9th Day

6/29/08
We started out our day by having a phone call from Oscar while he was sitting on the plane heading back to the States!! We are so excited to see him tomorrow! The boys all want to make a banner and brownies to celebrate. I told him we could after church.

What a HOT HOT day!! We got home from church ready to make our banner and brownies, when I noticed the house didn't feel as cool as it should. When I went out to the garage I noticed the furnace making a weird whistling noise. I checked the thermastat and it was reading high where it shouldn't be. So I went outside and took the filter out, sure enough it was filthy! I knew I should have bought new filters last time I was at the store. I called Kip Dribnak (our great home teacher and awesome friend) to see if he could help and he brought Neil Adams (another great friend) over to have a look see. They turned off the breaker to the furnace and then back on, but the airflow in the house was still very little. They finally found where the whistling was coming from and one of the copper pipes had ice on it and the other one was hot. So they called Todd Deason (I couldn't believe I forgot about Todd being an HVAC guy) but he wasn't available so Neil told me he would have Todd call me when he got back with him.

After Kip and Neil left I broke out the icy machine, the boys all cheered. We started to decorate the banner and soon had to stop because everyone was arguing about everything. I knew they were hungry and hot and miserable. Soon after Todd called and told me I was going to have to turn off the airconditioner and turn on the fan and leave it that way for a couple of hours. So I did as he said and then called April Dittrich (one of my great friends and 5am workout buddy) who had invited us earlier over for hotdogs. She said she hadn't put the hotdogs on yet and to come over. I'm so glad we did. The boys got to play and run which helped take away the hostility we were having towards each other. I got to visit with April and Shane and Amy (another great friend and 5am workout buddy) and Rodney Ashby. We laughed a lot and enjoyed watching the kids have fun. Even some of the adults joined in. The best part was watching April brace herself inside this big black tube and then roll down the hill. (I'll have pictures of this soon). The sun decided to go behind some clouds and the wind picked up a little. Thanks April for the invite it was definetly a life saver today.

When we got home the house was muggy and hot. I quickly checked the air flow which seemed to be improving. I went out to find the box fans and put one in each of the boys rooms. They are loud but it helps the room feel cooler and they were able to calm down to go to sleep. I put the airconditioner on and it seems okay so far. I can feel cold air and my anger is slipping away. I am so thankful and blessed to be in a ward with so many caring friends and neighbors who are willing to help, better yet to serve each other. Thanks Shane for a great lesson today in church, I was able to witness service in action today.

Only 17 more hours and we'll get to hug and kiss and scream hurray when daddy gets home!!

8th Day

6/28/08

Today was Cub Scout Day Camp. I took Zachary over to the Amity Building for a morning of fun, while I took Oscar, and Parker to their swimming lessons. It was a make up day since next Friday is the 4th and we wont have swimming lessons that day. It was called the Safety day because they went over safety procedures when you visit the swimming pool.

Here are some pictures Oscar was snapping in the car on the way home.

Afterwards I went over to help out at day camp. The boys had fun and did some really great things. They learned about first aid, tied knots, did athletic activities, made a rocket, learned about different rocks, learned about space, and participated in an archery shoot. Some of my favorites were the rocks and the archery. The lady who taught the boys about rocks showed us a rock she had from Afghanistan that had emeral crystals in it, LOVED IT. She also had Amethysts which is a very pretty purple I can't remember which foreign country it came from. She also had a rock with Jade, very pretty. At the archery shoot all the boys got to shoot twice, once at the turkey and once at the deer. Afterwards the leaders got a go at it and I was very proud of myself that I hit the target. I had to make the disclaimer that I wasn't my husband so not to expect too much. I loved the necklaces the boys made at the Astronomy station with Amy Baumgartner and Erin Buckley. It was a model of the planets all in order. I wasn't there when they made them but the finished product was good.

Later on at home I finally broke down the crib and took the change table out of Parker and Mason's room. Their room seems so big now. I had to take the monitor out of the room too after Mason tried to shock himself to death. He was playing with it turning it off and on. He then decided to take the wire out of the monitor and put it on his tongue. YEP it shocked him. So I just unplugged it and took it out so I wont have that episode again or maybe worse.

All the boys went over to play next door with the Stewart boys. They played capture the flag the whole time. When I went to get them, all their little faces were bright red. I can't believe how hot it is outside and tomorrow is suppose to be worse! Good grief what happened to the mild 80's weather?

This afternoon I heard from Oscar and I got to talk to him a whole 6 minutes! He sounds tired. He said he has had lots of fun and was packing because they were leaving in the morning to start the journey home. At 4:00 am their time he is getting up with his friend Jason Kotter to go hunt for a couple of hours for a Zebra. They have to be at the main camp by 8:00 to get on a bus to head back to the airport to start the long journey home. Hip Hip Hurray!! We're so excited to see him. We had to laugh because we still have two more days before we can see him, but to him it seems like only one. :) We can't wait.

