Sunday Snippets

Our Week in Review

• It's pretty hot these days.  We mostly sit around the house.  Sometimes I get so stir crazy that I find the energy to take the kids to the pool in the evenings, but that's about it.
• Isaac is starting to talk more.  He learned how to say his own name this week. 
• Miss Alivia and I made caramel stuffed apple cider cookies, they were really tasty.
• Dylan lost another tooth.  
• I've started getting up at 6:30am to go walking without the kids.  It's been nice. 
• The Mr. fixed up his bicycle and has been going out for rides since his ankle is still swollen and stiff.  I'm trying to get him to fix my bike up too.

Sunday Snippets

Our Week in Review

• Dylan went to his first 4 day scout camp.  I think he really had a great time!

Day One:  BB Gun Range, learning about their flag, archery, met with fire fighters and had a tour of a fire truck.
Day Two:  Made first aid kits, played games, played marbles.
Day Three:  Singing and dancing, learning square knots and how to tie ties, more archery practice, and rock wall climbing (Dylan was the only boy his age to make it all the way up to the top!).
Day Four:  Made leather pouches, obstacle courses and closing ceremonies.

• We went with several of our friends from our ward and completed two more Texas Nature challenges.   The first challenge we completed was a nature hike around Hermann Park.  

We discovered all sorts of wildlife, including lots of ducks, turtles and fish.  

• The second Nature challenge we completed, just happened to be about 100 feet away at the Houston Zoo.  So we meandered on over and enjoyed ourselves there.  We got to see quite a few exhibits that we missed the first time around. 

 

No trip to the zoo would be complete without a picture with Smog!

• After our morning of Nature Challenges, we headed home to shower up and get ready for another Houston first...Date night without the kids!  My good friend Melissa offered to take the kids for three hours so the Mr. and I could go on a date.  It's been over a year since the Mr. and I have got to go out just the two of us so I was so excited!  As I was getting ready Derik mentioned he was going to go for a run.  It wasn't until I bumped back into him in the garage as I was loading the kids in the van that I realized the crazy man actually went for a run in the afternoon heat.  I figured he'd get in the shower and we'd leave for our date when I got back from running the kids to the sitters.  When I got home he was still lying on the floor in the front room.  I was shall we say "ANGRY" so I decided to pout and crawl into bed and be mad at him.  A few minutes later he hobbled in and asked me to take him to an Insta-care.  Apparently while walking home from his run, he fell in a hole in someones grass and tore all his ligaments (in his already injured ankle).  So we spent our date night at the Insta-care.  It was nice not having the kids at the Insta-care with us though I will admit that, we were there almost the entire three hours.  So we did our best to salvage the rest of the evening by sending the kids to bed and eating Indian takeout.  Here's to a better date night next month!

Sunday Snippets

Our Week in Review

• The Mr. and I spent memorial day hanging gladiator tracks in our garage.  We got most every thing hung and organized and for the first time since we moved in, both cars can be parked in the garage.  We really know how party for the holidays.
• Our neighborhood pool finally opened this week and we have gone to it every evening.  So glad we have something to cool off in. 
• It's getting so HOT.  I might hate Utah winters but this Houston heat is unbearable at times.  I made the mistake of going grocery shopping in the middle of the afternoon.  By the time we were done shopping it was somewhere around 1:00pm.  Just loading the groceries from the cart to the car was making me curse and sweat like a mad woman.  Once I was in my car I cranked up the AC only to discover it was blowing even hotter air that was suffocating.  It took 3 or so minutes before the AC went from hot to warm and then it took it about another 3 minutes to become slightly cool.  In the meanwhile I prayed we wouldn't suffocate or sweat to death from the HEAT, it was awful.  Poor Isaac was such a slimy sweaty mess, when I got him out of his car seat, that I wanted to cry for him.  
• I joined a bunch of ladies from my ward who are doing a biggest losers competition.  The challenge lasts 12 weeks.  Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.
• The kids and I joined some friends on a Texas Nature Challenge.  We drove out to Brenham Texas and took a tour of the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory.  It was a short and interesting tour, but the best part of it all was the pretty decent sized scoop of ice cream everyone received at the end of the tour.  I had red velvet cake, Dylan had sherbet, Livie asked for cotton candy, and Isaac got cookie dough.  The red velvet was delicious (and not much help when your trying to be the biggest loser, but I really wanted to try it.)

