The Joys of Summer

I am so happy that all my kids made it home from the pool today alive. We went after lunch and other than the friend I was with, we were the only ones there. Because the kids were so easy to see, I let my guard down. I noticed Landen had taken off his water wings and Ryker was using them. I had just told Landen he was not to jump into the pool without wings. I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story. He did pretty good holding his breath and not gulping in water, but my throat is raw from screaming at his brothers to help him up. Luckily he was only in 4 ft of water and Brax finally grabbed him. Is there a Mom out there who hasn't had this experience? You could go insane playing the what-if game. I think I'm going to make a life jacket mandatory for that kid. I'm still a little shaky, I think I'm going to go get a big Diet Coke.

To register for a CPR course go to www.redcross.org

This is the digital Julie. Her book is over in the gazebo waiting for her. To see what she is reading, go visit http://www.goodreads.com/ To make your own meez go to http://www.meez.com/ my username is julieomeyer, if you want the free coinz

Benevolent Creator

Katri's blog led me to this fun website http://personaldna.com/

I guess I am more creative than I thought. While I can't deny, being pegged a "benevolent creator" is flattering, it does seem a tad sacrilegious. I have always felt like more of a copier than a creator. Oh well, I guess I should start making some things. I do think that benevolent is a true description of my personality. At least that is what I aspire to be. To see a description of my DNA go to http://personaldna.com/report.php?k=sfusvwAuESgYsUd-HO-CDCAE-8ac7&u=c0ccd274cf58

Last night was the first ever meeting of the Boise Mavens. It was such a nice evening and great to get to know so many new people. I hosted, and we played Friendship Bingo and ate Tuxedo Brownies while we shared our tips. My mom was a guest Maven and a great one at that, she won the prize for top tip. Again, I am berating myself for not taking a picture, so to honor the original Texas Mavens, we have a picture of them. Boise girls, please remind me next month to take your picture!

The Original Texas Mavens June 2007 Boise Maven’s Tips

Julie- Hangs all laundry except socks, undies and pjs (which go in canvas totes for each kid) directly out of the dryer eliminating piles of clean clothes to fold and put away.

Barbara-Decorate your kids bedroom door on their birthday. Ideas include; listing characteristics they have that year, and attaching X number of treats to correspond with their age. Make sure to take a picture of them by their door for great memories.

Christina-Makes bathroom cleanup easy by storing shower cleaner in the shower and giving it a quick spritz each day and keeping baby wipes near the toilet for quick cleanup anytime. Having a swiffer vac handy to the bathroom will tackle any hair issues.

Valerie-Pancake on a stick is a new breakfast hit at her house. Located near the corndogs at Wal-Mart, the kids love to dip them in syrup.

Amber-Red Dresser is having barn sales in Star this summer. Check out their website at http://www.thereddresserboise.com/

Mikelle-Costco photo center does all photos 1 hour and had great photo greeting cards for all occasions; 50 for $15.

Shimber-The 41-cent forever stamp will always be valid even when postage increases in the future. Paul’s Market has a good supply. Edwards’s theatre has free summer movies
http://www.regalcinemas.com/freefamilyflicks/ and for free diapers at Target print out a coupon here (they even take multiple coupons) www.luvs.com/en_US/images/BearHugStretch/TY014_Luvs_webcoupon_July.pdf

Rebecca-If you think you may want both milk and water, but can’t decide, choose the water first because a little water in a glass of milk, not so bad, but a little milk in a glass of water, not so good :-)

Niki-www.allrecipes.com has great recipes with ratings and auto changes the ingredient depending on your number of servings.

Michelle-Her mom used a growth chart made of pellon fabric which is easy to write on and traveled with the family wherever they moved. When the kids grew up, she copied one for each of them and now their kids can compare growth with mom, aunts and uncles.

Let's Organize!

Laurie's fab closet post inspired me to tackle a project that has been simmering since I moved into this house a year ago. My crazy, awful desk, which is in the kitchen and slightly visible from the front door. We had guests at our home over Memorial Day weekend, and Richard made a subtle jab about the state of my desk once every 52 minutes the entire time they were here. Now it is a little "joke" between us. Well not anymore! Alas, unprofessional blogger that I am, I failed to take a before shot. It't probably best not to let the public see what it looked like before. Someone was sure to turn me for the show "Clean Sweep."

