Birthday Boy

Today, Cannon turns 6.  Hard to believe - but true.  Looking at him, watching him, listening to him, its obvious. But, its kinda hard to imagine in some ways.  Its just gone by pretty fast.

His best friend Daniel came over last night to spend the night! Phew - glad that's over. Don't get me wrong - Daniel is a great kid.  But - I just solidifies that I only have patience for my 3 kids (and not always then!) It was a night full of pizza, video games, running, screaming, laughter, jumping off the top bunk (grrr - I didn't like that new trick), some arguing, feelings getting hurt (boys bring their own drama too).  I sent the kids to bed around 10:30- and still heard Daniel and Cannon in their room talking quietly until about 11:30.  I figured as long as they we letting everyone else sleep - it would be ok.  They did well. - They just might need naps today - which might be fine with me! Tee hee!

So today, was a bit more chaotic... we turned on the sprinklers, filled the kiddie pool - that kept them happy, and wore off some hyper boy energy for a while.  They tried playing on the Wii - that just brought on fighting.  

So around 2 - some more friends come over.  Deb (no boys - they were at their dad's) our friend Bonnie, and my friend, Chrystina, and her 4 kids, Sabina, age 8, Trevor, 5 and Gabby and Penner - 2 year old twins. (our kids play really well together)  We had cake and ice cream and opened presents.  Nothing major.  The kids were all off playing and the grown ups visited for a bit.  Cannon said he had a blast.  He told me today he can't wait until he is 7 for his next birthday because today was so fun!

Here are some fun photos of him opening presents...

(He got a Hot Wheels track and cars, Star Wars Wii game, Money from Mema and Papa, and Oma and Opa, Lego Toy Story 3 Set.)

In the Last photo, is Cannon with his long awaited Pillow Pet.  Its a stuffed animal, but it flattens out as a pillow.  It is soft and snugly too.  You may have seen these on TV or heard their obnoxious ad. Cannon - my sweet, cuddly, Cannon, was hooked and has been begging.  I had NO plans on buying him one, until I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and a pillow pet was his answer.  When I asked if he didn't get that, what else did he want... He said, "he'd wait for Christmas or Easter" UGH!  It wasn't going to go away.  Plus, there was a killer whale - and he is a sucker for a killer whale.  So, we ordered them (we ordered ones for Zach and Cannon too - because they all want them)  I had him convinced he wasn't getting one because it "wouldn't get here in time for his birthday', or "we didn't have the money", or, ""he already has a pillow, and ENOUGH killer whales!"

So the joy on his face when he opened the box was awesome. I wish I had gotten his expression on camera.  It was great.  He has been carrying it around with him ever since.  

So, he has had a busy, and fun Birthday!  Thanks for all the love and birthday wishes!

To Infinity and Beyond

All of my boys (ok, I admit and me and David too) have been big Toy Story Fans.  How can you not be? Fun characters, great story line, exciting plot, funny "one liners" great moral.  So for the end of the story to come out... is bittersweet for me. Toy Story 3 came out on my birthday this year.  I really wanted to see it on my birthday - but not really into fighting the crowds.  So we waited a couple weeks. 

We went with Deb, Cody and Bryce. They are big fans too.  Deb had bought a Buzz Lightyear costume - after the first movie came out.  Cody was Buzz for Halloween as a toddler.  Bryce was too.  My other nephew Jace wore the costume for Halloween later.  So did Zach and Cannon.  For some weird reason - Elliot freaked out last year and wouldn't wear it.  (he went as an ornery 2 year old instead)  He is too big for it now. But he looks at it in my closet all the time and gets excited! (silly kid)  

We have several Buzz and Woody toys... even a Weezy too.  We watch the movies on a regular basis.  So, yes, Toy Story 3 was like saying goodbye to beloved characters that have been part of our family.  SO YES, I cried.

Luckily, with modern technology, and great marketing we don't really have to say goodbye.

Since my dear husband works at Wal-Mart and came home with one of the Display Signs - which is now housed in Elliot's room above his window.  David hung it up without Elliot  knowing  We made him close his eyes as he came into his room (it was actually clean that day) and when he saw it for the first time, his face lit up, and he SQUEALED! It was so cute.  He gave me and David and huge hug and said we "do good work".  Its actually quite big.  Its probably 5 feet long.  It makes Buzz, Woody and Jessy seem Life size.  Elliot has been asking me off and on for months, "Mom, I go DisneyLand, meet Buzz and Mickey?"  

 

Someday, little man, Someday!!

And It's Outta Here!!

