the one with a helpful household tip

It's hot. Lets face it, we are in the dead of summer! I heard this little tip the other day and thought it was too good not to share. When you are running your swamp cooler 24/7 it kinda starts to get that musty smell. To get rid of that smell and also just to freshen up the smell in your house, raise one of the panels and put a capful of PineSol in there! It instantly freshens your whole house.

HOWEVER.... (you knew there would have to be a story, right???)

Don't over do it! A little goes a long way. While I was at work Saturday, Brett was cleaning the living room and decided to use this helpful tip. I am not sure how much he put in there, but he suddenly noticed bubbles blowing all over the house!!! He ran (well, limped!) outside, lifted the panel and soapy bubbles came pouring out. He had to spray out the whole swamp cooler and had quite a mess to deal with. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa! Poor Brett!!!

the one about fruit roll-ups

Quayd left this box of mini fruit roll-ups at my work. There were two left. Earlier today, I decided to eat one. It was delicious. Later, since I had been thinking of how yummy, sweet and chewy it was ALL DAY, I decided to eat the last one. Now, I am no expert on eating fruit roll-ups, but I really thought it was pretty user friendly. Yummy green candy spread out on a thin sheet of paperey plastic. Peel and eat. Right? WRONG! I could not get the fruity divinity off of the thin papery HELL! I used my teeth, my nails, and apparently the rest of my face and tounge since it was all green by the time I gave up. I finally gave up after trying for about 20 minutes. After I finally threw it away, I realized that fruit roll-ups really arent that good afterall. Why was I so persistent on something that is not only bad for me, but BAD alltogether! I couldn't stop thinking about it all day though, just because it was right by me. And I was like a raging wolf trying to get it all off the paper and into my belly. SICK! 20 minutes of my life was wasted on this nasty green glob of papery plactic gooey chewy green MESS!!!!

the one about the pouring rain

The pouring rain, you ask? Well, it has been made clear to me lately that when it rains, it pours! That is not meant to sound negative, but in this update, every story has something to do with rain or pour. Plus, we have had so much going on lately, that.. yes. It does seem like when it rains, it pours!

I'll begin with rain/pour story #1. (Warning, this story is kinda long, so feel free to skip ahead.) As probably everyone knows already, I have some issues with my heart. I really hate talking too much about this but I have been having some problems recently and thought I would share. In January, I went in for my regular check up. My Doctor decided to take me off of my medicines because I had been doing so well. It was decided that the negative side effects of my medicine were not worth it anymore and as long as I didn't get pregnant, I was fine. The first few months were going well, but lately I have noticed things were changing. My energy was crap and my blood pressure and heart rate were getting high again. I got super sick with flu like symptoms during the first week of June. I went to my family doctor and she said I had a virus. I had been fighting a fever, aches, chills and all of that fun stuff. I started feeling a little better within 10 days or so, but still not awesome. I was up and down for a week or so, then i got really sick again. I was feeling awful and I knew it was my heart. Brett had called my cardiologist and made and appointment, but until then I was supposed to stay down and track my vitals. (Sure is handy having an EMT for a husband!) My appointment was set for Thursday July 1st. The Friday before, I could feel I was going down fast! I felt awful. I had a RESTING heart rate of 120-140. I had headaches, body aches and a sharp pain in the left side of my neck. We were super scared. We called the cardiologist and he didn't seem to concerned. He kept saying that my heart looked great in January when I had my last echo cardiogram. Well a lot had changed since then and I didn't feel like he was taking us serious. By Tuesday night, Brett was scared enough that he felt like we needed to go to the hospital. I didn't want to go to our local hospital because I knew they would just send me to SLC. We packed up everything, sent Quayd to my brother's house and hit the road. We got to SLC around 11:00 pm. When I got to the ER, there were several people there waiting to be seen. As soon as they took my vitals and heard my symptoms they marked my chart as "URGENT" and took me right back. I saw a Doctor right away, they started an EKG, blood work and a million other tests. I had a fever of 101.5. They did several different tests and scans on my heart and decided that except for the high heart rate, it looked good. They knew there must be an infection somewhere but didn't know where so they didn't dare give me an antibiotic. (BUG! What is with doctors and antibiotics these days?!?) They gave me some meds and IV fluids and I started feeling better. They released me the next day. I still had an appointment with my cardiologist on Thursday so we just got a hotel room and crashed. When I went to the cardiologist, he was a total jerk to me! He made me feel like I was wasting his time. Don't get me wrong, I was glad that he said my heart looked good but he didn't even take the time to listen to everything that had been going on. He pretty much told me that I was old and fat. OLD???? I am 31!! Fat??? Yes, but had he looked at my chart and cared a little bit, he would have been impressed to see how much weight I have lost since I last saw him. He adjusted my medicines and sent me home. He was a huge ass! We drove home and I was feeling worse than ever. On Friday, I went back to my family doctor and she said that it was obvious that I had a terrible sinus infection. I had a fever of 102 and she gave me an antibiotic. I have been feeling better, but my heart rate is still high. I still have body aches and I just don't feel that great. I guess it will just take time. Whatever. Anyway, I can't end this story without telling about the HUGE outpouring of love I felt during all of this. I have such great family and friends and they were right there, bringing us meals, stopping by bringing treats, visiting, calling and texting and it seriously meant the world to me! My pal Cara let me borrow her New Moon movie so I could get all caught up before I go see Eclipse. She also brought me some popcorn, licorice and these fun vampire teeth!

