Uncle Kevin

We've been lucky enough to have my brother Kevin visit us for a few days. And starting tomorrow he's gonna be lucky enough to drive with the kids and me to Utah. (Lucky.)

It's been extra great to have him around because we had troubles with the mini van, so it's been in and out of the shop for a couple of days. Having another adult around to help watch kids and drive cars to and from the shop has also been great. I really owe him one.

I totally paid him back tonight with the $5 challenge at Walmart for dinner. (I know. I'm the best.) ((In my defense I had been packing and cleaning all day long.)) The kids were happy, but Kevin really got into the spirit of the challenge. He had a lovely meal composed of Velveeta Shells and Cheese Easy Mac, wings from the deli, and Hawaiian King's Rolls. I had a salad. (Exciting.) Cole had a meltdown in the store, which was just lovely and made me oh-so-excited for driving 24 hours with him. Turns out he was super hungry, but still. It was rough.

This was not the best picture taken, but it was the funniest. I love the looks on Tess and Kevin's faces.

Indianapolis Temple Open House (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Today is a day we have been waiting literal YEARS for - the open house for the Indianapolis Temple! (For those who don't know, go here to learn more about what temples are and why we build them.)

Our tour was scheduled for 10am, so we left the house around 8:30 to make sure we'd have plenty of time. It took us LESS THAN AN HOUR to get there! Can I get a hallelujah?! It used to take us 3+ hours just to get to the Chicago temple. Seriously, it was so weird. Even this morning when I reminded Tess that we were going to the temple she started packing up toys and stuff for a long drive; she had a hard time believing it would be such a short jaunt!

We made it to the temple and stepped out into... SUMMER.

Remember how I've been complaining about how cool and wet it's been all summer? Summer decided to make an appearance: TODAY. It is sooooo hot and muggy now. Highs in the 90's with heat indexes in the low 100's because of humidity. It's like the weather in making up for lost time.

Anyways, not the point of this post.

We started in the stake center and watched a short film about temples before heading over to the temple. (As we were walking through the stake center we passed the mission president, old BYU basketball coach, Coach Cleveland.) ((Go Cougs!!))

As we walked out of the stake center and made our way to the temple I couldn't help but tear up. It was all I could do not to break down into sobs of happiness. I was just sooo happy and felt the spirit so strongly!

The inside of the temple is beautiful. It's a medium-sized temple. Lots of bright stone and dark cherry wood. Everything was, of course, just beautiful and pristine. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I have borrowed a few from the interwebs.

Where your recommend is checked.

The baptistery - one of the prettiest baptisteries I've ever seen. (I'm not being biased. I think I've only seen the ones in Oakland and Provo...) Just beautiful.

The bride's room. It was pretty, but I think the one in Timpanogos is prettier. (And I have to admit it... I'm not a fan of the style of chandeliers they have in this temple. I mean, they're not ugly; I just like other styles better.)

The first instruction room. Can't wait to spend literal hours here! The mural represents the Indiana landscape. It was very pretty and well done. Everyone noted the large thunderstorm depicted in the front and commented that there should be more given this summer! I also noticed rabbits... growl. (Although I have to admit they have not given me much grief this year.) 

The second instruction room. So light and airy and beautiful.

The Celestial room. The tour guide didn't speak in here; he just let us sit and think and enjoy.

The sealing room. It was really quite large - you could easily fit 50+ people in there. This is the room where marriages are performed, where my children could possible be sealed for time and all eternity!

This floral image was used throughout the temple: it's the bloom from Indiana's state tree, the Tulip Poplar. (I was the only one in the group who knew the answer! Indiana state facts FTW!)

An exterior shot. The fountain is really unusual because water pours off of it so that kids can very easily play in it. I foresee lots of wet toddlers and little kids in future wedding pictures...

We were lucky to have uncle Kevin with us! He's here for a quick visit and then to help me drive this brood to UT in a few days. (Lance has to stay home. Sad.)

It was VERY bright and hot at this point. You can't tell in this photo, but none of us had our eyes open because it was so bright. And of course Tess decided to be a punk. But that's okay - first family photo in front of the Indy temple!!

