Misc. Monthly Memories

   I didn't get my regular "Miscellaneous Monthly Memories" post for August ... I think almost all the pictures had their own post. I did look through my photo folders and found a few pictures that are blogworthy, although maybe not enough for an individual post. The "Ninja Boys" in the photo above was from August ... the boys have pulled this pose several times. It always makes me laugh.

Cute Cooper ... ala Spiderman

He got facepainted at a friend's birthday party.

The boys pulled out the big chess set and it got a LOT of use over several days. The bigger boys taught Colton how to play. Colton loved it!

When I cleaned out my purse, I found all these old passes to JUMP ...

The Blackham Boys are bouncers. 

We'll be back in Oct (when the little ones go off-track).

Callahan fell asleep on the couch, 

and Landon took the couch cushions right out from under him!

Over on the Westra side of the family, Grandpa fell while working at Chris and Kim's house. His arm bruised up beautifully! I was out visiting (Mom and I went out to lunch, Dad and I played some tennis, yes, he beat me even with that arm!) and I insisted they take a picture while the bruise was so colorful! As the arm continued to bother Grandpa, he went in for an x-ray and there was a fracture at the wrist. So he's in a wrist brace now. His pinky finger is still bothering him, so hopefully they'll check that out at his next appointment.

... I don't really watch the news, but caught this story about flooding in St. George after my sister emailed that they had just barely been missed (their neighbors were not so lucky).  Here's a link to her post and more pictures ... (The Jensen Journal). 

Well, that's just some of the random happenings from August and September ... can you believe it's October already???

Some Like It Hot

What are Takis? I had never heard of them before, but Keaton came home from school RAVING about them. According to Urban Dictionary, Takis are: A Chili pepper and Lime flavored corn snack by Barcel. They come in 4oz and 9.9oz bags. The most popular flavor is Fuego, which comes in the blueish/purple bag. They are made in Meico and they are possibly the best snack food ever.  

It took me a little while to find some ... I finally located them at the 7-11 on 7800. Since then, Keaton gets them here and there for a special treat (or when he's willing to buy them with his own money). He got several bags for Christmas and for his birthday. 

I'm not sure WHERE he gets his taste buds! I'm a super picky eater, and I certainly don't like anything HOT.  Keaton also loves the "hot" versions of Cheetos, Doritos, Funyons, etc. Doritos has come out with a product that is very similar to the Takis (and easier to find) ... but Takis are the original "hot stuff"!

Broken

Putting on a Happy Face

Callahan had been jumping on the tramp with his brothers Tuesday night, when he came inside and said that he'd hurt his foot. We did the whole "RICE" treatment, but Wednesday morning he was hobbling pretty bad.  Thursday morning he was still limping, so I called and made an appointment at the orthopedic office. I was  sure I was just being overly cautious, but no ... it's broken.

In addition to the broken foot, Callahan's heart is broken too :(  ... the poor kid has been counting down the days until basketball starts back up, and now it looks like he'll be out for almost half the Fall season.  He's on two different teams and was so ready ready to start playing again. He's still attending his basketball practices, and will still probably go to games to support his team. 

He's pretty bored ... no tramp, no basketball, no soccer, handball, dodgeball. I told him I thought we had a croquet set in the garage, and he could probably do that (he shot that idea down).  He's in a walking book, so he can take it off for sleeping, showering and resting.  We're hoping for a quick recovery!

Ready for the Road

I wasn't sure it was going to happen! It was well over a year ago that Landon took Driver's Ed. (although he hadn't gotten his range and roads in during the class, and it was taking forever to get them done). It was almost a year since he turned 16 ... and when he did finally get all the necessary hours in and passed his test, we still didn't get around to getting his actual license. I had to look into getting insurance (doubling our current monthly payment, and that was WITH a good grade and multi-policy discount) and we didn't have a car for him to drive ... I was SO dreading car shopping though, I just wanted something to fall into our lap.

Then Courtney and Clay had a baby. With baby #3, the car that Courtney had brought into the marriage (that Clayton was currently driving) wouldn't work for their family, and they bought a minivan. They offered their Toyota Corolla  to us for a steal of a deal and we grabbed it ~ the only problem? The car was a stick shift.  Landon was not thrilled about that, but after just a few days of instruction, he mastered it (as I knew he could). 

