Eye of the Tiger

As you know Laura loves to sing. Since it is WAY TOO HOT to go outside the kids have been trying to find things to do indoors. It's been a lot of lego's, barbies, movies, and their most favorite video games. I limit them to only a certain amount of time a day with the video games (or else they would play all day). The kids have figured out that if they play together then they get to play. They each get an hour and if James plays with Laura then he still gets an hour of the game he wants to play. Laura's latest game that she has been playing is Guitar Hero, but singing the songs.

A video of them rockin' out!

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk149/ozbirn454/?action=view&current=2010-06June209.mp4

What to do on a hot day

Yesterday was forcasted to be 108 and it ended up being 115! Today the temp was forcasted to be 112 degrees. So what else is there to do on a hot day besides swimming? We also thought it wasould be fun to try and fry an egg on the ground. It sat for about 30 minutes then Macy ate it. It didn't fry either.

First Aid Kit

Yesterday Laura wanted to make some rice crispy treats by herself. Oddly enough I let her do it! Maddi of course had to be right there to watch what was going on. She was very curious about the stove and kept touching the burners. Laura kept telling her they were hot but this is Maddi we are talking about so it goes in one ear and out the other. When Laura was done making the rice crispy treats she took the pot off the burner she was using and Maddi just had to touch that one! Of course it was still hot and she ended up burning her fingers! Thankfully it wasn't bad at all so I sent the boys in the bathroom with her to run it under cold water until I could get there. A while back Little Man got a first aid kit from school. He has been dying to use it! He took the opportunity to use it on Maddi! When I went in the bathroom he had Maddi sitting in the sink, and he and Kenni were doctoring her up. They had a huge band aid and Kenni was holding Maddi's hand while James was putting ointment on the band aid and then on Maddi's fingers. This is how it turned out!

When they were all done doctoring her up Kenni went and helped Maddi lay down on his bed and put on a movie for her and got her a sippy cup! It's nice to know that among all the fighting and bickering they do that they really have love for each other also!

Take Me With You!!

Well it was the dreaded moving weekend for our good friends Mike and Becky. James went over to help them move and I went over to pretty much just sit and pout! The kids got have one last hoorah of playing and running wild. Kenni had a good idea of how to go with them. He jumped in a box and then peaked his head out and yelled "Take me with you!" Becky went and got Mike and Mike carried him out to the moving truck. Becky and I then were wondering if we could find a box big enough for me! No luck though :( We already miss you guys but wish you the very best!

Kenni in his moving box

Mike taking the boys down

The kids for one last picture

Becky and I (Before the balling session!)

Attack of the Shears

Yesterday Grandad took the kids swimming and I was going to clean the pool filter. I was in the tool shed and it was a mess in there. The kids had gotten the extension cord all tangled up in the shovels and I was trying to sort it all out. I had knocked over a rake which in turn knocked the big shears off the wall that were hanging above my head. I was lucky enough to have them land point down right on my foot! It really hurt and punctured the skin but I was able to finish what I was doing. I didn't sleep all night because it could not get my foot comfortable and this morning I could hardly walk. We had to take Grandad to the airport and the whole way there and home my foot was just throbbing, burring and stinging! I had James drop me off at Urgent care on the way home it hurt so bad. The doc said it is infected but he didn't see any broken bones. He gave me some antibiotics, pain meds and crutches and sent me on my way! James laughed at me when he saw me come out on crutches and Maddi cried.

I know it doesn't look that bad but it really does hurt!

Grandad

This morning Grandad's visit came to an end. It was a very early morning and Maddi is not a morning person, let alone usually happy during the so she wouldn't get in this picture either. Overall we had a good visit and the kids sure miss having Grandad here. It was actually wasn't the usual goodbye of tears and crying half the way home. I think everyone was too tired to muster up the energy to produce tears! Thanks Grandad for everything! We hope to see you again soon!

Big Bowlers

While Grandad was here he wanted to take the kids bowling. He took us out for a delicious breakfast at McDonald's first. I've never seen these kids scarf down pancakes like they did! They really enjoyed those pancakes! Then it was on to bowling! It was Maddi's 1st time actually bowling and she did a really good job! She would set the ball on the floor and push it down the alley. She even kicked it a time or two! They all did a really good job but Laura was the winner. She got a strike and a spare and ended up with a score of 89. James came in 2nd with 63, Kenni 3rd with 51 and Maddi brought in a 41!

I tried to get a good picture of all of the kids with Grandad but of Maddi was having a moment and refused to take a picture!

Concert at the Ozbirn's

A few nights ago we had gone over to Mike and Becky's house for one last session of elk burgers and Grandad really enjoyed them. The other night Mike brought over some elk steaks for Grandad to try. It was excellent. After dinner the kids put on a concert for us. It started out Little Man singing Thin Lizzy then that led into multiple more songs. They all did a great job and it was very cute! I tried to convince Mike and Becky that they need to stay and Laura and Sami could form a singing group together. So far none of my excuses for them to stay have worked :(

Tooth Fairy

Little Man has had a tooth loose forever! He was constantly complaining because it hurt and he couldn't eat certain foods. It was just totally hanging on by one little strand. He was showing us and it was just laying there in his mouth so I reached in and just yanked it out. All I had to do was barely touch it and it came out!

