Fun Weekend

We had such a nice weekend together as a family. Aren't those the best! I didn't have my camera for most of our fun, but got a couple shots in.

On Thursday after school, the boys and I went to Augusta to pick up Steve where he had been all week. We of course took advantage of the Red Lobster there, and pigged out. Steve had Friday off (Yahoo!) and was suppose to start on a long list of stuff that he would like to get done. But as he got to thinking about it, he decided that he would much rather build a shed for our backyard! I am actually very excited about it, because we need to get some of this junk organized and that is a great way to do it. When I mentioned he could just buy one for about the same price, he declined and said he wanted to "do it himself." Way to go dear. So, Friday was spent at Lowe's getting the lumber for the shed.

Friday night Steven's baseball coach had planned a game of the Mets (Steven's team) against their parents. It was lots of fun, and Steve and I both got to bat and we both made it home. Then we stayed and played at the park and had pizza until 8:30pm. Always very exciting for the boys when we stay out past dark.

Saturday morning we went to the "Great American Clean-Up" where we got free shirts and candy and then lots of trash bags and white gloves. Steve and I and the three youngest boys did a great job cleaning up our street, staying out of the road, and avoiding the broken glass. Steve even found wild raspberries by the side of the road that distracted him and the boys for a good ten minutes. Steven was at a primary activity where they delivered food to the food bank that the ward has been collecting all month. He really enjoyed himself there.

From the service projects we went to Steven's baseball game where we got to have hot dogs and nachos for lunch. Steven won his game by two points. Yeah Steven! He unfortunately cannot hit the ball when it comes out of that pitching machine, and they have stuck him in the outfield, so I hope he doesn't get discouraged from playing. It was a very fun game though.

Then Saturday afternoon it was back home to start the shed. Steve of course had lots of helpers and it is looking really good.



As we have been out in the evenings a lot this week we have seen all the mosquitos, and I have never seen so many in my life. There are like 20 on every person that is in the bleachers. They are so bad, and they LOVE, LOVE Brandon. So, this morning (Sunday) when we woke up this is what he looked like.


He has a mosquito bite right on the bridge of his nose. We took him to church because he is feeling completely fine, he just has an allergic reaction to the mosquitos and it swelled up all around his eye. I gave him benadryl before his nap hoping that would help, but he looked like this when he woke up after his nap.


I researched it a little on the internet and I guess swelling is a common reaction to mosquito bites, it just looks really bad when it is by the eye. He gets welts on his head when they bite him there too. So, I have decided that as long as it is only one eye that swells, it doesn't seem to bother him, and it doesn't start to ooze anything, I am just going to give it a day or two to go away. It does look soo bad though. We had some pretty concerned people at church. My poor baby.

The boys and I are reading Harry Potter as our story in the evenings. We are already on chapter 3 of book 3. It is really enjoyable, except for the whining I hear when we don't have enough time to read. :( I just hope I don't get burned out before we get through4 more books of about a million pages each! This is me and Steven reading Harry Potter.


PS- Can you believe Joan and Melissa Rivers on celebrity apprentice tonight!! Quite an over reaction I would say. (I just hope Joan never reads this haha)

The Garage Sale

Well, after six long months of storing our Utah stuff in the garage, and sorting through it, we finally had our garage sale. Steve was out of town the week before, and got home at 1am Saturday morning, but he was still up with the sun so we could set our stuff out. It was great to get rid of our stuff, and chat with the garage salers. Steve even got a guys number who likes to do wood working projects. He is hoping the guy can teach him a thing or two. We only made about $300, but I feel like that was a lot. Considering A. we had a lot of electronics in storage, that are completely outdated now after 5 years. B. we put a lot of the stuff from storage in our house, and C. we were poor when we put that stuff in storage, so most of it was either from someone else's garage sale, or was from walmart. We just didn't have any nice stuff to sell. So, I am happy. The car is still not back in the garage, but I just need to orgainze and I may be able to get it there. Yahoo!


