"Bob" Quest

So Saturday we pretty much spent the whole day looking for Halloween decorations. My whole family loves Halloween. Everyday Rylee asks me if it is Halloween time yet and I always have to tell her no, not yet and to quit thinking about it which is hard for her to do when I am constantly on the lookout for more Halloween decorations. Justin even gets into it. He says he likes Halloween more than he likes Christmas (which is just plain crazy). We don't do the cutesy Halloween house we do the scary Halloween house or so I like to think it's scary. It gets more fun every year as we keep adding to it. I remember the 1st scary skeleton we got and Rylee was really scared at first but then we just told her it was "Bob" and look at his dirty teeth from not brushing them and things like that just to make light of it. Now every skeleton guy she sees is "Bob". She hasn't been afraid since. Here is a picture of a "Bob". She would love this. Sometimes I think that is a great thing other times it makes me a little worried. I even had a guy at Fred Meyer comment on it and how his 8 year old daughter is scared of everything and here's Rylee with a big grin on her face looking at all the scary things. Like I said before, I am not sure if I should be happy that she isn't scared or maybe a bit worried.

We did find some things that day (so did Rylee) but I have only just started my quest for "Bob" and all things scary.

Here comes the Bride and the rain!

So this last weekend we headed up to Utah for my cousin Kristy's wedding. We left Saturday morning and got there in the afternoon. It was really a nice weekend even though we only shopped a little tiny bit as this trip was NOT A SHOPPING TRIP per my husband. We really didn't do much of anything and that was ok with me. Sunday was Kristy's wedding and it started windy and cloudy. Not a good sign-but still plenty of time for the sun to come out. If the sun did come out on Sunday it didn't stick around. We left the house about 6 pm and it was already raining. Kristy and Charles were getting married at Log Haven and it was an outside wedding. It rained the whole way to the canyon. I think the rain stopped for about 20 minutes and then we were ushered outside so they could hurry and get married while the rain had stopped. I think they waited to long because by the time we got outside and sat down the rain started coming down again-HARD. So of course we all ran inside and Kristy and Charles ended up getting married in a small little room where not even half there guests could witness it (not to worry-I shoved my way in). Luckily Kristy didn't let it get her down-she had a smile on all the time I got to see her. And why not-there is nothing you can do about the rain so why let it bring you down on your special day. I wish I was more like that-I let things get me down too much. I will have to work on that. On the part side they had very pretty decorations and lots of candy to munch on!

End of Summer Celebration

I decided that I needed to have a little get together of Rylee's friends over before the summer came to an end. So I made up some invites for some kids at school and then some of our neighbors and friends to come to our house on Saturday for some fun. This is my problem-I come up with these ideas and I think they are just great at the time and then I start to worry. I am a chronic worrier. 1st I worried that no one would come and then I worried that we wouldn't have enough food for the people that showed up. I ended up getting 30 hamburgers and 40 hotdogs just to make sure I had enough! We have enough to do 3 more BBQ's if we wanted. I know this is comical but I would rather be prepared and have more than not enough. It is a never ending battle for me. Anyway, we were just going to have a BBQ and let the kids play on the plunge. Justin and I had bought sidewalk chalk, water guns and tons of bubble stuff for the kids in case they got bored of the plunge. It ended up being loads of fun. At least I thought so-I hope others thought that as well. We had invited a total of 10 kids and then their parents if they wanted to stay and 8 kids ended up coming along with their parents so it was a pretty good turnout. They started playing on the plunge and then it seemed they got tired and I started freaking out. I'm thinking the party has just started. But then I broke out the doritos and the kids dug right in-I mean these kids were taking HUGE handfuls of doritos so I thought maybe it was time for lunch. We ate and then the kids were ready to go again. They played on the plunge again and they played with the water guns and then the sidewalk chalk and bubbles. I am glad that I got the chalk and bubbles because I wasn't quite sure that anybody would want to do that. Anyway, it went really well and I am already looking forward to next years party!

Lions and Tigers and Bears-Oh My!

This past Wednesday my mom and I went to pick up Andrew for a little visit. I took Friday off from work so I could spend the day with the kids. I took Rylee to her last swim lesson of the summer. She just loved it and did such a great job using her arms and sticking her face in the water as many times as she could. Such a proud mom I am as the other kids wouldn't put their faces in the water. She past to the next level which is Eel. Mom met me at the swim pool with Andrew so after Rylee's lesson I took the kids the the zoo. I had only learned that morning that Poppa Jack had already taken Andrew to the zoo the day before. But he said he wanted to go again so we did. It was a little chilly that morning but I think the kids had fun. We saw the snow leopard but no lions were out that morning and the tiger exhibit was closed for remodeling. So my title should just say Bears but how boring is that. I know there are no bears at the zoo but we will get to them later. At the end I bought them both a little souvenir so they could remember their fun trip to the zoo-Andrew got a tiger and Rylee got a snow leopard. And of course I forgot my camera which I am famous for so I have no pictures of our fun and even though we didn't get to see the lions here is how I imagined they would look.

