Life Revisited

I sucked my finger until I was 7 years old. I would suck my right index finger and rub the lace on my blanket. ~sigh~ I loved that.

When my parents had finally had enough with my finger sucking they went to the dentist for help. (at least I think it was the dentist) The dentist gave my mom some nasty tasting brown stuff to put on my finger. They put it on my finger and I was pretty sure it wasn't going to make a difference, then I put my finger in my mouth. Yuck! It was so bad, I never sucked my finger again. I swear I can still taste it in the back of my throat. Terrible!

Gloria, my only thumb sucker, just turned six and is still sucking her thumb. I am a little more sympathetic to her situation than her dad is but it really is past time to stop. We've tried everything we can think of, incentives, punishments, even hot sauce. Gloria liked the hot sauce the best because, "it's only hot for a minute and then it's all gone." We've tried everything, that is, except for the $400 implant the dentist suggested; with the understanding that it was not a guarantee.

~Enter hand sanitizer

I have never liked hand sanitizer and the only time I've ever purchased it was when it was on the "back to school" supplies list. The idea of chemicals as well as dead germs on my hands really doesn't make me feel any better that just plain old germs.

sick 5 year old Gloria

Gloria told me last year that Germ-X tasted bad. She also told me that even when you wash you hands, it still tastes bad.

I bought some today and told her to put it on her hands, especially her thumb. She cried but she did it. I hope it isn't poisonous.

We love Ang!

The kids started watching Avatar ~The Last Airbender while Paul was in Iraq. It's a Nickelodeon T.V. show. By the time Paul came home I was watching it and then he signed on too. We ordered back copies and watched them all so Paul would be all caught up.

Since we have been without T.V. we wait anxiously for the new episodes to be released on DVD so we can get it from Netflix and then wait until everyone is home and watch the DVD together. It has been a happy thing for us because everyone is included.

We watched the end of the series the other night. And, as with most series, it was satisfying and disappointing at the same time. It was a good ending but we won't have the excitement and anticipation of episodes arriving. Dan was the most upset by the idea but I think this is the first time it has happened to him. He kept saying, "What is going to replace the Avatar?" I wish I had prepared him better.

The show's target audience is 6-11 year olds but the writing is great. The adventures are fun and poignant and the story line is smart. It is the first T.V. show we all liked and I recommend it heartily.

I love watermelon!

We have had the best luck with watermelons this year. We've purchased and eaten at least 3 a week since school got out and I think we've only had one yucky one so far.

They are supposed to grow well here in East Texas in our sandy soil and our plants are growing like crazy but no fruit yet.

I like this guy's really simple and beautiful pictures of food.

At least it's not broken . . .

I rolled my ankle running this morning. A very nice lady saw me hobbling along the road and offered to give me a ride.

Bad News: It's a bad sprain. I'm so bummed because this is going to put me behind on my training.

Good News: My doctor is a runner too though, and he gave me some great tips on how to keep myself conditioned and if I'm very careful I should be running again in 3 weeks. He was very encouraging and said I can still be ready for the Tyler Half in October.

Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday 6 Year Old Gloria!!

Hello Dolly!

We are all stoked to go surfing again. And with Dolly forming this weekend we thought we might have a reason to go but our weekend is packed with commitments. Boooo!

This is one of the places Paul surfed when he grew up called Boat Basin. It is so beautiful!

Stake Dance

The big kids had fun at the Satke Dance the other night.

Big Paul was the DJ.

It's so nice to have another man around the house.

I told Paul we needed a place for our firewood. He looked online and found some plans and drove to Lowe's and bought everything he needed and built it all by himself and in one day.

Doesn't it look good!?!

I needed this . . .

After a not so great Sunday I needed a good laugh. My friend Mindi posted this . . . what a great story!

We also went to see Get Smart. I wouldn't recommend it unless you were feeling very silly.



It was just what I needed.

Antibiotics, Humidity and Unhealthy Amounts of Jane Austin

So for the past week or so we have been stuck in the house, fighting ear infections (swimmer's ear) and bronchitis. We can't go swimming and it is so stinkin' hot that I have been letting the kids hide out in the house playing hours and hours of video games.

This frees Robin and I up to watch Jane Austin movies one after the other.

So far we've watched:

Emma (two different versions).

Persuasion (two different versions).

Sense and Sensibility

We've each read Emma and Persuasion this summer. I tend to like the movies that are true to the books. Robin seems to like the movies that take more licence with the stories.

This is one of the best parts about having a teenaged daughter.

We're moving away from Miss Austen now and have ordered some other period romances. Howard's End and A Room With a View are on the way. Any other suggestions??

Fun things we did in Utah

I really can't believe that we fit as much into our week as we did.

We swam at the home of a friend of the Urquharts. Dove off the diving board and visited and ate good food. (more about the food tomorrow) ~no pics, booo!

