Bike Rides

Ok so some of you may already know that Alex's sister Mitzi found me a FABULOUS deal on a bike trailer. About $30 to be exact. Used and not in the greatest shape, but still in great working condition. Since that purchase, we've taken the girls on a bike ride almost every day this summer. We all love it. Kuna has some good areas for bike rides, but on occasion we like to go down to the green belt in Boise. The trail is flat, and there are trees surrounding most of it. The scenery is beautiful and we have a great time. Last night we went with Scott, Mitzi and their cute baby Corbin. They've never been on the Green Belt before, so it was fun to show them. Here are a couple pictures.

Tagged Again

What are the last 3 things you purchased?-
Texas Roadhouse....to die for, we couldn't resist
One Dollar Swimming at the Meridian Pool
Watermelon-Chips-and cookies for BBQ @ Gabe and Christy's.

What are the last 3 songs you downloaded?-
Disturbia (by Rihanna)
One Step at a Time (Jordan Sparks)
American Boy (Estelle Kanye West) Check them out...they are HOT!

What were the last 3 places you visited?-
SageHen Reservoir
Arco
Oregon coast

What are your 3 favorite movies?-
Sorry I don't have 3 Favorites but I am dieing to see Apocolypto(sp?) again (edited), I like Hitch and 10 Things I Hate about you...Rush Hour 1 & 2.

What are your 3 favorite possessions?-
The Internet, My Bike and trailer, Netflix account

What are your 3 wishes?-
To be out of Debt (ditto to Scott and Mitzi)
Have a bigger home closer to Boise
To never shave again!!

What are 3 things you haven't done yet?-
Cruise (ditto Mitzi)
Traveled to Hawaii
Cleared a wake on my Wake Board ( I actually quit trying because I don't love crashing )

What are your 3 favorite dishes?-
Anything I don't have to cook!
Anything Alex will cook instead of me
My mom's cooking!

Name 3 things that freak you out-
BEES.... I can't stand them, especially hornets and yellow jackets
When Alex tackles me or the girls and pins us down
Not being able to have food clothing and shelter (I am blessed that this is not the case)

Name 3 things you are good at-
Music (although I haven't done it for a long time)
Having Fun
Cooking (if I put my mind to it)

Name 3 things you are currently coveting-
My hot brownies in the kitchen waiting to be devoured by me
New clothing
More freedom from my kids

3 bloggers I tag-
Carolyn
Carrie
Brenda

Birthday Season

Well, it is Birthday season in the Harris Family (mine). In the few months of July through September there will be about eight birthdays. My Dad, nephew Chase, nephew Caleb, Me, Dejah, Sister Melissa, Brother David, then Brother Derek. Here are some photos of Chase's Birthday celebration at the bowling alley.

Such Randomness

So this blog post has no theme or reason, but since my days are so random and full of surprises I just couldn't resist writing them down.
Thought #1, my cousin Christina has a daughter just around Dejah's age, she is much taller therefore grows out of her clothes just in time for Dejah to fit into them. Now lets just say that Christina definitely has good taste in kids clothes...they are absolutely darling and totally what I would dream to buy Dejah. Well forget the buying, Christina just gave me a bag of "hand-me-downs". Its like Christmas, I was so excited to see what was in there. Everything...CUTE. Well wouldn't you know it, Dejah, who is the pickiest dresser I have EVER...EVER seen on a 4 year old will only wear about 1/2 of them!! You may ask...Why? Whats her deal? Lets just say if the waist is too tight...forget it. If the sleeves are a bit snug around her arm...no way. Underwear...this one is hilarious, they have to be BAGGY and SAGGY, if they stick to her even slightly she will jump up and down and kick and have a fit. He hair, Her clothes...all of it. Now you say..just make her. This is a whole set of drama on its own that could probably be put into a reality show..no joke. Trust me, I "make" her most of the time, but it is a serious "Toddler" fight between the both of us. No matter how much I try to convince her what is cute and what looks like a street rat, she won't have it! So there it is, my little drama queen.
Thought #2, I have some new favorite things to substitute the "lack of Dish Network". NETFLIX!!! Holy Joy. First off, no I don't spend all my time in front of the tube, but being an at home mommy requires some "down time", so I have signed up for a two week free trial. So far it is very delightful. I didn't sign up for their Major plan, just the $8.99 a month. You basically get one video at a time, unlimited amount per month. Received in 1 to 2 business days, keep it as long as you want, send it back in a prepaid envelope and then they send you another. This definitely beats renting (EXPENSIVE), and I get to watch movies on my computer instantly. This is the best perk of all. Our computer is in our bedroom so we can watch movies by just selecting it and hitting play. The resolution isn't the best, but not horrible. There are tons of T.V. series to choose from too.
Thought #3, More favorite things. I wouldn't call it my favorite, but I have officially taken over Alex's "unused" gym pass. So that has been good in a horrible kind of way. Also, Super Nintendo, I'm not a big "gamer", but this provides hours of entertainment (more like 1/2 hr. max). Reading, still not a huge fan, but I am currently reading "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. Good book so far, but still waiting to get...."hooked". Riding my bike and pulling the girls behind me is something we do daily and I love it.
Thought #3 1/2, Mycah is going to nursery soon at church and I'm not sure how I feel about that. She is my baby and it is a bitter sweet feeling. There are about 20 kids in there with 3 Adults watching them. I'm a bit nervous, but what do ya do.
Thought #4, I am turning 30 on August 5th. I can't believe it! My hubby will be gone the 2nd through the 8th for training, so I will be on my own. Hopefully he will make it up to me when he gets back.
Thought #5, My sister-in-Law Christy is due to have her first little baby any day now. So here's to sooner than later.
Thought #6, I am the most blessed person. I have a wonderful family, great inlaws, great kids, we are healthy, we have food on the table, shelter and clothes. I belong to a church that challenges me to always be more Christ-like. I am so blessed.

