I came home from Book Club and found this . . .

Once a month, I go to my book club.   It is what Dentist Husband jokingly calls, "the sacred night" because I don't let other things get scheduled that night and I rarely miss it.  

Last night, I walked into a completely dark house and everyone was upstairs asleep or almost asleep.  I turned on one light and found what you see below, painted on my kitchen table.  

While Dentist Husband was quizzing Toothsome #3 on his spelling words, he started painting with water colors that Toothsome #4 had left out, on our aluminum-topped kitchen table.  

You can imagine my kids reaction when they saw him doing this.  They couldn't believe it and soon they all joined in.  Dentist Husband told me, "It was a great moment for all of us.  I turned on music and we sat and painted."  

I have to admit, it is pretty dang awesome and I can't bring myself to clean it up.  I have a feeling we will be eating around our kitchen island for the next few days.  It just captures so many great things and I see each of my children's (and Dentist Husband's) personalities as I look at this "kitchen table art."  

Unrelated, Toothsome #2 is in braces.  My two oldest kids got and lost their baby teeth early, which makes it so they get braces young.  She should be done with braces forever in about a year.  

What I have been doing . . .

So with all four of my kids in school this year (Toothsome #4 started Kindergarten), many of my friends have been asking me what I have been doing with my "extra" time.

First, it isn't full day Kindergarten, so there isn't a ton of extra time.  I'm not complaining because I am having a slight identity crisis about not being a mom of young kids anymore.  Having Toothsome #4 home in the afternoon is just fine with me.  

Second, spending a ton of money.  The start of the school year means new school clothes, shoes (see Toothsome #4 modeling her new very sparkly ones), school fees, school picture fees, PTA donations, etc.

Third, PTA.  Below you can see Toothsome #4's back during our annual Fun Run.  I am learning that PTA is very busy at the start of the school year.  I have been told it becomes less busy as the year progresses.  I am not complaining because our PTA President leads by example and seems to do 3 times as much work as the rest of us.  Also, being on PTA means I really know what is going on at my kid's school and that has a ton of rewards.  

Fourth, I have been weeding and recovering our flower beds.  Being out of town most of August means that my beds became a mess.  I must say, once again, planting sunflowers per Toothsome #3's request is one of my favorite things in my garden.  This year, we even harvested the seeds.  

Fifth, recovering my house from summer.  Notice there is no picture because as much I really don't mind letting people know my faults, I would prefer not to completely embarrass myself by showing the condition my house got this summer.  Glad to say, daily things are improving and I might let you in the front door by October 1st.

Sixth, listening to a ton of Dr. Laura.  I clean my house listening to Dr. Laura.  I paid the annual fee to become a Dr. Laura Plus member and I can pull her up on my iphone at will.  Oh how I love my three hour dose of Dr. Laura.  

Seventh, stressing way too much about politics.  Sadly, every two years this happens to me.  It doesn't have to be a presidential election year to get my political angst going and this year has been a real dozy.  I may need to never go on facebook or watch any news until 2013.  

What I am not doing is reading much, which is very sad because it is good for my soul.  But so is a clean house, a well-weeded garden, serving others through the PTA, serving my kids by putting most of effort towards them, and laying on the sofa at night with Dentist Husband and watching brainless TV.  

Go Cougars (with a little explanation at first)

As is often the case, Saturday morning had us up early and Dentist Husband saying, "What are we going to do as a family today?"    

Several years ago, when my husband's dental school debt was payed off and we had a little more discretionary income, we made a conscious decision to not sit around.  My husband said to me, "As adults, you always hear people talk about memories they had growing up.  We are going to create memories."  A few simple rules were put in place after this conversation.   One, we all had to be together.  That meant, even if we had a new baby, I came along with the baby.  (No, "Mom stays home while Dad goes off with the older kids").  Two, we were not going to have our kids in so many activities, that we were "ruled" by them.  Meaning, no signing up our kids for three different sports/dance/performance teams that took over our week and weekends.  Dentist Husband and I decided we had to honestly look at each activity and decide if the commitment was worth taking any child away from family time.  As a result, my kids all take piano lessons, and do one outside activity.  This has worked for us.  (And leave your critical comments off my blog, I realize for many people having their kids in two different sports all year round works for them.  We tried it and it didn't work for our family.)  

