Quick 5

Not much new to report. This week has been marked by illness and injury, and this momma is tired.

1. Alaina and Joya came down with some funky virus on Friday. We realized they both had fevers, which were fairly high. When girls are sick, Mom doesn't sleep well. They both got up in the night to use the bathroom, and of course I heard every movement. Thankfully there was no digestive sickness, but just knowing they were restless made me restless. Saturday was a fever day, and Sunday was a one fever plus sore throats day. I took them to the doctor on Monday for strep tests, but they were negative. Then by Monday afternoon they were both much better...just in time for Bria to spike her fever. She had a high fever through most of the night, and then a sore throat for the next couple of days. Have you ever been around a toddler that has a sore throat? So. Much. Screaming. I pushed water on her as much as I could, and gave her straight up honey too. That seemed to help. But by yesterday she was back to 100%. So we survived.

2. On Sunday Lee conquered a fourteener with my brother. Ben invited him to hike Gray's Peak with him and some of his friends, and Lee was excited to do so. They did it, and he took so many beautiful pictures.

Gray's Peak, 14,278 ft.

3. We knew Lee would be sore after an adventure like that. We didn't know it would destroy his knees. He's been practically out of commission all week because of the pain in his knees. You just don't heal as fast when you get old.

4. Alaina has been soaking up summer as best as she can. Two more full weeks of vacation, then school starts. It's both exciting and surreal.

5. And then there are these two goofy girls:

Goodbye July! Catch you next year!

Quick 5

It's late July, folks.

1. Last Saturday was a Marsh family gathering. This large group doesn't get together too often anymore, but it was such a pleasant day. Except for all the screaming from Bria. My little girl was That Girl for the day. It's so hard to simultaneously teach your children to share while teaching them that they are not entitled to anything and can't have things simply because they want them. I felt so bad for my cousin's little boy, who was just trying to make Bria feel better, and she responded by taking the toy he offered her and hucking it across the yard. So. Much. Screaming. But maybe the whole family will just appreciate it all the more when we win this battle and she comes out on the other side kind and well-adjusted.

2. Bria is now in a big girl bed! We took down the crib for the last time and set up the twin bed for her. She's done great, since we have a gate up on the bed and she treats it like a crib, just like her sister. She knows how to get in the bed, but she calls out for help to get down. Alaina offered to show her how to get out of bed and I said a firm "No, thank you." So for now we're in a good place.

3. On Tuesday we spent the day at Grammy's playing with cousins. Jamie and Nick were in Mexico, so the White kids were staying up at Grammy's with Cora (bless her soul!) to babysit them. So I took my kids up for a day of cousin fun. They all did quite well together. We played outside all morning and made good use of an egg timer. When you have a six kids playing together, all you have to do is set a timer for five minutes. Every time it goes off something changes. It doesn't matter what. Most of the time it was time for someone else to play with a (insert toy). The timer trick was quite handy. And every so often (especially if they had food) they would get all quiet and calm and it was serene. It was a fun day.

4. The Tooth Fairy didn't get much of a break before she had to come back. Alaina pulled one of her lower teeth this week, after an encounter with corn on the cob set it on it's path to eviction. I guess we're in the Holey Mouth stage at our house.

5. In the spirit of summer, I thought I'd share with you my favorite summer salad. I got this recipe from Facebook and modified it because avocados = gross. So make this Grilled Corn, Cucumber, Tomato Salad and enjoy.

Grilled Corn - a couple of ears or so, cut from the cob. Make sure it's grilled.
One cucumber - quartered
Grape or Cherry tomatoes - halved

Mix together, then add this delicious Honey Lime Dressing:

1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp lime juice
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
One clove of garlic, minced
dash cayenne pepper
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Mix well and then chill for at least 15 minutes. Then eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  So good!

Stay cool, friends!

Quick 5

I can't stop staring at this picture:

1. Last weekend was another church family hike. Except we didn't go, because the hike was on a trail that was NOT wagon friendly. And we need that wagon. So we went walking in Waterton Canyon instead. And we learned that Waterton Canyon will be a great place to go when we can all ride bikes someday, but isn't the greatest walk. We also learned that Bria has healthy lungs and can project her voice quite far.

2. I also can't stop staring at this face:

Not only did she lose a milestone front tooth, but I got to pull it out, which is one of the joys of my life. The tooth was dangling hard core, but still stuck in there pretty good. So I made Alaina suck on an ice cube for awhile, then I used a tissue and yanked it out. So fun. For all of us.

