Yard Improvements

One of the best things that made our home worth waiting for was the yard. It is just over 1/4 acre, which is pretty large for our area of town. It also came with some grass and a sport court. The only tricky thing about it is that the house is turned sideways on the lot (parallel to the road instead of kiddie-corner) so we have both a rectangular backyard and side yard. The side yard was seen at the end of our driveway and had a patch of artificial grass in the middle so it was supposed to look like a front yard. We decided to add a wall with gates at the end of the driveway so that we can park things in the back and have backyard access. We also decided to put in a pool. It is so hot here that the kids really can't play outside unless they are submerged in water. A pool is the best idea for exercise and playing in the summertime. So the improvements began in April and just finished this week. It looks amazing and we are so happy with the results!

The grass area before it got ripped up

The pool and spa outline

Jesse, our digger, getting a little help from Carlee

The steel frame of the pool

Shooting the gunnite cement that will harden to make the pool

Tiled, cemented and waiting for the plaster and spray decking

Completed and filling up!

The finished product


Plants around the pool and sport court

The pathway from the patio to the grass on the side of the house

Our grassy area for playtime

The gates at the end of the driveway

Steps leading to the front door so our visitors
don't have to leap over the bushes out front

Scissors

Carlee has been a little obsessed with scissors lately. I have caught her several times cutting paper into millions of tiny pieces, trying to give her dolls a haircut, and "helping" me cut out a quilt. I have explained to her that she needs to use scissors only with me next to her. She has been really good about asking permission first before just starting on her own cutting project. And since she has been so good and obedient with the scissors, I have felt some relief in knowing that I have made it through 4 children without any of them giving themselves their own "haircut." I thought too soon . . .

About a week ago, Carlee and I went to get haircuts. I'm trying to grow mine out so I've had to cut it even shorter to get ride of the A-line, make it even and look more subtle as it grows. Carlee has never had a professional haircut and it was time. I have always been able to trim her hair but she is too wiggly so I thought she might do better with someone else doing it. Boy, was I wrong!

She loved asking questions about all the tools and supplies. The stylist would turn her head a certain angle so that she could trim it but then Carlee would turn it the other way or ask if that was the right way while giggling. I had to hold her head still while her hair was being cut.

At the end of her haircut, I talked to the stylist about cutting bangs for her. Carlee has a cowlick up front and just off-center on her forehead. Carlee said that she didn't want bangs and so we just settled with trimming her hair to keep it healthy and long.

Two days after our haircuts, she woke up and came into my room, climbing in my bed saying hello and to snuggle a bit before getting ready for the day. I groggily looked at her and it seemed like she had some bangs across her forehead. I wasn't sure since I didn't have my contacts in and I had just woken up, so I just shook it off. After I woke up and was ready to start breakfast, Carlee came downstairs and she did have real bangs! I took a closer look and on one side of her face, a piece of hair was shorter than the other and there were straight bangs across her forehead!

Me (calmly): "Did you cut your hair?"
Carlee: "Yes."
Me: "Where are the scissors you used?"
Carlee: "They're upstairs. The blue ones."
Me: "Where were you when you cut your hair?"
Carlee: "I was in my room with the door shut."
Me (trying not to laugh): "You knew that was naughty and that's why you shut your door, huh?"
Carlee (with a sad face): "Yes."
Me: "Where is the hair that you cut?"
Carlee: "In my garbage can."

Carlee and I walked up to her room and sure enough, there was her cute blonde hair in the trash can. I told her that I was sad that she cut her hair and reminded her again that she is not supposed to use scissors without Mommy. She replied that she didn't cut any Barbie's hair or any fabric and that she wanted bangs like me. We had another discussion about scissors and when to use them and she said she was sorry and wouldn't do it again. (We'll see . . .)

As a side note and very luckily, she did a fabulous job by just cutting her hair at her eyebrow. Most kids cut hair chunks all the way up to the scalp but she had cut her own perfect bangs right above her eyes. They were just a little uneven so it was easy for me to trim the one side to even it out. I must admit, she looks pretty darn cute and her cowlick isn't seen or hard to comb around. Plus, she's not constantly brushing her hair out of her eyes. I guess if she is going to be naughty, it's better to look cute afterwards for easier forgiveness.

