you've already seen these...

 I realize that most everybody has seen these pics- but I've got to document the entire experience.  For christmas I surprised Kent with two (nonrefundable) tickets to skydive. We've both talked about it here and there and always said we were going to do it someday.  When I saw the passes show up on Groupon- I could NOT resist.  Life is full of things I want to do 'someday'- but if I don't act now- they'll never get done!

We finally made our reservations and went yesterday. May I start out by saying that EVERYone should go skydiving. I think it should be a life requirement. You HAVE to go at least once in life.  It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Honestly. It definitely compared to having a baby- and running a marathon- only without all of the hard work and pain involved!!!!

Once you get up there in the plane and they open the door and people just start diving out- it's CRAZY.  13,000 feet in the air!! and you just walk off the edge of the plane.  Kent and I were the last two people to go and it was so amazing to just watch all of these people go flying out into nothingness!

I totally lucked out with the coolest tandem instructor EVER.  His name was Gila (as in the gila monster lizard) and he was crazy!  I told him I wanted to get the most out of the experience and he let me!! We got to the edge of the plane and just dove. That first sixty seconds of freefall is like nothing you'll ever experience.  My instructor did all sorts of cool crazy spins and tricks. We got going really fast into a crazy spin and I thought I was going to lose my head.  I loved it.

After the freefall- the chute is deployed and everything slows way down and gets much quieter.  I really wanted to dive through a big cloud- so we did.  Plus we did all sorts of more fun spinning and twisting. It feels like the world's best roller coaster.  Being up there just looking at everything is crazy. It's so strange to just be up in the sky floating around. It honestly feels like you are flying. I felt like harry Potter on his Firebolt.

Kent had a slightly different experience! Once they landed my tandem instructor told me they had missed the landing zone altogether and had reached the ground faster than the others (strange since they jumped last!). Apparently they were ONE second away from cutting away their chute to make room for their reserve.  The chute was tangled and falling with them- not above them!  Kent asked how much longer before he would have cut away their chute and his instructor said literally one second.  If only we had come home with a reserve parachute story :)  Maybe next time!!

 Here's a sign on the whiteboard where you put on your gear!

 We both LOVED it and would be VERY happy to take any visitors who come :)  Best safety record in the U.S. and the least expensive!!

the perfect kid task and more of our place...

 I have found the perfect task to keep these kiddos busy for thirty or so minutes every day.  The car wash.

I just send them out into the garage with wet rags and they scrub their little hearts out.  It isn't necessarily super effective- but they actually get a lot of dirt off- and they stay happily busy for awhile!

 The next pictures show some of our other rooms. The more I look around our house the more I realize how much of what we own has come from other people.  Thank-you! Thank-you! I'm such a cheapo and love that so many friends have given us their old stuff :)  It's new to us!!!

Here's the upstairs kiddo/guest bath.  The whole matching set is from a friend in Toledo who was moving and getting rid of it :)  Who ever thought I'd have a matching bathroom?!?  The kids love it.

 And the play room. My favorite part of the house.  This is where the toys stay. They aren't allowed downstairs or in the boys bedroom once bed time comes - or the toy monster comes and gobbles them up.  I love having space that we don't have to clean every night. I can shut the door and put the kids to bed without a mess at their feet,

 A huge portion of the stuff in here came from friends/family and yard sales. I really am embarrassed about how many toys my kids have. It's ridiculous.  I am proud of the cute wall decals, though. Yard sale. 25 cents for the lot.

Please come and visit!!!

Binky or blanket anyone?!  these two must be related.  They are just a few months apart and obviously struggling with the same addictions. 

We had visitors at the end of last week and had a lovely time. The Starkeys dropped by for a few days while craig was working in cincy.

I've been terrible at taking pictures since our move here- and I'm not sure why.  My apologies.  Here's one I got of cousin Katie.  and that's all that I got. The whole time they were here!  we had a lot of fun talking- eating- and just relaxing.  I know I say it often- but it's so nice to have family semi-close.  We just happened to be missing the big family reunion in Utah at the same time so it was nice to have  our own mini reunion here.

We had a brief heat reprieve for a few days and I got some good yard work in- but the stifling humidity is back today and it looks like another long couple of days indoors. 

This kid is one big ball of CRAZY energy. He seriously runs around the house like a crazy animal. Every night when kent gets home he goes especially crazy. I'll have to get a video. Honestly- it's nutso. And then always comes the crash. Why do these crazy bouts of choas always have to end in tears?!

Zeb is in a really good phase.  Besides being fed up by Ike's antics and the occasional retaliation against him- Zeb is perfect!  HE does ask me regularly: "Why does Ike love to make me angry all of the time?!". Good question, Zeb. I'm asking myself the same thing.

We've been working lots on writing this summer. He's a natural at reading and loves it- but writing is a different story. It drives me BONKERS!  and I keep reminding myself- he just turned four.  I still make him do 3-4 worksheets a day- and it isn't always pretty- but we do it nonetheless.  Any great ideas or games or workbooks for writing?

