Strawberry Lemonade

Last week I needed a drink, but the lemonade I made just didn't hit the spot. We had some strawberries so I blended them up and added them to the lemonade. It was a match made in heaven!!!

I have made this sweet fruity drink a few times now and everytime it is delicious. My secret-there isn't one. Just classic Country Time Lemonade and a couple of handfuls of strawberries. I use the lemonade to help the strawberries blend smoothly, then add a little sugar and it's done.

It is such a refreshing drink, and looks so cute with a strawberry stuck on the cup!

Slipping and sliding

Today we pulled out the slip and slide for the 1st time this summer. The backyard grass was really needing some watering and it was a hot sunny day, which equaled the perfect day for some water fun. Instead of using the slip-n-slide water hose, we used the rainbow arching sprinkler so it could water the grass around while they played. 

Rebecca learned real quickly that she LOVED the slip and slide, which made it hard for her to take turns. She would go down, then crawl back up it. If we could get her off at the bottom, she'd run up to the top and go down again without waiting for her turn.

I love this picture of Ammon midair of his slide! He gets going so fast!

Laughter and smiles=Fun times!

Our backyard has a great slope that helps the kids to get going faster.

We love summer, being outside and water. This slip-n-slide is going to get alot of use this summer.

Simeon's new toy

Simeon got a new toy this week. He talked Grandma into taking him to the store and buying him a skateboard. He came home so excited and proud to show it off. The neighbor boys both have skateboards and they would skateboard together, but having 3 kids and only 2 boards made it harder. Now they all have one to use.


Simeon & Joe have been spending hours upon hours practicing on their boards. Our neighbor Tucker is a skateboarder turned dad. He is loving having the boys to tutor and teach new tricks to.
One day Tucker came over and said "If I can teach you one thing it's wear pads-especially wrist pads." He showed us his very swollen and sore arm that he landed on a few days earlier. I'm glad he's not the crazy type, but a safer type.
After this exchange the boys started wearing a set of wrist guards. When I say a set, I mean they were sharing the set. Each wore one on their right wrist, because "that's the hand we write with." Boys and their logic!

When I went outside today I spotted this scene: Simeon and Joe had both put their skateboards, helmets and Gatorade's the same way! That is just so Simeon & Joe!



Simeon is LOVING his Maple skateboard. It's really good for teaching balance and is strengthening his leg muscles.

Sibling Camp 2011

We had 3 very excited kids for siblings camp this summer! Rebecca was so excited she tried to pack herself inside of a suitcase to stow away!! She kept asking if she got "to stay at camp", over and over.


On the way there we stopped for lunch at a rest stop that had a fun tree to climb in. I took the opportunity while my monkeys were climbing to take some pictures of them. It amazing how hard it is to get 4 kids to smile and look at the camera all at the same time!



At camp we did our customary picking of the beds out before going to play at the carnival. Getting to be one of the 1st to pick your bed is always exciting and of course gives you more choice. Both Corrine and Ammon choose a top bunk this year which didn't surprise us at all.
Corrine is in North Star this year and Ammon is in Wildwood, and their cabins face each other. This is the last year that they will both be in the 3rd circle, because next year Corrine will be 9 and in the 2nd circle!!



After picking out their beds and meeting their counselors we headed to the carnival. The 3 bigger kids were very into games and winning tickets for prizes. Rebecca tried the bounce house but didn't really like it. When she got out Dad had a cotton candy that she promptly claimed as her own. She LOVED it and was a pink sticky mess before too long!! After all the kids won their prizes, we headed back up to the cabins to drop Corrine & Ammon off. It's always hard to say good bye to them, but each year it does get alittle easier.



This years camp theme was transportation. On Monday the had race cars come to camp, and the kids got to explore those. The Boone Scenic railroad goes right through the middle of camp. On Weds the train made a special stop at camp to pick the kids up for their own private ride.



Each week at camp the staff take pictures and post them on their blog. It's always fun to look at the pictures each day and try to spot the kids. We spotted Corrine this week at her Princess Party. She doesn't look very thrilled in the picture, but when we asked her about the party she said she had a good time, except that she had to wear a dress and she didn't want to!


This year Corrine was very confident heading into camp. Ammon felt more prepared for being away from us. Both of them during the week had 1 or 2 times of homesickness, but they were able to get past them quickly.

Camp Heart Connection holds such a special place in all our hearts. The kids look forward to and talk about camp all year long. It gives them a chance to meet new friends who have gone through similar experiences with a sibling and cancer. They get to have fun and to have a place to share their feelings and to be the center of attention. We love to hear the stories all year long from their week at camp.

Oh it was ugly!

Ammon has a HUGE wort on his left knee. It's ugly. Very ugly.

We took him to the dermatologist to get it taken care of. The first time she put on some stinky acid type liquid and we were to leave it on for 2 hours. We didn't leave it on as long and all it did was make a yucky scab. It was even uglier now. Much uglier. He said kids would touch itat school but he could hardly feel it.