Conversations in the Car

As a mother, I get to spend a lot of time in the car driving my children to school, scouts, Broadway kids, soccer practice, baseball practice, activity days, and after school play rehearsals along with my own errands of helping our family function. Being a constant chauffeur also makes it look like we live out of our car with all the clothes, shoes, sports bags, toys for entertainment, water bottles, camping chairs, snacks and emergency supplies. Although it can get very tedious and I feel like I'm constantly in the car, driving children around also includes some of my favorite moments because of the conversations that go on.

One such conversation happened while I was driving Jake's kindergarten carpool. They began discussing families and where they came from:

Gavin: "Sky, your mom is half-Hawaiian and your dad is half-United States ;)."
Skyler: "No, my dad is half-Hawaiian and my mom is half-American because she has blonde hair."
Gavin: "Oh, that's right. Your dad is from Hawaii. I am just American because my mom and dad have brownish-red hair."
Jake: "You guys! You guys! Guess what? I am half-Elf and half-human!"
Skyler: "Jake, you're half-Elf???"
Jake: "Yes, because I have a pointed ear on the top. See?"
Gavin: "So who is half-Elf? Your mom or your dad?"
Jake: "Mom, who is half-Elf? You or Dad?"
Me (while trying extremely hard to stifle my laughter): "Definitely Dad, Jake!"
(Although I wouldn't mind some magical elf powers!)

Another conversation happened right after dropping them off. Carlee and Jake started talking about getting married and having boyfriends/girlfriends.

Jake: "Carlee, who is your boyfriend? Luke? Joshy? John?"
Carlee: "All of them. I like 3 boys."
Jake (giggling): "You like 3 boys? You can only marry one. Who will you marry?"
Carlee: "I don't know yet. I have to wait until I'm big."
Jake: "Yeah, you have to be big like Mom and then you can have a husband."
Carlee: "That's right. When I'm big like Mom. Who is your girlfriend, Jake?"
Jake: "I don't know yet. I haven't found the perfect woman for me to marry. I'm still looking for her."
Carlee: "Oh."
Jake: "Mom, was Dad the perfect boy to marry?"
Me: "Yup, he was, but I had to like lots of boys and date them before I found Dad. When you get home from your mission, you can date lots of girls and then you'll find the perfect one to get married to."
Jake: "I hope so, Mom. It's hard finding the perfect woman."

The best conversations happen in the car when there is undivided attention and no distractions. Some are serious with intense questions and honest answers. Some are silly with funny comments, jokes and teasing, and lots of laughs. Some rides include family games and karaoke at the top of our lungs. Some rides have independent children doing their own thing and other rides include a good ol' movie that everyone enjoys. There are rides with family planning meetings discussing future trips and goals, and there are those completely silent rides with children sound asleep with crooked heads, slumped bodies, and mouths hanging completely open in exhaustion. Whatever ride we take, I'm glad that I get to participate. It brings me a lot of joy to be there whenever they need me, to always capture the special "moments", and to drive them to and from wherever they need to go. I love seeing their waves and blown kisses goodbye and I love their silly faces or big grins when they see me pick them up. It makes me happy to just drive.

Titanic and Bodies

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa Stuart came down for a few days. They drove down on Friday so that Grandpa could go to the Father and Sons Campout on Friday night with the boys. Grandma, the girls, and I went to Sammy's for yummy pizza and salad, headed next door for ice cream sundaes and a pool party, and then home for a chick flick.

Early Saturday morning we went to Jake and Katelyn's soccer games and then headed downtown to see the Titanic and Bodies exhibitions at the Luxor Hotel. Clark went to Titanic on a school field trip and has been talking about it nonstop so we went with his plan and enjoyed both after lunch at the Luxor. The exhibitions were very interesting and the kids really enjoyed it. I thought that they would be grossed out by Bodies but they learned a lot from it. That evening, we sat in the crazy cold wind and watched one of Clark's playoff baseball games, which they won.

Sunday, we all watched the movie of Titanic and the kids really got into that as well. It was fun for them to understand the story of the ship and its history even more. It was a great weekend.

Pinewood Derby

This year's Pinewood Derby was especially competitive for Clark since it is his last one and he didn't participate last year with Joe being deployed. He was determined to win First Place and have the fastest car. A couple of weeks ago, Clark asked Joe if he had ever won a Pinewood Derby. Joe replied yes and Clark asked what color his winning car was. Joe said that it was blue and black so those were the paint colors that Clark chose. They spent several nights before the competition cutting, sanding, painting, weighing, etc. to create the perfect winning car.