Schools Out

Little Man as Chicken Little! He was the star of his sketch and did a great job!

The girls at coffee for the last time. From left to right is Becky, Holly, me and Tonya.

Laura, her teacher (Mrs. Anderson) and friend Justine. Most of the students are taller than the teacher!!

Laura and her friends. From left to right is Justine, Laura, Talisa, Brittany Ann, and in the back is Payton.

James' painted classroom.

Ms. Reynolds (James' teacher) opening her class picture we made for her. I made all the teachers a special frame and had the all the kids sign it.

James' classroom door.

Mrs. Lukens' (Kenni's teacher) opening her picture.

Kenni's painted classroom.

Grandad and the kids in front of his favorite place in town! Golden Corral!

Maddi and Gage on their 1st date at the Golden Corral! Becky and I said we should have put a place of spaghetti noodles in front of them and had them share and noodle!

Finally the days of getting up at 6 am are over! Well that is until August when school starts again! The last day of school I have to say was both good and very sad. For the last few months I have been going to coffee in the morning with "The Girls". Next year the school is going to be at a different location so although we may find another place to hang out it won't be the same without Becky. Also, both James' and Kenni's teacher are staying with Legacy next year but they are moving to a different campus so we won't see them next year either.

Since the site where the school is at now is going to be tore down the kids all either got to color or paint on the walls. That was real fun but they are going to be disappointed next year when that can't do that!

Grandad and I got to visit all of the kids' classes and be a part of their last day of school. We got to watch a skit be preformed in Laura's class, and we got to watch Kenni's class paint the walls. Maddi even got to help! The day before James' class had their skits so Grandad and I were able to watch those also.

After school let out Grandad treated us all to lunch at where else but the Golden Corral! Becky and the kids and her parents even met us there.

Little Shaver

The other morning the kids were getting ready for school. I noticed that Grandad and Little Man had been in the bathroom together for quite a while. When they finally came out Little Man had toilet paper stuck to his lip. I asked him what happened to him and he said Grandad let him shave and he had cut himself! Shave with a real razor at 7 years old!!! All I could do was laugh and then I had to get a picture of him with his toilet paper on his lip.

Kindergarten Graduate

Tuesday night was Kenni's graduation from Kindergarten. He looked so cute in his little cap and gown! He got a medal for being on Honor roll all year and they even really got a diploma! SO CUTE! All the kids did a wonderful job! Becky was part of the decorating committee so she was there super early and saved us some great seats. Even though our seats were super close my camera just wouldn't take good pictures of the actual ceremony. I did get these 2 out in the lobby before hand.

The is Kenni with Samantha and Alex. Best Buddies!

Little Surprise

For a few months now James and I have known that Grandad was going to be coming for a visit. Monday was the day that he got in. It worked out that we were able to go get the kids and head up to the airport. The kids knew something was fishy as soon as they got in the car and Daddy was with to pick them up. He told them we had to go to the airport and they all immediately guessed Grandad. We just told them they would have to wait and see who it was.

Every morning before school the kids all gather around Grandad (even though they are supposed to be getting ready) and they beg him to tell them stories of when James was a kid.

Keeper of Maddi's Heart

Over the last few weeks we have become super close with Mike, Becky and their kids. We have been spending a lot of time with them lately. They have a little boy Gage that is about a year older than Maddi. From the first day that Maddi and Gage met Gage has been telling everyone he meets that Maddi is his girlfriend. We are constantly teasing James about it. He tells Gage "I got my eye on you boy" and Gage just smiles. Becky will ask Gage if he's scared of James and Gage says no and just smiles. It is so cute! Gage helps Maddi up at the park, pulls her over to the edge in the pool when she floats out too far, and he is just so sweet to her. She told him the other day "Gage I don't love you anymore" and he said in a sad voice "But Maddi I still love you!" Also the other day I had Gage and I was listening to them play. Gage said "I'm the Dad and you are the Honey." Maddi said "I don't want to be the Honey anymore Gage." I think it's so funny that it's the Honey and not the Mommy. James has now been teasing Mike back about Samantha and Kenni. Whenever we say anything about Sami and Kenni they say ewww or make a yucky face about it. It's not as funny as us teasing James. I just love that our kids are so close but it just breaks my heart that in just a couple of short weeks they will be leaving!

Playing guns together

Watching Toy Story 2 togehter. It looks like Maddi is leaning on Gage for protection!!!