Due to the weather -we've been under house arrest for the week and I really don't have much to post.  The mornings are spent at the YMCA.  But in the afternoons we've been reading lots of books, working on 'school work', playing with toys, and watching tv.  Pretty lame-o. Sometimes I let the kids out in the backyard to run around with the hose- but I don't go out. It's too hot for me.  I don't consider myself a wimpy person- but when it comes to heat and humidity I'm all over that wimpiness.

Plus my kids have COLDS! how is that possible?! Lots of coughing and sneezing. And getting up early. yuck. Here's Ike at 6:30 this morning. After waking himself up with a coughing fit he comes wandering in to our room: "I'm hungry. I'm HUNGRY!!".  The first thing he thinks about in the morning is food. So different from Zeb.

And Zeb actually has been insisting on sleeping in the basement on the guest bed. He's always been a sleeping nomad. He doesn't sleep walk- but he wanders before bed time and ends up sleeping in different places.  Remember when he slept in the bathtub for a few months last year!? We find him on the futon in the study quite often- or in the basement. Down there it's nice and cool and really dark. And the bed is huge and comfy.

odds and ends and our happenings.

The insane weather around here has created a whole lot of laziness. We all feel tired and groggy half the time.   here's our current weather:

 

95.3 °F

Feels Like 111 °F

DISGUSTING. Maybe that's why Ike keeps falling asleep on the kitchen floor!!

and maybe it's why he's drinking ketchup?! probably not.  This kid totally has my taste buds.  No- I don't drink ketchup- but I do LOVE it.  His favorite snack is a bowl of luke warm black beans slathered in as much ketchup as we'll give him. He's nuts.

Here's Zeb asking for a picture in his self proclaimed favorite shirt. I can get him to NOT wear it more than two days in a row by allowing him to wear it to bed. After he's slept in it- it seems rational to him that it can't be worn out in public that day. I'm not sure how this kid's mind runs- but I'll take whatever works.











And here he is in the very shirt posing next to all of the nintendo toys he stumbled upon at the store.  He loves taking pictures and sending them to Kent.  And he LOVES nintendo.  Every day he wakes up asking if we can go to Nannie Annie's house to play the wii. Too bad the drive is 26 hours.  He's going to have to be happy with his daily DS minutes.

 Kent has been busy working lately. It's nice to be into a regular routine again. He's home by six at the latest- usually by 5 or five-thirty and hasn't had to work weekends yet. Our schedule will get harder soon- but I'm super happy for now!  I've been busy teaching classes, going to dentist appointments ( I had my THIRD root canal in as many years!! and it was the most painful thing EVER!!!), and starting physical therapy for my knee/hip.  I LOVE the air force and the amazing and free medical care we are getting here.  We are so so blessed.

Oh-and we went and saw HARRY POTTER.  We first went to the coolest Harry Potter party at a friend's place with fever fudge, cockroach clusters, Butterbeer and more delicious Harry Potter fare.  It really was so much fun! and then to the movie.  Every time we go to see a Harry Potter movie I remember why we RARELY go to the movies.  This was our fifth time to the full price movies since we've been married!! that's seven years.  We spent nearly thirty dollars on tickets. INSANE. But Harry Potter on the big screen was definitely worth every penny. And check out the AMAZING souvenir I brought home. I realize this is a ridiculous picture- but how cool?!?!  Harry Potter 3d glasses.

 We LOVED the movie.  As soon as it started I got all glum- realizing that this is it. I even shed a tear when Snape died. I'm just so devastated that it's all over.

 Come and visit us!  there's a really cool children's museum :)  it's also a mini zoo-so anybody with a zoo or museum pass from around the country can get in cheap or free!

We've been a couple of times and the kids keep asking to go back! They especially love the big play area that has tunnels and slides that connect three levels of the museum! 

Kent was also in heaven at the museum. They have a big section called 'mindbenders' where you can solve all sorts of puzzle, riddles, and play huge games. He would have LOVED this place as a kid.

 Here's my fabulous 'Mindbender's Society' certificate.  The hair is green and the shirt is bright orange. I looked like an oompa loompa.

 They've got all sorts of kid play stations. There's a fake grocery store, a dinosaur excavation, a pizza shop- and lots more.  Ike was really serious about this strawberry.

My favorite place was the giant tree house.  For whatever reason- it's always empty.  You can see all sorts of great birds and the view is amazing.

 We are well on our way to loving Dayton- now we just need people to share it with. Visitors are welcome :)

Apparently Sundays are just too much for this monkey.  He crashed on the kitchen floor during dinner.

free food?! we're in.

 It's tradition now. I think this is our fourth year in a row getting free food on Chic-fil-A's cow appreciation day (we really missed our toledo pals this year, though)!  you dress up like a cow and get your pick of the menu!

 I can never believe just how much free food we get here every year! and it's so good. Something about their polynesian sauce takes me back to junior high and the days of hanging out at The University Mall on saturday afternoons.

