Lots of pics...some writing

We're home! Just a quick rundown of the last 2 weeks...lots of fun...Lish and Jay's wedding, (no pics sorry took all the pics on their camera!) Johnson family pics, Zane and Uncle Jamie on the tramp with the sprinkler, lots of playing outside, Rhett got a concusion at a family reunion from falling off an 8 foot slide and we visited 3 hospitals in 8 hours....everything is fine and I'll write the story next time, did Waterton and did I mention that we had sooooo much fun? Here's some pics and I'll do more details in the next day or so I promise!

A lot of this and that!

This post is probably going to be a pretty good length and no pictures yet sorry. I'm posting in southern Alberta and will have to wait until I'm back in Sylvan before getting some pictures up. But enough of that and on to the fun!
Tuesday morning I left Sylvan with the boys at 6:30 am to go to Zane's dentist appt at 7 and then we headed south. We made pretty good time and got to Raymond just after noon. We spent the next couple of days playing with Grammie and Grandpa Dooley when we could, helping with last minute wedding stuff where we could, and helping move Great Grandpa Knibb into the Lodge in Raymond. We were pretty busy but the kids were troopers! Cliff drove down Wednesday night and headed straight to Barnwell. He had a tee time the next morning at 9 with a high school friend so we took our sweet time getting to Barnwell on Thursday and ended up all at Grandma's house at the same time. The kids love Barnwell because they have a little more freedom to run between Grandma and Grandma Great's houses, jump on the trampoline, play crash on auntie's play station and pretty much run the show.
We went out with Cliff's family Thursday night to Cheesecake...so fun - good food and 11 of us! We didn't really think to call ahead so we ended up sitting in 3 different booths that were all together but not too great for conversation. Oh well. We still had a great time and the kids did pretty good. While we were waiting to get in Cliff and Kristie stayed in the van with them and watched a Backyardigans movie over and over - I did take them some cookies to combat the munchies! After supper Cliff's parents were great and traded us vehicles and took the kids home so we could run to the mall and get Cliff a new phone. His decided to suddenly die when he got here. Not good to drop every call when work is trying to get a hold of you! We've had his old one for about 5 years so really it didn't owe us anything and Cliff got the one he's been wanting for quite awhile.
Friday was pretty relaxed. We didn't really have a lot to do until the evening when it was time to do wedding stuff for Lish and Jay. I do have to say that Lish gave me a pretty good scare when she called me that morning in tears saying something was wrong...my first thought (and Kizzy's and her 2 best friends) was that the wedding was called off! Thank goodness we were wrong! There was a snag with the decorating time and a few other things but everything got sorted out. We met everyone down at the Lethbridge country club that evening for a quick run through rehearsal and then went to the Regent. I LOVE the Regent. I'm not a fan of Chinese food in Red Deer and we haven't been brave enough to try any in Sylvan so I was really happy to get some great food! Thanks Lish and Jay for including us in your day!
Saturday was a great day in so many ways. Of course we had Lish and Jay's wedding this weekend but Barnwell was also celebrating Centennial days so they had lots of fun things planned Friday and Saturday. Grandma Great decided to do a float for the parade on Saturday and Zane has been so excited about it since he found out about it. All he wanted was to ride the float and throw candy. So we started off the day by going to the pancake breakfast - yummy yummy. The kids played at the park for awhile and then we headed back to Grandma's to jump on the trampoline. We found Grandpa a little while later hooking up the tractor to the trailer for the float so we hitched a ride to Grandma Great's house and helped with the decorating for awhile. After lunch the boys went with Grandpa to take the float over to the church and we met them over them. This started the longest part of the day for Zane. He's on the float, has a bucket of candy and we're not moving anywhere yet! We sat for about 35 minutes before starting off and he was just thrilled! By the time we had gone about 1/4 of the route he had thrown all of his candy and even got to throw some water balloons. Oh the bliss of it for him. Rhett either sat on my lap or stood in front of me and ate a very sticky, very green sucker. By the time we were halfway done he was one big sticky mess all over. Cliff had ditched his socks so we dunked one in a bucket of water from the water balloons and used that to clean up most of the mess. I hate being sticky and was not holding him for the rest of the way like that. Yuck. As we finished off the route Hansens were handing out ice cream sandwiches to everyone so of course the boys thought they were in heaven. Zane decided to stay at Grandma Greats and play some games while I drug Rhett back to Grandma's for a much needed nap. He can't make it yet without a nap and although it was late I thought mom and dad would appreciate a happy Rhett while we were gone rather than a grouchy-can't stand you - Rhett. And I was right! Cliff and I left around 4:30 and headed for Lethbridge so the rest of the night for the kids is what I have been told. They did more jumping, played at a park, rode the go-cart at Grandma Great's with cousin Rebecca and apparently LOVED it, had a bath, popcorn for a snack, and got to stay up and watch the fireworks. Zane really liked the fireworks but Rhett wasn't too interested. I'm so glad they had such a great day! Thanks again mom and dad and Kristie for watching them and making such good memories for them!
On to the wedding. I got to see Lish as she got to the country club and immediately teared up - she was gorgeous and mom and Kizzy looked fantastic as well. I was sooo emotional all day but that's ok. Everything went great and really smooth during the ceremony - minus the one pause the officiator had to make to allow a helicopter to fly over. She just couldn't out shout the thing. Mom, Kizzy, and I leaked tears through the whole thing and Lish and Jay had their moments. They looked really happy and we're glad that year of planning paid off for them! Some quick family pictures after the ceremony and we were off to run a few quick errands before the reception. Lish asked if I would take pictures of people after they signed the guest book ( a photo album) so they could match pictures to people. A fun idea that went pretty smoothly. I took a lot of fun candid shots too so I hope they have a lot of good memories. The rest of the night went really well. Food was great, slide show that Lish did was fantastic, all the toasts were well done and I cried through the dance of Lish and Dad. We were finally able to convince the bride and groom to go so that we could clean up and Cliff and I made it back to Barnwell just after 1:00 am. Minus one drunk cousin that I really don't like it was a great day.
Mom and dad were great this morning as well. I got up with the kids at 7:00 and mom sent me back to bed for more sleep! THANK YOU! We have a family dinner here and we're going to try and get some family pics - the last big ones we did Zane was maybe 2 - time for some new ones! And then Cliff is headed home to Sylvan and the boys and I back to Raymond until after the long weekend!
Whew - that was a long one but it's all things I want to remember and if it interests you - great!

