Road Rash

In an effort to put more exercise into my daily routine, I decided to bike with Courtney down to the library which is about a 3 mile round trip ride (although it's uphill all the way back). Bryan took the tag-along attachment off his bike and put it onto mine last night and then adjusted my seat for me. I'm short and the seat has to be up higher than I usually have it, so I have to stretch to reach the pedals, but I make it work.

So this morning I attached the tag-along, loaded our books into a backpack, put on our helmets and Courtney and I were off. We had a great time for the first mile. It's almost all downhill to the library so we were cruising at quite a fast speed. We were within a half mile from the library when we passed a guy walking the cutest dog. Courtney looked back at it, leaned to the side too much and...over she went. I felt a tug, heard a scream, heard the tire being pulled on the road and I pulled my breaks...hard! I stopped and saw Courtney about 100 feet behind me, picking herself up off the ground. The guy we had passed was sprinting, pulling his little dog behind him, up to see if Courtney was okay. I dropped my bike, ran back and just grabbed her in a hug. She was really cut up. Both of her knees were bloody, her hands were all black from the road, her elbows were cut up, her right cheek had road rash on it, a couple of her toes were bleeding (we had a fight about her putting on tennis shoes and she said, "Daddy always lets me ride in sandals" and I caved), and she has road rash on her little belly and chest. Poor girl!!

The man offered to get his truck and take us home but Courtney didn't want to ride with a stranger and wanted to bike back home. We righted the bike, tried to clean her up a bit (the one time I don't have a first aid kit with me) and then started off. We got about 200 feet when it happened again. She jumped off this time without getting hurt and said, "That was fun that time," But by then I was done. The ride back home was a mile that was all uphill and not fun under normal circumstances. So I pulled out the cell phone and began making phone calls, but no one was home. The guy came back to check on us and said that he was getting his truck and for us to get the bike off the bike trail and onto the main road so we could load it in his truck.

Courtney and I got the bike to the road, sat there and waited for him to come back. He was so nice to give us a ride and he even brought band-aids for Courtney so she would feel better.

When we got home, I gave Courtney a bath to try and wash all the road off her body and then put about 8 band-aids (with ointment) on her cuts. Poor girl. I wanted to take a picture to document her spill, but she wouldn't let me. She's been a trooper but had me call dad to let him know. She told me that she is "never, ever" going to ride on the tag-along with me again! But that she would feel better if I used the bike trailer because she can't fall out of the bike trailer. She has a point.

Poor girl!

Eating Out

A Harvard study just released said that the average American family eats out 5 TIMES PER WEEK! Who are these people and how do they afford that?! Just a thought.

Courtney-isms

She's been at it again.

Yesterday as we were going grocery shopping Courtney asked me how a girl finds a man to marry if they don't go on a mission. I explained to her that a girl doesn't go on a mission to find a husband, but to share the Gospel and do what's right. When she gets home, then she finds husband. She though about this for a while and said, "Mom, where do boys go to hunt for a wife? And where did dad hunt you at?" I didn't answer because I was laughing too hard at my mental image of Bryan crawling around BYU with a net gun ;)

We have been trying to stop Courtney from sucking her thumb but it hasn't been too successful. We learned, when trying to potty train the princess, that she doesn't do anything until she is good and ready to do it and that fighting her won't make it happen any faster. So we have been trying to make her think it's her idea.

She mentioned that a girl in our ward who babysits her sometimes has braces. Courtney asked if braces hurt and I said, "Yup." I then told her that if she didn't stop sucking her thumb that she would definitely have to get braces to fix her teeth. I thought this would be a little motivation to her, but she just paused, thought about it a minute and said, "Then I'm going to definitely keep sucking my thumb because I really want to have braces when I get bigger." ...that didn't work!

Change is Good

I got a new calling yesterday (actually I have known about it for about 1 1/2 weeks but I was sustained yesterday). I was just feeling comfortable with doing another Girls Camp because the Stake would be in charge this year and then I was released. I am now the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society over Enrichment. I have had this calling before so it's nice but here is the kicker...I am the oldest member of the new presidency! Yes, at the ripe old age of 34, I am the oldest (the president is 2 weeks younger than I am). I got a lot of comments yesterday about how young we are. It will be a fun presidency though because I know all the women and have been friends with all of them. I was in the Primary with the new RS President; the new 1st Counselor was my visiting teacher for a couple years; and I was the visiting teacher for a couple years of the secretary. I think it will be fun.

Cake Week

This has been the birthday cake week. I did Courtney's fondant baby doll cake on Wednesday with a bunch of mega sized cupcakes for her party. I did a sheet cake for my mom's birthday (August 14th) that we are going to eat tonight at her family party. And I also did a birthday cake for the daughter of one of Bryan's co-workers whose wife is on bedrest. She wanted a BYU cake and I think it turned out cute!

1st Day of School!

Ethan started school on Thursday. He is in Mrs. Magnus' 2nd grade class at Santa Clara Elementary. He has 2 other boys in our ward in his class. We went school shopping last week and got all his school supplies and clothes. When we were looking for a backpack he couldn't find one that he really liked so we kept looking and looking. Finally he found one that he "just had" to have. It was a BYU backpack and it really cute!

He was a bit nervous for the 1st day but he did a great job and loved it. He is so excited to be learning about everything this year. We went to Back-to-School night last night and met his teacher. She is very nice and has been doing this for 16 years (I think) so I feel like he is in good hands. And he loves that his only homework is to read 20 minutes each night!

Here is our big guy! (Notice the BYU shirt and the BYU backpack. He's got his goals right.)

She's 4 Everyone!

Courtney had her 4th birthday on Wednesday (August 12). Bryan bought her flowers, which she says is the "best present ever." It was cute because he brought them in to her before he left for work and she was so excited. They are in her room because she wants to see them all the time.

Courtney requested a birthday breakfast of oatmeal (cooked for a change), cinnamon rolls with frosting, bacon (which was influenced by her brother, she doesn't like bacon) and orange juice. She loved it and said that she was having a great day.

We celebrated with a friend party at the splash pad where Ethan entertained the girls by being silly and the girls got all wet running around. We planned for the party to last 1 1/2 hours and I was worried that it wouldn't be long enough, but after 10 minutes Courtney was finished and she wasn't even wet yet. So the girls dried off, I painted their toenails and fingernails and then they played "duck, duck, goose" which they really didn't get how to play but loved running around. Bryan tried to light the candle on a mega sized cupcake but the wind kept blowing it out so Courtney just pretended to blow out the candle and then everyone ate up...except my children and one little girl who only ate the frosting and threw the cake part away. ;)

After the party, Courtney took a nap while I finished cleaning up and got ready for the family party that night. Grandma and Grandpa Oman and Aunt Kathy came over and we had pizza (Courtney's favorite) and then her cake. For the last 3 years she has requested a baby doll cake and each one has to look differently. After putting stars on a cake last year and having a numb hand for days afterward, I decided to put fondant on the cake this year and it worked out great. Courtney loved it and it tasted great.

Courtney opened presents, again, and she and Ethan played for a long time with her gifts. She got more polly pocket dolls, a kitchen, a cash register, and a lot of other dolls and toys. She even got some money from Grandma and Grandpa Pack, Aunt Leigh Ann and Grandma and Grandpa Oman so she could fill in what she didn't get.

It was a great day for her and she said that being 4 feels a lot different than being 3.

I took her to the doctor on Thursday for her annual check up and she is doing GREAT!

Here are some photos: