DADDY'S HOME!

Grandpa had his evaluation for the new physical therapy program today. This is the one to help him walk and get around better. They decided he wasn't ready to start it yet. He needs a bit of physical therapy to straighten himself out first (I've always known he needed straightening out!)--O.K. maybe it was straighten up. He has been leaning over and hunching over a bit too much so they are going to work with him to correct that and then hopefully get him in this program.

Grandpa graduated (summa cum laude), O.K. just kidding--but his physical therapist was REALLY proud of him, from his vocal training last week. He is speaking so much louder than he had been. He has to practice every day but it is helping so much! Yay!

Rob has been away for two weeks in training. I never like to say that until he is back home--just for safety reasons. I am so glad he is back. I thought I would never survive two weeks with two toddlers without him!  In fairness, it was mostly, Jonathon who kept things interesting.  He is  is SO TWO! He really only listens to his dad and with Rob gone for two weeks it was a real test of my patience and skill. Although, he did a lot better than I expected -- and maybe so did I.

Jono is going to be three in a couple of months and I really hope he will begin to mature a bit. Everyone tells me three is worse than two, but it really wasn't with Carly. Maybe it's the difference between boys and girls but I swear this child is determined to break his neck. He climbs on things and jumps off them and terrifies his poor mother. I can hardly turn my back for fear he is into something that will hurt him or on something that he will dive off of and knock himself silly. Tell me mom's -- is it a boy thing -- or is it my boy's thing? He is so full of it! Well, either way--at least Daddy is home to help now and Mommy is SO HAPPY!

He looks so innocent here doesn't he? Don't be fooled! Lol! He was so tired he fell asleep on Rob's lap tonight. He NEVER does that! I had to capture it on camera!

Jono with his Daddy and best buddy. Jono was so happy to see him! (Although this picture was taken right before Rob left for training-I still think it is so cute!)

SCOTUS WHO?

I was afraid it wasn't going to be good news from the Supreme Court but I had no idea the Chief Justice would try to re-write the White House's argument for them. Did you? Holy Cow! And most people thought he was a conservative. I guess, the silver lining if there is one, is that since yesterday Independents and even some Democrats--if pundits are to be believed are lining up behind Mitt Romney. Truly, and this is my opinion, if we don't replace this President, hold onto the House and gain a majority in the Senate, those of us who have decent healthcare will lose it. Those who don't have healthcare may gain some small amount of healthcare but it will not be good medical care because there will be less doctors to provide it, too many people in line, too much paperwork and too many rules and regulations. Our elderly and at risk populations are going will be at the mercy of bureaucrats who couldn't care less about them. This will be our national nightmare unless we act as a nation with our votes. I hope our electorate understands how serious this is. We now have to protect ourselves. Our President did not protect us. Our representatives did not protect us. The Supreme Court did not protect us. It is now -- and finally us to us. If we don't do it, no one will. IF WE FAIL TO DO IT . . . WE HAVE FAILED OURSELVES. IT COMES TO THIS, IF WE WANT OBAMACARE TO GO, WE MUST REPLACE OBAMA!  PASS IT ON.  ;)

ONE FLU OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST

The morning after--and of course, Jono got sick today. He threw up three times but somehow that didn't stop him from being rambunctious for the rest of the day. I guess it was the twenty minute flu. I guess if you have to get a bug, that's the one to get! :)

WELL DARN

Our candidate didn't win . . . by quite a lot. But, he was so gracious and good, not only with Orrin Hatch, but with his supporters that it sure made us wish he had even more. Luckily, he is a young buck and hopefully we can get him to run again in the future. He ran such a clean, honest campaign. That cannot be said of his opponent. But I digress.

We had a great time working for his campaign all these months. And today Julie and I baked up a storm. We made a bunch of desserts to take down to the campaign party. They had food for everyone but people were bringing desserts kind of potluck. Julie baked nearly 175 chocolate chip cookies and I baked four cakes. There was a ton of food there and a ton of people. Although, we still managed to have a few leftover cookies and a quite a bit of leftover cake. Somehow, I don't think Grandpa will complain. Do you? :)

DAN'S THE MAN

Today Julie and I went out and worked one of the precincts in our city for our senate candidate. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is our Primary.

His name is Dan Liljenquist and he has done amazing things for our state. As a freshman senator he eliminated pensions for utah legislators. He took on runaway entitlements like double dipping in the state pension system and out-of-control medicaid costs and reformed them. We are just so impressed with him.

Unfortunately, he is behind in the polls. We are really hoping somehow he pulls it out. He is running against a 36 year incumbent. Yes, that's correct, it's not a typo, a 36 year incumbent--going for 42 years. Maybe you've heard of him--Orrin Hatch? Ring any bells? He needs to come home as badly as Richard Lugar needed did. Sadly, he has made so much money in D.C. (How do they do that? Oh yah, insider trading and lobbyists.) I'm afraid he has been able to buy himself another election. I don't think he can afford to retire.