 

• As part of the Nature Challenge, the kids and I were supposed to do some research on pollinators (which we didn't do, we are still learning about the Texas Nature Challenges) .  After the ice cream tour we went to visit a garden and butterfly park just down the road, to see pollinators in action and connect how pollinators are important to the ice cream factory.  Mother nature had other plans in mind for us because when we pulled into the garden it started to rain.  We ran to a pavilion and had lunch and did our best to look around the gardens but the rain was pretty persistent.  Although we didn't see many pollinators in the rain, I was ever so grateful that we weren't baking in the sun.  So for me it was a great experience.  The group of kids really enjoyed each others company and everyone got along really well, so it made everything that much better.  I loved the drive out to Brenham, and back as well, it was so pretty.  I've heard when the blue bonnets and the blue bells are blooming that it's breathtaking out there.

•  Dylan had his last day of third grade this week.  Summer has finally begun here at the Giovannoni household.  So far so good, thanks to the neighborhood pool, we spend a lot of time there.
• Saturday night I went grocery shopping at 8:30pm and the outside temperature was 91 degrees. 

Sunday Snippets

 Our Week in Review

• Alivia is not one to entertain herself so I was quite surprised to find her mixing water and dish soap with my kitchen whisk in a pie tin.  I asked her what she was doing and she said she was making bubbles and using our cookie cutters as giant wands.
• The Mr. took Friday off from work.  He cleaned the house, wrestled with Isaac and then he took Alivia upstairs and started working with her on her letters and an hour later she was reading!  I kid you not that man taught her to read in an hour.  And then while I was grocery shopping that same child took a nap (which she never does).  That man should be the stay at home parent, he works miracles!  
• A very thoughtful and sweet friend from my ward brought me a birthday bouquet of flowers and a balloon.  It was the sweetest gesture EVER, it made my whole day.  Heavenly Father puts the greatest people in my life. 

 

• I turned 32 this Friday.  I know I've said this for the past few birthdays, but I just don't know how it's possible to be the same age I remember my parents as.  That I am my parents, living through most of the same challenges and difficulties that they faced.  I am them... and that's just mind blowing for me!  I caught myself telling people that my birthday was just another day of cooking and cleaning and all the things that a mother and wife does, when I had a sweet moment of realization, that I am in fact living my dream.  All I ever wanted in life was to be loved and to have a family of my own, to be healthy and to have a home.  This 32nd birthday I had everything I had ever hoped for and I realized it was in fact the best birthday ever.    I got to see friends, go grocery shopping kid free, we went out to dinner (which meant I didn't have to cook or do dishes).  And then I received a beautiful picture drawn for me by Miss Alivia.  She and the Mr. also bought me cake and ice cream and the family gave me a new camera.
• We put the new camera to good use Saturday.  Some friends from the ward invited us to go to Galveston and play at the beach with them.  I was probably more excited then any one to go.  I've been aching to find something down here that is fun to do, that we can make a tradition with our family.  Since I haven't spent a lot of time at beaches I went in very open minded about what a day at the beach might be like.  As long as I was getting out of the house and the kids were being entertained I didn't much care about anything else.  The beaches down here in the Houston area are not pretty beaches.  The water is a muddy brown and seaweed litters the beaches.  BUT the water is warm and the sun shines ever so bright and I loved every second of being there.  My kids loved it too.  Thankfully our friends had lots of extra water toys, so we got to do all sorts of things!  Almost from the minute we got there we were making a checklist of things we'll need for our next trip out there. 

