the one about a butterfly

So I have been feling a little ill lately. I have had to stay down in bed as much as possible and Quayd has been taking very good care of me. Yesterday, my mom had picked up a few things at the store for me so I sent Quayd to pick them up. When he was walking in my back door, he noticed a little butterfly. It had flown near a spiderweb and part of its wing was stuck. It was struggling to get free. Quayd quickly brought the grocery items inside, grabbed a pair of scissors, went back outside and clipped the butterfly free. I was in bed through all of this. He came in my bedroom and told me the story. He was beaming with pride as he told me all about it and he had a tiny little tear in his eye as he said, "Mom, it made me feel so good to help that little butterfly."

How sweet is that???

the one about a boy and his dog

When we got our dog Finn last November, I honestly wondered what we were thinking. We are not dog people and we are WAY to "on the go" to be dealing with a dog. I always feel so much guilt for Quayd being an only child and I know he gets super lonely and bored. So when I have the cutest little boy holding the cutest little puppy, what am I supposed to say??? It was right before Christmas and the dog cost more money than we really needed to be spending at that time, but seriously... what do ya do? I called om my good old trusty back up. The mean dad! But he couldn't say no either. I truly believed that it wouldn't last. The breeders told me they would take him back if it didn't work out so I kind of had an out. Well little did I know that this damn dog would work his way right into our home and our hearts! We are crazy about him! All of us! He is our whole life. I never would have expected that we would all be so smitten. We take him everywhere with us and he is spoiled rotten! He is very well mannered, doesn't bark, bite or pee everywhere. He is just a good dog. He has given Quayd the companionship he needs and has even filled a little void for Brett and I. We have a routine at night and when everyone is getting in bed, Finn decides who he wants to sleep with. It usually involves lots of coaxing from both sides because we all want him. This particular night, he chose Quayd. I went in to check on them in the middle of the night, and this is what I found. I swear this dog has brought so much to our family and we love him so much. He was meant to be our dog. Like I have said before.... Quayd didn't pick the best dog, the dog picked the best boy!

the one with some updates

Lazy summer days??? NOT! It has been CRAZY summer days around here. The older I get, the more busy we get. This is what we are up to these days...

Right now, Brett is playing in a men's softball league and I am playing in a woman's league. Even though we both LOVE it, it takes up two nights of our week! Brett has played for years and he is the pitcher. I have played off and on for my whole life. I am not any kind of pro, but I do love to play. I like playing infield. Because I am a lefty, I usually play first base. The team I play with has a first base player so I have been playing third base. I have really enjoyed it! Its challenging as a lefty (I know that seems weird, but ask any lefty and they will tell you!)

We have been coaching Quayd's AYSO soccer team. It has been so much fun for us!
Our team did awesome too! They were undefeated up until the last few games, then they lost a few. At this age, they play 6 on 6. A few of our team members quit coming to games so we didn't have any subs for the 6 that came all of the time. As the summer got hotter, our boys got more and more tired. It was hard for them at the end, but they still did awesome and had a great season!

So Mr. Quayd has become quite aware of the way he looks lately. I have always been able to dress him in pretty much anything and he never complains, until now. He is very opinionated! The first day of his summer break, I was starting to do his hair. I have done it in spikes since he had enough hair to spike it. He was looking in the mirror as I was gooping it up and he asked me to try something different. I kinda flattened it on top and just spiked the very front.
He looked so cute and very grown up. He looked him self over in the mirror and finally said, "You know who is really gonna like this?" I asked who. He said, "Drew." Drew is a cute little girl that has been in his class for the last two years. All the boys love her! He was so cute about it. All day he asked everyone we saw if they could see anything different about him. He is also very concerned about his clothes and if he matches or not. So he about had a stroke when he saw his dad lounging around the house in this. Quayd kept telling his dad that he was going to call all of his friends to come see how hideous he looked. So funny!!

So that is a little glimpse into what we have been up to lately. I am trying to be better about blogging, so check back and don't give up on me!

the one about Quayd's second grade program

Quayd's program was the cutest thing I have ever seen! It was western themed and his cute little teacher seriously goes all out for these things. They learned several songs and even learned how to SQUARE DANCE!
Quayd is such a performer and even though he gets a little nervous at first, he loves being in the spotlight. Here is a classic Quayd moment...My friend Aubrey and I helped decorate and set up for the program. Mrs. Murray bought these cute cardboard fences and stuff. We put it all together during school so Mrs. Murray wouldn't have to worry about it. (She was in the process of moving her classroom! She had to be packed the next day) anyway, during the program, a couple of the kids knocked down part of the set. Mrs. Murray rushed over to fix it and Quayd turns to the crowd and says, "Excuse the interuption. We are experiencing technical difficulties." What a nut! Of course, Aubrey and I ran up on stage and saved the day! ;) The program was adorable! It makes me kind of sad to think that my baby boy is going into 3rd grade. But at the same time, I love seeing him grow and learn. He ended the year as one of the top readers in his class, he got a math award, top speller award and an award for being the class comedian!! We are so proud of him! :) This is Quayd and his best buddy Shade. During the program, they sang about the Sasparilla saloon. For refreshments, they had "sasparilla" (soda) and cookies. This was totally unplanned, but I caught Quayd and Shade enjoying some "sasparilla" and shootin' the breeze. SO CUTE! Quayd and Mrs. Murray Another Quayd performance..... saying "Rock on!" as the curtain closed We were so lucky that Quayd had such an excellent teacher for second grade. Mrs. Murray was fabulous and Quayd LOVED her! We were super excited to hear that she got moved to third grade for next year and Quayd is in her class again!! I love school, but I am SO ready for the summer break!!! So is QUAYD! He is amazing and I love being the mom of the class comedian.