Before the race began, the scoutmaster handed out some awards. Clark received three and is on his way to earning his Webelo award.

After the awards were given and an arrow of light was presented, the derby began. The race track was pretty high-tech in that it was hooked up to a computer and had a timer/scoreboard at the end of the track. All of the competitor's names were entered and the computer would randomly put them in heats to race. Each heat included cars from the Webelos, Bears, and Wolves dens along with the Unlimited Class racers. Clark's car won each heat but for some reason, he took 5th place overall. He was pretty disappointed, but decided that he would just "learn from his mistakes and help make the best racecar ever for Jake when he gets into scouts!" All in all, the boys just enjoyed building a car and racing each other for the finish line. At least we have a couple more years to prepare the perfect winning car before Jake gets in there!

The First Race:
Brother Eckersley lining up "The Brick" from the Unlimited Class.
Clark's "The Bruiser" is in the middle.

The Bruiser goes on to First Place!

The second race:
The Bruiser continues to First Place

Two brothers, jumping and cheering

Best buds--Clark and Carter

Best buds--
Mitchell with "The Hammerhead" and Clark with "The Bruiser"

Brian Regan

Friday night was spent at the Tuacahn Ampitheater in St. George seeing a great comedian, Brian Regan. Our friends, Marquessa and Melissa, planned the evening a few months ago and invited us to go. Always wanting to hang with friends and have a date night at the same time, we jumped at the chance.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Anasazi Steakhouse where they bring out your "medium-rare" steak on a stone that is 700 degrees. You then cut off the pieces and cook them to your liking. Every bite is hot and juicy. It was delicious and the experience was so fun. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for the chocolate fondue dessert but the meal was fabulous.

We drove out to Tuacahn and enjoyed a great show. He was really funny and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. My favorite parts were his jokes about experiences with his own kids. They were the funniest because we have been through the same ones and said the same thing over and over.

After the show, we headed to Iceberg for delicious, gigantic milkshakes. It was a fun night and we enjoyed everything about it. Our next plan is to make it a family affair and see Tarzan!

Gilcrease Bird Sanctuary

Carlee and I got to go with Jake's Kindergarten class on a field trip to the Gilcrease Bird Sanctuary. His class had taken care of some eggs around Easter time and they finally hatched into 6 baby chicks! They named the chicks Mario, Luigi, Rocky, Marshmallow, Red, and Fluffy. When they were old enough, the class took them to the bird sanctuary where they would live permanently.

Jake was so excited to ride the bus and take a sack lunch to eat on the pavilion.

There were many different birds to see and animals to pet--llamas, pigs, ponies, goats, donkeys, and sheep.

I love being able to take Carlee on field trips because Jake is such a good big brother to her and he loves to show her off to his classmates. So cute!

They even got to climb up on the haystacks and measure the height of the corn.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Karma, luck (both bad and good), "Paying it Forward", Murphy's Law...whatever you want to call it, it seems like I've been having some coincidences concerning situations with my car the last 3 weeks. They have all happened at the same time and it didn't really hit me until after my last post about running out of gas. Here are the stories:

Story #1: My dear friend had a baby about 3 weeks ago, so I planned to visit her in the hospital. On my way, I stopped to pick up some necessities--chocolate, Diet Coke, a good magazine, etc. to make her hospital stay more enjoyable. While I was checking out, a sweet older woman was standing behind me holding a road map. She asked me if I knew where a small town (I can't remember the name now) was located on the border of Nevada and Idaho. I had never heard of it but she needed directions to get to I-15. She thought she was in a completely different area of Las Vegas and got lost and turned around. I explained how to get back to the freeway but she looked completely frazzled and tears were welling up in her eyes. The employee and I tried to explain and write down the directions but she was extremely frustrated. So I offered to have her follow me out to I-15. The hospital was close to the entrance so it was no trouble at all. She put a huge smile on her face and we left the store. I told her that I was going to take an exit before the freeway exit but that she would just continue about 1/2 mile and take the exit to I-15. As I was getting off my exit, I put my hand out the window to wave her on but she followed me off so I pulled over and explained that the freeway entrance was just ahead. She gave me a big hug and told me that I had helped an 80-year-old woman on her way home. I asked her if she had a cell phone or could call anyone if she got into trouble. She just smiled and said that her husband was waiting for her in that town and that she could just follow the map once she got on the interstate. She said she had driven there before but had gotten turned around once she was in the city. I told her that I was worried about her but she said that I had helped enough. Then she waved, gave me a grin, and drove off. I waited to watch her enter the freeway and said a little prayer that she would get to her destination without any trouble.

