Lice??!!!

Jake shaving Zack's head

Super cool mohawk

Yes, that's what I said.  Lice.  We had lice.  I have to admit, my first instinct was to never tell anyone.  I mean, its disgusting, gross, and must mean that we are unclean.  Now, however, I'm owning it.  We had lice.  And just in case you were wondering, its not fun.  We now have to wear bells around our necks so that everyone knows we are unclean.  Just kidding.  I almost feel like we should though.

Anyway, here's the exciting story.  Last Friday I discovered lice in my kid's hair.  All of my kids' hair.  Heaven help me.  Somehow Jake and I have escaped the lice (thank heavens).  After freaking out I sent Jake to the store for supplies, then I started the laundry.  I did laundry from 8:00am to 10:30pm.  That was a lot of laundry.  I washed everything that could possibly be washed.  And then I steamed everything that couldn't be washed.  Our house was very clean.  Then we shaved Zack's hair.  Poor Zack.  I felt bad, but I wasn't about to comb through three heads of hair.  I told him it would grow back in time for school.  Then Kate and Sage got gross smelling stuff on their hair and I got to pick through their hair like an ape or something.  It was awesome (not really).  There were lots of yucky bugs, but there could have been more.  They were easy to get out of Sage's hair because they stick out against her light hair.  Kate's hair was a little trickier.  However, I think we have finally conquered the lice.  In our nightly check last night I didn't find anything.  Please let them be gone.  I will continue checking for a few days so I don't give the lice a chance to attack again.

So, last week was kind of rough.  Started off with purple paint, ended with lice.  Let's not repeat that again.  Ever.

Another Birthday!

Kate's birthday has come and gone.  Only one more cake to go!  She's so cute and was super excited for her birthday.  Her favorite thing to do is hang with the family (that makes me happy) so we went to Seven Peaks on her birthday and then got rodeo tickets for the weekend.   Party all around.  I managed to convince her to do a giant cupcake cake, so this cake was much easier.  Hallelujah.  I think I've got Sage convinced to go the cupcake route also.  Sometimes I'm a sneaky mom.  I know, I should do whatever will make my kids the happiest.  They do like their cakes, so hopefully I'm not too bad of a mom...

Child For Sale!

I could totally see Sage doing this

 I have a cute, blonde hair, blue eyed three-year-old if anyone wants her.  Please, I might even pay you to take her (this statement might get me arrested).  Sage can be so cute, but she can also be so hard.  Her independence is going to get her (and me) in big trouble one of these days.  Today she decided to take some purple paint upstairs.  Not allowed at all.  It was only a few seconds before I figured out what she had done, but it was too late.  I turned the corner to the stairs and there was purple everywhere....the walls, the banister, the couch, the ceiling, and yes, all over the carpet.  Big purple blobs.  Are you kidding me??!!!!   The paint came off the walls super easy.  The carpet?  Not so much.  Big purple spots all over the carpet.  Even my trusty steamer wouldn't get them out.  I have to admit I'm not very hopeful of anything totally removing the paint.  I mean, its purple, dark, dark purple.  Sage has been sitting in her room, no lunch for her today.  It's unknown whether she threw the paint or dropped it.  I'm guessing it was thrown.  Normally in times like these I pause to take a picture.  This was so bad that I couldn't stop to enjoy it.  What do I turn to?  Chips and salsa with some Dr Pepper.  Drastic times call for drastic measures.

So we're back to where I started....Will anyone please take Sage?  Ok, you can't really take her forever.  But maybe a day or two?  My sanity is at risk here...

A Camping We Will Go!

Sagie-Lou

The Gang

We did it!  Third times the charm, right?  We made reservations (the key to this successful adventure), left at 3:30, and actually didn't come home until the next day.  Amazing really.  We had one minor setback.  Let's face it, it could have been a huge setback, but we weren't about to let anything stop us.  We have lots of Cabela's bags, one of which holds our tent.  We opened up our 'tent bag' and discovered....not our tent.  Crap.  Tents are kind of important for camping, however, they are not necessary.  Like I said, we were camping no matter what.  So what did we do?  Yep, we slept under the stars (or clouds).  It actually ended up being quite pleasant.  We got sprinkled on for a few minutes in the middle of the night.  Other than that, life was good.  Who needs a tent anyway?