the one about the BEACH PARTY

Quayd's teacher let the class chose a theme for their end of school party. The voted and decided on a Beach Party. I am the official party planner mom, so Mrs. Murray asked me to come up with a plan. I bought leis and squirt guns for everyone. We played some water games, had a water baloon fight, snacks and tons of fun! Quayd and his teacher Mrs. Murray)




To finish it all off, Brett brought the fire truck and sprayed the kids. They LOVED it! Everyone thought it was pretty cool that Quayd's dad was a fireman and could bring the firetruck just for them! Quayd was pretty proud to have his dad there. (Dad was a just a little proud too!!!)

the one about Brett's hairy chest

I was just thinking about this funny thing that happened on our cruise and thought I would share...

Seriously, cruising is so much fun! Whenever there is a "Day at Sea" the crew works really hard to make sure you are having fun and they schedule activities for every second of the day. Our second day at sea, they had a Hairy Chest competition. We had been begging Brett to do it. He was a little hesitant at first, but he finally decided to go for it. The only requirement was that you started the competition with a shirt on so you could take it off for the big reveal. There were 8 contestants. They had a panel of 4 female judges that could touch and feel the men to determine a winner. For round one, they took all of the men (yes, the contestants were all male! thank goodness!) to the second level of the pool deck. They had these curvy stairs and the guys had to walk halfway down the stairs, take their shirts off then go the rest of the way down the stairs. Then the judges felt the hair and eliminated a few men. Brett was super funny as he came down the stairs and everyone was cheering for him. He cleared round 1.
Here he is meeting the judges.

In round 2, the contestants had to show their muscles (or lack thereof), make their best Tarzan yell then "aligator wrestle" a beach towel. Brett may have not been the hairiest man, but he was by FAR one of the best performers!! He was so funny and everyone was laughing at him. Another guy, Rich, was also super funny, but the real crowd favorite was on old man named Bob.


Brett cleared this round too. The last part to determine the winner was a popular vote. Brett did pretty well on this round too, but like I said before, the real crowd favorite was Bob. Brett did a great job and I was so... ummmmmm.... whats the word I am looking for?? Not proud... but, well... I guess HAPPY for Brett for doing so well and for being a good sport. He got a nice medal for participating and a lot of cheers for being so dang funny!

the one abut the field trip

Today I was able to go with Quayd on his second grade field trip. We went to historic Josie's Cabin. Josie was a lady who built a cabin and ran a ranch near Split Mountain on Dinosaur National Monument land. She is known for letting some of the outlaws (such as Butch Cassidy) stay at her place when they were traveling in the Colorado, Utah and Wyoming areas. The cabin is in such a beautiful location and it is amazing to think of what her life may have been like when she lived there. Josie established her homestead in 1914. She raised and butchered cattle, pigs, chickens and geese. She canned vegetables from her large garden. Her source of heat for her cabin was wood, her water came from a spring, and light from an oil lamp. Josie lived a 19th century lifestyle well into the 20th century. She lived there until she died at the age of 90 in 1964. It was so primitave and I felt totally weird playing with my cell phone and checking twitter from just outside her cabin!
Quayd and his friend Antonio


Quayd and I didn't really feel well. I have had allergy/sinus crap and Quayd had a stomach ache and said he had growing pains in his legs. We hung out together and took it easy the whole day. We sat together on the bus, ate lunch together and hiked together. I kept telling him to go play with his friends that he didn't have to hang out with his old mom, but he said he just wanted to spend the day with me. He is so awesome! It was such a great day. The weather was perfect, everything was starting to bloom and so beautiful.



I haven't been to this area for many years and I was so happy I went. I enjoy refreshing my mind with all of the fun history of this area... plus I LOVE seeing Quayd in another world besides home. Its fun to see him interact with his teacher and friends. He has such good friends and he is such a good little boy. We live in such a cool area and we are surrounded by rich history and amazing beauty. It was such a great day! I heart field trips!
Shade, Quayd and Rylan
Shade, Austin and Quayd
(Austin is the cutest little boy... He is autistic and has seriously grown leaps and bounds this year! Quayd and Shade have tried really hard to include him and be his friend. Austin LOVES these boys and is very posessive of them! He likes to know where they are and what they are doing every minute. Quayd and Shade don't even act phased by it all. They are such good boys! They make their moms very proud!)