Lake Cascade

Camp Out

This weekend we had our first family camp out of the season. It was extra fun because we went with our good friends The Bell family; Shimber, Jeff and their two sweet girls. We camped at Cascade Lake in the Boise National Forest. It was a beautiful two hour drive up the canyon. We had traditional "ronie wiest" and smores. Jeff and Shimber introduced us to a fun new campfire treat. They wrap breadstick dough around a wooden dowel and cook it over the fire. Then you fill the hollow center with honey butter. It is really yummy. You just have to make sure the end is sealed really tight so your honey butter doesn't leak out.

It had been 11 years since I had been in a real pine tree forest, and I had forgotten how beautiful it is. I had also forgotten how bone-chilling, freezing camping in Idaho can be. For the past 10 years we have been camping in Texas where you sleep in your bare skivvies on top of your sleeping bag. If you were really lucky, your camp site would have electric hookup and you could rig an extension cord to a box fan to circulate some air through your tent. We were a little unprepared for mountain camping. This weekend it got down to the low 30's overnight! The Bells saved the day by loaning us 3 extra sleeping bags and we made it through the night in relative comfort.

We had fun cooking a big old breakfast and taking a nice family bike ride. The kids didn't have much luck catching tadpoles in the lake, but Landen did dive off the dock fully clothed. Thank heavens for life jackets, I made him paddle himself back to the dock and didn't have to do a heroic save in the freezing water. We intended to drive a short way to let the kids do some fishing, but within 5 minutes of driving, 4 of the six total kids were sound asleep. We figured we had worn them out enough for one trip. Good times, good memories. I regret only that we had so much fun I forgot to snap even one picture. My camera sat on the seat of the van the whole trip.

Happy Birthday Hunee

Landen asked me the other day, "Mom, what's my name?" I patiently answered that his name was Landen. He said, "No Mom, you know like Rhett is baby and dad is Honey." Well Landen is now Sweetheart, but today is dedicated to my Hunee, who is having a Birthday today. He is an awesome dad and a wonderful husband. We have been together 13 years and I have loved them all. Thanks for another great year. I think I'll call his mom and thank her for raising up such a great guy to be my husband. I'm off to frost a cake!

Baby on Day Two

Isn't it amazing how babies change daily when they are newborns. This photo is from yesterday and even today he looks different. Mom and baby are home from the hospital and doing well. Mikelle is a natural mom, calm and beautiful even though she is still a real estate agent with four listing, all of which she and her husband own. This includes that house they are living in currently. BTW did I mention they are framing up her new house this week. She really is amazing.

The Happy Family

Deakan Jay Richeson

While my family was strolling along the lava beds, Mikelle was in hard labor. Deakan was born at 3:38 PM today, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. Mikelle and Ben did a beautiful job with this sweet little guy. The whole family is so excited to welcome him.

Craters of the Moon

On the way home today we decided to take the scenic route home and stop by Craters of the Moon. It is a National Monument and Preserve. We used to go to out there for field trips in grade school. Richard and the boys had never been, so we made a quick pit stop. We will have to stop again and take more time to go through all the caves, but you can't blame me for rushing home to meet my new nephew.

Eagle Court of Honor

Friday night was Jake's Eagle Court of Honor. For his eagle project Jake computerized the entire Moreland Elementary school library, so books can now be found using various computer search methods. It was a great project, and Friday was a really nice evening. Mom had a dinner out on the lawn before the ceremony. My husband Richard is a huge scouter gave a wonderful speech about how much being an eagle has changed his life. When Richard went into boot camp for the Marine Corp, they gave him an automatic rank and pay increase because he was an eagle. After the ceremony, a guy came up to me and said he always thought that was an urban legend, but it's true. One touching moment was when Jake honored my other brother Joe with the mentor pin. Jake was doing a good job handling so much honor in one weekend.

BIG Family Weekend

My little brother Jake graduated from High School on Thursday. Richard and I took the boys to my hometown of Blackfoot, where my parents still live. It was really great to be there at my old high school, Snake River High, and watch my baby brother graduate. He is so tall and scholarly and handsome. I was really proud of him. Me, Mom, Jake, Joe and Dad.