(Brandon is playing the guitar on a racket)



As a side note, I also wanted to suggest a GREAT movie that Steve and I watched a couple weeks ago. We got netflix back in Nov. I think, and so many of the movies we have watched are just kind of dumb to me. Well, we finally watched one that we both really enjoyed and even learned something from. It is called Luther, and is about Martin Luther, the man who translated the Bible in to German, so that all the people could read it.

Spring Break and Easter

I was telling my Mom that when you put spring break right after Conference weekend, you could get a little house bound if you wanted to. We had a nice spring break that was mostly just relaxing. The boys put their allowance money together, and bought a new Wii game. It is the Lego's Star Wars one, and they love! it.

On Thursday we had a playgroup easter egg hunt at a nice big park we have here. The kids had a wonderful time.

(all the hunters)





(they are counting their candy after the hunt)



By Friday I was ready to get out and do something, so Steve took the day off and we headed to the beach. We went to a place called Jekyll island, which was a really cute little island. Unfortunately the water was so dirty. It was brown for as far out as you could see. As I talked to people about it at church on Sunday, they said that is pretty much what you get around here. To find a nicer beach to swim in we either head to Florida, or South Carolina. I think that is what we will do next time. But, regardless of the dirty water, we all had a great time and it was nice to do something as a family.

(Steve's masterpiece)







Easter was wonderful as always. Everyone seemed a little bored in the morning, but they really were having a great time!!! haha

(I promise Nathan is not crying in this picture)

Baseball, Mud and Teeth

As I start my blog I just have to mention what a wonderful life we have in this day and age. I have a dishwasher washing my dishes, a washing machine washing my clothes, and Steve is on his way home from Priesthood with Subway, so I don't even have to make my own dinner. That gives me time to sit on my computer and blog. What a wonderful life!

So, Steve came home from his business trip a day early, and swooped in and saved me. What a man! It is great to have him home, and to reign the boys in a little bit with discipline. Steven's lip healed quickly and beautifully and he was ready to play his first game that Friday (a week ago). Nathan also played his first game then and we had a great time watching them and cheering their team on.

Here is Steven during his game. The lady next to us said we'll have to get used to taking pictures with the chain link in the way. :-)


This past week it has rained a ton! I think Statesboro got 5 inches in less than 36 hours. We couldn't believe it as we sat in the house hearing it downpour all day. As a result the baseball games for this week were cancelled. The boys also found a way to entertain themselves on Thursday night. The got in this huge mud puddle without asking me, and when I realized what they were doing I decided to let them have some fun. They played in here and threw mud on each other for about an hour, and then I put them all in the shower together. I didn't get mad until I realized they were wearing their only school shoes and they were filled with mud!




Poor little Nathan had an incident with his teeth when he was two where he chipped one of his front teeth, and had swollen gums for a couple of days. So he has lived with a chipped tooth for 4 years. I was so excited when he got to the age where his teeth are falling out. Unfortunately the chipped one still hasn't fallen out, and the one next to it must have had some damage to the gums. He came in last week and said his tooth was coming out and he played with it for an hour, but it would not come out. He could make it point straight out of his mouth, but it wouldn't let go.


It hung on for a week, and then at school it finally came out. I have never seen a stranger tooth in my life. It is so LONG, and nasty looking. The tooth behind it has already started to come in, and his gums look all cut up from the long tooth. I guess they made quit a fuss with it at school, because the tooth was so long and had all of it's roots still attached. (I don't know where the roots go when other teeth fall out. ) I guess I thought that was exciting enough to share with y'all



Today was a bright sunny day, so we spent the hours in between confrenece working on the garage. I am finally ready for the garage sale! During our time outside Brandon found a bag of jelly bellys and poured them out all over the driveway for him to sit and enjoy. Notice the tye dyed shirt made by Grandma Allred.