If you don't agree with my opinions or politics, I apologize, kind of. I mean, this is an opinion blog so you kind of have to expect my opinion once-in-a-while. Just sayin' . . .

And if you can vote here and haven't yet---and are so inclined . . . VOTE FOR DAN!

NADALOTGOINGON

I taught Sunday School today. Rob and Julie both had to work and since Jonathon can't go I thought it best to leave both kids at home. I went over just for Sunday School so I wouldn't be gone too long. Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids busy watching cartoons for that hour. Megan came over for a couple of hours this evening.

The third dog finally went home around 9 p.m. tonight--THE RIGHT WAY. His owners picked him up. Yay! So tired of having dogs under my feet! Nothing else going on here. I guess being boring is okay. :)

THE BEST LAID PLANS

I started a diet yesterday and I darn near started it again today. Hopefully, I will really start it again tomorrow. If not, on Monday for sure! :)

IMPROVEMENT

Maybe some of you who are talking to Dad/Grandpa on the phone can tell the difference already but he is doing really great with his vocal training. His therapist taped him the first time she came and then again the other day and the difference is quite remarkable. He had gotten so bad he was almost whispering at times. I remember my Grandpa Carson sounding almost the same way. He had Parkinson's also.

I had a runaway Labradoodle tonight. I didn't even know it for who knows how long. I went to get the dogs gathered up for bed and was short one dog. I looked everywhere for him and no "Charlie." I checked outside and every room in the house. I was getting panicky--but I knew no one had let him out. I couldn't figure where he could be. Finally, I decided I needed to drive around and look for him anyway. But, I decided to start by going to his owner's home figuring if he had gotten out he would have gone there. Sure enough, he was sitting on the porch. DUMB POOCH!

I came home with him and Julie told me something she remembered from yesterday. She said she remembered there being some dirt on his nose and then looking around the yard and seeing a little hole he'd dug by the fence. So, she and I went out with a flashlight and sure enough, he'd dug his way to China! I didn't know we were such bad hosts! Either that or he is seriously homesick! Sorry Charlie, but no one is going to be there to feed you for a few more days--so you may want to hang around for a bit! Anyway, Julie and I got some extra bricks we had laying around and blocked his exit. Again--with the DUMB POOCH! Gah! Like I don't have enough to worry about. Plus, I don't need a pooch teaching Jonathon how to get out of the yard without having to climb the fence! :)

JUST THE NORM

Julie had the day off today which was helpful. We got quite a bit done around the house. We even got the kid's room clean!

Grandpa has one more week of his vocal/throat training left and then in July he is going to work with a different physical therapist on a similar special program for walking and movement. We are really hopeful it will help him be able to get around better.

We are still babysitting my friend's Labradoodle. I'm not sure how you spell that. He's a cute dog but he hasn't wanted to eat much since they left. Well, I should amend that. I've caught him eating our dog's food a couple of times so I guess he's not starving. But he's not eating a lot and I can't get him to eat his own food--that's for sure. I guess I won't worry too much about it since he is getting some food. At least all the dogs are getting along well.

Well, there really isn't a whole lot going on here--other than the normal stuff. More later.

WOWZA WEDNESDAY!

Wowza, it's been a day. I think the moon must be full or something. I have two really emotional toddlers. They are fighting and having tantrums over everything! On top of that, I inherited another dog today - that makes 3--but thankfully, this one goes back home in 5 days! Whew! However, that is still another dog to trip over for nearly a week! My neighbors went on vacation and I couldn't say "No." Gah!  Oh well. :}

I did manage to catch a couple of smiles out of Carly and Jono today, but I promise there were only a couple and these were among them! Serious! (And yes BTW, that is a Colts Cheerleader outfit she's wearing for all you fans! Go Colts! Lol!)


                                                             Carly on our front steps.

 

Jono, just hanging out.

MISS JULIE

MR. JONATHON

MISS CARLY

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY SWEETHEART!

Rob wasn't able to be home for Father's Day today. That's why we had a dinner Saturday to celebrate. Anyway, I took this cute picture of him and Jono and just thought I would share it. Daddy with his only boy. Two of my favorite guys in the whole world. So stinkin' cute! Happy Father's Day honey! I love you! :)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!

Got lots done today! Rob, Jono and I got haircuts! Got my Father's Day shopping (and a bunch of other shopping) done and made a big Father's Day dinner for Rob and Dad. We had Lasagne for our main course and Fruit Pizza for dessert. Julie and Carly helped with the Fruit Pizza. It was YUMMY! Everything was  good but very filling. I am still full and it is nearly 11:00 p.m at night.

