CHIRPING!

Most of you know that I really love Chandler and I would do practically anything for him...including allowing pets. About two years ago I agreed Chandler could use his birthday money to buy a gecko, Stripes. I was kind of outnumbered about this but consented as long as I didn't have to see or smell or deal with the yucky stuff that comes along with the lizard. Needless to say, I have seen and smelled and dealt with our little pet. My biggest "ewww" about having a gecko is that his diet consists mainly of live crickets. Right now I can hear chirping (usually the crickets are chirpless but every now and then, they aren't.) I don't know where it is coming from. I'm thinking that little bugger is in my kitchen or living room. I don't know how it happens, but crickets escape the cage somewhat regularly and I have found some--dead and alive. Usually I will call for Chandler or Scott to retrieve the escapee but there have been times I've handled it myself. I hate the thought of anything like this roaming the house, but, as I said in the beginning, I love Chandler. So, most of the time I ignore the incovenience and grossness of it all because he is happy and proud to be a gecko owner and I'm not ready for a dog. I'm getting closer...but I'm not quite there, I have to be ok to being a pooper scooper for as long as the dog shall live before we get one.

The D*%# Chairs

I don't know what I was thinking when I ripped the fabric off my kitchen chairs... All I could see when I looked at them was stains from a kid that sees no need for napkins and drippings from a battery bursting from the doorbell casing. I could not get my kitchen chairs to look clean and it drove me nuts every day! So, I started the project that would take a couple of months. I didn't remember this to be such a pain when I did them ten years ago. Thanks to Scott and moral support from my mom, I did get them finished. They turned out better than I expected so I thought I'd share. I vowed to Scott I would never do this project again. :)

One of Many

Chandler had a couple of extra races this past weekend. It was the 2008 ABA State Races on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. His mom took him to the races on Friday night and Saturday. Scott and I made it to the Saturday race and Chandler did awesome! He is getting used to riding his new bike, it is 12 pounds lighter than his other one. You wouldn't think 12 pounds would make such a difference but he was flying over those hills. There were only three kids in his moto so he did race in all three races. Saturday he came in 2nd for each one and placed 2nd over all. I was so proud that he set a goal for himself for the main race. He said he wanted to place second. He had to work pretty hard during the main race and caught up to the rider in 2nd place during the rhythm section. He pedaled really hard for the last part and met his goal. Chandler has three regular races left so that's where you'll find us the next three Thursday nights.

Kickin' it at the Track

Chandler's BMX race this past Thursday went really well. There were 8 kids in his moto (8 year old Novice.) Chandler had to place 1-4 for the first race or 1-3 in the second race to qualify for the main race. He's really been working with Scott on how to pump his arms over the hills (I don't know what they are really called) and to pedal consistently. He really has improved his time and seems to be getting a little more aggressive with racing ahead of the kids in front of him. On Thursday he placed 4th in the first race but the second race he place 1st. He beat out four other kids! He did well in the main race. He placed 4th again but was close to being 3rd most of the race. He was really cute when we were eating dinner before heading to the track. He gets really nervous to race but just told us he knows if he is just having fun that he'll do well. He gets his new bike this next Tuesday. I'm really proud of his willingness to contribute $50 towards the bike. I like to see him invested in things that he wants to do, he seems to stay more excited about it. Chandler would be so thrilled for any of you to watch him race so here's the 411:
Practice and Racing are at Rad Canyon BMX-- 5200 West Old Bingham Highway
Tuesdays: Practice 6:30-8:30 pm
Thursdays: Races start at 7:00 pm, Chandler's moto starts around 7:20 pm
Chandler will be racing September 11, 18, 25
We'd love to see you!

New 3rd Grader

Chandler is a full fledged third grader at Bell View Elementary, he started Monday. Even though he said he didn't want to go back and that summer was too short, he was excited to start school again. I think if there is one thing that is constant for him among the chaos of two households, it's school. He seems so grown up now when he talks about learning cursive and keeping his assignments in a planner. He seems so happy when he comes home chatting about his day. This is such an exciting year for him and we are so proud of our big kid!