10 Things...

Ok I know I did this 3 months ago but things always change and my memory can always use the help!


10 Thing I Want to Remember about Rhett....

1. Your obsession with Lightning McQueen....you carry your Lightning car everywhere and are always saying "oh no mom...queen crashed!" to which I say "Oh, no, McQueen crashed" and to which you giggle and say "yeah, 'Queen crashed AGAIN!" - with lots of emphasis added
2. You are absolutely thrilled that you can call Zane by name now and yourself as well
3. You LOVE books...and will hole up in your room with me and just bring me books and snuggle in the rocking chair...I love it
4. When you hear the word GO you automatically head for the door at top speed, find your shoes and follow me around begging until I put them on you
5. You want to do everything that Zane does...right now
6. Every time you hear a vehicle in the alley you run to the window to see if it's Daddy...and when he finally gets home you rush the door and attack his legs
7. You RUN everywhere!
8. You are finally starting to sleep through most nights. Thank you!
9. You're starting to add words to your vocab very quickly now and have mastered AMEN at prayers - something you are very proud of
10. You love to "talk" to grammie on the phone - you get it, put it to your ear and walk around saying "hi bubba" about 5 or 6 times then listen and start all over again



10 Things I want to Remember about Zane....

1. Your new-found independence....pouring your own water and milk, getting your own snacks...hard for your control freak mom to let go but awesome to see you do it
2. You went up with the primary kids to sing today even though you were scared to death. You stood there shaking and winking at me and held it together until you got back to me. I was so proud and trying not to cry for you because it was a big hurdle for you to conquer!
3. Your love of friends!
4. You are a chatter box on the phone now...you love to talk to the grandma's and I have to sneak in my own talk time or else I don't get to talk...and you talk for about 20 minutes at a time! So fun to listen to you ramble on to them
5. You love chapter books - we read every night one or two chapters of a book and we've already finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlotte's Web. We watched both of the movies already and we're looking forward to finishing Matilda.
6. You always give me lots of hugs and kisses and tell me how much you love me!
7. You are so kind to Rhett - yesterday you made sure to ask for an extra sucker in primary so Rhett could have one too
8. You could eat the same thing for lunch every day - cheese and crackers and an apple
9. You are getting so much better on your bike!
10. You're growing up so fast but still need your mom's hugs and kisses and cuddles


10 Things I want to remember about Cliff

1. The way you pray sincerely for our family and the blessings that we need. I love to listen to you talk to our Father
2. Your reassuring calm when I'm freaking out about something small
3. Golfing early in the morning so you can still spend time with us on your day off
4. Complimenting me on my cooking
5. Calling me when you are going to be late...keeps my mind at ease and from imagining horrible things!
6. How I am your social secretary - you tell me when events are and check with me to make sure we don't have things planned before agreeing to a guy's night
7. You tell me you love me everyday
8. You and Zane playing hockey or basketball
9. You and Rhett after baths...Rhett wrapped up in his towel and just chillin' with dad watching whatever sport is on
10. You spoil me!


10 Things I want to remember about Me...
1. I'm learning to nap
2. I'm learning to be a bit more spontaneous with plans
3. Dealing with a 2 year old on a daily basis is NOT making me more patient
4. I'm still sleep deprived
5. I'm enjoying quilting
6. I'm hoping to be released from music soon...
7. Love cheesecake
8. Miss my hubby every day that I'm in southern Alberta
9. Hoping my house sells but am ok if we stay longer
10. Am so blessed to have all the good friends I do

We had a talk from our high council member yesterday and he talked about keeping a journal and recording things in your life that are important to you, spiritual experiences, as well as everyday events. I hope that someday the effort I make now will bless my family and maybe they'll learn something that will help them in their lives.