So we went to Smith and Morehouse up Weber Canyon.  Only like 45 minutes from our house.  I had never been there, but I give it two thumbs up.  I have been trained by my dad that a campground can only receive two thumbs up if you can't see the campers next to you.  This one maybe even gets three thumbs up it was that good.  We were surrounded by trees.  Fabulous.  Its right by a lake, so there was some fishing and rock throwing done by all.  We had a campfire and s'mores.  All in all, a successful trip.  Finally!

Tradition!

Sage and I enjoying the parade

The kids with all their loot (I think Zack's bag is about to break)

Spjutes are a family of tradition.   Lots of tradition.  Think Fiddler On The Roof (my dad likes to belt this out any time we complain about traditions).  Anyhow, one of our long-standing traditions is Farmington Festival Days.  Someone always participates in a race.  Sometimes we do the pancake breakfast, sometimes we don't.  We always go to the parade (best parade ever by the way).  And then we end with lots of food, in true Spjute fashion.

This year tradition was fulfilled.  Toby and I ran the Flag Rock Race.  Why we do this I don't know.  It's truly painful.  It's just over seven miles, with over 2000 feet of elevation gain.  Again I ask, why do we do this.  Once we recovered from that (kind of), we headed to the parade.  As always, the parade lived up to its reputation.  The kids get enough candy to last a year (for reals).  There are balls being thrown out, frisbees, and even stuffed animals.  It doesn't get better than this.  And finally, we finished off with a BBQ at the ancestral home.  As my dad would say, "this is what america needs".  For reals.  Think of all the political problems that could be solved if everyone would just have a BBQ together....

The Best Birthday Ever

Super Backpacker Boy!

Birthday Boy!

Cake #1 (2 more to go)

Cuzins!

I think so anyway.  Zack turned eight last week (holy cow do I really have an 8 year old?!!).  The night before his birthday he got to go backpacking with Jake.  Super cool and fun.  On the way out they saw three deer really close to them.  Zack thought that was a good birthday present.  For breakfast?  Kneaders.  Mmm, Kneaders french toast.  Divine.  Then off to grandpa's to spend the night.  Cake and ice-cream with both sets of grandparents and cousins.  Like I said, best birthday ever, right?

Happy Birthday!

We are entering the season of birthdays at our house.  Four out of the five birthdays in our house occur in a three week period.  Zack's birthday is July 13, Jake's is July 16, Kate's is August 2, and Sage's is August 10.  I don't know why that is.  We certainly didn't plan it that way.  It just is.  I like to try to make fun cakes for my kids for their birthdays.  They love it, so why not.  Well, their birthdays are too close to each other that's why not.  By the time I get to poor Sage's birthday I would rather kill myself than spend hours on another cake.  But I must suck it up and take one for the team.  Its for my kids after all.

Anyway, I'm rambling.  The real purpose of this post is that we already got them their birthday present. It was a group birthday present.  For years they've been playing on Jake's grandparents swing set.  They had great fun on it, but it was just a matter of time until it fell apart.  Zack liked to see how far he could get the swing set to tip without it falling over.  I think I suffered many small heart attacks watching him.  So, out with the old, in with the new.  Finally a new swing set!  Something they can all play on without worrying about injuries.  Now that its put together we're all loving it.  Putting the swing set together?  Not.  Fun.  Took almost eight hours.  For reals.  Eight hours of my life I can never get back.  But it was all for the greater good...entertainment for the kids.  I told them that they better play on this swing set every day for the rest of their lives.  And their kids better play on it too.

I have to admit though, my heart smiled yesterday when I walked into our backyard and all of our kids were playing on it, plus some neighbor kids.  Yes!  They've even been playing on it today in the rain.

Buy birthday presents:  check
Make birthday cakes:  ........(somebody save me)

The beautiful addition to our family