We sold our van today.  David posted it on Craiglist last night... which was kinda news to me this morning.  The van wasn't really cleaned out and ready to go yet. (Iwould have worded it differently, and had the car ready to sell, but - oh well)  But, we weren't really ready for a lot of people to jump on our post on Craigslist either.  He posted it, of course, higher than we thought we'd get for it (about twice as much as we thought we'd sell if for - negotiating room, you see.) We  figured we'd sell it to the first person who gave us a decent offer.  We just wanted to be done with the blasted thing.  By morning, we had 6 people wanting more info.  David called the first person on the list - a family from Phoenix, who, then jumped in their car and came right over. (we of course scrambled to clean out the car (some crumbs and toys from the kiddos).  We went through our LONG list of everything we have fixed in it, he looked under the hood, was willing to take it.  He gave us more than we thought we'd have to settle for!! He paid for it and THEN drove it around the corner to put some gas in it - seeing it had some issues -  and still wanted it.  YAY!  So we are done with it.  They are a pretty cool family.  I hope they are able to figure it out.  With our luck - it will be some $2 fix because we took care of all the expensive junk!  Aye! Aye Aye!  It's ok!  We are done with the thorn in our side. 

 

We've been driving a '95 Plymouth Neon that our friends Jessica and Trevor gave us for several weeks now. Its small, but it seats 5, so it works for us. It was a rough start at first, but still ran 100 times better than our van. The AC was hot (we recharged it - now it even freezes David!) and it was slow to start up - but it started and ran.  We have since changed out the spark plugs (only 1 was firing) and we've changed out the fuel pump and fuel filter.  It runs great now! Luckily, all this stuff, David can do.  (too bad its 110 degrees outside) Its been pretty cool to see what "little" things do to improve the performance of this car. There are a few more things to do on it  (timing belt, possibly the water pump at the same time at the timing belt, new tires, 1 motor mount, replace the seals on the spark plugs, to name a few) but its' all stuff David can do a little at a time and they are are all regular basic maintenance things - not whole system failures like in the van.  The timing belt is next on the list. 

Balloon Wreath

So for church, I am on the Relief Society Monthly Meeting Committee (insert your favorite term - Enrichment, Homemaking, etc) Its really fun.  We are preparing for a "Super Saturday" type activity for September (except we are doing ours on a Friday night - Probably calling it Freaky Friday)

anyway....

I was asked to do some "research" by making a craft we might do, and check out the price, how long it took to make, etc.  We found this idea on the site howdoesshe.com (that will link you to the directions of the wreath too.  The only thing it doesn't tell you is the size of straw wreath.  I ended up buying a 14 inch one - which was too big for the instructions so I needed more balloons.  So get a 10-12 inch wreath.  The total cost was about $15 and it took about an hour.  (I'm not counting the extra balloons... luckily Deb had some extra balloons, I could use!!)

I love it!!... July is such a busy birthday month for our immediate family (Cannon, Elliot, David are all July birthday's - plus others in our extended families) Its fun to have something fun and festive for birthdays!

Here is my finished product!

Bee Be Gone

I was feeling a bit nervous and concerned for my neighbors and warned them about my bee hive this morning.  We have a  big joint backyard, but private porches (where my bees were) and I would have felt SO bad if something happened before we got the bee guy out to get rid of them.  So I told the close ones, and the ones I knew that walk their dogs this way.  I was probably being paranoid, but just the thought of someone's dog being attacked, not to mention a child, was horrific.  So I had to caution people.  Then I figured they were at their own risk.

So, I called the Bee Remover guy, Chandler Pierce, from Bee Be Gone.  I had used him before when we caught the beginnings of a hive moving in to our grill a month ago! (aye, aye, aye)  I'm really impressed with him.  Small family owned business.  He gave me a "repeat customer" discount... which was nice, but I really don't want to be a repeat customer!  {sigh} His prices are fair. (I was quoted from another company that just an evaluation - to see if I had bees would cost $300.  SERIOUSLY?  I know what bees are!! Removal would be another $300.)  We didn't pay nearly that much!   If you need his number, let me know... I will gladly give you his info and referr him on. (I kinda think he killed a few scouts a month a go, and some new ones found this new space instead and have been busy getting it ready for "Her Majesty" - the Swarm we saw yesterday was bringing her in)

But first, not sure if you can see this one, but it was pretty cool to see the little bee with all the pollen on his legs. (click on it to enlarge) It kind of looks like white on the side of him. He was working so hard. and in just a few minutes... it was gonna be for nothing...