Summer Days

It seems like every time I blink another day has come and gone. We're having a pretty lazy summer so far. We try to go to the park or the lake in the mornings and that frees up our afternoons for Rhett's nap and some down time for me and Zane. I'm working on 3 quilts right now trying to get 2 of them done in the next 3 weeks or so. Ahh. I'm a little crazy sometimes. We've started our softball rec league and we usually bring the boys with us Wednesday nights...late night for them usually means a little grumpiness the next day but it's still fun to get out and play. I'm not so sure that I'm a great contributor to the team all the time but I try.
We're starting to count days until we leave for southern Alberta for Lishie and Jay's wedding. I think we're down to 12...pretty exciting and me and the boys will stay for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll get lots of playing with friends and family in, lots of quilting for me and grammie, and a good visit to hold us until the next time we're down.
We got to see Grandpa Dooley on Tuesday for awhile and the kids had a blast playing with Grandpa. We went for a bike ride and Zane got too far ahead so I had to run about 3 blocks to catch up with him. I was furious that he had gone so far ahead but by the time I caught up to him I was breathing so hard I couldn't yell. I explained as calmly as I could that when he was that far ahead I can't help him if he falls or if someone tried to grab him off his bike. (what an awful world that I have to explain that one to my 5 year old) But I also praised him for his confidence in going up and down the curbs because that's been a sore point the past couple of weeks. We're hoping to see Grandpa again today!
Zane now has two friends named Parker and he's forever talking about one of the other of them. Parker Allred lives here in Sylvan while Parker Guenther lives in Red Deer. It's fun to listen to him talk about one or the other of them and plan for play dates or things he can make them.
Sorry this is short...I've got a list a mile long today and not a lot of time to get it done!

Tradition Lives On!

Grayson McDougall playing with trains and trucks. He was in heaven in Rhett's room!
Me doing some food clean-up after the feast!
Zane got jumped on in the bouncer and is showing off his bruise.

Keri Pratt, Averly Van Orman, and Grace Van Orman
Liesel Morin, Trent Allred, Thea McDougall with her kids Grayson and Jayla
Jenny Allred, Ashley Guenther, Ben Guenther
Trevor Pratt checking on the kids and the bouncer - they had so much fun
And more of the fun had by the kids!

Well the 1st has come and gone and we celebrated with a BBQ worthy of the Robinson tradition if I do say so myself. We invited as many friends as we could think of, got the fixin's, made food assignments and got the house and yard ready. Cliff fired the BBQ up at 5 and got things rolling and we had a great time laughing, eating, chasing kids - you know all the fun stuff you do when there's a big crowd in a small place. Trevor and Keri Pratt surprised us and brought one of their bouncers and set it up in our backyard. The kids LOVED it. We've decided to make it a once-a-year bash. Of course it will have to be earlier or later in the summer because we hope that this is the last 1st that we miss celebrating in Raymond. We do want to say thanks to all of our friends who came and played and helped us celebrate the first. It made me feel much less homesick to be surrounded by people who love us.

To Make Memories

I've been thinking a lot about memories lately. Some because I swear there are days that my short term memory is non existent, some because of this blog and the insane amounts of pictures I take, some because of the fun things we do as a family, some because of the lengths that I've gone to preserve our memories, and some because of tragedies in other's lives.
When we first had Zane I took a lot of teasing because of the number of pictures I took of him. I always had my camera nearby. I literally have thousands of pictures of him (and Rhett's closing in) in his short lifespan already. Sometimes I think that I'm a little crazy, but then I remember how fast I forget things and how quickly I remember them when I look at the pictures. When I look through the albums it reminds me of things, and stories - some are written down and some are triggered by the pictures and the ones I've written. I cherish them and know that in years to come when they are grown and gone the effort will have been worth it.
Then there are things that I purposefully plan in an effort to make memories for the kids that they will remember. Traditions are always a great way to make memories and I think Cliff and I have done a pretty good job of melding our family's traditions. This is the first year that we won't be spending the July 1st long weekend in Raymond. So we are trying to do fun things here. Last night we walked down town (oh wow is it ever a zoo here in Sylvan!) and went to an ice cream store that we don't usually go to. The Big Moo (I think, or just the Moo) sells food and hard ice cream and always has crowds. Although it took a long time to get our ice cream and was outrageously priced, I'm hoping it is something that the boys will remember. We walked home with ice cream dripping and Zane suggested the next time we wanted ice cream that maybe we should go to Dairy Queen! Unrelated, but still cute, Rhett LOVES puddles. When we walk anywhere he's always say hi and bye to the puddles and waving to them. Including the lake. I can't convince him that it's a lake and not a puddle. Every time he sees the lake it's "hi puddle". It makes me giggle and be glad that he's 2 this summer. It's fun to see him learn and grow. He looks like such a big kid now with his long skinny legs and arms. Sigh.
As I said before some tragedy has also had me thinking of memories...a family in my home ward suffered a house fire on Friday. It destroyed everything. No one was hurt but the family suffered a tremendous loss. All their physical mementos of their lives were lost in the fire. No pictures, journals, trophies, music, collections - all is gone. And as I've thought about this my heart just breaks for them because I can't even imagine what it feels like to have a lifetime of stuff destroyed and gone. But part of me remembers that it is stuff. It doesn't make it less important because it is stuff, but the most important thing is that no one was harmed in the fire. They as a family are whole in the physical sense. Re-building their house, collecting new "stuff" and making new memories will be hard and painful. But they have each other to do that with, and that is the most important. It also makes me thankful for technology. I blog and print that and save it as my journal, I also save it on a memory stick. Theoretically, if my computer is destroyed by something I can still access my memories and pass them on to my family. The same goes for my pictures. Technology has made it possible to compress so much information into such a small place that I am able to carry it in my 72 hour kit.
And so I hope that we all continue to make memories - hold on to the good ones, let go of the bad ones and learn from them all!