3. Alaina's BFF Avery introduced Alaina to the practice of writing to the Tooth Fairy. So here is Alaina's letter:

It says, "Dear Tooth Fariy, Thank you for the 3 dollars! Is it okay if I get 3 coins for one tooth? If you can, that'll be grate. I hope you respond. The adorable sleeping kid, Alaina."  Well, lo and behold the Tooth Fairy DID write back:

She wrote, "Hi Alaina! Thank you for your note! I can only give you one coin, because that is all I can carry! Plus, the leprechauns get mad and play mean tricks on me if I give more than one. Love, Your Tooth Fairy Ivy."  I think we learned a lot from the whole experience.

4. Tuesday was out most favorite day of the year: Cow Appreciation Day. We went to an early dinner so Lee could go to worship practice, and we met our friends the Singletons there. It was their first Cow Appreciation Day experience, and it was fun to walk them through it. However, Bria the Two Year Old was there in full glory, so I don't really have good pictures this year. Thankfully Chick-Fil-A got one of our whole family.

 5. Daddy invented a new dessert for the girls. When you have graham crackers, peanut butter, Easter M&Ms and marshmallows in your pantry, you might as well smoosh them all together.

And so enter the Dog Days of Summer. May your days be warm and may you have a thunderstorm every afternoon to drop the temp 15 degrees!

Quick 5

Welcome back, sunshine!

1. Last Friday we went to my happy place to celebrate my birthday: Blue Parrot. The service was terrible, but our love of that spaghetti covered that sin. My sister and her family came up to join us, and surprisingly all the kids did really well even with the wait time. So we walked to a wonderful little park after dinner to get the wiggles out before making the long trek home.

2. We celebrated our independence by staying home on the 4th. It was glorious. It was hot, so the parks didn't seem like a good idea (due to the molten hot slides). And we didn't have any other plans. So Lee blew up the swimming pool, and the girls frolicked in there. We had brats and potato salad and capped off the evening with smores made in our unauthorized fire pit.

3. Yes, Alaina is wearing different glasses. They're her old, spare pair. Her new ones are in for repair. Alaina was sure no one would recognize her this week.

4. Bria now thinks it is completely unreasonable that I will not let her be in the pool all day every day. Well, this week has been so chilly. Yes, I've made the girls go to their swim lessons, even though the temp rarely got above 60 each morning. But I put my foot down at letting them swim in our unheated, bug filled backyard pool while it was raining.

5. I have two HUGE things on my radar: moving Bria to a big girl bed, and potty training. Seriously, she tells me about 80% of the time right after she's gone, which means she may just need a push over the edge into full blown potty training. But oh, how I dread. Maybe all she needs is a day to really understand. Maybe this will launch us into months and months of tears. It's hard to say. But maybe both of those things will be attempted over the next couple of weeks. Anyone want to teach me how to drink wine?

Did you know that last Friday marked the half-way point of summer? So now there are only five weeks left until school starts. Chew on that for awhile.

Quick 8: 49,000 Words

A picture is worth a thousand words. So here are thousands and thousands of words cluing you into the fun we've had the past two weeks.

1. We spent a few days in Winter Park with Lee's folks and his sister and brother-in-law. I forgot how good the mountains are for the soul. Our days were filled with non-stop fun. First up: the playground.

 2. Next up: a picnic. Bria discovered her most favorite thing to do in the whole world - throw rocks into streams, ponds and rivers.

3. There is a great trail along a river in Winter Park. The walk was magical.

A very rare Lee sighting

See? Magical.

4. Alaina and Joya got to go fishing with Daddy and Grampa. There was a pond just for kids. Joya managed to be the only one to actually snag a fish.

Joya proves there is no need to look like a drudge while fishing.

5. There is a great rec center in Winter Park that had an awesome pool. We spent some quality time there.

 6. Then we got back and jumped right into swimming lessons. It is very fun to watch the girls become comfortable in the water.

Joya's lesson gets done 10 minutes before Alaina's, so she huddles while she eats a snack.

7. Most of the time I get to leave Bria at home with Daddy, but I've had to take her a couple of times this week. The first day was bad, as she slowly realized that she would NOT, in fact, be getting in the pool. The second day was much better, as she made peace with her fate and embraced the peace offerings of snacks and suckers and bubbles that I brought for her.

8. Bria joined the Big Girl club and had her first dental check up. She handled it like a pro. She was so excited to get in the chair and didn't bite anyone. She didn't let them floss, though. She thought that the visit should be over before that point. But she got back in there and let the dentist have a look too. I had no idea she would be that cooperative.

In Alaina's words, "June just FLEW by!!" Catch you next week!