Chandler's 10 year old son was on the job today, learning the ropes and LOVES it. Loves bugs, loves learning how to kill them! As a mom... I'm freaking out, but at the same time, they were professional and know the risks and safety measures.  So they both put on the spacey, bee keeper suits. (His sons was modified with duck tape to hold things tightly sealed!!) My boys and I were watching safely INSIDE with the camera ready!! (now Zach wants to be the "Bee Guy" when he grows up)

Yes, I admit, I was hoping that there would be some sort of swarm {he's got the suit on, sheesh, cut me some slack, yes, I'm a little morbid} , UNTIL he brought his son. Then I decided that was bad and scary.  And nothing major happened in that department.  BUT... here is what DID happen still kinda interesting

Chandler sprayed a foam around the openings of the trunk so they can't escape/attack, while his son gassed the inside, killing the bees.  You could hear a loud buzzing inside from some very angry bees (yes, I could hear it from inside the house).  They waited a few minutes for the buzzing to die down... and it didn't die down enough for them.  So they kinda peaked a bit.  (this is them, leaning down listening to the bees)

THERE WERE A LOT MORE BEES than expected and some pretty big pieces of honeycomb!  Amazing!! So they gassed some more and finally the buzzing stopped.

There were some angry bees (not a mob, but 20-50 or so) flying around them, being pretty aggressive.  Chandler, and his son, swatted at them (tried to catch them in their gloved hands - ewww) but pretty much ignored them)

When they opened up the trunk, we had a good look at the honeycomb. There were 3 pieces. The longest was about 6 inches long and 5 inches wide.  Stark white, beautiful . You can see the pollen being packed inside.  Some even had honey in it (of course not enough to use, and no longer edible) The wax was soft and perfect, delicate.  A work of art.  I am mesmerized. Its in a bowl in my house right now.  Fascinating to look at!

As for the bees - it was started over 2-3 weeks ago. (it takes honey, I guess, about 2 weeks to be made). So we are very lucky that we never opened that trunk in the last couple weeks for whatever reason (outside toys, hose, etc).  We would have been attacked.  Yes, they were Africanized.  They were far too aggressive to not be. (plus, pretty much all local wild bees have been Africanized now, he said)

Africanized bee stings are dangerous because once 1 bee stings you, the pheromone that is released alerts the others to come attack too.  100 bee stings is equivalent to 1 rattlesnake bite. A man here, recently died, because he was attacked by bees and was stung over 500 times.  Now I understand why it was so deadly.  No one in AZ has died from a Scorpion sting in 80 years - but non-allergic people die from bee stings yearly.  (I still HATE scorpions - just for the record) but it kind puts things into perspective.

After they dumped the bees out of the the trunk... there was a LARGE pile of bees on the grass. (kinda looks like dirt - but I wasn't going outside with the few angry bees out there still) He said there were about 10 THOUSAND bees there!  YIKES!  Still amazed - yet creeped out!  His son was picking through the pile looking for the queen {icky!}  With no luck.  He was disappointed.  She is probably one of the few still on my porch, hiding in plane sight (a few fell out when they were moving things). 

We have to let everything set for 24 hours and then we get to clean it all up and sweep up all the dead bees on my porch. (ok - David and the boys' job) The rest of the bees will be dead by then too. 

Of course, Chandler thanked me for my repeat Bee Business! Now to figure out how to keep the blasted things away!!

So if trouble comes in 3 I'm done for this week (bees, sick dog, and stranded in our new to us car - just thinking its a very clogged fuel filter.  but being stranded is never fun. but luckily/hopefully its an easy job and runs better than my van!!) Can I have a vacation NOW??

Newest Pets?

Hmmm, No, No No, we really don't have a new pet!  More like a PEST! and unfortunately, this is not the first time this year we are dealing with this one.

Bees.

Earlier, we caught some moving into our grill.  Not so fun, but we had the bee remover come and kill them, quickly before it got out of hand.  They had the nifty suits - which was the highlight.  They sprayed some stuff and that that was it.  $125 was gone in less than 5 minutes.  SIGH.

Today, my kids told me the bees were back... I was hoping they were in the grill, because the removal service came with a 1 year warrentee... but you and I know that our luck doesn't work that way...
NOPE. They were in in our storage trunk that was on our back porch.  SHOOT! 

Here is some info on how bees do their work... from what I'm told...


The scouts smuggle in the queen to their new location - someplace big (with about a 5 gallon open space available - so my trunk and grill are bee luxuries) Once the queen is happy, the rest of the hive comes at once... like 8000 bees or more all at once....

So, my friend, Bonnie was over and I happened to look out the window and my jaw hit the floor.  Cannon described it best and said there was a "bee tornado" on our back porch. They covered the side of our strorage trunk, got all moved in and once settled, got busy making their hive.