6th & 7th Days

6/26/08

Today was more of the same, swimming lessons, lunch, naptime, play outside, dinner. After dinner we took Oscar to Scouts, he was going to the church orchard to thin peaches. I went with Zachary, Parker, and Mason to Parkridge to a primary inservice meeting. We had fun learning how to teach children while playing different games. It was perfect weather too, not to hot and not to cold, if only all days could be like that.

I didn't hear from Oscar last night but Warren called Krisele so I know he is still doing okay and is having lots of fun.

6/27/08

Today at swimming lessons Oscar and Zachary were practicing their dives. This is the first time for Zachary so he was practicing on the side of the pool. Oscar was jumping off the diving board. I was trying really hard to get some pictures of them doing this but I was either to early or to late. Oscar has the good camera in Africa I have my other digital camera that has a delay. I did the best I could do.

Oscar preparing:

Can you see the spash?

Zachary preparing (he is the third from the left):

He's under the water somewhere, I caught the splash though.

Parker has been doing so AWESOME in his swimming lessons this year. I am very proud of him. He will do everything his teacher ask's him to and will even volunteer. The reason I am so excited is because this is his third time at this level. The first year half the time he wouldn't even get in the pool, and last year he would not put his face in the water to blow bubbles or do bobs. This year he does it all.

This evening we had a picnic in the living room with Pizza and watched a movie "The Pink Panther". I have not laughed so hard in a long time. All the boys were in tears. We were continually laughing for the first 45 minutes of the movie. For those of you who don't know its the movie with Steve Martin as a french police inspector. He is so clumsy and silly, it was hillarious to watch. Good family movie.

4th & 5th Days

6/24/08
Today was our second day of swimming lessons, and by the end Parker was shaking with cold again. He said he was not coming back because he didn't like being cold. I reassured him tomorrow would be warmer. Oscar and Zachary are loving their classes and seem to be doing very well.

After swimming lessons I went to help clean a friends home with some other ladies. She was out of town with her family, they just lost a loved one in their family. We wanted to help her in some way so we decided to help her tidy up her house so maybe she wouldn't feel overwhelmed when she got back. I had left during Mason's nap time and had to get back before he woke up. I'm glad I did because as I was walking in the door Oscar was calling from Africa!! WooooHoooo!!! I was so happy to have my 2 minute rushed conversation with him to know that he was alright. He said he got a spring buck, a blaze buck, and a heartabeast. He also said he was having fun, staying safe, but was having a hard time sleeping longer than 4 in the morning. He hopes to be able to post some pictures by Thursday when they get to a camp that has internet access. Boy do we miss him.

Later this same evening I was going with a bunch of girlfriends to celebrate one of my good friends Judie Sedrick's 40th Birthday. She doesn't look a day over 30! We all went to the Idaho Shakespeare Theatre, had a picnic on the grass, and watched 'The Crucible'. I had never heard of the play, but that's not surprising since I have come to realize I wasn't that cultured growing up. I read a brief summary of the play before we got there so I knew a little of what to expect. The actors were brillant, although I don't think I cared much for the ending. I found myself talking to the actors just like I talk to the movie screen during movies. If Oscar was with me he would have been shussing me all night. As it was I was talking in whispers to my other good friend Jessica about the play. I was so glad she felt the same way I did. I did however fall in love with the atomsphere and decided that is where I want to go to celebrate my 14th wedding aniversary this July, Oscar doesn't know yet. *wink* It was a fun night visiting, eating, watching the play, eating, and visiting some more! Happy birthday Judie and thanks Leonie (my dear sweet mother-in-law) for watching my boys for so long, you're the best.

6/25/08
Today was more swimming lessons and then home to hang out and read. Parker threatened again that he wasn't coming back because he was cold. I sure hope tomorrow is warmer!!! I was feeling lazy today and didn't do much. I read a lot of the day and finished "The Thirteenth Tale", by Diane Sutterfield. Good book that kept me wondering and guessing til the very end.

The boys split their time between playing the computer, reading, playing more computer, getting 'fresh air' outside, playing more computer, and oh watching TV. Some days you just have to let them have fun!

We love you daddy and miss you. 5 days left! We're halfway there. :)

3rd Day

6/23/08
Today we started swimming lessons! It looks like the boys are off to a good start, and they all have the same teachers as last year, how fun. Mason did great with Mommy watching his brothers. I was nervous he would be mad that he couldn't get in the water, but he was a trooper and stayed by my side and helped me take some pictures.

Here is Parker in his preschool class (it looks like he'll pass this time) he was very excited and wanted to be the first to try what his teacher was asking. He was also very loud. He was very comfortable in the water today. Towards the end of class he was shivering like crazy though.