Later Mom came to the house and we then headed over to Arctic Circle for lunch and fun on the toys for the kids. Rylee is always wanting to go play there. I hate it when the bigger kids play on it and take it over. It makes me very angry. After lunch we went back to teh house to play on The Plunge. Andrew was so excited for it (or so I thought) but once he got his swimsuit on he would have nothing to do with that slide. Rylee loved it. I felt bad though because I knew that once he went down it he would love it. I even called Nicole because I thought if she told him to go down it he would but nNot even his mom telling him to go down the slide or a candy bribe from me would do the trick-he wasn't having it. That night the kids had a sleepover with meemaw and pappa jack. They all had fun acting silly and eating smores.


Saturday we took the kids to Bear World. At first Rylee was a little scared because she didn't want the bears to get her but we kept telling her that we were in the car and they couldn't get us and she finally decided that she wanted to go. I could not believe how expensive Bear World is. It was $63 bucks for the 4 of us-I think someone is making some money. They do have rides there though and at least those are free. I think that was Rylee and Andrews favorite part were the rides. They rode the little roller coaster 3 times. Believe it or not I actually remembered my camera (thanks to Justin) so I have pictures! They also liked the petting zoo that Bear World has. It has chickens, goats, deer and a big pig. Rylee snorted at it and it snorted right back at her. It was hilarious. That girl can really snort! We tried to stay there as long as we could and ride the rides as many times as the kids wanted just so we could get our moneys worth. We then left to take the kids to lunch as we couldn't afford anything to eat at Bear World-it probably would have cost us another $50 for some hotdogs and hamburgers. It was a good day though and the kids had fun so that makes it worth the money-anything for the kids!

Heileson Family Campout

We had our big campout this past weekend at Flat Rock in Island Park. I was a little nervous only because Friday morning on the news they said that some parts of Island Park had been closed due to bears. Oh Great-how I love bears. At least we had a trailer to stay in as we had borrowed Justin's parents trailer. We left town Friday afternoon and got there about 4:30. My parents and Nicole's fam was already up there. We don't really do much once we get there besides hang out.

Saturday our family made breakfast which ended up being very tasty despite all of the bugs that infested it. I guess it just added a little extra protein-yuck! Grandpa and Uncle Kent took the kids on a 4 wheel ride that morning. We thought that they might be gone for an hour at the most-3 hours later they roll in. Rylee was buck naked from teh waist down because she had a litttle accident. They were done with their ride and she told Grandpa that she had to go pee. He told her to go. So he thinks that she knows how to go pee standing up-silly grandpa. Needless to say Rylee got pee all over her pants. Poor kid! Andrew-the kid that can sleep anywhere fell asleep on the 4-wheeler. He is so funny-you get Rylee who never wants to sleep and then Andrew who asks if he can go take a nap. Later on in the day Mom and I took the kids to float the buffalo. They had fun looking for alligators and fish and helping Meemaw row the boat. After dinner that night Mindy had brought finger paints for all of the kids. Rylee made a picture of Africa adn Andrew made a picture of an ice cream cone. Mindy is always such a thinker. She also brought sand toys for the kids to play with. What would we do without her. What would I do without Stockton and Taylor. These kids always keep the other little kids entertained. They are so good with Rylee too-she loves them.
Sunday we had breakfast courtesy of the Stacey Family and then we all packed up and left. I never like that part. You have so much work to do when you get home-you have to unpack everything and wash everything as it all smells like campfire whether you had it outside or not. But it is worth the work. I always enjoy myself.

Another Disappointment

So I had my 3rd and definetly final IUI on July 10th. When we found out the 2nd one didn't take Justin said let's try 1 more time. And I was so hopeful this time because I knew it would be the last and I kept thinking 3rd time's the charm. Even though you really shouldn't get your hopes up because if it doesn't take you just set yourself up for more heartbreak. It doesn't help when they tell you at the doctors office that they have a good feeling about this one. They ended up doing the procedure late in the afternoon instead of the morning this time too. So in combination of all those factors I got my hopes up only to be sorely disappointed. After the crying and feeling sorry for myself I am now back to being hopeful. I guess that is really the only thing you can do is to try to stay positive. If I don't, I start thinking that maybe I am just not going to get pregnant again and that just makes me a boob all over again. I also have to remember that I already have one blessing when some people don't have any and they are struggling to get pregnant. It still doesn't make it easier when all you see around you is pregnant women-and they are EVERYWHERE! Anyway, I am going to keep trying the old fashioned way (with a little help from my friend Clomid) and one day-hopefully sooner than later I'll get lucky.

