll be there sooooooooooon"(name that super lame SNL skit the title was based on..anyone? anyone? "it's my way on the old space highway?"...anyone? I'll make a pie for the person that can name it.) Amelia had a birthday a few weeks ago and she chose a rocket theme. Here's the some pictures from the party. The invitations The shirt I made at the last minute The rocket for the kids to blast off in The child in the rocket is the unrequited object of her affections. She gets very giggly. Lining up after the hunt for golden moon rocks Launching alien eggs Walking in moon boots Super messy shaving cream and glue moon craft Amelia's other object of affection Shooting off rockets It was great to have the kids shag their own rockets. We didn't lose any. The fabulous cake by Jessica and rocket fuel Since I was prepping cake I missed the present opening part. The 7 year old tasked with keeping track of everything didn't. So....

I mentioned a while back that Max qualified for speech therapy. I love the lady that comes to work with him and he is showing some small and steady progress. However, I often get asked by friends and others if they know "what's wrong" with him. Wrong? Nothing is "wrong" he is just gets a little shy and also lacks motivation. Some have even questioned my putting him in therapy in the first place. I have been told that he will "probably be fine and figure it out on his own" anyway. Or "so and so didn't have any words then woke and said such and such". Some have even said "once they start talking they never stop" Har. Har. To those people I can only remember that they aren't equipped with the promptings I have felt to help him communicate with his world. His IEFP (like an IEP) has recently been ramped up to include weekly playgroups and a speech specialist who looks at how Max forms his words. (He is very close lipped and needs...

This summer Abbie has had the fun opportunity to care for some neighbors chickens. She takes her responsbility very seriously and often recruits help for her very important duty. In fact on "chicken mornings" she would often wake much earlier than I deemed necessary. I would remind her that chickens like to get up slowly and need to stay in for at least another hour. (lie). Sad story: One evening after she wrangled the chickens back inside she was checking for eggs. She was given a basket for collecting the eggs and told that she could take as many eggs as she wanted home. She gathered up several eggs, put them in the basket, hopped on her bike to ride home. And then fell. And broke all but one of her eggs. She was devastated. This is where the rooster is kept. The other roosters are in the freezer. Do you love the contraption rigged up for water and food? She was really good at it. I also love how far back the city boy is from the caged action. The chickens have been a reall...

The scene of the crime: This small hill accumulates sprinkler water making it a super fun water ride on bikes. My kids have loved and played here for years . Fun right? After taking the kids to the park we noticed the path was all watery and filled up so I sat on the telephone box (lightish green thing near the wheel of the car) to supervise. The weapon: More kids joined the fun including one kid who thought he had some mad scooter tricks. After repeated warnings to "be careful there are other kids here..." He ran into (and over) Max. See that circle thing on the handle bar. Totally has Max's scalp in it now. Max reinacted the crime as the weapon was discarded and left here for days. Brad was not picking up his cell so I had Papa come and take us to the ER. I ended up emailing this picture to Brad (holla iPhone!) Upclose and personal. Nasty right? I chose to have Max put out because it seemed like the kinder alternative than strapping him down. He was a rockstar. I was fa...