Ammon really likes to go see the dermatologist. She is incredibly nice and always smily, and an added bonus her office is just down the street. She is awesome! They have a giant magnifying light that we always turn on and look at our hands and legs with. She loves that he's so interested and helps him to see his knee through the magnifying light.


Fast forward a few months. We had tried the original acid liquid 2 times, a stronger one for a longer time 2 times and still there was no change. It was time for more drastic measures. Time for liquid nitrogen!

Ammon decided on his own that he was tired of the wort and he wanted it gone. Gone for good. Sooner then later! He asked to have it frozen off. The doctor was very surprised by his calm attitude as she was about the freeze it. I let him bring his DS and he was busy playing it for a few seconds then the pain set it. He grabbed his leg above his knee and made a face. She froze it again a second time and he did the same thing holding perfectly still. He was amazing!!

His next appointment was for more freezing and this time there was no DS. He sat still squeezing his leg again when it hurt, and it hurt worse this time.

Then came today's appointment. (I was nervous about this one because he's leaving for camp in 3 days and I knew the freezing would leave a big scab on his knee at camp.) I told Ammon that she would probably freeze it one more time. Much to all of our surprise-it was gone! He has a scar on his knee that looks like the wort, but no growth. He was excited to walk out of her office without anything being done.

After working all summer with a half dozen appointments-Ammon can go back to school without the ugliness on his knee! YAY for liquid nitrogen and YAY for such a strong kiddo!

A trip to the County Fair

Nothing says summer in Iowa City without a trip to the Johnson County Fair!

I feel like such a Iowa country girl with that opening line. Johnson county isn't very big and neither is the fair, but we go every summer that we're here. But despite it's small size it does hold the kids attention for a few trips and it does have some fun things to see and do.

Tractor and truck pull

This year I wasn't able to go the whole time since I had class. Johann invited his brother Justin to go with him and it was his 1st tractor pull. This years pull was pretty uneventful without anyone catching fire or braking down mid pull. The Hill's fire department firefighters saw us checking out their truck and gave all the kids hats and badges to wear.

Animals


We spend alot of time with the animals. The sheep/goats and pigs get the most attention from the kids. Mom prefers the sheep and goats to the pig-less smell! They also like to see the rabbits, but since you can't pet them they aren't as big of a pull.

Fireworks

The fireworks are always Thursday night, the last night of the fair. Usually the fireworks are fun to watch, but this year all the bugs that bit our legs made us grateful when they were over!

Nauvoo Pageant

Tonight was our combined youth activity to Nauvoo. When we rolled out from the church tonight our group was a 3rd of the size it was this morning, and we had way more siblings then youth going. The weather the last few weeks has been awful. The temps have been in the mid 90's with tropical humidity, which results in heat indexes (what it really feels like outside) in the 110-115 range. I think the weather tonight had some part in so many families deciding to stay home.

When we drove into the parking lot Rebecca real excitedly pointed and said "Look, the Temple!" She was so excited to see the temple and since no one had said anything about it up to this point, it showed us that she recognized it all on her own, and her excitement showed us that she knew it is an important place.

We got to Nauvoo with enough time to play some of the games. We started with a potato sack race. The 1st race the boys asked me to race with them-and I SMOKED them all!! But then I had to rest because I don't do so well in this weather. So I caught the 2nd race on film. Lots of smiles, jumping, falling and fun was had.




Corrine and Rebecca made rag dolls, Ammon and Simeon sawed a log, all the kids made button spinners and Rebecca played with the rope climbing bears.



We met a family in the pageant from Washington. After talking for a few minutes we found out that they also had a Rebecca as their youngest and they knew a girl named Corrine in the pageant. We got to meet Corrine, who lived in Rexburg Idaho, which is where Johann and I met and where we heard the name Corrine and fell in love with it.

The kids all enjoyed watching the pageant. Rebecca LOVED watching the temple being built and driving by the real temple in and out of town.

It was a nice night to remember the sacrifices that the early saints went through to build the temple and restore the Gospel.

For the LOVE of baseball

We spent more hours then I can count over the last few months watching Simeon's baseball team playing, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Honestly! I'm pretty laid back about the kids getting dirty at games, and they came home covered in head to toe dirt and smiling. The kids made great friends they played with for hours each week at the games. This year I was able to watch Simeon play alittle more since Rebecca was older and played in the dirt with Corrine & Ammon.
After this weekend at the State tournament we get a week off before we start practicing for another tournament we are traveling too. I'm sure we'll all go through baseball withdraws this week.
Nothing says summer more to our family, then being at the ballpark watching baseball.

Our newest bike rider

A few weeks back we sat down for FHE and set goals for the summer. One of Ammon's personal goals was to learn to ride his 2 wheel bike, and HE DID IT!!!




1 week into summer and he has accomplished his goal!! Way to go Ammon!!



I love the look of concentration in this picture.