I admit, I was fascinated on one hand.  It really was incredibly interesting. BUT really scary. They were trying to attack us through the windows... telling me they are probably Africanized... VERY NOT HAPPY ABOUT THAT. (Africanized bees are very aggressive and actually can kill people even if you're not allergic to them)

So, we will be calling our bee remover again.  I'm hoping for more of a show this time for the payment.  At least make it entertaining for the price involved - he's got the gear - I want to see see a swarm or something like that!! (and this guy is cheaper.... we have been quoted $600 from some places - sheesh!)

Here's some photos - if you click on them, they will enlarge.... Enjoy!

(not the best photos because I was taking the picture through a dirty window... lots of finger prints I need to wash off!!)

Geocaching

Today, Father's Day, we went out Geocaching for the first time.  It is something I have wanted to do for a while, but David finally got with the program and decided to check it out also.

If you don't know what it is... the best way I can describe it is a world wide treasure hunt. People create boxes and hide them in various locations, and record them on website for you to go search for. There is usually some sort of thing you can mark saying you found it.When you return home, you log in and comment that you found it.  There are different skill levels and such.  You can of course create your own caches too. You can check it out at this website .

We don't have a GPS, yet.  Maybe we will get one. We printed off and map (instead of using a GPS, you can use the map it option) for one at a park nearby. (Discovery Park in Gilbert).  It was really fun and kinda tricky.  It was a considered a "Nano cache" meaning it was really small.  YEP, it was. It was in a metal, magnetic case, that was smaller around than a dime and about 1/2 inch thick. Inside was a small scroll of paper to sign.  I'm not going to spoil it and say where we found it, of course.  But it was fun.

You can find them all over the country - so when you are on vacation you can search for them too.  Of course, if you have a GPS, that makes it a bit easier, and some are very complex and some are in the middle of nowhere.  I really like that this was in the city and close by.  It was a quick and fun family adventure.

Who knows where the next one will lead us! 

Good Friends

We are really blessed to be surrounded by great friends. I've just had some experiences lately that really make me grateful for the people who are in my life who I am lucky enough to call friends.

We have an AWESOME ward for church, who has been looking out for us.  They recently brought us dinner for 3 nights while I had a bad case of strep.  It was so nice to not have to worry about dinner and I could just rest and know my kids were gonna gobble up a good dinner with NO effort from me! HEAVEN!  (can I get strep again?  kidding, just kidding!)

While my car has been in the shop for about 5 weeks, I've had 2 families who have loaned us their cars so that we could get around, take kids to school, go to doctors appointments, go grocery shopping, etc.  It has been wonderful and made things FAR less stressful. THANK YOU!

I have great friends who I can call anytime, vent, cry, giggle or celebrate with.

We have friends that are willing to help us with anything we need. Who will listen to the spirit and respond and help however they can.

We are lucky to have my sister close too, and we help each other too.  Sometimes, friends can be just as great as family.

 

Slow and Painful Death of a Car

Some of you have seen me complain on Facebook about my car problems... It has called it quits and is no longer fixable. It is dead.

Over the past year, we have put SO much work into the dang thing.  It is a money pit! Transmission, radiator, radiator hoses, fan assembly, brake master cylinder, oil pressure gauge,  power steering pump,, head gaskets, tension pulley, etc etc. Within those things, we had little bits and pieces fail, but under warrentee, were replaced (planetary gears in the transmission, radiator caps, etc).  The guys at the shop know my voice on the phone and cringe when I call... its beyond funny anymore.  Its quite sad.  But, they have been really good to us (Sun Devil Auto on Chandler Blvd and McQueen, if you are wondering)

But in April, after the planetary gears failed, (something in the transmission - that's all that means to me) my car just never recovered.  They rebuilt my transmission again... for free.  Checked over everything.  Replaced fuses, circuit boards, wires, etc.  NOTHING changes.  They decided that it was PROBABLY the main computer that needed to be replaced... to the tune of $1000.  We just couldn't see forking out that kind of money for something that wasn't a sure shot... so we found the part at Auto Zone for 1/3 of the price, did it ourselves and it didn't fix the problem.

So we took the car to a Chrysler mechanic, he worked on it for a little over a week... he thought for sure it was one thing... and it wasn't. Tried another... didn't work.  He couldn't figure it out either - and isn't even charging us the diagnostic fees.  

So, its time to say goodbye to my pitiful car.  We've put a lot of miles on it... had it for 5 years (paid off for 4) and had some great memories in it.  But, it is done.  

Now, to figure out a replacement that will fit our family of 5.

New Watch

My sister Lisa, surprised me with a new watch.  She had asked me a while ago about favorite colors and such, but didn't tell me why.  She had learned how to make these beaded watches and made one for me. The face is removable so I could find another face, or change the band, etc.  Anyway, I love it!  It's very unique, and I just don't have a lot of jewlery, so its perfect!!

Thanks Lisa!