Love it! Thanks Cara! We had tons of fun with these!

Ok, rain/pour story #2. It was the Annual Galley family camp out this last weekend and it was a blast, as usual! We had a huge turnout and I love being around this great family. We were able to go river rafting on Friday morning, and even though I wasn't feeling great, I still had a great time. (There was on incident that happened that kind of put a damper on the weekend, but I am saving that for story #3.) The weather wasn't totally cooperative. It rained and poured almost the whole time. Oh well. Nothing can ruin our camping spirit!

Not even rain/pour story #3. Brett, Quayd and Finn headed up the mountain for camping on Wednesday night. I needed to stay and work another day, so I rode up with Talia Thursday night. It was so nice to get there and have camp all set up! Brett and Quayd did a great job. After we ate dinner that night, we were all chatting around the camp fire. Brett started playing around with some of the teenage boys. Not sure how it started, but they started having a fly swatter war. Some how, Brett stepped back in a hole and hyper-extended his knee. He was in a lot of pain but said it would be ok. By Friday afternoon, he was about to pass out from the pain. He decided to head to town and go to the ER. The ER doc said he tore a contour ligament and that he needed to see the ortho specialist. He said it would most likely require surgery. The Doctor put him in a brace, gave him crutches and sent him on his way. Brett made an appointment for Monday (today) at 4:30 with the ortho guy. We weren't sure what a "contour ligament" would be, so when he got back to camp, we googled it. (Yes, we had Internet on the mountain. Talk about "roughing it!") It is either the ACL or the MCL. Both are very bad. We decided to wait and see what the doc said on Monday. We went to his appointment and were told many different scenarios of what it could be. All sound pretty bad. Brett has to have an MRI of his knee so the doctor can see exactly what is going on, then we will go from there. I keep reminding Brett that he is not as young as he used to be, so playing with those teenage boys was probably not his best idea. Actually, he is suffering enough with the pain, so I have tried to keep my mouth shut. So when it rains health drama at our house, it pours!!!

Rain/pour story #4. A few weeks ago, Brett had to teach a HAZMAT class in Price. He had already been in Denver for a few days for work then 3 more days in Price. I had been feeling crappy and stressed and I just needed my hubby. Quayd and I packed up and drove there so we could spend the weekend with dad. we ended up staying an extra day and we had a great time! Brett was teaching with his friend Todd and his family ended up coming down too. One night while Brett was teaching, Todd's wife and I took Quayd and the other kids to Toy Story 3. The next day when Brett was finished teaching we went to the wave pool.

The waves were seriously pouring down on everyone! It was so much fun!

We were lucky enough to get to go boating with my brother and his family on July 4th and 5th. That brings me to story #5. We packed a nice big lunch, bought fishing licenses, caught night crawlers and got all ready for a fun day on the lake on the 4th of July. We were there for a couple of hours and guess what? It started to rain! And when it finished raining, it started to pour! We tried to stick it out for as long as we could, but we were freezing! We had caught several nice fish. We thought if we just cruised around the lake for awhile, it might clear up. We had been going pretty fast for awhile when we realized that our fish basket was still hanging off the side of the boat. We stopped pulled it in and it was empty. :( All of our fish fell out the bottom. It was raining even harder, so we packed up and went home. Empty handed. Because of the long holiday weekend, we packed a new lunch and headed out the next day! It was perfect! We caught lots of fish (and even came home with them!) and cruised around on the lake for hours.

The tooth fairy is responsible for rain/pour story #6. She has been hitting our house so hard lately, it seems like it is raining tooth fairy magic! Quayd is at that age where he is losing tooth after tooth after tooth.

It seems with each tooth comes less drama! Quayd used to freak out when it was time to pull a tooth. Last week, he lost one while eating a ice cream cone and it was never retrieved. He lost another last night and he came to me and asked me to pull it. The tooth fairy has brought "scratch and win" lottery tickets for the last two teeth lost. He thinks they are so cool. :) He is getting so big! I love and hate it!

So I guess that does it for my "when it rains it pours" blog. Kinda hokey, I know. And very long. Sorry about that. Once I finally take the time to sit down and blog, the word seem to just pour out!

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.