It is now 2 weeks after Elijah's birthday. He had a fun friends' party on the 18th. Four of his friends came over to swim, eat, and play video games. Our only rules were they had to be boys his same age, grade, or class. He invited a lot more boys than that but many didn't come. One that had RSVPed was sick and the other parents didn't respond and let me know either way whether or not their sons were coming,

I thought that was rude. I always let people know whether my child will be coming or not out of politeness. I provided them with my email and phone number so they had multiple ways of communication. We know though that summer birthdays are hit and miss with the parties.

Elijah had fun and it was intense having 7 boys in the house. Their swim games were funny.

A week ago I had 5 of the 6 Bailey babes over. Carey was at girls' camp and Todd needed to work so they offered me their children for one day. We had a lot of fun playing Wii, swimming, eating, playing Pictureka, Uno Attacko, and just being together. For the first little while Lucy was calling me Sara but then with normal toddler confusion she switched over to Mom and Ma Ma. Every time that happens I think of Alyssa calling Dad Uncle Daddy when we were playing with our cousins on a fun summer vacation in Coutts, Alberta.

I realize there is a melancholy tone to this entry. I promise I am not sad just tired. I am not a morning person, but if I don't do this now before my sense of humor wakes up I will be busy with the boys.

Anyway, I loved our trips to Canada growing up. It was such a small town that from a young age we were allowed a freedom we could never have in St. Peters. The particular occasion where Alyssa called my dad "Uncle Daddy" my dad was pushing her and some cousins in some swings. Did I mention my Grandma had a full on huge yard with playground equipment for us to play on. There was a merry-go-round, a slide, a train made of those metal bars, a swing set and some other pieces I can't recall. It was awesome. She had this huge basement pantry and deep freezer that we could always find something yummy to eat. She owned every Disney movie. It was heaven. My dad, as usual (at least when he was around), was the life of the kids' fun. No other parents would be out there playing with us. He used his vacation time to entertain us kiddos. My grandma had a huge back-yard as well where we would have family barbecues and meals.

Back to the present. Elijah got Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario Brothers Wii for his birthday. We are having a lot of fun with those games right now. I really like Super Mario Galaxy 2. Elijah also got some toypedos large and small for the pool. We use them to play military tag. He also got a football for the pool. I teased Elijah before he opened his presents and he really thought I was giving him the DVD Newsies (which I desperately want) instead of a fun Wii game. I also teased Jared that he would get Newsies for his birthday, If I ever saw it in a store they would have. I am pretty sure I will have to order it off of Amazon.

All of the boys have finished reading to earn their baseball tickets now. I have to make Xander and Maxwell read for an hour every day and make Elijah read only an hour every day. Elijah is getting really far in learning how to program with Python. I started requiring Xander to also read the Book of Mormon every day. Elijah had his first Webelos' meeting last night. I think I am going to like Webelos way better than earlier Cub Scouts. I have liked Cub Scouts a lot better since we moved to this ward.

I have been really busy with the boys since Elijah's birthday. The week after we had to have their Pinewood cars made from start to finish. Thursday, the 24th, was the Derby. It took a lot of stores to get everything needed. Jared got a router for Father's Day so that weekend he had cut the cars. That didn't leave him enough time to manage the painting of the cars so I had to take care of it. All day Monday we drove to multiple Michael's and Hobby Lobbys trying to get everything we needed. Xander wanted a red dragon and Elijah wanted a Morse Code Scout colored car.

We hadn't meant to procrastinate the making of the cars but Jared wanted a router to cut them since we didn't have any friends with the tools needed. The boys were happy with how their cars turned out. At the Derby Jared manned the start of the race, I weighed the cars and helped with the certificates. Maxwell is bursting at the seams for his turn in 1 1/2 years. Jared will be making 2 cars a year until Xander turns 11 in 2012 before the 2013 race.

During our shopping Xander had seen a wood dragon he wanted to buy and paint. Later that week we returned to Michael's to pick out wood creatures for the boys to paint. Maxwell and Xander got dragons and Elijah got a Cobra. Yesterday they finally got to paint them. Elijah isn't even half-way done yet but Maxwell and Xander are. I offered to go buy the glossy finisher but Xander doesn't think it needs to be shiny.

I am looking for a new doctor for Jared and I. What a huge pain in the butt. We have only had one good internist/family practitioner in the whole time we have been married but we moved away from him. He was in Utah. Anyway our current doctor used to be good but then he got more about the money and got into the cosmetic stuff. Every time we go there we get to see a bunch of before and after butts and guts. His face is crazy botoxed. He looks like a younger alien version of what he used to look like when we first started seeing him years ago. At least our boys have a good doctor.

Jared and I have been thinking about starting to geocache lately. On Sunday in the hundred and a billion degree weather Jared decided today was the day. So we went. We weren't successful at a few spots but were at others. It was fun for Jared and the boys but I think I will like it more when it isn't so unbearably hot. Jared would rather be unbearably hot than stay home in our comfortable air conditioning and comfortable pool. I don't understand it. I thought the pool was so we could be active in the summer.

Monday was Jared's birthday. The boys and I spent the morning frenetically getting ready for picking him up at 11 for lunch and to come home early from work. We had to clean the whole house after the weekend and go shopping for some little gifts. Jared had already received a router, blower/vac, and wet/dry vac for his birthday and Father's Day but the boys and I still wanted to pick some things out. We got him a Scooby Doo t-shirt, a turbo snake, reese's, a&w root beer pops, gum, etc. We picked him up at 11:15 to go to Oregano's. We played Kings in the Corner, ate cheesecake and swam. We enjoyed an afternoon of family togetherness.

The Baileys are coming over today for more swimming fun. Brigham is quite the little swimmer now. The boys and I have already gotten the pool cleaned out to get ready and now I need to go make some snacks and work on my Sunday School lesson. It is on Gideon which I don't know much about. My class is now down to 2 kids. It is kinda sad and kinda fun. Some weeks I only have one and I always feel bad for that one.

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