Story #2: We have been putting a pool in our backyard and doing some landscaping. We have a large driveway and many trucks have been parked there and coming in and out for the last few weeks. I needed to pick up the kindergarten carpool so as I was leaving, I noticed a truck in the driveway. I was trying to pull out around the truck and to avoid hitting him with the back end of my car, I got a little too close to the wall of my garage and scraped the side door panel thing on the garage stucco.

Obviously, I was very frustrated and it brought back some sad memories of when I was trying to do a good thing by very carefully scraping the snow off the hood of our red Yukon after a week-long snowstorm in Maryland. That was the worst snowstorm I had seen and there was probably 6 feet of snow on the ground. When the snow finally stopped falling, all the neighbors were out brushing the snow off their cars with brooms and shovels. Joe had always told me not to use a broom because the bristles would scratch the paint. So I was gently sliding the snow off with a shovel. Unfortunately, I got too close to the hood one time and scratched it with metal instead! Thank heavens I have a bro-in-law that owns a car dealership because he has hooked us up numerous times. When he said that fingernail polish (Hee Hee) wouldn't cut it, he mixed up a little bottle of paint and we kept it in the car for future stupidity on my part.

Now our car is a different color so I think I need to place a call and get another mix of color for those moments that I've previously explained. My husband just rolls his eyes at me when I tell him that a car won't be perfect forever and if I don't scratch it myself, the children will, or another car in the parking lot will, or some rock will dent or scratch it or a 10-year-old boy will throw a baseball, denting it and breaking the tail light. I think that's pretty good justification for yet another blonde moment.

Story #3: The "out of gas" story that I already posted. Luckily for me that sweet high school senior with a retainer pulled over to help me out on that one.

Story #4: We were riding our bikes to school on Thursday morning when I saw a young gal sitting on the road next to her car talking on the cell phone. It was at the back of our neighborhood and as I passed her, I noticed that there was a big hole in her tire. I had to get my kids to school and she was on the phone so I figured she was getting some help. When we were riding back, she was still there and a gal in our ward and neighborhood was talking to her. I parked my bike and asked if they needed some help. The girl said that her friend wrecked his car so he couldn't come help her and that she had just dropped her other friend off at work so he couldn't come. She worked for a family in our neighborhood that was out of town and the tire blew on her boss' car. So they were trying to change the tire.

The girl didn't really have a clue what to do so she sat on the ground and was texting. Cassandra was trying to figure out how to lower the tire that was underneath the car. We pulled out the manual and read that the jack fit into a hole above the bumper and when you twisted the jack, the tire would lower to the ground and you could unscrew it and pull it out. (Most of you probably already know this) The jack was not working at all. It fit and turned but the tire did not come down. There was a pool guy parked a couple of houses up so I asked him if he knew the trick. He tried to turn it as well but it was not lowering. He went back and rummaged through his truck and brought back a longer, different jack that had a little lip on the end of it. We stuck it in the hole and that made all the difference because the tire came down. He left to take care of the neighbor's pool, so Cassandra and I jacked up the car, pulled off the blown tire, put the new one on, brought down the car, tightened the bolts, and threw the ruined tire in the back of the car. The girl just looked at us, thanked us, and took off down the street. My hands were as black as the road and Carlee told me that I was dirty and needed to take a shower but I had done a good deed and I think my dad would have been pretty proud that I remembered how to change a tire. Thanks, Dad!

Later that day, I also got to give Amber a ride so that she could get her car fixed. This was obviously not a big deal and nothing too crazy to even tell about but she did buy me lunch and I was happy just to spend some extra time with a dear friend.

All of these coincidences and stories have just reaffirmed what I already know--when you give, you get. I was able to help a couple of people, a couple of people were able to help me, and lessons were learned along the way. I'm not hoping for any more situations to keep teaching that principle, but I'm definitely grateful that there are still kind people willing to sacrifice their time and selves to help out, because unfortunately, too many people just drive by.