Good Times

So yesterday I returned home from a fun filled visit with my sister. Rylee and I left the house Saturday morning and arrived in Syracuse at about 12. We spent the rest of Saturday shopping which is always a pleasure. Got a little shopping in for Rylee as it was Gymbucks time at Gymboree and even though I really wasn't supposed to be shopping this weekend I did happen to find myself some things. But sometimes you just can't pass up a good deal and I found some at Mervyns. It was a buy one get one off certain racks and they were already marked down items so it really was a no brainer. Nicole at this time still had not found "the shirt" for the John Mayer concert but no panicking yet. We took a break and had Kent watch the kids for us so we could go see Mama Mia which we really enjoyed. I think I would see it again. I was a little worried about all the singing because I am not usually a huge musical fan but it didn't bother me. I also liked it because Mr. Darcy was in it(for all those P&P fans-you know who I am talking about). After the movie we ate and then continued on our search for "the shirt" which we did finally find and the trinkets to go with "the shirt". We could finally relax-we both had our outfits for the concert.





Sunday we were planning on going the The Farm but apparently it isn't open on Sunday's which is too bad because it is free adn we like things that are free. So we tried to find something that the kids would enjoy since they had to endure us shopping. We ended up taking them bowling. That was definitley not cheap. I was thinking it would be like $20 for the 4 of us adn it ended up being twice that much. Nobody's cheap these days. It was quite the experience. I think I will wait to do that again until Rylee is a little older. She didn't like it at first because the ball was too heavy and her or Andrew couldn't throw it they had to roll teh ball and then it took it an hour (I am being serious here) to get to the pins. So Nicole and I ended up "helping" them throw their balls down the lane just so we wouldn't be there all day. And then our lane kept breaking down so we would have to wait for someone to come and fix it before we could resume the game. I have never been really great at bowling and almost at the end of the game both kids were ahead of me but I pulled into 2nd (Nicole being 1st of course) in the 10th frame. Ya Hoo!! I am not humilated-maybe it helped not to have people laughing at me like Justin always does when we bowl.

Later that night I had my first experience in scrapbooking. At first I felt like my sister was forcing me to work-I did not want to work-I am on a little vacation so leave me alone(this was what I thought in my head). But once I got going I found I really enjoyed it (this is where my sister is thinking I told you so!) and that maybe I can do this. My 1st page really turned out quite cute but then Nicole made it that way.

I woke up the Monday morning (the day of the concert) and it was RAINING! We were so upset. But I tried to think positivley-that it had all day to clear up. So we decided to do another scrapbook page and Nicole had a great idea-that we should stay in our pajamas until the kids took a nap and then get ready in the afternoon so we would look our best for John. So we did another scrapbook page which again turned out way cute and gets me really excited to start doing it on my own. Then we put the kids down and got ready for the concert which was at USANA Ampitheater. By the way, it was beautiful and sunshiney outside-no more rain! We got there kind of early so instead of eating nachos or hotdogs there we drove through the town looking for some place decent to eat. My sister is making me laugh the whole way as she likes to dance in the car. I find this very amusing and then she is telling me not to look people in the eye or hang my hand out of the car and accidentally flashing a gang sign as it is kind of a tough neighborhood. We finally see a Spaghetti Factory which we both like- I really like there mushroom sauce there-very tasty. We got back on the road and headed back towards USANA. We get there and parked clear up on a hill thinking we would maybe get out better this way since we weren't in the main parking area. By the time we got to the gates both our makeup was sweated off-so much for getting ready late in the day to stay beautiful! We were both kicking ourselves in the buttocks too as neither one of us had our cameras. I had forgotten mine at home like usual and Nicole brought hers but we weren't sure if it would be allowed so we left it in the car and neither one of us wanted to climb back up the hill in 100° weather for a camera once we found out you could bring them in. This was a picture Nicole self took after Spaghetti Factory.
Brett Dennen was the 1st act-which neither one of us wanted to hear as we had no clue as to who he was but we ended up liking his songs. They were kind of fun to listen to. Colbie Caillat was next and I knew of her 2 songs on the radio but really enjoyed all the songs that she sang. Enough that I had Nicole burn me a copy of her CD that she had. Then John Mayer was up. It was great. He did a lot of guitar solos (a little too long for our liking) but that is what he does and he does it very well. It was really a lot of fun-I just wish I could loosen up a little bit and dance and not worry about how I look or what other people are thinking of me. It was either stand there and do nothing and look stupid or dance and have fun and look stupid-I chose standing there and looking stupid. Nicole danced the night away and had a blast. I envy that freedom! When the concert was over we made our treck up the hill to go home. Trying to get out took us awhile but once we got on the road traffic wasn't so bad-of course it was a Monday night @ 11:30 p.m.-not a whole lot of people out except for all the drunks driving home from teh concert!

Tuesday was my day to leave. I was pretty bummed 1) because I never like to leave my sister or Andrew-I always have fun and 2) I was leaving Rylee and having to drive home all by myself. Boo Hoo! Before going home we grabbed some lunch and took the kids to the park. It was too hot and they were tired and Rylee was whiney so we took them home. I put Rylee down and I left. It is always a downer for me to leave-I wish I lived closer to my sister and Andrew so we could spend more time together-but then we would probably get sick of each other.

Well, I am looking forward to this Thursday as Nicole is bringing Rylee home Thursday night but also because we are going for our Heileson Family Campout this weekend. More fun to look forward to.