Taming of the Shrew, they set the story in post WWII Italy, I loved it!

Some of us went to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and saw Taming of the Shrew. I was particularly glad about this because I didn't think that I was going to get to go to Shakespeare on this trip AND Taming of the Shrew is my favorite Shakespeare play.

Looking at the hieroglyphics.

Sara with her hand next to a dinosaur track . . . so cool!!

My most unforgettable experience was when we went to Babylon State Park. You wouldn't recognize it as anything special if you were just walking through but if you had a very able guide like Steve Urquhart (and sometimes Ruth) you would see what we saw . . . dinosaur tracks everywhere, real pioneer ruins and signs, beautiful and unmistakable Indian hieroglyphics and Spaniard explorer signs all within a one mile radius. It was really amazing and, I have to say, a little bit humbling to be so close to these very real histories, to touch what they touched and see what they saw. These were real people who impacted what the Southwestern U.S. as well as Southern Utah is right now. It was great, if you have the chance to go, GO.

Pine Lake (from the dam)

We went to Pine Valley to go fishing. The ladies went up with the guys just until lunch. It felt so good to get out of the heat. After we left, the guys decided they would stay until they caught 100 fish, a goal they reached at about 10:30 that night. What fun!

We had a 3 mama, baby shower for Ronnie Jean, Jeana and Rachael (who had her baby on the 6th). It was a lot of fun to see everyone. I especially loved seeing Gloria and her sisters, Jean and Donna, together.

Silly uncles during our kick ball game.

We went to the park and played kickball. You should have seen Grandma Gloria catch that fly-ball! We're going to be talking about that for years to come. She was incredible!

That evening Gloria rented out Sand Hollow for the night. It was so much fun for everyone but my favorite part was diving on the very bouncy diving board. I could just do that all day. We were all disappointed when it was time to leave, I think we all could have stayed for several more hours. And little Gloria (after being forced by her mother) went down the water slide and figured out that floaties really do make you float and she finally had fun in the water. What a perfect way to end our trip!

. . . Sigh . . . the only thing missing was visit with Mindi and Russ Clove but we'll be sure to fit them in next time (love you guys).

What a great trip!!

People we saw in Utah

We had such a great trip and of course the best part was just being with our families. We spent the first few days with the Stanleys which included lots of beautiful babies . . .

Patrea and Aunt Robin

Jared and Robin

Gorgeous Ruth

Everyone behaving

Everyone jumping.



. . . and the next few days with the Rodgers with lots of babies on the way.

Rachael (whose little girl was born yesterday) Hooray!!

Sweet Sadie

Grandma giving her kick ball team the game plan.

Richard pitching.

Rich and Steve and someone's feet taking it easy after the big game.

We took family pics with the Rodgers too. I can't wait to see them.

Happy birthday to me!!

More 4th

Happy 4th!!

Chills and tears every single time!

Guess who got a promotion at work today!!

Here's a clue if you couldn't find him.

And the winner is . . .

The greatest invention ever???

Hands down it has to be the DVD player for car.

No fighting, no teasing, no crying. It was wonderful!

When we first used one of these I felt so guilty. Sticking the kids in front of a T.V. when we should be spending time together seemed wrong. Let me put this in the strongest terms possible. It's not. Instead of the endless games and books and songs and 3 mile cookies, Paul and I had almost the whole time to talk and plan and listen to music and I found it much more enjoyable than threatening to leave one or all of the children on the side of the road because they won't stop teasing each other.

(I realize the movie on the screen is American Pie and no, that is not one of the movies we let the kids watch. We only like American Pie 2.)

These are the movies the kids watched while we drove 20 hours each way.

Hoot (Sara and Dan cute, true story)

Hercules (Love this one, especially the music) Best line: " . . . and you're wearing his merchandise?!?!"

Enchanted (talked about this already~dumb ending, fun music and dancing)

The Parent Trap (newer version~ We've loved this one for years)

101 Dalmatians (classic) favorite line, "My tail is froze and my ears are froze and toes are froze and my nose is froze."

Over the Hedge (love when the squirrel drinks the energy drink)

Ice Age 2 (good like the first one) favorite line, "Well I've got news for you! You're not going to be saving your species tonight or any other night!"

School of Rock (funny, a little too much for Gloria and Sara)

Shrek (funny)

Shrek 2 (funnier)

Angels in the Outfield (good 8-10 year old movie)

We did play the ABC game a few times (Pauly cheats) and Dan played on his DS but it was mostly about the movies.

Country Roads

We drove for two days straight and got home last night. The house is still standing, the chickens are still alive and our garden is still growing.

While everyone unpacked I went to the store and bought everything we needed for a huge salad. I don't know when we'll be able to face fast food again.