One of my sweet husband and I.

It must be noted that by this point I was no longer close to tears, mainly because I was getting tired of dealing with kids. They were pretty good overall in the temple, but once we were outside all bets were off. (Cole was made I wouldn't let him get wet in the fountain.)

Josh wanted a picture by himself.

We went inside the visitor's center tent and looked at the displays. I tried to take a nice family photo in front of this replica of The Christus, but Tess had other plans, that black-eyed punk.

They also had a backdrop with the temple where they took a picture of you. You could have it emailed to you and then you also got a printed copy, which is now proudly displayed on our fridge.

I just feel so amazingly blessed to have a temple so close to us now! I know it will be a blessing to our family and our ward. I love that my kids were able to come and join us and see where Lance and I will be attending (hopefully) very often in the future. I love the temple and the blessings we are promised there. It was a wonderful, wonderful morning!

Tough Tess

Poor Tess has been pretty accident prone lately. The other day she and Cole got into a tussle and Cole pushed her into the closet door, giving Tess a rather impressive goose egg on her forehead.

Yesterday she got kicked in the face while playing with the neighbors. I *think* Spencer kicked her, but the details are fuzzy.  Her cheek was pretty red, but this is now overshadowed by her latest injury:

Apparently she was jumping on the couch and fell, although, once again, the details are fuzzy. It's still swelling up quite nicely and turning a lovely shade of purplish blue. The pictures really don't do it justice.

I tried to take a picture that would show her lovely injuries, but it's just so much better in person. She looks like a little hooligan who got into a street brawl.

Me: Hey Tess! Show me your tough face!
Tess: Grrrr... I'm tough and mean! And I have a pink headband!

She's supposed to be the flower girl in her uncles wedding in a few weeks. Let's hope this is the end of all injuries for a while. (Or at least those on her face.)

Speed Dial

Tess was on a roll at church yesterday.

In Primary she was the Spotlight child. As they read different things about her (favorite color, animal, Primary song, etc.) she exclaimed happily from her seat "Hey! I like that! And I like that, too! And that!!" Then they said "And this person's birthday is April 18, 2011" and Tess exclaimed "Hey! I was BORN!" It was pretty sweet and cute. Sunbeams are the best. She was so thrilled to be the spotlight!

Her Sunbeam teachers told us that during a lesson on prayer they asked Tess if she knew of a way to talk to Heavenly Father whenever she wanted to. She told them she would call him on a cell phone. Then her teachers asked what His phone number was and Tess replied "You just press 8."

Apparently Tess has Heavenly Father on speed dial. Who knew?

Happiness for $8.75

We just finished our 4th and final week of swimming lessons this summer. Phew! Normally it's not so bad, but it's been so cool this year that I think the kids have been kinda miserable in the pool. (The pool is heated, but it's cold getting in and out!)

On the first day of swimming lessons Cole was automatically drawn to the vending machines. I think he kinda knew what they did, but wasn't sure. (We are not vending machine people, obviously.) Then he saw someone buy something and He. Was. Sold.

His mission in life became buying something from those machines!

So, I relented and told the kiddos they could buy something on the very last day of lessons. (We ended up doing it a day early, but whatever.) Cole was SO EXCITED. I was even a nice mom and let them each choose one drink and one treat. The kids had been checking out the machines for weeks, so we didn't even have to wait for them to make their decisions.

Oh, happy day! (Don't be fooled by Spencer's lack of a smile. He was happy.)

Who knew happiness could be bought so cheaply?

Crankenstein

It's no secret that Cole has been a bit of a... pill... lately. (And that's putting it mildly.)  Some days are good. Some days are bad. Some days are really, really bad. I'll give the kid this: he is persistent. If only we could harness his super powers for good rather than evil...

But I'm trying to learn patience, trying to remember that this is a phase and it won't last forever. (It can't possibly last forever, right?!)

