Some happenings to our family

So on Friday, the water company came out to install our new water meter, hooray!!! NOT. They turned off our water for about an hour, then turned it back on. When they did this, I heard water running & thought, wow what are they doing?? Rinsing down the whole street?? Then a knock on my door, the worker, we'll call him Jim, said my house was leaking.... What??? So I followed him to the front yard & sure enough (you have to try to imagine this) gallons of water were coming straight up from the roof. If you're looking at the house, the roof was wet with water running down it. I looked up in the sky for one of those Eeyore rain clouds to be over just my house. But no rain. I asked what they did wrong & they looked at me like I was the idiot. 

I ran quickly through the house & into the garage. Quick note, we had just cleaned our garage. Everything was stacked neatly to one side. So of course, that's the spot all the water was coming down. I opened the garage door & yelled at them to turn the water back off. Everything was soaked. I started pulling things down & dumping water off of them. Car seats, containers of clothes, the runner, chairs, arm's reach crib, you name it, it was wet. I pulled some towels that had just finished being dried from the dryer & started moping it all up. Then my hormones kicked in. I started bawling my eyes out. I called Jared, told him to come home. Then called my landlord who could barely understand what I was saying through my hysterics. The workers & Jim had these looks on their faces as if to say, "this lady is a nutter!" They couldn't do anything for me, so they left. 

Of course this happens on a Friday of a 3 day weekend. Just like last time when our sliding glass door shattered the day before the 4th of July weekend. Who wants to work then?? Luckily my landlord is quick & got the water company & a plumber out in a couple of hours. I had been stressing about where we were going to stay if we had no water. The plumber was wonderful! He's an Astle (Astle plumbing, I recommend them), for any of you who live in Sac & go to my church, there are hundreds of them. So it was comforting knowing we had an intelligent, honest person working for us. He fixed our problem, the water company had turned the water back on incorrectly, flipped a spring switch that sent water to old unused pipes in the roof for a previous solar heater. Therefore sending water so pressured that it went through the roof. 

It has taken a couple of days airing everything out, getting the smell to go away, & trying to figure out why our water tastes funny now. But it's over, & I lived. 

On a lighter note, we went out to dinner tonight. I was ordering what to eat & Grant was saying Mommy, Mommy, Mommy etc. You know how it goes. I was ignoring him then this is what I hear. Jennifer, Jennifer. What? I tried so hard not to laugh while explaining that he needs to call me mommy. Then 10 minutes later, Jared does something silly (imagine that) & Grant says, "Jaarreedddd" sounding just like me when I'm rolling my eyes at my husband. He getting big so fast. 

My boys

Everyday, Jared has to be to work at 6 am. Therefore I am always the one to get the boys up & running. I change them, dress them, feed them, etc. On the weekends I usually make Jared do these things so I can get a break. But I still set out which clothes for the boys to wear. ESPECIALLY on Sundays. It may sound a little anal to some of you, but as you can see from this picture, this is what happens when momma's not looking. 

Anyone want to let their kids out dressed like this??

Our trip to LA

We went down to LA for my work the begining of this month. Didn't do anything too exciting, but here are some pics!!

This is at Aunt Susie & Uncle John' s house in Laguna Hills. The boys had so much fun running around the big house.

We went to the Science center with the Bongioanni family. It was a little old for the boys, but we all had fun looking at the weird things around us. 

Sat & hung out with them later too. Vinnie & Jared made some yummy tri tip, Allie took the kids to the park, I took a 3 hour nap, aren't I such good company?? Glad they are moving up closer to us in Berkley. 

Wo is me.....

Yesterday I got thrown up on twice. (Once in a store where people looked at me like I was crazy)

 Today I got peed on 3 times. 

I'm glad we have our own washing machine.

I am in need!!!!

So I have this project in my head for a baby gift. A snuggle fleece blanket that I can crochet around the edges. But I can't find the material I am looking for. So for any of you that shop fabric, this is what I need. You know the style out right now for girls, pink & brown, or that pretty teal & brown. Those colors in stripes or polka dot. Either the teal, or pink. I have found it in cotton, but not the baby snuggle fleece. (Not the fleece where you tie the edges, the softer/ thinner stuff) I have looked at TONS of fabric stores, & have been searching online, but no luck. 