 

• We almost had the perfect experience at the beach, if it weren't for Alivia's run in with a jelly fish, I'd have called this family outing one of the best we've ever had.   They fly colored flags at the beach to warn people of water conditions and dangers, since we were new to this I didn't know what the flags actually meant.  A blue flag means venomous animals or sharks have been reported.  And the blue flag was flying.  Dylan had screamed earlier that he had seen a jelly fish, but I thought he was making it up.  It wasn't until Alivia started screaming that her arm was stinging that I realized Dylan wasn't telling stories.  I hadn't prepared at all for something like that so I was clueless on how to help her.  We walked her to the "ranger station" and they had us dowse her arm in vinegar and then we made a paste with meat tenderizer to put on it.  She said that made her arm feel better.  She really was brave about the whole thing.  And next time we go we'll definitely be a little better prepared.  We'll plan on jelly fish stings, since they are everywhere in the warm waters of Galveston, and we'll use a whole lot more sunscreen, because the Texas sun is merciless. 

 

Alivia's Jelly Fish Welts

Even though I was slightly traumatized by her run in with the Jelly Fish, Alivia mostly brushed it off (after it stopped stinging of course) and went on having fun in the water.  I'm glad it didn't scare her so bad, and that she was still willing to go back in the ocean and play.   

Interesting side note:  It takes at least 60 jelly fish stings a day before they will fly the blue flag...That's a whole lot of people getting stung every day...Ouch!

Nine

It's hard for me to believe I have a 9 year old.  Next year he will be joining the double digits gang.  I'm going to blink my eyes and there will be zits, hormones, a mustache, arm pit hair, B.O. and a teenager standing in front of me.   How did this happen?  Please excuse me while I go hyperventilate.
My first born son who came all wrinkly and beautiful, with your long, long, fingers and your sweet happy disposition, little did I know what adventures you'd bring to this family! 

You're a great big brother.
You love everyone you meet.
You are phenomenal at memorizing interesting facts.
You can talk a hind leg off a mule.
You spend enormous amounts of energy arguing things instead of just doing them.
You think doing things right the first time is for sissies.  Doing things twice is much better...
You are so intelligent and quick to learn whenever it involves creatures and critters.
Bless your heart you just want to be a GOOD kid, but sometimes your energy and your free spirited nature take over with disastrous results, but your heart is made of gold and good intentions and we love you for that!
You always share and think of your brother and sister.  Never has there been a time you haven't saved half your treat for somebody else.

For Dylan's ninth birthday I decided to ask him 9 question, here they are...

Who is your best friend?  David
What embarrasses you the most.  Getting teased.
What is your favorite school subject and least favorite.  Science.  Math.
What makes you angry?  When people don't give me what I want.
What do you want to be when you grow up?  Palaeontologist, Arachnologist, Pilot.
What is your biggest disappointment this year?  Not enough time to play the Wii.
What is your favorite thing?  Pokemon Cards.
What is your favorite food?  Pizza
What is your most cherished memory?  My 9th Birthday.

Sunday Snippets

Our Week in Review

• When I asked Isaac to go grab a shirt and some shorts, so we could get him dressed, he looked at me and said "HOT".  I've let him run around in just his diaper the last little while, so apparently wearing clothes makes him hot.  
• I broke down and bought the kids a plastic pool to hold us over until our neighborhood pool opens next month.  They have had a riot in it, best 17 dollars I've spent in a long time.  
• A friend from the ward invited us to join them at Zoobilee this week.  We were all so excited to be able to go to the zoo down here for the first time.  I was warned about Houston traffic and that I should leave as early as possible, but despite my best efforts we left our house very late, almost an hour later than I had planned.  At first the traffic was light on the freeway and I had myself convinced we had some how got lucky and that we wouldn't be as late getting to the zoo as I thought.  And that my dear friends is when I hit the 610 freeway traffic.  Despite being like 8 miles from the zoo it took us almost 45 minutes to make it through 610 and downtown traffic.  (I'd like to take a moment and congratulate myself for driving by myself to downtown Houston in 5-O-Clock traffic no-less and not completely melting down.) Trying to find a parking spot became our next great challenge.  As soon as you would see someone backing up there would be three cars lined up behind it to take the spot.  After driving around watching spot after spot being lined up for I decided to take a slightly less time consuming approach.  I found an old couple walking through the parking lot, asked them if they were leaving and followed them to their car and finally got a parking place.  We entered the zoo an hour late, which left us short on time, but we managed to take a very quick tour of our local zoo.  The weather was perfect, we were with good company and it turned out to be the perfect little outing.  