Am I Prepared?

Earlier this week I had the constant feeling and impression that I needed to make sure our 72 hour kit was ready and accessible. It consumed my thoughts and I felt an urgency that I could not put off. I knew it was the spirit whispering so I took some time of my day to go through our kit and organized, added to it, and made a list of things that I still need to collect for it. As I was doing this I kept thinking of different scenarios that would cause us to need our kit and what we would do in these situations...what I would grab if we had to leave immediately, or in fifteen minutes or in 2 hours. It was really interesting to me to think of the things that held such importance in our lives that I would grab them in the 15 minute situation and others in the 2 hour situation. I also know that we would be heading to Raymond if anything did happen. My mom suggested this awhile ago and it makes sense for us to head for our families if there is a crisis. So tomorrow we are going to have a family home evening on being prepared, and exit strategies out of the house and that sort of thing.
The kids and I really enjoyed the sunshine we had this week. They've both got tan lines for the first time...we're not hibernating inside an apartment anymore and both kids beg to go outside all the time. I'm sporting some pretty good lines myself this year and hope that the sunshine keeps up so I can keep the tan. It's nice to be a darker shade of white!
I feel like time is just flying by as we go from one activity to the next. I've been working on a quilt, we've gone to the park, played with the Robison kids and Cliff and I were able to do a temple session on Friday. It's always great to go to the temple and feel the peace and comfort that comes from that sanctuary. I am so thankful that we have a temple close enough to go to on a monthly basis and for a great friend who will watch our children all day so that it's possible! Thanks Leslie! We both were able to get some answers that we have been working on for awhile so it made the trip just that more special and nice.
Yesterday I finally finished re-painting the bathroom. Way back in February when Cliff put in the new tub and toilet the walls got a little mucked up in places so cliff mudded and sanded and I painted....The bathroom is NOT my favorite room to paint in the house. Ours has too many little spots that a roller won't fit and the last time I did this I had Kinsey here to help. So much quicker when you have someone cutting and someone rolling. Oh well. It's done, it looks good, and hopefully when we sell people will think that too!
I can't believe that it is almost the 1st of July. We're not going to be home for the first this year... That has never happened in all of my 27 years. But the kids and I are staying for almost 2 weeks at the end of July after Alisha's wedding. We're looking forward to lots of fun times with family and friends. We're very lucky that our families will let us come and stay for such long times and that Cliff is willing to let me and kids go. He misses us so much but knows how much I miss our families and how important it is for the kids to have those family ties as well.
Have I rambled enough? I think I probably have. I know it was fairly random but honestly that's how my brain has been working lately! Hope all is well with everyone!

Pictures, Father's Day and Cathing up

I know it's been awhile. And I have been doing things. But mostly I just didn't feel like I really had anything to write down. So we'll add some pictures and start to ramble and I'll probably get to the end of this post and realize that I really did have something to say!

This is the quilt I made for Lara's baby boy Burke. I went to her shower Thursday night and had so much fun. Everyone loved the quilt and I owe it all to Whitney's fabulous tutorial! Thanks Whit!

I took the kids and went to the Innisfail Parade on Saturday morning with Dave, Leslie and the kids. We met Leslie's mom there and it was great! It rained all the way to Innisfail and all the way back to Red Deer but it didn't rain on the parade! The kids had a blast running after candy, waving to everyone and enjoying the free for all we gave them on what they ate. Zane decided to eat a piece of salt water taffy and pulled out one of his fillings. ( I don't usually let him eat that stuff just for that reason but didn't notice what he chose out of his bag) Hopefully we'll be able to get into the pediatric dentist sooner than later to get it fixed! After the parade I took the kids back to Red Deer and picked up lunch at Wendy's, which is something Zane has been wanting to do for quite a while. Rhett fell asleep on the way home and Zane and I were able to have some fun time together. We played a game, did some mazes in his maze book and wrapped Cliff's Father's Day present. After Rhett woke up they decided to do some more decorating of the wrapping...

And they couldn't wait for Cliff to open it so we all got to enjoy Daddy's father's day gift a day early....

Rhett has the tail end of his croupy cough and Zane's only on day 2 of it so we stayed home from church. Too many kids in our ward to go out in public with that kind of stuff. The Robison family came over for supper and some fun and we let all the kids take a turn at the drums with Cliff helping...it was so much fun to watch all of their different reactions and expressions. We are so blessed to have such great friends to share good times with.