So if you come across anything, please let me know!! Or if you have a favorite website you shop. Thanks!!

Breaking Dawn

Well, it's all over. I finished the latest book in the Twilight series. It was fun, too long, but I LOOOVVVEEEDDD the ending. More people should have died. Happy that it took me less than a day, I only went this morning not changing Grant's diaper till afternoon. I think I fed them breakfast. Anyways, I hope my family appreciates my fast reading, otherwise I think I wouldn't be of any use for a complete week. Which is not good. I need to learn to control myself. 

On a lighter note, & for the record, we had a lesson in RS on Sunday about the difference between advice & counsel. Most women groaned about advice from parents & the dreaded Mom in law. I'm a lucky girl to love both my moms, & that they are wonderful as to not shower me with useless advice. They are both insightful & loving. 

As to those strangers at the store when my children are screaming, they can shove their opinions & advice up their nosy behinds. Is that polite enough??? It's not really what I wanted to say, but seemed appropriate enough. 

Grant's 3rd

We did a Pirate theme. Kids dressed up, swam, played a treasure game, cake, the works. I am so NOT doing this every year for every kid. But everyone had fun!!

Day at Fairytale Town

Grant at the wheel, watch out!

Nathan did not like sitting on the horses too much.

Look at my big guy go!!

I'll admit it, I had to photo shop wrinkles out of this picture! I'm getting old, but my boys are wonderful!!! They ran around like crazy chickens and had a blast. How do I know that?? Because I had to drag them from the place & they both screamed at me until they fell asleep in the car. 

My baby did it!!!!!

I am soooo proud of Jared! He completed his triathlon this Saturday at his goal time. 2 hr 32 min. He was around #529 out of 1500 competes or so. He had to run 6 miles, bike 12 miles, then paddle for another 6 miles. Get out of the water, & race across the finish line. He wasn't even that sore afterwards. We  learned a lot for our first triathlon, where to park, what to do, where to wait, to get a different kyack, how to drop off & pick up his equipment, etc... Also that we'll need more help next year. It was too much for me to do everything, I ended up being more sore than him. It was from carrying that dang kyack almost a mile. That thing was heavy! 

Jared as he finishes his 6 miles of running.

Changing his shoes for the ride. 

He is the one getting out of the yellow boat, silver helmet, blue vest. I stood here for an hour waiting to take a pic  and that dang volunteer is in the way. 

Crossing the finish line!! I didn't quit get the "finish" line in the pic, but he did it & didn't die! (I was super paranoid for the last couple of months that he would drown or die, something) 

We had a blast doing this. Starting at 6 in the morning, not coming home until after 1. We were beat, but for anyone who has never gone to a race like this, it was just as much fun for me cheering people on & watching people finish! I recommend it for anyone. 

Discovery museum

We went to the Discovery museum on Monday since Jared called in "sick." It was pretty lame, but cheap, so it was ok. I'm sure the boys had fun. Saw some animals & gross insects. They got to dress up & play with magnets & other interesting exhibits. The best part  (in my opinion) was watching the penny smasher. We really need a nice children's museum around here. 

The boys driving the space shuttle outside.

I have aliens for boys!!

Nathan doing his thing. He was very independent throughout the whole place.

Oops. Jared trying to fix the display we broke.

An update on our family

So I've been posting a bunch of pictures, but have been lame about writing details on anything. So here is an update. 

Jared- is currently working at VSP. It has been over a year (congrats!!) & is doing a wonderful job providing financially for our family. He is training for a triathlon that is on the 19th. It's called Eppie's great race. Pretty popular & is one of the oldest triathlons out there. He was able to get VSP to sponsor himself & another co-worker. He is active in his company's basketball league which won the championship 2 seasons ago. Calling in church is assistant ward clerk over membership, & gets called to sub in nursery lots of the time. That is own fault since he isn't in class.  He enjoys all sports, which means our tv is verbally abused by him quite often!! Nothing vulgar, just loud. Jared loves to play with the boys, which is fun for me to watch, but they get VERY loud & run around everywhere. 

