The end?

Almost every school day for the past 6 years, I have packed a lunch for Isaac. I can probably count on both hands the number of times in those years that he has chosen to eat a school lunch. He just never acquired a taste for them- unlike his little brother.

Today is the last school lunch of the year. As I packed it this morning, I got kind of excited thinking that this might be the last one I will ever have to make. He has told me that next year he is going to TRY to eat school lunch (is it too nerdy to carry a sack lunch in middle school?).

If not, at least I have 8 weeks off before I have to make sure we have enough bread, chips, drinks, and treats in the house to pack him a lunch.

Here's to 8 weeks off!

Trek and Toads

Nicole asked me today when I was going to blog about her trek experience. I wish I could have let her take over my blog for the day and share some of it in her own words, but she is off playing at Lagoon today, so here's her trek experience through her eyes (via the pictures she took).

Nicole with her besty, Audrey
and with her main squeeze, Adam (who's not lookin' like a pioneer so much)
with her fellow travelers,
and with her other besty, Jaden.

She came home with some fun stories about running through meadows barefoot, dancing under the stars, all the good food she ate, holding her breath in the biffies (especially the last two days as they got fuller and fuller- gross!) and with two new friends.....
Squishy and Sketch.
We were expecting her to come home with a sunburn, some blisters,lots of dirty clothes and perhaps even a tick or two- but certainly not two baby horny toads.
I'm not sure how I feel about having lizards in my home, having to run out and buy baby crickets to feed them every day, and having their new home be on my kitchen counter. I would have preferred that she leave that part of her trek experience back on the trail- but I'm so glad that she is home safe with us again.

Fathers

I don't know if you have the same problem I do, but shopping for Father's Day gifts gives me an ulcer.

It's not just the fact that I have wracked my brain trying to come up with gifts for Erik's birthday just days before Father's Day, but it's also that he's the kind of guy that when he wants something, he just goes out and buys it.

A few days before Father's Day, my ulcer was flaring up because I had not a clue as to what to buy for him. When I asked him what he would like, he gave me his standard answer, "a gun and a motorcycle". Funny boy.

I eventually came up with a few ideas, but I wanted to give him something meaningful- something that would remind him of how important he is in our children's lives.

I remembered an idea that had seen before. On a blog? In a magazine? On TV? Not sure. But what I did know was that I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I took a picture of his and Ian's hands,

and with Isaac,
and Nicole.
Then I printed each photo out and put them in a three picture frame. It turned out better than I had hoped.

After Erik had opened all of his gifts, he picked up the picture and said, "This is my very favorite."

My ulcer was healed.

Summertime!

It's finally here! Can you believe it?

Are you in need of something to cool you off? I wanted to share with you a fun treat that we discovered.

Ice, Ice Baby.

It's a place that you would pass right by if you weren't specifically looking for it. It looks like any other shaved ice stand, except it's not!
It has some pretty unique treats and the prices are oh so reasonable!
The draw for me was custard and the cream....

I fell in love with custard a few years ago while visiting my cute friend back East. I was so happy to find this place right here in good old Utah, and even happier when I discovered this stand just down the street that serves custard too! Mmmmm, custard!
With custard on the bottom, cream on the top of whatever flavor shaved ice you choose- I'm telling you, it's heaven!
Some afternoon when you need a little treat, stop by Ice, Ice Baby and you won't be disappointed!

3701 S. Highland Drive

Flag Day

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!
~Thomas Jefferson

This Week

Happy Monday friends!

Here's a few things on my to do list this week...

Taste each flavor of 'Creamies' that are stocked in my freezer.
Hope and hope that the library calls with my book that is on hold.
I will read lots of blogs.
Sleep (it's something I crave more and more since I started working 12 hour shifts)

Work my way through 3 shifts at the hospital.
Enjoy my morning walks with my friend.
Enjoy sitting outside on the porch and around the fire pit at night with those I love most.
Kiss and hug my family!

It's going to be a busy week for sure. I don't know how I will keep up with it all.

What's on your to do list this week?

A special thank you to my in-laws for sharing roses from their garden! They are just what I needed to brighten up my kitchen!

Bugged

I know.

They give you the heebie jeebies don't they?

Remember how I mentioned something about bed bugs in a previous post? It has taken me awhile to even want to talk about it- but now that we are finished treating the house, I think it's time.

Shannon, this is for you. :)

A few weeks after returning from our vacation to Bryce Canyon, Nicole was kneeling by the side of her bed, pondering after saying her evening prayers. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something move on her comforter.

Upon closer examination, she noticed lots of tiny bugs crawling along the seam. She went and got her dad. He looked at them. Neither of them were too alarmed. So she went to bed.

Now there are several things wrong with what happened that night. I am sure that you can figure them out so I will not list them here. But I mean, REALLY?

The next day, Erik casually mentioned to me that I should look at Nicole's bed. There were some bugs all along one of the seams of her comforter. It took me less than a second to put it together. Bed and bugs. That's all I heard.

I immediately went to her room. There they were. Bed bugs.

Just to confirm my suspicion, I looked bed bugs up on the Internet. Yep. We had them.

We tore her room apart, washing everything we could and bagging the rest. We called an exterminator and set up an appointment for two days later (the soonest they could be there). In the meantime, Nicole took up residence in the family room, and I washed every single piece of bedding in the house and vacuumed like a mad woman.

After our initial treatment- where the whole house was sprayed, including every one's mattresses, I started to rest a little easier. We hadn't seen evidence of them anywhere else in the house.

The treatments in the beginning were every two weeks and then the 5 remaining treatments were scheduled a month apart. The reason? The bugs can only be killed when they are alive. So we had to make sure that we got them as soon as any eggs hatched.

For months, I checked the mattresses for signs of an infestation. But we never really saw any evidence of them other than on her comforter. I guess we caught them early on. Thank goodness Nicole is a good girl and says her prayers!

So here's a few things that we learned from this experience:

-Bed bugs are everywhere. Clean hotels, old motels, apartments, houses and even airplanes.

-Be smart. Don't put your luggage on the ground in your hotel room. Always keep it (and your clothing items) up off the floor.

-When you first arrive, check your hotel room for evidence of bed bugs and if you find them, asked to be moved to a different *floor not just another room. Look for dark tiny spots on the mattress (bed bug fecal matter) or for the bugs themselves (most likely along the seams of the mattress). Also, if your room smells sweet- like overripe raspberries, that's another sign of bed bugs.

* the reason you want to be moved to another floor is that if your room is infested, it is very likely that the room down the hall is as well. They tend to move horizontally from room to room.

-When you get home from any vacation, throw all of your items that are not being washed in the dryer. The heat will kill any bugs that have hitched a ride on your belongings. As for your suitcases, put them in the trunk of your car and park your car in the drive way on a nice sunny day. Bed bugs don't like heat.

-If you do find bed bugs in your home (and this one is hard to do), DON'T stop sleeping in that room. Bed bugs like the carbon dioxide that a sleeping person exhales. They are attracted to it. So if you move to another room, so will they.

There you have it. Our bed bug story. I don't think it will keep us from traveling, but we will definitely be more vigilant in checking our rooms out, and keeping things up off the floor.

I hope by sharing this, it will save you some grief and a lot of money. Only now do I understand the saying "Sleep tight- and don't let the bed bugs bite!" Nasty!