With today being Father's Day I would like to thank my husband for being the wonderful man that he is. He is so proud of his boys and is such a great daddy with them. I count my blessings every day that he is ours and know that he will do a wonderful job of showing them how to be a righteous man, a worthy priesthood holder and some day a wonderful husband and dad themselves. I love you hun! Hope you had a good day! And of course I am so grateful for my own dad and for Cliff's dad. Both continue to be great supports to us and wonderful examples to their grandsons. My children are truly blessed to have these great men in their lives.

Life is good, the sun is shining at the moment, and I am loved. What more could I ask for?

Kidnapped....

Can you be a willing participant in a kidnapping? Because that's what happened to me and why I dropped off the face of the earth again. Let's back up....Dad had an Edmonton run a week ago Thursday and dropped mom off for the night. He was supposed to pick her up the next morning on his way back to Lethbridge but he, mom and Cliff all agreed that the boys and I should pack up and head home with mom for the week. So, they twisted my rubber arm and off we left for the wonderful world of quilting where I completely ignore the fact that there is a computer with internet and just quilt and play at parks and see old friends and hang out with my sisters and my mom and possibly spend too much money on very fun material. See, doesn't that sound like so much fun? I know you are all jealous and would love to be me. Sorry!

But seriously, we had a fantastic time. My mom and I quilted late almost every night I was there (and I finished Lara's baby quilt which turned out soooo cute!) I'll post pictures after her shower. I came home with lots of fun material - some that I took with me, some that my mom gifted me, and some that I bought. Also borrowed some quilt books from my mom and can't wait to finish the 2 quilts that I have on the go so that I can get busy on new ones. Oh, and I forgot that Tisha gifted me a ton of fabulously cute scraps. Seriously, if you're a quilter you should drop by my place so we can ooo and ahhh together.

AND we were totally spoiled and got to see lots and lots of Grandpa Dooley. Usually it works out that he has really long runs when we're around but this time was great. Zane even got to go with Grandpa on a short run. If you've already heard this story just skip this part but it makes me giggle every time so I want it recorded for when my memory is gone! Grandpa and Zane had to leave by 6:00 am and when Grammie woke him up he wasn't very coherent and fairly grumbly until she asked if he was going with Grandpa. Then he was wide awake and out of bed real fast. Got dressed without a grumble and they were out the door. Of course Grandpa had to stop for Tim Bits before they got to the big truck...and he bought a 20 pack. By the time they had the big truck unloaded Zane had eaten...wait for it....15! Yep, that's right. He said that it gave him a little bit of a tummy ache so hopefully he's learned his lesson. My dad has a GPS unit in the the truck and when they were on the road it said " At the end of the road turn right". Zane immediately asked "Grandpa, who said that?" Dad pointed and told him the GPS unit had. "no grandpa, who said that?" Again dad pointed and told him that had. "No, Grandpa (very slowly and with emphasis - he does this when he thinks we haven't understood what he's asked) Who said that?"
This time Grandpa told him that the GPS was a small computer and that it tells him where to go. "oh" He totally understood that concept and watched the screen all the way to Taber and back to Coaldale (it has a little marker representing the truck on the road) He was also very impressed that Grandpa's bunk had 2 beds although he told grandpa it would be better if there was a ladder and not just steps to the second bunk. All in all he had a great time.
I got to go out for yummy cheesecake with Lish and Kizzy and cousin Ash. We had lots of laughs and fun and of course the yummiest cheesecake in town. AND I got to meet the new man in Kizzy's life - Danny. Very nice guy and hope all goes well with them!
And now we're home. It was a great time...probably one of the last that we'll have that will be that length...mom has a new part time job at a lawyers in Raymond and Zane will be starting kindergarten in the fall. So we definitely made the most of the time we had!

Some things are wonderful....

Thursday afternoon Rhett was having a nap, I was doing laundry and other chores around the house and Zane was having quiet time with a movie....or so I thought. The conversation started like this: Mommy I'm sorry. Sorry for what? For this - as he holds his hands out that are COVERED in gum. He was trying to make spider webs like spider man with the gum that he had been chewing. I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry. I know how to get gum out of carpet and hair - ice or peanut butter...but what's the best way to get it off a kids hands? It took me almost 20 minutes of lukewarm water and soap and rubbing and pulling gum off his hands to get it all off. He complained a couple of times but I told him when we started it wasn't going to be fun and it was consequences for what he had done. The little yahoo! I told him he doesn't get gum again until I decide he can have it.

But then there are nights like tonight when he wraps his arms around my neck and pulls me down for a hug and whispers in my ear " I love you 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 100" and the spirit whispers to me that this is a moment to lock away in my memory and hold tight to because he's going to be big and grown before I know it and won't be so willing to show his affection. Being a mom is wonderful!

So much fun!