Jennifer- currently knocked up, will find out in Sept. if it's a boy or girl. I just started a new job the beginning of this month. The company is called NEBO Tools, I sell them from home calling different types of companies. So far it has been interesting trying to juggle that & the kids & morning sickness & the house etc. etc...... I am still the Enrichment leader at church but usually lay out in the nursery cause I don't feel so hot. I enjoy reading (with what time I don't know), laundry HAS to be done, & have been sleeping a whole lot extra than normal. Which normal already, is a lot. 

Grant- his thing right now is Diego, Scooby Doo & The Wonder pets. He doesn't like to play outside because it's too hot, if his mother isn't taking care of him, he can get his own food. He has really been growing in the imaginative role playing, he makes Nathan play with one toy while he attacks him with it. Loves cars, dinosaurs, & always wants me to read to him. I should relish in that fact, but we have some rather annoying books I don't enjoy reading. But he is now able to "read" to me by making up a story of what he sees on the page, which usually has to do with if someone is happy or angry. In general, he is a wonderful & loving child who says " don't be sad, it's ok" to everyone who seems to have an issue. 

Nathan- this kid says "no" to everything unless it's some sort of treat or juice. His vocabulary has exploded with words such as basketball, look, no, cookie, banana, church, Jesus, no, play, up, down, kiss, Bumpa, hug, apple, no, Grant, Mom, Dad, did I mention he says no? Still does not have his canine teeth, jumps up & down, holds his own on the trampoline, & loves the water. He still gets a BB when he sleeps, & spits it out when he is ready to get out of the crib. Will drink liquids all day long until his diapers explode, but is my cutest Barlow baby. 

As a family we love to go to In & out or Dos Coyotes. Still in Sacramento which I don't think we'll ever leave, it has everything we need! We drive a van (ugh) & a POS.. you can figure out what that stands for. None of us can sleep without some type of white noise or go more than a week without seeing some set of Grandparents. Parks are the best when it's not too hot, & we go to see Mr. Tim at the library every Wednesday that he is there. 

My porch pal army......

Last year I started painting porch pals for a craft fair we had at my house. Then I was hooked & started doing more. This picture was taken awhile ago getting ready for another craft fair. I thought it was fun cause it looks like a small army. 

Poor, poor trampoline.

As you can see here in this video, this poor structure

was creaking & working hard to stay together.

We were all waiting for it to break. But alas, no

one will be needing to buy a new one yet. 

WII

Parts of this video are a little boring, but others

are fun! Grant usually beats us at bowling, even 

though we are helping him.

My boys in the crib!

These kids are too cute! Grant is trying to tell us 

what Moroni says on top of the Temple.

The 4th of July

So there was lots to do this weekend. The PJ & Pili family came up, pancake breakfast that wasn't so hot. Literally, it was cold. And the food was a little worse than normal. No cotton candy, games for the kids, but the band was there. Nathan just stood in front of them staring. No dancing, just staring. 

We swam all day, went down the slide, rode the swan, ate good BBQ ( thanks Jared! ), and had lots of fun. No one got burned with fireworks, Jared wore his "England" shirt, PJ crossed out Jared's name in the street & the neighbors looked like they spent thousands of dollars on fireworks.

The trampoline even made it through the weekend. PJ, Perry & Jared decided to torture the poor thing. They jumped so high we were sure it would not last. But that thing is faithful! 

4th of July!!!!

We had tons of fun on the 4th!!!!

Happy fourth!

 Tuesday was our 4th  year wedding anniversary!! We took some pics to remember this day. Here we are looking normal. Which picture you say?? You get to choose. Some of you know the real us & can tell the difference.

 Jared got down on one knee with the boys, & asked me to marry him again. See my ring pop? Then said that one day it would all pay off. Therefore, the payday. The boys saw the candy, & asked me to marry them too. I think they thought marriage equals candy. Only with the right person!!

 It's been a great 4 years, except the whole being pregnant for most of it. I love you! I look forward to eternity with you.

Morning sickness

So give me all your tips on morning sickness. Also, I added a poll to see how long yours lasted. 

Survival skills

Because I haven't been feeling well, I have been on survival mode lately. Make sure the boys are fed & don't die. That's my only concern. I stay in bed most of the day, they come get me when they need me. So Grant comes to me & says, "mom, help me clee up" I start thinking, if Grant is wanting to clean up something, that's not a good sign. So I get up, & this is what I see.