Just want to say Happy Father's Day to my Dad whom I love very much! I'm so proud of who he is and all he has accomplished in his life. He is a terrific father and a great man. Thanks for always being such a good example for me Dad. I love you! Hope you have a Happy Father's Day!

WIGGLES, GIGGLES AND COPYCATS

Yesterday Carly and Jono had a friend over and they all played out on the swing set. I wasn't really excited about going out and pushing them on the swings because it was SO hot out but once I got out there I was really glad I was there. They were so funny and I loved watching and listening to them. They talked non-stop to themselves and each other and they say the most random things. Their friend Ellie said "I have blue eyes"  to which Carly immediately responded "I have pink eyes." From there came the ripple back through Jono to Ellie. Suddenly everyone had pink eyes.

Then, I was pushing all of them and Carly said her arm itched and she needed to stop and scratch it. Sure enough a couple of seconds later, Jono said his arm itched and he needed to stop and scratch it--followed by Ellie whose arm itched who needed to stop and scratch it. The hilarity came for me when they had to look at Carly to see which arm she was scratching so they would know which of their arms they needed to scratch. Hahaha! :) And during the course of a half hour of my pushing them, Carly had to stop twice more to scratch that arm--and you can be sure the other two had identical itches at nearly the exact same moments. Funny, funny kids.

I can't remember all of their funny things they said but truly the best part for me was listening to their giggling as they went flying into the air screaming "Higher, Mommy, higher!" I wish I could capture those giggles and listen to them forever. Hearing your children's pure laughter and seeing their sweet faces filled with glee truly have to be some of the sweetest moments a parent can witness--and hopefully, some of the most memorable moments of childhood. 

THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT TODAY

We made and ate cookies, swung on swings, read books, watched movies,  laid in bed and hugged each other, gave each other kisses, said "I love you" bunches of times, shared toys, loved on our puppies and ran in the yard. What a bunch of spoiled big and little kids are we! :)

WHY WE PRAY . . . IN CASE YOU WEREN'T CERTAIN :)

Tonight I was saying prayers with Carly and Jono as I was putting them to bed when Carly asked why we always had to pray. I told her we pray everyday so we can stay close to our Heavenly Father--to which she quickly added "and to keep tomatoes away!" "What honey?" I asked. She looked at me quizzically. (I'm searching my brain because she likes tomatoes.) "What about tomatoes? What does Heavenly Father do with tomatoes?" "You know," she said, and makes a whirling motion with her hand, "he keeps those big winds away." "Oh Tornadoes! You mean he keeps us safe from Tornadoes?! Yes honey, he protects us. That's one of the things we pray for." From the mouths of babes . . . Lol!

NICE DAY

I took the little kids to lunch today with my friend Robin and her kids. They had a good time. We ate lunch and then let them play on the playground afterward and they were pretty happy about being able to do something other than be at home.

It was a nice day out again. A bit warmer than yesterday. The kids napped pretty well after lunch but they were really hyper tonight. I was fixing dinner when I realized I needed a few things from the store to complete the meal. I wanted to take them to the store with me about as much as I wanted to perform surgery on myself but I didn't really have any choice. So, off we went--and to my surprise--they were both really good! Miracles do happen!

Rob ended up about three hours from home today with his work so he was late getting home. He was pretty tired by the time he pulled in but we still managed to get some things accomplished around here before bedtime.

Grandpa had another visit from his voice Dr. today. He is making progress and she seems happy about that. So are we. Well, that's about all for today. Night all. :)

MY KIND OF SUNDAY

It was a really nice day out today. We had a high wind warning last night but no sign of it today. It was a nice temperature out and the kids were loving running up and down the sidewalk with one of their friends this evening. I'm pretty sure Jono is going to be a track star.

We didn't do much today. I didn't even fuss much for dinner-just pulled out the waffle iron and made waffles. That's my kind of Sunday. Everyone seemed happy enough so that was good enough for me. :)

OUR WEEK

It's been a busy few days. Rob and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Thursday. He took the day off and we spent it together doing some fun things.

Yesterday we spent the day working on cleaning out our storage unit and prepping for a yard sale we were having today. It was sweltering hot yesterday. (Oh yah, that relief I asked for a few days ago--came on the 7th in the form of 39 degree weather! In JUNE. Can you believe that? Amazing!) Today, for the sale, the weather actually was fairly cool and nice. Although, we do have a high wind warning tonight. Hopefully, that will pass without much affect.

Our yard sale went pretty well. We sold most of our big stuff. One of neighbors went in with us and she sold most of her, stuff too. All in all, it was probably still more work than it was worth. But, isn't it always! Lol!

CAN YOU SAY "SALSA?"