Cache Valley Vacation

We had a full, uninterrupted week with Chandler last week so we decided to take a little trip. Per my mom's suggestion, we traveled a short one and half hours to our friends, the Pierce's. They live in Providence, which is just outside of Logan. We get to see Bill and Sadie and their family just a few times a year, all of us would like it to be more. We had a great time at Bear Lake. Chandler and Scott both said it was better than the beach! We timed it right so the water was just a little chilly. We also timed it right for Rasberry Days! La Beau's is a great place for burgers and shakes, we even watched the parade. According to Bill and Sadie's oldest, Bryson, we had dinner and a show.Friday we started the day with a tour at "Weeks Berries of Paradise." This was our first stop on Logan's famous food tour. (Ok, I don't know if it's famous but it was on the Cache Valley Visitors website and it sounded fun.) We got to see the rasberry bushes and taste fresh blueberries right off the plant. The fruit was fantastic so we got a little bottle of jam to go. Next we headed to "Cox Honeyland and Gifts." We tasted about 20 different flavors of honey and watched the queen bee work along with the worker bees. That was a yummy stop too. We stopped by "Crumb Brothers Artisan Bread" but missed the 9:30 am tour. Their bread is delicious and picked up a loaf of sourdough for our little picnic. Next we headed to the "Aggie Ice Cream & True Blue Cheese" tour. We got special treatment for the cheese tour and learned some new facts about one of our favorite foods. Chandler handled the camera at that stop. I guess the ice cream is pretty famous at USU so we couldn't resist tasting this as well. I have to say it was pretty fresh!

We ended our Friday with a Big Horse Adventure at the American West Heritage Center. It was fun to ride (for about 15 minutes) in a covered wagon and play horseshoes and try to throw a tomahawk and attempt to lasso. The driver of the wagon was a true country boy who had his own team of horses (Babe & Sam) and mules. He cooked up a great dinner of steak and chicken in dutch ovens and we enjoyed funny music from "Whoa Molly!" It was a fun night.

Saturday we headed back to the American West Heritage Center for the live demonstrations and exhibits. It was really great to learn about life in the 1800's and talk to people who love that era. It's amazing what people could build and create with such limited tools and technology! Aside from feeding baby goats Chandler shot a black powder musket, we threw more tomahawks, and shot arrows with Shoshone Indians. This center really was a fun place to visit, and they sell Indiana Jones' whip. That was the best $2.25 we ever spent. Chandler spent the rest of the vacation cracking his whip!

That afternoon we took a dip at the Logan Aquatic Center. This great community pool has 2 diving boards, 2 mega slides, and 2 huge pools. For our family, this was the perfect vacation: great friends, great food, great swimming. So, if you need to get away but don't have much time or moolah, we recommend Cache Valley. Thanks Pierce's for living in such a fun place!

Hot Air

Thursday night Chandler participated in his first Raingutter Regatta with his Scout den. Although we didn't have a lot of time to work on his boat, he did a great job sanding and painting it to be ready for the races. Luckily Scott made it home in time to glue the rudder and mast before the event. Chandler used a lot of hot air to get his boat to win most of the races. It was a fun time. He also earned three belt loops from activities at Cub Country.

Butterflies and Such

Chandler started his BMX riding again this week. He practiced this past Tuesday for the first time on an outdoor track. He is pretty excited about starting up the sport again. I think the biking excitement is hereditary--Scott is just like a kid about it all. Chandler's first race was this past Thursday night. He did a great job sticking with it, even though he took a little tumble during the first race. He didn't qualify for the main races but he still wants to move forward with the sport. We took a bathroom break between his two races. When we were walking back to his bike I told him he'd have one less thing to think about at the start of the next race. He responded he always feels like he needs to use the bathroom while waiting at the gate. He also said he always gets butterflies. I teased him a little that he'll get butterflies when he likes a girl. He, of course, said "Ewwww." and I told him not to worry about it for about 20 years. He said he'd be 28 and probably won't be dating by then! :) I just want him to stay a true kid for as long as possible.

Scott loves everything about BMXing. He was so excited to put together Chandler's bike and rooted for him like no other parent. It's fun to see Chandler enjoy something like this and I hope we can encourage him to just have fun and do his best.

Bloom Time!

We have been enjoying some of the produce from our garden the last few weeks. The lettuce has continued to grow after harvesting and has been really great for summer salads. We picked a few green beans for Sunday dinner. I love to see the flowers in bloom, they make me feel happy every day. We have quite a few green tomatoes and I'm looking forward to fresh salsa soon. Does anyone have a fried green tomatoe recipe?

Crack of the Bat

I guess I really shouldn't be surprised when we get back what we put out there, good or bad...

Scott and I enjoyed a little outing with The Bees last night, thanks to my broker Gaynell. It was a great night for a baseball game, even though the Bees lost. It was nice to be out with my hubby and just enjoy watching players play and be entertained by the fans. Thanks again Gaynell!