Zeb remembered going last year and was really excited for this year. I was SHOCKED at how many people were dressed up this year. In Toledo we always looked a little foolish- we totally stood out.  But here- we fit right in.  The entire restaurant was PACKED with cows.

 We went as soon as Kent got off work- and so he was still dressed for work.  He isn't allowed to alter the uniform with spots or anything- so I made him a cow mask. 

 Ike was a little nervous to meet the cow- but warmed up in the end.

 These cow costumes cost me two dollars a piece at the GAP many many years ago. They are actually sized 6-12 months- but I think we'll be able to fit Zeb in it at least one more year! My costume was some remnants of kent's woody costume and my jessie costume from Halloween!

 Here's Kent herding our little cows to the car. It was a pretty muggy day but the boys loved their costumes.

Can't wait for next year!

 Happy belated fourth of july.   And don't you like this lovely framed picture?  thanks to my pleas for help decorating- I got some great suggestions and made this beauty for $1.50.  Did you all know there are sites all over the internet with free prints/art/etc?!  I'm not a 'craft blog' browser- but I may have start checking them occasionally.  I printed off some of my favorite freebies at Sam's Club for super cheap. Plus I already had frames!! thanks for the idea, kenna! 

                       I got this beauty pictured below, too (plus a few others not pictured).  

The home print (from a free site) and the cross stitch (from my sis in law) are going in the dining room for now.

 On the 4th we celebrated with a barbecue for lunch and a barbecue for dinner! The fourth always makes me really homesick- but we tried to make ourselves as busy as possible all day!

Here's the Zebster with his pal, Barrick, at our ward bbq.

and the Ikester with a football. He always finds the balls.

Our day was really fun. full of great foot and lots of new friends.

The kids got a little crabby with the heat and no naps- but we still managed a good day  Here's Zeb in his angry stance.  He's such a grumpy little man sometimes.

Luckily most of the day was smiles. 

partial tour of our place!

After a month of living here- I'm finally posting some pictures of our place!  I don't like unpacking, decorating, or organizing- so this has been a long month.  Any decorating ideas are more than welcome. seriously.  Most of these areas are still quite bare as far as walls and decor go- and I'm totally fine with the simple clean look - but if you have any great ideas- please chime in!

The lighting for the pictures isn't perfect- but I figured a nice sunday while everyone is napping was the perfect time to take pictures.

My favorite part of the house!  the kitchen!  after our crazy small galley kitchen in toledo- I LOVE having so much room to move around! and an island where I can prepare food!!!  The walls aren't quite as bright yellow as they appear- but I love the color in here. 

 Here's the view from the front door/hallway.

 The inside garage door opens right into the kitchen.  And also right there at the garage entrance is our patriotic main floor bathroom.  What should I put right above the toilet?

The dining room is also bare.  Suggestions?!?!  It's right off the kitchen and connects to the living room.  The walls are a light tan.  We eat lunch and breakfast at the bar- but dinner here.

 I got this rug from a friend in Toledo and I love it!  The background here is our living room and is TOTALLY empty for now.  

 Here's the view from the living room to the entryway.  It's painted gray and I LOVE it.

And finally- the view up the stairs!  Zeb tells me that by the time he gets to the top every day- his muscles are really tired.

I'll get pics of the family room, kids room, toy room, our room, basement, and study soon.  I can't believe we live in a house and that it's so wonderful!  We really do love it and every thing has worked out perfectly. We are so blessed to have found such a great place for such a great price in the perfect neighborhood!

I'll get some pictures of adults- I promise!!

 The rugrats are just easier to take pictures of!  The past two days have been action packed- and we've got two more scheduled :)  Kind of our last big family weekend with no worries!!

Friday started out with a visit to the gym. I'll have to get pictures of the ymca here. They've got a giant slide/climbing sturcture (like at mcdonald's playlands) for the kids to play on- and our boys love it. We spend time there every single day!  and even better was that Kent got to come. He even went down the slide with them and made it lots more fun than I do!

After that we took the monkeys to CARS 2.  I can't believe how much movie tickets cost!!  the boys brought their race cars with them and had a pretty good time. The movie got a little long and Zeb cried when he thought the bomb attached to Mater was going to blow up and kill them all.  Definitely not as great as the first- but they still like the toys.

 We've also spent the last two days playing in the yard. Have I mentioned how AMAZING it is to have a YARD?! and a hose!!!  wow.

 I love this picture.  Today while I was cleaning the kitchen- the boys were out playing on the deck.  Zeb peaked his head through the door and asked: "Mom, can we put our swimming suits on?".  I told him no because we were headed to a barbecue with friends shortly.  As soon as I finished loading the dishwasher I went outside and found this:

 I never actually said they couldn't go swimming. I'm going to have to be more specific with my answer next time.  Funny thing is that Zeb can NEVER get his clothes off by himself when asked- so I'm not sure how this exactly happened.