Here is Zachary in Level 3. He was very excited to get the same teacher again, and his teacher even recognized him. They all had to hold their breath underwater and Zachary came in 2nd. The first time he held it for 7 seconds and then for 12 seconds. I think he is going to do very well this year.

Here is Oscar in Level 4. You learn so many different strokes and techniques in this level I am having him retake this level again this year. He is bound and determined to get the 'dolphin' stroke down.

Here is my little buddy for the morning. Love you Mason.

After swimming lessons we headed over to the park for 'Monday's in the Park'. There was a merry-go-round that Oscar and Zachary loved. Mason wanted to stay in the swing the whole time and Parker was having fun hanging out with all his buddies. Here is Oscar being a monkey. I tried to get him falling mid-air but the camera was too slow.

At home after naptime we filled up the pool and put in under the slide. Vola, we made our own waterslide. I even got in my suit and slid down with Parker on my lap or Mason. We were all laughing and having lots of fun. Here is one of Zachary clowning around as usual.

P.S. Daddy if you're reading we love you and miss and are counting down the days!!

2nd Day

We heard from Oscar today! He left a message while we were at church to let us know he landed safely in Africa and they were headed to the outfitter place. He also made a brief statement about just enduring the longest flight of his life, I had to smile!

Today we went to church and at least I had some great uplifting moments. Jody Sedrick gave a talk today and it was exactly what I needed to hear, he has a way with teaching that I love. I was thrilled to find out that Mason was having a good time in nursery without Alyce and Kelby there, he was a little sad at first but warmed up to Justin Bledsoe, Thanks Justin! During Sunday school and Relief society I felt the spirit and was so happy I was there. At home we relaxed watched a couple of videos and went for a walk to get the wiggles out. It did the trick we came home had popcicles and watched Americas Funniest Home Videos. Mason didn't have a nap today so we read a couple of stories and he and Parker were asleep by 8:30!

Tomorrow we start swimming lessons! The boys are very excited.

1st Day

Oscar is off to Africa today. He started at 3:30 this morning and is 6 hours into his 15 hour flight that takes him to Africa. He was so excited to go this morning, but I know he'll be tired when they arrive. Oscar heard he might have access to the internet while down there so I will try to update our blog each day with some of our activities. Hope you're having fun daddy!

Saturday June 21st

Today was a very hot day. We decided to get the swimming pool filled up and get out the slip-n-slides. All the boys had a great time, we even had the Stewart boys over to play. They played outside for almost 3 hours (I know it's a record).

Hi Daddy!

Tricks in the Pool:

Hanging out in the hammock, or swinging! *wink*

We started to see the storm clouds coming and hearing thunder so we picked up and headed inside. We had some dinner in front of the TV and watched Down and Derby. It was a cute show about how dads who get all worked up about the Pine Wood Derby! They want to win and they want to make the car all themselves and let their boys help with the 'fun stuff' which usually never happens. I can say our daddy isn't nearly as bad as these guys. After our show we watched the storm come through and drench the yard, which it needed (too many brown spots, sprinklers need fixing honey). We also have a few trees branches in the yard too.

We miss you already daddy. Be safe and see you soon.

Love Vicki, Lil O, Zach, Parker, and Mason :)

Geocaching

6/16/08

Tonight for family home evening we tried the hot new rave of geocaching!! Lil O was very excited because he had already done it for a scout activity and was anxious to teach us. His enthusiasm spilled over to the rest of us. But first we had to find the GPS. We knew it was somewhere in Oscar's hunting stuff. We knew after looking in the box Oscar thought it was in and not finding it that this was going to take some time. Lil O and I looked through all the hunting boxes upstairs in the storage room, while we are sweating to death and getting headaches! We didn't find it so we just waited until Oscar got home. When he did he went through all of the boxes and we even looked in the safe. I started looking through a couple of things in the garage, but Oscar finally found it sitting on a shelf in the shop! Hurray! So after that couple hour detour, Oscar took a couple minutes to re-educate himself with the GPS.

We decided to do the treasure hunt (that's what we told Parker and Mason it was) that Justin and Rebecca Bledsoe put together over in the meadows. We hadn't done one before, I remembered Rebecca talking about it, and it was close enough we could ride our bikes. So we printed the directions/clues and loaded up the family!

Here we are starting our treasure hunt.

Looking for the 'clue'

Arguing with Zachary about what I don't remember, but we were starting to get cranky at each other because we were hot. You may never forget how to ride a bike, but you sure do forget what hard work it can be. :)

We were having fun for the most part. The 3rd clue had us a little baffled. Lil O and I told Oscar to do a certain thing to find the next clue but he thought differently. We tried his way and it didn't work. While we are sitting in the middle of the neighborhood deciding what to do, who should drive up? The Bledsoes of course. Justin explained to Oscar very politely he had gotten it wrong, while Lil O and I were teasing saying 'I told you so'. So back to the third clue and this time we figured it out in a jiffy! We rode straight to the jackpot!