Starting next week the zoo is doing Dinosaurs at the Houston Zoo, we got to see it free (and a few days early) as part of the zoobilee admission.  Alivia was really concerned and uneasy when we first went through since the dinosaurs move and make noise, but I think her and Dylan really enjoyed this special feature.  Since we arrived late and the zoo closes fairly early we only had a small amount of time to cover most of the zoo animals.  Isaac roared with the lions, and enjoyed most of the zoo.  The older two were generally more excited to see squirrels and wild rabbits that roam the zoo grounds freely, then they were to see exotic animals from far away lands.  From the minute we walked into the zoo, Dylan hounded me about finding the Komodo Dragon.  We waited until the very end of the tour to find him, but you would have thought Christmas had come early for Dylan, he was so excited to see "Smog"  that he was jumping and screaming like a winner on the price is right! 

• We like to have the missionaries over for dinner once a month.  We have new elders and they really made my kids laugh.  My kids look forward to having the missionaries over and as a mother who some day hopes to have missionaries of her own, I can't help but hope someday my sons (and maybe a daughter) will have members who will invite them over for a good home cooked meal and some words of praise and encouragement. 
• Miss Alivia had a terrible accident/ learning experience this week.  One of her favorite lunches is a cup a noodles.  She's been trying out her hand at adding the water and cooking them in the microwave by herself (with my permission).  Each time they are done cooking I insist that she not touch it and that I will get it out of the microwave for her, this week she decided to get them out by herself while I was busy finishing up something else.  While I admire her drive to do things by herself my heart nearly stopped when I heard a giant thud and splash in the kitchen followed by hysterical screaming.  Thankfully she got out of it with only a minor burn on her upper arm.  She told me later that evening she would never get things out of the microwave by herself again.  
• We truly are watched over in this home, and while we always seem to hit every bump and dip along the way, things never turn out as bad as they should or could have, and for that I am truly grateful! 

Sunday Snippets

Our Week in Review

• Alivia, Isaac and I were invited to join a family from our ward to go strawberry picking.  It was the first time I've ever drove any kind of distance and used the tollways down here.  The whole thing scared the heck out of me, none-the-less, we were all thrilled to be out of the house and having an adventure.  

 

It was a great day to be out and the kids had a great time picking and then eating the strawberries.  We were so glad the Oehring's invited us to join them!

• On our way home from strawberry picking the sky turned a nasty black and severe thunderstorm warning were issued.  We stopped by the grocery store to grab a few things when the rain started pounding.  Just the minute run from the car to the store left us soaked to the bone, we were dripping water from head to toe.  The kids were so wet and cold they started shaking uncontrollably, teaches me to think I can just run out in the rain down here and only expect to get slightly wet.  
• When we got home from our trip Alivia informed me that our trampoline was missing from our backyard, I thought she was kidding until I went back and looked and sure enough our tramp was gone!  At first I was sick thinking someone walked into our yard and stole it, when the thought crossed my mine to look in the neighbors yards, since we just got lashed and beat upon by the wind and rain.  And sure enough there in our next door neighbors backyard sat our trampoline.  I can't tell you how relieved I was that the tramp didn't hit a house or do any damage.  We got really lucky is all I can say!  Now I'm trying to figure out what to do for fear of having our tramp blow away again, I don't think we'll get so lucky the next time it happens.  
• My vegetables are starting to perk up and grow now that I put a layer of mulch down.
• I'm starting to have panick attacks that school is almost over with and that a long HOT summer with three kids at home all day, is almost here...YIKES!!!