My friend Deidra introduced us to a kid's book called Crankenstein. I quickly ordered it and am saving it for our drive out to UT in a couple of weeks. But I've been secretly reading it and giggling over the cranky little main character, who turns into a cranky monster and growls and harrumphs so much like Cole that it's uncanny. So now I've taken to referring to Cole as Crankenstein in my head. It makes his extreme crankiness a little easier to deal with.

This is a picture of my little Crankenstein that I accidentally took yesterday. I was trying to take one of Tess when he decided to get in on the action. We laughed over it, but then had a huge fight because I wouldn't let him use my phone to take pictures. (He is notorious for getting essily frustrated with stuff and then throwing that stuff. Especially small electronics. We were standing on concrete close to a pool. This was not going to happen.)

Crankenstein growled the whole way home.

I worked on my patience.

This is just a phase....

Too Much of a Good Thing

In year's past Indiana has had great weather in the summer. Well, I don't know that I'd say great - but more predictable. It would be pretty hot and muggy, and then every 3-4 days a storm would roll in and drench everything. There were summers where I never really had to water my garden because mother nature did it so well and so consistently.

And then a few years ago it was super hot and super dry and it was super weird. And we all complained and our lawns went brown and I had to worry about watering my garden enough.

But this summer? This summer all it has done is RAIN. It just keeps RAINING AND RAINING AND RAINING. We're talking record breaking, flood-inducing amounts of rain. And it's cool - my poor kids have only had one or two days in FOUR WEEKS of swimming lessons where they haven't frozen. (It's generally in the mid-60s around 10am, which is pleasant enough to be outside, but cold for swimming!)

You'd think the lawns would be happy, but they're starting to yellow with all rain. As is my garden - no amount of fungicide in the world is gonna save my tomatoes; I keep trimming and trimming back the diseased parts. They all look so sad and skinny. Fields are turning yellow. And my kids are going NUTS. As long as it's not thundering outside they're welcome to play in the rain, but it's been so cool they just don't want to. "It's too cold!!!"

Tonight there was a forced death march around the neighborhood, just to get them out of the house. The rain had stopped for a little bit and we were going to take advantage of it if it killed us! (Severe storms are coming in tonight...)

My kids are actually talking fondly of going out to Utah in a few weeks so they can actually be hot. "I want it to be 100 degrees every day!" Josh proclaimed as he shivered after swimming lessons.

It seems trite to complain about something as silly as the weather. But seriously.

SO. MUCH. RAIN.

Back Yard of Fire 2015

I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog about the 4th of July. Seriously, Maren. Priorities.

(To which I respond "Hey, I've been busy. With stuff. And things. But mostly stuff.")

Honestly? This year's party was a lot like the other parties. Things ran smoothly, there was lots of food and people, the sun went down ridiculously late, the fireworks were big and loud and close. I was thinking about this the other day and realized I'm good with parties that are pretty much the same every year. I say if you find a formula you like, stick with it.

One part of the formula? Lots of drinks.

This is what the fridge in our basement looked like a few days before the party. Ignore the Mountain Dew. Blech. It was leftover from the last LAN party and I thought I'd get rid of it for 4th of July. No such luck - I still have close to 2 dozen cans of the stuff sitting on my patio!

Another important part of the formula is the fireworks. This year we ventured to the fireworks store as a family. (The internet was down that night and there was nothing to do. How sad is it that it took that for all of us to go? Seriously...)

The kids were ECSTATIC.

Spencer and Josh both decided that they HAD to buy their own. So they each took $5 out of their allowance accounts to buy some bottle rockets. There are apparently several types of bottle rockets - who knew? (Not this gal.) It was a hard choice that required much contemplation.

I still can't believe we are a family that buys fireworks. I mean, on one hand, yeah, it's fun. And way easier than dragging the kids out to the city's show. On the other hand, I still can't shake the feeling that we are literally just burning money... Lance and the boys don't seem to be bothered by these moral quandaries.

Here's where we buy our fireworks:

It's only a fireworks place for half of June and July. The rest of the year it's a mattress store, which tickles me to know end. I can't think of a worse combination, except for maybe Mark's Lighter Fluid/Matches/and Fireworks store. (What did NOT tickle me was the scantily clad woman they had dancing around with a sign out front as we were leaving. C'mon, Marks! I thought you were classier than that.)

