What a Weekend!

It might be the OCD in me, but once I get something in my mind, I become obsessed. I decided that I wanted a swing/play set for the kids in the backyard. They have loved the trampoline we got last fall and I was envisioning the hours of time a swing set would occupy them in the backyard and OUT of the house! It's a win win situation!

I contemplated a new set, but didn't want to pay $1000 for a nice one, so I got on KSL.com over a month ago and started watching. There were a ton of good, cheap sets that came on every day.  The problem is a ton of other people had the same idea.  I've missed out on so many sets because I didn't call within the first 5 minutes a set was listed.  It was very frustrating.  I finally posted an ad that I was looking for a set and if someone would call me before they posted it, I would come pick it up.  In between conference sessions on Saturday I got a call from a guy in Woods Cross asking if I was interested in his swing set.  He texted me a picture told me his price (which was a steal)  and we headed up there.

It took two hours to disassemble.  We dropped the kids off at my parents house so they weren't a distraction :)

I love this picture.  It looks like a used wood yard sale.  It's crazy how many pieces we had.  Luckily we didn't have to put it together from scratch (I'm glad we didn't go with a new one for that reason). 

By the time we got back home to start setting it up it was about 6:00 p.m.  The kids were so excited they could hardly stand it.  This picture was at about 25% of the reassembly. It only took about 2 hours to reassemble.  I was expecting longer. 

This is the finished product.  I LOVE it.  The kids are thrilled.  They spent all morning moving stuffed animals, toys, and pictures out.  We spent all afternoon making them move it all back in!  :)   The next step is staining it.  I don't know if I can keep them off of it long enough to do that!  This was another lesson in patience, but it really paid off. 

I have 4 very happy kids and one very sore and tired husband-who I owe big time for all the labor in my brainstorm.  Love ya!

Spring Break Fun

My cousin works at the Delta Center and had some extra tickets for the Jazz game this week. Jeff took the three oldest kids. I'm not sure if they watched much of the game, but they ate lots of treats and had fun.

We checked out Scheels, rode the Ferris Wheel and took lots of pics.

Jeff and the kids spent lots of time at the farm.  Little Man had fun shooting his BB gun. 

 

Many squirrels and small animals were sacrificed in their hunting fun.  This is one of the less gruesome photos.

Little Man helped with the horses-feeding, watering, etc.

There were also a few horse rides.  Our little cowboy was in heaven.

There was a fishing trip to Burraston Ponds (right by our house).  The Mover had a great time, although no fish would cooperate.

We also saw The Croods and went swimming with our cousins at the Herriman Pool.  I didn't get pictures of these.  I also recruited the kids to help clean up the disaster in the toy room.  Why is it that every time I ask them to clean up, every toy becomes exciting and fun.

Looking Good

I am not a patient person AT ALL. When we first moved in and talked about planting grass I thought it would never happen, but after a LOT of hard work and time, it finally looks like a yard.

This is our first summer here.

 Last Spring

This week.  It's hard to see how nice it looks, but it really does! 

Cleaning off the camera.

My phone is accumulating quite a few pictures lately. I thought it would be good to get them off and update the blog.

This is Big Man at his 2nd grade spelling bee.  We worked (and fought)  over all of the spelling words.  I finally decided if he didn't care, neither did I.  He came in 5th place in his grade.  I was proud of him.  Despite all the arguments he learned a lot and did great.

"Look Mom, I did my own hair."  Oh.  Wow.  This picture doesn't really do it any justice.  The best part is I took her all over that afternoon and DIDN'T fix it.

On the nicer weather days, me and The Mover have been walking Little Princess to preschool.  After we dropped her off, The Mover decided she was done in the stroller.  She wanted to walk too.  We went almost a whole block before she'd get back in the stroller.  It wasn't quite the aerobic activity I had in mind, but it was fun.  She jabbered the whole way.

We finally checked out Scheels.  We waited in line forever for the ferris wheel. 

This is my new living room art.  I think it turned out cute. 

I tried and tried to get some decent pictures of The Mover right before she turned 2.  Every time I got the camera out she'd make faces and start laughing.  Although the picture turned out cute, it just wasn't what I had in mind.  Little booger.

I didn't get too many pictures of all our Easter activities.  We had a good time and the kids are still enjoying their bubbles, candy, and sidewalk chalk.  Thanks Grandma for the new driveway decor.

Last but not least is our fun new toy.  Well, almost.  We will be buying it this month.  We've been wanting to get a trailer for a while now.  This one was a great deal and we all fell in love with it.  The kids are so excited.  There are 4 bunk beds in the front for all of them.  Many good times to come!