My big accomplishment for the day was filling about 600 jars of salsa. Yep, that's right! I went to the cannery today to work on salsa. Our shift was responsible for canning 3000 jars of salsa. I was working one cranky automatic jar filler and the salsa was piping hot. It was pretty interesting how it all works and thankfully, I only burned myself once. I think I did leave a couple of quarts on the floor and maybe another quart on my clothes and shoes but other than that I am pretty proud of the job I did. Our crew did all those jars in 2 hours and I think there were less than 20 of us--so that is pretty good. I haven't tasted it yet--but it sure smelled good so I brought some home to try!

CONGRATULATIONS JULIE! WE LOVE YOU!

We went to a very nice reception hosted by the Multiple Sclerosis Society tonight who are giving Julie a very nice scholarship for college this year. We were so impressed with their kindness and generosity. They told us how difficult it was for them to decide on applicants this year and how impressed they were with the essays written by the recipients.

There were about eight total recipients--most of them either had parents who were currently suffering with MS or like Julie had lost parents to MS. However, one recipient was Julie's age, (18), and has the disease. It turns out that Julie had gone to junior high with her but didn't know she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This young woman got the largest scholarship and everyone there was so happy for her. What a hard thing for someone so young to go through. I had always heard most people were diagnosed with M.S. in their 30's and 40's so this has to be devastating for her and her family. Although, she seems to be very upbeat and determined. Well, I didn't mean to get off on that--it was just a memorable part of the evening.

We are very proud of Julie and her efforts to be a good student in high school but in her desires to go on and gain a college education. She is very excited for college to start and plans to study Political Science. She is hoping to go on from there to law school. I've told her to expect to change her major several times along the way as I've got lots of experience with college students, but she is determined that she wants to be a prosecutor. Who knows maybe she will be one of those who never changes her major! That would be something!

Congrats Julie! You make us proud and we love you!

IS IT LIVE OR IS IT MEMOREX?

Julie and I are sitting here with the kids watching Despicable Me. Jonathon just started saying the lines along with the characters--I mean--as they were saying them--not after--but right with them. He has memorized some of the funny lines. He was even saying them with the right inflection. Julie and I just looked at each other and laughed. He's not even three yet! No way! Kids are so smart these days. I think I was a pretty smart kid--but I had nothing on the kids these days.

This afternoon Carly was going outside and she stopped halfway out the door and said, "Mom, I'll be out back if anyone needs me." REALLY? I mean, you're four. I know you're going out back to play--just who is it you think is going to NEED you? It's a bit early for a social calendar! Lol!  (At least I hope it is!)

Wow, we are having a heat wave. Rob said on his way home this afternoon he noticed it was over 100 degrees about 15 miles from here. It's 11:00 p.m. now and it's still 86 degrees. In fact, the kids would only stay out and play about 15 minutes at a time. Even then, when they came in they were really flushed. (You know it's bad when kids won't stay outside!) I sure hope we get some relief soon.

OUR VERY BORING SUNDAY

I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. to Rob getting dressed and having to head out on-call to fix a machine at a hospital. I guess he'd been up with them since 4:00 a.m. but I hadn't heard a thing. No sooner had I gotten back to sleep than I heard Jonathon crying and went in and found him telling me he was sick. He said he had a tummy ache. So, I picked him up and gave him some medicine and took him back to my bedroom--but not before Carly woke up having a nightmare. Got her back to sleep and then got Jono asleep again. Then it was time to get up and go teach Sunday School. Rob had planned to stay home with Jono so I could go teach but I had to have Julie stay home with him instead. Although, I don't think she minded that much. Everyone needs a break now and then.

I think my Sunday School class went okay. People were quiet today. It was hard to get participation and I hate that. It's so much nicer when people volunteer answers and discussion.

Rob spent several hours out fixing machines and then came home and needed a giant nap. I would have liked to have joined him but I had put the kids down for a nap and Jono wouldn't stay down. I didn't dare lay down with him up moving around. You never know what a two year old is going to get into--especially my very clever little guy. ;)

Grandma made dinner tonight. She made some yummy Swiss steak and mashed potatoes. Then I made a chocolate cake for dessert. So we were well fed. Now time for bed. Night all.

PICTURES OF GRADUATION WEEK

This has been a long week. We went to the presentation of all the seniors receiving scholarships at Julie's school early in the week. Julie received scholarships from four universities, I believe--and one scholarship that will travel with her. Although, unfortunately, none of the university ones are at the university she has chosen to go to. Oh well, still an honor to receive them.

Then we had her graduation yesterday. I did take pictures. So here are a few of them. Congratulations sweetheart! We are so proud of you!

 Julie receiving one of her scholarships earlier in the week

 Julie receiving her diploma

 Julie being congratulated by the school board members

Julie with Grandpa and Grandma Carson after Graduation