I know Leslie has already blogged about this so if you read her blog and mine...sorry. Leslie, Alisha and I went to the stake's annual piggy bank sale this past Saturday. Basically people in the stake and community at large donate anything from clothes to furniture to electronics...basically anything that is still in good repair but they don't have any use for anymore...and then it's like a big rummage sale at the church. Everything is priced at 10 cents...yep...you read write....10 cents! Ahh the pure bliss of going without our kids and finding some great things. My intention was to look for fun patterns in shirts and stuff that I could cut up for quilts....(great idea from my mom!) I spent $4.30 and came home with some great stuff. I promised mom that I would take pictures of all my material...I'll try to get them in on this post. Us girls also went to Earl's for lunch....a full meal of girl talk. Oh it was bliss. Thanks gal 'cause it was so fun!

(the basket is full of jenas and khakis that I'm going to use for a denim quilt and the rest is all fun stuff for quilts.)

What other fun things have I been up to? Yesterday we hung out in the morning while Cliff and some friends went golfing and in the afternoon we headed in to Red Deer to Rick and Kala Striebel's house for some softball and potluck supper. It was lots of fun....there was probably about 30 of us...kids and adults....and after a fun game we headed for the backyard for food and conversation. They have a trampoline that all the kids were nuts about. House rules were one kid at a time so there was always a line up. Our kids were almost the youngest there and when the night was almost over Zane came over to where I was in tears claiming that the big kids weren't giving him a turn. I asked if he was in line and he tearfully proclaimed that he was in his own line! Poor kid. Daddy took him over and got him in the right line and all was good. Kala is a maternity nurse and gave me lots of good info....of course it's still hypothetical and at least 3 years away before I would do anything....but its definitely an idea. We got home, got the kids in bed and watched a bunch of season endings to some of favorite shows....I bawled my eyes out over one. I'm such a sap sometimes.
Today Cliff and I bought something that I have been wanting for a really really long time. New dining room furniture. Table and 4 chairs....Sims furniture let us buy some stuff out of the back of their warehouse (not sure if it's open to everyone or just because the wife of one of the sales guys at Trail is in sales there) Anyways, We have 2 chairs that are the same, one that is pretty similar and one that's not but I don't care because I think they're all great....and very heavy! So one of the best parts of it is the price tag. I added up the total RETAIL with GST = $1595....should I tell you what we paid? You better sit down because I just about fell over when I realized the difference....we paid $215. Yep....we saved more than $1300!!! And why were they such amazing prices? They have a few scratches, aren't perfectly balanced, or some other minor flaw. This might bother some people. It thrills me. Why you ask? Let's review the ages of my children....5 and 2....and we're trying for a third. Kids are hard on furniture. No getting around it. My new stuff isn't perfect and that takes the stress off of me to keep it that way. Plus it lends a bit of character to it. Happy anniversary to us! I should add that the original plan was to buy chairs...no mention of a table but I saw it, fell in love with it and I'm spoiled. There's really no other way to say it. Cliff absolutely spoils me.

Better late than never....right?

So everyone will have to forgive me....I kinda didn't get around to posting before leaving for Raymond last week (and to those in Southern Alberta that I didn't call....that's everyone....sorry. We were so stinkin' busy with our quilts. ) Anyways, I do have a good excuse for not posting....a girl that I visit teach went into labor Monday morning and as she is a single mom she had asked if I would be in the hospital with her and her dula. Very interesting....I was terrified when I told her yes (months ago) and had really been hoping she would have her baby when I wasn't around. However, I found that I have a talent I didn't know about and loved being there. So much so that I'm even considering going back to school for nursing in the future. I'd want to be on maternity.....something to think about!

The 4th was Rhett's birthday and it was a fun day. The Robison's came for a supper of scones (Rhett eats crackers, cheese, peanut butter, apples, snacky stuff and anything with syrup!) Since we eat scones with syrup or honey I thought it was something all would enjoy and Rhett would actually eat his birthday supper. He loved the cake I made for him and I was quite happy with how it turned out myself. We got him a trike which he loves and tried out the night before his birthday, Zane got him golf clubs and a bat and ball, and Robison's brought him stickers which are one of his favorite church activities. The kids played hard, we put them all to bed here and then the grown ups played! It was a fun day. I'm really glad that I posted about all the fun 2 year old stuff that he is doing a couple of days before his birthday or I would feel like a really crummy mom! And I made it through the day without tears! I'm just so blessed that he is the happy busy toddler he is when he had a little bit of a rough start. Doctors and nurses don't get the thanks and credit that they deserve!