Show Low

Over Memorial Day weekend we had the opportunity to take a camping trip. James' buddy at work, Tony, has land up north and he invited us to go with he and his family. The kids and James have all gone on day trips hunting with him before and had so much fun. They were totally pumped to spend the whole weekend with him outdoors! It started out to be a good trip until we got to Tony's house and I realized the pies I made to take with were still at home sitting in the stove! We didn't want them to go to waste so we went back home to get them. It made us run a few minutes late but after that we were back on track. Once it started to get dark Maddi started to get whiny. She was scared and couldn't see (we don't drive at night much!) and was tired but wasn't liking her car seat too much. After a while we got to the Salt River Canyon. If I never have to drive through there again I'll be happy. We knew that we were on a mountain road but then we saw little specs of light WAY down below and realized that was where we were headed!!! What really only took about 10 minutes to get through seemed like eternity!!! After that it was only about an hour to our destination. I was so ready to get out of the car and on a straight path. I was able to get out of the car but Tony's property is on the side of a mountain. I discovered that I just don't like mountains. They are pretty to look at from a far but I like my flat ground! We got to the trailer pretty late at night and it was super dark so we got our good nights rest to get our energy for the next day.

The next morning Tony's wife, Sandra, made us a delicious breakfast and then we were off to see where we were. We were surrounded by very tall ponderosa pine trees, the dirt was black and there was grass!!!!! Tony got out the bow and arrow for the kids and they were shooting that for a while. After a little exploring Tony took us to Silver Creek for a fun filled afternoon of fishing. It was a very cute little creek only about 6 feet wide and it actually had water in it!!! It's funny because down here we see river or creek signs and all it is a bunch of rock and sand. Maddi was the first one to catch a fish and she FREAKED!!!! She didn't touch her pole after that. Everyone caught a fish that day but Laura and Kenni. They caught a lot of crawfish and had many bites but never got a fish. Tony and his family were down the way a little bit and Tony had a huge fish on his line twice but it got away both times. When we were done we packed up and James went to shut the top hatch of the suburban and the glass shattered. His tackle box wasn't quite in all the way and had hit the back break light box and that shattered the window. We picked it all off the best we could and drove to the car wash and vacuumed it all out. In the mean time we were trying to find a glass shop. We found quite a few but of course they were all closed for the weekend! Once we got back to the trailer Sandra had fried up the fish and Tony made some corn on the cob and ribs for dinner. We were all starving from the long day of fishing and everything was so good!

The next morning James, Tony and Tony's nephew went out on Tony's boat to the lake to do some fishing. It wasn't too long and they were home. I guess it was just one problem after another with the boat and it was SUPER windy that day. Not a good day for boat fishing so after lunch we headed back over to the creek to fish there. Tony wanted to get that fish he had been wrestling with the day before. When we got there someone had his spot. We stayed close by and before we knew it the man pulled in a huge fish! It had broke his line so he was done fishing. The day before Tony's son, Jake, had jumped in the water to try and grab the fish Tony had on his line and when he did he split his tail in the back. The fish the man caught didn't have a split tail so Tony moved back into his spot to catch him. A little while and several smaller fish later Tony finally got his prize! It was even the fish with the split tail! He was so happy and could finally relax! Kenni never ended up catching a fish that day either but Laura caught one and Kenni took it off her line for her because she was freaked!

After another long day of fishing we went back to the trailer and James made some super delicious carne asada. While he was cooking we walked up the mountain a little more to see what we could find. We found a ton of petrified wood. Sandra was telling us that she finds it all over. Tony was telling the kids that last time he was at a rock shop you had to buy the rocks and they were about $20 a rock. So Little Man was walking around with all these rocks saying I got $80! Every time he would find another one he would announce his new total! It think he ended up at $120! Sandra was telling us also that their land was old Indian land and she sometimes finds old broken pottery. We didn't find any of that but we did find a ton of petrified wood! Also while James was cooking dinner Tony got out the blow dart gun and we all took turns doing that. It was pretty fun and Sandra ended up getting the dart closest to the bulls eye. Later that night we had a smore roast after dinner and then headed inside to watch a movie on the projector. That was really neat but we set off the Carbon Monoxide detector! To run the electricity we had to run the generator and Tony accidentally left his window open. That was interesting but everyone woke up the next morning so that was good!!!

The next morning it was my turn to make breakfast. While I was making breakfast Sandra and Jake were helping the kids shoot the bee bee guns. Jake was showing how he could shoot it one handed so that got Little Man started and he had to prove he could do that also! While they were doing that Tony and James were rigging up a back window for the suburban. They ended up using a clear shower curtain, painters tape and bungee cords. It sure looked hillbilly but it worked like a charm! After breakfast we got ready, packed up and headed home.

The ride home was much better during the day and with Dramamine!

It was an interesting weekend to say the least but in the end it was a good time and a change of scenery!

Kenni holding Laura's Fish

Tony's big fish

This was a bowl thing that the Indians used to crush various things. It has a name but I can't think if it. Next to this was an old rock oven but people have used it as a seat over the years and broke it. These two things Tony and his wife found on their property.

The kids washing their petrified wood.

Mr. Single Handed shooter!

When it was time to leave we couldn't fit all of the petrified wood in the truck so Kenni and Sandra buried them here so he can come back and get them later.

The group. We were telling the all weekend that this was there grandparent training!

Yee Haww! I got me a winder!

The dreaded salt river canyon. Pictures just don't do it justice

The was coming out of Globe. The road went through the mountain.