Good thing too because we were out of water and half of us were very grumpy, me included.

Since we are still in the potty training stage we HAD to stop for a potty break. :) (Tell this story another time).

We had a fun time and look forward to going again. Our goal is to teach the boys how to read the GPS. This time dad was in control of it and showing us what he was doing, next time someone else will be in charge. Thanks Rebecca for your info on this new sport *wink*

Happy Father's Day

6/15/08
Happy Fathers Day!!! Hope your day was great sharing it with your fathers!!

This morning we let Daddy sleep in as long as he wanted, but he was rudely awakened more than once. The first time was Mason climbing into bed, while mommy was in the shower, saying very loudly "Daddy time to wake up"! Thankfully Lil O heard him and rescued dad! Thanks Lil O. Then I came out of the bathroom and then all of a sudden started screaming!! While I was getting ready I had opened our bathroom door to cool off our bathroom, it gets very hot in the summer. While the door was open a wasp flew in (I really don't like these things, read on about Mason). I thought I was being very cool about it and tried to go out of the room to get the fly swatter. When I came out and shut the door I heard the buzzing, I hurried to shut the door but the wasp came out with me. This is when I screamed. I went running to the kitchen to get the fly swater and realized it had fallen behind the fridge. I now feel helpless and Oscar has shot out of bed. The wasp was crawling on the door, so he opens the door to make it go back in the bathroom, it falls for it. Meanwhile Lil O hears my scream and I send him to the garage to get a rolled up newspaper. Oscar goes into the bathroom and doesn't find it so it must have flown back outside. Thank goodness!!

So now that Daddy is awake we fix him some breakfast, fruit and breakfast burritos! After breakfast I glance at the clock and realize it is 10:30 and nobody is ready for church. I told the boys to hurry so we could give dad his presents before we left for church. Well we didn't make it so we all gave him kisses and told him we would give him his presents after church. We came home and gave him a lei of candy the ward had made for all the dads, and Mason gave him the neckalace he made in nursery that says "#1 Dad". We then give daddy his cards, one from the kids and one from me. The boys loved the card they picked out for him, it was all about farting! Good grief. It was a poem card and they wanted me to put the poem here for all to read so here we go:




"A Father's Day Poem for You All About Farts

A fart can be quiet,
a fart can be loud,
Some leave a powerful.
poisonous cloud.

A fart can be short,
or a fart can be long,
some farts have been known
to sound just like a song.

A fart might not smell,
while others are vile,
a fart may pass quickly,
or linger awhile.

A fart can create
a most-curious medley,
A fart can be harmless,
or silent, but deadly.

A fart can occur
in a number of places,
And leave everyone
with strange looks
on their faces.

With all this in mind,
here's a card just to say....
Sure hope that you're having a great Farter's Day!"

Ooops...make that FATHERS's Day."

Everyone was in tears by the time the card had been read. All I can say is that it made Daddy happy and that the card didn't make the sound effects in the store. The card was the only one left and was suppose to make noise when you open it, however it was broken. But Oscar didn't leave that alone and opened up the card to fix it. Yes it now works and is opened ALL the time!!





We also gave daddy his all time favorite movie "Nacho Libre" This movie is always quoted in some form at the dinner table and they would always have to borrow it to watch it, so I thought it was the perfect fit! We love you daddy and hope you had a great day!



My dad in Pocatello, Rodney Bullock, celebrated with most of his children surrounding him and one of them (me) celebrating over the phone. I hope you had a great time with the ribs mom made for you.

We were fortunate enough to have Oscar's dad Oscar Sr. here on vacation from the Marshall Islands to celebrate with him. We invited Oscar Sr. and Leonie over for a BBQ. Oscar Sr. taught Oscar about some more features his camera can do, and we were entertained with jokes from the boys while we ate. Afterwards Zachary challenged Moose Grandpa (Oscar Sr.) to a race. I'm sure I heard Zachary say "You're gonna stink old man" Honestly where do they come up with these things?!

Grandpa easily won! Lil O, Parker and Mason were all smiles, but Zachary got bumped in the mouth with Lil O's elbow so he needed some comfort for a few mintues. :) Afterwards we played a game of Volleyball. The teams were Grandpa and Lil O - 'The Oscar's', and Zachary with Mom (later joined by daddy). We decided to play until 6 after a lot of practice and then have some ice cream, the end score ended up 8-6, 'The Oscar's' won the game. After dessert Mason wanted grandpa to read Blues Clues to him (note to self take a picture next time, it was so cute). Happy Father's Day Moose Grandpa. :)