My HONEY!

1. What is his name? Alex Seth Beal

2. Who eats more? Alex by FAR!

3. Who said I love you first? I think I did...Alex is not big on saying it unless he is in a "moment"

4. Who is taller? ....hmmm....take a lucky guess

5. Who is smarter? Definitely me...but he does have me beat in some areas.

6. Who is more sensitive? Oh my...Way me...WAYYYY more, in fact I'm not sure Alex has much of a sensitive side unless he is having a spiritual moment.

7. Who does the laundry? I must admit that Alex is dang good at this one

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Alex

9. Who pays the bills? Alex, and he loves it too.

10. Who cooks more? Me

11. What meals do you cook together? Eating out

12. Who is more stubborn? I think it is definitely a tie on this one. We are both extremely stubborn.

13. Who is the first to admit they’re wrong? Definitely me

14. Who has more siblings? Alex...9 total

15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think its pretty equal, but there are those days when it is definitely Alex. (I'm sure he'd say the same about me)

16. What do you like to do together? Bike rides, wake boarding, camping, watching movies, eating out, pretty much anything together is good.

17. Who eats more sweets? Me, although Alex may be up there with me this summer.

18. Guilty pleasures? Chocolate for me...Golfing for Alex

19. How did you meet? Through the Church Institute in Boise

22. Who proposed? Alex did, on temple square in Salt Lake City...He didn't want to do it there but I was being "stubborn" because it was January and very cold outside and I was in shorts and flip-flops and didn't want to ride the hoarse carriage and freeze my toosh off. I was not expecting it at that moment. It was very sweet and I'll never forget how he took me by surprise.

23. His best physical features? Those sparkling blue eyes, you can see right through them.

24. What is his greatest quality? He makes me laugh and he can put up with me.

25. Tag? Well if you've read this, consider yourself tagged.

Floating Indian Creek

One of our favorite things to do this summer (Alex and I)...is to float the Indian Creek here in Kuna. If you've never been down it you are definitely in for a ride. Don't let the word "creek" fool you. Although there is some fun easy floating, there are quite a few rapids that will get your heart pumping. I went for the first time last year with a friend and had an absolute BLAST! The first thing you don't realize...the cold water is "FRIGID"...brrr, I almost want a wet suit. The second thing, the water is pretty deep in some areas so if you fall off your tube, be prepared to swim. We went last week and Alex got his tube stuck in an eddie, he was pretty excited and got a huge charlie hoarse in his left calf. Yesterday as we were running some rapids through a canyon he headed straight to a rock, when he tried to kick away from it with his feet he ended up turning his tube and falling in the water. The water was deep, fast and cold, and where that canyon is there isn't any sides to swim too. I felt really bad that I couldn't help him. Luckily that section isn't too long and he got ahold of his tube. Fun Stuff...although I would not recommend bringing children for the ride. I've discovered that I enjoy a little raft to myself. I float across those rapids pretty easy. Anyway, if anyone wants to join us we'd love to show it to you.