As a result, any three day weekend has us "gone",  whether that means at a hotel in town, taking advantage of their indoor swimming pool during the cold winter in Utah or driving four hours to St. George, Utah, where it is warmer, to stay at hotel and hit golf balls on a driving range. (We are not quite at a point where we can all golf together.)   Any weekend has us looking around locally to find fun things to do as a family.  We have learned a ton about the state of Utah and its many historical sites, learned about small "gems" of parks, stayed in some very strange hotels (once leaving mid-trip when we discovered a transvestite convention was being held in our hotel), gotten very good at bowling (one very cold Winter had us at a local bowling ally every Saturday morning right when they opened with our McDonalds breakfast in tow) and only occasionally have we flown in an airplane to visit places.  It has been car trips 99% of the time, including summer vacations.   

So anyway, this past Saturday morning, we had not planned anything, until we realized Brigham Young University had a home game.  Immediately, we got online and purchased tickets.  One hour later, we were in the car, on our way to Provo.  I LOVED my time at BYU and have many great memories of attending BYU football games as a student.  (Growing up, we had to go our Stake Center to watch BYU football games.  I remember sitting in the Primary room with my parents with a few other BYU devotees and watching the games eating candy bars purchased on our way out there.  I was raised with a true love of BYU football.) 

Below are some pictures from the game.  We arrived early and ran into a boy from my ward growing up.  (Hi Jonathan).  I took it as a sign that it was going to be a great day and it was.  

They were selling $10 fan t-shirts right when we walked in and we bought one for everyone.  And it is true, "Every day is game day."  

We had seats that were in the shade for the last 1/2 of the game, but before that happened, Toothsome #4 was hot, so I told her to lay down at my feet to get in the shade.  She promptly fell asleep.  

It was a great game.  We destroyed Weber State (as expected, which is why we were able to buy tickets, game day with no problem) and I got to sing the BYU fight song many times (yes, I know all of the words), relive my happy BYU student memories and enjoy a great day with my family.  You can't have a better Saturday than that.  

Bear Lake 2012

Labor Day had us up in Bear Lake.  Our good friends own Bear Family Haven.  If you need a good, clean place for a large group, these are the places to stay.  

This time, we stayed in the Mama Bear cabin.  We invited any of Dentist Husband's family who wanted (and could) to come with us. It was a great weekend.  

Some highlights:  Ordering the 28 inch "Old Ephraim" pizza.  Imagine a card table--then you understand the size of this pizza box.

.

 The raspberry shakes (from the same pizza place) were awesome too.

The Paris (in Paris, Idaho) Ice Cave

 That is snow.  

You have to hike further in to find the true ice.

 Dentist Husband and his sister (she is 10 years younger than him, married with one son)

 Playing "Name that Tune" with my iphone play list.  Only a few snide comments were made about my song selections.

 Crab apple fights.  There was a huge crab apple tree on the property and yes, we got in several crab apple fights.  Yes, they really do hurt when hit.  We have the bruises to prove it.  

My sister in law (married to Dentist Husband's oldest brother) made three kinds of awesome popcorn.  

 All of the kids hot tubbing at night.

 Getting in heated/friendly arguments late into the night.

 Eating at the Bear Lake icon LaBeaus.

All in all a great trip.  

Also, if you get a chance, eat at Cafe Sabor.  Excellent Mexican food.

Back to real life now . . .

Sometimes for no good reason we go out to the Salt Flats

We woke up Saturday morning, with nothing on our "to do" list.  So Dentist Husband said, "Everyone in the car.  We are going to the Salt Flats."

So, two hours later, we were in Wendover.  Believe it or not the Wendover airport is a historic gem in the state of Utah.  Below are my kids outside and inside the airplane used in the movie "Con-Air".  

While, the Con-Air airplane is cool, what makes the Wendover airport so amazing is its history during WWII.  You can read all of the details here, but in summary, the first atomic bomb that was dropped in Japan, came from Wendover, Utah.  It was loaded onto the Enola Gay (named for the pilot's mother) and then three days later, "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.  During WWII, Wendover airfield was a large base for the Airforce.  Slowly, the Wendover airfield is being restored.