Tuesday (the 6th) the kids and I headed for Raymond so Zane could go see auntie Kizzy and her dentist on Wednesday and Thursday. The poor kid has a bad cavity on his back molar that the pedatrician dentist put sealants on a year ago...don't get me started on that. Still rather ticked off about it. Anyways, he did great while auntie cleaned his teeth and doc Goth looked at this teeth on Wednesday but freaked out a little on Thursday when we tried to get him frozen. He ended up with 1/2 the freezing he needed so we couldn't get the cavity fixed. Doc Goth has referred us to a peds dentist in Lethbridge because they book fairly soon and are supposed to be cheaper (we have great dental plan but peds dentists and sedation is not well covered. ) Sigh. Why do you ask do we just not take him to the one here in Red Deer. Well....I'm not really a huge fan of the dentist, his work, his prices, oh and his booking times are 6 months in advance. Arg. We'll keep you posted on this. As for me and grammie....we quilted and quilted and quilted and Auntie Kizzy joined us for a couple of nights as well. One night got cut short because Zane had a really bad tummy ache but we got lots done. Sooooo fun and thanks again mom for all the new material. Can't wait to get it all used! Friday night we had a party for Rhett with mom and the aunties - poor Grandpa Dooley gets sent to timbuktoo every time we're in town and didn't get home until late Friday night. Saturday they were off to the temple and we were off to Barnwell to play with the other grandma and grandpa and aunties and of course uncle Jamie. The spoilage continued and we came home with a wonderful sandbox which my boys LOVE. Grandpa Dooley has plans to build them one in Raymond and I would highly recommend to any mom....

We surprised Cliff by coming home really late Saturday night...instead of Sunday evening as planned...I have an interesting story about that one but it involves some spiritual stuff that I don't want to post here....kind of using a "blog face" as Shauna would say but there are some things that I think are just to sacred to have published on the Internet. So, to solve this dilemma I"m going to write them in word and print and put them with my hard copy of these blogs. That way my kids and future family can know of the spiritual experiences that I've been having...I have a lot I want to write on that but I think that's good for now. So, back to surprising Cliff...I called him after I got through Calgary because I realized that he probably wouldn't be home when I got home and I didn't want to unload the van by myself! I still beat him home by about 15 minutes but that's ok. Dad J said it was mean to surprise him like that because Cliff wouldn't have a chance to clean up the house...and he was right! But I already knew that it wouldn't be clean...he always does it the day I come home. Guys, what are you gonna do with them?

This week has been busy getting caught up on things, doing some yard work, playing in the yard, enjoying the beautiful weather, quilting, and hemming some shirts for Cliff. You know, the usual day to day things.

Sunday makes 7 years that Cliff and I have been married. Wow. It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by but then I go, well, we have a 5 year old...so really, yeah I guess it does seem like that long. Every year we switch whose turn it is to plan something to do and this year it was my turn. I picked going to the temple today to do initiatory and sealings. I did initiatory for the first time since I went through for myself, last week in Cardston and today was Cliff's first time since he went through for himself. I don't know why we've never done it before....maybe because it's not really something we're doing together where in the endowment session we're together? Anyways, same with sealings. We've never done sealings for anyone else. It was a really great day...I'm so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. He works so hard to keep me at home with the boys and really spoils me. I'm so thankful that he is a worthy priesthood holder and that he uses it to bless our home and children. I love you hon! After the temple we went to the Olive Garden...soooo yummy. We ate way too much but it was so good. Thanks a million again Leslie for watching the boys all day. We really appreciate it! I'm going to add pictures now...not sure where they will end up....beginning, middle, or end of the post? Depends on how many I load and how much time I have. Enjoy and I'll try to make sure my blog doesn't go into such a drought again!

ok...so I've just added all the pics...some explanations...the picture of the quilt is roughly what my quilt looks like...I've added a square to make it 5 squares by 5 instead of 4 by 6... and that picture doesn't show the 2 borders that I'm going to add. I'll post another one when I get the borders and stuff on. Yes, Rhett had 3 birthday cakes. My kids are spoiled. No other way to say it. He loved opening presents....and the others are some pics from the last 2 years. My disk with his baby baby pics has gone MIA at the moment. Sigh. sorry for the jumble. Rhett is trying to help and I want to get this posted!

Rhett and W!

So Rhett will be 2 on Sunday...craziness. Seriously, how can it be 2 years already that Cliff kissed me and said you can have the baby after the big sale on Thursday....and what did I do? Called him at 9:03 Thursday morning and told him my water broke. The guys at work still don't let me live that down...every time a private sale comes around they all have to mention the fact that Cliff had such a great day number wise and wasn't even in the store because he was in the hospital with me!
So anyways, being the softie and general mommy suck that I am, I thought that maybe if I wrote some of the fun things my little man is doing these days a few days before he actually turns 2 I might get through this without crying. Don't know why 2 is such a hard birthday for me - just is.
Let's see....

Rhett's new favorite words: Hi you guys....Lightning McQueen....I got you....there he is....kitty....JUICE....hat (much emphasis on the T)....run....truck....shoes....my...mine....