Okay, a very important part of the party formula (I'm beating this metaphor to death, aren't I?) is the food. We always supply the hamburgers, hot dogs, and toppings. I throw in a dessert and side dish if I have the time. This year I decided to make USA and Indiana sugar cookies, because why even have USA and Indiana cookie cutters if you aren't going to use them?!

Instead of frosting them I decided to ice them since they would stack better. I had the kids and Lance help me. I broke out paint brushes, sponges, and sprinkles, and then we got creative.

 
Yeah, we totally rocked these cookies.

After setting up the canopies, bunting, lights, tables, chairs and whatnot, it was time to party! Which is about the time I put away my camera. Because that's how I roll at things like this. (Have you not learned by now!?) But I did get a few. Here's our spread - it was pretty yummy!

Here's Miss Tess in her "fireworks skirt". (She conned me into buying it for her during a trip to Wal-Mart. "But Mommy! I would be so beee-you-tee-full!" For $5, how could I say no?)

What a fashionista!

I would say that the final part of a good party formula is good friends - of which there were plenty!

Craig and Cole are good buddies - I don't know what it is, but Craig just gets Cole. He's great with him, and Cole has a grudging respect for Craig. (That is saying A LOT in Cole's world. The is no respecter of persons...)

These two have spent every 4th of July together. (Well, we think. Deidra claims they were gone one year... but if neither of us can remember that, did it happen?)

I wanted to get a cute pictures of these two friends together, but Tess would have none of it.

Deidra and I were much more willing to hold still for photographs. (True story: Deidra saw my awesome tattoo out of the corner of her eye and for a second thought I had a birthmark she had never noticed. Yeah, a birthmark in the shape of FREEDOM!!)

I am going to be sooooo sad when Deidra and her cute little family move next month. Fortunately, they will be moving to UT, so it's not like I will never have the chance to see them again. Unfortunately, UT is still super far away. Ugh. Sometimes it's really hard to be a ward where people move in and out all the time. (But then I think of all the great and amazing people I've met and become friends with, and I realize it's a really good thing. Just hard sometimes.)

We decided to pretend to be our daughters. Nailed it.

I'm sooooo sooooo glad Gigi won't be going anywhere anytime soon! It would be time for us to pack up and go ourselves. We townies have to stick together. :)

I can't believe I got a picture of these two boys holding still! Justin (our next door neighbor) and Josh are best friends to the nth degree. These two play just about non-stop whenever they can; Justin is practically a 4th son.  And the LUUUURRRRVE the 4th of July party. They seriously plan and talk about it all year long! They have both declared it to be their most favorite holiday. This year was no exception - these boys were out pretty much all day enjoying the decorations, playing, and working themselves up for the party. And then they PARTIED. They played and ate and ran around like wild, feral children. And then they watched grown men blow things up, and it was the time of their lives. (Even if I hated the party (which I don't) I would still put it on just for these two.)

In years past the fireworks show has taken a while to put on, mainly because it took so long to slight the fireworks. Lance changed that drastically this year with a fancy-shmancy torch he bought with his birthday money. Things went a whole heckuva lot faster. So fast, that Cole complained the whole thing was way, way too short. Poor Lance, he can't win. (Welcome to my world with Cole.)

Although I really did miss a few of my friends who recently moved (I'm looking you, Kanien and Cyndi!), it was still a grand and glorious Back Yard of Fire.

Kidisms

Me: I think I'm coming down with a cold.

Tess: I'm not. I'm coming up with a hot.

*******

Cole: We are doing all of the fireworks tonight at dark o'clock pm!

Me: At what time?

Cole (rolling his eyes, speaking slowly): dark o'clock pm.

*******

Tess: What day is it?

Me: Friday.

Tess: No. What other day is it?

Me: Ummm... the day before Saturday?

Tess: NO. WHAT OTHER DAY IS IT?

Me: Oh, July the 3rd?

Tess: Yes, you are right.