 My kids climbing the newly restored control tower.

The hanger where the Enola Gay was kept.  

A ton of work has been done to restore it.  And, there are on-going fundraising efforts to finish the project.

Once we were done at the airfield, we headed to the Salt Flats.  The actual "Bonneville Speedway" was closed to visitors because of motorcycle racing that day but we were able to find another spot to get out and ride our bikes. 

 This area made me laugh.  The sign said, "Pet Area." 

And, this is what happens to a leather purse, when bottle of spray sunscreen "sprays" inside your purse.  I'm hoping the spot fades (and the strong smell of sunscreen dissipates) because it took me a while to find this purse (with my various "purse" requirements) and I love it.  

Cleaning your dishwasher

 When they removed phosphates from dishwashing detergents, it made it so my dishes quit coming out clean.  After trying various products and more than one dishwasher repairman (because I assumed phosphates couldn't be the only problem, which I found out it really is), I was told the following method.  I do this about once a month (or when I start noticing that my dishes are coming out dirty again).  

Pull out bottom rack on your dishwasher.

Lay a 9x13 pan on top of the tines.  (I don't know why it is flipped this way) 

Use cheap white vinegar

Fill the 9x13 pan with the white vinegar

Push the rack in and shut the door.

Press start on your dishwasher and run a complete cycle.  

I find it funny that in the interest of the environment (why the government removed phosphates from cleaning products), people are actually being forced to use more water and soap to get their dishes clean.  I am not sure but I guessing the environmental impact is similar.

Anyway, if I am consistent with doing this, my dishes really do get clean.  

Last trip before school starts . . .

We try to do an annual trip to California.  For the most part, we have been going there for the last 12ish years.  Some years, we manage to go more than once.  

Because we often leave when my husband is done from working all day, we stop for one night on Las Vegas.  This year, there was a dental implant class my husband wanted to attend in Las Vegas, so we stayed an extra day there. While he was in class, we went to the pool.  I must say, the JW Marriott in Las Vegas is a great oasis in the desert of Las Vegas but with the temperatures in the 110-114 degree range, it was hard to fully enjoy it.  How do people live in temperatures like that?  

Below:  My kids and some of the cool parts of the pool 

 Through out the whole complex, there is a running "river" filled with Koi fish.  

After his class, we tried Sammy's Pizza.  Their pizza was great but it was the tapas that we loved.  We will go there again.  

We drove into California before we could check into our hotel, so it was time for a mandatory stop at In N Out Burger.  I even let myself get my fries "animal style".  

The place we stayed was nice enough to let us use the pool until our room was ready.  

During our trip to Costco for food (the place we stayed has a full kitchen), we found children's wet suits.  BEST thing we purchased.  (Toothsome #1 is in a wet suit we bought at Costco years ago).  Because California ocean water is not super warm, this made it so my kids could play in and enjoy the ocean much longer.   

In the evenings, we enjoyed serious games of tether ball.  

No trip to California is complete without a stop at The Crab Cooker.  

Everyone boogie boarded for hours at the beach.  

 When not in the ocean, the kids dug holes and created things in the sand.  

 After years of doing this, we have discovered salami and cream cheese sandwiches are ONLY sandwich to take to the beach.  

 Our daily beach set up.  

Again, we have been doing beach runs for years and we feel like we have it down to science now:  superbrella, one beach chair, wheeled cooler, four towels, buckets and shovels as beach toys and boogie boards.  

 One of the few pictures taken of us together.  Not very good of either of us but proof we were there together.

 Toothsome #4, who learned to swim this summer, even got really good at catching a wave and boogie boarding.  

 There can't be a trip to beach without burying people in the sand. 

 Dentist Husband invented some game with the kids that dealt with jumping on this pile of sand.  They played for hours and never tired of it.  

We all concluded it was our best trip to California yet.  

We came home and faced problems with school registration, problems with scouting, work issues, dance emails, PTA meetings, church things, a load of wet laundry that sat in the washing machine in a hot house for a week, etc.  But, for seven glorious days it was just our family, some good books (thank you Kindle for making it so I don't have to drag a ton of books on vacation) and the beach.