So the week before school started, we took the car in to pass emissions and safety inspections, then we had to pick up the car title and go get it registered. We got Landon's license, got a parking permit and ... whew, we made it! Landon was ready to drive to his first day of 11th grade.

Last year we had a carpool. Landon would get picked up in the mornings, and I'd do the afternoon pickup. But our carpools from last year weren't going to work this year, and my mornings were already committed taking Callahan to school (starting at the same time, in opposite directions). I didn't really have a back up plan for the morning, so I was very relieved when it all worked out. It also totally frees up my afternoons (saving me almost an hour every day), as Landon picks up Callahan on the way home. Of course it also saves money on gas ... not enough to make up for the increase in insurance, but what can you do?

It's been nice having an extra driver around ... he's been helpful running a few errands here and there. He likes the freedom of being able to run to the store on his own if he wants. When he went to watch the football game at school, I was thrilled not to have to go pick him up at 10:00. 

After a long road ... he's ready *Ü*

Cutting the Purse Strings

I'm not a BIG purse girl ... except when I go to the movies. For everyday, around the town, I just like everything small and compact. I do like a lot of pockets, and this little black purse and wallet had fit the bill for many years. But now, the pockets were coming apart and it was looking quite shabby. The wallet was ok, but the leather had slipped from a portion of the buckle leaving a sharp metal shard poking out, I'd jabbed myself several times. I'd been on the lookout for a new purse/wallet for a while, but just couldn't find something that I liked.

Then I found this ...

It's perfect! About the same size as what I was used to ... shoulder strap (I need that!) and plenty of pockets. One for the cell phone, one for my Ipod Touch, one for the wallet, a couple extra for miscellaneous items ... and there was still a perfect pocket left over for the Kindle Fire! The wallet isn't that lovely to look at, but it also fits the bill, with plenty of spots for all my various cards and cash. With my new love of reading digitally, I love being able to take my Kindle/Ipod with me easily. Hopefully this will last me many years like my last little purse did.

Another Birthday

So last week we celebrated Cooper and Keaton's birthdays. This week, it was Landon. Both Cooper and Keaton had received some nerf-like toys from friends at their party, and Landon really liked them (the Zing-Shot and Bow), so he got a couple for his birthday (and really should turn one over to Keaton, as he broke Keaton's after a crazy war with Callahan ... I admit I had to laugh as they ran through the house pelting each other with balls and arrows). Landon got some of his favorite treats (oreos and reeses) and I made a lemon jello cake. Yummy. Happy Birthday Landon. Seventeen ... here's a look back a Little Landon and how he's changed through the years.

Birthday Bash

I am NOT one of those moms who enjoy throwing birthday parties ... they stress me out! So my poor kids don't get "friend" parties very often. Both Cooper and Keaton really wanted a friend party, and it have been a few years since their last one, so I relented. The great thing about summer birthdays is you can have an outdoor party ...  I did not even think to check the weather, and of course, suddenly severe thunderstorms and a drop in temperature was in the forecast. It was a little chilly, at times the kids teeth were chattering, but we made it through.

There was a water balloon war ... we had Grayson's handy "water balloon filler" which was in almost constant use! We had a lot of the small water balloons, but the kids loved having the larger (regular) balloons to make huge ones. Our grass now has billions of bits of broken balloons all over it.  

The main attraction was the dunk tank (which I had been lucky to get on such short notice). I had struck out at the usual places (Dill Rental, Diamond Rental), and this one at A Lot of Fun Stuff was a little different then we'd had before (a tarp for the tank) but it worked out well. In fact, with them delivering it and setting it up, it was actually easier for me. Also, as it is assembled on site, it could be placed in places the other one couldn't (I could have had it set up in the back yard, but the backyard was already taken). 

We had set up a large waterslide in the backyard (I didn't get a picture of it but you can see it in use HERE). Both the tank and the slide used a LOT of water, and our poor lawn will have a bit of a time recovering from the abuse.

 We also did the Mentos/Cola experiement

... and played a little dodge sponge

After the official party was over, I had told Callahan he could invite some friends over (so that I felt we got our monies worth from the dunk tank rental), so there was some continued craziness into the evening. I was quite happy when it was time to take the dunk tank and slide down and call it a night!