Sunday Driving

Before gas prices sky rocketed....there was such thing as "Sunday Drives". One place Alex has always liked to drive to is Swan Falls just south of Kuna. Today as we were sitting in complete boredom...no cable t.v. Alex decided we should take a Sunday drive down there. So I packed up some PB&J's and snacks and we drove to Swan Falls. It is an old dam, built in 1900 and currently owned by Idaho Power. We sat in the green park under a tree and just enjoyed the view. Then we walked across the dam. It turned out to be a nice Sabbath Day.

Last Minute Camp-Out!

On Friday My sister called us and asked if we'd like to go on a "last minute" camping trip to Sage-Hen Reservoir. We tossed around the idea for about an hour then finally decided to go. We only have one other camping trip planned this summer, so we thought the girls might have a good time. We packed really fast and took the 1 1/2 hour drive up. We were the first ones there, so we found a camping spot and set up our tent. My two other sisters and their families showed up a little later. We all stayed up late.... really late. The kids had a blast and slept great. Here are some pictures of our little trip. I had a really cute video of the kids playing, but it is literally taking hours for one short video to download on here so I may try later.

We had the bikes and the trailers. That was fun for the kids. Here is my sister Heather and her kid Caleb.

Here is Mycah with Heather's Hubby...Uncle ParkerHere is Alex giving Dejah some "Daddy TLC"

Mycah...eating...and eating...and eating....and eating....

My Sisters Heather and Melissa

Alex pushed the kids around in the little boat with their little fishing poles

After a late night and an early morning the girls were WIPED OUT!

Losing Some to Gain Some

Well folks, I did it! We finally broke down and Alex and I have agreed to rid ourselfs of some debt and cancel my much coveted Dish Network. If you know me, you should also know this will be a very difficult thing for me. One, I don't really like reading. Two, I don't garden or have any nice shade to sit outside in. I'm not much on playing pretend with my girls. I don't have tons of extra money to spend driving around or shopping. I don't have many close friends in Kuna that I can just stop in on at a moments notice. And when winter comes...STOP the Press...I think I will probably die of extreme boredom!! Yes, the list goes on. Did I mention I love TV! Although I don't spend hours on end in front of it I've become quite spoiled. You see, Dish Network provided us this wonderful invention called a "Dual-Tuner DVR", basically allowing me to record anything I wanted, or even two shows at a time. This allows me to do my duties as a mom, and relax when I have time...(usually at night). Then I could sit quietly when I wanted and I never have to watch a commercial....EVER!!! I could also fast forward the stuff I really didn't care for. Alex could record his sports and movies, and I could record my favorite reality show. We decided that in order to pay down some debt we absolutely had to get rid of the "extras". So there you have it. No home phone line, no cable, no Full coverage on both vehicles, no True Green making our grass look FABULOUS! Alex's unused fitness pass is now converted into my name since he has only bothered using it twice in six months! (We can't cancel due to dumb contract) And Internet....thank the heavens Alex has Masters classes online or it would be gone too. So from now on eating out will be budgeted...and NO MORE GOLFING for Alex...(just kidding hun, that will also be budgeted also). No expensive movies, and no expensive rentals. Phone conversations now limited because we are sharing minutes with my family (unless you are a Verizon user). Oh what am I to do? I am definitely a girl of the future. I love my technology! We literally spent all day trying to get an attic antenna to work...no go. We'll have to resort to the bunny ears. Maybe I can get my VCR to record some of my stuff. Anyway, I am sad, but that is life.

Check out Some of Our Summer Photos!

