A Little Demo...

...Demolition, that is...

We lived in our first home happily for 7 years, not doing much work on it except for paint, until the last two years when we finished the basement, redid the kitchen, and put a deck in the back, not to mention the brand new furnace and central air that we had installed. And then we moved. Well, we've been in this home for 5 years. Aside from tearing apart the front yard to impress the neighbors ;), painting the outside of the house, painting a little here and there inside, and redoing the least-used bathroom, we haven't done very much. Until now *dun, dun, duuun*

Until this:

 Helper Monkey #1

 Helper Monkey #2

 Helper Monkey #3

And there's more! But you'll have to wait for the pictures until it's done. I'm excited for it. But now that we're finally doing some work on our home, does that mean we'll be moving in a few years? Hmmm...

Birthday Boy!

 This year J turned the big 3-8! We celebrated with chocolate cake and English toffee ice cream. The day before his birthday, J bought a propane torch kit with which to annihilate the weeds in our yard. Best. Birthday. Present. Ever. Here he is unwrapping the second and third best birthday presents ever:

 The kids wrapped it.

 Can you tell?

 Strawberries and blackberries from our garden and hard candy.

 Because every boy needs a lunch box.

The day before J's birthday was a whirlwind day. I was in and out all day -- taking kids to piano class, running errands, picking kids up again, taking boys to buy jammers (the tight swim bottoms for boys, which at first embarrassed them and then became awesome because Olympic swimmers wear them), going to lunch with an awesome friend, driving up to IKEA for a few things, going to dinner and a concert with a couple more awesome friends -- and didn't get to spend much time with J. The day of his birthday was the Brigham City Temple dedication, which made it so we were home by 11:30AM. The rest of the day was spent relaxing with our favorite furry white guy. I love him so much. Yes I do!

Home Again, Home Again

Our last day on Coronado was spent at the beach and at the hotel pool. I made this strange volcanic-looking thing while watching the kids run around. J was, as usual, trying not to get sunburned (it didn't work). That's black sand inside and around the rim. It was in the hole that I dug. Pretty neat.

Just 1/2 mile up from the hotel is a great playground that we took the kids to. I think these pictures pretty much sum up their vacation experience.

The next day we checked out, got in the van, and took a detour on the way home. I wanted to get my mom an ostrich egg for her birthday, so we retraced our path to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido to a stand just up the road from the Park that sold fresh ostrich eggs. (More on this later). Trying to get out of that city we had to fill up on gas, take O to the bathroom, and have lunch. In frustration and in answer to S's question of, "When are we going to be out of California?" J answered, "Never!! Aaaah!! We can never leave!" It was a bit frightening. By then J had lost his patience with California drivers, California gas stations that didn't take credit cards, or that actually took your credit card while you filled up with gas, and the Wienershnitzel that we were trying to give our business to but that would only take cash. Once we had lunch and found ourselves on the freeway, though, it was smooth sailing -- a total of 14 hours in the van to get home. The kids did amazingly well. And how nice to collapse into bed at 1AM on Saturday at the end of a fun and memorable vacation!

Exterminator

Hornets have built a nest under our front porch. We watch them buzz in and out of a crack between our steps and our house. On the 24th of July J decided to do something about it. I had to run to the grocery store, so he asked me to pick up a can or two of hornet spray. They only had one kind there (and I don't recommend it), so this is J taking care of the hornet nest. Make sure you've gone to the bathroom before you watch it because you may pee in your pants.

Our neighbors to the north noticed his funny little dance and came over to investigate. Spencer said, "You know, it's really important to stay as still as possible because they're attracted to your movement" to which I said, "J can't help it; it's like a compulsion." He really can't seem to help it. His little insect avoidance dances are the funniest things I've ever seen.

This is Spencer. He watched J for a while then went in his house, came out in his beekeeping gear, and took over. He goes into anaphylactic shock when he gets stung by a bee, so you understand my comment to him. Doesn't he look professional? Thanks, Spencer!

Updates...

In March John's brother Adam came up from Arizona to do this:

and this:

John will sheetrock it when he recovers from this:

Subcutaneous Ulnar Transposition Surgery.

While it will hopefully improve his quality of life by taking the pain away and returning feeling to his ring and pinky fingers, it has diminished my quality of life a bit. Everything is on me now: diaper changes, putting to bed, getting out of bed, lifting anything heavier than 5 lbs, driving, dinners, laundry, picking up -- oh wait -- been doing all that anyway.

There have been a few bright points of light in all the craziness lately. Who can not be happy when threadless.com has their $5 shirts sales and you can get beauties like this:

,

this:

,

this:

,

this:

,

and don't forget this one:

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Plus, when the perfect bag to replace Hello Kitty arrives in the mail,

,

and then the next day Mom and Dad Kim arrive from New Mexico for a visit,

who can complain?

When my parents were up we went to dinner at Red Lobster (the boys were squeamishly fascinated when they were introduced to the live lobster that they later, with horrified expressions, watched my mom dismember and eat, after it had been cooked, of course).

We made bul go gi and kimchee, hiked up Rock Canyon, lunched with Grandpa-Great at the Olive Garden, and generally had a good time. Thanks for visiting, Gomma and Gompa Bim (as H so eloquently calls them!)