Firefighter for a day...

Yesterday we took a trip to the fire station and the boys were happy as can be. I had mentioned to James that we were going and I haven't been able to pass more than a few hours all week without inquiries of when we would go.

James climbed in all the trucks and took the liberty of trying on all the gear. The firefighters were very friendly and laid back and just let the kids do their own thing with all the trucks...until James attempted to push the "this is a major emergency" button that alerts out to any other teams near by.





They also got to explore the ambulance...we warned the paremedic that two 2 year olds and an 18 month old might not be the best people to let loose in the truck, but other than the button incident they did all right.


James had a blast!! Enjoy.

What's cookin'?

In order to cut down on my house work and create more free time for myself I have recently hired a cook and a baker. They specialize in making messes and not cleaning them up. The baker however, did manage a yummmy banana blueberry bread and even tossed his dishes in the sink after. Thanks guys, you do a great job! Your next raise will be in 7 months.

James Speak

How am I going to turn if all these guys are in my way? "You gotta wait mom, you gotta wait."

"There's camels all over the wood." What? "Camels all over the wood." (Chemicals).

"Mom, let's do pizza tonight."

Where's gramma? Can we get her? Is she coming here on a big airplane?

(After I told him we didn't have nursery due to ward conference)
WHAT? No nursery? Did the bad guys take it away?

(When we got to church the next morning)
Is there nursery? (No) Can we check?

(I set his plate in front of him and he took a huge bite of enchilada which he promptly spit out)
Me: Is it hot?
James: No, it's really yucky.

Taylor: Why is your shirt all wet? Is it water?
James: No, it's my brains.

Worldliness and its affects

I am here to tell you that media indeed plays a powerful role in the declining values of our society. This past weekend was an interesting one for us because we did several things we don't normally do.

First, on Thursday we decided to watch an old episode of a sitcom (which will remain unnamed) over the internet. It was full of sexual references and the like, probably not much different than many shows these days. While we have watched tv a handful of times since moving to TX, it has only been sports, so it has been at least a year and half since we have watched anything like this.

Second on Friday we were swayed by current marketing to rent Transformers. (Suffice it to say, when we went to Blockbuster the cashier told us our credit card on file had expired over a year ago.) Now, I am not condemning any who likes this movie, I quite enjoyed it (most of it) myself. This movie also had several inappropriate sexual references and obviously a lot of violence. James was allowed the next morning to watch scene 12 where the good guys transform and most of the last battle when the transformers fight.

Third, on Saturday we attended the local Renaissance Festival where a large number of women were very, very scantily clad...to the point that I was very embarrassed at their obvious disrespect for their bodies.

Now the conclusion of all this is that I was much less patient, kind, and loving to my children...noticeably so. Taylor was just plain mad. But the real clincher is that James was shoving Matthias over repeatedly, talking back to me, throwing tantrums, and generally acting like a really mean kid. This is not how James acts on a regular basis. I was shocked to see the difference in all of our attitudes and in our home.

Today after church we spent a wonderful, peaceful evening as a family. Tonight before bed James was calm and happy and reading Taylor and me scripture stories. The difference in our home after hearing the word of God was incredible. Having not partaken in a lot of outside activities in quite some time, I was able to see a very noticeable difference. I am glad that our home is a shelter from the storms of the world (normally, and hopefully better from now on) and that we can provide refuge here. Our family scriptures is as follows (and I will type it all here because it is worth reading)...

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are build, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. Helaman 5:12

We will strive each day to make our house a more holy place where our family can be safe from the storms that rage.

Transformer Kristi

Transformer Taylor

Transformer Matthias

Transformer James

Which bat is which?

Ignoring the obvious background give aways (ie, James' behind in Matthias' and really crummy carpet in James') more similar than I once thought...

What you can do with a little wood and LOTS of time...

My latest and greatest scheme was to get the boys a swing set for Christmas, so naturally we now have a nearly completed swingset in the back yard...(but in my defense I haven't even bought half of their other gifts yet). I began the intense search on craigslist.com but after refreshing the search every ten minutes for three days I decided it would be a better use of my time to have Taylor build one...=] So I gathered together the hardware, canopy, trapeze bars, ladder, slide, rock wall, and baby swing from craigslist and a garage sale. Taylor visited five hardware/lumber stores and we were off.

Mainly Matthias tried to eat sand and suck the chemiclas off the wood, James drilled a lot of holes in the grass, I stood around and watched and/or went inside to sew, Taylor did most of the actual work...that's why we keep him around. I need someone to fulfill all my planning and scheming...that and he is pretty cute. So after three Saturdays and countless nights after work, we now have the product pictured above. All that's left...adding the ladder to the back, attaching the rope ladder and trapeze bars, builing a roof with canopy, and putting up railing on the sides. All in all, almost as much left as already done...looks like I might finish another quilt top soon. =]

To buy the actual swing set like ours at say Toys R Us would be around $600. Below is a small comparison of what it would cost to buy pieces of our swingset at "retail" price to what we actually paid:

Overpriced Retail Super Saver Shopping by Kristi
Slide $69 $20
Rock Wall $179 $20
Baby Swing $20 $10
Belt Swing $22 $22 (So I got sick of looking…)
Hardware Kit $70 $25 (thanks to Nannette!)
Add Hardware $25 $25
Wood $200 (one store) $170 (by pricing 5 different stores)
TOTAL $585 $292

Utah Trip

So I am a slacker, but we have been pretty busy. I am posting a couple pics from our last Utah trip and then on to the swing set. We had a blast in Utah during the first week of September and it was just fun to make a random trip up...because that will never happen again probably. September in Utah is just so lovely! The weather is perfect, peaches are in season, zuchinni is in season...life is good in the fall. We made some zuchinni bread, had a bonfire, bought a cute/modest dress, visited L&T on BYU campus, went hiking in the mountains, and attended a wedding of course. It was a wonderful trip! Thanks again to Wendy for the tics!