Fourth of July

I've decided that I carry with me....a fourth of July curse. Why you ask? This all may seem a bit silly. Alex may even call me a pessimist. I'll just say this, since being a single adult, I've never had my fourth of July celebrations quite work out. When I think of this blessed holiday, I think of BBQ's, large gatherings with friends and family, root beer floats, sometimes swimming, and always a grand finally with fireworks. It seems to me that everyone around me does all these things. As hard as I try though, something always goes wrong. I first noticed it back in the day when I was single and living in an apartment. I don't know why but for some reason, all my closest friends took off to McCall and decided not to invite me. Ever since then, I've had this curse carry on to every Fourth of July. Yesterday was no exception. We had planned to go out yesterday evening with an old friend of mine to Melba. We agreed to let our kids get good sleep yesterday so they would be able to stay up late. Because of this we almost didn't meet my parents at the lake yesterday morning. They were going to leave really early, so I didn't want to wake my kids up to get there. It turns out that they were running late so we decided to go. We went to Black Canyon and did some wake boarding then left around 11:00 to get our girls home for naps. That afternoon my friend called and said they decided to go out to her family's BBQ but could meet us around 8:00 to go to the Melba fireworks. Well, this wasn't what I was hoping, but I said ok. 8:00 comes around and they were not able to go out to the fireworks either. I tell you what...its a curse. We sat around all evening waiting when we could have gone to my Aunts with the rest of my family for a BBQ and pool party. I was so irritated I told Alex lets bag Melba and take the girls downtown with our bikes. This was the best time of the whole day. We took the girls on a late night bike ride to the fireworks and had a great time. We are all tired from staying up, but in the end had a good time together. I'm sorry if I've been sounding like a big depressed person lately. I kind of consider this blog to be my "journal", so I'm just being honest. And I'm sure I'm not the only one out there that has bad days and gets annoyed from time to time. I am just telling it how I see it.

Sandy Beach

Some of you may think that Alex and I might have tons of friends and have tons of fun. The truth is, yes we have some friends (not a ton, and mostly family at that), and don't usually get to have tons of fun with them either. You see. My sister has had to be in bed for two days and has been using some of my family members to babysit her children. This pretty much changed all the plans Alex and I have had for the past few days. Yesterday, we were going to float this amazing fun river here in Kuna. Its about a two hour float, so we wanted more people to visit with than just us two. Well due to the "baby sitting", no float. Today's wake boarding at the lake, canceled. Tomarrow my brother will have the wake board that Alex uses, therefore....canceled. I thought and thought of anyone who might want to go skiing at the lake with us, and my teeny tiny circle of friends didn't solve the problem. Everyone works, and the others may not want to bring their little ones. Am I sounding a little bitter?...ok maybe just a little. Since my husband can't find it within him to just stay home, he decided to treat us to a day at Sandy beach just below Lucky Peak. Now, my darling little sister-in-law Christy thinks it is totally "white trash" and I totally agree. Reguardless, we had a GREAT time! The water is dirty and the sand definately isn't soft and clean like many other true Sandy Beaches, but it was good times for us. The girls had a blast. We caked on the sunblock. Aired up our little raft and tubes. Ate Albertson's chicken with some goodies and enjoyed watching Mycah chase after the seagulls (if you can call them that). Tomorrow we made plans with an old friend of mine Korin. Hopefully our little ones will tolerate staying up late because we are going to Melba Days to catch the highly anticipated fire work show. Hope you all have a fun 4th of July!....oh ya, and if any of you at any time would like to go boating...we have the boat available almost anytime we want...we just need friends to go with us. Catch ya later.

Roaring Springs!!!

So, Most of you probably know that Alex has been taking full advantage of his "SUMMER OFF"! Teachers may not get payed a ton, but there are a ton of perks! Well today we didn't really have a plan, but since we had to go into Meridian today to get our car checked out, we thought we'd check out the Meridian Pool while we were there. I packed up the swimming suits and a couple towels...just in case. Thats about it. Well, the pool was closed to open swimmers until 3:00 in the afternoon. As we were driving over the freeway to go home, Dejah in her cute mousy voice says..."I want to go to the water park, can we?" This is something we hear quite often since we only live about 10 minutes away. I was just about to say "no" when Alex says...."OK, lets do it". So we made a little detour to Costco to get discount tickets for Alex and I. Dejah and Mycah are free. We headed to the park with no sunblock, no swimmer diaper and no water or snacks. We got there and put on our suits, then I left to the store to get some necessities. We spent a good chunk of the morning in the kiddy pool and the fun river. Since the passes were good till 8pm we took the girls home for lunch and naps. I think this SAVED us. Both girls got good naps and some food on there bellies then we headed back at 3:30. We had a Blast the rest of the evening!! Dejah was a bit chicken, but I hope to remedy this with some swim lessons. Maybe next year she'll be a bit tougher for some of the fun rides. Dejah one of the waterslides in the kiddy pool...probably because Mom and Dad could go down with her. She also like the wave pool as long as someone was holding her hands to jump the waves. Mycah's favorite was the river. I sat in the tube and she loved hanging her feet in the water just squawking and jabbering as we rode around the river. All in all....it was a Fabulous time! I hope to go back with just Alex soon so we can hit the really big slides.
This summer has been so fun. I will get Alex to make a post about his hiking trip in the Sawtooths soon!