Funny or Amusing things he's been doing recently(and of course I don't want to forget!):
The other night I was putting the kids to bed and in Zane's room singing to him when I heard a noise coming from Rhett's room....I stuck my head back in there and Rhett's all cuddled into bed doing the whole fake snoring thing...you know where you do the really loud snore in and the phew thing out? Yep...and then he sits up, grins at me, says "sleep" and lays back down and starts it all over again. I burst out laughing because it was just so cute. He now will randomly lay down anywhere in the house and start to "sleep". It cracks me up every time....what 2 year old does this? I posed this question to Leslie and she started to laugh because Tanner does the same thing....who taught them this?
My son has learned to jump....not just a little bit of a skip, but a whole 2 feet-off-the-ground jump and then he lets himself fall in this dramatic little heap complete with a very dramatic "ohhh" and then he gets up and does it all again. Of course he thinks this is just hilarious
Every car he sees is Lighting McQueen....or truck. Take your pick.
He does not like it when I put things in his pockets.
He is starting to sit on the potty for treats....but has yet to pee in it. But really...we're just trying to get the idea there for now.
Walks around with his blanket in his teeth...not sure what this one's all about but it makes him happy...that is until he trips on it!
Likes to "talk" to grammie on the phone...really he just grabs the phone, puts it on his shoulder and starts to natter. Poor grammie...she can hear him but he can't hear her...although the last couple of times he has put the phone up to his ear for a few fleeting seconds
Has discovered slides...and loves them. I'm to that beloved age where park going is great because I get to sit on the bench and watch instead of climbing all over the silly thing myself
We went for a walk tonight after supper (silly kid has been taking insanely long naps - 2 to 3 hours and didn't wake up until 5...why don't I wake him up do you ask? For the same reason you don't wake up a hibernating bear...I like all my limbs where they are thank you...dealing with him being up a little past bedtime is much preferable to the bear he is when woken..but back to my story!) So I decided we needed to burn some energy...usually our walks lately have consisted of Rhett in the stroller and Zane on his bike and we do about a 30 minute loop. Today I decided to see how Rhett did walking and he did the whole thing! It took a little longer but he did it. Now here's the part that cracked me up....there is a part of our loop that's about 3 blocks of pure sidewalk - no driveways, no new streets, just sidewalk, and it's slightly down hill. Zane loves it because he can go really fast - so he takes off and me and Rhett start after him. Rhett decides to hurry a little and starts to run...about 3/4 of the way I asked him if he wanted to walk because I could hear him starting to pant a little...but he said "no...pant, pant...run...pant, pant" so I kept up and prayed the whole way that neither one of them would biff it because I didn't have band aids and didn't want to pack Rhett home or try to convince Zane to get back on his bike. Luckily we all made it!
On the same walk we encounter big circle compasses set into a great path close to our house. They are labelled with an N, E, S, and W. As we got to the first one, Rhett said clear as a bell "W" and pointed to the ground. I thought, nah, it's just a fluke. We came to the next one and he did it again...and I thought, really? So the next one I asked him "Rhett, where's the W? " And the little stink went and stood on it! Seriously? My 2 year old can say and recognize W? It just makes me giggle because most kids i know learn A first or the letter that starts their name...W just seems so random and I've never heard him say it before either so it just makes it that much funnier to me. But then when my little guy is in a good mood everything he does is fun and funnier.
He loves to wake up daddy in the morning...his idea of this is to crawl up on bed, pounce on Daddy (who usually knows he's coming) and then make a speedy retreat to avoid tickling....some days he makes it, some days he doesn't.
He LOVES Zane. Wants to be Zane and do everything that Zane does. Will do anything for Zane (as long as in a good mood) Thinks that he has died and gone to heaven when Zane plays with him (which is really most of the time). Two boys together really is great.
Is still a mama suck. Sigh. One day I'll make it back to Relief Society....and not nursery...one day
Loves peanut butter and usually eats it 3 times a day...on a bun or on graham crackers...eats most of the peanut butter by sliding his finger through it and then licking it off... crazy kid!
Has refused to drink milk for over a month....not sure what's up with that or if I should really push it? Opinions from you wonderful pediatric nurses?
Knows how to drive his brother crazy...his favorite lately is to "play" the piano while Zane is watching a movie. Drives Zane nuts and Rhett pretends to be deaf to his pleas to stop. I'm torn on these days because I don't want to tell him not to play the piano....but he is annoying his brother. I try to 50-50 it.
Loves to watch sports with Cliff...his attention span is still short but he totally gets that it's all about the ball. The other day they were watching golf (yes, you may roll your eyes) and he watched the guy hit the ball and then looked at Cliff and asked "where's the ball...where'd it go?" And then when they cut to the ball landing on the green he shrieked "there it is!" and cheered when the guy putted it in....we're talking arms in the air and cheer loud enough for me to hear down at the other end of the house. I thought Cliff was going to pee his pants from laughing.
Would live outside...but doesn't always want to stay in the yard...hmmm, may need to put the gate back up even though it's broken. Note to self to think about that one.
Any bump, fall or slight nudge of anything needs an immediate kiss and then it's fine. Even the big bumps that cause real tears get a kiss and then he's done and goes on with what he was doing even though he's still crying.
He knows which shoes belong to who in our family and as soon as it is announced that we are "going" he makes sure that everyone has a pair....even if he has to try a few times to get the appropriate one...(tried to give me heals the other day to go to preschool...just not my style!)

I love this little boy sooooo much. He is so different from Zane and it's a constant adventure with him around. I never know what he's going to do next and not being able to distract him drives me crazy but I wouldn't trade him for the world. Of course I'll do his "official" 2 year old post in a few days but maybe this will keep the chuckles going until then instead of the tears!